'THUNKS' to get you and the students thinking

I had the pleasure of attending a CPD course today at the Campaign for Learning headquarters with reknown ex-head, SIP and innovative Learning to Learn leader Jackie Beere OBE. During her presentation she spoke about THUNKS. I hadn't heard of them before, so did some research when I got home and found some to share with you. Some teachers describe them as 'Thought hand-grenades'. I like this idea of an explosion of thought - surely that's what learning is all about.

"Thunks are drawn from Independent Thinking’s work in Philosophy for Children and have been used with thousands of young people to get them thinking deeply and critically. Questions where there are no rights or wrongs are hugely liberating for young people and generate levels of thinking that you often don’t achieve with traditional ’guess what’s in the teacher’s head’ type question and answering where there are right or wrong answers." Learning Bug

Here's a few to get you started and some links to THUNK sites. These are super for starter activities; tutor time and the students could even make their own THUNKS. Please share any with colleagues here. Your conmtributions are always valued and appreciated.


Is black a colour?



Can you touch the wind?


If I swapped brains with you would you still be you and me still me?


Is a millionaire who is marooned on a desert island still a millionaire?


Is plastic (which comes from oil, which comes from trees) man-made or natural?

Some more Thunks:
http://www.independentthinking.co.uk/Cool+Stuff/Thunks/default.aspx

Fantastic CPD Opportunity for ALL Support Staff - SWis your life!

Nikki Whitelock is busy promoting the 'Support work in schools (SWiS) qualifications'. These qualifications are available to all of our support staff; are nationally acredited and are designed to provide you with meaningful training relevant to your role in Welling School. The qualifications are flexible: take them when you are ready, where you are. They are tailored to your specific development needs and relevant to your role in school. The school has access to two years funding and we are looking to attract the interest of at least 10 support staff to undertake this excellent qualification that will enhance your CV; is transferable across public sectors and business and will help you to critically examine your work at Welling School through the development of an evidence portfolio, which in turn is superb for supporting the PMR process and progression here at Welling.

 

 Are the SWiS qualifications for you?

 

Do you want to gain a nationally recognised qualification?

Do you want to enhance your skills and develop your school?

 

If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of the above, you should consider a SWiS qualification. The SWiS qualifications are free and you will be supported by Bexley LA during your training.

What are the SWiS qualifications?

 

 SWiS are available at two levels:

 

level 2: award and certificate

level 3: award, certificate and diploma

 

Choose optional units that suit you, including:

• Observe and promote pupil performance and development
• Provide leadership in your area of responsibility
• Provide administrative support in schools
• Invigilate tests and examinations
•  Research, analyse and report information 
•  Organise and coordinate events

Treat the SWiS qualifications as a stepping stone. You may want to continue with the next appropriate level within the suite of SWiS qualifications or explore the range of alternative development opportunities. For more information on this excellent CPD opportunity, please see Nikki Whitelock; pick-up some information from the main staff room or click on the links below to help you make an informed decision.

http://www.tda.gov.uk/support/qualificationsandtraining/swis.aspx

Level 2 Information:

http://www.tda.gov.uk/support/qualificationsandtraining/swis/level2.aspx

Level 3 Information

http://www.tda.gov.uk/support/qualificationsandtraining/swis/level3.aspx

 

Popular Questions

http://www.tda.gov.uk/support/qualificationsandtraining/swis/SWiS_FAQs.aspx

 

THE DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF APPLICATIONS IS 4TH FEB 2010. THERE IS A TIGHT WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY HERE SO CEASE THE MOMENT AND SEE NIKKI FOR AN APPLICATION FORM.

A Super offering foir ALL Teachers froim Mike in MFL

I have attached a list of links to good interactive or resource making websites. The first of these ( blockbuster quiz) is for plenaries and is particularly impressive. There are countless ready made quizzes in all subjects but the site also enables you to make your own very quickly. There are also some other brilliant sites here for people to play around with - 'Topmarks' is again another excellent one for all subjects.There is a splendid one for History teachers, although they may already know about it. You may already know about a lot of them but then again, maybe not. I hope they are useful.

Mike Davies
1. http://www.teachers-direct.co.uk/resources/quiz-busters/
2. http://www.feebleminds-gifs.com/graphics-sitemap.html
3. http://www.topmarks.co.uk/
4. http://www.blogger.com/goog_1264278729146
5.http://puzzles.about.com/od/beginnersxwords/Easy_Crossword_Puzzles_Crossword_Puzzles_for_Beginners.htm
6. http://www.tes.co.uk/resources/Home.aspx
7. http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc-home.htm
8. http://www.tes.co.uk/Resources/Resource.aspx?page=Resource&resourceId=357

Parents' Consultation Day - Wednesday 20th January 2010

If you are new to Parents' Consultation Days or just want to pep-up your day with some tried and tested ideas, then have a look at Martin's latest blog offering. I feel a 'Blogger of the Week' Award coming your way Mr M! Thank you

Post It Parents Consultation Day

Holocaust Memorial Day Resources

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is commemorated internationally on 27th January each year. This date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the day in 1945 on which the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp – Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Each year, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust urges everyone in the UK to pause and reflect on what can happen when racism, prejudice and exclusionary behaviour are left unchecked. Emily Beer, Rob Pett and Sam Sykes have kindly agreed to lead a two week programme of assemblies, tutortime activities, Citizenship work and community cohesion events commencing on Monday for two weeks. They have put together a fantastic set of resources and Emily will talk about these at our briefing on Friday. All of the resources are posted here on Post-it for you to use with your tutor group or classes.

Holocaust Rememberance Day 27th January

The Holocaust

View more presentations from Nina Moore.

The Legacy Of Hope

View more presentations from Nina Moore.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Homepage
http://www.hmd.org.uk/

Resources for Teaching 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'

KS3 English Resources

http://www.nate.org.uk/cmsfiles/news/00000427.pdf

Film Education Teacher Resource Area

http://www.filmeducation.org/theboyinthestripedpyjamas/reading_history/reading_history.html

Schindler's List

Great Starters and Plenaries site

Dear all,

To keep the spirit of Starters and Plenaries alive - I've found a fantastic website with powerpoints/word documents using a variety of techniques. It's Geography related but am sure you can adapt them!
Hope this helps!

http://www.radicalgeography.co.uk/Startersandplenaries.html

Regards,
Joe Morrin (Geography)

BBC Blast - A great resource to get your creativity flowing...

I came across a link on the BBC website about a site called BLAST. Its for 13-19 year olds who are interested in Art, Dance, Drama, Music, Media etc. Its a place to share creativity, view other students work, videos, they have talks from artists, choreographers and musicians with how to's to try out new things. Plus games and competitions to get involved in. Also it talks about projects and work experience available...

I thought other staff interested in the Arts and delivering creative subjects might want to use this resource with keen students? Below is the link to the "about" part of the site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/about

I hope you find it useful.
Sarah Stirling (Visual Arts)