Engaging with a blog....

In response to recent discussions on Twitter I would love to share some ideas that worked for us with our blogs...

"A blog without comments is like a day without sunshine" and I believe a blog is to be interacted with...

So here goes, sharing of ideas I have read, heard about, tried, thought about....

The absolute guru of blogging and comments for learners is Linda Yollis.  I have used so many of her wonderful ideas with great success...

How to comment

Learning how to comment

How to compose a quality comment

For me, it has been really essential to spend time with the class looking at how, why, when, where and what to comment on and interact with.  I have started the year by looking at a blogpost and modelling commenting, replying to a comment and continuing interaction.  

Celebrate each post, each comment, each view.  Load your blog up with widgets to enable you to see your visits, where they are from, etc with: statcounter, Clustrmaps, flag counters, feedjit.  None of these will increase your visits or comments, but they make interesting viewing and can really encourage your learners and families to interact.

Writing tasks for independent time are reading blog posts and comments, adding comments and responding to comments.  I have found it invaluable to look back on comments and posts and continue to model commenting.  

Family sessions are essential.  We must allow time for learners to teach their extended families how to view and interact with blogs.  We found it invaluable to have the learners run the session, working with their families in class.

Learners can wear a lanyard or bracelet home to notify their families that they have a blog post that needs viewing and commenting on that night.

Notices on the class blog can alert families to special posts, or better still families can all subscribe to the blog and receive updates automatically.

Grandparents and extended families overseas can be encouraged to subscribe and interact.  

Communicating with experts in any learning journey can allow opportunities for linking to the blog.  

Speakpipe is a great way to allow families to record their message.  It is great to listen to a response to a post.  We found it valuable to experiment with recording messages in class also.

As part of the process of 'earning' their own blogs, learners were encouraged to read posts and comment on a given number each day.  Not only did this ensure that the posts were read, it also ensures that learners are regularly commenting at school, which makes it easier for them to support their families at home.

Use labelling carefully.  Encourage every learner to tag every post with their name and subject making it all easily searchable within the tag cloud.  

Check out our last year's class blog to see some of these ideas.  Check out the side bar and the links we use.  

It is not easy to get comments because everyone is busy.  I think he key for us was to ensure all comments were read and responded to when necessary.  Learners love receiving comments and are very open and honest commenting on each other's posts.  

Quadblogging has been invaluable for us to have an authentic interactive audience for our blog.  It is also incredibly valuable to have a buddy class within your school environment.  Not only can this strengthen relationships it sets a benchmark and challenges others to interact.  I like to think of it as an upward spiral of interaction.

Given that we are wanting people to interact with our blog, the challenge is on us to share interesting posts.  We must share, reflect on our work and encourage others to interact with our learning journey...  We must seize the opportunities to share our learning journey with our families when they are not present.  Best examples of this are class outings, camps, beach trips, swimming lessons, athletics... the list is endless.  Every experience we have is an opportunity for learners to 'record' and share with a wider audience.  Once parents begin to see their learner's life through the blog you are well on the way.  Remember, it does not come easily... You have to work at it, persevere, encourage, engage, connect, collaborate and continue to publish to your blogs.

Another fabulous forum is sharing links to blog posts on twitter.  Your PLN are your best audience and you will find that people are only to happy to engage with your blog.  The key is that blog commenting is a two way street.  To expect comments, you must be prepared to post comments.  Using the hashtag #commentsforkids is a really useful way to encourage comments.  

I guess, for us, our blog is a way to connect with each other, to create, collaborate and share, to comment and interact with our audience.  It is a place to showcase and reflect on our work.  It is a way of taking down our classroom walls and inviting an authentic audience to engage and interact.  

I remember attending a CORE breakfast listening to DK talk about a blog as an intersection, a crossroad, a meeting place... Your blog can be all this and more...

Good luck with making your blog MAGIC!

Hui Whakawhanaunga

Turangawaewae Marae, Ngaruawahia 26 - 27 February 2013

Tupu te toi, ora te toi, whanake te toi, i ahu mai i Hawaiki


"Growth of the treasure,
sustenance of the treasure,
development of the treasure,
the treasure that stems from Hawaiki”

How can I share the MAGIC of the experience that is Turangawaewae?

