Learning environment Archives - Learning with Mr. Lee

When you first decide to take the plunge into teaching, you have these wonderful visions of being Robin Williams’ character in Dead Poets Society and inspiring young people with your words of wisdom! Now don’t get me wrong, I still love to get up in front of a group of young people and deliver a motivational speech, however the longer I have taught, I have also realised those magical words generally lack any sort of long term impact.

Previously, I have written about How meeting your new class is like getting married on MAFS and that the initial impressions can set up or set off students for the rest of the year. So, with that sort of pressure, how do we set ourselves and our students up for success?

Continue reading “How I am teaching with more purpose and meaning this year – Part 1: Curriculum design for the whole person”

A lot of focus in education is put on the curriculum, teaching methods, the ability of the student and behaviour management. However, what is often neglected is teaching kids how to actually learn. We go straight into teaching the content, without thinking about how the students are actually going to learn.

Learning is the infinite superpower that we all have. Amazingly, our brain is able to continually absorb new information, no matter how old we are. We can learn even better when we put the magic COAT on! Every year there are different buzz words in education – critical thinking, 21st-century learners, pedagogy, grit, agile, bloom’s taxonomy, high-order thinking. All of those phrases have worked in various ways, I have tried to condense many of those aspects into COAT. The acronym that I have put together that will guide my teaching in order to ensure that my students learn! Continue reading “Learning = Superpower”