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!

Suzie Vesper visits Shelly Park School

Yesterday we had a visit from Suzie Vesper and Belinda Johnston.  It was great spending time discussing our school's progress towards completing the Final Milestone Report at the end of 2010 which marks the completion of the Eastnet Cluster we have been involved in for the last 3 years.  We re-visited the Contract Goals and discussed where next in terms of gathering evidence to support the statements we will make against each Goal for the Report and also sustainability for the rest of 2010 and beyond.

It was very interesting to me that this week in the middle and junior schools Kathy Pittaway and I are doing work which is contributing towards achieving one of the Goals which is as follows -

National Goal: Increase the school community's understanding of the education contribution of eLearning;
Cluster Goal: Parents will attend information evenings and workshops to develop an understanding of our eLearning community;
Success Indicators: Parents access and contribute to online learning environments eg KnowledgeNET, UltraNet, wikis, blogs and e-Portfolios.

The middle school are involved in online Homework related to their current inquirt about Water Conservation this week.  The task is to undertake a survey, created in Google Forms, and embedded into their Pod KnowledgeNET page then the following week to complete a Poll where they will self-assess their work using the traffic lights system.  Kathy and I plan to interview some children and ask them about how they felt about doing their Homework this way.  Then we can use this along with screenshots of the gathered data and the childrens' responses to this as evidence for the Milestone Report.

In the junior school yesterday I organised a feedback session for the Pod 1 and 2 Digikidz to share their learning with their parents and also to provide the parents with an opportunity to ask questions about the process.  The children recorded their parents' ideas using the easi-speak microphones and we will upload these, along with the photos they took using the digital cameras, into voicethread next week as a revision exercise.  The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the parents reported the following:



The second Goal I was very interested in was:

Cluster Goal: Parents will be aware of the value of cybersafety protocols and its implications.
Success Indicators: Increased awareness of eLearning issues and cybersafety requirements.

I am interested in this at the moment because of my upcoming session with the BOT and skype conversation with Suzanne Barr about the possibility of participating in the Super Clubs Plus pilot in Years 4, 5 and 6.

Visit to Summerlands School

I was very fortunate to go on a school visit on Wednesday to Summerland School in Henderson.  We were welcomed by the Deputy Principal, Blair Giles, and then introduced to the Principal, Luke Sumich, who generously gave us his time to give us a tour of the school while sharing his knowledge and inviting us to interact with the children and teachers.  It was a highlight to spend time in Amanda Signal's classroom and meet the Tumeke 12 kids (as an NZ immigrant I must admit to Googling "tumeke" to discover the literal translation means "too much" but that it now commonly means "awesome" thanks to the Urban Dictionary for filling me in) and the Tumeke 12 kids were definately awesome as were all the Summerland kids I spoke to! 

I found the school organisation fascinating.  The teams, I believe, can be formed by teachers wanting to collaborate and/or sharing a similar philosophy.  Everyone is on-board with the benefits of eLearning but teachers have the freedom to be creative and integrate a wide variety of tools to support childrens' thinking: Bloom's taxonomy, double bubbble map, Habits of Mind, Thinkers Keys, Thinking Hats, Inquiry learning etc.  But the difference between Summerland and other schools is the teams consist of different year levels.  Luke explained this was to allow positive peer role modelling especially for the new entrants joining the school.  Having taught in Year 0/1 for the past three years positive peer role modelling is very powerful and effective and it is certainly something I encourage in my Year 1 children.  I often remind them that they can set an example for the younger children and they are equally able to empathise and remember how they felt when they were new at school.  At our school we encourage role modelling with all classes, with the exception of Year 2, being composites i.e Year 0/1, Year 3/4 and Year 5/6.  This gives the children an opportunity to be supported by their peers and then take on that role themselves the following year.

At Summerlands there is a really good vibe.  There is an atmosphere of mutual respect; committed people working together; children keyed into what effective learning looks like, sounds like, feels like for them; evidence of asessment and thinking about where to next and confident, independent eLearners everywhere!  I was keen to see Tumeke 12's Learning Links in action and I wasn't disappointed, happening upon a child sitting outside the classroom reading his book expressively into photobooth and then inserting it into keynote together with his self-reflection.  I like the idea that he will be sharing this with his parents at Conferences, how powerful for them to be able to see his level of achievement at the beginning of the year on a reading graph and then watch him reading at that time and then compare that with where he is now!

