Episode 16: WomenEd Vivienne Porritt

The Staffroom Show Notes

In this final episode of Series 2, we were privileged to speak to the inspirational Vivienne Porritt (@ViviennePorritt). Vivienne is a former headteacher and the national leader of WomenEd (@WomenEd) which campaigns for equitable balance in terms of gender and ethnicity at leadership level in education.

We certainly learnt a lot from Vivienne who spoke to us at length about the purpose of WomenEd and its global impact. Her drive and passion for fairness shone throughout the interview – by making women ‘believe’, we really feel that the WomenEd movement is empowering women and making a difference to society’s views on educational leadership. We found Vivienne a very humble, wise and passionate professional who cares deeply about making a difference.

Here’s a break-down of our conversation with Vivienne complete with time-stamps:

• How does Vivienne explain views on creating a world where ‘normal doesn’t exist’? (4:18)

• What does Vivienne think about the impact of labelling of individuals/students as ‘normal’ in schools? (7:16)

• What does Vivienne believe is the best way to go about changing peoples’ mind-set when it comes to seeing people as ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’? (8:35)

• How does Vivienne explain the movement WomenEd and what does she say that it sets out to do? (10:22)

• What does Vivienne say about the challenges that faced the WomenEd movement on Twitter? (12:15)

• What evidence does Vivienne have to suggest there is an imbalance in leadership roles for women in education? (15:31)

• What does Vivienne say about the international interest in the WomenEd movement and which countries are already involved? (21:57)

• What success stories does Vivienne give to show the power of the WomenEd movement?  (23:51)

• How does Vivienne explain the role of the national leaders of the WomenEd team? (26:18)

• What advice would Vivienne give to young female teachers who aspire to lead in education in the future? (28:13)

• How does Vivienne say listeners can get involved in the WomenEd movement? (32:23)

 We hope you enjoy this episode of The Staffroom and find Vivienne’s educational ideas as inspirational as we did. Please connect with Vivienne and the WomenEd movement on Twitter and have a look at their website, www.womened.org – let’s get involved and remove those labels! After all, there’s no such thing as normal!

Are you normal? Vivienne​ is proud to be the opposite - not abnormal but unique and distinctive. Normal is a setting on a washing machine so let's #banthewordnormal, consign it to the instructions for your washing machine and, instead, celebrate and value what each unique person has to offer.

We wish Vivienne all the best for 2019 and the growing success of the WomenEd movement.

This is the final episode of Series 2 – see you again in the new year for more of The Staffroom!

Jamie, Michael and Tessa

Twitter:

@XpatEducator

@Michael_Royall

@tessa_johnson2

Episode 14: Digital Creativity Adam Torrens

The Staffroom Show Notes

This week we were privileged to chat about creativity in the tech-classroom with Australian teacher Adam Torrens (@AdamTorrens84). Adam is an award-winning teacher, digital learning leader and Apple Distinguished Educator who works at Stamford American International Schoolin Singapore.

With the introduction of Apple’s ‘Everyone Can Create’ curriculum, we had lots to talk about and wanted to find out Adam’s thoughts and how he has utilised these resources. For us, video, photography, drawing and audio have an important role to plan in the modern classroom – Adam inspired us with innovative examples of the way technology is integrated at his school.

Here’s a break-down of our chat complete with time-stamps:

• How did Adam’s background inspire his career as a teacher? (3:40)

• How does Adam believe his school (Stamford American International School) balances progressive pedagogy with more traditional knowledge-based approaches? (5:18)

• What good examples of tech-based projects does Adam explain are commonplace in his classroom? (7:55)

• Why does Adam believe creation-based apps are important and have an impact on learning? (9:15)

• What examples of powerful creation-based apps does Adam give? (10:25)

• Why does Adam believe Project Based Learning is a powerful approach? Does Adam think it lends itself to creativity? (11:12)

• What does Adam think about Apple’s new Everyone Can Create curriculum? How does it fit in with his school’s philosophy? (15:11)

• How does Adam believe his school empowered teachers to feel confident with tech-tools? (16:42)

• Which of the Everyone Can Create books does Adam thin is the most important? Why does Adam think video is so important in the classroom? (18:40)

• Does Adam think it is possible to integrate all of the skills from the Everyone Can Create boos throughout the whole curriculum? (20:30)

• Does Adam think that the Everyone Can Create initiative can complement STEM? (21:30)

• How does Adam believe his role as an Apple Distinguished Educator has influenced technology at his school? (24:10)

• Why does Adam think Keynote, Pages and other core Apple apps so powerful? (25:30)

 We hope you enjoyed this episode of The Staffroom and found Adam’s ideas and philosophy as inspiring as we did. The idea of putting pedagogy first and technology second has always struck a chord with us and we loved Adam’s views on Apple’s new curriculum. We wish Adam all the best for the future and his journey with digital creativity.

