Picks of the week from across the Twitter-sphere
As signs start to appear of what physically being back in the classroom might look like for the start of the 2020/21 academic year, it is time to at least turn our attention slowly from our next home-workout and planning for the re-introduction to classroom life.
As signs start to appear of what physically being back in the classroom might look like for the start of the 2020/21 academic year, it is time to at least turn our attention slowly from our next home-workout and planning for the re-introduction to classroom life.
WAGOLL Teaching is a website and YouTube Channel created by UAE based Primary Deputy Head Ben Cooper, with the simple ethos of “sharing great, simple teaching ideas with a global teaching community.”
With the new academic year starting to peak over the horizon, we thought the ‘NQT Help’ playlist on Ben’s YouTube Channel was especially useful for new trainee teachers taking their first steps into teaching. Starting a career is hard enough in normal circumstances, but doing so in a post Covid world is bound to make things extra stressful. Check out Ben’s videos for help and ideas to prepare for interviews, demystifying teaching jargon and preparing lessons.
A new kind of school in Roermond: Agora via HundrED.org
The unprecedented situation we have found ourselves in as a result of the pandemic has seen everyday life change beyond recognition. Perhaps in order to see our students flourish once again in a post Covid world, we’ll see the classroom setting change beyond recognition also?
That’s certainly the case at Agora College in Roermond, Helsinki. Agora College is a school with no classrooms and no curriculum. Students work in co-working spaces not dissimilar to offices we might associate with futuristic start-ups in Silicon Valley and start the day presenting to their peers (working groups have a range of ages from 12 to 16 years old) about their tasks and challenges to complete that day.
Admittedly, lots of the innovations taking place at Agora were not put in place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but much of the flexibility and openness to doing things differently championed there will be crucial in the coming months and years as education institutions look to bounce back.
Moving to a Hybrid Learning Model by @E_Sheninger
The need for flexibility is recognised by Eric Sheninger, a Principal and educational blogger from Texas who asserts, “business as usual just won’t cut it.” For many, schools in the model of Agora College might be the pinnacle, but in practise it’s simply not feasible…just yet.
Perhaps a more easily implemented plan could be Eric’s, Moving to a Hybrid Learning Model, which he defines as, “ traditional and non-traditional methodologies to improve education while ensuring that high-quality learning for all kids is the gold standard.” While Eric admits that elements of this idea have been embraced in education for sometime, it is the scaling up of this approach, leading to system wide transformation that he thinks can be make a real difference.
As always with this feature, we like to end with a quick and easy Mindfulness or Wellbeing task that you can do with your class at the start or end of a tough week. We love @TeachMissa’s Mindfulness Jar idea. Ask your students to fill the jar with things that make them happy and store them somewhere safe for when they need a little pick me up. Give it a go!
