BRAIN OVERLOAD!
How often do we go to courses, learn and see the AMAZING, know that we want a piece of that in our rooms and schools but can't quite get there? Well that is exactly how I have felt for the past few weeks. The idea is there but my mind just can't make the connections.
Here is my little story of frustration and the AHHA moment when I solved it the best way I could.
The challenge for this week was to create a classroom monitoring portal. A what? Well that's certainly how I felt and even after doing some reading I am still very foggy about just what I am trying to achieve.
What I do understand?
A CMP is a 'pull' technology where information comes to the learner. It is a place where RSS feeds, emails, Wikis, blogs etc all meet in one central location around a central theme that you have initiated.
What am I trying to achieve?
In the ideal world our students will not only be global citizens they will be digital citizens. In fact you really can't be one without the other. To be a digital citizen one must be able to use a range of technologies and tools to communicate globally. The idea is simple and I can see the big picture and where this could head for our small rural school.
I want the students of WSS to use the technology we have to communicate with the world around them. I want them to see the big picture.
What's stopping me?
Well its a little like a 5 year old starting school and being expected to read Yellow books straight away. It's all about realistic expectations, sound systems, pedagogy and sustainability.
I don't want to start a whole lot of something that I can't keep going or is ultimately relying on me to drive it. Yes you need a pioneer but you also need others to come on the journey with you with the ultimate hope that they will get the vision and run ahead.
I am not sure of just how we will use a CMP when as a class we are not yet using some of the obvious things like wikis, blogs, RSS feeds. (don't be too judgmental - we only got a website 18months ago and last year we set up E-portfolios)
I have the big picture but not the steps to get there yet. Yes I am happy to learn off others and if readers are able to help me expand on my classroom monitoring portal then I am willing,ready and able. BUT for right here, right now this is my small step towards the big picture.
What am I going to do?
When I looked into a website host I chose to go with a company called SPIKE - spike has a simple userface and great technical support - it also is a one stop shop in terms of e-portfolios, blogs and learning caves. They are not as technical as others but they are in one location which is an important consideration on parents, teachers and staff.
So I am going to set up and work with the big kids to add to a Learning cave. A learning cave is password protected (this is very important to our community HERE and NOW) and will give our students the chance to make the first step and start participating and developing their knowledge of digital citizenship.
So it isn't what the challenge required but if I look at the 'Becoming a flat classroom project' as an inquiry then we are on the path. We are looking at what we know and what we want to find out and taking the so what step.
Its about the HERE and NOW. It is about teacher sanity and student engagement. It is about realism and admitting that you are not on the same page as everyone else.
We are the tortoise in this story - SO watch out world here we come, one small step at a time
Tuesday 26 February 2013
Sunday 24 February 2013
Search Engine Dilema
In total disbelievement last week all of our Apple devices stopped opening Google; reporting a 404 Forbidden message. The chaos and annoyance that has since followed shows just how reliant we are on using technology. If anyone knows how to fix the error I would be grateful for any advice. However what it has highlighted is that without prejudice we have become Google snobs. It is our search engine, calendar, drive, emails - Its our way of communicating and without it as teachers we are lost. The same is true for our students. We have downloaded an iPad app that allows access to a variety of search engines but our students are finding it difficult to use.
What serach engines do educators use with students?Do we need to be teaching and using more than one search engine?
Saturday 23 February 2013
Teaching computer skills
Students are entering our classrooms technologically savy with the idea that ICT is a tool, but I am still an advocate of specific skills teaching.
10 years ago it was skills around printing, connecting to a server, accessing the Internet.. We needed students to have those skills to use our classroom computers. In junior classrooms those skills will still be unfamiliar to some students but most students have those basics mastered quicker than the learn to tie shoelaces.
However we need to be teaching students the more social skills of technology. Yes parents need to be helping here but we know that many aren't. One only needs to look at Facebook and the inappropriateness of some pictures and comments to realise that parents are either totally unaware of what their kids are doing online or have turned a blind eye..
So once again as educators we need to step in here. Regardless of our personal views social networking is happening in our classrooms. It is has having an impact on students and just as we teach the skill of sharing we need to teach skills around the etiquette of using technology. Do they understand that what seems private may be accessible? They are able to login but what does that actually mean? What happens when someone 'acts' as you and posts something inappropriately? And how will they deal with images or websites that appear when the filter isn't full proof?
In some classrooms and schools I worry that students are literally being handed a smoking gun with disastrous consequences.
Our children are out there and it is our moral and ethical duty to 'teach' skills for online survival.
