CONFERENCES+2011

ULearn 11

media type="custom" key="11496702" width="130" height="130" E-Wrapper Mini- Conference Carolyn Edwards || **These are some of the key ideas and systems that we thought could be adapted and used in our classroom.**
 * Name || Breakout || Reflection ||
 * Liz and Robin || e-leaders in the classroom

__ Management systems in the classroom __
 * work through a list of names per computer using pegs
 * time limits (online stopwatch, [|www.onlinestopwatch.com])
 * if student is working with Teacher then next child goes, then come back to the first student.
 * Times when whole class with teacher so no one on the computers, otherwise students move throughout the day and come back to the task they were doing when their time is up.

__ e-leader roles __
 * I was impressed at how many students had roles on the computer and the depth of the roles give the ages. Y3/4. When i thought about it, I think I tend to hold back from training the students because sometimes I'm not that confident and wouldn't always know how to fix it if they make a mistake...mistakes are part of learning!!**
 * different students for different software ie: easispeaks, powerpoint, kidpix, email, Blog, turning on and off etc
 * do for a set time then the students train up next lot.
 * OUR HANDS OFF AND THEIR HANDS ON - e-leader motto

__Some Ideas that appealed__:
 * spelling lists recorded on easi speaks, saved on the computer, can test selves.
 * email communication
 * Reflections using the term **EBI**? [Even Better If?]
 * splitter so more than one set of headphones per computer **cutting down the noise of several computers, easi speaks etc going at once in the room**
 * e leader roles displayed
 * help sheets displayed (snapshots with brief explanation of what to do)
 * tripod for taking photos
 * C3B4ME

__ Applications we liked the look of and thought could be added to our IT toolbox __
 * animoto
 * www.voki.com
 * imagechef
 * slide

Carolyn was a thorough presenter and we felt she had some good ideas for different levels in the classroom. She noted that it is time intensive to train the students but well worth it in the long run...wouldn't I like to have those students next year! ||
 * Liz || Trevor Bond: Inquiry || **I enjoyed listening to Trevor and found his talk on inquiry to be refreshing in the sense that it validated a lot of how we already teach and the role of inquiry within it. I have been pondering about how to effectively use inquiry learning across different curriculum areas but came out of his talk feeling that the inquiry process (elements of learning - Trevor Bond) are part and parcel of a lot of my teaching strategies....so what I need to think about now is how to bring the elements/steps of inquiry to my consciousness so I become better at modeling and teaching them.**


 * Some of the key ideas I pulled out are:**

__ What is good learning? - __ …results in change to my …that is retained, understood, able to be applied + transferred
 * knowledge, understanding, world view, beliefs, opinion, values, attitudes, behaviour, skills

Good learners
 * confidence in their ability to learn, solve problems despite roadblocks
 * rely on their own judgement
 * recognise their limitations + be able to change minds/perspectives
 * not usually fast answerers
 * flexible
 * know that answers are relative
 * understand facts

Therefore they need situations that encourage them to be good learners [connected, engaged].-

Key competencies not separate... Cross competency Attitudes (4) + Cross Competency Skills (6) Elements/Steps to solve task (often inquiry)

//__** Learning is messy – doing brings understanding. **__// //“st**udents learn what they do” (Nuthall)**// **These were statements that stood out to me and reminded me about how important it is to let students do it themselves and learn through tactile experiences.**

TASK DRIVEN LEARNING – sharing and justifying rather than 'presentation'.

__ To Develop Independence (Lifelong learners) __
 * Other ideas that struck home were**
 * Identify the barriers to good learning
 * Wonderings wall – allows inquiry to continue but captures and validates thoughts and side questions. ||
 * R. Hall || National Library || I attended this session as my chosen session was cancelled. However it proved very worthwhile. we were talked

through he National Library website. My impression is that the National Library will bend over backwards in order to help teachers. There is even a place where children can ask questions to do with their research and be answered right

away by a librarian. I found the section called High Interest Topics (Rugby) of particular use and will use many of

these resources during my Inquiry this term. Similarly the section NZ Digital resources which includes such things

as Interviews with Rugby greats and a video of the Paris giant rugby ball will be of use.

As result of attending this workshop I resolved to spend more time making sure that I was in fact exploiting its

many possibilities eg Papers Past ( An archive containing very many newspapers from the past, this can be

searched easily).

