Essential Resources

New Ways of Thinking about the Science Capabilities

June 27, 2017

A new book is always a moment of celebration – a marking of a collaboration stuffed with many examples of how to think with the science capabilities in the context of the material world. Hook, P., and Tolhoek, W. (2017). Using SOLO Taxonomy to Think Like a Scientist. How to develop curious minds with the […]

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SOLO Taxonomy in Learning Support

October 3, 2015

“SOLO helps us think out of school. It helps us think differently for later life.” Student in Year 9 Learning Support Class at Lincoln High School SOLO Taxonomy as a simple and powerful model of learning that keeps the focus firmly on the learning outcome and next steps for learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) […]

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Metrics for the spread of a powerful idea (updated)

June 28, 2015

I came home after working in Christchurch with the Ōtākaro Cluster to find a package on my desk. It contained my author copies of Læringsmål og taksonomiske redskaber. The Danish contribution written by Bodil Nielsen, Annette Hildebrand Jensen, Lene Skovbo Heckmann , Victoria Grønning Iverssøn and Kirsten Frøhlich Well , with other chapters by James […]

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First Steps with SOLO Taxonomy – applying the model in your classroom.

March 12, 2015

I have just seen the flyer for the latest book on SOLO Taxonomy – First Steps with SOLO Taxonomy – Applying the model in your classroom. It is a timely release – First steps and next steps.  There have been so many new developments and opportunities since I wrote the first two books in 2011 […]

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Unboxing SOLO Taxonomy in Mathematics

November 4, 2014

As anyone who reads Artichoke will attest – unboxing PIG was exciting – and I am happy to report that he has quickly settled into life in the corridor and is keeping a steadfast and focused snout on my desk from his perch on top of Quoll (Tasmanian). Unboxing PIG proved a useful dry run […]

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I was only five and armed with an “egg” and a spoon.

September 27, 2013

It can be hard to remember your first learning experiences. At five I remember determinedly studying the points of difference between “was” and “saw” on small pieces of card when I was learning to read. I remember my teacher climbing onto the piano to staple a poster to the wall (and instead staple her fingers […]

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You could describe George as an expert scone eater …

May 5, 2013

I am writing this on a bleak Sunday night in the ‘Tron and posting via a dodgy internet connection that only works when I nudge up against the hotel room window. And yet the circumstances cannot dampen the raw excitement I feel about George. Firstly because I am at last smart enough to spell his […]

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SOLO Taxonomy and Making Meaning Bk 1, 2 and 3.

November 24, 2012

I met with the fabulous Liz McNeill when I was working in Christchurch this week – we have recently co-authored three new secondary English resource books – the SOLO Taxonomy and Making Meaning series – using Google docs. We created and proofed the three manuscripts working from Christchurch and Auckland respectively – Google docs, email […]

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Launching “SOLO Taxonomy: A Guide for Schools”

October 21, 2011

Launching SOLO Taxonomy: A Guide For Schools Book 1 at the ULearn11 conference in Rotorua was a wonderfully comedic occasion. The book was stunning – the publisher Essential Resources had done a wonderful job in a very tight time-frame and I was especially chuffed that Professor John Biggs had critiqued the book and sent his […]

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