#educheck

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This might be a little tongue in cheek but it points to aspiration and doing. The real world activities recommended create some capability that time spent connected to the wifi may not. The simplicity of the goal makes it clear what achievement results in. This is not tough love this is just love.

#educheck

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Not sure when this came from but it is a nice motivator to "give it a go" and "give it a second go". Seth Godin is my favorite motivator and he achieves this through looking at things in a slightly different way. There is a truth to many things that is not what you first see. When we see success we often think it has happened overnight but

"That's why it usually takes years for something to become an overnight success. The culture changes from the edges, and gradually, we come to answer the question about a hat or a software network or a car with, yes, in fact, people like me actually do use something like this." Seth Godin

These messages of persistence are what we nee to keep feeding our students if we want something from them more than what the standards say we should get.

I learn best

I learn best when I check my ideas with some other people.
I learn best when I can use the internet to find things out.

I am interested in what you think?

What to do with the ineffectual?

When we have BYOD programs and the years pass by the younger brothers and sisters of the first participants help the technology live on. They bring them and use them.

But what happens when the screen size, start up times and processing speed start to impact on the learning of the younger ones. This is another type of digital divide.  Insisting on new technology on a quick turnaround has sustainability implications. Not insisting may just have learning implications.

Seth has a analogy for this with a rotten fish problem.

Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect: The rotten fish problem. http://www.google.com/newsstand/s/CAIiSENBRVNNSFJoWnpwbmIyOW5iR1V1WTI5dExESXdNRFU2Y21WaFpHVnlMMmwwWlcwdk5qVmhNV1UwWkRka1pHRmpPR1U1TlNnQSp6CAQiENQdjNmPALIE6YAJmOz4Qn4qZAgAIhDUHYzZjwCyBOmACZjs-EJ-Kk4ICiJIQ0FFU01HaDBkSEE2THk5elpYUm9aMjlrYVc0dWRIbHdaWEJoWkM1amIyMHZjMlYwYUhOZllteHZaeTloZEc5dExuaHRiQ2dBUAFQAQ

Staying ahead

Some good advice here about being strategic.  Project management is always challenging. One idea referenced here is moving away from a plan of it never going to cut the mustard. HBR.org Daily: Three Imperatives for Good Project Managers. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwpYO-lRo

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.

Healthy food for the boarders

Our Challenge is to create an ORIGINAL

healthy food LUNCH recipe that could be easily made in mass 

production in the Southwell School kitchen for the boarders. 

You will be assessed on your knowledge of healthy foods, your 

planning and cooking skills and your understanding of how your 

recipe will affect the students who are eating it.







What Do we need to do next?

Decide on a meal type. 

How will it be cooked?
What makes it healthy?
What makes it tasty?
Name three ingredients.