Inspiration from Bridget

More Smackdown

2011-12-02T11:01:00.000+13:00

Bridget:
http://www.learn-ict.org.uk/resources/rudolph/rudolph.htm

http://www.akidsmath.com/flashes/mgames/tree.swf

http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/christmas/

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/teacher/christmas.html#online

See the
“12 days of Web 2.0 Christmas” song below :o)

25 days to Christmas
Here is an interactive secret Santa Village to count down to Christmas with stories, movies and hidden treasure…. BEST of all…its animated! The kids can read it to themselves or have it read to them

Village:
http://www.northpole.com/

Workshop:
http://www.northpole.com/Workshop/

Santa’s Den (Click on the books to read or the DVD player to watch a movie
http://www.northpole.com/Den/

Weather Station
http://www.northpole.com/WeatherStation/

Toy Shop
http://www.northpole.com/ToyShop/

Mail Room- Send Santa a letter and get one straight back!
http://www.northpole.com/Mailroom/

Clubhouse- Learn all about the Elves!
http://www.northpole.com/Clubhouse/

Reindeer Barn- Find hidden stories
http://www.northpole.com/ReindeerBarn/

Mrs Claus’s kitchen- Check out the COOL RECIPES!!!
http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/

Elf Academy- WOW check out the wicked links!!!!! Interactive games, Teacher Resources and more!
http://www.northpole.com/Academy/
So many more Other interactive XMAS Links :-)

Belinda:
http://mathzlinks.wikispaces.com/

Lyndal:
http://www.blogblings.com/black-and-white-blog-backgrounds.html
http://shabbyblogs.com/backgrounds.html
http://jellypages.com/
http://www.allblogtools.com/category/blogger-templates/cartoon/page/5/
http://www.snazzyspace.com/

Ruth
http://www.topicbox.org.uk/
Microsoft autocollage http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=8776
http://e-learningforkids.org/
http://www.benettonplay.com/toys/flipbookdeluxe/info.php
shoutlearning.org
http://mrspancake.com/index.php/doodads/show_one_category/category/christmas/

Sara
www.rhymezone.com
www.iwl.me/
www.xtramath.org
http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com
http://en.childrenslibrary.org/books/index.shtml
http://rellco.wikispaces.com/

Veronica
http://www.tes.co.uk/

SMACK DOWN!!!

2011-12-02T10:50:00.000+13:00

My Favourite Time of the day!
12 days of Web 2.0 Christmas

On the first day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
A tip to expand my business globally
On the second day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the third day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the fourth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the fifth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the sixth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the seventh day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the eighth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the ninth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the tenth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Ten lords IM’ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Eleven podcasters podcasting,
Ten lords IM’ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Twelve Stumblers stumbling,
Eleven podcasters podcasting,
Ten lords IM’ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

BDS Goals

2011-12-02T10:03:00.000+13:00

Key Goals:

* To ensure all students are given the opportunity to use ICT equipment

* To ensure that all classrooms have a class blog

* To ensure all teachers will give students the opportunity to learn Cyber

Safety skills through specific teaching

* Teachers will take part in peer observations focusing on ICT/Solo integration

* Staff are expected to share ICT/Solo on a roster at staff meeting

* Teachers planning will show integration of ICT

Lead Teacher Day- GOOGLE!

2011-12-02T09:56:00.000+13:00

We started off chatting about Google
Google has so much to offer!

Blogs, Gmail, Google sites (own webpage), Earth, Maps (street view) Docs, spread sheets, surveys (FORMS), Presentations (like powerpoints)Drawing, Table (Beta), Collection

Google Education requires a school email address and stays in "Botany" domain- it comes with a Gmail address and it is all monitored by you the teacher. The students have their own Gmail address linked to yours.

Kids can have individual blogs (No AGE limit in Google Education!) They can have Google pages- for assignments- like their very own web page.

You as the teacher can manage and monitor all students work- so it help with Cyber- Safety.

Google Page can be linked, you can upload photos etc.

You can have a teacher dashboard (it's not free) its $4 per student per year, it can be part of the activity fee.

You can do all teacher planning, LT plans etc. If you leave the school or something happens- you can always access work in the shared place.

ICT help desk- is a Google FORM.
Accounts, Assett Register and School Charter all in Google!
Teacher Goals- Appraisals- notes filled in all year

** Super Clubs Plus- Is run by Telstra- Its about Cyber Safety- it's a social networking Site (like Fcaebook) but it promotes cyber safety. There is an monitoring system
The school send off an application- they accept you, You send them a spreadsheet of names and they add the kids and send them each a password. Its FREE!!!! They answer cyber safety questions, earn medals and use the points to decorate your page. :o)
http://www.scplus.com/d/index.php

RSS Feeds (See previous blog notes)

25 Days to Christmas!

2011-12-01T11:50:00.002+13:00

Here is an interactive secret Santa Village to count down to Christmas with stories, movies and hiddentreasure…. BEST of all…its animated! The kids can read it to themselves or have it read to them 

Village:
http://www.northpole.com/

Workshop:
http://www.northpole.com/Workshop/

Santa’s Den (Click on the books to read or the DVD player to watch a movie
http://www.northpole.com/Den/

Weather Station
http://www.northpole.com/WeatherStation/

Toy Shop
http://www.northpole.com/ToyShop/

Mail Room- Send Santa a letter and get one straight back!
http://www.northpole.com/Mailroom/

Clubhouse- Learn all about the Elves!
http://www.northpole.com/Clubhouse/

Reindeer Barn- Find hidden stories
http://www.northpole.com/ReindeerBarn/

Mrs Claus’s kitchen- Check out the COOL RECIPES!!!
http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/

Elf Academy- WOW check out the wicked links!!!!! Interactive games, Teacher Resources and more!
http://www.northpole.com/Academy/

Student Lead interviews

2011-08-17T11:42:00.000+12:00

In week 2 this term we had Parent Interviews, a 3 way interview driven by students. At the interviewWe discussed the reports, students shared their work, goals and achievements with their parents. The parents were encouraged to be active in their students learning and discuss student learning and goals openly. This was very positive! Parents were amazed to see the amount of work that the students do in class. Not alot of discussion was needed between parents and teachers as the reports were so informative.
At the end of each term we sent books home for parents to sign and leave a positive comment- this is just a snapshot of the work students do! I love watching the kids show of all their hard work, they are so proud :o)

