Holiday reading for inspiration

It’s been a hard and eventful year. You feel like you’ve fought the third world war single-handedly—well, if you played for the All Blacks, of course you’d say, “it was a team effort”. You’ve fought dragons on the mountains, lions in the valleys, and aliens on the rooftops. You’ve put up a good fight; you’ve… Continue reading »

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What place does indigenous education have in your school?

Indigenous children of Peru with indigenous educators from Canada Tamara Bell continues her review of the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference 2011 (WIPCE). See Tamara’s first post: Thank you WIPCE Peru!. In this post, she reflects on the five key areas she took from the conference, and poses some challenging questions. What value do you place… Continue reading »

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Ahoy me hearties! It’s a good day for findin’ treasure.

The Story of ‘QR Codes Treasure Hunt’ at Whangarei Primary by Tara and Tania Planning: setting up the QR code treasure hunt with the senior students There was great level of excitement at Whangarei Primary School at the end of Term 3, 2011 as the students shared their learning about QR Codes with the junior class.… Continue reading »

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A teacher’s tablet review: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

At our ULearn conference in October, we had some of the latest mobile devices on display for teachers to try, along with a survey on teachers’ views on the increased use of mobile devices in schools. All those that completed the survey went into a draw to win a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. The lucky winner… Continue reading »

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Personal professional learning — don’t leave it too late

As we wind up the education year it is time to think about what is important to teachers in our schools. At this time of year with school reviews, reports and exams, it is difficult for teachers to lift their heads long enough to look beyond tomorrow and their well-deserved break. Change is happening so… Continue reading »

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Holiday reading for inspiration What place does indigenous education have in your school? Ahoy me hearties! It’s a good day for findin’ treasure. A teacher’s tablet review: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Personal professional learning — don’t leave it too late

Jan
04

Holiday reading for inspiration

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holiday reading

It’s been a hard and eventful year. You feel like you’ve fought the third world war single-handedly—well, if you played for the All Blacks, of course you’d say, “it was a team effort”. You’ve fought dragons on the mountains, lions in the valleys, and aliens on the rooftops. You’ve put up a good fight; you’ve managed to keep your head up without it being carted off as someone else’s trophy. In other words, you’ve earned your rest, and you just want the holidays to continue forever.

But you know like I do, at some stage, the exhilarating plunges into the depths, the soothing massaging of UV rays, the aroma of the sizzling sausage and sound of clinking of bottles must needs come to and end. Like Napoleon or Alexander, you’ll feel the need to face the looming challenges peeping above the horizon, or conquer new worlds.

But there’s one thing you need—the key that reignites the flame, that lifts and sets the focus, that draws you to new heights: Inspiration. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, Alexander and Napoleon and J.K. Rowling all needed that!

Well, here’s some things you can start with. I asked seasoned inspirers and campaigners from our staff for their suggestions on web sites and books that would assist educators to find inspiration for the coming year. Thanks to Glen, DK, Karen, Tara, Chrissie and Tamara for the suggestions and comments.

Here are their suggestions (not in any particular order):

Web sites:

1. EDtalks

Why not start with our own EDtalks. This site is full of video teasers from gurus from around the world involved in the education sector, sure to give you ideas and inspiration.

2. zefrank.com

Tidbits from around the web and offerings from this creative genius. You just have to just go and have a look to see what this one’s about.

3. The Minimalists

This one’s all about making more space for purpose in your life. We have too much stuff, and T.V. rots our brain! Stop consuming and start being creative producers again!

4. Gary Vaynerchuk

This guy is leading the social media space/discourse—and he’s a wine merchant! And he’s inspirational.

5. WanderMonster

A joyful, quirky celebration of parenting, and how the little things make the difference. Every day Rob Kimmel starts half a mini-comic for his eight-year-old son Ben. He then slips it into Ben’s lunchbox for Ben to finish at school. The end results are pure wonder.

