At home, whenever I begin to reminisce about my childhood, my thirteen year-old stepdaughter pipes up, “Yeah, but that was back in the old days,” and of course, she’s right. When I was a child there were no mobile phones, no computers, no Xbox, no electronic games, no iPads, no internet, no … [Read more...] about Puberty Blues
Primary School
7 habits
Have you ever read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey? I have. It’s a great book and I would highly recommend reading it. Stephen Covey’s son, Sean Covey, also wrote a book, it's called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. The latter book has actually been loaded onto the … [Read more...] about 7 habits
Rollercoasters and Contracts
In last week's blog I talked about how the 'Honeymoon is Over' and how tired the students are getting. We now start to enter into what I like to call the deep learning stage. If we were to look at the college term as a roller coaster ride (as our project is about this topic) the start of the … [Read more...] about Rollercoasters and Contracts
It’s about Team Work
Last Thursday IFS held its inaugural swimming carnival. During the day Julie Doolan made the remark, “We’re not only a land-based sports college, are we?” How true. I was taken by the fact that we have a college of fit, healthy and athletic young people, most of whom would be successful in whatever … [Read more...] about It’s about Team Work
Teams, Teamwork and Team Spirit
Teams, teamwork, and team spirit. What do these words really mean? Are they as important in the classroom as they are in sport? After a little research I came up with the following definitions: A team is a group of people working together with a common goal. Forming teams seems obvious in … [Read more...] about Teams, Teamwork and Team Spirit
The Honeymoon is Over
In my experience, it is common at about this time for parents to start asking themselves, "Why is my child coming home so cranky and exhausted?" Children may seem out of character and might even be saying things like, "I don't like this college anymore". This is where the honeymoon phase has started … [Read more...] about The Honeymoon is Over