I mentioned in a previous post that I had attended this conference. For my University studies I needed to write a more detailed report, so I thought I would share that with you here as well...
The Microsoft Innovative Schools Conference was held at the University of the Sunshine Coast on 4-7 May. Educators from Australia and the Asia/Pacific were in attendance. Given that it was a Microsoft Conference, we were able to connect to the Wireless Network during the Forums, and many people brought along their laptops. I’ve been wanting to try backchanneling for myself prior to trying it with my students, so I got a few other people on board and we had chats going in Skype and Twitter throughout the sessions. I also tried using Webspiration to record my notes to reflect on later.
Day 1
In his keynote “The Compelling Case” Bruce Dixon outlined three phases of globalisation, and described the current phase as being about people collaborating – “Communication as a leveller, collaboration as the glue”. He spoke about sharing our planes, humanity and rulebook, and using creative problem solving as collaborators communicating across the world. Bruce then went on to explain how technology has led to rapid knowledge growth, which has increased too rapidly for the current model of learning. He stated that innovation in a technology-rich learning environment can: provide greater opportunity for meeting the diverse needs of learners; promote new dimensions for pedagogical innovation; give us a platform to better understand teaching effectiveness and leverage what personalisation offers learners; challenge us to look for more appropriate and effective means of assessment; and allow us to re-imagine the curriculum.
Professor Sohail Inayatullah spoke about Transformational Learning and the role of visioning and design. He helped us to consider the various options for the future including the default future – were nothing to change, and our preferred future. He led us through a meditative process to visualise the future. I found this process really helpful as prior to this session I hadn’t really pinned down my vision for education in the future. I had been heading along my own little path in a general direction rather than making purposeful strides toward a goal.
Laurie Campbell then took us through the components of Transformational Learning and how this model can be used to implement change in school environments. The components are: strategic plan, workforce capacity, innovation/entrepreneurship, curriculum, pedagogy, enabling learning environments and networks and partnerships. He shared a mapping tool that schools can use to determine their current position and consider future direction.
Sean Tierney and Bruce Dixon ran us through the steps to using a 1-to-1 laptop program to personalise learning. They explained the reasons for adopting such a program and the factors required for successful implementation. As my school is on the brink of purchasing laptops for classroom use, this session was particularly helpful. I will be guiding staff through the process using the 21 Steps to 21st Century 1-to-1 Success. You can also see the presentation here.
In the afternoon Kristine Kopelke spoke on the topic Addicted to Learning. Kristine dedicated time to doing what we all know we should, but don’t often get around to – she found out what children were already using ICT for. Her list of 21 Tools for the 21st Century was the conglomeration of her findings. You can see her presentation here.
Day 2
On the second day we learnt about Enabling Environments. Sean Tierney described some new designs for learning spaces that are being trialled in schools around Australia. He provided further guidance on how to create a library space that functions effectively to meet the needs of learners in the 21st Century. Laurie Campbell spoke about Virtual Environments and the use of The Learning Place in Queensland. Through the backchannel, our regional director gave us some insight into what we hope to be able to achieve with the new Virtual Learning Environment that has been put to tender for our Department of Education.
We then visited Chancellor State College, a P-Graduation school. They have been recognised by Microsoft for their innovative approaches to teaching and learning. They are a young school and have focused a lot of their resource budget on computer technologies, however they don’t appear to be using much more than other schools I've seen. One of the things that Chancellor State College does well is communicate what they do. They have a great logo that encapsulates their vision and values and their promotional video is very appealing.
After lunch we had a series of ‘unconferences’ – these are presentations given by the attendees that people can select and leave if they discover it isn’t helping them. I presented about connecting with parents through the use of email, blogging, podcasting and My Classes. I visited two other sessions: one about a 1-to1 laptop program being used in a Queensland school; and the other about a primary school that uses recording equipment for media studies.
To finish up on the second day, Adrian Greig presented about new and emerging technologies. This was a lot of fun and gave us some insight into where the technology is headed. You can see his presentation here.
Day 3
On the final day they ran us through the Microsoft Innovative Schools projects and explained how we can apply to move to the next level to receive additional support from Microsoft. The regional representatives attended meetings to find out how much money Microsoft will be providing to schools this year through its new budget. We had some planning time to consider how we will use all the things that we learnt over the conference.
I’d also like to mention that a significant part of the conference for me was networking with other educators and hearing what they are doing and how they have made it successful. It was a very valuable learning experience that gave me a lot of information to digest about the future of our schools. I’m looking forward to going back over the video presentations to learn from them again.
Showing posts with label primary school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label primary school. Show all posts
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Easy Labelling
This is just a quick, simple tip that I found out a few years ago and think every primary school teacher should know.