6. Enabling eLearning

Here’s a hub of e-learning-related content and communities. It’s a new site. Take time to find the e-learning goodies that will help your work in the new year, and maybe join a community and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

7. Cowbird

This site is built on participatory journalism. This new web site tells rel stories a captured by the public through photos and words.

8. ECE Online

A source of inspiration for early childhood educators. This fabulous web site covers all things ECE and invites collaboration.

9. Gapingvoid

This guy does cartoons on the back of business cards. Not only does he have great marketing and branding based blog posts, but he has fun doing it. Great for inspiration.

Books:

1. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

by Carol Dweck

Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. This book is eye-opening as a parent to see how praising children for their hard work rather than their talent/ability can have a huge impact on motivation and future success.

2. The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning (Architecture)

by OWP/P Architects, VS Funiture and Bruce Mau Design

79 ways you can use design to transform teaching and learning. Education architects, education furniture designers and education thinkers look at how we use and think about space, equity and creativity in learning. A big thick easily browsable “mook” (magazine/book).

3. Rework

by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Rethinking how we work for the 21st century—by two gurus from 37signals. We have become lazy in our thinking of how we approach work. Here’s a cheat sheet of the book: http://justadandak.com/rework-cheat-sheet

4. Coaching Educational Leadership: Building Leadership Capacity through Partnership

by Jan Robertson (Published in association with the British Educational Leadership and Management Society)

Coaching and mentoring in easy, doable, meaningful steps. This book gets us into the mood for making big changes to what we do in 2012. How will it look different to 2011?

5. Steve Jobs

by Walter Issacson

This book is about Apple, Steve Jobs, and pursuing excellence. It’s a good read which looks at how computers have developed to how and where they are today.

6. Beware Dangerism! (Kindle Single) (TED Books)

by Gever Tulley (TED Books)

This is a Kindle Book for iPad, and supports the TED talk. Are our children missing out because we are concerned for safety? Are we cultivating fear? Take a look at risks we should be offering our children. As the book says, “…children can only learn to take responsibility when given a chance to assess and mitigate risk for themselves.”

And if you want more—Wow! Go for it tiger! Have a look at last year’s lists.

Be inspired, and let the year begin…just when you’re ready!

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Dec
21

What place does indigenous education have in your school?

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Indigenous children of Peru with indigenous educators from Canada
Indigenous children of Peru with indigenous educators from Canada

Tamara Bell continues her review of the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference 2011 (WIPCE). See Tamara’s first post: Thank you WIPCE Peru!.

In this post, she reflects on the five key areas she took from the conference, and poses some challenging questions.

What value do you place on indigenous education?

I want you to ask yourself as an educator, what value or place does indigenous education have in your school or workplace?

WIPCE 2011 (World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education) had me asking myself this very question.

I know CORE Education understands the importance of indigenous education in the New Zealand education system. Their commitment and passion is obvious through their involvement in the PLD area of te reo Māori in English medium and Māori medium. Further proof of this is that they saw the value of supporting me to attend WIPCE this year.

Looking to our past to learn how to move forward: key learnings from WIPCE

What makes WIPCE so special is that it not only makes you look at your own context and beliefs, but it also presents you with new insights into indigenous education, with a stance of looking to our past to learn how to move into a brighter future.

The top five key learnings I have taken away from WIPCE are (and it was hard to limit it to 5):

  • The impact of colonisation is something tangible and real and must be identified and discussed openly before moving forward.
  • Until the New Zealand education system better addresses the misconceptions around the Treaty of Waitangi, and explicitly teaches our tamariki about its importance and relevance to our nation’s history, we will continue to have conflict and prejudice about its worth and value.
  • The struggles in equality for indigenous education are the same the world around.
  • Ko te reo te mauri o te mana tangata whenua – the language is the life-force of indigenous people. Indigenous education must be steeped in the language of the indigenous people.
  • We must work to revitalise the language if we are to revitalise the culture. Learning and speaking it only in the classroom is not enough, the language needs to be in the home. The answer to language revitalisation is intergeneration transmission.

