This Week's Tip: Ten Tips For Starting Out With An Interactive Whiteboard
Earlier this year I thought I might like to contribute to a magazine. Education Quarterly Australia was producing a magazine on the topic "It's a Digital World" so I decided to add my own thoughts. My article "An interactive whiteboard...What next?" appeared in the Spring edition of the magazine. Here I outline 10 tips for getting started and or going further with interactive whiteboards.
Rather than republish that article here, I encourage you to pop by EQA's website where you can also read the other featured article for this edition.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
10th Teaching K-6 Carnival
Welcome to the November edition of the Teaching K-6 Carnival. I've been vaguely aware of all the posts being submitted this month and it has been great to finally sit down and take a closer look at them. This month I share with you a number of great posts to enjoy. Be sure to check them out and spend a little time looking at other posts of interest from these bloggers.
Brain Strain
Melissa Hedding from Finds For Families shares some thoughts on the importance of teaching moral discipline early in life in her post The Moral Intellect. In her opinion, "Obedience and self-control are the first morals that a child learns".
Nightwalker shares his Tips To Improve Study Skills at My English Pages. These are a range of skills valuable to learn for students of all ages. This may be a useful list to send home with students early in the school year.
Gripes and Brags
As Erin explains, There ARE Some Students Who Struggle, But Do Not Qualify for Special Education. Her post provides information to parents in the US so that they may seek additional support for their child.
Rachel Lynette of Minds in Bloom encourages teachers to Get your Students to Tell their Parents What they Learned Today. This is a great post to use when reflecting with the class and to share with parents to improve the discussion about school and learning.
At Technology In Class TIC calls for student-centered teaching in The Failure of Teacher-Centered Teaching in A Serious Man. Here he shares some lessons that can be learnt from the movie "A Serious Man".
Andy Burtone from Andy and Ann reveals The Best Tricks to Make Your Middle School Students Happy. It's such a great read that I'm not going to give you any clues. GO READ IT!
In the News
The arrival of swine flu instigated a renewed vigor in teaching hygiene and disease prevention. Matthew Paulson wrote about Child Safety: Preparing for Flu Season at American Consumer News and Lorenzo Crocker shared 7 Facts and Myths about Washing Your Hands posted at online lpn to rn programs. In Addition Quirky Momma shares Glitter Germs: Preschooler Learning posted at quirkymomma.com.This is a great activity to help make invisible germs more concrete to your young learners.
Innovate - Beyond the Slate
This month Mathew Needleman from the Open Court Resources.com Blog shares Questions About Independent Work Time and Beginning of the Year Pre-Assessments. These resources are helpful for pre-assessing, planning and teaching in the literacy classroom.
Jim McGuire presents a convincing argument for student blogging with his post: Goals and Benefits of Student Blogging posted at The Reading Workshop. He describes just how engaging the blogging process can be.
Over at got audiobooks? John Mastro shares his experience of The Educational Benefits of Audiobooks and Children’s Learning. Whether at school, home or out an about, anyone can enjoy the luxury of being read to through an audiobook.
Though a little late now, Kakie presents literacy resources to send home for parents and kids in September is National Literacy Month - Free Resources! posted at Bur Bur & Friends: Community Park.
Tom DeRosa presents Ultimate Number Line Game: Number Sense on a Massive Scale posted at I Want to Teach Forever. This is a great resource for helping students to calculate mentally whilst learning kinaesthetically. It looks like a lot of fun too!
My contribution this month is Space Spectacular where you can read about the activities and resources we have used during our unit of work on Space.
Look No Further
Top 10 Education Wonks to Follow on Twitter
100 Blogs Every New Teacher Should Read
100+ Google Tricks That Will Save You Time in School
10 Historical Speeches that Every Student Should Listen To
100 Best Open Source Apps for Educators
Top 10 Free Open Courseware Classes for Special Ed. Teachers
50 Excellent Blogs About Education Reform
100 Free Tools to Tutor Yourself in Anything
Why not submit your post for the next carnival?
The Teaching K-6 Carnival is posted monthly on the 7th. I will be collecting submissions throughout the next month, looking in particular for posts that discuss and exemplify innovative teaching and the integration of technology in the K-6 classroom. I also invite some discussion around education related news articles and a few "brain strains" to keep our minds alert and challenged. Please submit only articles of which you are the author and refrain from using this merely as a sales pitch. For full details, please read my call for submissions.
