Mindfulness Online Course

On the weekend, via Twitter,  I was alerted to a  free six week online mindfulness course from Monash University  called Mindfulness for Well Being and Performance. It is hosted by well known experts Dr Craig Hassad from Monash University and Dr Richard Chambers.
Craig is a General Practitioner and Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and has authored nine books including Mindful Learning with Dr Richard Chambers.
Dr Richard Chambers is a clinical psychologist specialising in mindfulness. He was involved in the development of the Smiling Mind smartphone app designed to make mindfulness accessible to more people.
The course starts on the 14th September and runs for six weeks and requires approximately two hours of your time each week
To register, click here

The course offers background information and practical strategies for bringing mindfulness into your personal and professional life.
I have enrolled in this  course and look forward to learning about this important way of living. Hopefully it will help me get a better night's sleep!!

Digital Games and Learning

Mindshift has just put out this excellent guide to digital games and learning. It provides:

• an overview of games in the classroom
• what the research says about gaming
• selection criteria for choosing games suitable for your classroom
• examples of how teachers are using games in their classrooms

Click on the image above to access the guide.

The Science of reading on Screens

 

Click on the image above to read the interesting article about how reading on screen changes how we read. Many researchers are saying that  reading onscreen encourages non linear reading - basically skimming. I must admit I  had to make a conscious effort to read the article deeply  and not skim! It is a basic  summary of research done that  focuses on  reading on screens and includes the attitudes we bring, fatigue and our culture of technology use. It also includes information on the reading brain and how we learn to read and decode.

 

2015 Author in Residence

Last week we were delighted to have author, Michael Gerard Bauer, visiting  us for two days  as the ISC's 2015 "Author in Residence." It was also great to have Michael here to  help us celebrate Book Week. Our Year 7,8 and 9 students responded very positively to Michael who is such an engaging presenter. Our Book Club members also enjoyed having the opportunity to have  lunch with Michael, asking him many questions about his writing and just "hanging out" with him during their lunch break

 

Growth Mindset Videos

The video above is worth watching as it demonstrates how a classroom teacher normalises struggle in her Grade 2 classroom so that students don't feel bad if they don't understand. She says "everyone is going to feel stuck. Everyone is going to feel challenged by it". It is inspiring hearing students commenting on how they are growing their brains.



The above video explains how learning a language can make your brain bigger, improving cognitive function.I found it interesting to hear how languages derived from  Latin are so much more easier to learn than Japanese.Japanese was rated as one of the hardest of langauges to learn.

National Maths Day

Friday the 21st August was National Maths Day and Scootle has put together a collection of their most favourite maths resources. Click on the image below and use your own Scootle details to access.

AISTL Resources

 

 

With classroom observations and "walk throughs" now  firmly established in our own Professional Learning Practice, you might like to check out AITSL's newly released resource called Classroom Strategies Resource. It provides "how to" instructional guides and accompanying videos for a range of observation strategies including peer observation,walk throughs, instructional rounds, videos of practice and instructional coaching.

 

Click the image above to explore the site.