It's not a Maths blog, but it will contain reflections about mathematical thinking because I'm a teacher who has trained as a maths specialist and I also work as a maths tutor to preservice teachers at two Australian universities.
It's not an English or literature blog either, but there will be discussions about literature because I'm a school librarian and I love using picture books as a springboard for thinking.
It's not a Science blog, even though I did a year of a pharmacy degree and have always loved teaching science: to my primary students, my fellow colleagues and even now in my role as a science tutor at ACU and at Macquarie University. But there will be posts about what it means to learn to think scientifically.
I've spent many years working in museums and historic houses across Sydney, so there will be thinking about what it means to undertake historical and geographical inquiry; but it's not a social studies blog.
I like to use technology in my teaching: to capture ideas, promote collaborative thinking and encourage reflection. There will be posts about using technology to support thinking; but it's not a technology blog.
I've experimented with Project-Based Learning, Philosophy with Children, Reggio-style documentation, Inquiry-based Learning and Project Zero's Visible Thinking Routines. All have made me realise that the children we work with are much deeper thinkers than Piaget gives them credit for.
For this reason, my blog will be devoted to uncovering, understanding and making visible the thinking of others. I'm also looking forward to seeing these ideas through your eyes. In fact, this is both the most exciting and the scariest part of sharing this blog.
It will also be about making my thinking visible to me. Writing has always allowed me to find order in my ideas, to give substance to the myriad of thoughts that float around and only come into proper focus when I tie them down.
It's a blog for thinking aloud, thinking again, asking questions, presenting arguments, exploring solutions. It will range across the thinking of students, colleagues, and self-reflections but always with the same purpose: to explore thinking and its relationship to learning.
This blog is inspired by my encounters with the ideas of other people who have taken a risk and shared their thinking with others, including the wonderful people from #MTBoS. With special thanks to:
- Tracy Zager, who's blog Becoming the Math Teacher You'd Wish You'd Had has inspired me since its very first post and continues to challenge my thinking.
- Amie Albrecht who is a kindred spirit and writes an insightful blog that crosses the boundaries between tertiary, secondary and elementary maths. Thank you for encouraging me to make my thinking visible.
- David Butler whose provocations on Twitter and subsequent blog posts made me remember how much I love doing maths for its own sake.
- Daphne who showed me the joy of starting a conversation with people you don't know about things that are important to you. I'm looking forward to your post about Sydney!
- My husband who has had his own blog for many years now and keeps reminding me that it doesn't need to be perfect. Thanks for all the moral and technical support! (NB I reserve the right to change my blog template until I'm happy with it.)
- My colleagues, the children and parents across the various schools where I've worked and continue to work. I look forward to sharing our thinking with others.
A special mention to the 4th year students in my science and maths ttuorials who posted photos of experiments and maths activities in my classes with the hashtag #ACU_edu (under the leadership of David Lee). Thank you for tagging me too. Without you, I would not have known how to engage with Twitter and would have missed out on so much learning and fun!
