Skate, scoot, rip stick!

Probably quite a few readers out there will be wondering what a "rip stick" is?

It is the latest skateboarding innovation. A flexible board that twists in the middle and has only one wheel at each end. The children propel them selves by wiggling.

Anyway the craze hit our school early this year rip sticks, skateboards and scooters were in- they literally arrived by the hundred at school.

they was the initial concern from some quarters, "Where is the padding, they will get hurt, they might crash..."

So we set up a zone, the children created rules and now each and every day the children of all ages (yes I have learnt to "rip"!) have been having a ball. Have there been crashes? No serious ones, have there been disagreements- yes is this a bad thing?

I spend 2 minutes last night talking with a teacher and we brainstormed the benefits and developments for 100-150 children aged from 5-11 all using wheels at school:

Their improved fitness (they go hard out for 1 hour a day at school, they wheel to and from school (another hour)

Their problem solving skills- rules around directions, zones, challenge areas

Their spacial and kinesthetic awayness- 100 kids on a court going full speed in all directions and rarely do they crash

Their co ordination skills- they race, jump, turn...

Their relationship skill development as they solve problems, disagreements, organise races, jumps...

The new focus on children and their learning from the caretaker he is now "re cycling every thing he can including slides, desks, steps so that children can jump and create obstacle courses.

The change in our playground as the other play areas are freed up while kids skate!

Downside? A bit of blood, a few bruises...

Fantastic learning, fun and fitness

The i pad

Check out this blog on the i pad

Kotahitanga

Here's a thought....

We often talk about children knowing what they are learning and why they are learning. I am also interested in children knowing where they learn best. It is a concept at Windsor we call "Kotahitanga"- The right place for everyone and for everyone a right place. It is a concept that challenges the notion that children need to fit school- rather school needs to fit children.

So we encourage children to discuss where they learn best- in a group, at a single desk, in pairs, at a high table (so they can see what is happening in the class) on the floor, kneeling around a small table...

We now furnish our classrooms to allow this to happen. With the help of the Furnware we have created learning spaces (Classrooms) that allow children to spend more time learning and less managing distractions. It is fantastic to see children (and teachers) developing understanding of "Where I learn best" as part of being lifelong learners.

Kids Congress 2010

I had the pleasure of spending two days with 300 stunning children and 30 dedicated teachers at Kids Congress 2010.

Kids Congress is a conference for kids by kids! That's right kids organise the conference. They

• Market the conference
• Find and book the venue
• Build the website
• Organise catering
• Mange the $30 000 budget down to the last cent
• Organise bookings
• Manage the media
• Liaise with schools, presenters, management, fellow students

They were an amazing success. See their report and read for yourself.

What I have no doubt about is that this event (The brain child of Mike Anderson and Faye LeCren) does so much to develop the key competencies of our children. It is the reason for reading, writing and maths.

Know this - a narrow focus on National Standards will not enhance the outcomes for our children.

Amazing authentic learning opportunities like Kids Congress will. They need reasons to write (letters, invites, websites, invoices) do maths (managing a $30 000 budget) and read (for meaning for clarification and for sorting, organising and placing students in their breakouts) rather than tests and standards!

Go Kids Congress- thanks Kids, thanks presenters and thanks Mike and Faye!

Creativity

I encourage you to watch this short clip as you ponder the future for our children. As we come to grips with National Standards.

I believe that the New Zealand Curriculum is in the spirit of this talk.

Key Competencies

So what is the difference between the old and new curriculum?

The new curriculum acknowledges that the "3 r's" are not enough to prepare our children for the future let alone sustain them in an every changing world.

The learning areas or mathematics, literacy, the arts, Health and PE, science, technology, social sciences are still essential- the key point of difference is that they assist in the development of the key competencies- Thinking, Relating to others, Using language symbols and texts, Managing Self, Participating and contributing.

Notice Using language symbols and texts (the 3 r's), is one of the competencies, it is not the end in itself.

So what?

So our education system has a mandate to move beyond numeracy and literacy and to create community based curriculum's that develop the key competencies- exciting times!

Our (Windsor) curriculum is a response to this innovative change.

I hope to have it online for you soon.

Neill

A Great Read!

I have just re read Guy Claxton's excellent book "What's the point of school?" This fantastic 2008 book out of the UK reinforces our notion of "CHILL Factor" at Windsor. That is, Children who Independently Lead their Learning.

Claxton argues for children to not only think for themselves, set goals and reflect on progress but more so to understand, expand and exercise learning muscles. It seems so simply yet at times I wonder if we miss the trees for the woods when we create our learning environments. In a country where our vision is to develop capable, confident, connected life long learners I think we may have overlooked what a life long learner is, in fact we may be overlooking what learning is so much so that we are setting ourselves up to continue the education system and philosophies of the last 100 years.

There is a point of difference with the New Zealand Curriculum, and that is an implicit acknowledgement that children are not vessels to be filled but rather they are flames to be lit.

How do we light the flames? We allow, encourage, model and explain the learning processes, the art of mistake making, the place of inquiry, the importance of curiosity, questioning and exploration and we provide learning environments that reinforce these beliefs.

This will mean that children progressively know more about what they are learning, why they are learning it, where best to learn, who they are learning with and how they will learn best. Children will be aware of if they should they be learning independently, collaboratively or with a teacher. They will be empowered to share their learning journey with teachers and families.

For our children and our schools to achieve the vision of the New Zealand Curriculum it will require some reframing about what is really important schools, it will also require brave teachers who are keen to be transparent and are willing to say (and model) I don't know it all. It will require teachers who make a mind shift away from schoolwork, homework and classwork to learning.

I highly recommend Guy's book to parents, teachers and leaders especially as we begin to grapple with the challenges of National Standards- a great read!