• Strategies that happen off-the-cuff.

As with real learning the best experiences often happen off- the-cuff. Each Workshop, or onsite session, is open to the new possibilities. What more could one expect from a process of working together and collectively using creativity and imagination!

Available for teachers in Primary Schools, Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutes e.g. teachers working at Universities or adult training institutes.

• Full Day Workshops: Creative Teaching
  
  
• Extended Visit onsite at Schools: Embedding Creative Teaching

We explore a range of creative strategies in a fun and highly practical workshop.

These are strategies adapted from areas such as educational drama, my own teaching and writing, and my extensive work with teachers in which many ideas have been shared.

The creative strategies are practical and can be adapted to a range of subject areas and student settings. Strategies include e.g. fun and interesting ways of implementing role within the classroom.

Role-play can often be daunting for teachers and students. Here we explore simple and gentle ways of using role to deepen understanding of a topic. Strategies are carefully introduced and teachers are invited into many ways of exploring a topic. Click for a short example of a strategy.

The morning session consists of experiencing and debriefing a number of creative strategies. We explore the subtlety of each strategy and how it can be adapted and extended across the curriculum. We also share strategies that have worked from our experience.

The afternoon session consists of a fun and active session in which teachers are divided into groups and use a range of creative strategies to design and teach an important concept.

We practically experience new ideas. We plant the many seeds that we can take back into our teaching sessions. We also debrief: What challenges do we face in our schools/organisation? What can we do to put these ideas into place?

Teachers walk away with over a dozen important and creative strategies that can be implemented into the classroom or training room as soon as the following day.

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This is a Workshop exploring new ways in which teachers can work together to make curriculum even more engaging. A major focus is on Transdisciplinary learning in which teachers work together to make learning deeper and more integrated.

The workshop is a fun and practical workshop exploring new ways of designing and implementing curriculum. In particular it looks at new ways in which teachers can work with each other, students, parents, and the wider community, to provide challenging and stimulating learning experiences.

We look at the nature of curriculum, how teachers can work together to implement project work and the issues faced by teachers when working in new ways.

A major focus of the day is further developing confidence and creativity so that teachers, from a variety of backgrounds and skills, can collaborate to make teaching and student learning even more enjoyable.

The Workshop is based on my work in writing, teaching and conducting professional development in the Essential Learnings curriculum in Tasmania.

Click for an excerpt from this workshop.

In a unique approach to staff development I work with teachers, within a school, for an extended and negotiated period of time. I stay onsite and help teachers introduce a range of creative teaching strategies into the normal teaching day. This visit is also relevant for adult/tertiary institutes.

We go the first step to introducing even newer approaches within a school. We celebrate and share what is already being taught and is working well. We break through barriers and lay the seeds for a continuing of interesting practices.

I am part of the furniture for a period of time. I am on call. I visit classes off-the-cuff. I sit down with teachers and explore teaching strategies. I visit pre-arranged classes.

Teachers are introduced to strategies in short after-school sessions, or dedicated release time. I team-teach with a range of teachers. We take a range of strategies into each teacher’s classroom to enrich what is being taught at that time: a real action learning scenario.

Teachers experience strategies in real time, in the reality of the school. Students have an opportunity of experiencing and adding value to each strategy. We get feedback on what works and what doesn’t work. I debrief with each teacher.

Most importantly we involve the students. What better way for generating change? We allow students to participate in the how of learning. We give students credit that what takes part in learning involves themselves as well as the creative ideas of the teacher.

We negotiate. We work out what fits best into your school environment.

Click for an example of many approaches introduced into a school.

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