I'm part of an initiative called, 'Mediamash' which is aimed at inspiring schools to dig into the treasure chest of digital media for their learning programmes.
Today we launched our first teacher and student workshops. These are the slideshows from 2 workshops I ran, with a colleague.
I always love talking with other teachers about the systems and methods we're using in our classes - especially ones with so much passion and enthusiasm for giving our students the best possible learning experiences!
This week I got a great idea for deepening the critical / reflective skills of my class - something I've been wanting to do for a while. @MsBeenz sent me a reflective template that uses De Bono's Hats (this site has some great resources to download and use, too) to structure the students through an amazing reflection.
Her class used them to write reviews on their ipad apps and I slightly adapted it to help the Year 6s reflect on their camp from the week before. I was REALLY surprised with the way it scaffolded some great reflections by asking them to think across the sprectrum of thinkers hats - logic and facts / feelings, positive / negative and creative / facilitative. (My own take on the hat names but I do like the 'cautions' word instead of negative, perhaps)
When some students saw the posters I put together, below, I heard, 'Oh those - we did them in the juniors!' and, 'Those are for babies aren't they?' Well, you can imagine my face - very black hat reaction! Amazingly, the reaction was pretty accepting when we got into it and I showed them how we'd use them. I even explained that a lot of businesses use them to help make big decisions.
When we've finished I might post a couple of their reflections. I think they're pretty good. Much better than hatless, anyway!
The template for the camp reflection is in the folder above, also - thanks @MsBeenz!
On Wednesday I worked with some classrooms who wanted to develop their use of Skype. I arranged for two classrooms to skype with us (thanks to connections with my twitter friends, @Marama and @mrkempnz), one in Dunedin at Grant Braes School and the other at Pukeokahu School near Taihape.
The first class, Room 3 at St Thomas Aquinas, watched this video that explained what skype is and how it works.
Next we co-constructed a chart of what a successful skype session is. The poster below is the version I've put together in popplet- a cool chart maker, I've discovered. The three parts, preparation, during the call and reflection are based on the rubric I found online here, at the 'Educational Origami' blog. We found that it helped us have a great first Skype call, especially the prep stage where we visited their class wiki or blog and prepared some questions to ask.
Here are some reflections I've taken from the two sessions.
1. Watch for tricky technical bridges to hurdle.
It's always important to test your technology before using it, especially when you've arranged a time to do something with someone else- who has built their timetable around it. We had some issues with proxy settings and, I think, some firewall blocks which has tripped me up in the past. Always check your connection before you need it. Especially when using skype for the first time with a class.
2. Always have an authentic purpose.
Anything new has its gimmick appeal. I've found that this lasts for about 20 minutes with kids and then they're over it! When we're using skype to call someone you should always have a real reason for doing so...not just because you can - 'Hey kids, lets skype the class next door!'
With the second session we decided that we'd use the skype call to help the class develop an understanding of open and closed questions - and a real audience to practise on! They were totally engaged in asking their open questions (based on a video the other class made of a science experiment they did with sheep's eyes) and they got experience how powerful those types of questions are. The learning intention of the session was not how to use skype - classic example of use the tool to help the learning..rather than learning the use of the tool.
3. Don't underestimate how familiar our students are with technology
It was amazing to see how many hands shot up when I asked if they had used skype before. Many had skyped their grandparents and family front out of town and a lot of them knew how it worked and what it did.
Often we think that we will be sharing a tool with our class that is innovative and amazing! It may well be, compared to the technology we usually use at school, or even compared to the teacher next door. But to these students it's a normal part of everyday life. It's not so amazing to them - they don't know any different. All the more reason to make our classrooms as relevant as possible to our students everyday lives.
It's the start of term 2 and I'm flat out planning. Every teacher knows this joy... sometimes. Planning, I've found, is the key to having a successful day in the classroom.
When you're at teacher's college it's something that you come to resent because of the marking / assessment purpose - especially when you know that the chances of actually teaching what you plan is small. Now that I've got some time under my belt I've become a planning fan. There's nothing better than stumbling on a resource or an idea that you are excited to use.
Here are two ways I'm using some online planning resources for this term. The first resource, mindmeister, is something I saw Nick Rate use and really liked. This mind mapping application lets you create an overview of the term. Each curriculum area has the activity or focus described and then, what I really like, you can create the links between them. You can see the links I've made with the inquiry topic of cultural diversity.
You can also add online links, download it as a pdf / jpg etc and also share the map with others online and have them add or edit the map. Brilliant. Here's an embeded version you can interact with - students love making these and putting them into their efolios, too.
I'm also using this online planning resource found on the Ministry of Education website, TKI. It's a social studies inquiry planner that walks you through the steps. I really liked the colour coding of conceptual understandings, thinking and reflective steps. It's very visual (important to me), interactive, downloable and easily edited throughout the term.
I'm still a fan of pen and paper. I've become a hybrid planner you could say but these two sites show how we can use a digital format to create, edit, share and plan for the benefit of our students.
Image used under creative commons from MarkKelley, via flickr.com
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