Tag Archives: thinkdrive

Activities and professional development in 2023 at your fingertips! – #readilearn

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Article by Gerard Alford, director of itc publications and thinkdrive.

With 2022 rapidly drawing to a close, it’s now time to start thinking about ideas for 2023.  Let’s explore some now!

Students love to participate in classroom decoration. Building on this, why not create a fish-themed classroom with aligned class activities. It will grow an appreciation for the majestic waterways, rich reefs and sea life that surrounds us.

You could also, on day one, set expectations by asking students: what sort of teacher would you like me to be this year? And then add the follow-up question: well, what type of student will you try to be?

Another great way to relate to students while also relaying important educational content is to focus lessons or classroom systems around the concept of sports and pastimes.

For example:

  • What are the chances? Students rate the chances of an outcome occurring using the terms, Will happen, Might happen, Certain. E.g., Next year, no one in our class will play a sport with a ball.
  • Systems of Communication – using umpire signals for a sport, what is the umpire communicating? E.g., Start of a game, high tackle, etc.
  • Sporty names: Using sporting team names to introduce or revisit the sounds and names of letters.

Inspired to incorporate some or all of the activities and concepts above? May I suggest the itc 2023 Early Years teachers’ diary, the itc innovative teachers’ companion. This diary has the usual planning and recording materials; however, it also contains an array of specialist K-2 lesson ideas and professional readings – including a full breakdown of the ideas touched on above!

There are also professional readings on:

  • Health and wellbeing tips
  • Phonics and word knowledge
  • Puppet play
  • Cooperative learning
  • And much more!

The activities have been assembled by a large team of writers, including Norah Colvin from readilearn, and the activities are referenced and aligned to the Australian curriculum and the Early Years Framework.

Continue reading: Activities and professional development in 2023 at your fingertips! – readilearn

Thinking Tools – facilitating deeper discussion in the Early Years – #readilearn

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Article by Gerard Alford, Director of itc publications and thinkdrive and collaborator on readilearn.

As announced last week, I am delighted to introduce Gerard Alford and the first of his series of guest posts for readilearn.

Gerard is a very experienced and respected education consultant, author and education resource developer. He is passionate in promoting high-order thinking and cooperative learning through engaging and effective evidence-based teaching methods. His teaching resources inspire and support busy teachers in creating engaging pedagogy and time-saving strategies to encourage successful student outcomes. 

The worth of using thinking tools is well documented; they provide a clear pathway for students to complete a given task, provide students the means to organise their research and thoughts in a systematic way, and provide teachers with a clear insight into their student’s thinking.

That said, can thinking tools also be used to facilitate deeper discussion in the Early Years? I believe so, and here’s an example in action.

Your students have just read two texts: Humpty Dumpty and Little Miss Muffet, and you now have asked them to compare these texts.

Exactly what they compare (similarities and differences) will depend on the Year level; however, at a minimum, students will be comparing the events and the characters in the texts while also sharing their feelings and thoughts (as per ACELT1783).

Continue reading: Thinking Tools – facilitating deeper discussion in the Early Years – readilearn

teaching critical and creative thinking and cooperative learning in the classroom

Teaching critical and creative thinking and cooperative learning in the classroom – readilearn

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Need ideas for teaching critical and creative thinking and cooperative learning in the classroom? Find out how thinkdrive can support your teaching.

We are all aware of the importance of teaching critical and creative thinking and of providing opportunities for cooperative learning in the classroom. We know that critical and creative thinking are considered essential for life in the 21st century and, for this reason, form one of the general capabilities embedded in the Australian Curriculum. The ability to contribute productively to a team effort is also considered a highly desirable skill. These abilities are often more highly regarded by employers than academic achievement.

However, in a busy classroom with content to be taught and tests to be administered, timetables to be followed and schedules to be kept, and with ever-increasing standards to be achieved, planning for lessons developing critical and creative thinking that engage children in cooperative learning can be the item on the list that rolls over from week to week.

I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that way. Help is close at hand with thinkdrive. If you are not already familiar with itc thinkdrive, I recommend you take a look.

itc thinkdrive

Continue reading: Teaching critical and creative thinking and cooperative learning in the classroom – readilearn