Kowhais too good to miss!

This is just a reminder for New Zealand teachers to ensure their students develop an awareness and understanding of the kowhai which is in full flower at present -although there seems a lots of individuality variety regarding flowering of kowhai.What do students know about the kowhai? Are they able to identify a kowahi?Visit a kowhai tree. While there students could record ideas to develop into a three line poem ( a simple version of a haiku). What are their thoughts about the flowers? the trunks and branches, and finally the petals lying on the ground.If teachers pick a few flowers students, back in class, can be encouraged to complete observational drawings of a flower. From this questions might emerge for students to research. Teach the...

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Posted in: Action Plans and Lessons

A great 'mini sudy' -whitebait.

A creative teacher should be aways on the alert for interesting things to introduce to his or her class. What do your students know about whitebait?The whitebait season is with us once again. What do your children know about whitebait?It would be great if you could acquire a few whitebait to keep in the class aquarium to study.If not access pictures of whitebait from the Internet of from reference books and make use of for research. Whitebait make an interesting 'mini study'. Such a study could be part of the literacy programme and an opportunity to introduce research reading and writing to the class. A small research booklet could result and include observational drawing and diagrams.First ask your students what they know about whitebait...

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Posted in: Action Plans and Lessons

Time for a Transformational vision?

Lovelock writes that the environmental problems facing humankind are of the same seriousness of that facing Great Britain 1939!It is at the ‘edge’ that all new learning occurs but it is not always a comfortable place to be. New ideas, in any area of life, are by their nature unsettling and to those in power can even be seen as heretical. Mind you, nothing wrong with heresy –all it means is having an alternative point of view.I think now is the time for a bit of courageous heresy as the current government is determined to impose National Standards in schools no matter the professional opposition and even though NZ currently does well in International literacy and numeracy testing. The government is well aware that National Standards have...

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Posted in: Big Picture,change,Leadership,Ministry NZCurric,Rants and Raves,School Vision,teaching and learning

Two great books

Two books worth having on the teachers shelf.One for principals and teachers- the other for teachers and principals.'Teaching the Best Practice Way' by Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar ( Stenhouse Publishing 2005)is a very practical book and it's approach very much in line with the New Zealand Curriculum. The authors present seven basic teaching structures that make classrooms more active, experiential, collaborative, democratic , and cognitive.Each chapter begins by describing one key method and follows up with practical classroom examples from early childhood to high school.The key methods they explain are not new and creative teachers will recognise them all. This book is and updated version and in this edition the authors have placed Reading...

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Posted in: inquiry learning,Integrated Learning,project based learning,teaching and learning

Oruaiti - the genesis of creative teaching.

I am off next week to present to the North Auckland Principal's Conference and it seems appropriate to give thought about the innovative creative teaching that emerged out of a small Northland rural school Oruaiti. The school's principal was Elwyn Richardson New Zealand's premier pioneer creative teacher.I will be within a short car drive from Oruaiti school next week. It is an opportunity for me to reflect on the writings of 1950s pioneer creative teacher and principal Elwyn Richardson. Elwyn's ideas have been a life long inspiration to me and are exactly what New Zealand teachers need to give thought to if they want to value creative teaching. In the forward to Elwyn’s publication 'In The Early World' John Melser writes that the book, ‘gives...

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Posted in: Creative teaching,Creative teaching Educationalists,Integrated Learning,Personalized Learning,teaching and learning

Heresy:learning doesn't have to centre around the curriculum.

One of the best 'emerging' lessons I have seen happened when one of the year one students showed his teacher his orange which was just beginning to decay with mould.This set off an interest in such things and for a while the classroom looked like it was the centre for rotting fruits and vegetables. A spectacular pumpkin took centre place. Students did regular drawing of the orange to follow the process.Digital cameras would have been useful. Our new curriculum says that 'intellectual curiosity' is the source of all learning. If this is the case then the role of the teacher is, as Jerome Bruner wrote, to practice the 'canny art of intellectual temptation.'Children are born with a disposition to learn. In the early year they are the closest thing...

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Posted in: Creative teaching,Creativity,inquiry learning,Integrated Learning,teaching and learning

Developing a creative mindset

After a visit to a patch of bush year 3/4 students re-imagined, with teacher help, ideas to develop into paintings. No one painting looked alike even though they all had the same theme - paint a big tree with vines, nikau palms, tree ferns etc. The teacher concerned focused on ensuring all students developed their own interpretations.All students can be helped to develop their imagination, or creativity, if their teachers think it is important.There are strategies teachers can use to help develop such creativity.Creative people, by nature, do not aways leap into the first or most obvious solution; they look around the problem and explore less immediate possibilities. This comes easier for some children but all students can improve their creativity...

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Posted in: Action Plans and Lessons,Creative teaching,Creativity,teaching and learning

Teaching and the creative process

To create a clay dinosaur the young artist (age 9)had to have some idea of what she wanted to make before she started and then have the skills to shape the idea in clay and finally to glaze the model.In this last process the young artist had the help of an adult potter who knew about glazes and resulting colours. The result, when it emerged from the kiln, was a moment of real excitement - a transformational experience.Creativity is a word often heard in classrooms but, all too often, what is called creative is often derivative or , through over teaching, the results for all students much the same. Quality maybe but not creativity.Creativity is all about making choices and the results should reflect the 'voice' or individuality of the students...

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Posted in: change,Creative teaching,Creativity,teaching and learning