The Bashful Blogger

Steve Jobs

2012-01-05T20:48:00.002+13:00

I was lucky enough to be given the Walter Isaacson Steve Jobs biography for Christmas by a friend (in fact I got two and I had to return one). I found it to be a thoroughly good read and at times quite inspirational. I certainly kept thinking about it for sometime after I finished reading it which, from experience, is one sign of a good book!

Today Rachel Boyd posted this on Facebook and I just had to share it myself - thanks Rachel! So if you haven't already checked out the book - give it a go!

Source: piccsy.com via Rachel on Pinterest

So if you haven't already checked out the book - give it a go!

IMPD Introduction Day

2011-10-29T09:35:00.013+13:00

At my school we were recently given the opportunity to enrol in an NZQA Visual Arts course delivered by Lifeway College. When I sent the email around school asking for expressions of interest I expected maybe one or two replies. 24 staff ended up enrolling including our class teachers, our principal, both deputy principals, two teacher aides and our network manager!

Today we are attending the first of four full days and two half days. While the sessions will usually be held at our own school, the first one is at Lifeway College. We have the opportunity to mingle with teachers from other schools also enrolled in the course. There are many familiar faces ….

Lifeway College, 95 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden
8:30am - 4:00pm Saturday 29 October 2011

Welcome and introduction by Craig Hansen
There will be the opportunity to have Lifeway College students come to our school and work with teachers and/or students over the next year. Potential here for working with our Digikids as well as some in-class support to work with tools we wouldn’t normally be able to acces.

Photography with Stuart Hale
Tips for buying and using school cameras:

Smaller is not good
Must be able to override auto mode - programme mode good
Get a brand name you recognise that makes good optics
Buttons needed - mode dials are easiest, rather than menu, flash off/on button, macro button, zoom lever, perferrably T or TV or fireworks mode to change exposure
AA batteries - recharge batteries must say “ready to use” - could be any brand, have spare batteries for each camera
Quick chargers half the life of rechargeable batteries - $100 - but only take 15 minutes
Not necessarily expensive
See dpreview.com before purchasing
Lanyards for safety
Minimum 2GB memory card - SD cards most common, don’t use camera brand with own proprietary cards
Stay with same brands
Site - 100 photos that changed the world and worth1000.com - great ideas
Turn volume to maximum so kids know when they are taking photos
Show the kids the two-stage shutter to get better photos - focus (half shutter) on the element you want to be sharp, move away to take the photo with the background/foreground in the way
don’t use flash photography at night

The language of photography

The rule of thirds - the camera is not a gun to target what you want in the middle! Try to get points of interest along lines that divide the picture into thirds. The intersections of the nine squares are the most important areas.
Often no flash is best but hold steady - often need a tripod or something else that won’t move. No flash and no zoom (use full wide angle) with macro shots.
Exposure time - delay to approximately 10 seconds, can use cellophane to change light colour and draw with a torch! Preferably buy a bright torch with adjustable zoom.
Zoom - closer is better but can crop in iPhoto easily while maintaining quality of image.
5 Photo stories or 5 frame storytelling - great idea to use in class, concise but powerful stories, many examples available online if you search.
Photo books - pay for these for special events, school trips etc - can be accessioned and borrowed from library

Photography challenges (see worth1000.com for ideas):

Rule of thirds
Two stage shutter
No auto - use programme mode
Try flash on and flash off with same shot
Change point of view for various shots - mouse, possum, giraffe
Delicate (simplified background)
Alphabet (not man made)
Depth of field
Into the sun - but only use the view finder

Thinking about Art with Nicol O Shea

art seeks to educate, elevate and provoke
Shane Cotton tries to educate us about the history of this land
Dick Frizzell wants to elevate the everyday visions of NZ into high art
Joanna Langford’s magical landscapes remind us that our environment is fragile and on the verge of an ecological collapse

Blogs and other Social Media with David Kinane
Set up an account in Tumblr for use with this course (belindajohnston.tumblr.com). Can use own blog if you already have one.

Plenary

First assignment due 6 December! I'm dreading going to school on Monday - I can only imagine the complaints I'm going to hear about this assignment!!!

ULearn11 Breakout Presentation

2011-10-20T11:45:00.002+13:00

Using e-Portfolios for Student Centred Learning

View more presentations from belindajjohnston.

Here is the description of the workshop:

We have been using e-Portfolios with Year 1 to 6 students at Elm Park School since 2007 and shortly afterwards made the decision to use our e-Portfolios as our sole method of reporting to parents. During this presentation we will discuss our ongoing journey to implement e-Portfolios school-wide, our purpose behind the decision to start the journey, the successes and the challenges - warts and all! We’ll have a look at some e-Portfolios examples and share the professional development, resources, equipment and web 2.0 tools that we have found most useful to help us along the way.

We use KnowledgeNET’s Learning Journals at Elm Park School to create our e-Portfolios but this workshop will also be of interest to those using other applications.

ULearn 11 @ Rotorua

2011-10-18T16:33:00.000+13:00

Finally I'm here at ULearn again for the first time since 2009. I enthusiastically enrolled the four of us from EPS in the pre-conference workshops held today although the closer it got the more stressed I have become! What seemed like a good idea in Term 2 suddenly seemed a little less attractive when I looked at my long to-do list that isn't getting any shorter these holidays! Now that I'm here the excitement has returned - thinking about all the people I'm going to catch-up with and all the learning opportunities I'm going to be exposed to ....

First up - a full day workshop on questioning with Trevor Bond.

Making a Difference - Keeping it Real
tbond@clear.net.nz
http://ictnz.com

Two types of questions:

Unexpressed (cognitive, hidden part of the process of thinking)
Expressed (communicated)

Questioning is the engine-house of thinking - De Bono

Individually tried a Sudoku for five minutes. What were we thinking?

analysis, eliminating - what are the possibilities?
could it be ...
can it be ...
if I put ...

Thinking during this activity involved the process of asking and answering questions.

Smart Schools: Better Thinking and Learning for Every Child by David Perkins (colleague of De Bono). He discusses stages of thinking:

tacit (automaticity)
aware (making conscious decisions)
strategic (planning, thinking ahead)
reflective (evaluating)

Thinking is when you talk to yourself and your mouth stays shut - De Bono

Questioning is our most important intellectual tool - Neil Postman

Cognitive skills handout eg synthesising, generalising, investigating etc. All of them involve questioning in some part.

Learning is the process of extending our known to include something that was unknown and effective thinking is the activity that powers learning. Effective thinking is a process of asking and answering questions.

ICT Session for Year 2 Provisionally Registered Teachers

2011-09-20T11:47:00.003+12:00

Some links we will be using today:

delicious (social bookmarking) belinda's delicious bookmarks

shape poems (juniors)

Art Rage - purchase details on Software for Learning

Key applications for students:

Kid Pix - drawing, voice, photos, video, slideshows - purchase details on Software for Learning (Apple or Windows)
Comic Life - Purchase details through Software for Learning (Apple or Windows)
iMovie/Movie Maker -photos and/or video
Photo Story - free download from Microsoft for Windows only
Garageband/Audacity - audio (free)

ICT session with Year 1 Provisionally Registered Teachers

2011-09-20T08:17:00.005+12:00

Some links we will be using today:

What is ICT?

What is e-Learning?

What ICT challenges do I have at my school/in my class?

What do you want to discuss/learn about today?

delicious (social bookmarking) belinda's delicious bookmarks

shape poems (juniors)

Key applications for students:

Kid Pix - drawing, voice, photos, video, slideshows
Comic Life
iMovie/Movie Maker/Photo Story - photos and/or video
Garageband/Audacity - audio

ICT Lead Teacher Workshop

2011-08-17T13:53:00.004+12:00

It's that time again - the Eastnet ICT-PD Cluster lead teachers met today for a workshop at Shelly Park School. There are only six of us in the group now which is about half of our size during the cluster contract but what we lack in quantity we make up for in quality of content!

We started with our own mini smackdown and all shared a few cool tools, websites etc and had time to have a play. This was followed by a visit to some classes to see the layout of the school and some e-Learning in action. I led a session on RSS feeds and Google Reader which led onto other Google stuff including setting up an iGoogle page each!

In between all of that we have a yummy home baked morning tea courtesy of Ruth and a delicious lunch at Cafe Paris in Howick. As usual the highlights for me were the people and the conversations. We all share a love of ICT but more than that we also share similar challenges at our different schools and I really appreciate the opportunity to vent some stuff and know the others will empathise!

Over lunch we talked about how valuable we find these days even though they are only once a term and we have already planned the content for our final 2011 workshop which will be held at Elm Park School on 9 November:

Another smackdown - these are cool fun!
e-Portfolios - what do these look like at EPS and how do they work
Student Led Conferences - students will come and talk to us about what they will be doing at our upcoming conferences
Google apps - what is out there, who is using what and why
Set dates and topics for 2012
And our usual blogging session of course!!!!

Until the next one ....

