Blast From The Past

chris hope

This week I’m going to take a leaf out of the book that the major television networks seem to operate from and show a repeat post. This isn’t because the news from our classroom is a bit thin on the ground (NAPLAN…), it’s actually a perfect opportunity to show the students in my current class how to produce a clear, interesting and entertaining podcast. It will also give me an opportunity to demonstrate a few of the uses for podcasts in the classroom. Also, a few of the schools in our local area are interested in producing podcasts and this will give a bit of an explanation as to why I use them.

The first one was made by Holly and shows how podcasting can be introduced to the Pre-Primaries. It was a simple example of students presenting their news in a format that their parents can listen to on the blog. Also, it gave Holly an opportunity to demonstrate her great interpersonal skills. The second shows how podcasts can be used to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of a topic, in this case post traumatic stress disorder (a topic from or studies of the Vietnam War). The final one is a discussion where students chat informally about their opinions on a quite personal topic (this was a deep topic but it tied in with a learning programme we were doing). This type of podcast still relies on the formalities of turn taking and expression, rather than just playground type speech.

     

Blogging Task #3

chris hope

Do you have a favourite factual or lifestyle programme? The task this time is to write a post about one such programme. Factual and lifestyle programmes both entertain and enlighten us and can be amongst the best programmes on television.

My favourite (even though this does tend to change depending on what’s on tv at the time) is COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey with the amazing scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The programme was originally aired in 1980 with Carl Sagan, but the ever changing nature of science and technology means that there has been many new discoveries since then. Tyson has explained (amongst so many things) about the laws of physics which are evident and constant throughout the universe and also the evidence that underpins our understanding of evolution. His ability to demonstrate complex scientific concepts in an entertaining and easy to understand style makes this programme an absolute MUST SEE for anyone with an open mind to the type of science that explains and proves our understanding of the universe, who we are and where we came from.

Importance of Student Blogging

chris hope

I’ve always been a firm believer in the usefulness of incorporating blogs (and other technology) into the classroom, but it’s sometimes been a little difficult to get others to understand my enthusiasm about giving students real world experiences with digital technologies. In a recent podcast, on Every Classroom Matters, entitled An Educator’s Guide to the Emerging, Expanding View of Digital Citizenship, Anne Collier, a member of the UN Internet Governors Forum and a Facebook Safety Advisory Board member, talks about the importance of students being actively involved in their digital environment. She believes we can’t simply tell students how to use digital media or how to be safe in the digital world. A lesson plan or a worksheet just won’t do it; living and experiencing digital media is the only way to develop understanding and skill. The analogy she uses is that it’s like teaching cooking without actually being in the kitchen. We need to allow students to participate responsibly in order to develop self-governance in their online lives. One of the best ways to do this is to allow students to use a blog to communicate with others around the world. Have a listen to this short (10 minute) podcast to hear how the things we are doing in LA19 are in line with research based theories of best practice in digital, experiential learning.

Back To Work

chris hope

This week sees the beginning or term 2 and this is a great time for those students who have been a little sluggish with their blogging to get themselves up to speed with the others. Blogging in LA19 isn’t something we do only if we feel like it, it’s a serious addition to the routine classwork as well as an opportunity for those students who wish to really develop their English skills.

By now you should all have a stable theme with a copyright free header and background. If you don’t you will need to get creative with a camera. Take a creative photo and use it to enhance and personalise your background or header. Widgets are next! You should at least have Pages, Recent Posts, Clustr Map and Text; the Text widget should have a personal introduction. One of the pages you create must be an “About Me” page with content. Finally, your blog needs recent content and you should post a comment on at least 3 other blogs (not just your close friends’ blogs). If you’ve done all this, then search out someone who hasn’t and work with them til they are up to date. Deadline – THIS WEEK! As an extra, those who finish need to find a blog from overseas (check with me first) and post a polite comment.

Your blogs have already been graded for the first term and these grades will become a serious part of the year’s assessment.

Holiday Blogging

chris hope

We may be on holiday, but that doesn’t seem to have stopped several students from maintaining their efforts on their blogs. I have to admit that Aarlyah, Abbey, Georgia, Aimee and Ritihia have put me to shame by posting way more than I have and they’re all well worth checking out. Also, in a “blast from the past”, one of my students from last year, Holly, has been putting in such an effort with her second year of blogging that she also deserves a bit of recognition. As for myself, I am stuck way up here in Kalbarri with limited wi-fi, so it’s a little tricky. However, here’s a photo of me kayaking and a one of my campsite and caravan which (sadly) has a couple of bags full of English and Maths books inside. Yes, poor me!