The presentations I attended were inspiring, informative, and provocative. They forced me to ask myself those hard questions. I learned so much about what is happening in the area of indigenous education in places like Australia, Hawaii, Canada, Sweden and Peru, but, more specifically, what is happening in New Zealand. And like Pandora’s box, once it is opened, there is no going back.

Some important questions…

I had the chance to reflect on my experiences, knowledge and practice—have you?

I would like to know what is happening throughout our classrooms, with those of you at the chalkface, working with our tamariki everyday. What are you doing to meet the needs of your indigenous students?

 

Interview with Rawiri Waratini-Karena

In her review of WIPCE 2011, Tamara told the story of Rawiri Waratini-Karena. Two of Tamara’s five takeaways from WIPCE were the result of a session that Rawiri conducted at the conference:

  • The place of the Treaty of Waitangi: its meaning and purpose in New Zealand
  • The impact of colonisation here in New Zealand and across the world.

In this interview, Tamara asks Rawiri to express his views on these two issues.

 

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Dec
14

Ahoy me hearties! It’s a good day for findin’ treasure.

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Whangarei Primary treasure hunt team

The Story of ‘QR Codes Treasure Hunt’ at Whangarei Primary
by Tara and Tania

Planning: setting up the QR code treasure hunt with the senior students

There was great level of excitement at Whangarei Primary School at the end of Term 3, 2011 as the students shared their learning about QR Codes with the junior class. Lots of planning and initial work had gone in to this event which focused around the school inquiry on Pirates. You can read more about the planning in our earlier blogpost.

Preparation involved five groups of Room 23 students collaborating and designing a treasure hunt that would lead from clue-to-clue around the whole school. The end result, in true treasure hunt style, was to find some treasure, in this case chocolate money! The students planned their treasure hunt, wrote their clues, created their QR codes, walked around the school to ensure it all worked smoothly, and finally printed out their codes and laminated them ready for the big day.

The application: senior students run the event for the juniors

After morning tea, the junior class were led into Room 23 and greeted by Pirate Lass, Mrs Moore. Poppy, one of Room 23’s students, gave a brief introduction to QR codes and how to read them. Students were then supported in using iPod touches to scan the already prepared codes that revealed their names. As this was happening, another group of senior students were busy setting up the clues. Finally, the time arrived to used the skills we had gained and ‘go forth’ for the authentic experience of a true treasure hunt with a 21st century twist!

pirates seeking treasure modern-day style

Students were divided into small groups and led by senior students on their discovery. The treasure hunt began!

As groups arrived at the first clue, there was an alarming look from the senior students. What had gone wrong? The students suddenly realised that the sequencing of the clues wasn’t right. They had put the clues one step ahead. For example, the clue ‘Your ship just sank, swim to Monkey Island but watch out for sharks’ was at the monkey bars rather than at the clue before, which would have then led the group to the monkey bars.

When disaster strikes…

Problem solving in action and on the run! Students had different ways of overcoming this challenge, and were quick to solve their problems. One group sent a ‘runner’ off to move the clues as the students were moving from clue to clue. Others sat the students down, and took time to “get to know them better” as someone started the clue placement again! Great fitness as well as mathematical sequencing. As teachers, we noted the positive learning from this challenge, and while we hadn’t anticipated this particular aspect being a learning moment, it turned out to be highly beneficial for the senior students.

A successful treasure hunt ended with the students discovering a bounty of chocolate with lots of laughter and learning along the way.

All good learning requires reflection—juniors and seniors gathered around to discuss the highlights and challenges of the day. We were amazed at the feedback from the students—check out the short video below.

Reflections:

Highlights

  1. The excitement of the students as they found the clues
  2. The opportunity for junior and senior students to build relationships
  3. Senior students taking on a leadership role—overhead one senior student saying to junior, “Walk beside me, I’m supervising you!”
  4. Senior students acknowledge that they felt proud supporting the junior students and sharing their skills
  5. The respect the students showed for the equipment. One junior student, while running, fell and grazed both of his knees, HOWEVER, the teacher’s iPhone was held in the air and no damage sustained :-)
  6. Junior teacher reflected that it encouraged reluctant “reading out loud” readers to do so in a safe and different environment.
  7. The weaving of the key competencies throughout the treasure hunt—preparation and on the day.

