Well for conference dinner we sat with Avonhead school. We felt so welcome into their family, and had a great times with a lot of stories and giggles.
Friday, August 5, 2011
I love Teaching Conference - dinner
What an amazing conference. One of the many highlights was connecting with fellow Tweets. Also, the twitter stream from the conference makes great reading - glad I saved the stream.
Well for conference dinner we sat with Avonhead school. We felt so welcome into their family, and had a great times with a lot of stories and giggles.
We also got as many of the Tweets as we could together for a photo! Great new connections made!
Well for conference dinner we sat with Avonhead school. We felt so welcome into their family, and had a great times with a lot of stories and giggles.
I love Teaching Conference - day two
After such an amazing day yesterday - how can today possibly match it? Well -YES it sure can!
19 July 2011 – Day 2 – Keynote 1 – James Nottingham
Balance between nature and nurture!
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change those I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Problematic titles – clever, brilliant, bright, gifted, top of the class, by far the best.
Praise is an essential part of teaching but change it to be more positive.
Intelligence praise – show decline
Process praise – try – significant improvement – Wow – you must have tried really hard!
Control-group praise - slight improvement
Reasons for change – control over efforts! Intelligence praise can disempower!
We must avoid causing children to avoid failure!
If I am smart, I don’t need to try!
Don’t praise the child – praise the behaviour!
Focus on spelling – those who are getting them all correct – add some more words, getting about 5-7 out of ten, make the same list the learning for next week, those getting 1-4 – give additional coaching.
Retest – the retest score, minus the pretest score = progress score!!!!!!!!
Use for 100club! Highlight to show progress!
Celebrate and embrace the pit – the implementation dip!
Coming out of the pit – concept, conflict, construct – the eureka moment! Eureka means I found it – it doesn’t mean the teacher gave me the answer!
We should spend our time getting children into the pit – challenge them!
2nd Keynote – Jeni Wilson
‘Transformation not reform’ Ken Robinson
Personalised learning – what is it?
Delivering curriculum in different ways1
Personalising learning is tailoring education to ensure that every student participates actively and achieves to their highest potential.
Personal learning carers for individual interests, skills and holistic needs to ensure higher student engagement and achievement. Set own goals, ready for assessment, plan the assessment. Teaching is responsive, explicit, focused and targeted.
It incorporates the broader community.
What matters is that all children make progress.
Actions speak louder than words.
Treat others how they would like to be treated.
Customised learning in open spaces. Daily online quizzes with individual feedback and suggestions. Variety of learning – online, module, software, virtual mentors, collaborative and individual activities.
Mentor for school life – 15 minutes per week. How can I use this next year? Mentors of passion area???
Learners have choice of what, where, why, when, where and with whom they learn! A powerful challenge.
Personalised assessment!
Personalising the planning - the learning – the scope!
Workshops targeted and explicit to individual needs. Workshops chosen by teachers and learners.
Learning centres in class – discovery, spiritual, with support materials around….
Working spaces!
Goal setting sessions – learners choose how they will learn – discuss with mentors
Display must be learning progress, work in progress!
Passion projects!
Learning spaces – shouldn’t look like a school – should be all about learning spaces.
Richard Gerver – grungetown schools – education is much more than preparation for life. “Is this right for kids?” “Why can’t schools be more like Disneyland”
Gearing to prepare learners for their future! Student self management – flexibility, relationships, Mentoring, action research, vision and passion.
George Otero
The nine gateways to personalised learning
Listen to the learners. Be a learner, be flexible, take a risk, and persevere!
Would I like to be a student in my own classroom? Make sure I don’t tread on my learner’s dreams.
My work is my play – keynote 3 Wilson McKaskill – My work is my play
School is about stepping bravely into the unknown. The unknown is often uncomfortable. The braver you are, the more you learn.
Be brave – participate to progress! Poster this
It really is all about my ability to create a connection!
We can empower children to manage their emotions.
Our children have their answers – we just need to give them time to share it.
Just as we can’t make children learn – we can’t make teachers teach but we need to make them come to the water to drink!
Step into the pit of learning – go through the void to learn! The learning never stops!
