When I was 30 my grandmother died. I had spent the first 20 years of my life with her living in my family home along with my parents and siblings. Her death changed me and the direction my life took.
It became an all-consuming passion - family outings at weekends were usually picnics in cemeteries where I would transcribe headstones and take photographs. I probably spent thousands of dollars on certificates and I gave up collecting stamps to collect relatives. Over the years my research was transferred from one computer programme to another starting with a BBCMaster computer in 1984 to now having a tree of over 5000 names on my iPhone. The thrill of the chase was obsessive - the urge to fit the pieces of the jigsaw was all consuming. My siblings feigned interest - my parents labelled me the family historian.
As time passed new ancestors were discovered and the tree grew. But it was more than the names and dates I wanted - I wanted to know their stories, what made these ancestors tick, what made them make the decisions they did? It became more than researching the individual it became about researching the context of the communities they lived in - the parish, the county and the country. These are the communities that have defined me.
Today I carry those ancestors around in my head, they run through my thoughts daily, I can picture them - even those I have never seen a photograph of. I have my favourites. They make me who I am and the knowledge I have of them makes me complete.
I don't expect many of you will ever have the passion I had to get to know your ancestors. Maybe genealogy is not your thing. But do talk to your parents and grandparents before it's too late. Grab the opportunity to ask them their stories, ask them about their daily life as a child and get them to tell you about their grandparents. Everyone has a story and all those stories matter. History only remembers the celebrated but genealogy remembers them all. ~Jane Smallfield
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A huge amount of time, effort, dedication, passion, and perseverance was poured into this application. Thanks and congratulations go not only to the people who contributed in a direct way to this document, but also everyone involved in the school in their various capacities over time. Everyone who has a relationship with this school has contributed their part to OGHS being a place dedicated to providing equitable opportunities for all learners to achieve excellence in their pursuits. Below is the student led video which accompanied our application.
Come and join us in our natural habitats. Here, on any given day, you could observe Cheree doing her most recent Zumba move, Jill removing spinach from her teeth, Sue shaking her head and Anne scratching hers. In all that we do, our ultimate goal is to support the school staff and students in all that they do, as well as striving to achieve peace, love and harmony.
If you wake up in the middle of the night in a state of panic as you have suddenly forgotten to keep the delightful office staff up to date, don’t worry! We are an understanding bunch and can easily be bribed with flowers chocolate or wine.
~Lynsey Northey I’m showing my age here – I remember when blogs first started appearing. Up until recently I haven’t really followed many blogs. However now I’ve discovered they can be informative, controversial, funny and entertaining. There are even knitting blogs! Recently, I’ve found a mathematician that I think is worth following – regularly. Something that bothers me as I’m teaching is the large number of people – students, teachers, friends, who have maths anxiety. As a maths teacher this bothers me greatly, especially when I see parents with maths anxiety who have infected their children from an early age. Maths is NOT difficult.
So back to maths anxiety. This tends to hold girls back more than boys. So it limits life options for girls much more than boys. It limits career options, ability to take part in any debate where arguments are based on numerical data, and ability to make decisions about money. In short, it limits your ability to play your part as a citizen. Basic competence in maths should be a human right and is definitely a life skill.
