Week 5

After five long but invaluable weeks at practicum we're finally back at uni. Quite surreal really. I thought I'd take this opportunity to reflect on my IT experience in the classroom on both of my practicum's.

On my first placement at Kensington Primary School I had a developed a real love hate relationship with the IT system. The school had limited resources and the internet connection was so unreliable it became so difficult to plan a lesson that used the internet without having to plan a backup in case it failed to work that day. This experience reiterated just how much we do rely on IT and internet for support in our classrooms. Without access to the Internet, I felt the class was really missing out on that extra level of support and knowledge. As the teacher, I felt that I was not providing the students with the support and resources they needed to facilitate their learning.

One of the more successful attempts at using IT or a lesson involved demonstrating ways to use google earth for measurement. Google Earth can be downloaded from here: http://www.google.com/earth/index.html I would suggest it to be an invaluable tool in any classroom (particularly for measurement).

On the interactive whiteboard I demonstrated to students how to use google maps by typing in the address of the school. They were absolutely enthralled! I told students that my Dad lived in Bondi, Sydney so we typed in Bondi and looked at the distance from there to school. Students then nominated other places (that family and friends lived) for me to type into the search bar. The experience prompted conversation about scale and modes of travel. Would we be able to walk there?

Google maps provides a fantastic tool, the measuring stick, which can be used to measure the distance from one place to another. The unit of measurement can also be changed from mm, cm, km etc. I found it a fantastic tool to confirm estimates and to introduce the concept of larger distances.
On one day, as a class, we used google maps to view the school. We estimated the perimeter around the school in m's (then converted this to km's) then measured the actual perimeter using the google maps measuring tool (I had mapped out a 1km track around the school before the lesson). We then went outside and used trundle wheels on a walk around the school to measure the accuracy of our estimates and the accuracy of the google maps measuring tool. The children absolutely loved the experience, and I could see that the hands on activity helped to consolidate understanding.

In my second practicum we had four classroom computers and an interactive whiteboard. In this classroom I was able to use the computers very successfully in literacy and numeracy rotations. The number of engaging and relevant activities for students to use and work independently on is unlimited and I found this to be a great help when trying to work with a focus group on the floor.

I made great use of the Fitzroy Readers Program (purchased by the school), an interactive, hands on reading program that focuses on phonics: http://fitzprog.com.au/

Here is an example of using IT in literacy roations.

**Please note that students faces are covered over or not shown. All parents of students in this photo have signed to authorise that their children may be photographed.

Image 1:















I also found great ways to use IT for maths, it allowed me to focus one on one with students who needed the extra attention, while extending those who were ready. Using IT was a real treat for these kids! See image 2 below.

As a group warm up activity to a maths lesson, I would use a big counting board on the interactive whiteboard and ask students to come to the front of the class and help count by 10's, 5's and 2's. The numbers can be selected and highlighted as you go (the students loved the interactive nature of the counting task). I was also able to blank out numbers, I would then ask students to tell me 'which number was missing?' and 'How did they know?' See image 3 below:
Image 2: Image 3:



















Back in class now, looking at http://www.zimmertwins.com/movie/create. Fantastic - a step up from just creating simple screen shots - actually making your own movie! Very relevant to VELS of all levels, particularly the English strand, encouraging students to link meaning and to create sequencing of events.

Great idea Greg to include this in a webquest task. So simple to use and love that there is an ability to create real charaterisation with the charaters by introducing speech bubbles (great for VELS level 2 where students are beginning to learn about talking marks!) and happy and sad emoticons. I like your idea of writing episodes too.

No looking at http://www.dfilm.com/live/home.html. Absolutely hilarious! Such a shame that it can't be used in primary schools, for obvious reasons - some quite seductive scenes!). Interesting that you mentioned some LaTrobe students asked about a Primary School version, but nothing seems to have come of it yet. I'll be keeping my eye out when I'm in the classroom. After my recent experience, I know that anything interactive like this gets the seal of approval from the kids!






Some people in class were asking 'could we use this for older levels?' but I agree with you Greg, and from my experience at school, it only takes one disapointed parent to cause absolute mayhem. It's not worth it. Let's hope that a program of this calibre is created for kids sooner rather than later.