If you have a relevant post that you would like to submit to the next edition of teaching k-6 carnival use our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Support this Carnival
If you enjoyed this edition of the carnival, you can support its continuation by sharing it with others. Link to us, add us to a tweet, stumble or digg us. Thanks!
Technorati tags: teaching k-6 carnival, blog carnival.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tech Tips Tuesday
This Week's Tip: Learn More About The Digital Generation
Once again I am trying to catch up with all the items in my Google Reader Account. With 242 items waiting for me, I know it's going to take a while. How did I let it get this bad? A trip to New York and too much to catch up with on return. All my habits have fallen by the wayside. I am a very habitual person, so once the habit is established I am usually pretty good. But, throw a spanner in the works and the whole thing falls apart!
So, this week I read Wesley Fryer's notes on Milton Chen's presentation, “The Digital Generation: Up Close and Personal” from the 21st Century Learning @ the West Lake Expo held Oct 31 – Nov 3, 2009 at Xi Hu, China. I love that I can attend these conferences virtually through the notes recorded by people in my Personal Learning Network (PLN). The presentation was about the Digital Generation Project conducted by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. This is what the site says of the project:
Here is an example of a youth portrait. This is Dana, a 9 year old in Maryland.
Check it out for yourself!
Once again I am trying to catch up with all the items in my Google Reader Account. With 242 items waiting for me, I know it's going to take a while. How did I let it get this bad? A trip to New York and too much to catch up with on return. All my habits have fallen by the wayside. I am a very habitual person, so once the habit is established I am usually pretty good. But, throw a spanner in the works and the whole thing falls apart!
So, this week I read Wesley Fryer's notes on Milton Chen's presentation, “The Digital Generation: Up Close and Personal” from the 21st Century Learning @ the West Lake Expo held Oct 31 – Nov 3, 2009 at Xi Hu, China. I love that I can attend these conferences virtually through the notes recorded by people in my Personal Learning Network (PLN). The presentation was about the Digital Generation Project conducted by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. This is what the site says of the project:
Today's kids are born digital -- born into a media-rich, networked world of infinite possibilities. But their digital lifestyle is about more than just cool gadgets; it's about engagement, self-directed learning, creativity, and empowerment. The Digital Generation Project tells their stories so that educators and parents can understand how kids learn, communicate, and socialize in very different ways than any previous generation.While I recommend having a browse around all the materials here, some of the highlights for me are:
Here is an example of a youth portrait. This is Dana, a 9 year old in Maryland.
Check it out for yourself!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Process from Policy to Practice
This is a post I made to a discussion forum for my university studies. The question posed was: How do policies shape literacy practices? I share it here now so you can see the process we use in my school.
At my school the flow from policy to practice is evident though at times a lengthy process. The School Improvement Cycle has an important role in this, providing the initial impetus for the development of a new school plan.
School Improvement Cycle
As part of the School Improvement Cycle, we reflect on our effectiveness in meeting our previous school goals. We then consider data from School Satisfaction Surveys, NAPLAN, PIPS and other school assessments and the goals outlined in national and state strategies. We use these to determine areas of need for the new cycle. This information is used to develop a school plan with identified goals in each of the domains.
School Plan
Our school plan outlines our goals for the domains. The goals for Teaching and Learning are then taken and explored further to develop individual plans for Literacy and Numeracy.
Literacy Plan
Our Literacy Plan outlines our beliefs, goals, current practices, priorities and actions for the duration of the new school plan. If necessary, a Literacy Committee is established to support the implementation of the plan. Professional Development is selected to meet the identified needs and is listed in the action plan.
Professional Development
In our current literacy plan, some of our priorities related to the incorporation of First Steps Reading and Writing into our literacy programs. In 2008 Professional Development was provided with First Steps Reading and in 2009 Professional Development was provided with First Steps Writing. All teachers were supplied with a copy of these resources. To support the incorporation of these into literacy programs, we used some of the time in our Professional Learning Teams (PLTs).
Professional Learning Teams
In these teams we reflected on our current practice and considered how we could use First Steps to enhance our teaching. We shared suggestions and looked at samples of formats for programming. Teachers were encouraged to use these when programming for the new term.
Programming
Teaching teams were given a planning day to work together on their programs for the next term. They were encouraged to use First Steps at this time to ensure that they incorporated the new knowledge, skills and techniques in their lessons.
Teaching
Teachers used their programs to teach students. They were asked to collect samples of work for presentation at a Professional Development session outside of the school.
