With Mathsgiving behind us and winter break in striking distance, many international school teachers are considering buying an expensive ticket back "home" to spend the holidays with our families. While there are many luxuries associated with teaching overseas (See: 5 Luxuries Bestowed Upon Thee As An International Teacher), missing out on family events is definitely a … Continue reading 5 Ways Expat Teachers Try to Cope With Christmas Overseas
Stopping Tears with Mindful Breathing
As soon as I saw Finding calm, focus and joy through mindfulness in the classroom on the list of sessions to attend last month at the AISA conference in Nairobi, I immediately knew I needed to sign up. I have a lively, fun class this year - but we still need to work on strategies … Continue reading Stopping Tears with Mindful Breathing
Why Would Anyone Want to Become a Teacher – My Interview with a Newly Qualified Teacher
Lorraine is a newly qualified teacher of middle school math and science at Khartoum International Community School. She was actually a teaching assistant/student teaching intern in my Year 5 classroom for a year while she worked towards her certification. We recently sat down and talked about her thoughts and feelings about the profession as part … Continue reading Why Would Anyone Want to Become a Teacher – My Interview with a Newly Qualified Teacher
Empowering Students to Take Creative Action
Action can come in many forms, and, depending on the group of kids you're given, students' attitude towards action ranges from the enthusiastic to the idealistic to the unsustainable to the irresponsible. While taking action is a major component of the IB PYP, it can be tricky for teachers to get it right. https://youtu.be/WN0yCYVBD5U In … Continue reading Empowering Students to Take Creative Action
Making Required Homework More Effective: An Experiment in My Class
It is increasingly common knowledge that homework is modestly effective in the upper grades, but barely effective at all in elementary. While we all have our own thoughts and opinions on how to empower students to engage in learning activities at home, most schools have specific policies in regards to homework, including how many minutes … Continue reading Making Required Homework More Effective: An Experiment in My Class
10 Great Resources for Teaching Mindfulness
In addition to presenting about BLE design at the AEC Conference 2017 in Nairobi, Stephanie and I had the opportunity to attend a mindfulness workshop by the amazing Robyn Harwood (@rsharwood1). Since this powerful experience, I've begun to explore how teaching mindfulness can impact my community of learners. Here are some of the resources that … Continue reading 10 Great Resources for Teaching Mindfulness
5 Reflection Activities to Help Students Glow and Grow
This post is now quite old! Check out my newer posts, my workshops, and my podcast. After a recent mindfulness training by the amazing Robyn Harwood (@rsharwood1) at the AEC Conference 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya, I started beginning the day with structured and intentional mindful breathing exercises to help my students find some inner peace … Continue reading 5 Reflection Activities to Help Students Glow and Grow
New Workshop in Kenya: Evaluating Blended Learning Classroom Design
At this year's AISA Educator's Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, I had the opportunity to present some of the models that I have used and created to evaluate blended learning classroom design. Much of this work was done alongside Brad Arnold (@leybradly), and was previously discussed in my article, That digital program your school bought will never … Continue reading New Workshop in Kenya: Evaluating Blended Learning Classroom Design
That digital program your school bought will never transform learning
It seems like most teachers and students have access to a paid-for digital learning program. You know the kind - RAZ kids, IXL, Spelling City, any one of those listed in the featured image of this article - and they all promise to raise achievement while making learning "fun". These CAI (computer assisted instruction) programs … Continue reading That digital program your school bought will never transform learning
When it Comes to PD, Teachers Need Differentiation
In a week or so, I will be presenting at AEC 2017 about blended learning design and evaluation, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to give my thoughts on the enormous responsibility that we have as trainers and presenters to differentiate for the various levels of teachers that exist in our schools. I am lucky … Continue reading When it Comes to PD, Teachers Need Differentiation
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