EduCamp Auckland 2011

2011-08-06T10:27:00.011+12:00

EduCampAKL 2011 wiki

http://acesnet.wikispaces.com/EduCampAKL+2011

Google Doc with notes

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a-phrwD7fsi_97SMzhSlYI0_iMc246d03NTcAOOKztI/edit?hl=en&authkey=CKWA-IMC#

BJ notes below

Welcome by Claire Amos, EGGS

Second year of ICTPD contract with a focus on Moodle and Google Apps

SMACKDOWN

http://acesnet.wikispaces.com/EduCampAKL+Smackdown+2011

Dorothy Burt, Pt England School

Teacher Dashboard

Sonia, Newmarket School

Titan Pad http://ulimasao.titanpad.com/2?

Fiona Grant

http://www.etv.org.nz/education/login.php

Recent revamped, useful videos and resources for school. Some free, some subscription. Unlike online links - these are guaranteed to be available long term. Need to set up a login for your school.

Stuart Hale, Consultant

Mobile Technology - http://www.delicious.com/halenz

QR codes in Education - http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=51894

Augmented reality - http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/07/augmented-reality-in-plain-english.html

Tracy Tindle

http://prezi.com/

Blair, Summerlands School

http://www.remotesnap.com/

App costs about $4, can also download for Macs or PCs. Can set a folder to be a dropbox so photos shoot through as the photos are taken.

Robyn Wills, Mission Heights School

Jing http://www.techsmith.com/jing/

Screencasting. Uses it for ESOL, communicating with parents. Free version (5 mins movie), Pro programme available.

Jenny Green

http://www.my3mg.com/reusables/

Reviews of games earn points, free membership.

Cheryl Harvey, Team Solutions

http://bighugelabs.com/mosaic.php

Uses for embedding photographic evidence for teacher reflections.

Blair, Summerlands School

apple.com

System preferences, language and text, text, +, - to replace errors automatically. Will work in any native Mac application.

Brian Edgar, Otahuhu College

www.edmodo.com

Edmodo - likens it to FB for classes. Closed system for communication between teachers and students. Don't need email to sign up. Easy to use, students sign up themselves.

Taratj

http://www.jamendo.com/en/

Creative commons music download for free, good for making movies with class.

http://solesandsomes.wikispaces.com/

Self organised learning environments. Uses laptops with 'must have' four kids per laptop.

Prof. Sugata Mitra, ECLS, Newcastle University

Claire Amos, EGGS

http://www.screenr.com/

Screencasting like Jing. Free version up to five minutes. Alternatives to "How to" sheets. Quick, easy, instant, embeddable. Plunder Claire's libra y if you wish - http://www.screenr.com/user/ClaireA

Naketa Ikihele

http://journeythroughteaching.blogspot.com/2011/06/storytellingwhat-memories-does-this.html

Capturing stories from local whanau to enrich students.

Helen Prescott

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?title=Hatea_a_rangi___Marvin_Software&video_id=53377

Pete Hall, DP at Upper Harbour School

https://www.dropbox.com/

Download software and also synchronises in the cloud. Eg university assignments continually syncing when connected. Lets you use any file from any application and share the link for others to download.

Mary McQuoid

Focus on iPads in Education

es.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewMultiRoom?fcId=444204754

Gerard, Papatoetoe High School

http://softwareforlearning.tki.org.nz/Snapshots/Geocaching

Geocaching - tell your kids to get lost!

Ksenia T, Point View School

http://www.voki.com/

Uses for instructional writing, ESOL, current events

Linda Lehrke, Sommerville Intermediate

http://web.mac.com/nzlehrke/e-Learning@Somerville/Movie.html

Special needs students - using iPads. Have a purpose - Dan Pink. One student has own iPad and also one for the class. Purpose, mastery and automony = motivation.

Tabitha Roder

http://softwarefreedomday.org.nz/Au

http://softwareforlearning.tki.org.nz/Snapshots/Geocaching

Margaret May

margmay.blogspot.com

http://kudlian.com/

Linda Lehrke, Sommerville Intermediate

http://www.real.com/realplayer/download-video

Real Player - download video from any computer.

Augmented reality - free download http://www.aurasma.com/

iPhone Explorer - http://www.macroplant.com/iphoneexplorer/

Rachel Boyd, DP at Waiuku School

http://room5waiuku2011.blogspot.com/p/basic-sight-words.html

http://zondle.com/publicPages/welco

Good from Year 1 to secondary school. Can use existing games or create games. Initially focussed on sight words. Can be embedded. Free free free.

Lenva, DP at BBI

divshare.com

cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com

800 students into movie making and audio for e-Portfolios. Free storage is Divshare - 5GB. Every class has their own account. Embed code for copying and pasting. Lenva's wiki has over 1000 web 2.0 tools.

Stef, Student Teacher at Victoria University

Twitter.com

Uses for distance learning - hastag for NZ/Australian teachers

http://traintheteacher.wordpress.com

Lynne Laburn, Pt View School

http://pointviewschoolroom3.blogspot.com

http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/

Used as a world trip with 5 and 6 year olds.

Steve Voisey, EGGS (music teacher)

evernote.com

Uses on iPad, iPhone, MacBook and every device he ever touches. Notes are geotagged with location of when the notes were taken. Audio recorded on Evernote is automatically in the cloud unlike iPhones.

Dorothy/Lenva - Teacher Dashboard

Individual student logins

Not limited to classes, can include syndicates, specialist groups etc.

Can have access to change students around themselves.

Google sites (e-Portfolios), blogs etc.

Teachers can see all classes but only see folders of own class.

Can have more than one teacher owning a class.

Hover over students for a summary - when last edited, can click directly on the link to be taken to the area that was updated. If using collaborative tools also shows who modified file.

At BBI e-Portfolios are focussed on 6 themes and key competencies.

Teacher can also see unshared files and trashed items.

Widgets can be dragged and dropped to reorder. Students of concern can be at the top, reorder into groups etc.

Few minutes delay depending on bandwidth.

Pt England - Reading, Writing, Maths, Inquiry, Srudent Blogs, Blog Comments, Picasa, Picasa Preview

Draft blog posts also show.

Can filter up tolast 25 comments - who, when

No printer drivers on student laptops

Wiz.com (like Mathletics on speed) - include screenshots of progress go into picasa. Picasa preview shows thumbnails of photos students have uploaded.

Gmail - overview of emails sent and received - can view trash - very big brother

Use NSN/enrolment number (or unique number generated by google) in email so it can take them from preschool, primary and college when it's gifted to the student when they leave.

Administrator can't click on documents unless you are willing to received emails for every document from every student.

Parent access available shortly similar to parent portal.

Documents are automatically shared if created when inside one of the areas eg maths.

Pt England has gone mostly paperless - no stationery bill, school supplies a scrapbook. Parents pay $15 per month for netbooks.

At BBI students can bring own device. PC devices only have access to wireless but Macs do.

Pt England - netbooks only have access to wireless, not school network.

$4 per student per year for teacher dashboard

Can log problems at the bottom of the screen - very fast turnaround.

Blogs are created manually - Dorothy makes one blog with settings, widgets etc. Go into edit html - download and create xml file. After that create individual blogs blank, edit design, upload xml file. Still needs some customisation. Lenva does the same with google sites used as e-Portfolios. Automatically assigns to students when created.

Can upload files simply for storage eg iMovie even though they can't be played.

Dashboard has to be up on the screen at times during the year - so they quietly see that you do monitor what is going on or not happening. Teacher doesn't even need to say anything!

GOYA - get off your ass!

At Pt England - mainly using from Year 5 but younger levels will be next. Plans to make teacher dashboard more image based as time and finance allows. Junior students could just click on their photo!

Parent confidence with supervised email is good. Used for learning purpose. Digital citizenship.

e-Wrapper Cluster Mini Conference

2011-07-29T13:27:00.005+12:00

Rachel Boyd was kind enough to ask me to present at her cluster's mini conference held at Everglade School yesterday.

I had a few technical hiccups before my workshop but thanks to Hey Milly I got a Plan B sorted although this meant we both missed Trevor Bond's keynote presentation. My workshop topic was 'Using e-Portfolios to promote student-centred learning' and despite the technical limitations it seemed to go well and I received positive feedback from the participants. The people who attended the workshop were all interested in implementing e-Portfolios into their own schools in the near future and they posed some very pertinent questions about how to get buy-in from teachers, how to manage the workload etc. A few have already made plans to meet with me again to continue the discussion ...

e-Wrapper Presentation

View more presentations from belindajjohnston

This was the presentation I used at the workshop although I've deleted the student examples due to privacy.

Luckily I managed to catch Trevor's questioning workshop later in the day and my notes are below.

Questioning: Our most important cognitive tool

Trevor Bond

http://ictnz.com

Can join this questioning wiki and contribute to it.

Questioning is the engine house of thinking. De Bono

Two types of questions:

* expressed - to gain info

* unexpressed - the process of thinking

Questioning is our most important intellectual tool. Neil Postman

If this is truce what does this mean for classroom practice?

Questioning is at the heart of:

* engaging meaningfully with text

* understanding what we see

Thinking is when you talk to yourself and your mouth stays shut. De Bono

There is no learning without thinking.

In schools we create and foster an environment that discourages question asking. "When I ask questions my teacher gets angry." Eg frustration, a look, frown, ignored, body language, sigh

Preschoolers ask 50% of questions at home, changes 0.02% at college.

