random ramblings – Page 10 – ibpossum takes on tech

Times – they are a changing – slowly but surely…

Since last writing a blog an enormous number of positive changes have occurred and I am again excited about the way teaching and learning is moving forward for my school. I have had lots of excellent questions about using 365 for collaboration between students and staff, staff have started making OneNote documents and a fewContinue reading “Times – they are a changing – slowly but surely…”

Does experience limit creativity? What a coffee cup did….

I had an interesting conversation with the better half last night. I was bemoaning marking and standardised testing, pondering why we do junior exams at all and generally ranting that my time (and the students time) would be much better spent doing real, relevant stuff rather the exams. Or watching the cricket on TV (althoughContinue reading “Does experience limit creativity? What a coffee cup did….”

Staying connected

So, I have had a really tough week – the wee man got sick, and we spent 3 nights in hospital in an isolation room as he had gastro (an interesting aside – Ollie was in a rotovirus vaccine trial group when he was born, he got sick Thursday, got a call Friday to sayContinue reading “Staying connected”

Goodbye post conference blues

Last week was a bit of a toughy. Coming back from ulearn and Microsoft Innovative educators on a massive high and I came crashing back to earth the very first lesson back when the cows crashed, the internet was SO SO SLOW and I was desperate to share everything I had learned all at once –Continue reading “Goodbye post conference blues”

End of term III

Wow. Term 3 came and went in a big rush. But I am pretty pleased with how it panned out, especially the blogging of my lessons. I managed a post for each lesson of the life processes internal we are doing at yr 11, and started to work on the videos for my year 12Continue reading “End of term III”

Under pressure

I love David Bowie, and I love Queen, put together they are amazing. We have practice exams coming up. And the kindest way I can describe my classes right now is casual. They just don’t seem to care. Meanwhile, I am tearing my hair out trying to come out with ways to motivate them (yelling,Continue reading “Under pressure”

Term 3 madness

So, term 3 is here already. I am trying to hit the ground running… Today I had my first go explicitly using Solo taxonomy. I used the hexagons (generated by the free ap here) as a starter for my yr 11 Genetics topic. It worked really well, and I found my students where already familiar withContinue reading “Term 3 madness”

End of term – where did it go? Oh that’s right, reports.

So, I am a bit embarassed that I didn’t blog for over a month. But things just got crazy there for a while. This term seemed to be all about reports. I hate reports. I don’t mind writing comments – I spend time on them and do my best to make them individual and specific.Continue reading “End of term – where did it go? Oh that’s right, reports.”

Hopeful

So, first week of term 2 – it is all go. I’ve jumped onto the #hackyrclass feed, and am going to try the suggestions as they fit. I really liked the one from week one – developing a growth mind set – and I think it is very important for myself and other staff atContinue reading “Hopeful”

Made it..

…to the end of term. And I am still kind of reeling – not helped after a sleepless night with a sick wee man 😦 Today I am thinking about flexibility and chance – partly having to change plans due to a sick wee man, and partly due to what happened yesterday. Yesterday (Easter Sunday)Continue reading “Made it..”