TDSIG Blog
What do you do with disruptive learners?
In the next issue of our Teacher Development Newsletter we will run an article on how our members deal with noisy and disruptive classes. A colleague of mine explains to his classes at the start of the year that pupils will be given an extra assignment if they don’t...
no child/learner left behind
This week our dilemma is on 'no child/learner left behind.' What to do with diversity in your classroom? Teachers move away from the problem-based approach and move more towards the needs-based approach. Do you think you are trained to cater for pupils/learners with...
How to improve your education?
In the Netherlands there is an ongoing discussion on how we could improve our education. A panel of 10 educators came up with the following suggestions: improve image of the teacher more opportunities to grow for teachers, but make sure you name and shame when...
Paul Braddock on teacher-led professional development
It’s worth visiting this blog if you have an interest in teacher development.
How good are Intesol’s online teacher development courses?
Friend Karen Richardson has reached out to the teacher development community to help out a colleague. She sent me the following email (also posted on our Facebook page): "A colleague has asked me whether I would be her assessor/tutor for her Teaching Practice. She...
Can anyone be a critical friend?
The answer to this question is ‘yes’. But it should be clear what we mean by ‘critical friend.’ The concept would no longer be meaningful if it could not be distinguished from helpfulness, sympathy or peer coaching. An essential characteristic of a critical friend is...
Frequently asked questions and provoking answers.
Critical friendship is an intriguing concept. The term appears in many books and articles about research and about collaborative learning. However, it has rarely been defined clearly. It is my aim to define it more precisely so that we set it apart from concepts like...
5 ways to use the Internet for teacher development
The Internet is an great tool for teacher development. If you thought the Web was just for entertainment, think again. Here are some simple ideas to get you started. TDSIG.org - Obviously, the first thing to do is sign up for this website. Our objective is to provide...
That’s what friends are for. Who is your critical friend?
In this month’s blog I would like to tackle the concept of critical friend. In the next NL you will find an article on this topic. What all critical friends have in common is that they are good listeners and respond to problems and questions with integrity and a...