Leaders of schools need to rethink the filters they have in place. By banning social media, trade me etc are we enabling students to learn digital awareness. Most children come to school with data loaded in their pockets. They are using Facebook and we need to accept it and move on.
And there is a place for learning about sites like trade me.. We are allowed to buy a school dishwasher. We are using trademe and the engagement is huge.
There will be mistakes but we can learn from them.
10 years ago it was skills around printing, connecting to a server, accessing the Internet.. We needed students to have those skills to use our classroom computers. In junior classrooms those skills will still be unfamiliar to some students but most students have those basics mastered quicker than the learn to tie shoelaces.
However we need to be teaching students the more social skills of technology. Yes parents need to be helping here but we know that many aren't. One only needs to look at Facebook and the inappropriateness of some pictures and comments to realise that parents are either totally unaware of what their kids are doing online or have turned a blind eye..
So once again as educators we need to step in here. Regardless of our personal views social networking is happening in our classrooms. It is has having an impact on students and just as we teach the skill of sharing we need to teach skills around the etiquette of using technology. Do they understand that what seems private may be accessible? They are able to login but what does that actually mean? What happens when someone 'acts' as you and posts something inappropriately? And how will they deal with images or websites that appear when the filter isn't full proof?
In some classrooms and schools I worry that students are literally being handed a smoking gun with disastrous consequences.
Our children are out there and it is our moral and ethical duty to 'teach' skills for online survival.
Leaders of schools need to rethink the filters they have in place. By banning social media, trade me etc are we enabling students to learn digital awareness. Most children come to school with data loaded in their pockets. They are using Facebook and we need to accept it and move on.
And there is a place for learning about sites like trade me.. We are allowed to buy a school dishwasher. We are using trademe and the engagement is huge.
There will be mistakes but we can learn from them.
Going mobile
This is certainly not a new skill for many and I have always had a 'thing' about mobile phones. The challenge however for my study this week was about going mobile and how cellphones or mobile devices can be used educationally within classrooms.
This blog talks firstly about cellphones and the negative connotation they sometimes carry in the classroom.
I have had an iphone for a few years now and like many I do love my phone. It is my diary, camera, email assistant, music player, social net worker, shopping assistant and and and - Like many would be lost without their diary I would be lost without my phone. Why though is a diary widely accepted as a work tool but a phone isnt?
The challenge is to break down the barriers associated with cell phones and to encourage those who dislike them to realise their value in a classroom. 15 years ago laptops were the big thing and now they are common place - I would like to suggest that teachers using smart phones should becoming common place too.
In the past I was criticised for having it available in the classroom - a mobile device implied that I was less of a teacher and conducting my social life during teaching time - Whatever. Since the first camera's appeared on cellphones I have been snapping photos of kids. I am a professional I know not to have a personal conversation during school time.
Now I work and live in a part of the country that has little need for cellphones. This might have something to do with the fact that service is limited to a windowsill and that it is impossible to have a conversation on one. But it is so much more than that.... while my students don't own mobile phones they still need to know about them and see their value.
On a daily basis I (and initially my students) used my cellphone to
As an educator I use it for running records, note taking as it synchs to Evernote and a whole range of things that I probably dont even think about.
The iPhone got my kids hooked on technology in a new way and paved the way for iPads and iTouches in our school. Kids think nothing about recording each other sharing news, explaining and doing. They grab one to take pictures much like they would grab a pen. They calculate, search, play games and use these devices to enhance their learning.
A great example is the hydrate yourself app. I have some students who need to be drinking water more regularly - rather than teacher prompts the iTouch does it for them - no fuss, discrete and totally cool as they plot their way to their desired water goal. -Why would you go back to teacher prompts when a $1.50 app is allowing students to monitor their own behavours?
The challenge this week was to go mobile and it was something that I had already done but it has got me thinking about just how valuable these devices are in education and that they are not a personal item for teachers to hide in their desk but something that can guide their teaching.
We are certainly developing an iPhone club at our school and not because we are 'cool' but because it allows us to communicate with iMessage (as text really isn't an option) we use them to record events as they happen within the classroom, and probably to calculate big numbers that we can't solve in our head!
Going mobile isn't about conducting your personal life during teaching time - going mobile is about using a tool to enhance teaching, scaffold learning for students and being part of the 21st century.
Especially in a college setting where these devices are sitting in students bags. It does bug me that I have to purchase a scientific calculator at $50 when there is an app on her iTouch. And really does it matter if she sends a txt? Didn't we all do that in paper form! And why aren't students being encouraged to video lesson to re watch later?
