@Seesaw The new kid on the block.

This is one of those times when everything just came together. I found out about the release of this great looking App called @Seesaw +Seesaw & Shadow Puppet and looked into it. I loved its ease of use and what I could see from the beginning was going to be fun and simple classroom application. I introduced it to a group of kids in my class and we began to use it. They loved it and started discussing how else we could use it in class. They automatically loved the simple layout and features, friendly clean look and the fact that adding work was so simple compared to other Apps and Web sites that we were currently using such as Blogger. I got a bit scared as we had spent a good chunk of time getting the class blog set up and schooling all the students how to upload and edit etc. Seeing the students use Seesaw though, I could instantly see that this was going to be hard to beat. We are now a few weeks into using it and the kids have just blown me away with their enthusiasm, passion and ability to add thier work for others to see. My favourite part of the App has to be its simplicity but also the fact that Students voice has never been stronger. Anytime they add work they can write, draw or record info about their work and give it real purpose and meaning.

This is going to be an App that sticks around and continues to grow so check it out now and get on board now. I look closely at a lot of Apps and this one just ticks so many boxes. Teachers best friend and Parents will love the work piling up for them to check out and explore too.

I am lucky enough to be a Seesaw ambassador now and I am thrilled to promote @Seesaw with everyone I know but in particular with teachers. Lets make life easy, use Seesaw and it will happen for you and your students.

Science - Term 2 Experiments

We are having a heap of fun exploring science and trying out different experiments and tasks. Kids love it.

I do...
I notice...
I think...
I wonder...

This was our first experiment and we loved it. Generated lots of discussion and plenty of wonderings.

Oil & Water 

Aotearoa - Our Land

Great Website on all of our Volcanoes and how and what they are. Great Info...

NZ Volcanoes

Minecraft - If I run it they will play it...

We have just completed another brilliant Minecraft competition at school. The time the focus was not on construction or building but about SURVIVAL.

Teams of 4 players this time were given Day 1 to work together to find resources, build shelters and improve their lives before the opposing team on Day 2 could begin to eliminate and destroy until just 1 team remained.

We began with 20 teams of 4 players, so roughly 80 kids. The initial battles lasted 2 to 3 days as weaker less experienced teams fell quickly. Experts or serious gamers shone through quickly and it was very easy to see who had the skill set and knowledge to quickly find the right resources that would mean longevity.

The teams continued over the next few weeks with battles lasting longer and becoming closer. Some teams got through to the next round due to the a solitary team member who was able to survive and outwit an entire team. 

The discussion and collaboration was great to see over these weeks as teams developed battle plans and ideas of how to stay safe and where to build. 

 No team was safe and we got down, finally to the last two teams.

It was a battle of experienced seniors v passionate middle school students. In the end the experience and skill set of the seniors prevailed and they were victorious. 

The students just loved the competition with absolute passion and we have already started to dream up our next Minecraft experience. 

Engagement, cooperation, collaboration, discussion were just a few of the real world skills that the students showed through this competition and if nothing else these are the positive reasons to allow students to explore this great app and have fun with it. 

Stay tuned for the next epic Minecraft update. 

Parent Portal - Education.govt.nz Should we be worried ?

Parent Portal - Is this a way for parents to be more connected and better informed about the education system or about what their child should be doing at school OR is it a government conspiracy ?!? 

Parent Portal

What I like on the face value of the site which is still in Beta stages is the ease of access to information without the hassle of searching for what I may need. Everything is there in front of you i.e Term dates, the level of education that I need to know about etc etc.

I also like that there are ideas to help your child at home, how you can be involved. Because at the heart of the matter we must remember that educational achievement comes down to the partnership that is formed between the school and with home. It is ensuring that the home link i.e parents, grandparents are aware and understand what it is that they should be doing and what that should look like.

Lets just hold our breathe though and pause to ensure that this site is set up and will continue to support teachers as opposed to becoming a site that puts more pressure back on the teachers and schools to fix all of societies problems.