We don’t come to school to be better than others. We come to school to better ourselves by being able to work with others. Pursue your personal best no matter who you work with. Poster this
Keynote – James Nottingham (intelligence and the pit)
Alfred Binet – asked by French govt to devise a method of identifying the children the curriculum did not suit! So that they could create an alternative curriculum. Test for 6-14 year olds. Test shows what has been learnt to this point only.
Why is IQ used differently now? A utopian dream??? For who? This test still stands today despite being proved to be a flawed test!
Mediation – refocus on the relevant.
By the time children start school with 500 – 6000 words in their vocab – recent research.
Gifted/ Talented Average Special needs
Above At Below
Advanced Experience Beginner
Where are our expectations – what are our self-fulfilling prophecies?
“WE LABEL TO LIMIT' ouch! We need to lift the lid and set various expectations! #iltconf
Challenge tables – with tasks for independent challenge for anyone who gets the concept first off! Model, support until learners are able to move off.
Not always the same who move.
Friday afternoon – brand new topic about ___________ What do you want to know about it? What questions do you have? Eg science – we are going to look at __________-- What questions do you have. Those who need more time to think or learn
Preview club – support for those who don’t have support at home – links on the wiki or blog! Note home – explaining what the learning is on the horizon….. “This will give your son or daughter an advantage next week!” Including this highlighted text in the note to get buy-in from home.
Blur the lines and allow more learners to move off onto independent tasks earlier.
What level of plasticity do our brains have?
Every hour we spend doing one thing is another hour we are not doing something else. How are our learners choosing to use their time.
WE have to teach skills, knowledge and attitudes.
Get rid of school rules – instigate school attitudes
Talk about what we want – we are curious, open minded, resilient…
Planning tool – put a cross on the line between skill and attitude – eg learning intention today ‘asking the best questions we can about __________________-
Second lesson might be ranking ____________ between skill and knowledge. Eg take questions and rank them – in the order that will help us to learn more.
Lesson 3 might be on the knowledge button – groups all develop a quiz!
Quiz – If qn is answered correctly a point each! If no-one can answer the question – then 5 points for the asking team. Dots should be all around the triangle to show a balance of learning,.
Identify key concept – choose concepts the children have some sense of.
Ready – our teaching
Aim –
Fire – learner’s attempt
Being in the pit represents cognitive conflict! Two ideas must conflict to cause more thinking. Eg of conflicting thoughts – Stealing is wrong conflicting with Robin Hood was right.
Instinct, impulse and intuition – what do they have in common?
There is not ‘one right answer’.
The root word for critical thinking is Kriticos – “able to make judgements” - are they making a judgement or giving us the answer we want!
AMAZING DAY!
I love Teaching Conference - day one
ILT Conference 18 July 2011
Magic opening with http://www.rhythminteractive.co.nz/pages/about_us
First keynote Francoys Gagne – Building gifts and talents
Transformation of High potential into high achievement!
The concepts of Giftedness – the possession of outstanding aptitudes (natural/untrained) abilities – top 10%. See layout for 6 domains – 4 mental and 2 physical – by which you control aptitudes. Trademark is ease and speed of learning. Behaviour – cognitive, creative, social, perceptual, muscular, motor control. Giftedness can appear in any domain.
The concept of talent: outstanding mastery of systematically developed competencies – skills and knowledge, in at least one field. Age/training related! Goals – aptitude, motivation. Self awareness a fundamental process. Motivation as goal identification. Volition as goal attainment. We have to group talented kids and do it full time- learn from each other! Talent emerges from a complex interplay!
Nature versus nurture - 60%nature – natural personality 40%nurture – birth order, childhood experiences, culture, belief system. Respecting each other’s differences! 4 dominant personalities!
Playful:
Sociable, outgoing, expressive, vivacious – vital to have approval!! If giving feedback to a playful – commend, recommend, commend!
Precise:
Factual, well mannered, deliberate, behaved, -
Peaceful:
Balanced, Calming, Level headed, approachable – work constantly
Powerful:
Competitive, adventurous, persuasive, independent –
Listen to the questions!
Peacefuls ask why? – Why do I need to do it?
