Curiosity Didn't Kill the (Cheshire) Cat...

As educators our job is to remove fear of failure, fear of being wrong, fear of ridicule and replace it with curiosity. Our mission is to prevent school days from being as boring as when we went to school.

Our task is to harness our current understanding about high quality education and put into effect  policies and procedures that provide the framework for powerful learning. Schools need an organisational culture driven by  highly effective pedagogy, a culture that harnesses  the possibilities and power the digital world offers students and teachers.

In doing this, good teaching and learning is not the baby to be thrown out with the bathwater. If it was indeed good teaching and learning practices, then it is still relevant, ultimately adaptable and worthy of use today as it was any preceding day. For some learning, a pencil, a piece of paper  and some scissors is what is required. Post it Notes stuck on a wall can be more effective than its digital form.

Formative assessment is the new kid on the block for some and for others, its an old friend.  John Hattie and many others are aware of  the critical nature of the timely assessment that offers students useful and timely feedback that will improve the learning outcomes for the task at hand. 
Its a no brainer really.

Improving student learning outcomes... isn’t that why we are here...?  The academic, the social, the emotional... all these elements combined help make that happen.

Assessment is not a form of behaviour control nor is it an opportunity for teacher revenge. It is a key to ensuring the relationship between educator and student is valuable and valued.