Blog
Quality PD for teachers: What It Looks Like And Why It’s So Necessary
Mentoring and Coaching for Teachers. There has been a lot of talk recently about the value of mentoring and coaching as professional development for teachers in K-12. That is, having experienced senior teachers assisting new or inexperienced teachers. The two latest...
EduTECH_AU 2019
We Teach Well was fortunate to receive a Global Victoria and EduGrowth sponsorship to the 2019 EduTECH conference in Sydney back in June. It was certainly an experience. I had been to other EdTech events but nothing came close to this. For Judy it was her first foray...
What is this ‘marking the roll’ problem?
Probably electronic roll marking will become de rigueur, but let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let us find other ways to ensure that every student hears their name spoken by an adult with respect, at least once in every lesson.
‘Soft Skills’ need a better PR Agent.
It is 3 years since I made my geriatric foray into the wonderful world of EdTech. Ok, maybe I am exaggerating the geriatric bit, but not much. As a woman in her 60s I often find myself as the oldest person in the room and often the room shows surprise at my...
Who will tackle the crisis in Education?
Teaching as a profession is facing a crisis. How are we going to fix it?
In Defence of Speaking
Just as literacy is fluency in reading and writing oracy is fluency in speaking and listening. The ability to convey thoughts and ideas orally in a way that others understand and to understand what others say.
Understanding Film Soundtracks
There are at least three standard tracks in any film soundtrack. Dialogue Music Effects Dialogue The dialogue is the backbone of the story. If the writing is not good or the dialogue is not delivered well it really doesn’t matter what else is good. There has...
The Value of Storyboards in the English classroom
It Began with Disney. In the early 1930s, when Disney was at the height of its creativity in cartoon animation, it was common practice for the artists working at the studio to pin their rough sketches onto bulletin boards. They would do this in order to visually...
Why are Archetypes Important in Film?
An archetype is an original model of something, what we may call a prototype. According to television producer Aaron Spelling there are only 5 stories and they have all been told. The job of the modern producer or filmmaker is to find new ways of telling them. These 5...
How Much of What We See Is Real?
This post is a little shorter than the last ones have been, but the subject matter is critical to teaching film in our classrooms. It is important to remember that our students have never lived in a world without television and film. For them the visual mediums are...