Students’ ideas for next time

  1. Individual clues were not ‘tagged as such’ so, if more than one clue was in same place, it was hard to know which group it belonged to. Students’ ideas included having colour-coded clues or stickers that corresponded to each group.
  2. Ensure ‘the treasure’ for each group isn’t buried in different places, as there was confusion when groups chose the same ending spot. Whose treasure was whose?

Students tell the story

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Dec
08

A teacher’s tablet review: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

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Samsung tablet

At our ULearn conference in October, we had some of the latest mobile devices on display for teachers to try, along with a survey on teachers’ views on the increased use of mobile devices in schools. All those that completed the survey went into a draw to win a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. The lucky winner was Paul Elkerton, and we caught up with him a month later to find out how he was using his new device, both as a personal and a professional tool.

- Glen Davies, CORE Education’s IT Manager

In the weeks leading up to ULearn I had been considering finally purchasing an iPad or a tablet running the Android OS. I’ve had an iTouch for two years now, and have enjoyed using it for everything from personal note taking, diary, games, music, email and cooking (recommend Nigella Lawson’s app), to using it in the classroom with educational apps. However, I could see the benefit of a tablet with its bigger screen size, quick web surfing, book reading, and for sharing my photography.

I was pleased to see a number of trade stands at ULearn11 with iPads or tablets up for grabs in exchange for completing simple surveys. So, between browsing what innovations were on offer and enjoying the food, I completed surveys. Thanks to CORE Education, I won a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 at the end of the conference.

Here’s how I’ve found it…

Set up

The first thing I did when I finally got home was to start charging it and setting it up. It was a simple process requiring me to download Samsung’s Kies software to my laptop so I could sync my files and calendar. The tablet also connected to my wireless quickly and through the built-in browser I was soon able to access all my accounts such as Flickr, Facebook, Trade Me, YouTube, and even manage my photography webpage.

Personal use of the tablet

In terms of personal use, the Tablet has taken precedence over my iTouch.

Personal management

The Memo app is a great way to keep organised, and the calendar allows me to keep track of all important events, especially meetings at work.

Surfing the web and communication

Instant and easy web surfing without waiting for my laptop to boot has been enjoyable. Skype is great with the front facing webcam.

I have transferred my portfolio of photography to the tablet which has been a great tool for sharing with potential clients.

App shopping

The Android app market is easy to use, and those used to the iTunes store will quickly become familiar with it, although, I found it takes longer to find the appropriate app.

Reading

Recently, I downloaded the Amazon Kindle app, and was surprised by how easy and cheap it is to purchase books. And the reading experience is just as enjoyable as an actual book. —likewise, reading the paper through the NZ Herald app.

Games

In terms of games, I have become addicted to Angry Birds. And recently, my cat even started using my tablet to play CrazyCat, a simple app for cats. A mouse wanders around on the screen, and he gets points every time he swats at it.

Using the tablet and apps in the classroom

Around the classroom and at school the tablet is rarely sitting idle. I have it with me to quickly type notes and to add events and meetings to the calendar.

It is most popular during maths time, when children use it to play a range of Maths apps (Math Genius, Math Training, Math Magic, Math Ninja, Math Workout, Math Maniac) during their game rotation. During reading we have used the camera to record our plays so we could critique the expression in our voices and actions upon playback. The quality of the videos is impressive.

As the Android OS supports Flash Player, educational websites that don’t work on Apple devices work on the Samsung Tablet. Thanks to this we have been able to access our usual educational sites (BBC Bitesize and Snappy Words are great). We have used the StopWatch & Timer app for athletics, and recording the time of our model land yachts for maths so we can then work out their speed on the Calculator app.

Conclusions

Overall the tablet is an engaging educational tool.