Now we're looking at xtranormal.com - an animators dream, which includes lip sync.

buildyourwildself.com is another brilliant application integrating several domains where kids can build their own characters (creative arts and IT). Definitely using this one in my own class. The program creates a personalised animal with a name and specific descriptions about where they live, and their survival mechanisms. This can encourage students to research their animals (science) specific to certain environments.

Also looking at the site sketchswap - a great idea, but in this day and age we have to be so careful about giving kids the authority to create whatever they like on a website and send it on to other students. As much as we like to be able to create a trusting environment in our classrooms, we can't be 100% sure that at all times our students will comply. Greg mentioned that one student sent an image of a gun to another student. Although unlikely, it could happen in any classroom and the consequences outweigh the benefits. Check out my animal:
















Rollermache seems like another accesible program great for creating story boards http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/rollermache/default.htm listed here so I can refer back to when I get my own class.

http://www.storygames.com/TeachManPF/Rebus.html - great for creating interactive sentences and fantastic for displaying around the classroom. Note to self: remember to save as a webpage to keep animations. You could also use this for poetry.

Greg just mentioned the lego site - we used it in my classroom and the kids loved it. Completely kid safe, interactive and inspiring for kids. It was great for the preps as it showed them how different shapes fit together and stimulated visualisation and creativity. A similar site, http://www.reasonablyclever.com/ provides an equally stimulating experience, encouraging kids to merge different shapes to create a character. The only downside to this is that there are some aspects of the website I would deem unsafe - it offers upselling of the product and allows you to buy online. The teacher would need to open up the kid safe page rather than allowing students full access. As Greg mentioned, this program is great, but real life lego can't be beaten. Get kids really interactive by providing concrete materials. Students could build their characters with real lego then use this as the model for their creation online. Lego characters could develop real personality and a story board could be created for the characters. Once again, integrating so many different methods in the curriculum. Check out my lego character:

Note to self: Remember this site for classroom use: http://www.catchmentdetox.net.au/ - great for units on water and environment and also integrates maths.

What a great site - http://myths.e2bn.org adding that extra element of interactivity to mythical story writing. From my experience, kids love mythical creatures and imaginative storytelling.

Week 4

What a task! We're having a look at Dust Echoes dreamtime stories today. What an interesting site. I looked at the Moon Man story which involved a father killing his sons. Quite confronting really! We've been asked to create a story board by copying images depicting what is happening in the story and pasting them into inspiration.

Here's mine so far:

While I found the process quite rewarding and it consolidated my understanding of the story, I found it to be quite time consuming. I'm not sure, after a period of time how much students would get out of completing this entire task themselves. It could be a good group activity whereby the class collectively create the story board. My mum is a teacher at a special school. She teaches autistic kids and to assist them in preparing for what's coming up the next day (they don't deal with change too well as I'm sure you'd know), she draws up a story board with all the days events listed on them. She does this in a word document, but I will most certainly be pointing her in the direction of inspiration for this.

As much as I would have loved to finish my story board, we're moving on to Excel. Moving quickly today! I have some experience in excel (the basics), but by the looks of things we're looking at graphing today, so I'm hoping I can pick up some tips!

In conjunction with this, we're looking at the ways we can incorporate m and m's into maths and other areas of the curriculum. On my last teaching rounds I used smarties for graphing and fractions and the kids loved it! It's amazing how effective a little bit of chocolate can be! I had to be very wary though because one of the students in my class had allergies to yellow food dye so I tampered with the packets a bit to make sure he didn't have any yellow in his. I didn't know about all the information provided on the m and m website though so I'll keep that in mind for next time. We looked at colour coding our data.

Here's my m and m's graph:

After this, we then added data labels by simply right clicking on the mouse and selecting 'add data labels'. See here:

I like this website: http://learntech.ties.k12.mn.us/Excel_Classroom_Projects it suggests some great ideas for using excel in the classroom. Notice there were some ideas for using excel and m and m's!

