Curriculum Leader - Geography

Well it's been a quite few weeks for me as far as blogging goes. Things on the work front though have been manic! I hope that you all had a good new year and Christmas period and are sorting out your feelings on the pay deal announced today!

I'm now two weeks int my new post of Curriculum Leader - Geography, although I don't have the official badge yet! As well as getting on top of my classes (some of which I have done through the employment of an ice axe and crampons!) there is a massive amount to do! I particularly enjoyed my first week without any technology! The rolling blackboard came down very soon to b replaced with a simple whiteboard and the projector turned up shortly afterwards. The next trick is to convince the rest of the department that using ICT is easy, necessary and fun! A great resource at the school is that I have access to the roof. This looks over the who of Portsmouth and will be great for (very) local fieldwork! The site also provides an ideal location for a weather station.

The whole of Key Stage 3 isn't written down anywhere so as well as getting it in shape for 2008 there's a fair amount of work to do! With GCSE's changing soon there certainly will be a lot to get on with.

I'm really liking some of Noel's ideas about a fantasy Key Stage 3 here and hope to use it for some inspiration during my first departmental meeting on Monday. There is so much flying around at the moment about the changes that it is becoming tricky to decide on the direction that I wish to take!

Work on Geography on Tour is going well - still at the planning stage and getting lots of ideas from colleagues. I hope to get some updates on the site asap.

I'm also going to get around to finishing my MA this year - I have to get it done now especially as it's paid for!

Comments

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words...

Year 10 need your help! Can we get Twitter and Facebook in to a GCSE project?

I’ve been told that social media has no place in the classroom. Now, this post is not to battle that argument head on. Let’s smash it. This week, Year 10 are visiting Hengistbury Head . They are investigating whether this piece of coastline should be protected. They are wondering what you think? You may know the location well, you may not know it at all. But we’d like to hear from you all the same. This will either result in some usable data and comments, or not. Either way, we'll know and I’m sure that your comments will help spark discussion in class! What would Year 10 like me to do? Just simply comment on this post or tweet me, with an answer to this question: ‘Should Hengistubury Head be protected from the Sea? Just answer Yes or No and give a brief reason. It would also be useful if you could tell us whether you know the area or not. Many thanks in anticipation…… Image – my own.

David Rogers

Search This Blog