I see potential in the Tablet for bringing devices into the classroom 1:1. However, I feel that a lack of a publishing programme such as Word, which our current Microsoft-based schools run, will for now hold the tablet back from widespread adoption. Our school will be looking for replacements of our net book pods next year, and the lack of this publishing option would see us steer away from tablets (unless we adopt Google Docs). Likewise, I can’t see the tablet replacing my teacher laptop yet, not until it can connect to and run our interactive whiteboards, or allow us to plan through a publishing programme.

Paul ElkermanPaul Elkerton is a Year 5/6 teacher, syndicate leader, and Director of Technology (ICT) at Stratford Primary. He is also an amateur photographer (www.pjelkerton.com).

 

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Dec
01

Personal professional learning — don’t leave it too late

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As we wind up the education year it is time to think about what is important to teachers in our schools. At this time of year with school reviews, reports and exams, it is difficult for teachers to lift their heads long enough to look beyond tomorrow and their well-deserved break.

time for professional learning

Change is happening so fast—but children adapt

Noted futurist and technical historian Dr Jack Bacon, who recently keynoted at the ULearn11 conference, spoke in his recent EDtalk about how, in the past, we could have expected two major shifts in our lifetimes, with plenty of time to adjust. Now, change is happening so quickly that we struggle to keep up. With the advent of the Web and mobile technologies, students are connected

24/7, and part of global communities at a very young age. He says in this time of constant change, teachers, schools and businesses are being forced into “broken-field running” scenarios, reacting moment-by-moment, constantly re-thinking and adjusting.

 

This has huge implications for the teachers in our schools and centres. How can they keep in touch with the changes happening around them when four year olds are more “expert “ in using the technology for learning and connecting, than teachers?

Personal professional learning vital—teachers must become self-motivated, life-long learners to keep up

Teachers will need to become self-motivated life-long learners in order to keep up with the students they are teaching.

Many teachers have already started this journey, undertaking their own study and developing their own online professional learning networks. Some schools are also running school-based professional learning sessions, or participating in staff retreats such as the Learning@School conference in January next year.

One thing is certain, there is no time to lose. Teachers have to start their personal professional learning journey soon, to ensure they continue to be effective learning facilitators, not only for our students’ sake, but also for their own sanity.

 

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Nov
25

MAKING A DIFFERENCE! Schools of the future take action today…

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vision and leadership

Creating schools of excellence requires a shared vision, clear action plans for what matters most, and continuous reflective practice.

Here’s some key ideas for developing momentum for whole school participation in reflective and developmental change:

Learning together

  • Culture – develop a culture that is based on relational trust and co-created vision. Build in opportunities to experiment and to fail safely.
  • Challenge – develop internal expertise to question beyond the known.
  • Connection – adapt any ideas to fit your context rather than adopt practices of others.
  • Conversation – develop a culture of inquiry, discussion and dialogue. Listen!
  • Collaboration – work as a team. Use external sources, conferences and online tools to connect you nationally and globally.

Taking action

  • Catalytic – focus on the one of two things that will make a difference to learners and drive that focus relentlessly.
  • Cunning plan – develop plans and set goals based on the shared vision and direction.
  • Coalition of leadership – grow others in the team to take action.
  • Commitment – once you have your plan keep focused AND be flexible enough to change the plan if needed. Develop systems to report on what matters.
  • Continuous reflection – provide professional learning and reflection opportunities,

Leadership takes courage. In an increasingly complex world, schools that wish to remain relevant to young learners of the future must move forward.

Cheryl DoigThis week’s post comes from guest blogger, Cheryl Doig of Think Beyond, whose tagline is “Challenging leaders to think for the future”. Cheryl is a recognised leader in education. She is managing director of both Think Beyond Ltd and ALPinE Leadership Ltd.

 

Check out our interview with Cheryl Doig

 

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Nov
10

Thank you WIPCE Peru! — a review of WIPCE 2011 Peru

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Hola, tēnā koutou katoa!

Thank you WIPCE! Thanks for giving indigenous education a global stage and audience!

