What a year it's been!

WP_Query Object ( [query] => Array ( [page] => [name] => what-a-year-its-been ) [query_vars] => Array ( [page] => 0 [name] => what-a-year-its-been [error] => [m] => [p] => 0 [post_parent] => [subpost] => [subpost_id] => [attachment] => [attachment_id] => 0 [pagename] => [page_id] => 0 [second] => [minute] => [hour] => [day] => 0 [monthnum] => 0 [year] => 0 [w] => 0 [category_name] => [tag] => [cat] => [tag_id] => [author] => [author_name] => [feed] => [tb] => [paged] => 0 [meta_key] => [meta_value] => [preview] => [s] => [sentence] => [title] => [fields] => [menu_order] => [embed] => [category__in] => Array ( ) [category__not_in] => Array ( ) [category__and] => Array ( ) [post__in] => Array ( ) [post__not_in] => Array ( ) [post_name__in] => Array ( ) [tag__in] => Array ( ) [tag__not_in] => Array ( ) [tag__and] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__in] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__and] => Array ( ) [post_parent__in] => Array ( ) [post_parent__not_in] => Array ( ) [author__in] => Array ( ) [author__not_in] => Array ( ) [search_columns] => Array ( ) [ignore_sticky_posts] => [suppress_filters] => [cache_results] => 1 [update_post_term_cache] => 1 [update_menu_item_cache] => [lazy_load_term_meta] => 1 [update_post_meta_cache] => 1 [post_type] => [posts_per_page] => 10 [nopaging] => [comments_per_page] => 50 [no_found_rows] => [order] => DESC ) [tax_query] => [meta_query] => WP_Meta_Query Object ( [queries] => Array ( ) [relation] => [meta_table] => [meta_id_column] => [primary_table] => [primary_id_column] => [table_aliases:protected] => Array ( ) [clauses:protected] => Array ( ) [has_or_relation:protected] => ) [date_query] => [queried_object] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 620 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2015-07-17 11:41:27 [post_date_gmt] => 2015-07-17 10:41:27 [post_content] => It's twelve months since I took over the role of site manager from Sarah and what an academic year it has been. I had little idea of the global appeal of Let's Think! Just this term I have had the privilege of talking to teachers and senior managers from all over the world. My most surreal day was when I spoke to a teacher on the Cayman Islands and then a Head Teacher whose school is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This week has seen a visit from a CASE colleague, Sonia, from Australia who I had the pleasure of taking to Vyner's School in Hillingdon, London and also a call from Ohio. Normally when 'unknown number' pops up on my screen I am a little wary of answering but I am glad I did. The person in question was Constance Barksy who feels the CASE materials (soon to be republished under the title Lets Think Secondary Science or LTSS) really have something to offer the teachers she is working with in America. No matter where the school is to be found this is the constant theme of these conversations i.e. that the Let's Think materials are a powerful vehicle for helping pupils and their teachers to reach out towards higher levels of thinking and reasoning.  A Head Teacher friend of mine admitted to me this week that the 'construction of meaning' was missing from their school and it was something they are going to put right over the next year or so. 'When I was a Head of Science and we did CASE we got it right but now I am not so sure' was how he put it. Even on social media CASE got a mention. dinosawesome in his reflections upon teaching and learning said that, 'I have learned the power that 'cognitive hand grenades" can have. Simple questions which can blow apart a student's model and force them to build a new one.' Praise indeed! I do hope you enjoy the Summer break and I look forward to the next 12 months of Let's Think! with you. [post_title] => What a year it's been! [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => what-a-year-its-been [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2015-07-17 11:41:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2015-07-17 10:41:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=620 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [queried_object_id] => 620 [request] => SELECT wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.post_name = 'what-a-year-its-been' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'post' ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC [posts] => Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 620 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2015-07-17 11:41:27 [post_date_gmt] => 2015-07-17 10:41:27 [post_content] => It's twelve months since I took over the role of site manager from Sarah and what an academic year it has been. I had little idea of the global appeal of Let's Think! Just this term I have had the privilege of talking to teachers and senior managers from all over the world. My most surreal day was when I spoke to a teacher on the Cayman Islands and then a Head Teacher whose school is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This week has seen a visit from a CASE colleague, Sonia, from Australia who I had the pleasure of taking to Vyner's School in Hillingdon, London and also a call from Ohio. Normally when 'unknown number' pops up on my screen I am a little wary of answering but I am glad I did. The person in question was Constance Barksy who feels the CASE materials (soon to be republished under the title Lets Think Secondary Science or LTSS) really have something to offer the teachers she is working with in America. No matter where the school is to be found this is the constant theme of these conversations i.e. that the Let's Think materials are a powerful vehicle for helping pupils and their teachers to reach out towards higher levels of thinking and reasoning.  A Head Teacher friend of mine admitted to me this week that the 'construction of meaning' was missing from their school and it was something they are going to put right over the next year or so. 'When I was a Head of Science and we did CASE we got it right but now I am not so sure' was how he put it. Even on social media CASE got a mention. dinosawesome in his reflections upon teaching and learning said that, 'I have learned the power that 'cognitive hand grenades" can have. Simple questions which can blow apart a student's model and force them to build a new one.' Praise indeed! I do hope you enjoy the Summer break and I look forward to the next 12 months of Let's Think! with you. [post_title] => What a year it's been! [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => what-a-year-its-been [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2015-07-17 11:41:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2015-07-17 10:41:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=620 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 1 [current_post] => -1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 620 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2015-07-17 11:41:27 [post_date_gmt] => 2015-07-17 10:41:27 [post_content] => It's twelve months since I took over the role of site manager from Sarah and what an academic year it has been. I had little idea of the global appeal of Let's Think! Just this term I have had the privilege of talking to teachers and senior managers from all over the world. My most surreal day was when I spoke to a teacher on the Cayman Islands and then a Head Teacher whose school is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This week has seen a visit from a CASE colleague, Sonia, from Australia who I had the pleasure of taking to Vyner's School in Hillingdon, London and also a call from Ohio. Normally when 'unknown number' pops up on my screen I am a little wary of answering but I am glad I did. The person in question was Constance Barksy who feels the CASE materials (soon to be republished under the title Lets Think Secondary Science or LTSS) really have something to offer the teachers she is working with in America. No matter where the school is to be found this is the constant theme of these conversations i.e. that the Let's Think materials are a powerful vehicle for helping pupils and their teachers to reach out towards higher levels of thinking and reasoning.  A Head Teacher friend of mine admitted to me this week that the 'construction of meaning' was missing from their school and it was something they are going to put right over the next year or so. 'When I was a Head of Science and we did CASE we got it right but now I am not so sure' was how he put it. Even on social media CASE got a mention. dinosawesome in his reflections upon teaching and learning said that, 'I have learned the power that 'cognitive hand grenades" can have. Simple questions which can blow apart a student's model and force them to build a new one.' Praise indeed! I do hope you enjoy the Summer break and I look forward to the next 12 months of Let's Think! with you. [post_title] => What a year it's been! [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => what-a-year-its-been [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2015-07-17 11:41:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2015-07-17 10:41:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=620 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 1 [max_num_pages] => 0 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => 1 [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => [is_category] => [is_tag] => [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => 1 [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => 33e48271a82b7367c0304c995ce8b098 [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => [thumbnails_cached] => [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) )