Skills of an effective questioner:

* identify need or problem

* identify the relevant contextual vocabulary

* ask a range of different types of questions

* take them to a variety of appropriate sources

* persist, editing questions as necessary until they acquire the needed information What is a good question?

* relevant

* gets you the information needed

* can be taken to intelligent and non-intelligent sources - eg human vs resources

At this stage Trevor ran out of time so unfortunately we missed out on all the other goodies he had planned to share.

ICT Lead Teacher Workshop

2011-05-18T13:48:00.006+12:00

Well this is embarrassing! How did I get out of the habit of regular blogging? It's not as if there's been nothing to share - quite the opposite in fact. Finally today I have run out of excuses!

I only realised today how much I've missed the collegiality of our cluster ICT lead teachers and how motivating it is to be around like-minded teachers. Walking around the classrooms to see what is happening was something we never did enough of during our cluster contract so it was fantastic to have this opportunity today. The teachers and students were very welcoming at Botany Downs School and we saw many cool ideas to take back to our schools. I first visited the school back in 2007 and the shift that has evolved is nothing short of miraculous and I feel very proud to have been a part of the beginning of their journey. I was particularly impressed by how well SOLO Taxonomy is being used across the school and the consistency of the evidence on walls and in plannning - well done Lyndal! Bridget has also been on fire this year leading ICT - not an inconsiderable role conisdering every single class now has their own blog!

Another session today was allocated to sharing good ideas and new innovations in our schools. Elm Park School talked about our upcoming Student Led Conferences which are very new for us, we had a quick play with the new Comic Life 2 and looked at city.lego.com - an online comic creator. I talked about a number of iPad apps I've been enjoying recently (ComicLife, Art Rage, Puppet Pals, Star Walk, Garageband). Other teachers shared sites such as Smile Box, Tagxedo, Poster-street, kerpof.com, picnik.com and http://www.communication4all.co.uk/.

Probably the most value for today has been just talking to the ICT lead teachers, bouncing ideas off each other and commiserating over similar challenges in our different schools (also known as our Dear Abbey session). Just when I was feeling overwhelmed by everything I am now going away more refreshed and determined to make a difference so thank you Eastnet Cluster ICT Lead Teachers!

Exciting News

2011-02-17T18:06:00.001+13:00

The Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) Program began in 1994, when Apple identified key educators from around the globe who were emerging as leaders in the field of educational technology. Today, after 15 years, this community now consists of over 1,500 educators worldwide who utilise technology to impact how we educate students in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. Apple is pleased to welcome Belinda Johnston as one of the 40 newly selected members for the ADE Class of 2011 in Australia and New Zealand. Learn more about this group of innovative educators online at http://www.apple.com/au/education/apple-distinguished-educator/

iPad and Special Needs

2010-08-19T17:12:00.011+12:00

While on a recent trip to California visiting schools I was lucky enough to see a number of 1:1 iPod Touch classrooms. I've had an iPod Touch myself for a few years, and more recently an iPhone, but it wasn't until I saw these devices being used in classrooms that I saw the potential for use with special needs children. In particular I was thinking of my own 10 year old son Harry who has autism who at this stage was not allowed to touch my iPhone!

The timing of my Californian trip was perfect. As soon as I returned I persuaded my husband and started saving for Harry's own iPod Touch in time for his 10th birthday in July. An iPad would have been even better but was out of our price range unfortunately! In preparation for the big day I spent many hours trawling the iTunes Apps store looking for suitable applications to engage Harry in different areas including literacy, numeracy, creativity, images/video, general gaming etc. The big day came and the iPod Touch was a huge hit and we continue to add to his list of apps as his needs and interests change. He's already asking when he can take his iPod to school to use ...

So it was huge interest that I read this post on BlogHer recently. This mother has a son with autism and has seen enormous improvements in his development since he started using an iPad. Many of the apps Shannon mentions are not intended specifically for children with autism but they are certainly autism friendly. The app I found most interesting of all was Stories2Learn. Social stories are widely used by children with autism as they find it easier to learn visually and the stories can help with upcoming events and change in routines such as transitions to school, school trips, holidays etc. When Harry was younger I spent literally hundreds of hours taking photos, inserting into Publisher templates, adding text, printing them out in colour, laminating each page and binding it all together. It was expensive and time consuming. With apps like Stories2Learn social stories become not only free to make but also a much more powerful learning tool as you can add audio (and with other apps video). And instead of just one copy of the book you can have multiple copies at home, at school, in the car or anywhere! Shannon goes on to provide a long list of other applications to assist in just about any area of autism you can think of from scheduling (very important for kids on the spectrum to know what to expect step by step) through to symbols and text-talk apps to help with communication difficulties.

While iPads are obviously not the answer to all the difficulties that come with autism I can see a real potential for their use at home and school. And with the growing number of ASD kids in our schools today this is surely something we need to be incorporating into our strategic plans and budgets?

Still alive ....

2010-07-28T23:04:00.001+12:00

Just to prove that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth I have to link to Derek Wenmoth's latest blog post as it mentions little old me!!! I have a number of posts for my own blog in draft but just can't seem to find the time or energy to get them finalised. I seem to be just running from one major event to the next at the moment both at work and at home! But don't give up on me, I promise I will be back soon ...

Edtalk: Joan Dalton

2010-06-21T17:07:00.004+12:00

I am a huge fan of Joan Dalton and David Anderson. I've been lucky enough to attend a ULearn pre-conference workshop for facilitators run by them both a few years back and then in 2007 I spent a week with them on the Facilitating Highly Effective Professional Learning workshop (FHEPL) in Hamilton. It was a transformational experience and I would recommend it to anyone interested in facilitation. I was really excited today to find that Joan Dalton has an Edtalk on the topic 'Conversations for improving and transforming learning'. One phrase that resonated for me was "What you say is who you are". I think this is accurate and is also a very important point for facilitators/teachers to be aware of. The language we use with learners can send unintentional messages to them and they're not always positive! This is something I am improving on but need to keep in my consciousness otherwise I find myself slipping into old habits!

A new Ken Robinson TED Talk

2010-05-25T12:12:00.009+12:00

Most people I know are very familiar with Ken Robinson's 2006 talk about how schools kill creativity. I've purchased and am currently reading his recently released book 'The Element: How finding your passion changes everything' and I also participated in a webinar presented by him last month. So I'm obviously a fan and was very excited to see he has a new TED Talk uploaded just this month. Check it out and see what you think (16 minutes). I love his low-tech presentation style, his sense of humour and the way he weaves personal stories into his message. I'll be reassessing my dependency on my wrist watch for a start!

iPad + Velcro

2010-05-23T11:13:00.002+12:00

I love this video - very clever. Thanks to MB for sharing with me.

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Notes from Jamie McKenzie Workshop

2010-05-12T10:08:00.012+12:00

Jamie McKenzie (jamiemck2001@gmail.com)
Howick Club, 12 May 2010

Session 1
Asked us to look at the course evaluation at the start so we knew what we need to be
thinking about.  Able to make notes/collect data during the day. Modelling
classroom practice.

We are spending less time on learning and more on tests.  Educators need to be more
politically active or we will be bulldozed.

visualtheaurus.com
Login = trial2@visualthesaurus.com
Password = azure876
Expires 7 June 2010

jigzone.com

Synthesis - the ability to put pieces of a puzzle together in a new way.

Strongest readers use the following strategies:

inferring
Questioning
Picturing
Recalling prior knowledge
Synthesising
Flexing

(David Pearson)

Latest book 'Beyond Cut-and-Paste'

Jamie has developed a taxonomy for synthesizing - he is happy to email the PDF or
find on questioning.org or fno.org (use search box to find it)

Questioning toolbox on questioning.org - kids need to know the types of questions so
they can chose the best one for the task.

Essential questions also known as questions of import.

Eg Joan of Arc 'in what ways was the life remarkable?'
Examples on fno.org  - other cool stuff - biography maker
Underneath that will be many many subsidiary questions.

What should we do about ......
Would you rather .... Or ........
Who is the better poet, ........... Or ...........

Topic based research leads to cut and paste thinking:
Scooping
Smudging
Lack of original thought
Susceptibility
Surrender

Cognitive dissidence good for the class!!!

Session 2
Watched A Dove Film 'Evolution' and then another that parodied it A Film 'Slob
Evolution'.
Asked to align the second movie with his taxonomy of synthesising - justify your
ranking.
Then watched a Greenpeace movie about Dove being responsible for 98% lowland forest
losses in Indonesia due to palm oil production.

The Gruen Transfer video

Even if you do nothing - change happens!

Be wary of fads or bandwagons that fail to change practice or student performance.

Avoiding haphazardous change:

Wreckage
Disappointment
Waste
Disruption
Disillusionment
Distrust
Disaffection
Alienation
Withdrawal
Insurgency


Session 3
Silence is powerful.  If you keep filling the gaps kids have no time to think.

