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Insight Full
HINT: Click on the images below to follow the links on the internet. www .future la b. or g.uk i s a t ota lly amaz in g site p ac ke d with resear ch , han db o o ks , a nd great p ract ica l i deas to b rin g c lass ro om s and tea ching c lo ser t o the w or ld stu dent s wi ll be enterin g . Set a si de s ome time t o g o d i gg in g thr ou gh their s ite and fin d load s of great materi a ls
Sti c kin g is a
with
the
Future of
Lab s vi deo s Mai n ly
theme , fo r in
www .y outube .c om/use r/Future la bEdu cati on b ri lliant out of c ollec ti on t he an d c las sroom. sh ort
gra bs , but m o st a re e x ce llent c on ver sation / le ss on starter s.
Sir Ken R ob ins on i s qui c k ly be c omin g an aca demi c su per star. Hi s name is po p pin g up in more c onve rsati on s with me - usu a lly abo ut hi s great v ide o s fro m pre sentati on s he ga ve at either the RS A (www. rsa .o rg ) or TE D (www .ted .o r g) . Sir with mar k, en ga gin g Ken t he ha s s ki lls a wo nde rfu l are neede d f or wa y of s ho win g or rea l and h ow life an an d
edu cati on
s ystem s
NOT
pr o vidin g
student s
a cademic
su c ces s at any le ve l. He is n ot on ly ri ght on the but wo nderfu lly with enterta inin g simp le p resenter i deas
o b ser vati on s.
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Example Excuses:
Some of the more common excuses include Ill do X once Y happens REALLY??!! Only because you know Y will never happen. We cant do A because of B & C REALLY??!! Ill put good money on B&C being tiny issues that are regularly used as scapegoats for most things We tried that before and it didnt work Well thats it then??!! If at first you dont succeed try, try again (except for skydiving ). I need to do up a plan and then hold a committee meeting to plan the steering group!! Some change eventually needs organisation around it, but that isnt how it starts. Get the ball rolling and then worry about the small stuff. Im afraid and so you should be all change is scary. History only records those who charged into the frightening unknown and championed changed for the better.
Challenge 1:
See if you can find all the ways that you put off doing important things / making important change. See if you can become a finely tuned excuse spotter.
HINTS:
You might want to turn on your excuse spotting in: your quite/alone times, when you are among others, lesson planning, committees, meetings, planning days, home life, teams or groups, and social activities.
Theres no need to shout out when you hear someone making excuses, take note and then try and work to remove the barrier they (or you) have been pretending is stopping the change from going ahead.
Its time I actively fought excuses so I can make important things happen for my students, school, and community.
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Watch this!
The War on Kids was the first recent educational the first doco that I remember straight seeing to went the
So is
this full
one of of
will first
really hand
tug
at
your and and all
heart strings! Waiting for Superman stories Its not journeys education young students alike.
crux of the problems. The comparisons between prisons and schools wasnt just an off the was cuff statement with every recent claim illustrated
reformers
just sad or tense stories, the doco also brings some frightening stats and bigger picture exposs that leave you shaking your head at just how much adults are messing up a system that will dictate
examples, interviews, or news stories to back up their points. The puts biggest to challenge is that we this take film the
our societies future. Students wanting to learn are hindered at every step by selfish adults and the systems they create to make life easier for themselves. Schools trying to make things better still measure their impact by how many tens they students of have let or drop out, of hope how a a many people proper thousands loose any young for
adults
that
easy way out when it comes to paving the way for the next generation. Some of how the mirrors run it holds up how inspire, shows we the unforgivable way adults set examples by they schools, than provide that the than medications sedate with for young people and
rather
obsession schools and governments have controlling students rather educating them.
without
education
bright future.
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As I went to check my favourite UK video site for education (Teachers TV in the the TV UK), station I found the the online UK site, government had stopped funding both and forcing them both to close. The 3,500 videos for be site schools, which and provide amazing in lives a to new insights can now of its at everyone found with involved students through ambitions and forward reach to education, number grow content
different sites. SchoolsWorld.tv is one offerings Looking internationally.
http://www.schoolsworld.tv/videos/
To Do:
1. Watch War on Kids Get Angry. 2. See Waiting for Superman Get Inspired. 3. Trawl SchoolsWorld.TV Get Educated.
4. Search YouTube for vids Get Experimental.
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No-Tech Classes.
Isnt technology just the greatest thing ever? Technology is only ever meant to be something that helps us get on with doing our jobs making the world a better place, serving communities, & creating better stuff. While many teachers try and avoid technology because they arent yet used to it, others rely heavily on computers at every opportunity. There is a time to use technology, and a time to go No-Tech. Before you run off & get the class to create a Power Point Presentation, an Excel Spreadsheet, or start them copy and pasting from Wikipedia, see if other options might be a better learning experience.
Would role playing a problem/solution be a better idea? How about giving the students the chance to create a fantasy world where none of the current preconceived ideas or facts hold true? Maybe let the students scrawl ideas and questions on bits of scrap paper, spread them around the floor and then sit amongst the mess and pass stuff around as they find it. Instead of heading to Google, get the students to come up with a plan of inquiry that involves real people classmates, experts they need to call or go and talk to? Building people skills, tactile or auditory methods of problem solving, and Blue Sky Thinking (going beyond the current boundaries) may be a needed change from hitting the computer again. ------------------------
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Blue Sky Thinking.
Blue Sky Thinking is when you put aside accepted beliefs, venture into free thought, & potentially change the world.
There are many classical examples of Blue Sky Thinking that we now just take for granted: Copernicus Model of the Universe, Newtons Theories on Gravity, Einsteins Theory of Relativity, and The invention of the washing machine, lightbulb, and telephone. These are amongst many examples that have had massive changes on our understanding of the world and what is possible. Every bit of Blue Sky Thinking required these people to put aside currently held beliefs and try to imagine what would be possible if that idea was wrong. Below are a few examples of more modern day examples that all started with one person thinking beyond the current beliefs. Speed of Sound
It was a few stubborn pilots & engineers who put accepted wisdom aside & broke the belief that travelling faster than sound was impossible & unsafe. The first recorded manned flight faster than the speed of sound was in 1947 by Chuck Yeager.
Womens Rights
It wasnt until the turn of the 20 t h Century that the long held belief that women should have less rights than men was seriously challenged. A notion that now holds in most societies around the world & has changed the face of society & the economy forever.
The Internet
The Modern Wonder that is the Internet has been a string of Blue Sky Thinking. People keep reimaging what is possible & then create it in lightning fast time. Technologies, business models & methods to connect people productively are evolving daily.
Nuclear Energy
Possibly the greatest destructive & creative force that humanity has harnessed lies in the power of the atom. People continue to think of new ways to capture this power safely, even as examples of destruction keep occurring.
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1.
How can we make this fun?
Its the age old problem in any topic - We know the more entertaining and fun a class is the more students will learn and remember. Why should it be up to you to find all the ideas?
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2.
What if all these things were wrong? Science is all hard and fast facts right? Actually things are always changing in the world of science because some brave scientist asks What IF?? and then discovers a flaw in the accepted wisdom.
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3.
What have I forgotten to teach you? Inspiring a whole class of enquiring minds is no easy task. Starting a chain reaction amongst a class can start from just one question posed to them that catches them out of the blue and starts the spark of self directed learning.
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1 2 3
Goto www.newabcs.com/competitions
Use the free module 00 "Captains of Tomorrow" to challenge your students to become innovators.
Post images, stories, & video links from your class.
At the end of each month the school that impresses our panel the most will WIN Module 01 ; Making Good Money.
(Valued at 115 / US$175)
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