In theory, the process works and policy flows to practice. In reality, it still requires shared vision and the commitment of teachers to bring the change to fruition. Enthusiasm, encouragement, follow-up and time are all essential ingredients in this process.
At my school the flow from policy to practice is evident though at times a lengthy process. The School Improvement Cycle has an important role in this, providing the initial impetus for the development of a new school plan.
School Improvement Cycle
As part of the School Improvement Cycle, we reflect on our effectiveness in meeting our previous school goals. We then consider data from School Satisfaction Surveys, NAPLAN, PIPS and other school assessments and the goals outlined in national and state strategies. We use these to determine areas of need for the new cycle. This information is used to develop a school plan with identified goals in each of the domains.
School Plan
Our school plan outlines our goals for the domains. The goals for Teaching and Learning are then taken and explored further to develop individual plans for Literacy and Numeracy.
Literacy Plan
Our Literacy Plan outlines our beliefs, goals, current practices, priorities and actions for the duration of the new school plan. If necessary, a Literacy Committee is established to support the implementation of the plan. Professional Development is selected to meet the identified needs and is listed in the action plan.
Professional Development
In our current literacy plan, some of our priorities related to the incorporation of First Steps Reading and Writing into our literacy programs. In 2008 Professional Development was provided with First Steps Reading and in 2009 Professional Development was provided with First Steps Writing. All teachers were supplied with a copy of these resources. To support the incorporation of these into literacy programs, we used some of the time in our Professional Learning Teams (PLTs).
Professional Learning Teams
In these teams we reflected on our current practice and considered how we could use First Steps to enhance our teaching. We shared suggestions and looked at samples of formats for programming. Teachers were encouraged to use these when programming for the new term.
Programming
Teaching teams were given a planning day to work together on their programs for the next term. They were encouraged to use First Steps at this time to ensure that they incorporated the new knowledge, skills and techniques in their lessons.
Teaching
Teachers used their programs to teach students. They were asked to collect samples of work for presentation at a Professional Development session outside of the school.
In theory, the process works and policy flows to practice. In reality, it still requires shared vision and the commitment of teachers to bring the change to fruition. Enthusiasm, encouragement, follow-up and time are all essential ingredients in this process.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Space Spectacular #2
Week 2 and 3 - Finding Out and Sorting Out
The activities in these weeks were designed to provide opportunities for students to find out about space and sort their ideas in a range of forms. Students typically "found out" through books, videos, websites, experiments and guest speakers. They "sorted out" using writing, diagrams, models, reports and art.
Science
Students experimented with different sized meteors - an orange, a golf ball and a marble. They dropped these from a control height to see how meteor size affected crater size. In addition to this, they dropped the items from a greater height to see how speed affected crater size. Students enjoyed this activity immensely and learnt more about craters as a result.
Special Guest
We had a special guest visitor in our classroom this week. Susan was involved with an experiment involving a small rocket which was sent 400km above the Earth's surface and returned about 400km away from the take-off location. She explained the process involved and showed a video of the take off. Students were fascinated!
Integrating with Literacy
The Planets
As we read through two big books about the planets, students created "wonder clouds" on a worksheet. Students considered the questions left unanswered on each page and wrote them in their wonder clouds to revisit at a later point in time. This activity was designed to develop students questioning activities during the reading process.
Students were then provided with a range of books to use for research. They each chose a planet to research and created a mind map to gather information about the planet's appearance, features, location, history & exploration. When they had gathered sufficient information, they began to write a report using the format on Writing Fun. They then edited it (or had ME edit it!) and began working on a final draft to be made into a class book.
Life Cycle of a Star
Students began by taking 10-15 minutes to write down their prediction of the stages that a star goes through during its lifespan. Following this, we talked about the different ways we find out information - written text, diagrams, pictures, videos, podcasts, songs, teacher-talk. We viewed an explanation of a star's lifecycle through this interactive website. We then listed the positives and negatives of this form of gathering information. I then gave students a photocopy of an explanation from a book. They read through the information, and again we listed the positives and negatives.
In the following lesson we watched this video:
Life Cycle of Star - Click here for the funniest movie of the week
As they watched, students recorded the positives and negatives in their books. When the video finished, they compared notes with a partner and then with a group of four. Finally, we looked at this diagram and discussed the effectiveness of a diagram in the absence of any other information.