Virtual change:

Cosmetic
Fashionable
Trendy
Illusory
Untested
Diversionary
Seductive
Dramatic

Some wholesome change strategies:

Anticipating - What could possibly go wrong? What's the worst that could happen?
Testing - venturing, piloting, learning, adjusting, improving, expanding
Preparation - laying the groundwork, building capacity, exploring, explaining, analysis
Support - scaffolding, just in time support, barriers, resource expansion
Balance - not going overboard, moderation, modulation, restraint, focus
Pacing - plateaus, cruising, deep breath, consolidating, refining
Discernment - questioning, wondering, doubting, delaying, challenging, researching,
selecting, prioritising
Sheltering - reducing distractions, limiting new goals and projects, resisting
frivolity, encouraging, calming, filtering, embracing
Courtship - winning buy-in, what's in it for me, showing value/benefits, identifying and addressing basic needs

What are the tactics, strategies and tricks to promote questioning, wondering and learning.

How must the repertoire change?

Reflective practice

5 year PD plan where teachers can chose from options to suit their needs

Building units around challenging Questions and problems

fno.org/jan2010/quick.HTML

Thinkexist.com

I love my iPad

2010-05-04T14:41:00.004+12:00

There will be many people out there relieved to know that I have FINALLY taken the plastic off the new iPad! It was bought a couple of weeks ago in California but I have refused to take the plastic wrap off until I purchased a case as the thought of a scratch on the back was too horrific to consider! Needless to say I have been subjected to considerable harrassment about this. I have given up hope of getting my hands on one of the highly sought-after official Apple covers and just bought a cheapie on TradeMe! Red of course ....

Fotobabble

2010-05-04T14:30:00.004+12:00

I was lucky enough to attend the ITSC Apple Conference on Friday and Saturday. One of the cool tools we played with was Fotobabble! We were using it on iPhones but there is heaps of potential for it to be used on iPod Touches (download the free App from iTunes), laptops, desktops - both at school and for EOTC. Would love to hear from anyone who is using it with their class?

Amanda Signal and Digital Photography

2010-04-09T18:01:00.004+12:00

Our very own Amanda is even more famous than ever now that her EDTalk recorded at ULearn09 is now online. If you don't already know much about how to use digital photography in the classroom or 5 frame storytelling you should check this out! Go Amanda, we are so proud of you yet again!

Gotta Keep Reading

2010-03-28T08:19:00.003+13:00

A bit of fun to encourage kids to read adapted from the Black Eyed Peas 'I Gotta Feeling' and the flash mob dance performed for the Oprah Winfrey Show last year.

Scholastic Kids Press Corps

2010-03-16T20:02:00.004+13:00

I've been recommending this scholastic site to teachers recently. It has the tagline 'News For Kids, By Kids' which I love. Although it is US based the topics are sufficiently global to appeal to many primary aged students around the world. It is similar to the excellent news sites for kids on Britannica Online School Edition only much easier to access! Topics include current events (eg the Chile earthquake is one today), entertainment, book reviews, special reports.

There is also this useful Word Wizard tool which allows the students to double click on any word (or type it in the box) and it gives detailed definitions.

The reports are all kids and I see there is an application process for future journalists although the current ones all live in the US. I can't find anything that says students from other countries can't apply so maybe it's worth a shot?

Learning at School: Day 3

2010-02-27T19:43:00.006+13:00

Breakout 6: Action Research as Professional Development - some tales from the field Vince Ham

What do I want to get out of this session? Ideas for implementing AR with cluster ICT lead teachers this year.

efellows2009.wikispaces.com (eg Helen Renne-Younger)
www.efellows.org.nz

Ultimate purpose of action research is to improve practice NOT to know something. Sustainability.

Puzzle - around practice, research question, my/our

Process - act/reflect/observe, data collection/evidence eg observation/video/survey, personal journal/blog - date on ME

Conclusions - results, coutcomes, resolution, answer to puzzle

Presentation - public, sharing

Collaboration needed at some stage eg observations.

Evidence based practice.

Readings

Davey & Ham (2010), The Six Ms of Mentoring Self Study - Journal of PD in Education
Joan Dalton

e-Portfolios: A Case Study

2010-02-27T18:58:00.002+13:00

Along with TP, I presented at the Learning at School Conference last week. We were pleased to find out that our breakout was fully registered and here is the blurb we used:

Elm Park School has been using e-Portfolios school-wide with Year 1-6 students for two years. The portal we use is KnowledgeNET but the content of this presentation is valid for others choices such as Ultranet, blogs, wikis etc. The focus of this session will be on our journey from research, through to trial and implementation. There will the opportunity to view some student examples. The pitfalls we found along the way and some implications for infrastructure, NZ Curriculum and National Standards will also be discussed.

e-Portfolios: A Case Study

View more presentations from belindajjohnston.

Learning at School: Day 2

2010-02-25T13:45:00.008+13:00

Breakout 4: Nick Rate

Breakout 5: Building a School Based Curriculum: How to use SOLO Taxonomy to co-create rubrics for self-assessing learning outcomes
Pam Hook and Julie Mills

http://hooked-on-thinking.wikispaces.com/The+Language+of+Learning#The%20Language%20of%20Learning--HOT%20SOLO%20Coded%20Self%20Assessment%20Rubrics

80% of feedback a student receives about his/her work is from a peer - but 80% of that feedback is incorrect or invalid. (John Hattie, 2009)

Students giving peer feedback based on SOLO assessment rubric.
Students developing (co-constructing) their own SOLO based assessment rubric.

SOLO Taxonomy and Assessing Student Thinking

View more presentations from Pam Hook.

Learning at School 2010: Day 1

2010-02-24T09:18:00.028+13:00

Welcome: Nick Billowes

Opening: Anne Tolley
Ultra fast internet access 50 times faster than what we currently have. When will all schools have this? This access will increase capability for classroom use as well as administrative purposes, formative assessment (e-asTTle) and online resources. Budget allocation to upgrade individual school's infrastructure in preparation for the fibre rollout - through the School Network Upgrade Project and part of the National Education Network.

Keynote: Dr Stuary Middleton: School looks good but is it engaging?
www.stuartmiddleton.co.nz
Manukau Institute of Technology

Epidemic of disengagement in NZ education. If we keep doing what we've always done we will get what we always got. Australia, Canada, UK, USA have the same shared issues. All have shared a similar path of education systems, English speaking, English background. The pattern:

social/political unease with education
disconnect between education and economy (skill shortage)
unprecedented levels of disengagement
NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) for 15-19 year olds

External factors: an education system resistant to change, a changing demographic, a changing economy.

Who do we find to be a challenge:

low SES status
NESB background
recent migrants
first in family/first generation
lack adequate academic prepartion for next stage
second change students
older age groups
part time students

Challenging group is increasing dramatically and those groups that have been traditionally successful are shrinking.

Perhaps in the future schools will not be organised as clearly on an age-cohort basis.

Language is at the heart of learning - bi-lingual brains are better. Being bi-lingual is normal - although not always the case in NZ.

Breakout 2: Building a School Based Curriculum: How to use SOLO Taxonomy to develop the Key Competencies
Pam Hook and Julie Mills

Managing Self

Pre-structural - mum hangs my bag and takes my things out to take into the class
Uni structural - tacit use - I can hang up my bag when I am asked
Multi structural - aware use - I can hang up my bag and take my belongs into the class
Relational - strategic use - I can hang up my bag, take my belongings into the class and I know why and when I need to do this
Extended abstract - reflective use - I can hang up my bag, take my belongings into the class and I know why and when I need to do this and I can help others do the same

The more rubrics you write the easier it gets. Same for students. The student self-assessment provides a snapshot and is more meaningful than when teacher directed.

The Hooked on Thinking wiki has hundreds of examples of Key Competency rurbrics that have already been developed in schools (http://hooked-on-thinking.wikispaces.com/The+Key+Competencies).

Breakout 3: Recording the Real World Digitally - Assessment

Stuart Hale

Using Keynote for e-Portfolios.

A place to put media created by students.

Use Smart Builds to add 'thumb through' and drag multiple images onto a slide.

Media Place Holders - format - advanced - define as media place holder. Add mask so graphic can be cropped dynamically.

Photos - add detail with shadow, reflection and stroke.

When movies are inserted - go to QuickTime on Inspector and you can use Poster Frame to select the image to appear at the start. Can also choose start and stop point without editing the movie.

Can be uploaded as podcasts.

Could use iPod Touches for students to take home and share their e-Portfolios.

Graphs/charts - Click on Charts then add data (can copy and paste from Numbers/Excel/SMS). Use 3D scene to adjust angle/tilt of graph. Can drag and drop images onto bars in the graph!

Using shapes - insert a star and adjust number of points. Drag and drop photo onto star!

Stuart has a gadget to use the webcam with a mirror - usually $16 each.

Good website for photos - www.worth1000.com

National Standards

2010-02-16T10:53:00.008+13:00

I've been working on setting up numeracy and literacy graphs as part of reporting to parents based on examples provided on the National Standards documenation. Some of the graph examples provided were very good but unfortunately they were only available in PDF so I started from scratch in Excel (with a lot of help from my husband). Here is what we have come up with so far for numeracy. Eventually we hope that assessment data from our student management system (eTap) will feed directly into our student e-Portfolios (in KnowledgeNet). In the meantime each student will have one of these graphs which will be updated by the teacher at the beginning and end of each year and then loaded manually into e-Portfolios.