Schools need to move forward.
Many of you will have read this blog and thought so what - I do all that and more with my phone but for those of you who don't - why not have a go? - dig that phone out of your bag - borrow someone elses or visit a classroom where a cellphone is a tool for learning.
This blog talks firstly about cellphones and the negative connotation they sometimes carry in the classroom.
I have had an iphone for a few years now and like many I do love my phone. It is my diary, camera, email assistant, music player, social net worker, shopping assistant and and and - Like many would be lost without their diary I would be lost without my phone. Why though is a diary widely accepted as a work tool but a phone isnt?
The challenge is to break down the barriers associated with cell phones and to encourage those who dislike them to realise their value in a classroom. 15 years ago laptops were the big thing and now they are common place - I would like to suggest that teachers using smart phones should becoming common place too.
In the past I was criticised for having it available in the classroom - a mobile device implied that I was less of a teacher and conducting my social life during teaching time - Whatever. Since the first camera's appeared on cellphones I have been snapping photos of kids. I am a professional I know not to have a personal conversation during school time.
Now I work and live in a part of the country that has little need for cellphones. This might have something to do with the fact that service is limited to a windowsill and that it is impossible to have a conversation on one. But it is so much more than that.... while my students don't own mobile phones they still need to know about them and see their value.
On a daily basis I (and initially my students) used my cellphone to
- take pictures
- video record
- time things
- check out websites and stream to apple tv
- watch you tube
- scan Q r codes
As an educator I use it for running records, note taking as it synchs to Evernote and a whole range of things that I probably dont even think about.
The iPhone got my kids hooked on technology in a new way and paved the way for iPads and iTouches in our school. Kids think nothing about recording each other sharing news, explaining and doing. They grab one to take pictures much like they would grab a pen. They calculate, search, play games and use these devices to enhance their learning.
A great example is the hydrate yourself app. I have some students who need to be drinking water more regularly - rather than teacher prompts the iTouch does it for them - no fuss, discrete and totally cool as they plot their way to their desired water goal. -Why would you go back to teacher prompts when a $1.50 app is allowing students to monitor their own behavours?
The challenge this week was to go mobile and it was something that I had already done but it has got me thinking about just how valuable these devices are in education and that they are not a personal item for teachers to hide in their desk but something that can guide their teaching.
We are certainly developing an iPhone club at our school and not because we are 'cool' but because it allows us to communicate with iMessage (as text really isn't an option) we use them to record events as they happen within the classroom, and probably to calculate big numbers that we can't solve in our head!
Going mobile isn't about conducting your personal life during teaching time - going mobile is about using a tool to enhance teaching, scaffold learning for students and being part of the 21st century.
Especially in a college setting where these devices are sitting in students bags. It does bug me that I have to purchase a scientific calculator at $50 when there is an app on her iTouch. And really does it matter if she sends a txt? Didn't we all do that in paper form! And why aren't students being encouraged to video lesson to re watch later?
Schools need to move forward.
Many of you will have read this blog and thought so what - I do all that and more with my phone but for those of you who don't - why not have a go? - dig that phone out of your bag - borrow someone elses or visit a classroom where a cellphone is a tool for learning.
Tuesday 19 February 2013
Frustration
Is anyone else feeling the burn?
Week 4 Term 1 - did we have a summer holiday? It does feel like that some days. I am not a 'newbie' principal anymore - the training wheels are off and there is a lot of shaking and swerving. I have not applied the brakes as like many I am worried that once I stop I might not be able to get back on. - So what is the problem?
Classrooms are humming
Kids are happy
Teachers are awesome
Support staff - magic
Role - best its ever been
So where do the wheels fall off? why am I stressed? - for me it is the uncontrollable that should be controllable - to spend 7 hours on the phone to novopay - wait late at school for two non-replies and have to have 'that' conversation with staff who dont deserve it - it is taking its toll. That is 7 hours that could have been spent on readings, assignments, spending time with kids, coaching and mentoring and swimming with my own children.
I am frustrated - I am cross.. Why I am asked to 'play nice' with a team that is under performing, and why are we explaining and apologising to staff? The twitter feeds and FB status say it all - teachers work hard, they deserve to be paid... and its actually about the stress... they should be thinking about their classrooms and students and their own families not stressing about mortgage payments and getting to visit the bank manager. We know this isn't going to go away - so how will I deal with the next SUE report that has just as many errors - Leave at 5:00pm to swim with my kids or stay and fight for staff to get paid? This week one staff member was paid for working 27hours on one day - I need 27 hours in one day.