Until next time!

Jamie, Michael and Tessa

Twitter:

@XpatEducator

@Michael_Royall

@tessa_johnson2

Episode 10: Retrieval Practice Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.

The Staffroom Show Notes

In this exciting episode of 'The Staffroom', we spoke about retrieval practicewith Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D. (@PoojaAgarwal) an expert in the field of cognitive science. Pooja is the Founder of RetrievalPractice.org, a hub of research, resources, and teaching strategies based on the science of learning – check this out!

Pooja’s work is being noticed more and more by teachers around the world as she offers practical tips and advice on cognitive psychological research and strategies can enhance and accelerate student learning.

Here’s our conversation with Pooja broken down with time-stamps:

• Who is Pooja and how did she get involved with cognitive science? (3:35)

• How does Pooja define retrieval practiceand why is it a powerful strategy for learning? (5:50)

• What examples does Pooja use to illustrate retrieval practicein the classroom? (7:50)

• Does Pooja think that it is difficult to engage students in retrieval practicestrategies? Why does she think it is important to keep retrieval practiceas a low or no-stakes approach? (9:40)

• Does Pooja believe retrieval practiceworks better with older or younger students? (11:45)

• How can educators implement retrieval practiceinto their teaching? What techniques does Pooja suggest are most effective? (13:20)

• Why does Pooja believe that feedback is an important part in retrieval practiceprocess? (16:50)

• Does Pooja think that there are any potential challenges for teachers when implementing retrieval practice? Does she believe it impacts on workload? (19:50)

• What is Pooja’s upcoming book called and what’s it about? (22:15)

 We hope you enjoy this episode of The Staffroom and found Pooja’s ideas on retrieval practice strategies as fascinating as we did. We gathered lots of practical tips and tricks on how to work smarter not harder – remember: retrieval practice is one of the most powerful strategies to use in your classroom – why not give it a go?

We wish Dr Pooja K. Agarwal all the best for 2018 and her continuing success of RetrievalPractice.org. Remember to buy her book once it’s released in June next year!

Until next time!

Jamie, Michael and Tessa

Twitter:

@XpatEducator

@Michael_Royall

@tessa_johnson2

Episode 9: The Science of Sketch-noting Oliver Caviglioli

The Staffroom Show Notes

‘The Staffroom’ is back! In the first episode of Series 2, we were lucky enough to speak to Oliver Caviglioli about the power of learning visuals and its basis in cognitive psychology. Oliver (@olicav) is an information designer who is widely known as an expert in visualising educational concepts. In recent years, he has worked with lots of different teacher-authors in illustrating their books.

Our chat with Oliver gave us some real insight into the use of visuals (such as sketch-noting) to conceptualise, categorise and organise information to enhance learning.

Here’s a break-down of our chat complete with time-stamps:

• How did Oliver’s background and interest in ‘behaviourism’ influence his work as an information designer? (4:04)

• Why does Oliver believe his visuals are becoming more and more popular with educators around the world? (6:07)

• Why does Oliver think sketch-noting should not be ‘artistic’ and individualised? Why does he believe it is important to keep it simple? (8:30)

• Why does Oliver think that all teachers should know about cognitive psychology? (10:09)

• Why does Oliver believe it is important for teachers to use a balance of cognitive psychological research and educational research? (12:15)

• What is ‘precis’ and why is it an important way of learning? Why does Oliver think that summarising/sketch-noting is an effective method of learning? (12:49)

• Who is Ruth Colvin Clark and what does she say about decorative visuals and explanatory visuals? (14:29)

• What is the main tip Oliver gives to people who want advice about their sketch-notes? (16:08)

• How does Oliver think teachers should practice sketch-noting effectively with students? (16:50)

• Is Oliver an advocate of technology to support and accelerate learning? (20:20)

• If Oliver could recommend one professional learning book to a new teacher, what would it be and why? (20:35)

• Where can people find Oliver’s work online? Where are his books available to buy? (24:01)

 If you’d like further information about Oliver, you can check-out his work with Dr Megan Sumeracki (@DrSumeracki) and Dr Yana Weinstein who are the creators of The Learning Scientists project. Their book is called ‘Understanding How We Learn: A Visual Guide’ – check this out now! Also, if you're interested in our colleagues' Apple book on 'The Science of Sketch'-noting, take a look at Jamie Clark and Daniel Budd's digital book here.

We hope you enjoy this episode of The Staffroom and found Oliver’s words as fascinating as we did. We can’t wait to make sketch-noting and informational design part of our practice!

Until next time!

Jamie, Michael and Tessa

Twitter:

@XpatEducator

@Michael_Royall

@tessa_johnson2