ICT lead Teacher day

2011-08-17T10:28:00.017+12:00

We needed to bring along one (or more) good idea, website, web 2.0 tool or software application to share. 5-10 minutes each. This is sometimes called a Smackdown!
Bridget: http://toonlet.com/
My Poor Ears!story: http://toonlet.com/archive?m=s&i=60196 All ages!
It is free
It requires registration
It provides a simple to use editor
It has a set of different frames and characters to choose from
It lets you tell your story using speech bubbles
You can share your finished strip via a direct link or embed it in your blog or wiki
Lyndal: All ages!All ages! Shared SOLO at BDS- Notes sent home to parents, a walk through the classrooms and whats been hapening in room 22 with SOLO. Great way to grab ideas.
Belinda: Educamp: Link to share All ages!
Fabulous MATHS WIKI with links! http://mathzlinks.wikispaces.com/home also http://litworks.wikispaces.com/ Library http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~valmstrum/s2s/utopia/library4/src/library4.html and http://www.zooburst.com and http://educampnz.wikispaces.com/
SARA: http://www.studyladder.co.nz/?lc_set=
Veronica: http://www.snacktools.com
Ruth: Year 1-2 interactive activities, http://demo.iboard.co.uk/curriculum.htm# Digital learning objects for all ages: http://digistore.tki.org.nz/ec/p/home Interactive maths activities for years 1-3 and http://digistore.wikispaces.com/ http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au./countmein/children.html Useful site for ESOL day: http://www.learningchocolate.com/?st_lang=en Developing vocab.
A blog to check out: http://kauri3wps.blogspot.com/ and http://www.readwritethink.org/

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

We had a play with some of the new ideas / discussions about how these could be used to improve learning.

Class Visits: Visit some classes at SPS check out a variety of rooms, look at ACTIVboard activities Pod 3 - Michael and Edwina using Activboards in Maths, Pods 1 and 2 - reading slot, have a play on Activboard in Ruth’s room :o)

RSS Feeds:
what are RSS Feeds?? A way of keeping up to date with websites and blogs. RSS means you can susscribe to a blog and it will alert you when there are updates. Google.com/reader FOLLOW THIS BLOG -->this is where they go! Create groups- cluster blogs, educator blogs, class blogs, school blogs, leader blogs etc...
igoogle.com- personalise your own home page and add all your favourites.
ALSO...Google Alert= Grab an email every time BDS is mentioned on the web, what is being said, who is writing it...
- why use them? We wont forget to look on blogs to check out whats happening. This will email you when one of my fav blogs are posted on...
- how to use them? How not to use them, Google is MASSIVE!!! seriously the things you can do! Add a funky background, set it up , track things, add blogs, get notifications, track people.... I know!!
Trim down the blogs to the ones you want notifications of regulary.

We got to set up our own RSS Feeds!

Dear Abby:A great discussion over lunch, sharing problems and solutions, overall... we are all on the same page and have it pretty good!

Blog Reflections: Thanks Shelly Park for hosting us all day, was lovely to have a walk through classrooms and see some solo displays, art work and ACTIVboards in action! You are alot like us where you use the small amount of equipment to its full potential. :-)

Here we go....

2011-08-01T08:41:00.000+12:00

Welcome to term 3!!
We have parent interviews, a middle school production on Little Red Riding Hood and our new Inquiry unit starting in week 6 YAY!!!!
It's going to be a great term :o)

Solo Taxonomy

2011-07-13T10:16:00.000+12:00

We sat down last week with Pam Hook and planned our next focus- Structures.
I realised while sitting there that I have come quite far with my learning. We were planning the various stages and I was able to think of maps that would take students to the next level of their learning.
I left feeling really positive... I wish the unit could start straight away, waiting another 10 weeks- i'll need to re fresh my Gung Ho!! :o)

On a totally different topic...

I've decided to start the school magazine next term- It's looking like time will be tight in term four, I've managed to collect great photos already- this years going to be the best one yet!

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-17T19:01:00.000+12:00

The lovely PTA have approved $1500 for laptop pods trolleys/cows.
I have searched the net high and low and can't find any!!!
We have 8 laptops that need storage... I'm looking for hard wearing metal, weather proof cows- either two trolleys 5 and 5 or similar.....
Any ideas anyone?????
Thanks
B-)

cool counter

2011-06-17T18:58:00.000+12:00

My kids love being given a time limit to complete things, they also work very well on a time limit!
My student teacher found this online time BOMB last week
Here is the link, give it a try :o)
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/bomb-countdown/full-screen/

Issues.....who has tissues.....

2011-06-17T18:53:00.002+12:00

Anyone else having problems commenting on Blogger???
I have been trying to reply to a comment and even when i'm signed in it just takes me back to the login page.... after signing in 3 times and doing a word verification on MY OWN BLOG! I give up!!!!
B1 my comment to you was....... "Smarty Pants"
Very professional lol

OMG OMG OMG

2011-05-19T13:47:00.002+12:00

So today i'm sitting there looking for a free download to capture my screen when the IT guru Peter says "hold fn and click print screen then paste it into the document"..... seriously, cool! who would have thought!?! I had it all this time :o)

sharing BEST Practise

2011-05-19T12:15:00.002+12:00

Cluster Share

Reflection

2011-05-18T14:22:00.002+12:00

A very successful day today! Although ive just posted the minutes so i'll talk about what's been happening in room 20.

First of all I suggest you visit our class blog...
http://room20bds2011.blogspot.com/ we are so proud of our progress!
Tomorrow L and I are making a presentation for the staff.

Yesterday the kids used fodey.com and created 3 advertisements for our BDS garage sale this Sunday. Another thing i've been using in class is google translator for my little asian boy who has no English. I am able to ask questions and communicate with him using this fabulous tool! Yesterday I typed up in english our class model of our story based on a house fire and he could read it in chinese and then draw a picture related to the story! Very very cool tool.

Sites we're trying over the next few weeks include:
City.lego.com link to comic builder create a class login and use for comic building skills.

Art Rage , check to see if BDS can still use it- I forgot how cool this was!!