Teachers enter the student name and the relevant numeracy stage/reading age into the cell. The graphs does its job to look something like this.

I would be very interested to to hear about or see examples of what other schools are doing?

NZ Curriculum For Sale!

2010-02-13T17:32:00.004+13:00

Check out this auction on Trade Me. Someone is selling off their copy of the New Zealand Curriculum document as it is no longer needed thanks to National Standards. As I write this the bid is up to $78 and it doesn't close until Wednesday. You have to read the comments - they are hilarious!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Books/Nonfiction/Reference/Other/auction-271122368.htm#qna

The fringe benefits of failure

2010-02-01T07:23:00.002+13:00

Love this speech JK Rowling gave at Harvard in 2008. It is 20 minutes long but well worth the time ....

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure | Video on TED.com

Holiday Reading

2010-01-30T19:47:00.013+13:00

I've been catching up on my reading including RSS Feeds but I have a long way to go still! A couple of tools have caught my fancy:

Google Squared
This has been mentioned on quite a few blogs recently and looks pretty cool. I've played around searching for various key words and think it's a great educational/research tool especially for teachers and middle/upper primary students. Here is a screen shot of a search for 'planets' - the planets are displayed in grid with columns for comparing information. You can add as many columns as you like choosing from the drop down menu or adding your own. I added temperature and satellites. Love it!

Youblisher
I read about this on AllanahK's Blog. If you want to upload a PDF for other to read online this tool allows you to display it like a book. Once embedded, readers are able to view it full screen and turn the pages - just like a real book. A user friendly and fun alternative to having to download the document to your desktop before being able to open and read.

Showmewhatswrong
This one is really useful for ICT lead teachers in particular! If you're anything like me, as soon as people in your professional and/or personal life find out you know anything about computers they start asking you to help them out with their technical woes! If you log into this site it gives you a URL to pass onto those needing help. With the click of a button the user can make a screen cast (video) showing the problem on their computer screen including audio if they have a microphone. The screen cast is then emailed back to you (the helper) so you can work out what the issue is and give the appropriate advice. Here's a demo to give you a better idea of how it works (under 2 minutes):

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009

2009-12-01T11:01:00.000+13:00

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009

View more documents from Jane Hart.

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-11-06T21:42:00.002+13:00

In case you've had your head buried and didn't know, Maurice Sendak's 1963 classic children's picture book 'Where the wild things are' is being released as a movie next month. The official movie website has heaps of entertainment such as trailers, downloads and even an iPhone app. If you insist on something more educational to link in with this high interest topic then check out Jacqui Sharpe's blogpost. She has kindly shared some numeracy and literacy activities bound to grab the attention of even your most reluctant student! Does anyone else have any related ideas to share?

The National Standards Debate

2009-11-04T08:58:00.014+13:00

Well, strictly speaking it's not a debate anymore but nonetheless it is a hot topic for educators at the moment. It seems everything I pick up to read or every conversation I tune into is related to national standards these days!

I've recently watched John Hattie on the EdTalks site. As the title (National Standards: Can we learn from others' mistakes?) suggests, Professor Hattie discusses the key lessons to be learned from the experiences of other countries where national standards have also been implemented.

As an ICT-PD Cluster facilitator I've been taking a rather narrow view of national standards. In principle I don't have a problem with them I must confess! I've had a quick look at kit sent to schools, the reporting to parents information etc and there is no rocket science that I could spot. There is no doubt that schools need to keep parents informed including:

plain language
transparency
actual achievement levels compared to expected achievement, with evidence
learning goals
next learning steps
what can be done to help at home
etc

I do have two issues I'm mulling over though.

Most schools are still in the midst of their curriculum design which is due to be completed for 2010. From what I'm hearing at other schools it seems much of this has to go on hold while national standards are implement and this is going to be a huge shift in practice for many with a comparatively short lead in time. It's a shame if we lose our momentum at this stage as the NZ Curriculum has the potential to make significant change in student achievement (unlike national standards perhaps).
My base school has been working hard on e-Portfolios for the past two years. At this stage we appear to be including all the national standard requirements already and much more besides. Students from 5 to 11 years are setting literacy and numeracy goals, reflecting regularly on their progress and uploading evidence to support this. Teachers offer regular comments on progress throughout the year in plain language addressed to the student including any assessment data and next learning steps. Instead of reporting twice a year to parents, our e-Portfolios are online and available 24/7 to see learning as it happens with the ability to give written feedback to their child as often as they choose. e-Portfolios are the focus of two collaborative conferences (teacher, parents, student) held in Term 2 and 4. Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to have to change our format significantly and probably ask teachers to duplicate data entry to meet the national standards guidelines for reporting to parents. This extra workload is going to add no value to what we are already doing and may in fact take away due to the added stress on teachers. The alternative is to chuck out what we have done for the past two years and simply fill in the blanks on the templates provided in the school kits. Not a chance!

It's early days and there is still much reading and thinking to do!

It's good to be back

2009-10-11T20:56:00.006+13:00

I've been a bit slow with the blogging recently. We had our cluster expo day in the last school holidays in July. It was a frantic two weeks beforehand preparing everything for the big day then straight into Term 3 for another frantic 10 weeks. It was a difficult term, not helped by the dreaded lurgy, but I'm now feeling much more refreshed and ready for Term 4!

Back to the cluster expo day for a bit. This was the first expo day I had organised entirely myself as the previous one was held at Sky City last year. It was a lot more work but cost a lot less so it was worth it. I had heaps of helpers too - KA and most of the ICT Lead Teachers gave up their own time and holidays to get all the jobs done from my ever increasing list!

We had two awesome keynote speakers, Rachel Boyd and Suzie Vesper, as well as more than 30 workshops for teachers to choose from. The feedback from the 120 or so attendees was overhwhelming positive and the increased interest and motivation of teachers was obvious throughout the term. There were several things I would do differently next time including longer workshops. We only had 3 x 45 minute workshops and they should probably have been a minimum of 60-90 minutes each. Some teachers did comment that it was a long day, especially being held in the holidays as it was 8:30 to 4:30pm. Personally I didn't think it was too long but I guess you can never please everyone!

The expo wiki has many links and presentations uploaded by presenters so check it out for yourself!

On 20 October we have the whole cluster share afternoon so stay tuned to hear how it went!

Pencils and crayons to be banned in schools

2009-09-16T09:51:00.006+12:00

A new law coming into force later this month will require students to check in their pencils and crayons at the office and collect them after school. Any children caught with pencils or crayons in their possession will have then confiscated and parents will be informed.

“We’ve had enough,” said one teacher, “kids are writing notes to each other in class. It’s distracting for us all. Besides that, they spend too much time sharpening them when they could be working.”

There have been many reports of children using their pencils to “poke” each other and there have even been arguments about who owns which pencil.

“They’ll have someone’s eye out one day. It’s only a matter of time before something serious happens,” commented a parent who favours the all out ban. “Better to ban them all rather than risk an accident – they can be really sharp.”

In some cases pencils have been used by pupils to record their ideas and learning, but they’ve also created problems with their inappropriate use in class. The introduction of new “coloured” pencils means that children are being tempted to create ever more creative work and the notes passed around now include garish illustrations.

One parent explained his opinion. “Chalk and slate was good enough for us, black and white and easy to read, not a confusing multicoloured mess. You couldn’t pass notes around without the teacher noticing and the chalk couldn’t be sharpened into a dangerous point. The greatest danger was that you’d drop it on your foot. I’d like chalk to remain the teachers’ main tool (along with talk). Let’s keep it at the centre of learning.”

A few teachers are not convinced that the ban is the best policy. They worry about the effect it might have on student engagement and motivation.

“As soon as they get out of school kids are writing, drawing and passing notes around. I think by banning the pencil and crayon we risk alienating students and making their time at school seem irrelevant to their lives.”

“Used in the correct way they are powerful learning tools, students (and teachers) need to be trained in their proper classroom use.”

“It seems ridiculous to exclude something that is so readily available outside school and widely integrated into all aspects of our modern society. They are exposed to these modern implements from an early age and most children use them on a daily basis. To take them away is erasing educational opportunities.”

No one can argue with the fact that a sharpened pencil can cause injury and that something must be done. It’s too soon to determine the outcome of the ban. We’ll just have to wait and see.

P.S. There is a rumour that something called a “ballpoint pen” is beginning to gain popularity among teens. How will schools cope with this new permanent menace? At least pencils can be erased with the right equipment.

Source: What Now? What Next? So What?
Photo: orangeacid

Did you know?

2009-09-16T09:37:00.011+12:00

Here is the latest version of the popular Did You Know? series on YouTube.

Food for thought ....

Video Books

2009-07-10T09:49:00.004+12:00

SqoolTube is a site with free video books to view or download. There is not a huge range but authors/titles include Maurice Sendak, Dr Seuss, Berenstain Bears and Curious George. Other sites I've recommended in the past (ie Looky Books and Tumble Books) are now either off line or have a cost so hopefully this one will be a possible replacement.

