Dylan William - Content then Process

Very interesting talk about the pose, pause, pounce technique.  Very interesting to me as this was encouraged by my previous Principal, Grant Ramsay, at Papatoetoe Central School 8 years ago when I first started teaching.  I certainly try and use the 3 second rule to give children a chance to process and think interactve questioning encourages thinking.  I have operated a no hands up policy in my Year 0/1 classes for the last 3 years.

Ideas for Starting off with a New Class/New Term

Click here for a great link on Ewan McIntosh's blog to the GETideas website which I've just joined.  Great online, open community for education leaders.  I have had a read of the full article which is very interesting and am considering joining the live chat event on Tuesday 27th July.  Could be a good way to hear and share ideas.  I can always benefit from ideas on how to use my time effectively to manage my workload!

Eastnet Cluster Expo 2010

I was fortunate to present at the Eastnet Expo last Wednesday. View the slideshow and supporting materials below. Despite some technical hiccups I thoroughly enjoyed presenting using skype and the share your screen facility. The idea behind my workshop was to share my recent journey into Action Research with other professionals.

Handout

How to Access and Contribute to the Discussion Section of a Wikispace

Digikidz Workshop for Eastnet Expo 2010

View more presentations from Shelly Park School.

In organising this workshop I reflected upon my experience from last year's workshop eLearning for Little People at the 2009 Eastnet Cluster Expo and tried to progress from that experience.  I took a different approach when preparing my slideshow this year where I incorporated some aspects of Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds and also video examples to share with the audience.  The workshop began smoothly with the setting the scene clip Piano Stairs from http://thefuntheory.com/ :



The idea behind this being that when learning is fun, children are engaged.  Shortly afterwards the audio started fluctating on skype which was disappointing.  Possibly it was a bit ambitious to expect to be able to share my screen and talk for 50 minutes without any problems.  So we quickly went to plan B: I rang the classroom that the workshop was being held in at Elm Park School and spoke on speakerphone.  Once we'd turned down the volume on both my laptop and Belinda's, who was helping me at the NZ end, from this end it there was a bit of an echo but not at the other end which is a relief!  Fortunately this didn't mean I ended up running over time and I was pleased I didn't get flustered, probably because I'd already thought through all the possible problems and was prepared!  There's a lot to be said for practise and preparation before presenting.

I hope the attendees at the workshop found it worthwhile.  I am excited to see if anyone adds to the Discussion section of my wiki and have created a How to sheet to support them to do this.

XMind - Mindmapping Tool

I downloaded and used the XMind tool to help me plan out how to structure my presentation for the Eastnet Cluster Expo and hopefully ULearn 2010.  I am sure other things will occur to me as I go through the process but I am happy to have a plan.

Classroom Visits or Learning Walks

I have just watched and really enjoyed a talk by Cheryl Doig in the latest ICT PD Newsletter on CORE.  This is the first time I have encountered the phrase 'Learning walks' but it really fits well as a way to observe a learning environment(s) for a specific purpose and then discussing and reflecting upon the observations with the intention of improving practice within your school. 

In my current role, where I am released from the classroom to support staff and children with eLearning, I have been lucky to observe many skilled practitioners interacting with the children they teach.  And because I am also involved with each class I have participated in discussions with these teachers about the learning that is happening which might otherwise not have happened because I would have been busy working in my own room and I wouldn't have had that opportunity.

Creating a dialogue between colleagues where you are all working towards achieving the same Goal can be very powerful.  We have been using quality learning circles where staff share their expertise with one another so we can all improve practice and try to increase continuity between classes, considering what... would look like, sound like and how will the children feel about it.  We feel comfortable is this setting as we have developed a good level of collegiality. We take care to focus on one thing at a time and lively discussion generally ensues which involves teachers reflecting on their own practice.

'Learning walks': something for Senior Management Teams to consider!

A Further Reflection on the Digikidz Feedback Session

I was thrilled with the number of parents/family members who attended the feedback session by the Digikidz.  I found the session highly beneficial for a number of reasons.  The Digikidz delighted in demonstrating their skills with confidence and enthusiasm.  The parents were able to ask questions, some of were not anticipated and sparked interesting discussion, such as: How were the Digikidz chosen?  With the Action Research project finishing at the end of the Term will the Digikidz group continue?  What do you see as the benefits to this? 