Smile box- for photo sharing and scrap booking.
Tagxedo- like wordle in shapes
Poster-street.com free posters for teachers
Kerppof.com spell a picture
http://www.picnik.com/

The lead teachers were very impressed by BDS and how far we have come in SOLO/Inquiry and ICT in general. It was lovely having a walk around the rooms.

We enjoyed a lovely morning tea and lunch together and it was nice to just have a great chat and catch up on life in general.
Looking forward to our next lead teach day, will link our presentation from staff meeting once it's completed and when i manage to find that photo shop site i'll link that too!!

Minutes from Lead Teacher Day

2011-05-18T13:52:00.003+12:00

Minutes

ICT lead Teacher Day

18 May 2011

Present

Elm Park: Belinda, Sara, Veronica

Botany Downs: Bridget, Lyndal

Shelly Park, Ruth, Edwina

Agree on Agenda

BEST Practise: BDS made blogging compulsory- It went down well with the staff- the support for the staff has been really good. We thought that it would be a great way to use the skills they have learnt over the past 3 years on the cluster. Look at updating blog roll on the wiki.

Belinda shared City.lego.com link to comic builder create a class login and use for comic building skills.

Belinda also shared Comic Life 2- you can create templates, load to blog or make a movie. Save as a Jpeg! Belinda happy to email instructions, looking around $6 for licence.

ipad puppet pals on ipad, can load extra sets of characters- the application is free. Great resource and motivator for children.

Art Rage also available on ipad.

Garage band- plug it into amps! Choose instruments, and make a band!

Smile box- Lyndal shared.

Tagxedo- like wordle in shapes

Poster-street.com free posters for teachers

Kerppof.com spell a picture

http://www.picnik.com/

Classroom Visits:

Everyone really liked communication for all.

Writing on the mimio

Enjoyed looking through all class blogs.

Wiki use integrated in literacy and numeracy.

Only have a few computers in each room but it’s used so well.

Confidence has increased greatly.

Anna and her digital learning centre has worked really well, and so many classes are benefiting from it! Lots of positive comments!! Well done Anna

SOLO/INQUIRY

BDS had Pam Hook come for a TOD at the end of the Xmas holidays, we got all the maps, and worked through them. We then shared our worked at staff meetings. In the last school hols, we had Pam Hook again and did our planning with her in occupations. Great insight- we planned as a whole school, then broke off into teams to go further. Solo is part of inquiry- it does not stand alone. Staff have had a really good go at it, some are displaying in modelling book, maps on mimio programme. E.g. tornado Lyndal used the cause and effect map.

Look at our school motto- and houses- compare and contrast how we do our BEST always.

Boys are really enjoying SOLO, it helping lift boys achievement.

Lyndal and Bridget bringing SOLO into reading lessons. Its about getting a grasp on the map- when you can use it- and use a wide variety to the maps.

Chapter book exercise- use the SOLO map to do the book review.

It helps visiting other schools to get new ideas and understand how to use it.

A lot of children at SPS sit on multi-structural, using the assessment rubric.

Discussion on how to move them to extended abstract.... Car has wheels, motor etc.... if it didn’t have 4 wheels it wouldn’t work! So use things kids know to get a handle on the TOOLS not the subject. USE the BECAUSE..... So to keep ourselves safe from a house fire we need to... give kids the starting sentence.

Groups share.

DEFINE MAP: My aim is to write a definition: Rubric 1 idea, 2 ideas etc etc

I have several ideas about penguins and can explain them and form an opinion. Use this to collate ideas and write a definition.

Relational: A penguin has two ideas because.....

Extended Abstract: several ideas can explain them (because) and form an opinion.

Veronica shared her inquiry book:

Lyndal shared our BDS inquiry plan.

The value of Inquiry, school visits, everybody being on board and being committed, use our CRT time to get PD, Belinda in doing inquiry and questioning, Pam Hook.

Dear Abbey

Discussion with cluster about school issues and lead teacher support offered.

ULEARN

ULearn Rotorua

Costs, accommodation, information- as it’s during the holidays we may be able to send more teachers...

Learning @ Schools Share new knowledge and ideas

Email I sent to Bruce to sell it at BDS

The U Learn conference is now is Rotorua and takes place during the school holidays.

It begins on Wednesday 19 October (9am start) through to Friday 21 October (1.50pm finish)

It includes 6 breakouts- these are presenters from NZ schools who offer practical learning experiences and 5 keynote speakers

1. Simon Breakspear (Australia)- Author of Talent Magnets

2. Jack Bacon (USA) Author of many educational books

3. Graeme Aitken (NZ) Decisions made by policy makers

4. Jan Herrington (Australia) Authentic learning in higher order thinking

5. Professor Stephan Happell (UK) founder of Ultra lab

Registration is:

Early bird bookings (march- July 31st) $595+ GST

August-October $645+ GST

Accommodation costs vary and prices are based on 2 beds per room:

The Motels/Hotel in the area are:

• Millennium (Official conference hotel) $264.50 per night- (2x queen beds)

• Silver Oaks $130 per night ( 1x queen bed and 1x single bed)

• Distinction Hotel $199 per night (2x queen beds)

• Kingsgate $199 per night (2x double beds)

• Sudima Hotel $159 per night (2x double beds)

• Ridges (not listed) around $190 per night (2 queen beds per room)

Possible teachers to go....

Briar, Louise, Lauren, Keiko, Gareth, Jenny, Michelle, Erna/Sue perhaps at another school

Elm Park are sending 4 people to go to U Learn.

Shelly Park are unsure.

Victoria Fair in Scotland- linking classes through skype and blogging in the first week of June as her class are studying schools around the world.

Discussions on schools, similarities and differences.

Look at updating class blog roll on wiki for each school to keep in contact and comment on each others work...????

Lead Teacher Blogs/reflections

ipad Training

2011-03-22T16:48:00.002+13:00

I'm really looking forward to getting some cool literacy tips and hopefully meeting for lunch!!! xx

Blogging

2011-03-08T08:23:00.000+13:00

Very impressed at how blogging has taken off in BDS- We love http://www.fodey.com/! All classes now have a blog- now I just need to make sure they are regulary updated- A way i'm trying to that is to set commenting as part of homework- and getting the kids to visit other class blogs and leave a positive comment.
Tonight we're showing our Solo maps from class- looking forward to grabbing more ideas x

Blogging Buddies

2011-03-02T21:14:00.001+13:00

So proud of my class blog! Yes BDS has decided to make blogs compulsory this year- for many reasons here are 21 super ones!!!