Leadership
Playful – inspirational leadership – verbally honouring
Powerful - Visionary leader – see big picture –
Precise - Strategic leader – sets a goal – move back from where we’ve set
Peaceful - Diplomatic, collaborative
What we like to talk about
Playful – relationships
Peaceful – security and guarantees
Precise – facts and logic
Powerful - Efficiency and organisation
Playful want to be the star, Peaceful audience,
Look at the glass – playful – always half full!
Treat others as they want to be treated!
What we demand – what we need to give!
Playful – attention, affection, approval
Powerful – credit, loyalty, appreciation
Precise – sensitivity, space, silence
Peaceful – respect, value, harmony
As a parent or teacher
Playful – fun
Peaceful – laid back
Powerful – active
Precise – organised
Workshop 1 James Nottingham Developing Inquiry led learning and P4C
The aim of a thinking skills programme such as P4C is not to turn children into philosophers but to help them become more thoughtful, more reflective, more consider and more reason-able individuals! Picture books to get children to think – strengths – schools are packed full of books. The Pig of Happiness!
Typical P4C Format:
· Sit in a circle
· Share a book or a story
· Ask ( philosophical) questions
· Choose the best question
· Identify the key concept
· Listen to other perspectives
· Apply creative and critical thinking
· Consider progress
Revisit the book and discuss main ideas – record these ideas - this is a skill you need to teach – eg initially you may ask ‘what did you like about this book?’ and discuss questions. e.g. get three questions for juniors or beginners. For older children circulate around group and discuss questions. Suggest alternatives and move on – give support and suggestions! Approx 30 students – groups of 4ish. Challenge learners to question and extend and challenge.
Thinking categories – routine and reflective -
Routine – we can repeat it, we know it, quick
Reflective – deeper,
Look at the questions and take a vote on the question we will answer! You can vote as many times as you like!
If you put your hand up in the air I will think of you as an armpit sniffer! If you have an idea – put your thumb on your knee – you will have to listen and think! Give some time – think and chose a starter – which group asked that question – they start if no-one volunteers.
Give 3 or 4 children the chance to speak without responding. After that hone in on the key concept – eg what do we mean by ‘happy’.
More chance for dialogue with more finite concept!
http://www.jamesnottingham.co.uk/ P4C – look at books, videos, discussions,
Powerful life skills!
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
· The unexamined life is worth is not worth living.
· Wisdom begins with wonder
· It is not living that matters, but ling rightly.
· True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.
Socrates quotes.
Do your planning at school on a Friday afternoon with the children! Get the children to ask the questions!
Workshop 2 – Alison Mooney
It’s impossible to be who you’re not, so why not be who you are.
Awesome icebreaker – write down favourite animal and two words to describe why you like it,
2nd favourite – two characteristics
3rs favourites – two characteristics
Share with a neighbour – First is how you see yourself, 2nd is how others see you, 3rd is how you are!
Colleagues
Playful – party organiser, relationship building
Peaceful – offering solutions
Powerful - closing
Precise – structure, ascertaining needs
Learning how to respect each other’s differences. Thinking about how we might irritate others!
What do the behaviours look like?
Active, destructive behaviour
Passive, destructive
Active constructive
Passive constructive
Plot a table of my team/family
“If you can reach me, you can teach me!”
We need to be aware of the needs of all!
Relationship intelligence – 5 love languages
Phew what an amazing day FULL of learning, connecting, thinking, challenging, laughter, fun times.
Purchased Allie Moody's book - Pressing the right buttons!
AMAZING day followed by an amazing night! We went for dinner at Ascot then headed to the bar where we chatted, geeked, collaborated and talked way into the night!
AMAZING day followed by an amazing night! We went for dinner at Ascot then headed to the bar where we chatted, geeked, collaborated and talked way into the night!
I love teaching - Invercargill Conference
Woohoo, Sunday 17 July and Claire, Tania and I are off to Invercargill for I love teaching conference! This will be an awesome time for us to catch up and share some of our recent e-teach learning! We are staying together at the Ascot and I am returning Tania her i-pad! I am still in awe of the fact that she lent me her brand new toy! I really did get a great chance to learn some of the potential of an i-pad. I now NEED one!
