ANZAC day MAGIC

I just have to blog before I go to sleep today...
This morning we baked four batches of ANZAC cookies in groups...

Yes, it was in our maths or numeracy slot and yes, authentic maths learning happened as the learners weighed and measured and counted.  The challenge offered now is to work to realise the actual cost of an individual biscuit.... A real challenge...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_P9H-8oviic8vEwrCGEOe52MdMJ3i_E6cJ1OfyNRVsE/edit
Then we packaged the biscuits individually for delivery to the RSA.

This is where the MAGIC really begun.  We walked to the local RSA carrying our individual devices, ipads, ipods, digital cameras and iphones.  As we toured the RSA, talked to the people, listened to the stories I was totally in AWE of the learners 'capturing' the story of ANZAC and war...

The story was 'captured'.  The learners were engaged, motivated, focused on capturing the story.  They now own the learning and have the experience to blog about and share.  The power of this learning really touched  me and made me realise just how important it is to embrace these opportunities....
I am in awe of the questions, reflections and family stories appearing on the blog and the wiki tonight...
As I have always believed, the technology does not control the learning, it enables learning.  The authenticity and ubiquity of this learning really is MAGIC!

The right gear...

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have 

gears we never use. 

--Charles M. Schulz 

This quote has really got me thinking... Returning to full-time teaching this year has been a real challenge.  I am absolutely loving the time in class, learning, growing, challenging, seeking and discovering with the learners.  The real challenge is everything else... The endless meetings, the paperwork, the compliance, the feeling that there is just never enough of me to go around...


Am I stuck in the wrong gear???  Am I trying to do the impossible? Did I really get in the right gear for a full-on term?  Reflection is an amazing tool.  Looking back on the term, I see deep shades of grey!  Week three and four I was very unwell, maybe I lost some of my immunity last year... Then I lost my sister-in-law and my Aunty. Then we had ERO.  I wonder now if I really got back into the right gear for the journey?  Teaching has a way of consuming you and overwhelming you.   Did I really take time to bounce back from illness and grieving.  The answer is NO - I really didn't.  I carried on in the vortex of term 1.  


I clearly remember listening to a presenter telling us to get off the teaching roller-coaster everyday - don't wait for the holidays... Although I heard these words and remember them clearly, I have not practiced them.  I have worked through the holidays catching up on readings, reflection and my inquiry for NAPP. 


Today I head to Auckland for two MAGIC days at Ignition , a MAGIC play day on Wednesday with two dear friends, and two days at the NAPP hui.  A full-on time ahead,  but a MAGIC  learning adventure I am really looking forward to!  This afternoon I am catching the ferry from Devonport and biking along the waterfront with a friend.


Just as I will make sure I am in the right gear to bike around to St Heliers this afternoon, I will reflect on being in the right gear for term 2.  I know that there will be some challenging times, but if I want to enjoy the 'ride' I must get in the right gear, use all my gears, and get off and enjoy a balance in my life...


I would really appreciate any ideas of how to maintain speed, keep in the right gear and have a balance in life...

Test, learn, teach

Yesterday, somewhere, on the MAGIC of Twitter I read a post along the lines of test, learn, teach!  It really spoke to me and today I witnessed MAGIC in my class.
We have completed all our standardised testing.  After marking and analysing the tests, I realised that the teaching was only just beginning.
I began this morning by carefully grouping my learners according to how they scored on Maths PAT.  In small groups they worked their way back through the PAT test.  Their brief was to discuss each question and come to agreement over the answer, teaching each other along the way.  I worked with a group but had to tear myself away to roam around and listen to the power of the conversations.  I was in awe of the discussion, the negotiation, the trial and error drawing, the persistence to get the correct answer.  I witnessed delight in working out where they were getting it right and where they had gone wrong.  I witnessed learners explaining problem solving approaches in a confident, easy-to-understand way.  I witnessed collaboration and persistence.
What I learnt today - Let the learners learn!  It would have been so easy for me to mark and file the PAT tests.  It would have been so easy for me to show the learners their results and file the PAT tests.  It would have been so easy for me to show the learners their results, then give them the answers so they could see where they need to work.
Today though, was pure magic, they own the learning of today.  Yes, of course we have lots of learning and teaching to go to reach our goals, but today was a gigantic step in the right direction.
We need to do a whole lot more testing, learning then teaching.

If I could link to and acknowledge you I would!


A request on Twitter:

Was answered by the wonderful @allanahk

...so I was able to find my way back to the original post that got me thinking...

...and so the power of the blog and twitter continue to intersect and challenge and extend and empower...

Thanks DK 


The learners are reflecting on this experience here...
http://stmarys-room6.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/reflection-on-our-pat-maths.html