EPIC is another resource that I will make more use of. Resources include reference material, full-text of newspapers, magazines and journals, audio and video on a wide range of topics, suitable for all ages. || e-portfolios || media type="custom" key="10111009" || (Stuart Hale) || This session was a 'taste' of the future. I went to this as I was really interested in seeing if these devices would be viable for our needs, I am probably more interested in the iPod touch. As Stuart Hale said, the iPod touch is 20% of the cost but 80% of the functionality of a computer. There are 5 ways it can be used in the classroom: 1. **As a content creation tool** -word processing -survey taking -idea organising -graphing -data gathering -creative language
 * Liz || Belinda Johnston
 * Nadine || The iPad and iPod Touch in the classroom

2. **As a way to communicate** -email blogs wikis twitter (edutwitter Somerville intermediate)

3. **As a web access point** -research,etc

4. **As a way to use content created by the school** -podcasts -websites -ePubs/ eBooks

5. **Applications for the iPod Touch** -dictionaries -NZ books -sub spec apps and many more

There were lots of ideas that come up during this session that I will be exploring: -EduTwitter- a way that Somerville Intermediate are using Twitter -ePubs- students publishing e-books to be read all around the world -QR codes – linking real world with electronic world

One of the other big sell points for me is the excellent quality camera and video camera that comes on this device, the inbuilt aspect of this makes it really user-friendly and quick to use in meaningful ways. In summary, I think that it would be well worth getting a pod of iPod touches and exploring how our students would use them, maybe to start we could allow students that already have them to bring them in. ||
 * Marquerite || Keynote Speaker- T.Bond || I found Trevor to be very useful in reminding us all what Learning is about and Inquiry Learning. He spent a bit of time talking about what "good Learning" was and what skills we need to teach and promote in order for good learning to occur.

Learning is a change to knowledge, understanding, world view, values, behaviour, skills, beliefs and opinions. The environment in which we learn is also vital for good learning to take place.

Learning goals such as the student being confident, connected, activity involved and life long learners was also stressed. I shall integrate these learning goals in the school inquiry, "Going for Gold!" I could also see quite clearly how the school learning model works in with what Trevor had suggested through out his delivery.

I liked his opening sentence-"Forget Inquiry and focus on learning!" Common sense approach and well backed up with observations over the years... since 1880 in fact. ||
 * Marquerite || Using e-Portfolios to promote Student-Centred Learning- Belinda Johnson || Belinda from Elm Park school introduced a variety of ideas re- e-Portfolios.

The purpose of e-Portfolios will determine how they are set up and for whom. Eg. are e-Portfolios to be student regulated? self directed for life long learners ? are e-Portfolios to increase students engagement and achievement? are e-Portfolios to be student 100% owned or teacher input incorporated as well?

Belinda was extremely practical with her approach and discussed the advantages of different programmes and systems. She was positive about K.Net and it was interesting to hear her comments as they are 3-4 years into the system.

There are some great features about K.Net such as students being able to put their own goals in for the Learning Journals (which my class is currently working on esp. now that the 3 way conferences have taken place), include their own reflections, evidence, have user generated content, embedded learning from a variety of Curriculum areas eg. Literacy, Numeracy, Key Competencies etc. Belinda also covered show casing the student's work.

We were given a number of handouts at the conclusion of the session and if anyone is interested I can get copies to you if you wish. A super workshop but a shame the internet system was not working at the pace required to show all the examples Belinda had prepared. ||
 * Marquerite || i-Movie-Green Screening || Some good ideas in here but half the programmes did not work. Practical but I felt it was a waste of time like two others from our school.

We have got some ideas from this workshop however that we would like to take further during our Tools time slots or Wed. lunch with Nadine.

A camera with a downloading chord will be crucial for this!!! ||

Learning @ School 2011

=Keynote title= || =Reflections= ||
 * =e-leader/ Principal= || =Breakout/=
 * N. Mackereth || ====__1. Questioning: our most important__====

|| __Breakout one:__

I found this breakout exceptionally beneficial! This session was focused on Learner Questions. Trevor Bond made an excellent point that children are born natural questioners but society suppresses this over time so by the time they get to high school, they are only asking 0.2% of questions in the classroom! Questioning is our most important cognitive skill, there are 2 types of questions: expressed and unexpressed questions,we use our students expressed questions as a guide to know what they are thinking in their heads.

__What is a good question?__ According to Trevor Bond, a good question is: -relevant -gets you the information that you need .-can be taken to intelligent and non-intelligent sources and work just as well

__How do we get our students to ask good questions?__ Strategies I can use: -use real needs to assist students to identify their information needs -use the identified needs to craft the questions. (identify what they need to know-statements of need that can be turned into a question) -support students to reconstruct questions that don’t work. -model and support persistence in question asking.