We left the school smiling, with lots to think about especially as we near the end of our Cluster Contract.  Luke mentioned recently learning what a wiki is and creating one for his school BOT and I think he made a lot of sense when he said that people need to have a reason for learning how to do something new.  I personally learned to create a wiki when I had a need to house digital resources for the young learners in my class.  But once I had done that I could then see more possibilities for wikis and when I created my Action Research wiki I found a use for the Discussion tab which is not relevant in my junior resources wiki!  The exciting thing for me about eLearning in Education is that there is always a new way of approaching things, new possibilities for capturing interest and engaging children and providing reasons for continuing to learn.

Here is a slideshow of the photos I took on the visit:

CORE's 10 Trends for 2010

Thanks to ewan.mcintosh's  bookmarks for alerting me to this slideshow from CORE by Derek Wenmoth.

CORE's ten trends for 2010

View more presentations from Derek Wenmoth.

I am excited that Derek will be doing the Keynote at the Eastnet Cluster Expo next term.  We have been trying to make the shift from children solely consuming content to creating their own content school-wide this year.  The children have been learning to create content using voicethread, kid pix and photostory.  Children are also contributing and communicating through blogs and the Digikidz have collaborated with children at Pt England and Elm Park schools to ask and answer questions to help them in their role supporting their peers and teachers with eLearning.  Last week the Digikidz coordinated their first animations using kid pix.  They came up with their concept, planned the sequence and executed it with varying levels of success.  Half the group completed their animations whereas the other half ran out of time.  In reflection the children were able to appreciate that they had chosen more difficult subject matter which took longer to create/adapt on each slide.

I really like the quote from slide 5 in the CORE presentation describing the changing role of learners where once they were solely content consumers and now they are in an "architecture of participation".  In my current role as an 'eCoach' released from the classroom to support teachers in the Junior school with eLearning I particularly identify with slide 6 about competing philosophies where teachers are not regarded as a problem to be fixed but as supported professionals. 

The concept of ubiquitous computing - learning anywhere, anytime from any device fits well with the new technologies being trialled in schools: apple iPads and iPod touches or even iPhones with all the apps and more to come no doubt.  Belinda Johnston's mLearning workshop at the Cluster Expo will be one to watch, I'm sure.  Perhaps this is the affordable way forward for schools struggling to afford one-to-one laptops and everything else that goes with them.  I am currently trying to reorganise PCs and laptops with the Year 0/1 team so that children and teachers have access to a group of computers every day rather than three classes sharing but we have difficulties to overcome with furniture and connecting into the network without disrupting the physical flow of the classrooms.  This wouldn't be an issue with iPads or iPod touches.  I thought the children and I had it all in my room last year in terms of digital resources with 5 computers, an IWB and data projector, teacher laptop, digital camera, headphones, tablet, easi-speak microphone.  But now the potential of the iPod touch and iPads once readers become available in this format!  You'll never run out of books for a group or worry about books going missing or getting damaged again.  One-to-one iPods sounds like it could be possible for schools and monies could be invested in these rather than atlases, dictionaries etc.

Sumo Paint possible alternative to Kid Pix

I am still trying to solve the school's problem with exporting Kid Pix slideshows to QuickTime. I have been experimenting with Sumo Paint which is an online image editor. You can save in sumo format or png/jpeg onto your computer. Unfortunately there isn't a slideshow option! I will continue looking but this is a great tool anyway with lots of options for creating pictures.  I have had a very quick play:

Reflecting on the Digikidz Action Research Project

As my Action Research project draws to a close I am looking back and reflecting on the project goals and considering the extent to which these have been achieved. I am excited to find that everything the children and were working on together has been achieved plus after observations were completed by Belinda Johnston, Eastnet Cluster Facilitator and discussions took place amongst the Junior school teachers, additional benefits are also evident.

I wrote part of the Final Report for the project this afternoon and I am reasonably pleased with it! I am sure I will have more to add after next Wednesday when the children are running a feedback session for their parents to showcase their learning and promote conversation about the project. I am really interested to gain the parents' perspectives and even more interested to find out if they have noticed any positive changes in their child's feelings about eLearning specifically or in their general attitude/confidence/self-esteem etc.

During discussions with teachers all noted significant changes in the Digikidz. The children are more confident, regularly demonstrate initiative and leadership in the classroom, will take a risk, are more responsible, willing to try new things and respected by their peers.

I was optimistic at the beginning of the project that the results would be favourable but I am very pleased that this has indeed proven to be the case. The children rose to the challenge and have exceeded my expectations in every way.

I would like to acknowledge all the Junior school teachers at Shelly Park School for supporting me and the children and the Digikidz for all their hard work.

Now I need to prepare for my presentations at the Eastnet Cluster Expo 2010 and hopefully uLearn 2010.