Lise Sercombe

Beating a path for our students

lisesercombe — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:48:57 +0000

Stephen Heppell discusses how teachers can engage their students by personalising learning.

Blog On

lisesercombe — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:17:16 +0000

It has been a long time since my last post. I have spent a great deal of time on my macbook collaborating with many teachers. I have neglected my blog. Well I must find a way to incorporate my learning here. This is my midyear resolution!

Teaching In the 21st Century

lisesercombe — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:25:55 +0000

There are many interesting ideas presented in this video. Will look at some of these in more depth.

more about "Teaching In the 21st Century", posted with vodpod

Learning to change, changing to learn

lisesercombe — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:43:17 +0000

Thanks to the magic of Twitter, I received a link to this video originally posted on SchoolTube. The video features several educators with some great points. Worthwhile video for discussion with a group of teachers about the whole notion of change.

National Standards

lisesercombe — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:14:22 +0000

National standards and testing is a topic of interest for educators in many parts of the world. The following article from Education Week provides food for thought.

via Education Week: Debunking the Case for National Standards.

Our Students

lisesercombe — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:54:49 +0000

I am interested in the characteristics of the different generations. Defining generations can fence people in and I have experienced this myself. I happily for the greater part of my life believed myself to be Gen X only to be reassigned to Baby Boomers without any consultation or permission! It has affected the way that I think others view me and this worries me a bit.

So back to my real purpose of looking at some of the commonalities and expectations of the current students of our primary schools. What is the name of the primary school generation born after 2000? Are these students different to the Gen Ys? If our lives are shaped by the world we live in then the answer would have to be yes. Think of the changes in technology and the political climate of the world since 2000.

I started teaching in 1999 and the tools of trade have changed even in the conservative, budget-constrained environment of school. The gadgets and gizmos that I use in my home are at most a few years old. My home answering machine hasn’t been used in years and even my email inbox is becoming old-fashioned. I SMS, blog, Facebook and increasingly Twitter to communicate with just about everyone I know professionally and personally. The only phone calls I make are to older relatives- the real Baby Boomers to my mind!

So this has become my world but because I have adapted and accommodated the vast changes along the way. However I still have the skills and knowledge of how things used to be and these come in handy still. I couldn’t imagine anything else for me.

So back to my quest for finding out as much as I can about this current generation of students just starting their formal education. How do they experience the world? As a teacher I need to know this as expertly as I know curriculum. How will I find this out? Easy! Get to really know our students- the current students starting in our classes this year.

Tertiary Education

lisesercombe — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:57:56 +0000

This may just be a rant because it is summer holidays and I’ve chosen to spend some of it at university but does it have to be so bad? Am I being unrealistic to want to be part of a vibrant learning community talking about cutting edge ideas? Why are students subjected to dull powerpoints and overheads? Why are we asked to participate in activities that don’t result in new learning? What can be done?

Feeling very uninspired and resentful that I have two more days to endure. Moan!

Twitter twitter tweet tweet

lisesercombe — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Twitter has been around for a while now but it has been only over the last week or so that I have become part of Twitterland and a fan. Even though I have only a few followers at the moment I have already become part of a terrific community of educators. I look forward to tweeting, learning and collaborating with interesting people from all over the world in the coming weeks and months.

Just in case you haven’t looked into Twitter yet, here is some great information that can explain and answer your questions. I believe that Twitter will greatly enhance my own professional learning. Maybe it can do that for you too.

Creativity of children and school

lisesercombe — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:57:33 +0000

Thanks to holiday browsing time I came across TED. One of the first videos was a long but entertaining talk by Ken Robinson about schools killing creativity. He doesn’t point the finger at teachers rather the creation of schools in the 19th century to meet the needs of industrialism. How many of us were steered away from creative pursuits as kids and told don’t take music at school because you won’t be a musician when you grow up. I won’t give this ‘benign’ advice to my students anymore!

By the way, I will be thoroughly exploring the TED talks. Very inspiring.

Teaching is a calling

lisesercombe — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:27:00 +0000

This video was played to a bunch of teachers who applauded at the end. It is a great example of teacher dedication don’t you think?

more about “Toby’s shock Exit From Australian Idol“, posted with vodpod