I can start by telling you how it felt to stand on the banks of the Waikato river last night and reflect on the day.  I can tell you of the emotion of the welcome, the feeling of the Powhiri, the sound of the waiata, the feeling of the sun beating down, the taste of the food that was shared.  I can tell you of the feeling to catch up with 'old' friends and connect with new friends, but mostly I want to share with you the MAGIC of hearing the story, feeling the story, walking the journey of our priority learners...

From Monika in the far north - to me in the far south, BeL facilitators gathered, shared, listened, reflected, connected, challenged....

I have an overwhelming desire to share the stories, and to share my feeling of my growth as an educator, a facilitator.  I know that as a result of the experience of the past two days I will ask different questions, seek differing connections, listen more, and really delve to get the story of the priority learners...

I cannot remain unchanged after feeling the story that is Nga Taiatea Wharekura or Tai Wananga. To sit at Turangawaewae and hear a tribal perspective on education from Dr Sarah-Jane Tiakiwai.

Another layer of change and growth for me is the shared story out of the Kelston Deaf Education Centre.  To hear (orally, and signed) the story of a learner, a teacher, a parent, a principal opened another window for me to delve into the priority of succes for learners with Special Education Needs.

Success for Pasifika is etched forever in my mind by the sharing of the 'Brown Brother' story.  To meet Joshua face to face and hear his story shared with his 'Brown Mother' was a true highlight of the hui for me.

What then will change for me as a result of this amazing experience?

I will listen to more stories...
I will tell more stories...
I will ask more questions, dig deeper, challenge more...

• tell me your story...
• tell me more about...
• so what does this mean for our priority learners?
• what does this look like for our learners?
• how are we catering for children with a diverse range of learning needs?
• how are we including every learner?
• how are we building on our successes?
• how are we sharing our successes?
• how are we shifting our attitudes?

As I travelled home today, I reflected on the different teacher I would be if I walked back into class tomorrow... I now have the privilege to take this into my facilitating role...

A MAGIC journey, a privilege, a challenge...

Tupu te toi, ora te toi, whanake te toi, i ahu mai i Hawaiki

MAGIC day out in Gibbston Valley....

Absolutely MAGIC adventure! Picked up at dawn and off on an adventure in the coolest bus ever... treated like royalty all day in the corporate tent... sensational sun, sound, friends, fun times.... Loooong right home... Thanks Pete and Theresa for a sensational adventure!

Gibbston Valley - Pat Benatar Slideshow: Anne’s trip to Queenstown was created with TripAdvisor TripWow!

Some light relief for the lunch hour....

Gangnam Style "The 5 Basic Steps" infographic by Hugo A Sanchez.

The vln...

If you are an educator who hasn't made the 'jump' to the vln yet, this might be just the 'push' you need... Check out this fabulous clip Tessa Gray made using PowToon...

Thank you...

How do you say "thank you" for sunshine or health... for clear days or gentle rains... for happiness, joy or love? 

You say it by sharing what you have.  You say it by making the world a better place in which to live.

Thomas D Willhite

Sight and vision...

"The brain gives the heart its sight.  

The heart gives the brain its vision."  

Rob Kall

At the coalface...

Today dawned a very special day.  Together in Christchurch we visited the Southern Regional Health School and shared a Blended e-learning hands on day with the South Island staff!

What a buzz...

A room full of enthusiastic, engaged, bubbling educators and a team of Bel facilitators...

My highlights of the day are numerous... I will try and share some of the MAGIC of the day with you!

• For me, a real buzz was the opportunity to work with my team, to learn alongside such an extraordinary bunch of people...
• Buddying to share a session!  I had the pleasure to work alongside Ray sharing our passion of mobile devices in education, twitter, blogs, wikis, distance collaboration...
• Sharing a PD day - starting wide - with a smattering of the smorgasbord... or buffet or e-learning...
• Recording thoughts, wonderings, reflections and questions after watching the amazing Kevin Honeycutt clip....
• Working in a very 'unconference' type way with flexibility of sessions...
• Taking time to reflect along the way - and think about the WHY, the purpose...  
• Thinking and discussion the innovative opportunities for connecting widely spread, transient clientele of the SRHS - envisioning ways of allowing learners to operate in a blended environment...
• Realising that I am able to live my story.... "If you learn, teach; if you get, give!"