Food, coffee and a conference ready to go!
Homeward Bound
Summerland School
I tweet with @heymilly and we organised for me to visit on Tuesday 12 July. I arrived with my two little cakes thinking - yep - that's be enough for the staff for morning tea! Should have done my homework! The school is enormous - over 600 students. Coming from the deep south, this number is hard to comprehend. I think our largest school in Dunedin has just over 400 students and my school of 150 seems positively tiny.
Well, the day started AMAZINGLY with a Twitter connection moment in the office, @heymilly, @sumich, @mumbleboy, @barbdysart and I. Loads of laughter and a good old ribbing about the south and off I went to spend time with Amanda. I am totally in awe of this school. The groupings, the classes, the thinking, the learning, the furniture, the staff, the conversations... I'll let the photos tell a bit of a story....
Well, the day started AMAZINGLY with a Twitter connection moment in the office, @heymilly, @sumich, @mumbleboy, @barbdysart and I. Loads of laughter and a good old ribbing about the south and off I went to spend time with Amanda. I am totally in awe of this school. The groupings, the classes, the thinking, the learning, the furniture, the staff, the conversations... I'll let the photos tell a bit of a story....
Amazing day. I love the learning spaces and my mind is working overtime on ways to 'cheaply' achieve a wealth of learning spaces in my class next year! Great to make so many new connections. You really cannot overestimate the power of face to face connection.
Thanks for such an awesome time!
Auckland - revisit
11 July 2011 and I am back on the North Shore! It is three months since I was at Takapuna and helped set up 12 blogs across the school that I have followed with great interest. Today I am back and I am delighted to be able to help out, answer questions, trouble shoot and teach some new skills to teachers and students. I was very fortunate to arrive back in time to visit the Castle in Room 1.
I spent the afternoon in Ingrid's class where we worked to create an online reflection of their recent musical! Slideshowhttp://room9sj.blogspot.com/2011/07/we-drew-picturs-in-our-books-and-on.html
What a magic day!
And best of all, I am back on the North Shore with my dear friends Ingrid and Don!
An amazing family weekend in the Waikato
After an amazing week with Barb I had a family weekend - going to netball and soccer, out for lunch and shopping. Then on Sunday my niece and nephew treated me to a surprise early birthday party! What a fantastic trip this has been.
Tweet up in the Tron
Friday night and I attended my first ever tweet up. It was amazing to meet so many people from all walks of life with the most amazing @names!
Chatting, laughter and giggles then off out to dinner! Fantastic to meet Paula face to face. What a great night!
Chatting, laughter and giggles then off out to dinner! Fantastic to meet Paula face to face. What a great night!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Day 5 in the Waikato
Up bright and early today... We are off to Kinohaku school around the Kawhia Harbour.
What an amazing drive. We are going all the way to the west coast! Of course we had time to stop for a geocache on the way, but alas, this one was not successful... Stunning scenery though...
Kinohaku is nestled on the hill overlooking the sea - paradise. We had an awesome day working with class blogs. I was amazed at the log with a 'J' in it which is from a chrysalis of an Atlas Moth. We shared the beautiful story Pepetuna, which I must buy for the school library.
Magic day with stunning new learning - just love the quiz feature on Photo Peach and love the notion of tagging each blog post with the name of the author so you can easily check contributions!!!!!
What an amazing drive. We are going all the way to the west coast! Of course we had time to stop for a geocache on the way, but alas, this one was not successful... Stunning scenery though...
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Day 4 in the Waikato
What an exciting day today! Thursday 7 August 2011 and I am off to visit Mr Webb and Room 8 Melville Intermediate! Sooooo amazing to meet the wonderful children who skyped us and helped us with our mihi. It is also amazing to meet a teacher who is keen to collaborate further next year.... watch this space.
I also managed to fit in a little bit of retail therapy at Te Rapa. While I was there I got a text to tell me Maisie Rose had arrived! Of course I had to buy some more gifts.... got the whole Winnie the Pooh series. I also managed to get back to Casabella Lane for another little cache!
