Learning in the 21st Century

Introduction At the beginning of 2017 a friend & colleague of mine who runs the Environmental Club at the school where I work, was invited to be part of a project with the WWF to reduce carbon emissions. The focus of project was environmentally sound changes in school transport. School transport is a major contributer to carbon emissions in the economy and the hope was that this project could generate insight into what changes or shifts could be effected to reduce emissions. I became involved in the project because of my connection to Carynn and my shared values as regards the importance of sustainable societies and preservation of the natural environment. I also felt like I could learn a lot from being involved in the Data Analysis component of the project. Getting Going Our first task was to assemble all the those involved for a physical meeting. This happened at WGHS in January 2017 and the main focus was to determine the project goals. The meeting included people f...

I always find that keeping prolonged attention in the classroom is a difficult task. One of the best tools I have found for keeping classes engaged over extended periods of time is the concept of a break break. Brain Breaks are simple 1-2 minute mind and body challenges that release focus for a short period time to allow for longer more productive periods of learning. Credit to the Website  http://brainbreaks.blogspot.co.za/  as a lot of the material below is just reinterpreted for my context. Pen Flipping Brain Break: Use the following steps: 1. Stand Up. 2. Take a pen and flip it ONE REVOLUTION. (Imagine a piece of tape on one end of the pen, then throw the pen from the tape side. Have the pen go one full turn around to get to the tape side again) 3. Now do the same thing with your other hand. 4. Now get a pen for both hands and try to do both pens at the same time. 5. If you really are good at that, then try to throw the pens up into the air and catch them...