21C Learning

Is it really different, are teachers teaching children in a different way than in 1999?

There is a challenge for us if we really believe in the Vision, Principles and Values of the New Zealand Curriculum, if we really want to develop the life long learning capacities and competencies in children.

I believe the proof is in the curriculum that each school develops and then in the learning experience for our children.

What a fantastic opportunity we have in 2010 to fully implement the New Zealand Curriculum.

Parent Consultation Night

We had a fantastic night this week with 65 parents meeting at school to discuss National Standards, writing and our new property developments. What a great night. The feedback was such that we will run another session later this term. We will video the next one so we can share it on the school website.

What was fantastic was seeing and hearing parents getting excited about how to meaningfully help their children to become better writers. A few days later at school children were talking about the neat things parents were doing with them with writing.

If we can get the message to parents (and teachers!) that great writers do more then just print neatly and spell well there is real hope of seeing our children empowered to write and wanting to write. Great writers record their ideas first- then when they are reading to publish/ share their writing they worry about neatness, punctuation and grammar.

Many thanks to the staff who presented, the parents who attended and the PTA for serving the cheese and wine!

Back into it!

We are back!

What a pleasure to stand at the front entrance to school and meet so many children excited about being back at school!

What a pleasure to hear from parents that they are excited about the partnership with Windsor and all that they see happening for their child (actually conversation day 1!)

What a pleasure to go into classes and see children learning, laughing and interacting and to see teachers laughing with their children and focussed on starting the term in a positive way

What a pleasure to have a first few staff meetings and seeing and hearing teachers talking about what it means to be a successful learner in 2010 and how to improve teaching in writing so our children can achieve more, are more engaged and want to write.

What a pleasure to be at Windsor as we finalise our 2010 Curriculum!

Have a great week!

Exciting times in New Zealand Education

In the last week of the term I had the pleasure of attending the New Zealand Principals Federation Conference in beautiful Queenstown with over 600 leaders from NZ and overseas. What I saw and heard confirmed some things for me:

- New Zealand is a stunning place- such beauty

- We have one of the most exciting education systems in the World

- Research confirms it- things have changed for our children, their world is so different to that of 20 years ago and schools need to be responsive to their needs

- Our children are resilient, innovative, creative, and intuitive learners all we need to do is open up the right learning pathways for them and they will fly!

- Our children want to lead their learning, they want to communicate their achievements and their mistakes (Facebook can attest to this!)

I head back to Windsor to put the finishing touches on our "Windsor Curriculum". It is so exciting to be involved in Education when we have the mandate from the Government to create a community based curriculum. The electronic document we produce will be the culmination of 4 years work with staff, children, the Board of Trustees, the PTA and our community. It will be a organic electronic document (if there is such a thing) in so much as it will be able to be updated in response to new developments , new research, new resources and our growing understanding of learning in the 21st Century.

I look forward to sharing the "Windsor Curriculum" very shortly.

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.