Day 3 in the Waikato
Today was magic. It was a rare and special privilege to spend the day with my sister. We toured Cambridge inside out and Hamilton, just chilling, shopping, chatting. We finished off the day with an awesome salmon pastry at The River Kitchen. The rain today was insane, and we arrived back at school late for the children! I also managed to buy the most amazing gift for the baby we are waiting to arrive...
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day 2 in the Waikato
5 July 2011
Today I travelled with Barbara to Ohaupo school. I met so many lovely staff and I feel sure Kerry (the DP) and I have met before. We worked with a group of learners on the Ultranet.
Very interesting discussions with learners about password strength and privacy.
Some password ideas - use a mixture of numbers, letters, capitalisation, take a word and mix it up or remove the vowels.
Highlight after school - geocaching! What a hoot - under a bridge, crawling along, trying to look inconspicuous as walkers and cyclists pass by. But EUREKA - we found it and send Phillip the travel bug on to the next leg of his journey.
Twitter Tour Waikato
4 July 2011
Met Barbara (@Barbs1) at the Clock café in Ohaupo. AMAZING to meet face to face. Yet again I am struck with the awe of meeting someone I have chatted with on Twitter. Conversation flows easily and I am really looking forward to my week ahead. First stop for the week - Kaipaki School. Gorgeous little country school - great tour of the school with the Principal.
Writing tip - Telescopictext.com – how you can enhance your writing. http://telescopictext.com/
Great first day of Twitter Tour Waikato.
Great first day of Twitter Tour Waikato.
Northland Adventure
3 July 2011
Awake early – off to the dining room for a scrumptious breakfast! Looking out over the waterfront. It is absolutely pouring down, the rain is bouncing off the street… We don’t need sunshine til 10 o’clock. Time for another geeking session then off to Russell on the Ferry. As we walk along to the Ferry the clouds part and the sun comes out! Sweet ferry journey.
Walk around Russell – amazing little art stores, met and chatted with the owner of an art gallery… lots of history to the town of Russell. Walk around – view Pompelliers site.
AMAZING – can’t wait to come back later this year with Grant! Found a cute florist shop in Russell - can you see why the name appealed to me. Back to Paihia on the ferry. Drive to Kawakawa. Arrive there to the stunning moment where the steam train travels down the road in front of us.
Visited the toilets again. Grab a takeaway coffee and brownie. What an amazing journey down the road. Chatting all the way – the road trip is the perfect follow-up to the educamp and geeking time. It is time to talk, reflect, challenge. Arrived back down into Auckland at 5pm. YES the rental car has 4 wheels and is actually quite gorgeous - unbelievable for $19.00 a day. Off I go to Cambridge. Awesome drive down – with a stop at Mercer.
educamp magic
Reflecting on the magic of the educamp has my mind buzzing in all directions and has left me with soooo many questions.
Why is it such a successful professional development model?
How will the momentum be maintained?
Will educamps become the conference of the future - by the people, for the people?
How can we share the "Twitter Magic" with those who just don't get it?
I entered a room of people at a school 1,604 km away. I had met 3 staff from the school the night before and have tweeted with four people over the past year. I felt so welcome, at home, and a part of the educamp. Twitter really does break down barriers and make you connect instantly.
The smackdown is an amazing way to start the conference. It is timed - 2 minute slots. You get to introduce yourself, share a passion, skill or learning opportunity. Through the smackdown you get to meet everyone and out of this a number of conversation starters or discussion groups arise. Groups then disperse to converse. This is the greatest time - there are no timelines, guidelines, rules or instructions. Everyone becomes involved.
The power of being in a room of like-minded educators is so stimulating. It is all about connecting, sharing, and collaborating. The day flew by and I was really reluctant to leave the premises to get lunch. After a quick trip out to a local cafe - the conversations resumed and the learning continued.
I wonder if we should have an option of ordering food in for #educampdunners??? Although it is nice to get out - it would be nice to have the option of staying together and dining on site.
All too soon the day was over and I have new learning, new friends, new respect for the power of professional conversation and new enthusiasm for the learning and education in New Zealand. We really are a nation rich in sharing!!!
Why is it such a successful professional development model?
