Goals for Term 4

As part of the staff survey we were asked to think of some goals for this term.  I have so many things I want to try and do with my class, because they are so keen and eager and I feel so behind because of my time off with my injury.  So I had to think and prioritise as I tend to go in head first and I want my goals to be challenging but still achievable.  

Goal 1:
To promote the techsperxs more and allow them to introduce the app of the fortnight, collate our opinions, and to teach our class. 

Goal 2:
Complete watching the netsafe clips and allowing time for the techsperx to create their glog about it. 

Goal 3:
Support my team with their E-learning goals and include time in our syndicate meetings to reflect, trial, ask questions and allow them opportunities to be the experts.

Restorative Practices

I was tweeted this YouTube link to an inspirational woman by the name of Kay Hutchison.  Such an extrodinary woman who has first hand used and seen the positive effects of restorative practices in a wider community setting.  I felt particular interest in her story as it is everything that I inspire and attempt to use in my classroom, but can also be used for many vary situations outside of the classroom.  It's not just a practice it is a way of being.

Kay talks about raising "human beings' as opposed to "human doings" As "human beings" we need to "step up, accept responsibility, move forward and forgive." We need to focus on and engage in  maintaining relationships through empathy, tolerance, forgiveness, inclusiveness and integrity.  Imagine living in a world likes this...Well we can, if we remember each day as we walk into your class, model these virtues and values.  How best to learn something than having it modeled to you and accepting it as way of being.

Connected Day 2013

On the 20th of July there was a Connected Day with a number of workshops and a Brian Anan as the keynote speaker.  Marcelle and I worked with the media team for the day.  It was a privilege to work with this group of children.  They were focused and really keen to learn from each other.  At first they were a bit shy to approach teachers, but when they watched some of the clips they had taken, they realised that the teachers were more nervous than they were.

I was so impressed with the skills they all bought to the table.  We had some iMovie experts, photographers, confident interviewers and with all these wonderful skills the group created this awesome movie of the day

Communities of Practice

During the term 2 break the teaching staff went and spent a night at the the Maketu Marae in Kawhia.  We learned a lot about the history of the Marae and why it is such a special place.  It is the burial place of the Tainui Waka.  The marae was situated right beside the sea which was lovely.



The night that we were there we did weaving and korowai crafts.  They were a lot of fun, and I could see  myself doing them with my class this term as part of our culture unit.  I have made another flax bracelet with paper to try it out and see it it could be done without flax and it can.  I enjoyed making the korowai and could see the children enjoying this activity.  It would be fantastic to have a real korowai in when we do this activity and explain the history and importance of it so the kids understand the purpose and significance it has.

Ted's session on communities of practice was great.  I was making connections with the communities of practice I was part of.  I also thought of the ones that my children were involved in.  It also made me think how well do I really know the communities of practice they are involved with and also their families.  It was also how they interact within these communities.  Ted spoke about boundary jumpers and that children were often the ones who were most comfortable in both communities (School and home)  So how do we utilise these boundary jumper opportunities.  How do we jump the boundaries?

Bill helped us break down the treaty which was interesting.  I was able to relate the ideas we discussed into my classroom setting and gained a better understanding of all the goings on from when the treaty was signed to today.

It was a full on two days of learning, but very beneficial and enjoyable.

Web 2.0 tools list

So I was searching the web for logos  to make an experts poster and came across a couple of posters linking blooms higher order thinking with web 2.0 tools.  Some tools I hadn't used or even heard of.  So how could I possibly get through them all.  I was thinking I would work with a few Techsperx and share the tools and let them explore them and teach the class and me.  My ideal goal is to have the children independently select the tool that best suits the purpose of the activity.

Here is one of the blooms/web 2.0 tools poster.  Below are also direct links to the tools.

lhoffman4 Mar 28, 2011 3:21 PM (in response to aporta)

Hi Ann,
I can't believe there are several interactive Bloom's Taxonomy charts with the Web 2.0 tools available online.  I am surprised to find some new Web 2.0 tools listed on this website that I have not seen before.  This is another wonderful "find" on the Internet.  I hope you don't mind that I took your post one step further and listed the websites below that have the interactive tools.  I think it is such a fantastic resource!

Bloomin' Digital Peacock

Remember:

BBC Skillwise- http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/

Spelling City- http://spellingcity.com

Starfall- http://starfall.com

Discovery Streaming- http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com

Lexipedia- http://lexipedia.com

YouTube- http://youtube.com

Gamegoo- http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooey.html

PBS Kids- http://pbskids.org

Understand:

Into the Book- http://reading.ecb.org

Skype- http://skype.com

Treasures- http://activities.macmillanmh.com/reading/treasures/

Book Adventure- http://bookadventure.org

Twitter- http://twitter.com

Apply:

Kerpoof- http://kerpoof.com

PhotoBooth- Software

Scholastic- http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp

Fotobabble- http://fotobabble.com

Google Earth- http://google.com/earth

Analyze:

Read Write Think- http://readwritethink.org

Cool Iris- http://cooliris.com

Wordle- http://wordle.net

Creaza- http://creaza.com

Mindomo- http://mindomo.com

Evaluate:

Shelfari- http://shelfari.com

Wikipedia- http://wikipedia.com

Think.com- http://think.com

Nota- http://notaland.com

Create:

Pic-Lits- http://piclits.com

Kerpoof- http://kerpoof.com

ZimmerTwins- http://zimmertwins.com

Wiki Spaces- http://wikispaces.com

DomoNation- http://domonation.com

Glogster- http://edu.glogster.com

Creaza- http://creaza.com

Voicethread- http://voicethread.com

Kidblog- http://kidblog.org

Wetpaint- http://www.wetpaint.com

edublogs- http://edublogs.org

Stage’d- http://stagedproject.com/

Thanks again for sharing this interactive Bloom's Taxonomy.

Lynne

Connected Table Session

Last Thursday Marcelle, Danielle and I presented at a table session for core connected.  The three of us shared our experiences and learning with voicetools to share student voice and learning.  We covered such tools as fotobabble and voicethread.  It was great experience as I had never been to a table session let alone help present one.  All our table participants asked questions and also contribute which is the beauty of these sessions.  I got some tools/apps out of it as well.

Our second table was Twitter.  We set some people up on twitter and shared who we were following.  It was great to see the enthusiasm for this social media tool in an educational context.  I must admit I was a bit quite on the twitter front for a while there, but after our table session the sparks reignited and I've found so many useful tweets and new people to follow.  I have had to email some of the links from twitter as I can't keep up with all the awesomeness and don't want to lose it.  Sometimes you just want to do it all but you need to decide on the purpose and if it is best fit for the class you have and if that is what they need.

iPads and iPods

Well we are starting to roll out iPads into our classrooms.  They are a great mobile device that children can not only consume information from but use to be creators as well.  There are many apps that can be downloaded to foster this creativity and also to master skills such as math knowledge.  One that I am a fan of is Wordfoto.  It allows you to take a photo and add text over it.  We have used it in my class for our profiles about us.  The children have really enjoyed using it and they look really effective.  Not only is it a skill to take a good photo, but they also need to be specific with the words they choose to add over the photo. 
Here is an example