This truly was a great day of learning, teaching, 

getting and giving!

Slow down...

Slow down and enjoy life.  It's not the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.  

-Eddie Cantor-

MAGICtivity....

YAY a new word!!! Thanks Luke!  This word is pure MAGIC for today...

So much of today was surreal...

I had a sensational catchup with a very dear Principal friend for lunch.  It is always so amazing to catchup with a good friend you haven't seen for ages and the conversation just flows.... connecting right where you left off!! :)

This afternoon Jane and I went to the opened of the new/relocated St Mary's school.  Not long after getting out of the car I heard one of the new entrants call out - yay its Mrs K.  That sure was a great sound to hear... and it only got better.  As I came up to the gate I heard the class that would have been mine calling out to me.  The highlight was when one gorgeous girl called out "Mrs K, you've bought your daughter"  Jane's looking incredibly young or I've aged significantly.... teehee we laughed and laughed.  Well, the real MAGIC was in connecting with the learners, a chat or a hug with most... it sure was good for my soul....

Gaining the contract with CORE was confirmed after the end of the school year, so I had not had a chance to connect with or tell the learners or the families.  Today felt like my day to share the MAGIC! It really is hard to explain... the new school opening after 6 years in the planning and here I am not teaching in it!  Everything about where I am right now feels so incredibly right... 

Then tonight on twitter I read that I was the first to comment on the Room 6 blog and further along the conversation the word MAGICtivity was born - thanks Luke.... 

MAGIC + connectivity =MAGICtivity

Anne ‏@annekenn

“@dukelyer: @AnnaGerrit Magictivity- the acts and deeds of@annekenn in the real and cyber world. #dictionarydefinitions” LOVE IT

Expand

A very appropriate saying for me right now...

Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.

- Rabindranath Tagore -

Reflection on the flight home…

Two days of MAGIC…

How do I begin to reflect on the last two days?

Days filled with:

·         Face to face meeting with people I have ‘worshipped’ from afar,
·         Reconnecting with friends
·         Meeting new educators for the very first time…
·         Time to look at my new role, my potential, understanding my place…
·         Viewing Bel within the greater Te Toi Tupu elpld…
·         Fun, laughter, learning, caring, sharing, inspiration and more…

I will share some of the ‘standouts’ for me at this time…

Time to reflect on the WHY?  Looking at and really delving into the WHY of our role… and where it sits within the how and the what….  Time to see the what as the rational, the how as the feelings and the WHY as the behaviour and the decision making; the WHY as the core of our reason for being. 

The chance to network in a room full of gurus.  I set myself a goal of connecting with everyone in the room.  I did not achieve this goal but met so many amazing people…. I reflected again on the upward spiral of connecting online, then face to face, online…. And so on…..  Each time you meet face to face it makes the online connection easier, then the next face to face is at another level....

The power of storytelling again comes to the fore… Helen’s family story impacted on my greatly as I understand the role of Bel is moving from birth, through infancy into childhood.  I am so excited to be part of an initiative that is in its infancy and I welcome the challenge of the journey…  I also really enjoyed listening to and reflecting on similarities and differences between us all, just as their are similarities and differences in every family.

I am so excited to create a VENN diagram of my journey…. I want to reflect on the start of the year for me as a Bel facilitator and look at how it compares with beginning a teaching year…

Teaching Year	Same	Bel Facilitator
Setting up class Planning Collaborating with management and staff Meeting students and families Reaching students Developing routines Setting up guidelines of ‘respect and protect’ Setting up online environments Preparing for routine of year	Flexible learning space Collaborating New connections Routines	Setting up Mosgiel office Collaborating with South team and National team Meeting South and National team Developing self-managing routines for blended learning work Finding way around online environments…

Barbs, Allanah and I got to hang out and chat and have fun and it is called ‘work’… Bel birds are chirping…

I got an amazing overview of the Bel Role…. I have a far greater understanding of the WHY of my role…

I have a real understanding of Bel birds and the way that will symbolise our journey this year and beyond…

I have a burning desire to be BRAVE, BOLD and INDEPENDENT and to work to facilitate this in others….

I have so many new approaches…

I am in a room full of people who passionately believe in the transformative nature of e-learning to remove barriers and raise student achievement… The power of thinking and innovating in this room is on a whole new level for me…

Closing with 3 key ideas, 2 strategies and 1 action…

Bel facilitating is a way to put an e-learning lens on the key competencies…

My PLN is growing exponentially….