NO I need those with power to sit up and take notice, I need those in the 'know' to make the tough decisions so that I can focus on the things that are important.
Our jobs are never ending, the list is never completely ticked off and for some of us that it the constant battle we face in trying to balance the professional with the personal... Well at the moment the scales are tipped at all the wrong angles for all the wrong reasons.
Monday 18 February 2013
Communicating in the big wide world
The challenge for this week is to communicate with new tools.
The first part of the challenge was to select an asynchronous tool and a synchronous tool and if possible use them with a partner.
The first problem - I am the shy girl in the corner who likes to work with people she knows; and I don't know anyone in my course - Sweaty palms, procrastination and OMG what am I going to now!
Synchronous tools are tools that allow you to communicate in 'real time' and often face to face.
A tool that I am developing in this area is skype - especially skype messenger. Skype messenger is like having a 'buddy'. It is a quick, continuous and discrete way to communicate with others. It saves time, and can link the isolated with the real world. This is one tool that I rely on as a leader. This might change once I start skyping my way around the world and have to deal with time zones.
At this stage it is very much a teacher tool. Why am I not using it in the classroom? I do not know but for some reason I just can't seem to get it started with the kids. - why? parent expectation. It has taken 18months for parents to feel comfortable about the use of a school website and children's photos being on there. The jury is still out on the benefits of e-portfolios, so I am a little hesitant about how skype might be received. Having said that I am keen to try doing a novel study or book sharing adventure using skype - ??? any takers???
Asynchronous tools - dont happen at the same time - blogs, FB, Youtube ... well most of us use these tools without thinking although I am aware the many of these tools are changing. Google docs can be both real time and read later, and the same can be said for twitter.
After reading this chapter I am now looking forward to quad-blogging and putting some familiar and not so familiar tools into action.
This will also help with my very first problem of being the shy girl in the corner..
Friday 15 February 2013
Push and Pull
No this post isn't about using doors but about my new learning for this week; Push and Pull technology and developing my PLN
So I use google docs, I have a facebook and twitter a/c, email is a given and I am actively connected with the world... Well actually no I'm not. I am actively connected virtually with the people that I was already actively connected with in the real world.
Push and pull technology are new to me words and they have really challenged me this week.
So what is push and pull technology
Push technology is essentially us pushing a button to find information. Searching for information is the main way we use push technologies.
Pull technology is where the information comes to us based on the threads we have set up. The information we are interested in comes to us and is available when we have time to read and interact with it.
What does that mean for me and my students
There were many aspects of pull technology that I was using in a limited way and during the past week I have started to 'reach out' and pull more people, blogs, articles towards me and my developing PLN. But this takes time and I am feeling the pressure... some days I hardly have time to think.. let alone blog... comment on other blogs and read the 460 RSS feeds that our now on my dashboard.
The word Pull has taken on a new meaning... while technology has now 'pulled' to me things of interest, readings that will enhance my leadership and teaching it has added another 'must do' to time that sometimes feels too pressured. I love the conversations that happening on twitter but they have the ability to take over the conversations that are happening in my own home and the importance of family vs professional learning.
and then there is the just jump on in... it feels a little funny to be sharing with others I have never met and do they really want to hear from me anyway - yes this is how we develop and this is the attitude and opportunities we want for our kids but it needs to be something that is incorporated into our lives not on top of and that is something that I need to work on as I develop my students are very much still on push technology into the world of Pull
So I use google docs, I have a facebook and twitter a/c, email is a given and I am actively connected with the world... Well actually no I'm not. I am actively connected virtually with the people that I was already actively connected with in the real world.
Push and pull technology are new to me words and they have really challenged me this week.
So what is push and pull technology
Push technology is essentially us pushing a button to find information. Searching for information is the main way we use push technologies.
Pull technology is where the information comes to us based on the threads we have set up. The information we are interested in comes to us and is available when we have time to read and interact with it.
What does that mean for me and my students
There were many aspects of pull technology that I was using in a limited way and during the past week I have started to 'reach out' and pull more people, blogs, articles towards me and my developing PLN. But this takes time and I am feeling the pressure... some days I hardly have time to think.. let alone blog... comment on other blogs and read the 460 RSS feeds that our now on my dashboard.
