IT

Always Learning

chris hope

Term four has seen everyone in LA19 learning together and planning for the future. When I say “everyone”, I mean just that – myself as well as the students. Education is such an ever changing environment that we as teachers must be prepared to stay up to date and evolve wherever necessary. By doing this, not only do we learn new skills, but we ensure we put ourselves in the best position to deliver the skills and understandings for the future of our students.

In LA19 we’ve been enjoying getting to grips with Lighbot and I Can Animate, two great apps on our iPads. Lightbot is a fabulous way to introduce the concept of coding through problem solving and understanding processes. I Can Animate is another great app that caters to the creative side of the students, allowing them to create stop motion animations. The students have to plan out the whole process in sequence, prepare their models (where necessary) and carry out filming. There are a huge number of problems to overcome and the process is quite time consuming, but the results are already impressive.

With technology becoming a major part of our lives we owe it to ourselves as teachers and to the students in our care to evolve with the times. To be honest, it’s all so much fun you’d be mad not to try!

Claymation

chris hope

The students have, over the past few weeks, been working with plasticine and technology in order to create claymation movies. The whole process is a very slow one, but the general feel is one of patience and a desire to produce something very worthwhile. In fact, for the first two weeks the students didn’t even get their hands on the plasticine, they instead had to write a storyline and create a storyboard for their movie. The story had to be “do-able” within the timeframe, make sense and not be full of blood, guts and chainsaws! As they were being marked on their plans, the students had to make sure their efforts were their best with clear images and notes. Following this process the characters had to be made from the plasticine before moving on to the filming. Many of the groups are nearly finished and are now in “post-production”, adding credits and music to their movies. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some soon, but here’s a couple of pictures to show what I mean.

Filming

Filming

Evil Snowmen

Evil Snowmen

Interview With A Teacher II

chris hope

It’s been a few weeks since Rii Rii’s last podcast (her amazing interview with Ms Sveinbjornsson), but she’s back with her second episode and it’s equally as interesting. This time Rii Rii interviewed our incredibly talented music teacher, Mr Millar and found out some information we never knew about him. Once again, Rii Rii proves what a wonderful interviewer she is and also how our podcasts can be both educational and fun. Podcasts are a great way of allowing students to demonstrate their language skills in a way that doesn’t usually get heard and Rii Rii certainly does that.

 

 

More Buddies

chris hope

The students from LA 19 have lately been in great demand due to their expertise in all things technological. Last week we buddied up with some of the year 2s to help them with a QR code maths treasure hunt. The students used iPads to read and answer maths questions and follow clues around the school. We’re working with the remaining year 2s this week. We’re also helping the year 1s to create artistic masterpieces of themselves with the Brushes app, again on the iPad. With school photos and interschool competitions also happening this week it promises to be as hectic as usual.

Scanning the QR code

Scanning the QR code

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading the clue

Reading the clue

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working together

Working together

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interview With A Teacher

chris hope

This week our incredible Art specialist, Ms Sveinbjornsson, gave an in-depth interview to our very own budding reporter Ritihia (aka Rii Rii). The finished product, which can be heard below, is the culmination of a process of trial and error which occurred over the last couple of years. If you’re interested in the techie bits of that process and how we came to this final, quality product check out the previous post, The Podcast’s Evolved, below. The great thing about this (apart from Rii Rii’s awesome interview skills and Ms Sveinbjornsson’s openness) is that I had no part in the process – Rii Rii did it all herself, from start to finish. Have a listen to what I hope is the first in a series of Chatting With Rii Rii interviews.

 

QR Code Maths Revision

chris hope

Last week we spent a little time revising some of the mathematical topics and concepts we’ve been learning in the classroom. However, we didn’t simply open up our books and start reading (I’m much too kind to do such a thing), instead I created a set of QR codes with maths problems on them and put them onto laminated A4 sheets. I also wrote clues for the students to follow (like a treasure hunt) and an extra code on each card. The extra codes were all a part of an order of operations problem so they had to be placed in the correct order for it to give the right answer. It all sounds tricky, but the students enjoyed it. The cards were placed around the school and the students, in groups, set off with their maths books (for reference) and an iPad (to scan the codes) to follow the clues and solve the problems. I’d have to admit that it was tricky to set up, but I’d also say it was worth it. Check out the photos.

A QR code

A QR code

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scanning a code.

Scanning a code.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working out the problem.

Working out the problem.

 

 

Rotational Symmetry

chris hope

We recently applied our skills with technology to demonstrate our understanding of rotational symmetry. First, we all grabbed an iPad and went for a walk around the staff car park; we were trying to find car wheels that demonstrated rotational symmetry. When we found them we used the iPads to take photos and uploaded them to Google Drive for use later. During one of our laptop sessions we were then able to use the Draw application on Drive to create and present our work. Have a look at the two examples below from Demi and Pharyn.

Rotational

Rotational Symmetry - Demi

Year 1 Podcasts

chris hope

Towards the end of last term, LA19 buddied up with the year 1 students to create a series of podcasts. The benefits of this collaboration were extensive. The senior students had to develop their interpersonal skills, planning questions and adjusting their tone of voice to suit the younger students. They also had to be very patient and use their listening skills to ensure they allowed the younger students to have their say. Also, they had to monitor the conversation and try to ensure it continued to flow without any long, empty spaces. All in all it was a very difficult task for the students, but they managed it very well. Check out the two examples below from Georgia and Abbey.

   

 

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.

   

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