20140417-114851.jpgKayaking

Kings Park Excursion and End of Term – Phew!

chris hope

I think, for me, term 1 was one of the quickest I’ve ever had. I’m not sure why (perhaps I’m getting old and just can’t keep up anymore), but it may have had something to do with it also being one of the busiest terms I’ve ever had. Looking back I’m quite astounded that we managed to start and finish all the activities and projects in just a short ten weeks.

We discussed, planned and organised a geography walk around the suburb to help us develop an understanding of how we measure the livability of an area (some of the resulting in-depth project work was very mature). We learnt about the study of history and then completed the first part of our history studies by researching the Romans (yes, there’s more to come). We studied so many topics in maths that it would be impossible to mention them here, suffice to say that even with a busy timetable the students still claimed that all we did was maths. Our English included persuasive writing and narratives, both in part due to our NAPLAN preparation, and also spelling (“No, not spelling!”). It was the first time some of the students had used a saw and a drill and they overcame their fears and doubts to create a fabulous “surprise” gift for Mothers’ Day. We made several amazing artworks and integrated technology with blogs, art, podcasts and QR codes. Even cricket and basketball tournaments were squeezed in along the way with a music project on top. All this whilst working around a myriad of interruptions that seemed designed to throw us off track. We were lucky enough to finish off the term with an educational excursion to Kings Park which Abbey explains beautifully on her blog in her post entitled Naturescape Excursion (also check out Kianne, Blake, Aimee and Georgia).

All I can say is, “Well done LA19!” We all deserve our well earned 2 weeks off and you can all be proud of your efforts this year so far. I’ll keep posting here and checking your blogs, so keep posting, but remember to stay safe.

Phew!

Geography Podcasts

chris hope

One way we’ve been able to integrate speaking into our English work is by creating podcasts. We’ve created several informal ones this term already, but this new one was a more formal podcast to explain our recent investigations in Geography. The students went on a walk around the area (see previous post) and completed several surveys. They then used this information to judge the livability of three of the streets. They have already completed a complex project on the topic, but the podcast was another way of presenting the work to a wider audience.

   

Follow Up!

chris hope

We’ve been doing so many things over the last few weeks that I’ve not managed to post everything. So, to remedy that this is a very short follow up to a couple of our more arty activities.

Our Mothers’ Day surprise (getting less surprising all the time!) started with the students measuring and sawing some wood before drilling a hole in it.  I posted some pictures of the drilling, but the sawing seemed to pass me by, so below is a picture of Benn being helped by Aimee and Jerry. The students worked in groups of three for safety and took the precaution of wearing face masks to protect them from the dust.

Another activity I haven’t caught up with was our fabulous watercolour painting (you can read the explanation of the activity in a previous post). The results were awesome and I’ve included Jonny’s and Abbey’s pictures below. Click on the images to view them full size.

SawingJonny ArtAbbey Art

Mothers’ Day Surprise?

chris hope

The students have been busy making a surprise gift for Mothers’ Day out of blocks of wood. Well, I say “surprise”, but due to the excited nature of a number of the students this is rapidly becoming a defunct adjective. Not that I can blame them, for many this is the first time they’ve used saws and drills to make something out of wood and the enthusiasm has been high. Some have been a little unsure about the drilling part, but they’re all pushing themselves forward in order to complete their “not-so-surprising” Mothers’ Day gift. Click on the images for the full sized version.

Caitlin DrillingWilliam DrillingSarah Drilling

QR Code Maths Test

chris hope

Today we had an end of term maths test and the students were absolutely thrilled. Yes, it does sound a little weird, but this was a test with a difference. Half the test was a conventional one, written on paper, but the other half was made using QR codes. If you’re not sure what a QR code is just scroll down this page and you’ll see ours in the right column (a square thing with squiggly patterns on the inside). They require a QR code reader which our amazing library officer Ms Higgs installed for us on the iPads. I created a number of QR codes which had maths problems on them that appeared when scanned. These had to be answered by the students before racing around the school to find the next code. Some of the answers to the codes gave clues to the next destination and the students had to use their maths knowledge to work them out. It was quite a task to create the test but the enthusiasm of the students made it all worthwhile. Thanks to Mr Avery for the inspiration (see link on “School Blogs”). Click on the photos to see them full sized.

QR 2QR 3Ritihia