The word Pull has taken on a new meaning... while technology has now 'pulled' to me things of interest, readings that will enhance my leadership and teaching it has added another 'must do' to time that sometimes feels too pressured. I love the conversations that happening on twitter but they have the ability to take over the conversations that are happening in my own home and the importance of family vs professional learning.
and then there is the just jump on in... it feels a little funny to be sharing with others I have never met and do they really want to hear from me anyway - yes this is how we develop and this is the attitude and opportunities we want for our kids but it needs to be something that is incorporated into our lives not on top of and that is something that I need to work on as I develop my students are very much still on push technology into the world of Pull
Monday 4 February 2013
Oh my goodness - do my students feel like this
Educators are great at undertaking professional development in groups and clusters. How good are some of us at going it alone?
This year I have decided to study and take part in the flat classroom project and it is something that I believe will be exciting for myself, other educators and our students.
BUT..... it can suddenly become so overwhelming, not from pressure put on by others but the pressure we put on ourselves. Course books, joining groups, words I have never heard before, using e-learning platforms that are new. Is this how some of my students feel when I ask them to grab a draft writing book or add to their e-portfolios?
How do I reduce that pressure? When does child responsibility kick in? and how does our school day impact on students.? I have just had my first online study session. I am mindblown and now I need to think, reflect, re-read and take a few deep breathes. As an adult I can do that but how does that work for students who can't stay at school after the day has ended just to wind down and reflect? What access do they have to sharing their day and asking more questions?
I have no answers to any of those questions, just that feeling that my buttons have been pushed (in a good way) and suddenly I am a 5year old on their first day of school.
Friday 1 February 2013
When the negative becomes positive
Many years ago I had the privilege of working with Bill Matthews as part of a large school's cluster initiative. We explored the very new to us thinking that the words 'Don't and No' could be replaced with 'we'. By transforming the old age school rules of 'Don't run around corners' to 'We walk around corners' children could be reminded in a positive way to control their behaviour.
The reasoning behind this is really quite simple, for many (children and adults) the word don't or no simply becomes 'blah' followed by an action. Don't run becomes run, no putdowns becomes putdowns. It would seem that for many children we were actually reinforcing to them the very behaviour we were trying to stop. We walk sensibly and we speak quietly had the power to transform the school playground and classroom for many children.
The reasoning behind this is really quite simple, for many (children and adults) the word don't or no simply becomes 'blah' followed by an action. Don't run becomes run, no putdowns becomes putdowns. It would seem that for many children we were actually reinforcing to them the very behaviour we were trying to stop. We walk sensibly and we speak quietly had the power to transform the school playground and classroom for many children.
As a school we embraced this idea and for me it made the world of difference to my teaching and manner with students. Suddenly the negative was positive, classroom behaviour and the dreaded duty became a conversation and a reminder rather than a negative and grumpy teacher moment. It is hard to explain just how much our school changed and it wasn't noticeable until you went into a more traditional school environment with NO and DONT - it had become so ingrained in my way of being that as a parent I spoke to my children with "at home we ...."
It seemed to me that by now every school and every community was using this type of 'talk' with their students, so you can imagine my surprise when I started my principalship at a school that had never heard of anything more bizarre - for the students this really was a struggle, especially in a school that had not really had any formal rules in the past. I am not a big fan of RULES but there needs to be some clear boundaries and expectations so that all students understand what is expected of them.
In 2011 we trialled this 'we' idea - hard slog really but in 2012 we went back at it again - "AT WSS we..." we incorporated the idea with key competencies and our values - it felt more familiar this time and while it was still largely a teacher push it did begin to feel like there was a shift in what children expected to hear. There were days when I am sure I sounded like a broken record!!
You can imagine my delight on the first day of 2013 when I walked into a classroom where the teacher had prompted the discussion about what it meant to be a learner and the children were naturally talking... 'At WSS we show determination'. When prompted further about what that might look like within the school it was followed by conversation about working until things are finished, trying again even when it's hard, being brave about trying new things.... WOW 2 year and it feels like the culture of 'we' is embedded and that our students are ready to take ownership of the things we do at our school!
In 2011 we trialled this 'we' idea - hard slog really but in 2012 we went back at it again - "AT WSS we..." we incorporated the idea with key competencies and our values - it felt more familiar this time and while it was still largely a teacher push it did begin to feel like there was a shift in what children expected to hear. There were days when I am sure I sounded like a broken record!!
You can imagine my delight on the first day of 2013 when I walked into a classroom where the teacher had prompted the discussion about what it meant to be a learner and the children were naturally talking... 'At WSS we show determination'. When prompted further about what that might look like within the school it was followed by conversation about working until things are finished, trying again even when it's hard, being brave about trying new things.... WOW 2 year and it feels like the culture of 'we' is embedded and that our students are ready to take ownership of the things we do at our school!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)