What I found very useful was Trevor’s rubric for assessing the depth and quality of the questions 7 stages: 1. statements rather than questions 2. non-relevant questions 3. yes/no/maybe questions using relevant key words and/or phrases 4. Uses the 7 servants (who,..which) and key words (not phrases) to write relevant questions? 5. Uses the 7 servants key words and key phrases to write relevant questions 6. Use relevant synonyms of key words to edit questions. 7.Multiple question words in one question when asking a probing question when interviewing an “expert”. So overall, this was a breakout rich in theoretical and practical material that I will be with my class this year. || (Karen Boyes)
 * || 2. Brain Base Learning

[|www.spectrumeducation.com] || __Breakout two:__

This breakout was about how the brain learns and included seven principals that can be used in teaching students to maximise their retention of what they have learned. 1. Primacy (what the brain learns first, it remembers). 2. Recency (you remember what happens last) 3. Repetition 4. Novelty ( make the information stand out) 5. Association ( link new info to what is known) 6. Use Visuals (the brain takes visual information in first) 7. Chunking (breaking info into smaller chunks)

She gave some excellent tips such as preparing the brain by telling students what they are going to be learning, including frequent breaks so that there are many 'firsts' and 'lasts' over the same time period and linking information or your point to a funny or memorable story. Some of these are really easy to implement and will definitely be worth the effort to set up in my teaching. || This was an excellent hands-on session that presented lots of tools and strategies for using ICT to motivate and improve children's writing. They began with explaining how they use SOLO in their writing, I think it ties in very well with success criteria to let students have a way of assessing their own writing.
 * || 3. Writing with Success || __Breakout three:__

I particularly like their method of using 'see', 'think', 'wonder' as the three steps for getting children to write descriptively and creatively by using visual stimuli.

Some of the tools they highlighted were:

[]
||
 * Marquerite Way || Science Learning Hub-N.Z || [[file:Science Learning Hub-NZ Science .doc]] ||
 * Marquerite Way || Implementing Knowledge Net

Martin Hughes || I am sorry to report that this breakout was an absolute and total waste of time. It did not measure up to the outline published and I was one of the many disappointed folk that attended it. It was taken by Martin Hughes and if you were interested in how important leadership is, how to take staffmeetings and what it takes to be an achiever this workshop was for you! Even after asking Martin about the workshop being based on Knowledge Net and if this would be covered, he seemed set on continuing the workshop to his set agenda. Many disgruntled and sad faces walked out at the conclusion of this workshop. ||
 * Marquerite Way || Weaving the Magic of Story -Telling

Lorraine Watchorn & Gail Cochrane || Taken by Lorraine Watchorn and Gail Cochrane. Quote :- “If nothing happens by the writer, nothing happens to the reader” Gail Loana This was a most valuable workshop in that it offered a lot of practical website programmes that can used in class on a daily basis. One of the websites we were asked to visit to view a wide range of IT tools and programmes was http://rellco.wikispaces.com. In the left hand navigation abr, under “Resources” click on “Digital Story Telling” This is a site worked on by a cluster of schools based in Rotorua. Some great ideas and the site is worth visiting. This Breakout was full of websites to visit, however most of the computers in the room could not keep up with the demand of the conterence requirements and going onto sites or downloading programmes at times was ipossible. Some sites worth your time to visit:- Into language… then use these sites to further your students’ and your own interest! Have a play and see what you think. ||
 * Writing Fun []
 * Fotobabble [|http://www.fotobabble.com]
 * Zooburst [|http://www.zooburst.com]
 * PicLits []
 * Overcome Writer’s Block Headphones needed) []
 * Living Heritage [|http://www.livingheritage.org.nz]
 * J.Deed || __Writing with Success__ || This breakout would have to be the most valuable for me. This was a fantastic practical session on various writing tools to use in the classroom to encourage descriptive writing. These presenters not only shared these online tools but also shared student work from their students that related to each tool.

I myself have never really taken to SOLO Taxonomy but after this breakout I have a very different outlook on it. After each tool and example that they shared, they also shared their SOLO Taxonomy Success Criteria. It was clear and easy to understand especially for students.

Highlights for me were...