Students then began work on their own creations to explain the life cycle of a star to someone with no prior knowledge. They referred back to the resources, discussed their thoughts and ideas with others and considered the aspects mentioned in the positives/negatives charts.
Integrating with Art
Plasticine Models
We used this great activity that I found online to make scale models of the Earth, Mars and the Moon. I gave each student a ball of plasticine and asked them to make a model of Earth, Mars and the Moon to show their comparable sizes. Once students had completed their models, I went around the classroom capturing their "before" photo. I then took them through the process outlined in the lesson plan and took their "after" photo. We looked at the relative distance between the Earth and the Moon for these models. In a follow up lesson (after I had time to print the photos!) students glued their before and after shots on a page and wrote about how their thinking changed as a result of the activity. This will go in their student portfolios as an example of their learning this term.
Before:
After:
Space Art
We looked at some examples of space art that were created using spray paint. I didn't have access to this video at the time, but you might find it useful if you were to teach a similar lesson (not so sure about the choice of song!) We considered the shapes and colours used in these paintings and looked at the way that colours merged together. We discussed elements that would be realistic/unrealistic given what we currently know about space (eg. no trees on other planets.) Students were then given a sheet of black paper and oil pastels to create their own space scene.
The activities in these weeks were designed to provide opportunities for students to find out about space and sort their ideas in a range of forms. Students typically "found out" through books, videos, websites, experiments and guest speakers. They "sorted out" using writing, diagrams, models, reports and art.
Science
Students experimented with different sized meteors - an orange, a golf ball and a marble. They dropped these from a control height to see how meteor size affected crater size. In addition to this, they dropped the items from a greater height to see how speed affected crater size. Students enjoyed this activity immensely and learnt more about craters as a result.
Special Guest
We had a special guest visitor in our classroom this week. Susan was involved with an experiment involving a small rocket which was sent 400km above the Earth's surface and returned about 400km away from the take-off location. She explained the process involved and showed a video of the take off. Students were fascinated!
Integrating with Literacy
The Planets
As we read through two big books about the planets, students created "wonder clouds" on a worksheet. Students considered the questions left unanswered on each page and wrote them in their wonder clouds to revisit at a later point in time. This activity was designed to develop students questioning activities during the reading process.
Students were then provided with a range of books to use for research. They each chose a planet to research and created a mind map to gather information about the planet's appearance, features, location, history & exploration. When they had gathered sufficient information, they began to write a report using the format on Writing Fun. They then edited it (or had ME edit it!) and began working on a final draft to be made into a class book.
Life Cycle of a Star
Students began by taking 10-15 minutes to write down their prediction of the stages that a star goes through during its lifespan. Following this, we talked about the different ways we find out information - written text, diagrams, pictures, videos, podcasts, songs, teacher-talk. We viewed an explanation of a star's lifecycle through this interactive website. We then listed the positives and negatives of this form of gathering information. I then gave students a photocopy of an explanation from a book. They read through the information, and again we listed the positives and negatives.
In the following lesson we watched this video:
Life Cycle of Star - Click here for the funniest movie of the week
As they watched, students recorded the positives and negatives in their books. When the video finished, they compared notes with a partner and then with a group of four. Finally, we looked at this diagram and discussed the effectiveness of a diagram in the absence of any other information.
Students then began work on their own creations to explain the life cycle of a star to someone with no prior knowledge. They referred back to the resources, discussed their thoughts and ideas with others and considered the aspects mentioned in the positives/negatives charts.
Integrating with Art
Plasticine Models
We used this great activity that I found online to make scale models of the Earth, Mars and the Moon. I gave each student a ball of plasticine and asked them to make a model of Earth, Mars and the Moon to show their comparable sizes. Once students had completed their models, I went around the classroom capturing their "before" photo. I then took them through the process outlined in the lesson plan and took their "after" photo. We looked at the relative distance between the Earth and the Moon for these models. In a follow up lesson (after I had time to print the photos!) students glued their before and after shots on a page and wrote about how their thinking changed as a result of the activity. This will go in their student portfolios as an example of their learning this term.
Before:
After:
Space Art
We looked at some examples of space art that were created using spray paint. I didn't have access to this video at the time, but you might find it useful if you were to teach a similar lesson (not so sure about the choice of song!) We considered the shapes and colours used in these paintings and looked at the way that colours merged together. We discussed elements that would be realistic/unrealistic given what we currently know about space (eg. no trees on other planets.) Students were then given a sheet of black paper and oil pastels to create their own space scene.
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