What are teachers excited about?

When a group of educators get together in 2014 what are they finding as exciting.

Teachers at our learning community's open meeting had this to say.

• using video to capture learning
• using WeVideo to for videomaking and stopmotion animation
• using iPad to entice reluctant learners 
• using whiteboards to engage entice and excite learners
• using a Google site to track my own learning

When I look at the list there is a focus on the motivational things that will hook students into learning and doing.

A way to think about learning in the now and for the future is to make learning motivational

the following are key ideas in Katrina Shwartz's mindshift article about this.

• INTEGRATED PROJECTS
• INTEREST-BASED AND RELEVANT
• MAKE IT HANDS-ON
• KNOWING TEACHERS CARE
• LEARNING FROM FAILURE
• EVALUATING WORK

Teacher's caring and daring is the starting point for what can become a cycle of upward achievement. 

Students in Year 6 are learning about well being and designing a lunch menu for boarders at our school. 

I can see that they are motivated by their autonomy in developing recipes etc. This is a hard process to get right especially when you adapt and change the things you are cooking to make them original. This is where the "knowing teachers care" really matters. Kids learning independently can't be just a convenience. This youtube shows the students talking to a chef and a you can see the learning and thinking written on their faces.