Category: Adult

Numeracy For ESOL Teachers: You Might Not Even Realise You’re Doing It

Nov 10, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in Adult, Assessment, Education, ESOL, Literacy, NCALNE, NESB, Numeracy, Numeracy for ESOL, Portfolio, Teachers, Training, Tutors, Voc

This might seem like a challenge. But it’s not. The real challenge is to think about what ESOL teachers already do through a different lens. If you teach English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) or have Non-English Speaking Background (NESB) learners you might be surprised to realise that you are possibly already embedding numeracy…
NCALNE (Voc): Essential But Not Sufficient

Sep 21, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in Adult, ALEC, Aotearoa, educator, embedded, embedding, Emergent, Graeme Smith, Literacy, Mature, NCALNE, Numeracy, Partial, Practice, Voc

Skip this post unless you manage foundation tutors or work as a tutor in the adult literacy and numeracy sector. Here’s the question: Will the NCALNE training help my organisation develop more mature embedded literacy and numeracy practices? Here’s the answer: Yes. It’s a great start. But it’s the beginning of the journey. Not the…
Gamification 101: How To Turn The Course I Teach Into A Game

Sep 18, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in Adult, ALEC, Board Game, Card game, Design, Education, gamification, gamify, Graeme Smith, Literacy, NCALNE, Numeracy, teaching, Voc

Technical stuff is hard to teach. This is because it’s… well… technical. As a trainer you have to work hard to make things understandable. One way to do this is to turn it into a game. Or a series of games. I’m interested in this at the moment because I’m experimenting with Cashflow 101. This is…
Damon Says: Do We Need A Literacy of Learning? A Kind of Meta-Literacy?

Aug 17, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in Adult, ALEC, Beliefs, Contextualised, Damon, embedded, embedding, Learning, Literacy, Numeracy, Whitten

I think i’m going to start a new series of posts that all start with “Damon Says”. My family frequently hear this refrain around the house when the conversation turns to learning (which it does a lot since we work in education and we homeschool as well). My friend and colleague Damon Whiten really has his…
5 Reasons Why You Need to Punch Literacy and Numeracy in the Face

Aug 12, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in 21204, Adult, ALEC, black belt, crushing it, Education, embedded, face, Graeme Smith, how to dominate, in the face, KO, Literacy, Numeracy, Punch, Role model, Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey is my new hero and celebrity crush. In case you don’t know, she’s a mixed martial artist, actress, and Olympic judoka who is currently undefeated in her field and the current consensus is that she’s the world’s most dominant athlete. She’s strong, beautiful, and doesn’t take $!@# from anyone. She’s also a great role…
What do entrepreneurs do that you could do if you work in education? Part 3: Tools

Jul 2, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in 2.0, Adult, Adult Learning, Adults, ALEC, Ed, Edtech, Education, edupreneur, Embed literacy and numeracy, Embed numeracy, Embedded numeracy, Embedding numeracy, entrepreneur, Gear, Literacy and Numeracy, NCALNE, Professional Development, Qualifications

Tools for your (mostly) digital toolbox The other day I outlined some of the ideas, approaches, and tools that I’ve started using in my work in education that have made my life easier and more manageable. Mostly, I’ve borrowed these concepts and tools from the world of start ups, entrepreneurship, and design. Then I suggested a short…
NCALNE (Voc) => NZCALNE (Voc) Update

Apr 23, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in 21204, Adult, Education, Literacy, NCALNE, NZCALNE, NZQA, Qualifications, Review, Training, TRoQ, Voc

For anyone who’s interested in the progress of the replacement qualification for the NCALNE (Voc), my summary of the work to date happening on the NZQA side is below: Towards the end of last year the Teacher Education Governance Group, based on a summary of sector feedback recommended that the NZCALNE (Voc) was submitted for…
Are you battling low literacy and numeracy on the front lines of foundation education?

Mar 27, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in Adult, battle, Education, Foundation, front lines, Learners, Learning, Literacy, Low, NCALNE, Numeracy, Training, troops

This metaphor always makes me slightly nervous. I don’t like to paint education as a war, with teachers as soldiers. However, this is what it seems like for many tutors and trainers… an uphill battle against enemies seen and unseen. Let’s get things clear though. While some days you might feel that your learners are the enemy.…
What to do if your adult learners have dyslexia

Mar 24, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in 2015, 21204, Adult, Adults, Diagnosing, Diagnostic, Dyslexia, Dyslexic

This is another issue that comes up from time to time in our training. Effectively diagnosing and working with dyslexia falls outside of the narrow range of skills that we tend to focus on with our literacy and numeracy professional development and training with trades and vocational tutors. However, it does come up in discussions with…
Engaging Maori Learners: 6 Short Video Clips

Mar 24, 2015

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by

Graeme Smith

in Adult, embedding, Engaging, Learners, Literacy, Maori, NCALNE, Numeracy, Video

These videos came out a few years ago on a DVD. We regularly use the short section on Te Whare Tapawha in the live delivery of our training. But I thought you might also be interested in the rest of the videos, particularly if you never owned a copy of the DVD. If you click…