Barry Smith - Learning about Learning

I have been thinking about what content I would like to have in my weblog and who and what it’s for. I am trying to use it as a learning diary to remind myself of the processes I went through and to inform my commentary which makes up the final unit of the SQH. I also want to be as honest as I can to give others who may be interested in SQH a ‘flavour’ of what to expect. To that end I’ll share my current feelings…….. Time is a real enemy at the moment, having to get my head around all the reading invloved and understanding the process of school improvement, as well as getting a handle on the school’s ‘capacity for change’ is a tall order on top of the rest of the day’s and week’s work. It is fascinating stuff and I don’t begrudge doing it because it opens up a whole new understanding of schools as organisations and their place in the community. But I could do with a full week off to concentrate completely on it!

This weekend is my ‘biggy’, the bulk of the work for my next two taught days has to be completed. My resubmission has to be completed as well as a draft section of the school situational analysis and school improvement project and a section of my ‘project plan’. I’m finding getting my head around it all really tough, but again, I suppose it has to be this way, you have to show that you are capable of working under these time constraints and pressures.

To cap it all Ruaridh, our nine month old son, has decided that tonight he is not going to go to bed, this wasn’t in the manuals…

I read Edward de Bono’s ‘Six thinking hats’ after going to the SETT conference and used the principles in one of my first year classes this week when we were discussing bullying and relationships. It was powerful stuff and really added a lot to my lesson. A very simple and yet effective way of structuring your thinking and what’s more, the students ‘got it’ wthout much explanation. It’s not everyday you come across something like that. I will definitely be using the principles of ‘the six thinking hats’ more in the future.

Time to admit defeat and work on somebody’s sleep!