MAGIC – on the way to Ulearn again…
Here I am in Seat 13C bound for Auckland. I can hardly believe that it is 365 days
since Ulearn in Rotorua. There sure has
been a lot of water under the bridge since then….
·
I graduated with my Master of educational leadership;
·
I completed my e-learning papers out of
Tasmania;
·
I got awarded a Core-ed e-fellowship;
·
I got accepted for NAPP;
·
I continued to enjoy my study leave right til
the end of 2011;
·
I printed my Twitter Tour blog off as a hardback
book;
·
I celebrated Christmas with my amazing family;
·
And in February I returned to school after a
truly MAGICAL year.
When I returned I likened the time in class with my learners as being
the sheen on my bubble. I really do love
being back with our learners.
As 2012 dawned I set about creating MAGIC out of the amazing learning
journey that was 2011. One Sunday Jane
came out to school and chatted with me as I talked about my dreams for a class
that fitted the needs of my learners today.
I dreamt of possibilities and together we have worked to realise many of
these possibilities and more…
The most significant change has been co-constructing the learning with
the learners. We have worked to create a
modern, flexible learning environment that meets our needs. We reflect on space, light, sound, feelings
and which space works best for us at set times… We have amazing conversations
about the art of learning.
BYOB was a dream I had in 2011 and it is now a reality. My biggest fear was issues of equity. These fears have proved unfounded as all
learners have SIGNIFICANTLY greater access to online learning than I imagined
possible. Key to the start of the BYOB
journey was surveying the learners and the families and engaging them in discussion
and planning for our journey. I was
amazing and delighted by the challenges issued from the families and the
learners. Together we are working our
way towards a blended learning environment.
Reflection on the success of BYOB from the learners clearly place it as
given greater access to online time for those without their own device and
ubiquity of learning and access for those with their own device. There are so many highlights to this journey
but I would like to highlight a few:
·
ANZAC visit to the local RSA with learners
photographing, recording, interviewing, blogging – but really taking the
learning to their extended families in a way that really hadn’t been possible
until now;
·
Significantly increased engagement in reading by
struggling readers engaging with their device through e-books, wiki, blogging
and discovering…
·
AMAZING improvement with basic facts and maths
concepts – due to access to online support and engagement;
·
Being party to learners responding with
wonderment and awe as they record moments to create from, blog about or share
with others;
·
Celebrating the journey of discovery as we work
out new ways of doing things;
·
Independence of learning and learners – as all
are challenged to contribute to learning pathways;
·
Daily discovery with our digital footprint and
citizenship;
·
Working with learners to learn from and tidy up
online oops;
·
Seeing learners beginning to develop their
e-portfolios;
·
Greater reflection on successes;
·
Although I am not app focused and do not see
apps as ‘the way’ to learning, I delight in the sharing and discovery as
learners collaborate at their ‘app fests’;
·
Learning, unlearning and relearning with our
devices;
·
Increased family involvement in the learner’s
online world;
·
Significantly increased blogging and distance
collaboration;
·
Development of responsibility for own device,
learning and collaboration;
·
Google docs and forms as accepted collaborative
behaviour;
·
Responding to the work of others in
unprecedented ways;
·
Truly BYOB with iPads, ipods, androids, tablets,
laptops,
Woohoo – what a list! I am delighted
that I took the time to record some of the MAGIC of the journey that is
BYOB. I guess it is only fair that I
record some of the main challenges.
·
Technicalities – thanks to Dave this has been
completely doable;
·
Trail blazing – as the only class that is BYOB
it has been very important to learn from the journey ready to roll out to
senior school next year;
·
Remaining steadfast to my pedagogical beliefs – it is
only a tool and it is only used if it is a better, creative or innovative way
to enhance our learning;
·
Making the most of this amazing journey – I look
back on my timeline and realise I am only about ¼ of the way into what I
planned for my first year…
·
Moving to a fully blended learning environment;
·
Continuing to challenge the learner to go beyond
the horizon….
Alongside the BYOB and the learning spaces, finally running student led
conferences as opposed to parent/teacher interviews has been the realisation of
a long held dream. I would now really
struggle to return to the interviews.
The journey of watching the learner identify their successes and
challenges and openly discuss what they need to do to meet self-set goals and
the support they need from family and teacher is inspirational.
I sometimes think I learn best when I am the silent observer.
This is only really possible when a class is in sync! When our guidelines are in place and as a
team we work to these guidelines anything is possible. What then are our guidelines? Two very simple
words thanks to Andrew Churches – RESPECT AND PROTECT! We respect and protect ourselves, others and
property (including intellectual). With
this as our mantra anything really is possible.
So, back to the flight, here I am winging my way to Ulearn12, with a
MAGICAL holiday on Matarangi beach with two very special people for a few
days.
I am eternally grateful for the privilege of being a teacher in New
Zealand.
I am eternally grateful for the privilege of networking and
collaborating with the most amazing educators around New Zealand thanks to the
power of Twitter.
I am uber excited to be heading to my favourite place in the whole
world – the beach.
I am uber excited to be able to share a little of the MAGIC of my
journey in my presentation MAGICAL mash-up at Ulearn!
Life is GOOD, very, very good.
I am also incredibly excited to have launched a new blog this morning
AK-MAGIC dedicated to the moments of MAGIC everywhere and anywhere.
