This week I found a new way to convey the logarithmic nature of the Richter Scale. always remember sitting in a geography lesson as a youngster learning about earthquakes just as a small earthquake shook the building. As my new classroom is on the second floor we created a 3.0 (ish) magnitude quake. This causes little damage. I then showed images from 5, 6 and 7 quakes. How did we create the quake? Well (and this was of course fully risk assessed) I asked a couple of students to stand carefully on a table and jump off. This made the floor shake just enough for it to be felt. The class seemed to engage in this demonstration and displayed a better understanding of how the Richter Scale works. Of course, this technique could only work in classrooms that have a shakeable floor! The only other tip is to warn the teacher below!
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...
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