It is FUN! Fun!….. I hear your sceptical exclamation!! However, it is wonderful when students think they are having so much fun, they forget that they are actually learning. authentic audience – no longer working for a teacher who checks and evalutes work but a potential global audience.
Suits all learning styles – special education students- needs and abilities.
Increased motivation for writing – all students are happy to write and complete aspects of the post topic.
Many will add to it in their own time- motivational homework reading and responding to others.
Increased motivation for reading – students will happily spend a lot of time browsing through fellow student posts and their global counterparts. Many have linked their friends onto their blogroll for quick access. Many make comments.
Improved confidence levels – Students can share their strengths and upload areas of interest or units of work eg personal digital photography, their pets, hobbies etc
Staff are given an often rare insight into what some students are good at. We find talents that were otherwise unknown and it allows us to work on those strengths. It allows staff to often gain insight to how students are feeling and thinking.
Pride in their work – students want their blogs to look good in both terms of presentation and content. Blogs allow text, multimedia, widgets, audio and images – all items that digital natives want to use
Increased proofreading and validation skills
Improved awareness of possible dangers that may confront them in the real world, whilst in a sheltered classroom environment
Ability to share – part of the conceptual revolution that we are entering. They can share with each other, staff, their parents, the community, and the globe.
Mutual learning between students and staff and students.
Parents with internet access can view their child’s work and writings – an important element in the parent partnership with the classroom. Grandparents from somewhere like England may have made comments on student posts.
Blogs may be used for digital portfolios and all the benefits this entails
Work is permanently stored, easily accessed and valuable comparisons can be made over time for assessment and evaluation purposes
Students are digital natives - blogging is a natural element of this.
Gives students a chance to show responsibility and trustworthiness and promotes independence.
Prepares students for digital citizenship as they learn cybersafety .
Fosters peer to peer mentoring. Students are happy to share, learn from and teach their peers (and this, often not their usual social groups)
Allows student led professional development and one more……
Students set the topics for posts – leads to deeper thinking activities

This is surely powerful learning!!

Check out my class blog http://www.room20bds2011.blogspot.com/

Website information recieved from 02/03/2011: http://murcha.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/20-reasons-why-students-should-blog/

Reflection...Final days of Eastnet

2010-11-17T09:25:00.005+13:00

Today is the final day of the eastnet cluster and out very final lead teacher day :-( So many positives to reflect upon, and the easiest way I can think to sum up 3 years is to do a PMI.

Let me just do a little introduction first...

My name is Bridget and I started my teaching career in July 2005. I started teaching a lovely year 6 class and although I loved all things computer previously to starting, my class had already been set up and all my ICT passion couldn't be implemented due to the fact I was a BT, terrified of making changes and the class had one ancient computer! I made a huge mistake by trying to fit into a mould and doing the job of a teacher who was nothing like me! She was much older and not interested in anything technology. The school didn't communicate with emails or anything... some days I had no reason at all to turn on a computer and all class work was done at home on my own computer.

So 2006 begins and I have the confidence behind me to make room 20 my own. I begin adding my personality to my new class and getting the children rotating on the lonely computer doing mostly publishing, power point presentations and search engines for their action learning (a way of teaching that was being implemented into the school on my arrival).

2007- and teaching a year 5 and 6 class now I decided to purchase a laptop of my own to use in class and get more rotations going on the computer. I continued to buy CD's for children to save their work on. We showed our work to other groups, but never to whole class and I stayed safe using publishing in word, power point and search engines- although the laptop didn't have internet so children who wanted to use search engines had to wait until the ancient box in the corner was free....

2008-Year 5 class- The Eastnet cluster was introduced at the beginning of the year and in a staff meeting teachers were asked who was interested and to apply to Bruce. This was my chance to get on the ground floor of something fabulous and something I loved doing!

I applied- and missed out :-( I was gutted!

After the first term a lead teacher got a job in another school and an opening for a new lead teacher was going up for grabs- I jumped at my chance! So my journey begins- Bridget Smith- Lead teacher!!!!!!!

I felt like I spent the rest of the year catching up (The other had already been to a conference in Rotorua and returned jam packed with fabulous ideas) I felt a little less confident- and took a bit of a backseat waiting to find a program or website I could use with my kids.....

I began implementing things I had taken away from our lead teacher days- the kids could do it- and they loved it! I was feeling passionate again!

Laptops were intoduced, wireless networks, digital cameras (although shared).... and I moved up from CD's to a memory stick! PS I also welcomed a mimio and projector into the class :-)

2009- A move to the middle school and teaching year 3 and 4's- could they do ICT being so young??? A wiki site was set up by the lead teachers- my job was to search and find interactive websites aimed directly at the middle school. So ICT began to flood through the door... we began blogging, using interactive websites, web2 tools, you name it.... we were doing it!

2010- OMG I AM NOW THE HEAD OF ICT!!!!!!! Can you believe it? What a huge shift, and a great experience. A busy year running a class full time, doing action research, writing milestone reports and learning the ropes of systems, training experts, running a team, and running staff PD.

So begins my PMI to sum up my personal 3 years experience.....

PLUS= So many positives!!! Computer programs, websites, search engines, web2 tools, interactive sites, mimios, projectors, action research, meeting new people and visiting new schools, being on the ground floor of introducing inquiry, projectors, flip minos, digital cameras, easispeaks... you name it BDS now have it and we are active!

I cannot thank Belinda enough for helping me in my career. I have learnt so much from her but more importantly and above the thousands of new programs I can and o use.... the students in my class love school and learning!

MINUS= I have one negative and that is the workload- Running a classroom full time and doing all of the other responsibilities I have in the school- not related to ICT (like magazine and Dance group) I really really struggled sometimes to feel passionate- as is evident in my reflections throughout my lead teacher blog posts.

INTERESTING= I found our lead teacher days inspiring and the conferences interesting. You become a better teacher when you leave your little box and visit other schools and grab new ideas. When you challenge and force yourself to implement something new into the classroom quickly to retain that new knowledge from a lead teacher day- even though you feel so tired and overloaded with work- you know the rewards of watching the kids be so excited will wipe away that initial "I can't be bothered attitude" and you can can go home knowing- you made a difference today :-).