WIPCE 2011 Peru

World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education, this year in Peru

This August, with the much-appreciated support from CORE Education, I was lucky enough to travel to Cusco, Peru to be part of WIPCE 2011 (World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education).

        Tamara with new friends made at WIPCE 2011, Peru:
Tamara and new friends at Peru WIPCE 2011

This amazing three-yearly conference brings together some of the world’s leading indigenous organisations, students, academics, and professionals to share their stories and promote best practice for the development of programmes for indigenous peoples of the world.

WIPCE has been running for 24 years, but WIPCE Peru was the first time a non-English speaking country has hosted the conference. As you can imagine, this brought several problems. It’s true, the organisation and communication could have been better, however, the local people and the city of Cusco made up for any frustrations we may have had.

My colleague Dee Reid and I had the honour of presenting on our work Te Manawa Pou, an online te reo Māori programme for teachers in English medium schools Years 0–8. We were thrilled at the opportunity to share our methodology and experiences at an international level. We were rapt at the interest in our programme—many seeing our model as something that could easily be modified and implemented in any country, for any indigenous language worldwide.

In one word: whanaungatanga

A colleague of mine asked me to sum up WIPCE in one word, which I thought was impossible. But when he pushed me for an answer, I had to say ‘whanaungatanga’.

This is the Māori concept of a relationship based on shared experiences and working together. My professional and personal learning was immense, and I have now established numerous professional networks. But more importantly, I have made great friends from all corners of the world—all of them with a passion for and commitment to indigenous education, and all doing their best to make a difference.

Whanaungatanga is a concept that we should all take the time to explore. I believe it impacts on us every day. It influences where we live, where we work, what we like to do socially, and most importantly, what we learn. Those around us—those with whom we share relationships—are shaping who we are.

The story of Rawiri Waratini-Karena

Tamara, Rawiri, Luana at WIPCE Tamara (left), Rawiri (centre), Tamara’s sister, Luana (right)

One particularly moving WIPCE workshop I attended was by David (Rawiri) Waratini-Karena.

Part of his presentation was sharing his family history. He went back through four generations of his whānau, and his story of loss of language, loss of culture, the impact of violence, gangs, drug and alcohol abuse on his whānau, moved me to tears. The sadness of what his whānau had endured and suffered resonated greatly with me, as it is a common story for many Māori in Aotearoa. However, what brought home the inspiring impact of whanaungatanga is the path Rawiri is on now. Through his professional and personal relationships, coupled with his motivation and belief in himself, he has broken that pattern. He is now a respected and inspiring lecturer at WinTec, currently working towards his PhD, and, thanks to WIPCE, someone who is now a much-loved friend. Whanaugatanga in action!

Can you see whanaungatanga in your life?

Can you think of an example of whanaungatanga in your professional or personal life that has had a profound impact on you? Is there something that has shifted your thinking, or even changed your life pathway somehow? Has there been a time where you may have been the one to form a relationship that has impacted on someone else in that way?

Leave us a comment below and share your story in the true spirit of whanaungatanga, and build relationships so we all may grow.

 

This was a trip of a lifetime. Thank you to CORE for allowing me this opportunity, and thank you to the people of Peru. Ngā mihi nui ki te tangata whenua o Peru me te rōpu CORE hoki. Nei te mihi aroha ki āku hoa hou ki te whenua whānui. I am a WIPCE fan for life, and I will definitely see you all again in Hawaii for WIPCE 2014!

And there’s more to come…

Tamara will follow up this review with a post about indigenous education. She hopes to include a video interview with the above-mentioned Rawiri Waratini-Karena.

 

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Nov
03

iPad review: could the iPad replace a teacher’s laptop?

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iPad to replace laptops?

With the rise in mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones we wanted to see if a teacher could manage with just an iPad as their only device for the duration of one of our professional development conferences. Would it provide the full range of functionality the teacher needed for consuming and creating content, or would the teacher have to reach for his or her laptop when it came to the heavy work.