This tool is very adaptable. For juniors that can't type, there are blank templates that you can print out instead. Adjustable for all levels. Very Engaging
 * Scholastics Story Starters**

Take a posed photo of students and place them into different environments. ||
 * Green Screening**
 * J.Deed || __Literacy Web Tools to Motivate Learners__ || This breakout was purely a list of online tools to use with your students. A couple of websites were visited briefly but it was a matter or sifting through these to find tools that suited your teaching and students learning needs.

Highlights for me were...

This tool focuses on reading strategies. There is a teacher section and a student section with posters and resources available.
 * Into the Book**

Fairytale Focus. The fairytale starts off and you fill in the gaps to make it your own. ||
 * We Tell Stories**
 * J.Deed || __I can Animate__ || This was a practical session on how to use the program __**I can Animate**__. It was an enjoyable session and I can see how students would become engaged in such a program. This could be taken on as a technology unit.

The only problem that I can see is that students (I am referring to juniors) will need a lot a guidance and would need to perhaps work with one group at a time.

It was suggested that at the early stages students could perhaps make an animation of building a tower with blocks.

The key is to start off simple and build the knowledge and skills. ||
 * Heath McNeil || Julia Atkin - Making what can’t be counted count (Breakout 1)

|| This breakout focussed on Assessment and how it is the next innovation required in our curriculum development.

Here are the main points for me from the session: > What do people think when Assessment is mentioned thinks measure, they think numbers > > quantity quality > individual collaborative > uniform unique eg. behaviour management > technical ‘soulful’ > tangible intangible > > > > > Already making qualitative judgments need to start articulate our thoughts surrounding this > KC = no tick box need to articulate deeply > > When done well, they are powerful qualitative assessments > How do we surface the stories? > Most significant example and why > Discussion takes you into the depth of the qualities. > Not a competition > Can work with values, HOM as well as other areas. > Tree of examples back to individual learning stories- Class stories > This becomes an Educative act - Assembly, Community > > || Powerful Learning & Integral Learning - Julia Atkin || This breakout focused on Learning and how it is the next innovation required in our curriculum development.
 * Student evaluation is basic to human growth
 * In our attempts to standardise has led to homogenised instead and as a result created Tensions/ dilemmas/ points of confusion:
 * Start with Why, what then How. Not the other way around.
 * Signs of growth of valued added in conjunction with what they have achieved is important. Assessment is for the learning to happen.
 * Best learning possible for everybody rather than sorting out - this type of assessment should be in our schools. Need to take formative assessment to a more systematic level
 * How do you know ‘quality’ when you see it?
 * Most Significant Change Methodology through using Learning Stories
 * Sharing Learning Stories is the powerful way to carry qualitative judgment
 * Heath McNeil || Spotlight Medley

Here are the main points for me from the session:
 * Information on its own is meaningless. How do we deliberately design for deep meaning in learning?


 * We have multiple ways of knowing - powerful learning integrates our various ways of knowing


 * Emotion and logic western traditionally thought of separate rather than linked. Ways of knowing within our self - knows best when whole self is involved in learning

3x3=9 (left) III III III (right) combine to get deeper knowing


 * What do we need to know automatically vs. what we can get on iPhone etc. - becomes big question
 * Integrating learning rather than Integrating curriculum


 * Multiple ways of knowing - transfer into another way or mode therefore creating
 * Legacy of the past - let them start in their preferred mode, then transfer to another mode

You don’t need to help people in their own preference, they will go there in spite of you. Green - knows the facts - knows how Red - knows relevance to me and others Yellow -knows why - knows connections Blue - Knows What - Knows when what then
 * Herrman’s Model of Learning


 * As a teacher need to understand the different ways of understanding so that you can help guide students in the different ways of knowing thus stimulating and integrating the modes


 * We know in Blue and Green through our education


 * The Integral Model encourages teaching that engages and integrate all modes of processing regardless of personal thinking style


 * Educator’s role is not to put knowledge where knowledge does not exist but rather to lead the mind’s eye so that it might see for itself. ||
 * Heath McNeil || Embracing a Cyber World - Understanding & Managing the Risk (Keynote 3) || The final keynote speaker was a former NSW detective who now travels throughout Australasia talking to young people about online safety. His cyber experiences were at the worst end of what can go wrong for young people when they have 'risky' online behaviour.

The key messages from his talk for me were:
 * its about communicating with real people
 * same rules apply, same responsibilities even though we can’t see them
 * Schools alongside parents are the only line of defence for our children
 * our protective practices, responsibility and beliefs remain unchanged
 * never under estimate the power of internet
 * quality online behaviour can be instilled. Youth will always rely on our life skills and instincts
 * always believe we are making a difference ||