What an experience- I am so happy to have been a part of watching that huge shift in our school, and I am a better teacher for it. Very pleased that we will continue to meet next year- it's all about sustainability!

2010-11-11T14:43:00.002+13:00

OMG I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by!
I am so pleased with the outcome of my action research, it's my professional goal next year to continue with it. Staff are looking forward to having an active year 5 and 6 ICT expert group in class and staff meetings! I also had another idea.... make each Teachno Ranger have a learning blog of their OWN! to write their reflections- log their learning and collect ideas of what we do in Techno Training sessions.... hahahahah can't wait!
Looking forward to catching up on Wednesday Lead Teachers, it's our last official catch up so lets make it a great one :-)

2010-11-11T14:40:00.000+13:00

Action research blog

View more presentations from Br1dget.

Cluster Share

2010-10-28T12:08:00.002+13:00

Last night we met one last time as a cluster to share our school inquiry, lead teacher action research and what we are generally proud of achieving. It was so nice to see everyone and get a good look at how far every school has come since being on the cluster. Huge Thanks to Belinda! Many schools were so grateful at her imput into bringing their school so far in ICT and inquiry. It was really sad knowing that it was the last time we'd meet for the year and I hope with out being on the cluster, we will stay in close contact and share these fabulous experiences.
Well done everyone :-)

Action Research

2010-09-10T12:39:00.002+12:00

YES!!!!!
I am back on track! (Thanks B2) I have completed the training for the Techno Rangers. They have the "how to" sheets ready for the staff meeting and I managed to work screen shot... its just fallen into place, I'm so excited!
I have made an excellent start on my presentation for the next cluster share (Emailing it to you soon B2)

A great start!

Where did this term go?!?

2010-08-30T22:15:00.002+12:00

CRAZY! Somehow I have managed to get to week 7 with my blinkers on! Seriously how? lol Its been a productive start to term 3 (Start- listen to me! we're over half way through!) I have had regular meeting with the ICT team, we have been very supportive to staff by running lots of workshops. I ordered the remaining classroom mimios... yes thats right ALL teachers have a mimio. With new mimios comes PD- so the supprotive ICT team have been busy in classrooms helping teachers set up their new "toy" and show them through the basics.
Still manage to get lost in the job list- Ive realised that if I take the job list after morning tea on a Thursday before our technical support arrives- and visit teachers I can almost halve the jobs and we can finish them... for a while there it seemed like the jobs were never ending and arrows would appear all over the page to push them through to the following week!
Struggling with the admin and jobs and general demands that ICT brings- and only having half a day release make getting things finished difficult.
ICT leaders were sent to syndicate meetings with questions about how well staff utalised and enjoyed having the extra laptop in thier classroom- general response... they love it!
We have just finished maths week- so they were in great use- also I believe it gave teachers an in sight of how well they work in the maths programme. Mathletics in the school has also pushed for integrating maths on computers.
So what has been happening...
We started the term with our Cluster Expo. It was amazing. Belinda as always had planned a wonderful interactive learning evening. Great feedback about the workshops and guest speakers. Fabulous food (only I would comment on the food!) super company :-) that took care of week one
Then it was parent interviews week 2... dance evening at Elim over 2 nights week 3... Sick week 4 (Damn cough!)...senior syndicate dance evening week 5....(my dance group performed- so back to being a make up artist)... Room 20 presented assembly in week 6 oh and YAY we have reached this week!
Belinda has been running PD with the staff at BDS on define maps and solo.... My kids had previously had trouble understanding the concept... today I think I had a break through by building a house (knowledge) lets see if you get it!
1. Pre structual.... BARE LAND
2. Uni Structual.... Foundation/floor goes down
3. Multi structural.. Frame of the house goes up
4. Relational........ Walls- decor- curtains/carpet-Fill your house with all the things that make it a home and add art work, family, etc....
5. Extended abstract.. Get to know your neighbours and community!

So anyway... if the whole teaching thing doesnt work out... I could try a career in building?

So we have 4 weeks to go... 4 weeks! Oh actually I have 3- I'm in Fiji for week 9- Jealous much??? So much to do and so little time. Watch this space :-P

Until next time
B-) x

ICT Lead Teacher Day 11/08/10

2010-08-12T21:47:00.003+12:00

What a fabulous hands on day!
The morning started with watching one of B1's famous funny/inspiational you tube clips... this week, an inspiring woman in her 100th year using an ipad... I kid you not! An ipad!
We then got into our school teams to discuss our action plan for ICT/Inquiry and review this year to date and our next steps (very productive).
We spend some time looking at the plan for our milestone 5 report in our teams which was very clear and gave us an insight of what to expect in the report and the evidence we need to collect.
We had a devine morning tea made by B1 herself (Need that recipe for the spanich and feta creaps btw) and bach into school teams to discuss the difference between Inquiry teaching and action research.... OMG we had SO MUCH FUN making a presentation. We did ours on The Big Bang Theory. Collecting photos of Sheldon typing in his journal and teaching Penny the difference between Inquiry learning and action research and being a reflective practitioner. It was great fun and really nice to do something productive with collegues and have the time to enjoy it!
Our presentation isn't quite finished... we want to tweak a few things, but i'm sure when you see it, you'll understand why we enjoyed this hands on process :-)
Thank you Belinda- You think you worked us to the bone, but you kept us busy and on task... I had a fabulous day!
Until next time... B-)

Inquiry Learning

2010-07-02T11:07:00.003+12:00

Look at inquiry through a different lense. Working through solo taxonomy (pre-structural -->Uni Structural --> Multi Structural --> Relational--> Extended Abstract.
E.g. Science.. Materal world Lvl 1 Properties of change and matter. Observe, Describe and compare physical and chemical properties of common materials and changes that occur when materials are mixed, heated or cooled..

Define- Properties (Physical/chemical/material/mixture)
Describe the above
Sequence
Classify
Compare and contrast
Explain the causes
Predict what might happen
Generalise

OUR NEXT TOPIC!
Understand how belonging to groups is important for people
Understand that people have different roles and responsibilities as part of their participation

Pre Structural
Uni Structural-Define belonging Identify groups you belong to
Multi Structural- List groups you belong (Family/sport/religion/school/community etc)Describe what groups have in common
Relational- Explain why people belong to groups (compare similarities of groups) Classify different types of groups.
Extended Abstract Predict what the world would be like without groups.