Thanks to Jacqui Sharp for sharing this and other online literary links in her recent post.

A Whole New Meaning to Customer Complaints

2009-07-09T08:30:00.003+12:00

This YouTube clip has been created by a United Airlines customer in response to a bad experience he had on one of their flights. It's had over 148,000 hits in two days! I'm picking United Airlines aren't too happy about it right now ....

It also makes me think of the bigger picture here for other organisations. It seems this could place extra pressure on them to provide good customer service or end up on YouTube! Not necessarily a bad thing from the consumer point of view is it?

Presentation Zen Workshop

2009-07-08T08:27:00.030+12:00

Woo hoo, I'm here! I was the first person to arrive at the venue (Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington) for the Presentation Zen workshop! In fact I was so early that was here when Garr arrived that got to meet him personally before he went into set up. In case you haven't already guessed - I have been very excited about coming along today! I'm going to write my notes in this post although Garr's presentation style is such that it's hard to do anything else other than listen to him!

The little things matter.

Powerpoint is not for documents. Have proper documents and proper visuals - don't try to kill two birds with one stone.

Express your uniqueness - what makes you/your content different?

Recommended text:
Unlimited - The new learning revolution and the seven keys to unlock it by Gordon Dryden and Jeanette Vos.

Characteristics of good presentations we've seen:
humour, stories, simplicity,sincerity, passion, unexpected props, good structure, nervous, crass, starting with a question, engaged audience, credibility, not too formal or serious, natural delivery, not perfect

Characteristics of bad presentations we've seen:
reading slides, podium hugger, monotone, clutter, complex diagrams, transitions effects, quiet, going over time, small fonts, too much information

Recommended text:
Brain Rules by John Medina
- see slideshare for a summary

Garr's other blog

100% pure nz clip on youtube - an example of showing a story to get a message across rather than saying it.

Preparation
- restraint - resist the urge to add more
- multitasking myth - not biologically capable
- time off the grid to prepare - analogue
- structure your presentation about meaning, the big picture, the sport key ideas with details. Don't start with the details.
- wide or deep but not both - choose one and let go of the rest
- make your messages/stories "sticky" (Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath) - all these memorable messages have 6 key elements - simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotion, story

Dr Jill Bolte Taylor(ted.com)

Storyboarding - can print out blank in powerpoint
It all takes time being more effective and different
Refer to previous speakers in your presentation

Recommmended text:
A whole new mind by Daniel Pink

Design
- the bento (attention to detail, fresh, bite size pieces, inspiring, simple, something for everyone, variety, complete
- decoration is surface
- design is soul deep (Design by Tom Peters)

Hear a message and you'll remember 10%. See a picture and you'll remember 65%.

Lessig method

Simplicity means the achieveent of maximum effect with minimum means - Dr Koicha Kawana

The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda
Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the mean meaningful.

Simplicity - essence space, clarity, profound

Simplicity is not simple. Simplicity good. But simple is not.

Child's mind/beginners mind - willing to take a chance

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few. Shunrya Suzuki

Creativity - Sir Ken Robinson

Delivery
- conversational
- be natural, relaxed
- use a remote control
- synchronisation
- 1 minute rule (change something every 10 minutes or so)
- use larger tv screens rather than projectors if possible
- never use a podium
- lapel mirocrophone for large audiences
- stand front and centre
- b key (black), w key (white)
- video and audio can be powerful
- no audio for transitions

Kaizen - continous improvement

What a fabulous four hours this has been. To top it off we got a free copy of Garr's book (autographed) and I was the luck recipient of the free Presentation Zen DVD (being the only poorteacher in the room). Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the lunch with Garr as I had to rush off and catch my flight back to Auckland.

I spy

2009-07-05T18:59:00.003+12:00

I've taken to reading the Telegraph online every so often as sometimes they have very interesting education reports. This one has tickled my fancy and has caused more than a few smiles when I've shared it with colleagues. It seems MI5 is actively recruiting experienced teachers as spies! I have to admit to being more than a little intrigued at the concept - images of Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench feature prominently in my thoughts! Not sure about the salary though which is claimed to be similar to an experience secondary teacher. Surely a little "danger" money wouldn't go amiss if those James Bond movies are anything to go by?

Go on read it - I bet you can't stop yourself!

Parents banned from taking pictures of their own children at sports day

2009-06-30T18:20:00.009+12:00

Could this be happening in NZ soon? I've just been reading an article the Telegraph about a primary school in the UK that is the first to ban parents taking pictures of their own children at sports events. Why? Well read the article for yourself but it's not entirely clear. The assumption is that photos could fall into the wrong hands and be used for dodgy purposes but I think this is the first step on a very slippery slope indeed ...

Do I need to have my own class to have credibility as a Facilitator?

2009-06-28T22:27:00.009+12:00

I haven't been in a classroom full time since 2003. Since then I've held a several ICT roles both part and full time. Over the past 5-6 years I've participated in (or over heard) variations on the following types of conversations about me:

* I've forgotten what it's like to be in a classroom/real world
* It's easy for me because I don't have a class
* A classroom teacher's job is more important than mine
* I don't have to work hard now that I don't have a class
* My time is less valuable than a classroom teacher's
* I dream up "extra" work for teachers to do
* Management just want change for change's sake and it's all a waste of time

I could go on but you get the picture...

I should add that this has not been all teachers I work with but enough to make it worth blogging about! My reaction to these statements has changed over the years. When I first stepped outside the classroom and took on a part time ICT teacher role I was upset by the things teachers said. As time went by I became defensive and somewhat distant to protect my feelings. In the last couple of years I've worked with a more diverse group of educators and am now much more confident in my contribution and refuse to buy into the few who continue to be negative.

And yet I'm still not sure. Why do I have to lose credibility with some teachers simply because I am no longer in a classroom full time? Does this happen to others in similar positions to me? Is it possible to regain that credibility without having my own class?

LEAD TEACHER WORKSHOP

2009-06-13T19:56:00.004+12:00

Last Wednesday we had an all day ICT Lead Teacher workshop for our cluster. There were 14 lead teachers present which is almost everyone. In all honesty, it was a huge amount of work to organise the day as they are quite a diverse bunch of learners (as with all adult learners) and I spent around two full days planning and creating resources etc. The good news is it was worth it based on my own gut feel but also going from verbal feedback and by blog postings/reflections (used instead of an online survey). It seems the main reason for the positive responses was mainly due to the number of online resources the lead teachers had a chance to play with and hear about being used in the classroom. This happened in several ways:

* each participant brought along one ICT idea/website/resource to share in "donut news" style
* lead teachers worked in several different varieties of groupings to analyse and report back on a variety of websites/resources/web2.0 tools using both their classroom teacher and e-Learning facilitator hats

We also used one session to work on difficulties teachers complained of in our cluster survey recently. Each group came up with some possible solutions and posted on a Wallwisher page. This is a resource I first heard about from Manaiakalani so thanks!

Here's a link to the programme for the day if you are interested.

It's going to be a hard act to follow in Term 3 but I'm already making plans ...

LESTER FLOCKTON DAY TWO

2009-06-04T08:59:00.050+12:00

PRINCIPLES
Dimensions of the curriculum - Values, Key Competencies, Learning areas. Principles apply to all these. None of these work in isolation. The school has a role in introducing these to students but they're only one part. The child's world also has a significant impact.

Principles are mandatory. What does this mean for practice? Are the princples to be seen in programmes? Or are they to be seen in teaching practice? What is intended by "curriculum"?

Your school should be able to demonstrate how the principles are seen in practice. It is a case of 'evidence in practice' rather than 'evidence on paper'.

Evidence in Practice - Curriculum Principles
- true curriculum appens in the day to day activities and life in classrooms and around the school.

Important to define the principles for your own school - what does it mean for us?

For example:

High expectatios - teachers have, regularly communicate and encourage students to achieve to their personal best. Expectations are suitably pitched to the individual student, understood by the student and they are motivational.

Learning to learn - teachers help students to learn how to learn through explict feedback that helps them to know where they are succeeding, where they are at, and how best to move forward. They know what it is they are learning and what successful learning looks like.

Treaty of Waitangi - all students experience learning opportunities within and across curricla areas and topics that help them understand the bicultural tikanga of Aotearoa NZ.

Diversity - Teachers and children respect each other's cultural and personal backgrounds in the ways they relate and work together.

Inclusion - all children's identities, abilities and talents are affired, teir needs are addressed and they are treated fairly and without discrimination.

Coherence learning is experienced in ways that interrelate values, key competencies and learning areas.

Future focus - learning experiences are relevant to the changing world in which we live.

Community engagement - learning experiences connect with children's wider lives, and engage the support of their familities/whanau and the community.

VALUES
Important distinction between values education and teaching values. Your school should be able to explain encouraging, modelling and exploring the values. Again, 'evidence in practice' rather than evidence on paper'.

Values are priorities individuals and society attach to certain beliefs and objects in deciding how they will live and what they will treasure (Hill). THe principles and fundamental convictions which act as general guides to behaviour, the standards by which particular actions are judged as good or desirble (Halstead & Taylor, 2000).

