Category: Uncategorized
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Teaching AI Ethics: Beginner Series
The Teaching AI Ethics series is a collection of articles on the many ethical concerns of Artificial Intelligence as a technology and an industry. In this series I offer practical advice on how to teach AI through an ethical lens, including discussing AI ethics from the perspective of multiple subject disciplines. When I wrote the…
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What is a ‘Critical Friend’?
As I’m moving towards further study and consulting next year, the most popular service I’ve been asked about has been the ‘critical friend’ role mentioned on my website. It’s an exciting and interesting role because it allows me to work with very diverse schools and requires an ongoing relationship with schools rather than just a…
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AI and Creativity: A Conversation with Tom Barrett
Last week I had a great conversation with Tom Barrett about the future of creative AI tools in education, including AI writers and AI image generation tools. We’re both optimistic about the potential for these technologies in the classroom, as long as they are adopted from an ethical, playful, and creative stance. Check out the…
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VCE English Crafting Texts Mentor Collection
To support teachers with the first year of the new Crafting Texts Area of Study in Unit 1 English, I’ve put together this collection of 12 texts from a variety of fiction and nonfiction forms around the idea of ‘Futures’. According to the new VCE English and EAL Study Design, “The mentor texts can include…
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Guest Post: Fiona Simmonds – Practical Reading Strategies and Design Thinking
Now that Practical Reading Strategies has been out in the wild for a few months, I’ve started to receive feedback from teachers around how they’re using the book in their classrooms. This post is courtesy of Fiona Simmonds at Port Melbourne Secondary College. Fiona has used many of the activities in PRS in her classes.…
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VCE English 2023: Crafting Texts
This is the third post in a series about the new VCE English Study Design. for the other two posts, check out the links below: Why Writing? For a long time there has been something of an imbalance in the modes in senior English. Between reading, writing, and speaking and listening, the skills required for…
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Call for submissions!
One of the best conversations to be involved in as an English teacher right now is the rising push back against formulaic writing structures like TEEL. The problem is, it’s become so entrenched it’s hard to find alternatives. I’m putting together a free PDF collection of writing samples that break out of the formula. As…
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Preview: Practical Reading Strategies
Last year Alicia Cohen of new educational publisher Amba Press approached me to ask if I had any ideas for a book. I’d been writing this blog for a few months, and was in the middle of working on Jacaranda’s English 8 textbook, so I thought I’d have a go at writing something of my…
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VCE Study Guide: Go, Went, Gone
My complete guide to Jenny Erpenbeck’s Go, Went, Gone can be purchased from Insight Publications here. Overview In Go, Went, Gone, translated by Susan Bernofsky, Jenny Erpenbeck explores the African refugee crisis and how European countries like Germany have responded to those seeking asylum in Europe. Erpenbeck blends real places, laws and situations with fictional…
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Making the most of Head Start
As term 4 draws to a close, many schools will have some form of Head Start or acceleration program for senior students. For our school, that means our Y11s move up to their Y12 classes for the final fortnight of term. For new senior teachers, this might be the first time you have encountered a…