Author: admin

So, November, and the start of another #NaNoWriMo – national novel writing month, where budding writers are challenged to write 50 000 words over the course of the month. To break it down, that’s over 1600 words a day, every day, for 30 days. It’s not a small total. I’m taking part in it, again,…

As educators, we seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time talking about the notion of digital citizenship. I’ve seen posts all over the place – including on Edutopia – outlining to teachers and educators what is meant by digital citizenship and how important it is for students to be aware of it. I…

I read with sadness of the passing of Gough Whitlam – one of the truly great figures of Australian politics. It’s strange that I should feel such sadness about his death – after all, I was born more than 5 years after the tumultuous Whitlam government and all the changes that it brought about in…

It has often been said that, for republicans, it’s not a matter of whether Australia will become a republic, but a matter of when. The 1999 referendum was a serious setback, but there is cause for hope amongst the wreckage: after all, it wasn’t so much a referendum on whether we should be republic as…

Normally, when I go out with friends, I get accused of being the crazy far-left nutbag, whose plans are way too idealistic and would never work in reality. It’s a refreshing change to be called Tony Abbott’s lickspittle – though not one that I would care to enjoy too often. After all, if you fling…

Perhaps this is where education has gone wrong. I’m sitting at the ACEL 2014 conference, and I’m surrounded by people who no longer have anything to do with students. Of the thousand or so delegates at the conference, I reckon that less than 10% are actual teachers. Sure , there are school principals, but the…

So, it’s another grand final day here in Sydney. The sun is out, I’ve got a brand new flatscreen TV, and the Hawkies are a chance for another flag. Of course, I’m not sure they’re going to win this one (as much as my heart says ‘yes’, my head is firm on ‘no’), but I’ve…

Melbourne, again. We’ve driven down from Batemans Bay, and somewhere outside Traralgon we were caught up in an apocalyptic storm that swept the postcard day away in clouds and hail. We’re a little rattled by the time we make it to Melbourne, a feeling that is made worse by the gathering dark and sudden drop…

You might have noticed that I am playing around with a few of the settings on the site. The plan here is to update my blog to bring it into line with the work that I am doing to update my site. None of that has gone live yet, but I’m planning on it not…

What words can I give to the graduating class of 2014? It’s been a long time since I left school – almost 20 years, but I find it challenging to distill the collected experience of that time into a tonic of wisdom that would make sense to you – or would even have any relevance…