Stay tuned ...

Real iPad fun - OSMO

https://www.playosmo.com/?r=4941552744923136

Can't wait for my OSMO set to arrive.

Get Thinking

http://ictevangelist.com/technological-pedagogical-and-content-knowledge/

2014 - Being Principal, Starting School and the year ahead.

It felt oddly strange being at school on the first day and not having a classroom to set up, students to welcome in or start of the year activities to plan. I am not going to say I missed it (not yet anyway) but it still felt weird. I felt like I should have been somewhere all day. Being principal sunk in pretty quickly when the first bell rang and the emails, phone calls and requests came flooding in. By the end of this first day I could have sworn that a principals job was to clear the backlog of emails, meet and greet new students and parents and decide how to persuade the ministry that we were still underfunded and needed more staffing and another classroom.

I love the personal interaction that this new role has attached to it. The good and the bad interactions. The other part of the job that does excite me is the decision making and the chance to try and make the school an amazing looking and feeling place for our staff, the parents and the students. At the end of the day the reason for being in this profession is simply to do right by the students. With this in mind I want my year as Principal to be student centred. 

As an old friend has always said "It's a big job, but someone has got to do it". 

1 year on - 26 devices, 26 kids 1 busy teacher.

"If a child can't learn the way we TEACH, we should teach the way they LEARN"

I had know way of knowing 4 terms ago how things would pan out, work out or fall out. But 4 terms on I can see just how iPads have become a vital and valuable part of learning and teaching in a class, NOT in the future but in 2013 NOW. 

26 students walked in on day 1 of the term and the spark in their eyes has not faded or tarnished after seeing just a glimpse of what the iPads could do that day. The way I teach and the way they (the students) learn everyday has changed significantly from that initial meeting. 

My Pedagogy - 

The way I teach will always be changing and evolving (as any good teachers should) but it had to change rapidly to keep up with what the students could now do. As much as a teacher is seen as a driver in the bus that is education and the students are just the passengers, the students are getting closer and closer to that driving seat. Occasionally they have even snatched that wheel and gone for a joy ride. This is scary at first and nothing that any teacher is used too but this year it had to happen. The students had to be allowed to grab the wheel and put their foot on the gas. Decide which road they were going to take. The iPad opens up their roads too. No longer do we have to wait for library time to get a certain book out or POD time to research a particular point because the device that was in their hand gave them this access any time of the day no matter what subject we were doing. 

Teaching freedom is the most difficult thing in the world. Trying to get 7, 8 and 9 year olds to understand that they had the freedom to explore when and how they liked was almost impossible because students are not used to this environment or way of thinking. Too often curriculum areas are blocked between walls of time. Students know that we start maths at 9 and finish at 10. Any work not finished gets looked at again tomorrow or forgotten about. The iPad allows the students to continue to learn a subject even when it is not being taught. It allows those students to extend themselves in areas that they love and also continue to work on areas that they need more time in. No blocks of time just freedom to learn. Again how do you teach this ?

We experimented with days when the timetables only set tasks were morning tea and lunch and the students just had learning goals. This had its pluses and minuses and I could see how it could be hugely successful when it is established and becomes the norm. Students could continue to work on the tasks of their own choosing and get help when it was needed. I found that the students are  still very dependant on YOU (the teacher) to provide them with reassurance and guidance. Not all but some. These students will always struggle to know what or how to learn independent of the teacher. BUT I also believe on the other hand that it could work. If clear learning goals are established any student could, given the freedom find a way to work towards it. 

 Breaking a habit is always hard and for the students who rely heavily on us to support and guide them, freedom can be too big of a concept for them when the expectation is to still learn by exploring and guiding themselves. Again though when it becomes the norm and the whole class environment is just this way any student could adapt and change. My slowest, lowest students become some of my best independent workers when clear goals and tasks were established for them to work on. They choose how they would get there, what they would work within, which app was best for the task and just worked away until it was met. 