I noticed a few people in the class today were quite new to excel. Do schools provide excel training for staff? At my previous employer (I was working in an office, so perhaps a bit different) we were provided with basic excel training. I can definitely see some benefit in this for teachers.

If you're willing and able to train yourself, some training applications can be found online too: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/training-FX101782702.aspx

Although not completely relevant to this week's topic, I stumbled across this while planning lessons for my Integrated unit assignment. While I have the opportunity I wanted to share with you some of the brilliant ICT rich learning opportunities suggested by the Tasmanian Government. What a fanstastic document, demonstrating numerous creative ways to integrate ICT into the curriculum. You must have a look:
http://www.education.tas.gov.au/curriculum/sustainable/ict/ictrich
(Click on the standards to view lesson ideas).

Week 3

Making Games

Today we're making games. The game is produced using a design breif format with three main components (see design brief layout here):

Investigate and design

Produce

Analyse and Evaluate

The design brief should be used as a draft with the intention to eventually produce a good copy. This site gives a bit of a more detailed description of the elements of a design brief: http://web.bsu.edu/teched2/components_of_a_design_brief.htm.

Greg highlighted the importance of rough drafts and final copies to be hung up around the classroom. I agree, it's so important for children to get into the habit of finishing work. I noticed a tendency for kids to shove unfinished work into their tubs never to be seen again and most probably wiped from their memory bank.


The problem we solved today: To make a frog that jumps. Tasks like this one encourage higher order thinking skills.

The resources: Cardboard, paper frog, sticky tape, scissors and an elastic band.

Where to start. I found my design worked well without needing to use all the resources, but Greg's breif said that we had to use all the materials provided so I had to find a way to incorporate the elastic band.

See my design here:










I like that this task encourages students to evaluate and analyse the reasons why or why not their frog jumped and how the materials provided contributed to the success. It allows for extension activities like levers and pullies for older children. Students who finish early could also investigate how different materials, or how altering the materials change the results. For instance, a bigger sheet of cardboard, thinner paper etc. The task also encourages language like elasticity and energy allowing children to further their thinking.

I just wanted to make a note for myself here - I loved Greg's idea of varying the way you give students a brief - verbally or in an envelope to evoke a bit of excitement!

Now we're making quizzes! I'm so impressed with Quia. I'll definitely be using this program in my classroom next year - so valuable for both teachers and students. I'd love to get them involved in making the games themselves.

A few people in our class took my test and scored 6/6! Mmmm...maybe I need to make my questions a bit harder!!! Like Greg said, it's so important not to underestimate children's prior knowledge and to talk down to them. See my Around the World quiz here:

http://www.quia.com/quiz/2513860.html?AP_rand=442240258

Now, check out the scrambled words game I made: (I love this!) I like that you can be rewarded in stars and money - a great way to incorporate a bit of maths into the quiz.

http://www.quia.com/jw/387045.html

And my hangman game:

http://www.quia.com/hm/668188.html

This week in our lecture we discussed the importance of cyber safety. While I can see all the benefits of all the ICT materials we have discussed in our tutorials and lectures, I am in some respects slightly reluctant to allow students too much freedom on the internet in classrooms. In my previous school on placement, a student was researching 'phases of the moon' and although on a restricted access filter system in the school, stumbled across images of a 'different kind of moon!' Unfortunately the parents in this situation were less than impressed and felt their child had suffered significantly from the experience. While you would hope that the parents would be more understanding in this situation, as a teacher how can you possibly control this situation occuring without completely banning internet access? Perhaps schools need to send home an authorisation notice for parents to sign and allow students to use the Internet in classrooms with a disclosure on the bottom?

I do believe that in this day and age it is imperative that schools conduct cyber responsibility lessons with students before any Internet use. Websites like www.cybersmart.gov.au are brilliant tools to facilitate this. It is important for students to use ICT ethically and to be aware of the ethical issues that ICT can present. Their ethical understandings and values should be developed from early childhood onwards, so that they can learn to use ICT responsibly and be aware of potential dangers and issues that can arise in the modern world.

Students and parents alike should learn about the role of ICT in society and its impact on themselves and others. They need to learn to use safe practices to protect people and information and develop strategies for handling unwanted communication.

