Sunday, 10 July 2011

The Basic Principles of the Learning Outside the Classroom Programme

The Learning Outside the Classroom

At its simplest, Learning Outside the Classroom involves young people moving outside their immediate and accustomed environment to learn from first-hand experiences. Wherever young people learn, from the ages of 0 to 19, learning outside the classroom has a part to play as an integral element in that learning. All young people should experience learning outside the classroom and its benefits as a central aspect of the learning experience, the curriculum and the courses they are engaged with.

By stepping outside the classroom the opportunity exists to transform learning and raise achievement. Learning outside the classroom allows participants to learn in context, to learn by practical engagement, and to learn by personal discovery. Students can master new skills, work collaboratively with others and develop a better sense of themselves and their potential. There really is no limit to where the earning Outside the Classroom can take place. Give it a try!

Thursday, 7 July 2011

Benefits of Teaching Art to Preschoolers

Teaching art with preschoolers has many benefits and offers them a fun, hands-on way to explore, learn, and develop.

Art and craft projects offer children an opportunity to express emotions, creativity, and imagination. Additionally, these hands-on activities can foster a sense of achievement. The use of markers, crayons, paintbrushes, and even scissors help to improve small motor skills and develop hand-eye coordination.

Art and craft projects can be a cross curriculum activity; giving concrete learning to conceptual teaching. Art related vocabulary: As projects introduce different techniques and activities; there is also opportunity for the introduction of new vocabulary such as: texture, collage, and pattern.

Learning colors is a preschool focus. Experimenting with primary colors to create secondary colors is fun, hands-on science. A sample of how art reinforces science would be if you were teaching about polar bears, you could offer a coloring page. You could introduce texture to the project by having your preschooler tear a paper towel to glue on as the snow-covered ground, add a layer of wax paper to be the ice, cut out the polar bear and glue it on.

Tuesday, 5 July 2011

Teaching in the 21st Century English Classroom

"Inquiry" and "Project-Based Learning" are some of the catch phrases being thrown around to describe the shift that is happening in some classrooms around the nation. The goal is to deliver more effective learning experiences for our students. For me those terms can be boiled down to one thing, choice- giving students the opportunity to learn what they want, and how they want to learn it. Essentially, these changes will create inquiry and Project-Based learning. Which is something that I wish had occurred to me to do years ago, but I'm dealing with it!

Saturday, 2 July 2011

The Young Teacher's Guide To Internet And Assessment

This article is designed as a starting point for young teachers new to using the internet as a tool in their assessment. Being proficient at using the internet itself, is not a guarantee that you will immediately succeed in using it for assessment. Nor is being inexperienced with using the internet going to prevent you from using it to create an effective assessment task.

The advice that follows is the culmination of my experience introducing the internet as an assessment tool during the late 1990s and the early 2000s. It is important to understand that my staff and I began with varying degrees of experience with the internet.

Below is the advice I would offer to a young teacher joining my staff in the first year of his/her career.