The feeling after two days is overwhelmingly one of being adopted into a family…

We sound beautiful when we sing waiata 

As I reflect on the journey of these two days…

I am going to STOP:

·         Worrying about my role

·         Needing to see the big picture all the time, instead I am going to go with the flow and welcome the challenge and the unexpected…

·         And I am going to work on my work/life balance with a whole lot of focus on family and ME time

I am going to START

·         Believing more in myself and my place in the Bel Team

·         Read and engage more online

·         Be more flexible, with my time, my role, my journey

I am going to CONTINUE

·         Finding the MAGIC

·         Connecting face to face and online whenever and wherever possible

·         Living the dream…

It is hard to explain my current feeling.  At the weekend I met a student I taught five years ago.  He was so interested in my new role and asked me if it was like the year of my “Twitter Tour”.  There are a large number of parallels between my journey in 2011 and my new venture… I am networking, collaborating and innovating with amazing educators all around New Zealand; I am travelling; I am about to experience a diverse range of school and classroom journeys and I have a chance to facilitate.  I have a much clearer idea of the role of facilitating and I love this definition from the NEXUS article…

Facilitator - Someone skilled in group dynamics and learning processes and with access to key sources of expertise and knowledge.  He or she encourages people to participate in network activity and makes it easier for groups of people to work and learn together and for the learning to be shared. 

What do I bring to the role… I bring an enthusiasm;  a passion; a willingness to learn, connect, collaborate, network, share and grow; an insatiable thirst for blended learning opportunities; a burning desire to work with schools to improve outcomes for all, with a particular focus on priority learners.  I also bring a desire to keep my feet firmly placed on the ground, to support others wherever possible and to ask for an accept help and support as I journey along…

So – here I am up in the clouds again, both literally, metaphorically and poetically…

What a journey, what an opportunity, what a privilege, what a challenge….

B-el Hui

Up here again…

It seems that some of my best blogging happens way up above New Zealand looking down….

Here I am bound for Auckland for my first ever B-el Hui!  What an exciting time….

I am incredibly fortunate to be travelling with Greg, beginning to learn my role, and as we know, any adventure is fun shared.  I am able to share my thoughts, ask my questions and really be myself.  Thank you Greg for the way you guide me along…

I am sooo excited to connect with all of the B-el team and realise my part in this HUGE endeavour.  It will be a fabulous opportunity for me to reconnect with Allanah and Barbs as well as meeting up with so many other great folks. 

We have two days together and I am looking forward to the networking the story-telling, learning of the role. 

I am very keen to complete a venn diagram around my school role and my new role.  I think this would be a useful exercise to undertake often throughout this year.  I am very keen to reflect on my change this year as I grow into my new role.  Accepting the challenge offered to me at ICOT by a fellow twitter I am going to really reflect on my role within education…..  Undoubtedly I will grow, change and develop personally and professionally.  I am committed to maintaining my enthusiasm and passion for all things that remove barriers, engage learners and improve outcomes.  I am committed to sharing my story, to bringing my experience to the table and growing myself… 

I am ready for a new challenge, a new dream!

Blooming beautiful...

All the flowers of tomorrow are the seeds of today!  

Anonymous

A new chapter...

Today - no  more count down... The day is here! No more sleeps... As of today I  am a member of the CORE family! Yet again I woke up and had to pinch myself, is it real? Yes it really is...

What better way to start the day than meeting Jane at the Chinese gardens for a run! 5km around the water front! I can't say I enjoyed it because it was so incredibly hard to get back into it after a nine day break... But we managed it and good old run keeper congratulated me on a personal best in time! Then off I went to the Hot Salt Water pool where I swam 1 km! A truly MAGICal start to the day! Home I went to pack, download ERO reports, clear emails and read! Grant came home for a coffee and Katie came over for lunch and took me to the airport! I had an hour til my flight so I took the time to sit in the sun and catch up on my diary entries... The week of ICOT did not allow spare time to think, nor enough time to sleep so there certainly wasn't time for writing... All caught up now though! Now here I am on a plane bound for Christchurch! I have tonight for a MAGICal catchup with Pauline then tomorrow our first Bel day and Wednesday is CORE induction! It really is real! 