How will the momentum be maintained?
Will educamps become the conference of the future - by the people, for the people?
How can we share the "Twitter Magic" with those who just don't get it?
I entered a room of people at a school 1,604 km away. I had met 3 staff from the school the night before and have tweeted with four people over the past year. I felt so welcome, at home, and a part of the educamp. Twitter really does break down barriers and make you connect instantly.
The smackdown is an amazing way to start the conference. It is timed - 2 minute slots. You get to introduce yourself, share a passion, skill or learning opportunity. Through the smackdown you get to meet everyone and out of this a number of conversation starters or discussion groups arise. Groups then disperse to converse. This is the greatest time - there are no timelines, guidelines, rules or instructions. Everyone becomes involved.
The power of being in a room of like-minded educators is so stimulating. It is all about connecting, sharing, and collaborating. The day flew by and I was really reluctant to leave the premises to get lunch. After a quick trip out to a local cafe - the conversations resumed and the learning continued.
I wonder if we should have an option of ordering food in for #educampdunners??? Although it is nice to get out - it would be nice to have the option of staying together and dining on site.
All too soon the day was over and I have new learning, new friends, new respect for the power of professional conversation and new enthusiasm for the learning and education in New Zealand. We really are a nation rich in sharing!!!
#educamp Tai Tokerau
2 July 2011
Up early – very excited for educampTT. Stopped at Caffeine for a coffee to start the day. Arrived at educamp to a buzz of chatter.
Awesome to meet @fionagrant @taratj @traintheteacher @tarnzc f2f. Sign in, coffee and ready for smackdown. What a buzz. Up to two minutes to share from the wallwisher – who would be first up – doh – what was that all about – anyway it was me! Prize, extra large choccy fish for travelling the furtherest ( thanks @Allanah). So many new tools on the wallwisher – followup required!
Smackdown Wallwisher
After an awesome smackdown, conversation groups developed. See day write up. Fiona and I took a Twitter session and set up a new batch of tweets.
Second session using iPads and iPods – looked at some apps – app store.
Third session – discussion about use of Google sites.
Totally an amazing day – love the discussion, love the connection, love the learning journey.
Left Whangarei to head north. Amazing drive up – and guess what? I took the advise of the lady I sat with on the plane on the flight from Dunedin to Christchurch and visited the Hundertwasser toilets.
Up we go and drive into Paihia – drive along the waterfront and pop into Kingsgate. Met Mel at the front desk – loads of chat and questions later… We have an amazing deal. Bags to the room and off to the bar with our laptops for geeking and happy hour. What a session – Set up for twitter and blogging – connecting – sharing the love of learning from educampTT. Dinner – divine, breads, Caesar salad and desserts to die for. More geeking, then sleeping.
Up early – very excited for educampTT. Stopped at Caffeine for a coffee to start the day. Arrived at educamp to a buzz of chatter.
Awesome to meet @fionagrant @taratj @traintheteacher @tarnzc f2f. Sign in, coffee and ready for smackdown. What a buzz. Up to two minutes to share from the wallwisher – who would be first up – doh – what was that all about – anyway it was me! Prize, extra large choccy fish for travelling the furtherest ( thanks @Allanah). So many new tools on the wallwisher – followup required!
Smackdown Wallwisher
After an awesome smackdown, conversation groups developed. See day write up. Fiona and I took a Twitter session and set up a new batch of tweets.
Second session using iPads and iPods – looked at some apps – app store.
Third session – discussion about use of Google sites.
Totally an amazing day – love the discussion, love the connection, love the learning journey.
Left Whangarei to head north. Amazing drive up – and guess what? I took the advise of the lady I sat with on the plane on the flight from Dunedin to Christchurch and visited the Hundertwasser toilets.
Up we go and drive into Paihia – drive along the waterfront and pop into Kingsgate. Met Mel at the front desk – loads of chat and questions later… We have an amazing deal. Bags to the room and off to the bar with our laptops for geeking and happy hour. What a session – Set up for twitter and blogging – connecting – sharing the love of learning from educampTT. Dinner – divine, breads, Caesar salad and desserts to die for. More geeking, then sleeping.
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