Learning Never Stops

I came across this video, which was indeed funny and scary, from a tweet this evening which really pinpoints the dilemma teachers face. The mechanical male voice droning out the teacher expectations and the sane female voice of reason , though sexist, drives home the message quite clearly. As a teacher, I do feel the pressure of covering the curriculum. I am aware of parent expectation( though I am very often disappointed by the lack of commitement on their part. They seem to think i'ts the teachers job to get it all done). I know the pressure that the management is under when the kids don't score too well in standardized tests. But because of this rush (what train are we catching?! what flight are we missing?!), we are forgetting that learning has to be spontaneous, fun and must go at the pace of the child and teacher. If the teacher is not comfortble, will the students be? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVXhA_hs2J8&feature=player_embedded

This is a document in progress. I enjoyed creating it and feel like sharing! Inquiry 6 Weeks Plans

By nainisingh View this Toon at ToonDoo Create your own Toon

While school is on, there is very little time to sit down and reflect. There are endless PDs to rush to and lots of editing to do. I agree with a twitter buddy of mine when he said that twitter was the best pd he had ever had. True.I have learnt so much though my twitter buddies! I relish the mid term holidays which allows me to reflect and try out new things.and this is what i will share with whoever wants to read this post! I created a weebly website as part of the next summative assessment. The students will go through all the phases of the inquiry cycle (tuning in/wondering stage, Investigation stage, construction stage etc). When they are in the Express phase of the cycle, they will use the new website to design a page for their ecosystem. They are encouraged to use multimedia in the page. The parents can clearly see the requirements and there is a caveat for them asking them to stay clear when it comes to them helping the kids out (at this phase)! Check out the site...

How can you teach something you are not excited about? As a PYP teacher, I need to convey excitement and enthusiasm to my students and the only way to do this is to be excited about a new unit myself. I am not a student of history and since my next unit, Old is Gold is all about the past, I plunged headlong into it. I borrowed enough books to last me the mid term holiday. I am reading all about the history of Mombasa. It is fascinating. As I keep reading, new ideas keep coming to me. I am all set to try them out in class. This is a unit where kids will study artifacts and ask "fat" questions; where they will analyse, interpret and reconstruct the past. So what types of activities will promote these understandings? I will be creating centers in my class. In one center, the kids will be watching YouTube videos on the life of archaeologists, or observe what goes on in a historical site. In another another center, they will draw arti...

I have not written for a while. Just getting to know my kids and spending quality time with the new lot.Setting classroom rules and making sure they work before I attempt to get down to brass tacks. Being a PYP teacher, with 24 kids in the class and no intern, is no easy task.There are times when I raise my hands, pull my hair and feel like the figure in Edvard Munch's 'The scream'! There are children with different demands, learning styles and the problem is that I am keenly aware of this. Needless to say I feel miserable. However, stress and frustration can easily be felt by the students and so I have to find ways and means of getting around this problem. And that is why I love technology and yoga. The two together pack a mean punch:) Early morning breathing and meditating to calm the kids (and um, myself) and then something as simple as google docs can make everything so easy. Our school has assigned each teacher a task: Find a topic about our teaching practice ...