Pam Hook returns!

2010-07-02T10:18:00.002+12:00

Teacher only day 1/07/10. Solo Taxonomy- Botany Downs Primary welcomed Pam Hook and Julie Mills. A whole day finally with the staff being on the same page! We started thinking about and wanting solo at BDS when we met Pam and Julie a few years ago at our ICT lead teacher day. On returning to school and being part of the think tank team- we took these ideas and began constructing our inquiry model (Hook, wondering, Creating, Planning, reflecting). Wanting the staff to share in our enthusiasm with inquiry we bragged about these two!

They're here! The staff are being hooked before my eyes :-)

A fabulous TOD!

ICT

2010-05-20T14:52:00.001+12:00

I am loving the feeling of being motivated and organised!! Go ICT!

Lots to do

2010-05-05T11:45:00.001+12:00

Action research, e-learning plans, milestone reports... lots of cool things to brag ab!

LOVE Scribbler

2010-05-05T09:34:00.000+12:00

http://www.scribblar.com/rooms/index.cfm?r=k3kmscu

I forgot all about scribbler! this is cool for sharing ideas :-)

Link to vote

2010-05-04T15:56:00.000+12:00

http://h30476.www3.hp.com/media/10139257-sex-in-the-city-comp

Adding a link isn't working so just copy and paste the above :-)

VOTES VOTES VOTES

2010-05-04T15:42:00.004+12:00

I am involved in a Sex and My City comp! I used my ICT skills to create a cool photo and kick butt movie :-) Its tops! Im so desperate for votes how ever- I need to come in the top 5 to go to the judges panel and im coming 6th!!!! NO!!!!!! So Im begging... I mean pathetically begging.... PLEASE VOTE FOR ME :-)

Class blogs

2010-05-04T15:39:00.002+12:00

Oh no! It was all going so well last year! I admit... I have not yet started my class blog... (smack smack) I do plan to... really I do, Its on the same list as getting ontop of my action research, doing more ICT stuff, and creating a filing system that works for me! Did I mention I also run a class??? hahahahaha Its been busy --> Im GOING to remain positive and keep smiling.

Getting Organised

2010-03-23T15:05:00.002+13:00

Yippee!!! I'm well underway with a new filing system at BDS for ICT! I love stationary :) I have different coloured folders... and i'm in the middle of creating "How to" sheets for systems at the school, passwords, contacts etc... This will help who ever steps into ICT... incase i get hit by an ice cream truck (Touches wood!)to continue running it smoothly.

Ive also extended the "how to" sheets into programmes used in class... so teachers and ICT expert students can use them and photocopy them.

Just need ALL staff to pull together and create a how to sheet on the programme they work confidently in..... hmmmm there lies the tricky bit... no response from my email even after asking ever so nicely :-(

Looking forward to the cluster share tomorrow... my speech is all prepared!

Staff presentation and Lead T day

2010-03-09T22:45:00.003+13:00

A variety of ideas for grouping children

2010-03-09T13:55:00.002+13:00

Syndicate
Year Level
Birthday month (continum)
Cards with stickers
Favourites- chocolates- All the people who chose a picnic go together
Things that go together
Animals (All the people who own dogs, go together)
Ability groups- experts....
across teams/with in teams
decades you were born
coloured cars- all the people with a red car..
Countries
favourite food
Name badges- different stickers on the back
Walk in an area... call out numbers- "2" find a buddy, 5... grab groups of 5 etc
Jigsaw-- Pictures- piece them together
letters to make a word- words written on board
colour groups
Continums height/ability/birthday month etc
Animals pictures: Make the animal sounds- find the group that makes the same sound....
Pillow case over head- sensory- find the animal making the same sound...
Self selected/ Teacher selected
Table groups
Match the celeb

Room 20 Possible Action Research

2010-03-09T10:56:00.002+13:00

I may get room 20 looking into the variety of search engines available, pushing them and me out of our comfort zones of just using www.google.com
Other search engines available are (TAKEN FROM EASTNET.WIKISPACES):
GOOGLE ADVANCED SEARCHES

Google Tips

Tips_Tricks_17x22.pdf

Advanced Tips

Once you know the basics of Google search, you can try Advanced Search, which offers numerous options for making your searches more precise and getting more useful results.
Go to Google (www.google.co.nz) and click on the "Advanced Search" link.

The Advanced Search page looks like this:

With Advanced Search, you can search only for pages

that contain ALL the search terms you type in
that contain the exact phrase you type in
that contain at least one of the words you type in
that do NOT contain any of the words you type in
written in a certain language
created in a certain file format
that have been updated within a certain period of time
that contain numbers within a certain range
within a certain domain, or website
that are available for anyone to use, share or modify, even commercially
that don't contain "adult" material

wikipeida for kids http://schools-wikipedia.org/

Yahoo for kids http://kids.yahoo.com/

Ask kids http://www.askkids.com/

Any Questions http://www.anyquestions.co.nz/

Kid Rex http://www.kidrex.org/

Kids Click http://www.kidsclick.org/

Quintura for kids http://quinturakids.com/

Boolify http://boolify.org/

I'm adding these to our school wiki now!

Action Research Planning Process

2010-03-09T10:55:00.000+13:00

How to Get Started on a Project

Borrowing heavily from Hollingsworth (1994) and Hopkins (1985) I offer the following practical suggestions for the teacher research process:

Decide on a focus
- Start with autobiographical data by locating your best professional self. Some questions you might ask - What are your broad interests in teaching and learning? What are your specific interests? What are manageable questions? Choose something you feel passionate about.
- Justify that the project is your best solution to the problem.
Develop a plan to gain insights
- Develop a time-line to gather evidence or data to examine what you are trying to accomplish/resolve/do in light of "what you do not know yet".
- Decide what evidence you want to collect. Evidence includes such things as questionnaires/surveys, observations (video or written notes), collaborations ( i.e. video or audio tape of meetings, peer coaching) interviews, tests and records, student work, video and audio tape transcripts, personal journal, library readings, etc.
Analyze the data by looking for patterns, or themes across the evidence
- keep logs and journals, periodically read over the evidence, code data from themes and patterns, draw or chart patterns, try to summarize what you have learned as you go, by noting images, metaphors, and any new questions.
- check out your understandings by triangulating evidence (same theme, code, pattern appears in more than two types of data), and by talking to peers, students, friends.
Report on what you have learned
- to your colleagues, to parents, at conferences, in journals.
- summarize what you learned -- in an essay, narrative, poster, video, . . . poetry.
- tell how the problem changed, didn't change, or became worse because of changes in your practice.