I was able to answer the first question fairly easily - for lots of different reasons!  Having taught a lot of the children I consulted with each class teacher and made some suggestions so together we chose 2 children from each class.  The boy/girl ratio is quite equal with 9 boys and 7 girls in the group.  The children needed to fit certain criteria - be kind, helpful, quick to pick up new skills and not too controlling.  It was not necessary to be hugely skilled in ICT but I didn't choose anyone who finds ICT very challenging.  Some children were chosen to participate as a way of extending them as they were achieving well above expectation for their age across the Curriculum, others because we thought it might benefit their self-esteem because they struggle in the core Curricular areas, some shy and quiet children were chosen to encourage them to build their confidence and others simply because we thought their personality suited the role and they were friendly with the other Digikid in their class.

With regard to the Digikidz continuing next Term.  The children have been successfully upskilled in: using the easi-speak; digital camera to take photos (Year 1 and 2); digital camera to record video (Year 2 only); microphone headsets; voicethread; photostory; kid pix to draw pictures and record sound, to create slideshows and animations; blogging; accessing class and year level areas on KnowledgeNET; sounds great and smart phonics programs.  So they don't really need to do anything else!  If it is possible to continue re-visiting these programs and using the different tools to help the children retain their learning that would be beneficial.  However, if the class teachers increase their integration of ICTs into their everyday practice the Digikidz should maintain their current levels of expertise.  Plus if the Digikidz are working in different classes to support other children with their eLearning that will also help keep their skills sharp.

At the beginning of this project I guessed that there would be benefits to implementing Digikidz, however, I didn't realise exactly how successful it would be nor did I realise all the benefits which I have observed.  All the quiet and shy children have benefitted as have the children who struggle in other areas of the Curriculum.  They show increased confidence, independence, initiative, leadership and willingness to take a risk because they know they are really good at being a Digikid and they have teachers and their peers praising them and regularly seeking their expertise.  All the children have developed their interpersonal skills and are able to assist others without dominating the situation.  The Digikidz were constantly challenged and asked to step out of their comfort zone, with support from me, so they expect this now and are very keen to learn.  But the biggest benefit for me is that I didn't quite appreciate the huge power of effective peer support.  I have always used buddies to support others within my class and done peer assessment using success criteria.  But this was generally reciprocal where one child would support their friend and then they would swap.  Because the Digikidz job is to work with their peer to support them in their achievement of the success criteria for the entire lesson the focused talk about achieving the Learning Intention is unbelievable.  The children constantly refer back to the WILF and the Digikid keeps asking their peer to extend their work throughout.  This resulted in hugely more detailed and higher quality work than the children who were working alone even although those children were on-task, motivated and following the WILF too.  The idea that two heads are better than one really applies here.  I could worry that the Digikid is missing out on something by doing this role but they are gaining so many other skills by being a responsible citizen and helping someone.  I am interested in exploring peer support further in the classroom perhaps by allocating more time to the process so that it can be a higher quality experience.  I did ask a few parents whether they were concerned about their child going out of the classroom for upskilling or to work in other rooms to support others but everyone I spoke to was very positive about the experience and had seen marked changes in their child.

The sharing session was very enjoyable for me and next time I organise something like that I would let the rest of the school know so the other teachers can have a chance to come and see what the Digikidz have been learning too.  I overlooked the fact that they might be interested and only invited my team, Associate Principal and Principal.  Belinda told me she would have liked to be invited as well to celebrate the childrens' success.  I will definately have to keep that in mind for the future and not assume people are too busy or that they wouldn't be interested!  Let's face it, it's always nice to be invited to a party isn't it?

Here are some photos and comments from the session (images and audio by the Digikidz):

On a final note I was just visiting the At the Teacher's Desk blog and found a great post about a collaborative project between an NZ and a US school where the American children watched a video of two experts in the NZ school using the rakau sticks.  Here is the link.  The children then practised and made their own video in response.  The idea of children as experts with children learning from one another is so amazing.  What a wonderful way to learn!

Cybersafety and Digital Citizenship

After discussing the Elluminate webinar about Digital Citizenship moderated by cybersafety expert Andrew Churches and NZ Education ICT leaders (Allanah King, Jacqui Sharp, Suzie Vesper, Warren Hall) and including many other eLearning in Education experts (Sue West, Tessa Gray and Hey Milly to name just a few)with Suzie Vesper on Wednesday I returned to the wiki to access the recording of the live session and reviewed it again! I noticed this link from AllanahK to support people with tightening up their Facebook privacy settings which I did myself for reassurance, sent to all my Friends and then screenshotted to support others:

I then also took a look at The Grid, thanks Suzie, and there are loads of great resources there with lesson plans, links to appropriate sites, suggested activities for supporting the development of Digital Citizenship and encouraging Cybersafety appropriately at different year levels.