Values education helps us make our unconscious values conscious. It encourages us to develop integrity and confidence in life by getting to know and state the values that dictate our actions. It helps us to close the gap betweenwhat we say and what we do (Lawley, 2001).

Three or four "things" easier to remember than seven or eight!

Australian School Values
- care and compassion
- doing your best
- fair go
- freedom
- honesty and trustworthiness
- integrity
- respect
- responsibility
- understanding, tolerance and inclusion

Paul Dredge, Habits of Mind scool in Palmerston North
- Habits of Heart is a programmes that fits the culture of the school!

Mt Cook School in Wellington
- excellence (striving to be the best we can be, initiative, perseverance, self-discipline)
- respect (courtesy, tolerance)
- friendship (kindess, empathy,compassion, participation, good humour)
- integrity (honesty, responsility, trusthworthiness)

New homework for Years 1-8 or could use with staff pd
- sit down with someone at home (don't specify who)
- talk about and write down what are the really important values for our family?
- put a tick beside the 3-4 most important ones
- what are the important values for our school?
- ticks besides the ones the most important ones
- join lines between the ones that are the same

The most powerful influence over values is the home - until college years when peer pressure kicks in and the values get challenged!

Values that are explored, encouraged, modelled and regularly reviewed by everyone in the Elm Park School community are: ....

Chapel Downs School values:
- happiness (humour, fun, joy)
- respect
- working together(contributing, co-oeperatin ,communication, supporting, leading)
- responsibility

KEY COMPETENCIES
OECD DeDoCo Background (2002)
- what competencies are needed for the individual to lead an overall successful and responsible life and for contemporary society to face present and future challenges? What are the normative, theoretical and conceptural foundations defining and selecting a limited set of the most relevant skills, knowledge, values and attitudes.

Definition
- defining and selecting key competencies relevant for individuals and societies is at the same time an ethical, a scientific and a political issue.

THe Competencies Model (MoE, 2005)
- competencies are integrated, holistic and complex including knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to meet the demands of a task
- performance based and inferred from action, behaviours and choices of an individual in a particular context
- key competencies are those cmpetencies needed by everyone across many life context to meet important challenges

Key competencies are the capabilities people need in order to live, learn and contribute as active members of their communities. They are critical to sustained learning and effective participation in society and work. (Education Gazette, 2009)

Schools are required to support students to develop the key competencies. What does this mean for practice and the design of our curriculum? How will we know we are doing it? What evidence will we need to show we are doing this? Is it demonstrable in day to day teaching?

Student self assessment of key competencies.

The school provides only some contexts to use and demonstrate key competencies.

Alan Cooper, Palmerston North - Habits of Mind is a ready made resource for integrating the competencies. Perhaps better to use ready made resources as a basis for ideas to be adapted and made our own.

Claxton, 2008, 'the key competencies must be embedded in each school's culture and most importantly in the microclimate of the classroom.'

Learning competencies - thinking and using language, symbols and textsPersonal. HIgh level of teacher led assessment.

Social/relational competencies - managing self, relating to others, participating and contributing. High level of stuent led, self and peer assessment.

When there are too many bits to a curriculum teachers will start fragmenting it.

There is no requirement for schools to assess key competencies.

The measure of how well the competencies are developed by students is in how well they are deonstrated and lived out in a wide reange of life contexts. Life contexts are highly variable. Dispositionand inclination vary according to variable personal states. School is just one context and a relatively ordered one which relates to one period of time in life. We cannot assume that what is developed for one context will generalise or transfer into life contexts outide of school.

Teachers bring their own personalities and assumptions to assessment of key competencies = highly variable.

Assessment has dual and interrelated functions: assessment for learning and for reporting.
Learning is flud and seldom incrementally linear and stable.
Most effective assessment for learning is continuous, interactive, orally communicated (not written) and characterised as feedback. It is a process.
Most valid assessment for reporting is derived from informationacquird from assessment for learning.
Written forms use achievement or progress descriptors, letteror numeric grades, or comments.
All such descriptors are relative to particular criteria, jugement making, student engagement etc. At best they are approximations. They are seldom, if ever, absolutes or fixed points. Reporting on bands could be more accurate eg high achieving band, middle achieving band and low achieving band.
Judges and judgments of key competencies performances bsed on one setting (classroom 'A') may not be the same as for another setting!
Multiple measures or points of reference necessary for accurate assessment.
(Flockton, 2009)

If assessment of the key competencies is to have validity for a student's learning and progress then the student needs to be at the centre of the process.

KC assessment practices
- rubrics
- checklists
- standardised tests, surveys, inventories
- learning stories
- learning logs or journals
- portfolios
- rich tasks
- conferencing
- personalised monitoring nd review devices

Monitoring relational/social competencies:
- student at the centre of the process
- absolutes are elusive, unrealistic and irrelevant
- criteria relevant to the students and in student language
- criteria re developed with the students
- fewer rather than more criteria
- performance scales do not assume a one-way upward linear gradient (think fire dials that move around)
- judgements are made with reference to particular contexts
- jugments are made from time to time to determine patterns of performance across contexts
- student at the centre of judgment making - proposes a judgment, justifies to peers, peers affirm or moderate together with the student
- carefully considered reflection, self-monitoring, goal identification, monitoring and learning

THINKING
Thinking competency - critical-analytic, creative, reflective (metacognition)
Habits of Mind align with the thinking competency but are not strong in the other areas. They do not replace the key competencies.

Thinking is when your mouth stays shut and your head keeps talking to itself (Dennis the Meanace).

de Bono
- intelligence - horsepower
- thinking - skill with which a car is driven

Teachers needs to be willing to think critically about education theory.

LEARNING AREAS
- effectively taught programmes are provided, consistent with the learning area statements

Content and context are inseparable. The more meaningful and relevant the context to the interests of students, the more motivated they are likely to be to learn and achieve.

8 learning areas, 27 strands

Big shift required - looking at the big picture for each learning area, what are the big ideas we want to focus on? Rather than achievement objective checklists set up with incremental levels eg Health statement - students regularly participate in highly active and enjoyable physcial activities and know the benefits for personal well being. Visual Arts statement - students show that they know the use and effects of a variety of materials, tools and processes for expressing ideas visually.

Written English - clarity, mechanics, processes and relevance

Planning for Curriculum Coverage: Considerations and Conundrums
- surface coverage or depth? learning outcomes or learning experiences? what matters most?
- big picture objectives (learning area statementss) or little picture objectives (AOs)?
- learning coherence (learning area statements) or learning fragmentation (AOs)
Integrated (blending and mixing) or Connected (weaving and infusing)?
Partitions (literacy/english - numeracy/mathematic - arts - PE - science - social science -health - technology)?
- year level strand or cross strands
- local priorities or national priorities?
- schoolwide detailed prescription of curriculum coverage (topic/content) or school wide big picture prescription of curriculum coverage (concepts/processes)?
- learning or achievement? what counts as learning? how will learning be judged? how will judgments be justified? how will learning be recorded? how will learning be reported?
- new teacher induction?
- sustainability

THE CONNECTED CURRICULUM
(see handout)
Literacy is essential, numeracy is useful!
Base learning = literacy and numeracy.
Rich learning = learning areas, Values and Competencies (knowledge, learning competencies, values and personal/social competencies)
Strand coverage - choose themes/contexts that allow you to visit as many as possible at once.

Where possible group strands together eg Literacy = receptive strands and productive strands.

Curriculum Plan
- principles
- vision
- values
- key competencies
- learning areas
- learning progressions (literacy & numeracy)
- quality teaching
- assessment, reporting

LEARNING THROUGH INQUIR
Wolk 'School as Inquiry', October 2008

The Connected Curriculum

2009-06-03T09:04:00.037+12:00

Lester Flockton (lester.flockton@otago.ac.nz)
Ellerslie Convention Centre
Wednesday 3 June 2009

DAY ONE
There is no holy grail.
The thicker the plan, the less it is likely to be a reality in practice.
The time taken for this is time taken from that.

Directions for Assessment in NZ (http://www.tki.org.nz/r/assessment/research/mainpage/directions/)

Curriculum - a plan for learning? Lester believes it is what happens in classrooms. Everyone has their own interpretation of a curriculum. Documentation vs what is happening in the classrooms. Is there space for teachers to add their own flavour?

Educare Educarus - to educate to be educated

Four directions:
Rationalisation of learning outcomes
Agreed criteria for quality teaching
School ownership of its curriculum consistent with NZC obligations and opportunities
Strengthened engagement among those who share responsibility for the student's learning and achievement.

Moves beyond the so-called integrated curriculum. Brings together vision, values, learning areas, key competencies. Incorporates approaches such as enquiry learning.

Phaseology of NZC
Whole - intentions, directions, obligations
Parts - clarifications, explorations
Whole - rationalisation, alignment, design, implementation with illustrated metaphors

TIME - INFORMED LEADERSHIP - LEARNING

The 5th Discipline by Senge 1990
A learning organisation is an organisation
- where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire
- where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured
- where collective aspiration is set free
- where people are continually learning how to learn together

Professionalism
- expertise
- altruism
- autonomy

Learners need - interest, relevance, engagement

Two intentions
- Learning for Knowledge and Skills (learning areas) - substance
- Learning for Learning and Living (Key Competencies, Values) - process

Curriculum Time average
1.5 Literacy
1.0 Numeracy
2.0 Other (art, dance, drama, music, science, health, PE, social sciences, technology, languages)
0.5 Various

In other countries national standards tend to take over the curriculum. Literacy and numeracy become the "evil twins". A well rounded curriculum needs more than the 3Rs.

