nikki able

Having read many of the nurture posts, I felt that I had to have a go at writing my own.  Some of the posts have inspired me, some have moved me to tears and some have intimidated me in terms of how much people have achieved in just 12 months.  They all, however, have motivated me to reflect on the last twelve months both personally and professionally, and given me the space to think about what I would like to happen in 2014. 2014: The year that will be... To carry on learning abut photography and trying to master some different types of shots and ideas.  I am still in pursuit of the perfect baseball action shot but I also want to experiment with landscapes next year. To read.  Through the numerous courses, tweets and blogs, I have a reading list that will entirely change my life if I get on and do it so I pledge to give myself to time and space to read and learn.  I want to read for at least an hour everyday.  I want to read books that kids recommen...

Having read many of the nurture posts, I felt that I had to have a go at writing my own.  Some of the posts have inspired me, some have moved me to tears and some have intimidated me in terms of how much people have achieved in just 12 months.  They all, however, have motivated me to reflect on the last twelve months both personally and professionally, and given me the space to think about what I would like to happen in 2014. 2013: The year that was... Last Christmas I became very aware that I had no real hobbies or interests outside of work, so I signed myself up for a beginners photography class which I enjoyed immensely.  Whilst no expert and still learning, it is nice to have something that is just for me and serves as a good distraction from work.  In April we travelled to Chicago which was fab.  I love America and love collecting new states.  On this trip we decided to be all adventurous and hired a car which took us on an epic road trip (by our...

Last night I had the privilege of attending the 'Evening with Ron Berger' hosted by Campsmount Academy and organised by the rather marvellous @Gwynap.  I had heard of Ron, had read tweets about his book 'An Ethic of Excellence' and was aware that he was something of a PBL guru and was looking forward to the evening immensely. I have been extremely fortunate to attend a number of events over the last few years that have featured speakers who made me think, who introduced me to new learning and teaching ideas and who have altered my practise.  They have tended to be big ideas that work, that I play with and experiment with and find a place for in the collection of strategies that I have for teaching.  I thought this would be one more big idea, one more strategy to add to the collection.  I was wrong. Ron Berger does not suggest that we all adopt a PBL strategy, or that we go for whole sale change.  His ideas are far more important than that.  He started b...