Assemblies - one of the best parts of my job

The photo about was taken at Þingvellir in Iceland. It's where the Mid Atlantic ridge cuts straight through the country. Those are my feet as I'm trying to show that you can climb between the continental plates of Eurasia and North America. Of course, the actual rift valley is around 7km wide, and the students I take are far more sensible with their own images:

Anyway, getting to the point. Þingvellir is also the sight of the 'first' parliament of sorts (although it wasn't democratic) as the Viking descendants met each year to share laws, settle disputes and get the women pregnant. There may have been some horse trading too. The place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The place is epic special and not far from this place, Regan and Gorbachev signed some Perestroika agreements. (see you've learned something, right?)

People coming together to celebrate and reinforce the ethos of a school is one of the most important events in a school. At ours, we have live music, singing or dancing by the students and a short video news also produced by the students. Each week, I stand there with goose bumps. Each week I am reminded of the importance of what we do.

And then it comes around to my assembly. It's a powerful moment, up to 300 students and 10 or so tutors plus other staff. Four times. It's great. They are the moments when I feel like I share myself. I thought I'd share my ramblings this week with you. The theme given is Lifelong Learning.

First, as we promote reading, I read this extract (I know that this assembly lacks female role models, but my last assembly covered that)

Next, I shared the fact that Chris Hadfield once has a dream:

Before showing this clip featuring Leo Holding and the team. Watch it and say you're not impressed! I was lucky to meet Leo last week.

Then comes the important bit. To me, these two fine gentlemen are legends, but what they have in common is that they started young and made positive choices everyday. So how do students do this? Well, the New Economic Foundation helps out - I know it's in fashion and that.

When I turned my back on my son, he had roped up to a tree and started climbing. I decided to connect with him during this activity - although climbing to the top of a holy tree isn't the best idea ever!

If you haven't come across and used the awesome Step Up Challenge in your school yet, get on it!

I was guiding in Iceland last week. It was totally scary at the front of the coach whilst being totally sweet at the same time. I noticed that the Icelandic driver was quiet, so we got chatting. Best stories ever.

What can you learn every day? Take part in a Micro Adventure. I dare you.

In Iceland last week I stayed at one of the best places ever run by the most amazing couple ever. The bloke is Iceland's Got Talent legend and I knew about the talking Raven. So when I arrived, I asked after her. She had died that morning. Seeing that this was upsetting, we allowed him to talk to our group and reminisce about the good times. Sometimes listening and an open mind is all that's needed.

The thing is, I believe that anything is possible by making the right choices. I ended with a slide and a story. You haven't done it YET.

And then I read this out. Makes my spine tingle each and every time.

What is your best memory of an assemblies?

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