The Lost Generation

An old friend sent this to me recently and I found it very, very clever and moving. As we all know a palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward.

Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite too.

This is only a 1 minute 44 second long video, but it is brilliant. Make sure you read it as well as listen...forward and backward.

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was titled "u @ 50" by AARP. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant.

Take a minute and watch it.

Progressive Education in the 1940's

Here is something different. For those that shake your heads at the education of today might like to have a look at this movie from the 1940's which is where it all came from. Controversial - not anymore; appropriate - yes. To think 27 years later this group of children put a man on the moon! Education must change with the times.

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21st Century Learning

With a new curriculum that is innovative in structure we are constantly trying to formulate learning that best suits the children as they prepare for their future. The days of replicating the classrooms of the 1960's are over and workspaces and jobs have changed dramatically over the last 17 years that I have been involved in education. I really like this short video on what the kids need to be aware of as they prepare for the new global village. Clearly they are advocating a learning environment that promotes competition with themselves so they are working at full potential and collaboration and cooperation with their colleagues. This video encourages teachers to be creative in nature and introduces the concept of the global schoolhouse - all possible in today's world. . ENJOY......

Learning for the future

Looking at this wave power generator - don't you find it fascinating that someone thought of that?
I read an interesting article the other day in preparation for some strategic thinking exercises. The report was by the NESTA and focussed on students interaction with schools, employers views and skills needed for the future. 'Ready for the Future' explores the skills that will drive innovation in the future. What I found interesting in the report was that employers stated that school leavers have significantly more skills entering the workplace than the previous groups of the last 10 years but they still see a disparity between what they need and what the school leavers can provide. In this ever-changing world the skills of innovation, communication, problem-solving and collaboration are a very high commodity. In reference to this I loved Kirsten Berry's work today in maths in room 22. She took a newspaper article, dissected the maths components and launched a problem solving exercise based on the article. This was real maths, new, fresh and dynamic. INNOVATIVE.  Read the kids responses on their blogsite. They clearly really enjoyed the exercise.

The future

I love this short clip. Last year we had a couple of short movies at a Board of Trustees meeting just to promote discussion about global trends in education and to see a different view of how education works. The first one was Sir Ken Robinson's fantastic speech at Ted, a leadership website. His speech was on creativity at school - a funny but extremely poignant speech that we can all identify with. Check this out at ted.com . The other one was this pearler of a powerpoint by Karl Fisch on the changing shape of the economic world and the impact on education and global relations.  Have a look and tell me what you think. This powerpoint shows how small New Zealand really is.