Pam Hook changed my life

Last week I was lucky enough to participate to a 2 day PD with Pam Hook and Julie Mills about SOLO taxonomy.

Sometimes you go to a PD and while the presenter makes his show, you think to yourself “right mate, what you say is very good but I don’t want to end up with 18 cats because my husband left me after I spend 10 hours to do one of your activity!!!!”

It’s true it happens heaps. You go to a course and it was a waste of money and a waste of your precious time. I become very tight with my time as it seems to run away from me.

Last week was not like that at all. Sometimes you meet someone who transforms your life, and this person for me is Pam Hook. Not only she has transformed my life but she has also transformed my students’ life.

My year 9 are working on “clothes and description”. After this fantastic PD, this week they wrote a piece or work on their uniform. They had to first describe their uniform, say why they like it or not (explain), imagine their ideal uniform and explain why they chose each item (e.g. mon uniforme idéal aurait un pantalon car c’est confortable). I gave them “serait” and “aurait” (would be and would have) as it is a Year 12 grammar structure. I was very impressed by the quality of their work.

What was the best thing about this activity is that the kids could express what they wanted, they were not stopped in one year. I mean that the time when they had to wait to be in Year 12 to do/learn something interesting is over. They used their brain and they produced something of an extraordinary quality