A key component of Action Research is sharing what you have learned. A number of techniques ranging from videos to formal presentations have already been suggested, but consider the following as potential audiences as well:

Colleagues at a staff development day
Parents and students
Email discussion groups (see On-line Resources)
Publications from professional organizations
Journals such as "Teacher Research: The Journal of Classroom Inquiry" - a journal by teachers, for teachers. Brenda Power

Once teacher research is shared it allows for further action on the part of the teacher, or the broader educational community to continue. The educational community has become increasing supportive of teacher research. At a recent meeting on science education in California that I attended Bob Polkinghorn, the Director of the Statewide Subject Matter Projects in California called for the documentation of evidence of change in practice at the classroom level by teachers. If you have not undertaken teacher research in your classroom now is the time to try!

This is directly taken from http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/TL/AR/
9/03/10

Action Research- Long but great!

2010-03-09T10:08:00.002+13:00

This is a very good explanation on Action Research. What it means and where to from here. Its 10 minutes long, but well worth watching if your feeling a little lost about what it is and what is involved :-)

Richard Sagor- Action Research

2010-03-09T10:01:00.000+13:00

Action Research- USA

2010-03-09T10:00:00.000+13:00

Model of Action research (Wikipeida)

2010-03-09T09:47:00.000+13:00

Action Research Definition

2010-03-09T09:42:00.000+13:00

Action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. Action research can also be undertaken by larger organizations or institutions, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with the aim of improving their strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they practice. As designers and stakeholders, researchers work with others to propose a new course of action to help their community improve its work practices (Center for Collaborative Action Research). Kurt Lewin, then a professor at MIT, first coined the term “action research” in about 1944. In his 1946 paper “Action Research and Minority Problems” he described action research as “a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action” that uses “a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about the result of the action”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_research
9/3/10

Working in ICT

2010-03-05T16:40:00.002+13:00

ICT at BDS has become very busy. It seems that many items decide to stop working at the same time! We have our phone system out of use, our server kept playing up and to add icing to the cake the internet seems to be getting slower!
On a positive note... we have been gifted 3 extra mimios from the PTA! Its very exciting :-) Our "huge "to do" list seems to be heading in the right direction.
Anna and I are presenting on Tuesday following our ICT conference in Rotorua, so i'll let you know how we get on.
We have our first ICT lead teacher day at Elm Park... more blogging then I see!!
See you soon, enjoy your weekend
B-)

Reflection On L@S

2010-02-28T10:51:00.002+13:00

I Loved this conference... It was my goal to attend workshops that used resources readily available and i could implement into the school asap.
I have done a power point presentation with Anna to share with the staff using Kid Pix. We had a fabulous time!
I enjoyed my breakouts (although one (The games we play) I arrived at 11am had changed locations- to Novatel and the bus had left :-( So I decided to gate crash a key note on top ten trends.... I loved it!!)
I managed to get get alot out of this conference.... I'm looking forward to sharing it with the staff.
We decided (Margaret, Anna and I) That the breakout "Put Yourself in the Picture"... would work better if senior children learnt it and went to teach the juniors (www. paint.net ) We found it fiddly... and cant see how juniors could follow the instructions.
Overall a very good conference x

Cloud Computing

2010-02-25T12:52:00.001+13:00

Cloud computing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Cloud computing logical diagram
Cloud computing is a way of computing, via the Internet, that broadly shares computer resources instead of having a local personal computer handle specific applications.
It is an Internet- ("cloud-") based development and use of computer technology ("computing").[1]
In concept, it is a paradigm shift whereby details are abstracted from the users who no longer have need of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.[2] Cloud computing describes a new supplement, consumption and delivery model for IT services based on the Internet, and it typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources as a service over the Internet.[3][4]
The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents.[5] Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business applications online which are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on servers.
A technical definition is "a computing capability that provides an abstraction between the computing resource and its underlying technical architecture (e.g., servers, storage, networks), enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction."[6] This definition states that clouds have five essential characteristics: on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service.[6]
The majority of cloud computing infrastructure, as of 2009[update], consists of reliable services delivered through data centers and built on servers. Clouds often appear as single points of access for all consumers' computing needs. Commercial offerings are generally expected to meet quality of service (QoS) requirements of customers and typically offer SLAs.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

Derek Wenmoth- Top 10 Trends 2010

2010-02-25T11:10:00.003+13:00

Top Ten trends 2010

http://www.core-ed.net/

www.2020.org.nz/template/ict

http://www.blog.core-ed.net/derek

http://www.edutopia.org/daring-dozen-2008

Derek Wenmoth discusses elearning "activities from exploring the innovative use of the latest technologies and researching elearning practices, to helping establish policy and strategies to enable the implementation of elearning" L@S definition

1.Internet capable mobile devices for learning (netbooks, phones- Used for learning)

2. 2. Ubiquitous Learning-
Learning anytime, anywhere, anytime! I pod touch, wireless, home/school/community all become learning environments.
3. Cyber Citizenship
http://blog.netsafe.org.nz/2010/02/22/is-digital-citizenship-just-marketing-spin/
What are the issues? Look at the modeling and connection… Kids are growing up in a digital world… you can’t stop it! (CONFIDENT/SAFE/RESPONSIBLE) Shift the FEAR FACTOR!
4. Digital Literacy
What are the required skills/knowledge and literacy’s needed?
5. Open Education Resources
Unlimited online resources… no waiting time, it’s at your finger tips! Check out wiki educator (J )
6. Cloud Computing
Once you’re on the network, you’re in such high speed…. What would it be like to not have all the infrastructure? It’s coming soon!maintaince/disaster recovery/back up/updates//back ups/storage
Google docs/Google Mail/ etc…. all cloud computing (Commerical, communications, educational, administration)
COMMON SERVICING! LMS--à LIBRARY SYSTEM---à STUDENT RECORD SYSTEM (BDS have all of this! Yes even the air con!
Check out 8 ways cloud computing might change schools… GOOGLE CLOUD COMPUTING
Cloud Computing Explained…
7. Learner Experience
LOVED this workshop!!!!!
Very interesting I wish I could have stayed to get the last 3 Key points… but my laptop battery was going to die in 3 mins…. And the plug in the conference room didn’t work!!

