FutureMakers Update, 27 June 2024

An item for my Kiwi readers.

FutureMakers Newsletter 27 June 2024 Ngā mihi o Matariki, te tau hou Māori! I realise that schools will be closed on Friday this week as we celebrate a national holiday for Matariki – so I’m sending this week’s newsletter out a day early. I hope you all enjoy the long weekend – seems many schools I know of could do with it at the moment as staff absences and illnesses are taking their toll. Ngā mihi In this newsletter… Free Matariki Resouces Bringing Back the Inkwells The Science of Learning Just for fun Free Matariki Resources I’m thinking this resource might have been more useful to share a few weeks ago – but it’s never too late to take time to update ourselves as educators about important parts of our country’s history – particularly when we have a national holiday to commemorate it. This collection of Free Matariki Resouces from my colleagues at Tatai Aho Rau/CORE Education provides a video with Dr Rangi Matamua, explaining the significance of Matariki – together with a range of resources suitable for using with your students. Bringing Back the Inkwells I was prompted to write this satirical blog after reading about so much of what is happening in our education system with the arguments around introducing things like structured literacy and cursive writing for example. I do attempt to provide a more reasoned focus on some of the ways we might usefully respond to ensure that, as education professionals, we continue to maintain the balance in our pedagogical appraoch that is informed by the best of theory and research. The Science of Learning I had the opportunity to present to members of the Kōkiritia Marauganga community this week in Auckland, speaking on the topic of the Science of Learning. This was an exciting group to engage with, representing a number of schools and kahui ako from across the Auckland region. It was a daunting task to speak on this topic to such an informed group, but I focused mainly on the historical development of what we now call the science of learning, emphasising the influences that have contributed to where we now find ourselves. You can access the slides from my presentation here. Just for fun… This video always reminds me of how important it is that we know each of our learners as indiviudals. Fifth-grade teacher Barry White Jr. of Ashley Park Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina, greets his students with special handshakes every day before they enter class. Imagine how this makes them feel each morning? Free Playbook Download your own free of Agency By Design: An Educator’s Playbook from the Aurora Institute Website and use this to help guide you and your staff/school through the process of creating a learning environment where learner agency can flourish. This playbook has been designed especially to be used either personally or as a focus for your professional learning community. You can download the whole book or separate chapters, and then capture your own notes and reflections in the areas provided in the text, But wait, there’s more… At FutureMakers we use a range of forums to curate good ideas and resources. Check out the following… Derek’s Blog – regular posts available on the FutureMakers website Previous newsletters – access all of the previous editions of the FutureMakers newsletter from this one place Resilient Schools Online Community – brought to you in partnership with Transcend My slideshows from recent presentations curated on SlideShare Hybrid Learning – a collection of resources on the FutureMakers website Learner Agency – another collection of resources on the FutureMakers website If you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter please feel free to forward it to others to read, or better yet, ask them to become a FutureMakers subscriber so they will receive their own updates delivered to their mailbox. Subscribe to The FutureMakers Newsletter I’m always interested to hear your feedback or ideas about what you’d like to see included in future newsletters – please use the link below to email me with your suggestions. Email Derek

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