Dr Ange's Blog

I am fascinated by research of any kind.

In the newspaper, online or in blogs, whenever I read "Research found..." I am all in! It could be related to the optimum hours of sleep required, or the best underwater scuba tank (which I have absolutely no intention of ever buying)...I find how and what ...

As we approach the end of another school year in Australia, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of the importance of helping students to celebrate their progress and wins.

There is much research to show that our brain loves to feel it has been successful. It releases dopamine, making u...

One of our favourite TV shows to watch as a family is ‘Hard Quiz’ on ABC iView. For those of you who are not familiar with ‘Hard Quiz’, it is an Australian quiz show where everyday contestants apply to appear on the show because they consider themselves subject matter ‘experts’ on a particular niche...

In December last year I had the pleasure of meeting, chatting and presenting alongside US based maths consultant Robert Kaplinksy when he visited Melbourne. Robert has an excellent website called Open Middle that is wonderful for working on problem solving skills with F-8 students. As well as being ...

My three daughters all learn French. My eldest learnt it for three years at high school, and her sisters are currently learning it through the iPad App ‘Duolingo’. The younger two girls both love ‘Duolingo’. It provides short, sharp, daily lessons in lots of different languages (and I have noticed i...

On the way to school drop off in the morning my radio station of choice (and hence the radio station of choice for my children) is the Christian O’Connell show on Gold 104.3. For those of you not familiar with this radio station, the genre of songs it plays could be described as “old time classics”....

On the school holidays I enrolled my children in a five-day swimming program. I have learnt from experience that weekly swimming lessons are too difficult to fit into our weekly schedule, so many years ago I decided it was best to ‘batch’ and complete them over one week in the holidays!

I have fou...

When we bought our house, the previous owner explained with pride that some of the rose bushes were over 100 years old!

Talk about pressure!

If I am being honest, my track record with gardening hasn’t been great (most plants that I have been 'involved with' have not made it past the 1-year mark- a...

Over the past year I have been busily working on a project that I am very excited about! In this week's blog I wanted to share a little more.

Ever since I was a graduate I have seen the importance of providing opportunities for students to develop fluency in mathematics. I know I am not alone here....

For years my two youngest children have been inseparable. They have laughed and played together and until recently have absolutely loved each other’s company.

Lately things have shifted. Mr 5 has started finding his 'voice' and is getting better at expressing his thoughts and opinions about his pla...

When I taught Year 1/2 one of the things that captured every student’s interest was...teeth!

It is about that time in a child’s development when baby teeth begin falling out with increased frequency.

For some it is a long, slow process. For others it is a process that happens so quickly it leaves ...

If you have been reading my previous blogs, you might remember my husband and I have been introducing our children to movies we enjoyed in our childhood. Recently we shared the 1984 classic ‘The Karate Kid’.

'The Karate Kid' was actually better than I remembered… a little cheesy in parts, and possi...