ARGH Crumbs… but please check out Derek’s blog… and I’ll grab the L@S information from it as soon as it hits the sites

Alan November-Boston USA

2010-02-25T09:30:00.002+13:00

The engaging culture of teaching and learning
Lovely presenter, lots of technical difficulties i'm feeling a little confussed at the moment, I'm not too sure what the LO of this presentation is yet..... ive read the blurb on the presentation and its not yet matching.....

Alan talked about google searches... check out
www.stormfront.org
www.easywhois.com
www.archive.org (Way back machine- history of a website)
November learning website containing teacher resources,
www.allaboutexplorers.com

Will check these out... may offer more information as i'm struggling to take any notes.....

TTFN

Engaging Community Through Digital Story Telling

2010-02-24T16:52:00.003+13:00

Digital Story Telling
Audience- Who are you creating the digital story for? Parents? Whanau? Children? Teachers? Schools? wider community?
Why? Purpose? To engage parents in curriculum? or to enhance oral language?
Content: "A story should be remembered for its soul, and not the bells and whistles" The content of the story is the MOST essential
Voice: Whose voice is heard? the voice of children, family and teachers.
Technology: Using a variety of technological tools to create and publish and publish digital stories.
Connections: Using digital stories to make connections. Stories connect people. (Blog, Email etc)

Very informative, great interaction, a friendly, bubbly presenter, loved this class! I'm off to play AGAIN :-) Can't wait to share this with the BDS staff xx

Put Yourself in the Picture- Breakout 2

2010-02-24T14:22:00.004+13:00

Put yourself in the picture is a FREE software!!!! It is an image and photo editing software for computers that run windows.

http://www.paint.net/

Why use it???

It covers ALL the key competencies! Thinking, Relating to others, Participating and contributing, managing self, Language symbols and texts.

Yes I said it covers it all!

Reconstruct your favourite nursery rhymes... get kids to write text to match the image... take photos of doors when knocking on the door a forest when walking through the forest... you could even add in your "paint pictures onto of the images.... or just use paint to create the whole image!

I have a CD that you are welcome to use... its all ready to go, with images to play around with and everything!

We had a look around what other schools have been up to with http://www.paint.net/ I love FLAT Stanley, an introduction to school life... blogging, friends, classroom location, school trips etc... its a great way for parents to see what happens in classrooms and a great way to include children who are not allowed in photos.... Stanley could take their place, and the children wont miss out.

Loved the Te Tiri O Te Waitangi using "flash" to reconstruct their understanding of early New Zealand... alot of research goes into these presentations alot of thinking, learning, reflecting and sharing is involved before you can present your ideas.

I'm off to play!!! Will post my image shortly xoxox

Learning@Schools Rotorua Pam Hook- Solo Taxonomy

2010-02-24T11:33:00.009+13:00

"Hooked on Thinking"
Learning to Learn
Solo Taxonomy incorporates what we currently do in the classroom including all thinking skills and questioning skills that normally stand alone, and link it together to get a deeper understanding. Students are able take ownership of their learning, show "top end performance" by looking at all angles of their inquiry.

Prestructural- No Knowledge
Uni Structural- Know limited informational- yes or no answers
Multi Structural- Knows multiple things
Relational Can relate information and make links
Extended Abstract- Can generalise and think outside the square (complex, think of something as a whole and take it apart-change it)

A great way to interact with the person next to you and go through the steps of solo taxonomy. We were asked to explain to the person next to us "our super hero" and work through the stages.

Goldilocks and the three bears...

Whose house did Goldilocks go into?
What are the 3 aspects about the way the bears live...
Goldilocks does horrible things... what kind of person is she?
Why do nursery tales allow animals to act in a human fashion?

Learning to learn
1. Learning process
2. Learning Language
3. Learning Interventions
4.Learning Pedagogies

(See wikispaces for These Presentation Notes)
www.hooked-on-thinking.com

www.hooked-on-thinking.wikispaces.com/tag/view/pam+hook

BLOOMS TAXONOMY is THINKING.... it is not focussed on learning outcomes...

What do Primary school students do???
Use words
- give them the language of learning!

Learning@Schools Rotorua! Dr Stuart Middleton

2010-02-24T11:29:00.002+13:00

What an amazing Keynote speaker! I loved his metaphores to teaching and learning (The statistics of Swine flu compared to education today) and his Iceberg teaching and learning with bilingual and multi lingual students.
A fabulous presenter, very engaging and humorous :-)

Welcome to 2010

2010-02-03T11:19:00.002+13:00

A busy busy year ahead! I'm the new ICT lead teacher at BDS!!! I'm working closely with L to help me transition into my new role, there is so much "stuff" to learn! I'm looking forward to having my own system that works well for me, and I can't wait to have a routine where all the new knowledge i'm currently drowning in has finally sunk in and i'm more able to find stuff... especially passwords!

Not too many sleeps to go until we go to Rotorua, Learning @ Schools! 9 teachers will be going from BDS and I can't wait! Bring on new innovative ideas :-)

School Magazine

2009-11-12T11:53:00.002+13:00

Wow! What a nightmare yesterday was working on the school magazine! Every class in the school did a class page to contribute to the school magazine. Many did it in word...As we copied their page from word to publisher it would only select one item at a time, it took us all day to re design class pages into publisher. Did you know you had to lock photos into word once you had pasted them? Neither did we! Next year we're asking all staff to become familiar with publisher and we'll just select all...go to the lovely box at the bottom of the page to pick up the whole page and insert it into publisher... oh the things we learn...the things we learn!
Room 20 are just about to blog their sleeping beauty stories... but none are quite ready yet, so yay i get to do my blog...my very first post!! They LOVE my new blog, especially the girls...even the boys were impressed Speak soon <3 Busy Busy Busy Bridget :-)

Welcome to my new blog!

2009-11-02T11:31:00.002+13:00

I've finally made the big change from Edublogs. If you are interested in catching up with my previous blog click here.