Tag: teaching

• Professional Learning: Does it work?

  I have been doing some research lately into Training Evaluation, and quite unexpectedly have become intrigued at how we measure professional development and whether it really works. A lot of time, money, effort, resources, blood, sweat, and tears goes into PD. We as educators provide and receive PD regularly, but does it change our learning […]

  Deborah McCallum

  December 30, 2016

  professional development

  Big Ideas in Education, Learning, Learning Culture, Learning Transfer, professional development, teaching, Training, Training Evaluation

• Syrian Refugees: Allowing Stories to be told in the Classroom

  I have begun to think about how I would make sure that my practice is fair for helping Syrian Refugees in classrooms. First, I don’t know their stories, and can’t ever own them either. I think that there is pressure for teachers to know all, and be in complete control of the underlying stories that […]

  Deborah McCallum

  February 28, 2016

  Big Ideas in Education, social justice

  Classrooms, education, social justice, Stories, Syrian Refugees, teaching

• The Underlying Stories we tell in Education

  There are underlying stories that come to life when we look at what we teach and why we teach it. We as educators choose who will speak, what information will be highlighted, how the curriculum will come to life. We essentially choose what underlying stories we will tell when we choose whose voices will prevail.  […]

  Deborah McCallum

  February 21, 2016

  Big Ideas in Education

  Anti-oppressive education, Big Ideas in Education, curriculum, Inclusion, Learning, Normalized teaching, Privilege and oppression, Storytelling, teaching

• 14 Considerations for Inquiry Based Learning

    Inquiry is essential. The fact is that students come to school with partial knowledges.  But the curriculum documents themselves do not address the parts that students know or don’t know. It has been built to present to us about the privileged people and only the most successful moments in history according to those people. […]

  Deborah McCallum

  February 20, 2016

  Big Ideas in Education, Inquiry Based Learning

  assessment for learning, Big Ideas in Education, curriculum, feedback, Feedback Friendly Classroom, Geography, History, Inquiry, Inquiry Based Learning, Knowledge Building, Learning, Pedagogy, social studies, Student Knowledge, teaching

• In support of Libraries for Academic Success & Equity

  

  Libraries are essential in building academic success and equity in our schools and learning environments. This is very easy when staff and students come from similar backgrounds and share similar languages, experiences and expectations. But what about the ‘others’? The one’s who do not share similar experiences, expectations, languages, and backgrounds? First, what does it […]

  Deborah McCallum

  February 7, 2016

  Big Ideas in Education, Library

  academic success, assimilation, citizenship, curriculum, dominant culture, dominant power structures, Equity, Flexible spaces, Historic injustices, Instructional Strategies, Learning, Librarianship, Library, makerspaces, Privilege and oppression, Resource acquisition, Teacher-Librarian, teaching, welcoming environments

• Innovation for New Pedagogies and Education Spaces

  

  I have been thinking a lot lately about the deeper ‘why’ behind the need for innovation in education. The deeper WHY behind the need for new spaces and also new initiatives including, but not limited to, makerspaces and genius hour. While I have led initiatives like these before, and believe in them, I wanted to […]

  Deborah McCallum

  January 29, 2016

  21st Century Learning, Big Ideas in Education

  Big Ideas in Education, education, Equity, FNMI, FNMI students, genius hour, innovation, Learning, makerspaces, new spaces for learning, oppression in education, social justice in education, spaces, teaching

• Socially Transforming the Classroom

  

  What does it mean to be normal? How can we tell if new and innovative tasks and pedagogies are truly authentic – or just considered authentic because it fits into our privileged views of what normal is? Innovation. New Pedagogies. Digital literacies. 21st Century Learning Skills. How do we make sure we are not just […]

  Deborah McCallum

  January 23, 2016

  Big Ideas in Education

  Big Ideas in Education, classism, culturally relevant teaching, culture, Curriculum Change, digital literacy, education, Equity, heterosexualism, innovation, knowledge, Learning, new pedagogies for deep learning, Normal, oppression, Power, Privilege, racism, reflections on inequity, sexism, teaching, welcoming environments

• Is Assessment also an Inquiry?

  

  Assessing reading ability is a very difficult task. This is because reading is very complex. What exactly are readers doing when they read? How do they understand what they read? At this day in age, I think we are more aware that reading is one of the most important skills that we need. It is […]

  Deborah McCallum

  December 13, 2015

  Assessment, Big Ideas in Education

  assessment, Big Ideas in Education, Inquiry, Learning, Literacy, Portfolios, reading, Reading Assessment, Reading Needs, reading strategies, Student needs, teaching