Dubious of Adrienne Alton-Lee's Best Evidence Synthesis.
Dubious of John Hattie's Visible Learning.
Research deals in probabilities not absolutes. We must all foster a healthy scepticism of absolutes. Research for improving teaching and learning is limited. It has a high level of abstraction.
Often data cannot be replicated (Nuthall, 2002) in subsequent studies.
The relationship of research to practice is not linear (Snook, 2001).

Learning
Stoll, Fink, Earl (2003) have a list of 10 characteristics.
Learning is change.

3 Conditions necessary for learning to have happened (Sadler, 2007)
- must be able to do something, on demand, that couldn't be done before
- must be able to do it independently of others
- must be able to do it well

Teachers Learning to Learn
Mary James & Robert McCormick (2009)

Improved learning and achievement requires:
- rich classroom dialogue and questioning to elicit student's understandings
- feedback that helps students know how to improve
- sharing learning objective, criteria and exemplars of what counts as quality learning
- peer and self-assessment

Some teachers feel more able to promote student autonomy in their classrooms.

When there is a difference between what a teacher says and what a teacher does possibly due to:
Pressures of curriculum coverage
PRessures of national testing
Pressures of a tick-box culture

Mechanistic and ritualistic use of WALTS and next steps can happen if teachers are not encouraged to think about the principles of learning that underpin them.

John Hattie - 30% of all learning is attributed to school, 70% to home and natural assets.

Some common tendences for differences in academic differences (Conroy, 2008):

- less time using tv and computers
- more time spent on reading with and to children
- greater emphasis on the life of the imagination
- closer relationships between teacher and student

Effective teachers have goals and ideals that go beyond raising test scores.

Technical - rational, managerial
Intuitive - expressive, creative
Inquiry

Learning intentions - walts - next steps - scaffolds - evidence - data - improvement

What about joy and passion?

Effective Pedagogy
Setion on pedagogy not mandated
- advice and guidance
- NZC provides one theory based on Alton-Lee's research

Leadership
- multi-lingual - multiple and competing discourses.

Humourless people are dangerous!

Purpose and Direction
NZC document is the most liberal national curriculum document in the western world.
- rationalisation of LOs
- quality teaching
- school ownership
- community engagement

Curriculum Design and Review
- clarifications
- decisions
- explorations

Curriculum Fluency
Teachers need to see the big picture
- can we give a statement that encapsulates each learning area?

NZC principles are mandatory.

School, Community and NZC
Three levels of interaction:
- information (tell)
- consultation (ask)
- engagement (involve)

Lifelong learners necessary conditions:
- skills and dispositions (eg literacy)
- motivation
- opportunity

Enjoy the learning you are doing now!

Vision - think in terms of:
- learning to do
- learning to be
- learning to know
- learning to get along with others

Inspirational? Aspirational? Achievable?

Find out from the kids how they think the school is achieving their vision for students.

Successful organisations are led by a strong sense of vision.

My Meez

2009-05-31T10:02:00.003+12:00

It's done!

2009-05-26T11:04:00.004+12:00

Back in November I wrote a post about the recent milestone report I had just completed for our ICTPD cluster. In short, the experience had been very lengthy and difficult for me. I'm pleased to report that this time it's a completely different story! I sent off the first draft to Suzie on Sunday (it was due the previous Friday) and - this is the amazing part - she said it was great. I'm not sure if I've finally clicked onto how to do this milestone thing or if it was just a fluke. All I know is that it's a relief to have it done!

BeFunky.com

2009-05-22T21:03:00.004+12:00

I was recently reminded of BeFunky.com while catching up on RSS feeds tonight (trying to avoid watching the Hurricanes lose AGAIN). Jacqui Sharp mentioned it on her blog post on ICT Teaching and Learning today.

Even though I am a Mac user and have heaps of cool photo editing tools at my finger tips, uploading photos to BeFunky.com is still cool fun with even more options to play around with!

In just a few seconds it's easy to upload a photo, cartoonize it (just one click) and then save onto your desktop (one more click). Other editing options are Warholizer, Charcola, Patriotic, Inkify, Line Atropia, Stenciler, Sunburst and Scribbler.

Jacqui outlines the steps to use this tool to make a comic in MS Word. ComicLife is even better but unfortunately it doesn't come free on Macs anymore.

Job Vacancy

2009-05-05T22:15:00.003+12:00

Check out the latest posting on Manaiakalani - an advertisement for a class teacher made by the kids! But we warned, you may be tempted to apply ....

My latest cool tool discovery

2009-05-02T21:31:00.005+12:00

This site is new for me and I think it's fab! I found vocaroo while surfing around on NZ class blogs and it seems many are using it already. While there are many sites able to record voice and give an embed code this one is the most simple I've found - by a country mile. Within three clicks I was able to record my voice, stop recording, listen to the recoding AND get the embed code! I didn't even need to register first - amazing. I can see this could be useful in with students, particularly younger ones, and fantastic for recording reflections, data/evidence or comments for e-Portfolios.

Tips for Newbies

2009-05-02T17:24:00.002+12:00

Just came across this slideshow on Living the Learning and thought it may be relevant for some of our cluster teachers. An intro to some useful but simple online tools.

How do you know who's got talent?

2009-04-18T20:18:00.005+12:00

I've spoken and blogged about Britain's Got Talent before. In 2008 Andrew Johnston caused a sensation with his incredible singing. Here's the clip again for those who missed it.

It brings tears to my eyes everytime I watch it - both as a mother and a teacher. Listening to his story about bullying and then hearing his amazing voice is inspiring for all of us. Andrew didn't win the competition but looking at the clips from his subsequent performances you can see his confidence and self esteem increasing seemingly before our eyes.

Susan Boyle is the latest sensation on Britain's Got Talent 2009. She is 47, single and not what you would expect in anyway!

Susan Boyle Sings on Britain's Got Talent 2009 Episode 1 @ Yahoo! Video

I've watched this a few times now and still get goosebumps. The look on the faces of the judges and audience is priceless. Like me, they had put her in a pigeon hole before she even started singing and wow were we wrong!

I can't help but think about what this means for those of us who are teachers. We are so busy trying to fit in the basic curriculum and all that entails - how on earth do we find the time to let our students show us what they are capable of when given the opportunity? I don't think either of these two BGT contestants were given that chance at school and I think that's possibly the norm for those students who aren't confident and don't like to stand out from the crowd.

I wonder how many potential NZGT contestants I have taught without realising?

Cluster Shares

2009-04-18T10:58:00.007+12:00

Our cluster recently held three cluster share afternoons. One each for Year 0-2 teachers, Year 3-4 teachers and Year 5-6 teachers. The aim was all to do with sharing good teaching practice ideas and motivating each other to try new things. The format was similar for all three afternoons - a visiting speaker presentation (Botany Downs Kindergarten, Juanita Garden from Pt England School and Lenva Shearing from Bucklands Beach Intermediate) followed by 15 minutes sharing from each school. Much needed refreshments were provided and each afternoon was hosted by a different school (Botany Downs Kindergarten, Shelly Park School and Botany Downs School).

The lead up to the cluster share afternoons was fraught with stress and anxiety unfortunately. Many teachers had never shared their classroom practice in front of other (unknown) teachers before. The cluser share group sizes ranged from 30-40 which was also scary for some.

From the facilitator's point of view these afternoons were enormously valuable and successful. The visiting speakers were all, without exception, passionate and inspirational role models. The presentations from each school gave teachers the opportunity to share their successes, receive loads of positive feedback and validation as well as using it as a possible lead up to presenting at a national conference such as ULearn. I also gained more insight to what is happening at each school and how I could use my facilitation to support the teachers and their classroom programmes.

In contrast, the feedback I received from teachers was a little more variable! While still overwhelmingly positive overall, the comments received showed that some felt daunted by what was going on at other cluster schools and would have preferred more simple ideas suitable for beginners. Yet some others thought the ideas shared were mostly aimed at beginners and would have preferred more challenging ideas. Unfortunately only one of the five cluster principals attended one of the sessions so they were not able to give feedback on this.

I had thought by organising the cluster shares into year levels would keep it relevant for all participants. Now I'm wondering if next time we wouldn't be better having mixed levels but group into beginner, intermediate and advanced sessions? Given the time restraints (3:30-5:30pm) there wasn't time to break into smaller groups. We still have the Cluster Expo and one final whole cluster share coming up this year so I have a lot of thinking to do about meeting all needs ....

The Bashful Blogger Part 2

2009-03-01T13:48:00.001+13:00

I have moved my blog here from edublogs (http://belindajjohnston.edublogs.org/) to avoid the newly introduced google advertising and annual subscriptions. I'll leave my previous blog active for a while so feel free to check out my older posts.