So what to do? Everyone can do their bit. Here’s a list if you want to take part:
From another blog (Quartz ) I will leave you with this, and ask you “does it sound familiar?” For those who have taught maths (or any subject), we have seen the following pattern repeat itself:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cerdec/9525531960 ~Kris Claman
Another Thing?I was really inspired by Alex’s speech in assembly last week. I thought she did so well to frame the irony of our human resistance to change vs our desire to see progress around us. It’s an all too familiar story. Just when you think you’ve settled into this new routine, you’ve figured out the baby’s sleep patterns, you’ve adjusted to the new expectations… bam! They hit you with another change!! And so it all begins again. So what makes us so resistant to these changes? I don’t think age = cynicism quite covers all the bases. But I do think that there is a sense of ‘having been round this mountain before’. This new innovation that will supposedly revolutionise our lives is really just a rebranding of something we’ve seen before, right? Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. George Bernard Shaw
Resist Change or Drive it?So what makes us so happy to settle in with our comfortable way of doing things and bemoan anyone who comes along and tries to shift us? I think the answer lies in our sense of what is being changed. Everyday we are in the classroom with our students doing our subject area (I don’t say teaching because on any given day we could be facilitating all sorts of learning experiences). We know them. We know what they enjoy, we know what music they listen to, we know when they are engaged. And we know when we need to make changes to adapt to the needs of our students. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela ![]() As teachers, we are also designers. We are the ones who design our curriculums and learning experiences (here is a bit more about design thinking if you’re interested). The first steps for designers is to consider the constraints or limitations that are in place around them. What can you change? What elements are you in control of? What limits can you push, which ones are fixed? What changes can you make? So, sick of change?When you put it in that order, change initiatives should be driven from the classroom. From the needs of our students (oooh, that sounds suspiciously like our new inquiry model), and from our goals to see their outcomes improve. Innovative practice from within the classroom should be what leads changes in school. Progress doesn’t come from policy and procedures, progress comes when groups of people decide that it is time to make a change. And we're not the only ones that feel like this either! Just google: Learning to Change - Changing to Learn Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. Barack Obama ~Amy-Lee Budd
These days, we have so many competing priorities, that it is often difficult to find the time to read. Some days I don't even feel I have the time to read a tweet! let alone keep up with the latest research in education. One way I'm managing to do this, and keep up with learning about things I'm interested in amongst everything I do, is to listen to a podcast while on my weekly walk (yes, I know, I should exercise at least 3x per week... I'm working on that one). The drive to school is also a good time for this (unless you have energetic kids in the car). I'll also freely admit, that sometimes the thought of professional reading tends to wake up my inner "procrastination monkey" who will find that very moment to suggest something much more "easy and fun" to do. I've found podcasts are a great way for me to placate the "panic monster", while still enjoying other more mundane and leisurely activities, like going for a walk or doing the dishes. *Check out the above video of Tim Urban's TED Talk, "Inside the mind of a procrastinator". (No prizes for guessing how I came across this video!) My favourites...The podcasts below are a small selection of ones that I personally find very interesting, informative, and often amusing. I encourage you to check them out. [click on image to go to site] [click on image to go to site] [click on image to go to site] [click on image to go to site] Use the comments section below to share your favourite pod casts! ~ Rowan Taigel
I have a confession to make. I have never actually kept a blog. Not a 'real' publicly accessible one where people I knew would read it. Why is this? Because a small, insidious voice inside my head whispers things like, "who would want to read anything I have to say?", "anything I write about, someone will have already written before... and better", "what if people judge me?" and "I don't have time to write one anyway". I expect my students to take a risk, try new things and keep practising until they feel comfortable, and even confident, at doing whatever it is I've suggested. I say things to them like, "come on guys, fail forward!", "F.A.I.L = First Attempt In Learning!", "You can do it! I believe you can!". I try to do every activity they do in class so they see that I do "practice what I preach". "So what is my deal with blogging", I wondered?
I quickly googled Carol Dweck's work on Growth Mindset to self-assess: There it was. Clear as day.
https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/09/24/never-too-late-creating-a-climate-for-adults-to-learn-new-skills/ This reflection took me back to a post I read a while ago about professional growth mindsets. Do we practice what we preach, and model what we expect in our students, with our colleagues? The post reminded me that:
The thing is, I have read many blogs, including blogs about blogging (very meta), as well as research about sharing your thinking with others, utilising a network to enhance your professional growth, and more. I do know how good this could be for me. I just need to shift my thinking. And so here it is: I am going to learn in front of you. I am going to blog on here for you all to see. BUT... I am also going to ask for a first follower... Someone to join me on here and share a post in the next couple of weeks. It can be about anything you're interested in. If you like, we can collaborate on a post. Who knows... we may start a movement! ~Rowan Taigel
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AuthorsWe'll have a variety of authors from OGHS over the year sharing their thoughts and experiences about education, teaching and learning Archives
June 2019
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