As a teacher the habit I found hardest to break was stepping back and just watching, not intervening when I thought a student needed help. Locust of control...

Talking to those that have tried a similar approach to learning needs (with and without iPads) they have all had success. Keys - Set it up early in the year, don't give up, expect a battle, expect a few tears, expect parents to worry, keep working away on it and allow the students to see what it should look like and how it could be done, start small, stay clear, work together. 

I never gave set tasks that had to be done a particular way or had to completed on a certain App. The students had the choice to use what they were comfortable with. This coupled with the students understanding that they could continue to work on  any learning area that they wanted to see completed or finished or just passionate about was successful, to a point, but needs refining like most things. Not a bad effort for a first attempt at relinquishing control. 

Environmental Changes - 

Walking into any classroom and you will see kids working quietly. Walk into an iPad 1 to 1 classroom and you will see kids collaborating, interacting, cooperating, learning and for the most part being quiet. The device puts learning in any curriculum area in front of them at any time of the day, breaks included. Some of the best learning has occurred during wet lunch when no teacher has been in the room. The iPad also allows for the learning to happen with others. Students can ask for help, respond to questions, post new info, comment, correct, change, collaborate and send the work when they want.  

The biggest change that I have seen is the way work is done organically at anytime. When a math book is put away that is the ned of maths learning but with an iPad the ability to work or continue to work or just complete a task can be done at any stage. The students will often finish work in their own time, at breaks, when other tasks have been finishes, at home or just when they have a spare 5 mins. 

Data Changes - 

Have the students using the iPads improved more than their cohorts? Has using the devices meant more learning success ? Have students shown huge shifts in their own learning?

Success can and should be measured in many ways. 

iPad Survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lO_sOsyNw3SM5FmiDPydd8W_cTmpXz93uyIVTZ4utP0/viewform

Minecraft in Maths - Geometry

"If a child can't learn the way we teach, we should teach the way they learn."

Teaching the way the students in Room 8 love to learn. We have tapped into their passion and enthusiasm for Minecraft. Our current Geometry unit has lent itself nicely to rotation, reflection and tessellation of the blocks in the Minecraft environment. 

The kids have created shapes and signs with instructions for a buddy to either rotate, translate or reflect. Having to learn each concept first was a piece of cake because they just wanted to get on with the constructing in Minecraft. So concepts sink in quickly or are leant much faster. 

What I saw - full engagement from all students, quicker understanding of the concepts, collaboration and concentration to complete the task and do the assigned work, better understanding, sharing of their knowledge with their peers and all students having success.

The students were also able to share what they had learnt visually to the whole class. Talk about what they had done and look at what others had achieved as well. 

Tessellation - Repeating patterns that can fill a wall or floor area.

Rotating a shape through a turn.

Signs used for instructions as well as peer reviewing and marking.

Quarter turn Anticlockwise.

Half turn.

Quarter turn clockwise.

Tessellation using 1 shape that has been rotated to fill a wall.

20 Tools we should know about, use or think about using.

How many of these tools do you know about, use or plan to use. This list is the 20 tools we should be using in the class. 

http://www.edudemic.com/20-education-technology-tools-everybody-know/

Twitter Lingo - IHKI - I had know idea

English - Basic Grammar

Writing Ideas Google Doc -

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ta0iP-6VjhiMU9u_68QVOxVhTgrG3GhjAlH18EgqVXs/edit#slide=id.p

Add your ideas to the Doc and keep the ideas flowing. 

Literacy Ad Ideas and Tips - Practical Stuff

Working with the Literacy Advisor through the better half of 2014 we have had to reflect, revisit and rethink our teacher and experiences behind writing. These are some of the ideas and tips that have been the most beneficial.

What is a sentence ? Ask the question. If we set the WALT before the lesson begins
-My hair wakes up stupid.
-My sweat smells like peanut butter.

Discus with your partner whether these are sentences or not.
-I bike.
-When I was seven.
-He cried.
-Like a hockey stick.
-My Gran likes strawberries.