On my practicum, I found it astonishing how many of the older staff didn't know about facebook or twitter. In this day and age it is imperative that parents, teachers and students are aware of all the social networking sites available and how they can be used ineffectively and effectively to faciliate classroom learning. The cybersmart website offers these PD's (Professional Development) to schools. There is also a PD for pre-service teachers. This may be worth looking into Greg.
http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/en/Schools/Book%20teacher%20professional%20development.aspx

Week 2

Using Publisher and e-portfolios


Today we've been experimenting with Microsoft Publisher! My long lost friend. I've been a big fan of Publisher since way back in Primary School. I've always been very big on presentation and used to use Publisher to publish all of my assignments. So I felt very comfortable in today's lesson. From my experience, presentation of work is so important - it promotes a sense of pride and achievement. I can't stress enough my belief in students 'finishing work'. Unfinished work tends to be forgotten and the lessons learned are disregarded after the lesson is over. Gone are the days of stuffing your work in your desk once it's completed. There's nothing more satisfying for a child than that feeling of achievement and pride, showing off your hard work around the classroom - Publisher provides a great tool for facilitating this. On my last teaching rounds I was so disappointed to see that the teacher didn't present student work around the classroom. It's been so refreshing to come in to this class today and to reinforce that creativity and presentation is still so important and it's not all about getting through the curriculum!

Subsequent to this, Publisher has so many other benefits. It can be used to make business cards, calenders, postcards, greeting cards and more. I'll definitely be promoting it's use in my classroom! Being a Microsoft program, it's familiar and easy to use.

See my rushed attempt at a brochure (so much for my philosophy on finishing work!) promoting Mexico here. I love 'playing' with Publisher, so it was lucky you told us to stop Greg and move on when you did or I would have ended up going on with this all day!!!


Now...onto another topic. E-portfolios and interviews! I'm back to square one, where I left off last week feeling a bit uneasy when I created this blog. Not in familiar territory here! I started collecting bits and pieces from my previous placement in preparation for my portfolio, but it feels as though there's never going to be enough. I found it interesting that you mentioned using past experience if it's relevant no matter how long ago you did it. I was a gymnastics coach way back in early high school. While it's certainly relevant to primary school teaching, is it really worthwhile adding to my resume when I did it so long ago?

Thanks Greg for going through the interview process with us. I'm really enjoying the practical nature of these lessons. It was nice to hear that 'the panel want you to do well, so don't let one question disturb your confidence if you're having trouble answering it!'

I liked your tips: Always have a question, but don't ask about salary. Use the term 'if I'm a preferred candidate...' Don't carry on too much though to allow for other interviews. Don't use too much perfume! (liked that one - considering I gave my mentor teacher hayfever with my perfume on my rounds, that's a great tip!) Dress appropriately (can't believe your story about the girl in the trackies!). End with, 'I'd love to be a part of the team at ..... Primary School!'

E-portfolios. I have to admit Greg, I'm not convinced. The Woodward and Nanlohy week 2 reading suggests that one of the inherant dangers with digital portfolios, for example is the that the technological novelty of the product could overshaddow the purpose of the portfolio. While the significance and relevance of the technology is recognised a balance must be sought so that the value in the work behind the digital presentation is maintained.

On the other hand, the article suggests that having that extra involvement and aspect of creativity in the making of an e-portfolio promoted creativity and interactivity that was not seen in paper-based portfolios. According to the research, the development of digital portfolios refined students thinking and constantly challenged their beliefs and their learning. By adding the element of digitalism as apposed to a paper based portfolio, it added the extra element of having to decipher how to present themselves to an audience. I can certainly see the merits here. However, it is the role of the e-portfolio in the interview process that concerns me most.

I am nervous enough as it is about the interview process, without the added component of an e-portfolio to present. I have been warned that if you have a portfolio then use it. There is nothing worse than bringing in a big document but not utilising it effectively in an interview process. A great e-portfolio can make an interview, but it is a case of being able to use it to your advantage and integrate it into your answering of the key selection criteria. I believe as an inexperienced interviewee and with a lack of IT confidence, I would feel more comfortable with a paper-based portfolio. I do however believe that a candidate who presented a portfolio effectively in an interview would most certainly impress a panel.