When sticking name labels on trays, desks, bag hooks etc use contact as an under layer and then stick the name label on top. This makes it much easier to change labels for the new year as the label peels off the contact more easily than other surfaces. Alternatively you can peel the whole label off and start with fresh contact as well.
When making wall charts for birthdays, homework, readers, class jobs, etc cover the chart in clear contact and write on the chart with a dry-erase or whiteboard marker. Then you will be able to reuse the same chart year after year.
When sticking name labels on trays, desks, bag hooks etc use contact as an under layer and then stick the name label on top. This makes it much easier to change labels for the new year as the label peels off the contact more easily than other surfaces. Alternatively you can peel the whole label off and start with fresh contact as well.
When making wall charts for birthdays, homework, readers, class jobs, etc cover the chart in clear contact and write on the chart with a dry-erase or whiteboard marker. Then you will be able to reuse the same chart year after year.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Good Teachers - Primary School
Today I am going to share a tribute to the teachers I had in Primary School and share the impact they had on me as a learner and now as a teacher.
Kindergarten - Mrs Sykes
My kindergarten teacher introduced me to the world of school and offered me the opportunities I needed to grow. My mum had been teaching me to read at home, and Mrs Sykes let me read Dr Seuss books to the class. She also realised my potential with spelling and allowed me to go to Year 1 in the mornings so that I could do spelling lessons with them.
As a result, I try to give my students opportunities to show their extra learning to the class and provide opportunities for student extension.
Year 1 - Mrs Slater
I loved Mrs Slater. She could play the piano like no one else I knew, and I loved the way she played Gobbolino the Witches Cat. I remember the day Mrs Slater paired me up to work with a little girl with no hair who had leukemia. After that day, we became the best of friends. When Mrs Slater left the school to have her babies I was very disappointed to say the least!
I try to include music throughout the year as it is one way that we can bond as a class. I also mix my kids up often so that they have a chance to work with different class members.
Year 2 and Year 3- Miss Boyle
Miss Boyle had a great sense of humour. When she sneezed she made a huge production of it and the whole class would roll backwards to pretend she'd blown us away. On April Fools Day she came to school and pretended she had no voice! She read poetry and jokes to us every day. She introduced us to poems such as The Triantiwontigongolope and Extremely Naughty Children (which we performed for the school concert). She had a great system for teaching handwriting, where you went at your own pace, but couldn't move on until you got it right (I had trouble with writing fs!) She got us writing and publishing our own books with cardboard covers and all - I was so proud of my first book and wanted to become a writer! Miss Boyle also gave us opportunities to be creative, teach each other and explore our own interests. She gave us some Free Time Days which we had to plan in advance - we could even do cooking if we wanted to!
As a teacher, I try to give my students choices when it comes to special activities. I'm nowhere near as funny as Miss Boyle, but I do try to infuse poetry into the year in one way or another.
Year 4 - Mr Nethercott
I've mentioned Mr Nethercott before. He is the teacher who opened up the world of computers to me. He was on the cutting edge of technology and offered these opportunities to us as we learnt. That year we did research projects on dinosaurs and were able to use computer resources to help us find the information. It was a lot of fun. He also introduced me to the idea of class meetings, where students get to have their say and share their ideas.
I try to introduce my students to computers and provide opportunities for them to explore and become familiar with new technologies. I use class meetings or circle time to allow students to have a voice.
Year 5 - Mr Davies
Mr Davies liked to be called Sir Davies. I used to love his spelling lessons because he would give a whole story behind the words and explain the vocabulary. We learnt about words like phosphorescence and haemorrhage. (You don't know how proud I am that I spelt those right without spell check!) Each night we practiced spelling and times tables and had our parents sign off on them. I loved the challenge of learning these things off by heart. Sir Davies also gave us a lot of choice in the tasks we completed for our Sea and Space units of work.
I share relevant stories from my own experiences with my class. I try to extend kids' vocabulary and spelling according to their needs.
Year 6 - Mrs Burns
Mrs Burns liked to be thought of as the Dragon Lady. On the first day she yelled at me for bending down to pick up my pen lid! (I think it was that whole 'Don't smile before Easter' logic.) At the end of the year she wrote each of us a poem about ourselves. Mine has been locked into my brain ever since and I reflect on it from time to time when needing encouragement. Mrs Burns was big on poetry and presentation. I enjoyed this year as I tried to make my work look beautiful and had opportunities to have a go writing poems of my own. I particularly enjoyed our unit of work on convicts where we each chose a convict name and history and adopted that character. We kept a diary in character as we learnt about the experiences of the convicts as they travelled to Australia and started their lives in this new country.