Kids whole mission in life is to write a sentence and MAKE sure there jus a Capital letter and full stop. These are the most non essential parts when we consider that a great sentence is about the language.

Can we check together ?
-Correct models and incorrect models are as important as each other. Always use the correct model first. They need to know what is expected.

Construct a sentence own your own now.
-Keep them with you.
-Checking they can do it.
-Send them away when we know that they can do it.

Run on sentences - The on and on and on and on and on kids.
-Do we understand your message? How am I reading your work?

Joining two ideas makes a compound sentences.
A compound sentence joins two or more sentences with a conjunction.
-Fanboys

Choose a conjunction from the FANBOY to join these sentences.
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

STOP writing Recounts.

Complex sentences help link ideas and bring out a logical relationship between ideas.
Words to start complex sentences.
AAAWWUBBIS A, although, after, while, when, unless, because, before, if, since

Write your own complex sentence using AAAWWUBBIS.
Do all complex sentences need to begin with AAAWWUBIS ?
Search through your reader and find 2 or 3 complex sentences.

Make sure the KIDS are do all the talking. This is how we will know it is working.

Use your READER to look for sentence starters. Look for it, Record it, Display it.

Use the text the kids are reading to use during writing time. Why should we continue to teach both reading and writing explicitly? Make the links, integrate, read and write together. Some of the best models are School Journal Stories.

Get kids to bring their current reader down with them in their writing group. Can they find a sentence? or look for the focus that we are looking at in writing.

Precise Nouns.
-NOUNS are far more effective than Adjectives.

WALT - We are learning too
SC - Say this... What do you need to do to be successful.  NOT this... Success Criteria.

Gaming in Education - Webinar Screen Shots

Kamo Digital Citizens

http://kamodigitalcitizens.blogspot.co.nz/

Art Blog - #inspired

I love finding little gems of ideas, new techniques etc. This ART blog has just inspired me to think about using different media and trying some new stuff. 

http://www.elementaryartfun.blogspot.co.nz

Kids love ART and MESS so this idea is on my must try before the end of school bucket list.

Marbled Peacocks created with shaving foam : ) 

http://www.elementaryartfun.blogspot.co.nz/2011/08/marbleized-peacock.html

Webinar - Gaming in Education

Loved being a part of a brilliant Webinar on Wednesday afternoon. My first Webinar and I am hooked. So thankful that people like Karen Melhuish Spencer - @virtuallykaren and Hamish Chalmers - @HamishChalmer are pushing the boundaries of IT in education but more importantly the fun and challenging topic that is Gaming in Education.

My own 1 to 1 journey and the power and control that my students have gained and been given has led us to Gaming in Education. We initially, like most 1 to 1 classrooms looked at the games/apps that could enhance what we were doing. Then on a cold Monday morning back in Term 2 my self appointed class IT specialist (Joshua age 7) introduced me to the colossus that in Minecraft.

It swept in with one child and it encapsulated half the class by lunch break a mere 4 hours later. I was still a sceptic, mainly due to the fact that I have become used to the almighty HD quality games that graces our Retina displaying screens. My reason for not dismissing Minecraft completely, was simply for the huge engagement level, focus, collaboration, cooperation, high interest level and wonder of sounds that was pouring out of both the iPads and students as they began to explore crafting and mining away...

No more than a week down and I was hooked. Game play against and with one another became collaboration on projects, which then became competitions, which have all been superseded by classroom and curriculum integration. Writing about our worlds,

Term 4 - Are we now experts ? The kids would say yes. What I will say is that gaming has become a huge part of my own and their (the students) education. We are at a point where they are coming up with the ideas about how to use Minecraft in class. Its full integration has been amazing. The power that a game can bring to a students education are just incredible.

This year has been huge for my own pedagogy, for my understanding of 1 to 1 integration and now for the use of Games in Education.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/f507c/grade_7_science_teacher_uses_minecraft_to_teach/

http://hamishonictsineducation.blogspot.co.nz/