On the point of checking for jobs in the Age, I've already found some graduate jobs online beginning Term 1 next year on the department website: https://schooljobs.education.vic.gov.au/psp/ROLPRD_EA/APPLICANT/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL (you may not be able to access this without login details) - but there are two graduate jobs at Port Melbourne Primary School (the school I'm at for my second semester teaching rounds). I can't believe they're advertising already! Can we apply without having passed our degree or having registration? A question for the union when they're here next week!

I've just been looking around for some tips on interviewing and stumbled across this: http://career-advice.careerone.com.au/job-interview-tips/careers.aspx?247SEO=N&WT.srch=1&referrer=geditorial&type=P&gclid=CPLa4JunxKMCFQy3bwodgjCfXg

While it's not specific to interviews for teachers, it's certainly relevant. I'm wondering if any of the unions or the DEECD provides interviewing tips and perhaps some resume help and assistance addressing criteria. I'm going to do a bit of a search now...

Here's what I've found...There is a section in here which explains a bit about recruitment online, not what I'm really after, but still useful:http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/hr/procedures/rol_v89/ROL_Applicant_Help_Manual_2009-final.pdf

I found quite a lot of tips for the selection panels on the deecd website, but nothing really relevant for applicants. Hopefully we'll get some more help with this before the end of the year.

Week 1

My first blog. I'm feeling very apprehensive - I've never blogged before and never thought I would. When it comes to technology I've never been on the front foot - this semester of uni is certainly challenging those hesitations.

Already I can see how a site like blogger.com can be utilised in the classroom. Blogs could be used to contribute to documenting the progress of a class assignment or inquiry. Photos could be used for contributing to the blog. Early blog entries could be compared with later blog entries and blog entries could be shared with with parents.

So, here goes...

I've worked in marketing before so I've used the print screen and copy and paste in paint before for Powerpoint presentations. There must be a better way though?!?!

I've never seen inspiration 8 before. Love it. I can see it being very effective for the interactive whiteboard. I agree with you Greg that it's important to let kids play and learn the program on their own. I found on my teaching rounds that the kids were able to set up and use the computers and whiteboards better than the teacher. It made them feel a certain sense of responsibility and ownership. They learnt best, as I do, when they were left to their own devices to figure things out for themselves. Just as I hope to with this blogging business!

The school I was at was very big on creating anchor charts around the class room. My teacher spent hours re writing up concept maps neatly to hang around the class room. If only she’d known about this program – what a brilliant time saver and a neat way to present student ideas!

Here's an example of a concept map - my first attempt. Let's hope these get a bit better with practice!

I'm still a bit confused about the difference between a mind map and a concept map. I think I still need some more time to research the use for both and to have a play around with using mind maps. Here's my attempt anyway. Will get back to you with more concrete ideas on the difference between mind maps and concept maps - mostly for my own peice of mind.

I'm back...I found this interesting site to help me better understand mind mapping...http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm

The site gives you some great tips on improving your mind maps, which I think are relevant to the classroom:

Once you understand how to make notes in the Mind Map format, you can develop your own conventions to take them further. The following suggestions may help to increase their effectiveness:
Use single words or simple phrases for information: Most words in normal writing are padding: They convey facts in the correct context, and in a format that is pleasant to read. In your own Mind Maps, single strong words and meaningful phrases can convey the same meaning more potently. Excess words just clutter the Mind Map.

Print words: Joined up or indistinct writing can be more difficult to read.

Use color to separate different ideas: This will help you to separate ideas where necessary. It also makes your Mind Map easier to remember. Color also helps to show the organization of the subject.

Use symbols and images: Where a symbol or picture means something to you, use it. Pictures can help you to remember information more effectively than words.

Using cross-linkages: Information in one part of the Mind Map may relate to another part. Here you can draw in lines to show the cross-linkages. This helps you to see how one part of the subject connects with another.

I also like this site, which provides examples of how to use inspiration in the classroom. It will be a handy reminder for me for next year:http://www.inspiration.com/Examples/Inspiration