Archive for December, 2005

Arguing to Learn

"Confronting Cognitions in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Environments" Volume 1, Andriessen, J., Baker, M., and Suthers, D. (Ed) Kluwer Academic Publishers, ©2003. Summary Review We do not learn much by just listening to a teacher. We learn more by: Solving relevant, challenging and interesting problems By teaching others By having to defend a point of […]

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What and how to teach math?

The debate continues. In Connecticut, Dept of Education math consultant Dr. Charlene Tate-Nichols stirred up a public meeting on the teaching of mathematics. The usual things were aired, like: Kids today use calculators and when you use a calculator, you're divorced from the numbers. One guy trots out the Singapore mathematics model: Noting that Singapore […]

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Merry Christmas

Living in Singapore, you get a different view on religious "holy days". It's great here, really. We get to celebrate public holidays for Hari Raya (Muslim), Deepavali (Hindu), Chinese New Year and Easter & Christmas (Christian). Christmas is just as commercial here as in most countries, and is vital for local retailers. But it has […]

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Obesity & homophobic bullying

Some interesting statistics about UK school children... (from Grey's Essential Miscellany for Teachers, pp 26, 52.) 1. Common causes of bullying: being fat being thought of as gay 2. In Scotland, 20% of 12 yr-olds are clinically obese 1/3 is overweight 3. Homosexual adolescents are 2 to 3 times more likely to commit suicide or […]

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12 P.M. - say what?

There is no such thing as 12 P.M. We shouldn't use such a term for schedules.

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Creation or Evolution?

National Geographic is currently running a series on evolution, sponsored by IBM. The series is called "The Genographic Project". Part of IBM's input is to provide access to their vast computing resources for unlocking DNA information. The project is tracking DNA markers in peoples across the world and they have determined that humans arose in […]

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Managing Classroom Behavior

"A Reflective Case-based Approach" © Kauffman, J. et al, 2006 Summary Review Teaching ain't easy - you could almost say that a good teacher requires super-human talents. Included in those talents is the ability to control classroom behaviour. All students in a class need to have a safe environment where they can get on with […]

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Dos and Dont’s of Behaviour Management

A lot of teaching time is spent managing student behavior. Dos and Don'ts of Behaviour Management by Roger Dunn gives some insights.

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A good teacher…

According to Yr 8 students in Britain, a good teacher... is kind is generous listens to you encourages you has faith in you keeps confidences likes teaching students likes teaching their subject takes time to explain things helps you when you're stuck tells you how you are doing allows you to have your say doesn't […]

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Full archive

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