We put a tweet out for a willing teacher that did not own an iPad, but would be willing to try putting aside their laptop and using an iPad for the full three days at Ulearn11. Tracy Tindle (@CrimsonNZ) stepped up to the mark, and here is how she found it.

- Glen Davies, CORE Education’s IT Manager

Arriving at ULearn, I was excited to get my hands on the iPad! I had some experience with Apple products, being an iPhone owner, and, of course, having played with iPads at electronic stores. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the device other than that I hoped I could learn as much as I could, and gain some insight into how I could use this for teaching my digital class next year. I had brought my laptop with me in case the iPad didn’t do what I needed it to do. It turned out the only thing I ever used my laptop for over the whole 3 days was to sync to my iTunes account.

The iPad was better than I expected. I found the keyboard so easy to use, and loved the time saving predictive text function. Typing was so much easier on the iPad as I didn’t end up hitting other keys by mistake, which sometimes happens on a normal keyboard. The screen size was great, and there was no trouble using both hands to type.

I was able to connect easily to the internet, even to the dreadful third party Wi-Fi my hostel offered. I could also swap in and out of different Wi-Fi networks simply and quickly. There was no trouble connecting to my school webmail accounts or to any websites I needed for breakouts. I could also access my Google Docs account easily, but I did have trouble enabling the editing options, which seemed to be only available to desktop/laptop users, but that could simply have been my inexperience.

I was lucky enough to go to the fantastic iPad App Harvest breakout with Paula Jamieson, and got some fantastic app suggestions from there. One of the best suggestions I had was to get the Appshopper app, which allows you to search for free and discounted apps. Really handy to have, and I got a lot of great free apps from there in just one day.

Other apps I found which I have really liked were:

  • Tour Wrist - a great app for exploring places and sights around the world,
  • Prezi Viewer - to view Prezi presentations (my class uses Prezi a lot)- the only downside to this app is that you could not edit a Prezi.
  • Elementals — was a great chemistry elements app I found free through App Shopper which is easy to use and interactive.
  • WordPress –I also use the WordPress app a lot to update our class blog, and loved the layout and improvements in the iPad version. We will be continuing to use this next year and it will be great for students to use to update their own blogs.
  • Storyform, Strip Design, Voicethread, Rocket Math, Word Bubble and Storie are also some favourites.

Using the iPad was such a highlight for me, and having that time to experiment and play around with it was great. I have come away from the whole experience with some fantastic ideas for my 1:1 iPad class next year, as well some great apps to use for different ability levels right across the curriculum. We have even decided to just use the built in keyboard the iPad has rather than buy separate ones for each of the kids.

A huge thanks to Glen and the team at CORE Education for letting me have the opportunity. I was very sad to have to give it back and can’t wait to get my own one in the next few weeks!

Tracy TindleTracy Tindle (@CrimsonNZ) is a year 7/8 teacher at Wellsford School. She is an ICT enthusiast, a recent Apple convert, and an e-book fan.

 

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Oct
27

A worthwhile legacy of Rugby World Cup fever?

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Rugby World Cup 2011

What an amazing six weeks. The whole nation has been captivated by a sport that’s almost synonymous with the nation And what an outcome—just look at how the nation has responded to that! What a unifying event this Rugby World Cup has been.

Rugby World Cup- All Blacks projects

The effects of the Rugby World Cup tournament have been strongly evident in Christchurch. While tourists haven’t swelled the streets, Rugby World Cup fever has infiltrated Christchurch early childhood environments across the city. Our youngest citizens are keenly engaged in all the areas of learning that having the Rugby World Cup in Aotearoa New Zealand has afforded them.

The moment you set foot in the door of Christchurch ECE services you can be met by amazing displays of children’s ‘Rugby World Cup’ investigations. In ECE centres, this has taken them on various learning journeys such as:

  • discovering the flag for each country
  • learning the greeting in each country’s language
  • learning the rules for playing rugby, practicing the ‘crouch, touch, pause, engage’ routine
  • finding out about players from their local area and from other countries
  • associating a colour with each country
  • learning the New Zealand and other national anthems

…and the list goes on. There is an intense sense of national pride and excitement, when children begin to tell you what they have been doing.

