Skip to main content

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

Popular posts from this blog

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 is not always conducive to profound

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options.  Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet.  Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco.  I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option.  The result? No egg on my face.  As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life.  It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon.  They may die or be seriously injured.  If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way.  There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious.  Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin.  However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal.  The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).

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