I’ve had a really hectic year. It’s been a great-stable year and one in which new challenges have arisen. I started working at Australia’s unique International Football & Tennis School, where all our classrooms are both open learning spaces and use the project based learning approach.
In 12 months, the school has transformed itself several time and this year has been well and truly established itself as a highly successful and innovative place that parents want their kids to be. We took out an innovative schools award along the way and our classrooms are bursting with kids who love the unique opportunity to train and play with professional football and tennis players – the kind who represent their country. It’s a place like no other — and doesn’t have to pretend it’s PBL (while being stuck inside the dogma of public ideology and testing). Not do it’s teachers hold court on Twitter to appear important.
Its amazing how consciously taking a year off from the madding educrowd of Twitter has been positive. I know we all think ‘connected’ is essential, but when some of those you’re connected to are on a loop — it’s actually bad.
This year I got to design and teach a Masters course in Game Based Learning as well as put a lot of time into designing learning spaces, future professional development and a game-based positive behaviour for learning program for middle school. All of these things were important to the students … whereas Twitter seems important to teachers who seem to want to be important. Didn’t really miss it …
Next year will be the same, I’m really going to put most of my spare time into my PhD and get on with it. My research has started at http://www.negotiationsofplay.com which I invite you to take part in and share if you would extend me that kindness.
I hope everyone has a great 2016 … cya next year.
Playable 