The Teacher Toolbox

…and so almost a fortnight after the post that said, ‘I’m going to put up some chess stuff’, I’m finally at a point where I have a few things to show

My ‘knight’ cartoon as been through many, many iterations. He has looked sad, startled, evil & even bemused. I have been emailing drafts to friends to get their opinions & a little help with direction. We’ve discussed how I want to get away from the ‘battle’ metaphor (which boys love) and focus on the thinking and metacognition involved in chess. Thanks guys!!!

Finally I think I’ve got the direction right. I need posters for the ‘basic moves’ of the pieces as well as posters to help kids ‘play strong’.

Tonight my first four posters go live to the Internet. Feel free to print out my Chess Rules Posters and be assured that I have about 20 more posters in the planning that I WILL get to sometime soon. hehehehehe

cheers

Adrian

In MCMXCIII CE I started teaching chess to my Yr Two kids with great success. I have taught it to every class I have had ever since. I teach chess because I firmly believe that there is some sort of carry over (esp with boys) between engagement with the game and improved reading results. I’m not really sure why this is but suspect it has something to do with increasing their ability to concentrate and focus.

Any pointers to ‘real studies’ and not just my ‘gut instict’ would be greatly appreciated.

That said, tonight I’ve started experimenting with mock ups of what the chess resources page of my site might look like.

I love having chess as a learning centre activity in my classroom. The game of chess is great for concentration in students and I really think it has a carry over into children’s ability to concentrate and read.

I’m now putting together a website that will be filled with posters that a teacher can print out, introduce and then make a wall display from. This way the students can refer to them when learning to play the game.

I feel a lot of people let their students play a level of chess that doesn’t bring out the true beauty of the game. These posters aim to better the quality of chess being played in classrooms all over the world.

So here are the first 3 Rules of Chess

cheers

Adrian

Over on my puzzle site I’ve just uploaded a printable chessboard puzzle that I’ve been using in my classes for quite a few years. It is a tried and true puzzle and is an excellent introduction to problem solving.

Check it out

Adrian