I try to write encouraging notes to my students and give them a personalised Christmas card at the end of they year. I try to find ways to really engage students in the unit of work, like the imaginary journey we took for our unit 'Are We There Yet?'
As you can see, my teachers have had a huge impact on me both as learner and now as teacher. I was surprised by just how much they continue to influence me today. I also realised how important each teacher's unique style was - if I'd only had the one teacher all the way through, I wouldn't have benefited from the variety of talents and interests each one had to offer.
How about you?
Kindergarten - Mrs Sykes
My kindergarten teacher introduced me to the world of school and offered me the opportunities I needed to grow. My mum had been teaching me to read at home, and Mrs Sykes let me read Dr Seuss books to the class. She also realised my potential with spelling and allowed me to go to Year 1 in the mornings so that I could do spelling lessons with them.
As a result, I try to give my students opportunities to show their extra learning to the class and provide opportunities for student extension.
Year 1 - Mrs Slater
I loved Mrs Slater. She could play the piano like no one else I knew, and I loved the way she played Gobbolino the Witches Cat. I remember the day Mrs Slater paired me up to work with a little girl with no hair who had leukemia. After that day, we became the best of friends. When Mrs Slater left the school to have her babies I was very disappointed to say the least!
I try to include music throughout the year as it is one way that we can bond as a class. I also mix my kids up often so that they have a chance to work with different class members.
Year 2 and Year 3- Miss Boyle
Miss Boyle had a great sense of humour. When she sneezed she made a huge production of it and the whole class would roll backwards to pretend she'd blown us away. On April Fools Day she came to school and pretended she had no voice! She read poetry and jokes to us every day. She introduced us to poems such as The Triantiwontigongolope and Extremely Naughty Children (which we performed for the school concert). She had a great system for teaching handwriting, where you went at your own pace, but couldn't move on until you got it right (I had trouble with writing fs!) She got us writing and publishing our own books with cardboard covers and all - I was so proud of my first book and wanted to become a writer! Miss Boyle also gave us opportunities to be creative, teach each other and explore our own interests. She gave us some Free Time Days which we had to plan in advance - we could even do cooking if we wanted to!
As a teacher, I try to give my students choices when it comes to special activities. I'm nowhere near as funny as Miss Boyle, but I do try to infuse poetry into the year in one way or another.
Year 4 - Mr Nethercott
I've mentioned Mr Nethercott before. He is the teacher who opened up the world of computers to me. He was on the cutting edge of technology and offered these opportunities to us as we learnt. That year we did research projects on dinosaurs and were able to use computer resources to help us find the information. It was a lot of fun. He also introduced me to the idea of class meetings, where students get to have their say and share their ideas.
I try to introduce my students to computers and provide opportunities for them to explore and become familiar with new technologies. I use class meetings or circle time to allow students to have a voice.
Year 5 - Mr Davies
Mr Davies liked to be called Sir Davies. I used to love his spelling lessons because he would give a whole story behind the words and explain the vocabulary. We learnt about words like phosphorescence and haemorrhage. (You don't know how proud I am that I spelt those right without spell check!) Each night we practiced spelling and times tables and had our parents sign off on them. I loved the challenge of learning these things off by heart. Sir Davies also gave us a lot of choice in the tasks we completed for our Sea and Space units of work.
I share relevant stories from my own experiences with my class. I try to extend kids' vocabulary and spelling according to their needs.
Year 6 - Mrs Burns
Mrs Burns liked to be thought of as the Dragon Lady. On the first day she yelled at me for bending down to pick up my pen lid! (I think it was that whole 'Don't smile before Easter' logic.) At the end of the year she wrote each of us a poem about ourselves. Mine has been locked into my brain ever since and I reflect on it from time to time when needing encouragement. Mrs Burns was big on poetry and presentation. I enjoyed this year as I tried to make my work look beautiful and had opportunities to have a go writing poems of my own. I particularly enjoyed our unit of work on convicts where we each chose a convict name and history and adopted that character. We kept a diary in character as we learnt about the experiences of the convicts as they travelled to Australia and started their lives in this new country.
I try to write encouraging notes to my students and give them a personalised Christmas card at the end of they year. I try to find ways to really engage students in the unit of work, like the imaginary journey we took for our unit 'Are We There Yet?'
As you can see, my teachers have had a huge impact on me both as learner and now as teacher. I was surprised by just how much they continue to influence me today. I also realised how important each teacher's unique style was - if I'd only had the one teacher all the way through, I wouldn't have benefited from the variety of talents and interests each one had to offer.
How about you?
- Who was a teacher that had a significant impact on you as a learner or teacher?
- What is something you do in your teaching that you were taught as a child?
- In your opinion, what makes a good teacher?
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