So, what then are my hopes and dreams for 2013? 

Learning - I eagerly anticipate more professional learning and development than I have imagined possible!

Networking - firstly, within my new CORE family, secondly within my Bel team, and thirdly within my new schools and teams...

Challenge - I expect to be challenged, shaken out of my comfort zone on a regular basis, and really stretched to best meet the needs of all I come into contact with...

Time management - one of my main goals for this year is to have a life as well as work! I want to manage my workflow so I have more time for my wonderful family and friends! 

Fitness - healthy mind, healthy body... I really want to increase my fitness... I am competing in the stadium to surf 10km run and I want to find many more fitness challenges...

Travel - already I know that 2013 is going to be along the lines of my dream year "twitter tour 2011" with many flights booked already... I want to use each and every trip to connect with new people and create new networking, new learning, new MAGIC

Storytelling - I want to continue the scrapbook story of my ancestors and my life.... Telling our story...

Mum's story - I want to film mum and tell her story - memories too precious not to be recorded...

iPad use - I want to extensively develop my use of and innovation with my iPad...

Apple user - my new apple laptop brings a whole new challenge to my year...

PD - I want to present my best ever presentation - e-literacy  at L@S

Reflection - continue to reflect and develop my reflection

SHARE - I want to share and collaborate whenever, whenever, however... 

Yay - 2013 - a beautiful year...

2013 - a new chapter...

17 January 2013 and here I am on first flight for the year… bound for Wellington.  Time to reflect on what has been in my life since my last post…

2012 was an incredible year.  I was back in the class travelling an amazing journey with my learners… We designed our own learning spaces, we brought in our own devices, we learnt face to face, and online.  We had fun learning together throughout the year.  We operated in an environment of respect and protect, (thanks Andrew Churches) respecting and protecting ourselves, others and intellectual property.  Within these boundaries it wasn’t really necessary for rules.

My e-fellowship took me on an amazing journey, collaborating with four amazing educators, imagining possibilities and innovating.  Travel to our Master Classes, conferences and educamps were real highlights in my year.

My NAPP journey gave me a real leadership boost and opened the world of principalship up as I had not seen before.  Early in the journey I realised that principalship was not something I would actively pursue at the moment.

Late in the year I began imagining possibilities and my quest for a new challenge began.  This dream became a reality when I won a role as Blended e-learning facilitator with CORE education.  I am still pinching myself to make sure it is real… I liken it to holding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!  My role officially commences on 28 January 2013 and I am counting down the days.  I am in awe of the opportunity to collaborate, share, learn and grow into and through this new chapter in my learning journey.

So here I am, on a flight at 6.50am bound for Wellington.  In store is a weekend adventure with Liz.  I am really excited to returning to Wellington, a city I have spent so much time in during my Master’s study.  I have so many fun memories and so many favourite haunts to revisit.  There will be sightseeing and shopping, laughter and fun…

Then Monday I reconnect with the marvellous e-fellows.  We have five days together in an apartment on the terrace with an amazing ICOT experience in store.  I am very excited about this International Conference of Thinking.  Life is a great big marvellous learning adventure…

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

I have had an incredible year.  Back at school after a year’s study leave, I had the privilege of working with an amazing class.  I had the privilege of trialling, experimenting, extending, challenging and transforming learning thanks to the amazing ideas from everyone I have had the pleasure of working with, following and networking with.  An absolutely incredible journey through BYOB (bring your own browser), student designed learning spaces, student led conferences, student designed learning models, and a blended learning model to best suit our needs.  I have no way of thanking you all personally, but I am in awe of the people in my life who make the MAGIC! 

As the year draws to a close, I reflect on the professional and personal challenges and opportunities ahead!  I am overwhelmed with the support of my family, friends, colleagues and my PLN.  THANK YOU ALL, from the bottom of my heart!  I am uber excited about the journey that 2013 is going to be!  I am anticipating challenge, learning, travel, networking and of course a whole lot of MAGIC!

Wherever you are, may this New Year be especially peaceful, relaxing and rewarding! 

Bring on the adventures of 2013!

The future...

As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Worksheets don't work....

Serendipity

Sometimes serendipity is just intention unmasked.  

Elizabeth Berg