A couple of weeks back, I was in a centre in Invercargill where I became totally mesmerised as the children and teachers joined together in a circle to sing the New Zealand national anthem. There was a culturally diverse mix of children and teachers, some of whom were New Zealand born, and others recent immigrants. The influence of culture was evident in siva and kanikani movements as children rhythmically responded to the music. The anthem was sung with such passion, and most competently in both Māori and English. I listened as one 3-year-old Pakeha girl used harmony as the song ended. Before I left, I commented to the supervisor about how I was emotionally touched with this very moving rendition of our Anthem.

The supervisor shared with me how introducing the national anthem had come about, and it had nothing to do with the rugby world cup. “It was after the earthquakes’ she said, ‘ we heard about the looting.’ The teaching team was very disturbed to think that anyone would even consider looting from people who had just experienced such a devastating event in their lives. This team of teachers looked to find a way to contribute toward strengthening a sense of community and responsibility for children. Using the national anthem was their way of promoting unity in Aotearoa, of giving children a sense of pride in ‘our place’ regardless of who they are or where they came from. The supervisor commented, ‘This is all about unity. We all live in Aotearoa and this anthem is a special song that belongs to each and everyone of us.’

So, to all ECE services and other education settings in Aotearoa, now that the Rugby World Cup is over:

  • Will your children move on to other things?
  • Will singing the New Zealand national anthem become something you ‘did last month?’
  • Will your children only ever associate the national anthem with rugby?

I think we could learn a lot from this small ECE centre tucked away at the bottom of our country.

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Oct
21

Safe and sound? | Strategies for cybersafety

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cyberbullying

Educators, parents and community groups alike, are becoming increasingly aware of the issues associated with digital citizenship and cybersafety. Some are observing a growing chasm between what we aspire to and what our students actually do.

Online conversations within the secondary school sector have identified specific issues around cyberbullying and the effective use of Facebook. In addition, there is the challenge of resonding to inappropriate websites that are designed to ridicule and defame.

Let’s consider issues related to cyberbullying, and managing inappropriate content…

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying or digital disrespect is identified as a growing problem amongst our young people. Compounding the issue is that some young people don’t see this as anything serious as this article from ED Week highlights. There are some members of the younger generation who yearn for their 15 minutes of fame and who put themselves ‘out there’ in pursuit of recognition – even if this means beings noticed for the most adverse, undesirable behavior.

A recent thread in the  VLN Groups asks, How can we help students use social media appropriately — and why?  It comes down to, says Karen Melhuish, “how well students are prepared to manage themselves with responsibility and integrity online”. It’s about wanting our young people to be good digital citizens – individuals who have the moral and ethical judgment to make the right decisions when engaging online.

Some suggested strategies:

Creating and accessing questionable material online

As our young people get older, they are considerably more influenced by their peers. This includes how they interact and communicate online. “That’s why, rather than trying to put barriers on what kids can do with technology…we need for them to discuss possible problems and consequences with their peers and with adults who will encourage positive behavior”. (Power to Learn life)

Some suggested strategies:

  • Explore with your students the long-term implications of a digital footprint and help them make a personal discovery about whee they are online. Check out these resources on YouTube and the Innovative Educator blog.
  • Discuss the consequences for a worse-case scenario. If our young people see this merely as a joke, then it’s our job to convince them otherwise. Have a look at this relevant article in ED Week and this YouTube video.
  • Address the cause for the behaviour. As Michele Martin writes in, Negative Online Behavior is a Product of Culture, Not Your Social Media Tools: What I’m Learning from the Work Literacy Course the root of the problem may be more about the culture of the community and there needs to be a strategy or, “plan for dealing with this.”
  • Involve everyone (students, parents, educators) from policy through to implementation. Everyone wants the best for our young people. After all, we want them to make the most of the life – in the safest possible way.

Other resources include:

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