tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45107340738397823862024-02-19T17:14:47.504-08:00Womble's RamblingsMary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-73781205063354306312014-08-12T03:09:00.000-07:002014-08-12T03:09:01.297-07:00Term 3 2014 - Next steps (or where to next?)<br />
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Agenda for Term 3</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This term so far has been a hectic one for me so far (it is only week 3). I have to work extremely hard to balance all my jobs at school (classroom teacher; head of department; colleague; Academic Director - in charge of managing student progress; option evenings; option choice stuff etc); in my other roles (as Chairperson of the Auckland Geography Teachers Association and as a committee member in the Women in Educational Leadership organisation); my role as a Mum - to my daughter in year10/11 and a son who is learning how to be an adult - has completed his Masters degree and he is mustering up the courage to apply for his first "real job". (this has taken since February!!!); wife and friend. [My poor friends know that we only really catch up every ten weeks or so - and they always know when I am available it is because it is a "break" for me.]</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Highlights so far</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The highlight of the term so far as been attending the #edchatnz inaugural conference last weekend and presenting at the conference was nerve wracking as I tried to prepare for it in the busyness of life. I spoke about an experiment I have done with my Year 13s - you can find my presentation <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lcfXJjfOn3uJe-Rq54XWLCfSji_-lTy38YN5UrxaGHw/edit#slide=id.p14">here</a>. I thought no one would come to my talk but actually there were lots of people there which was great and they all made me feel really comfortable - for some amazing reason I managed to speak for about 40-45 minutes then we had a nice 20 minute chat at the end with questions and comments. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayeMjCq8kguUjdJQ_vqLyJKYMxI3ZTGAJTWgCfTa-MMUsE93j-m-vO2-sT52QWLdlrLS1nuTaS_FjINeXQcMW7nziTXgHmIMKFW1rg9l90ypJ-cy-Iz0C0RpMzDdgSWRwh5vrs5N2W3c/s1600/Hopper-Quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayeMjCq8kguUjdJQ_vqLyJKYMxI3ZTGAJTWgCfTa-MMUsE93j-m-vO2-sT52QWLdlrLS1nuTaS_FjINeXQcMW7nziTXgHmIMKFW1rg9l90ypJ-cy-Iz0C0RpMzDdgSWRwh5vrs5N2W3c/s1600/Hopper-Quote.jpg" height="202" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This quote was something that drove my experiment (Grace Hopper was an amazing woman). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like doing things differently in my classroom and have always tried experiments but after the conference I now have lots of more things to try especially SOLO.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next two weeks will be so hectic </span></h3>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - 12 major things to keep me out of trouble</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the next two weeks, these are some of things I have to do:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Run the Curriculum Evening tomorrow night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Co-ordinate and run the AGTA scholarship workshop next week</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Present at the AGTA course - how to get Excellence - I am presenting at this (not sure what to say yet!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Take the year 13s out on the Muriwai field trip</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Take a trip with my IB students to the Domain - this will mean a coffee stop :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Host the WIEL seminar at St Cuthberts College in a few weeks </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Take a field trip to the city with year 12</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Start and finish one unit of work for both Year 12 and 13.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. Write an IB exam</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. Mark an IB extended essay - 4000 words</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11. Mark two lots of internals (Year 11 and 12)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12. Be taxi for my daughter for the Big Sing Finale - in the city for three days</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best part of all of this is that the month finishes for me with a girls weekend with four of my oldest friends - walking along the beach, soaking in a spa pool and enjoying great music, food and drinks. What a treat that will be!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kinda hoping it will look like this.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOLKvfP8KLTz3wXuMBZIoFzwibKMLQ3_xPr5J0X8-IteazaTHUIyVXAXWzbCbj09QFb6PiUfbpbL5ZB72ucxB36TnLeKOAkVZPLLn2dH-RgTXr0fO1zZM9qnZ-Hb9XYFX3aSgJMCCZV8/s1600/Tawharanui-beach.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOLKvfP8KLTz3wXuMBZIoFzwibKMLQ3_xPr5J0X8-IteazaTHUIyVXAXWzbCbj09QFb6PiUfbpbL5ZB72ucxB36TnLeKOAkVZPLLn2dH-RgTXr0fO1zZM9qnZ-Hb9XYFX3aSgJMCCZV8/s1600/Tawharanui-beach.jpeg" height="287" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But most likely it will be like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6vQH1ETRwtQcFoPmSRevI-HG-8XgKuzXlfh3rNRVa0dm0lULD9jN8jLJiTQ4AgHYlqqMs0FZsif6zczCE-CqUE9Qai6touNgyVA2wlUkaOQhLTPPu6j7w4N2qeQLB6l3ljYVzFD4CwU/s1600/field+065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6vQH1ETRwtQcFoPmSRevI-HG-8XgKuzXlfh3rNRVa0dm0lULD9jN8jLJiTQ4AgHYlqqMs0FZsif6zczCE-CqUE9Qai6touNgyVA2wlUkaOQhLTPPu6j7w4N2qeQLB6l3ljYVzFD4CwU/s1600/field+065.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have a good few weeks! </span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-58419947183416482852014-08-12T01:38:00.002-07:002014-08-12T01:38:34.710-07:00#edchatnz Conference - Blogging Meme<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 1.4; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has been over three years since I have used this blog and I had only a few posts on it then as well. I am not sure if this is my thing but have come to realise that posts don't have to be long and boring. They can be very short and thought provoking - so below please find my thoughts from the recent </span><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">inaugural</span><span style="line-height: 1.4; white-space: pre-wrap;"> #edchatnz conference.</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you get included in the blogging meme: copy/paste the questions and instructions into your own blog then fill out your own answers. Share on twitter tagging 5 friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. How did you attend the #Edchatnz Conference? (Face 2 Face, followed online or didn't)</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I attended the conference face to face for most of Friday and all of Saturday.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I even was brave enough to do a presentation on Saturday morning - had to give up attending a party/dinner/drinks on Friday evening so I could tidy up my presentation. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. How many others attended from your school or organisation?</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 20.020000457763672px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Six of us came - me and @teachertomasnz @muddicea @FelixPhysix @deblean @klaris1904 and seven if we count @AndreaHenson_nz (ex SCC and now teacher extra-ordinarie) at HPSS.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 20.020000457763672px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think @Ms_Beaker would have loved it too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3859999656677247; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.How many #Edchatnz challenges did you complete?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3859999656677247; white-space: pre-wrap;">I did the new to twitter challenges (not purposely I will admit) - sorry @GeoMouldey </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3859999656677247; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a class="g-profile" data-gapiattached="true" data-gapiscan="true" data-onload="true" href="https://plus.google.com/113804260872922892227" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3859999656677247; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">+Steve Mouldey</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3859999656677247; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3859999656677247; white-space: pre-wrap;">; didn't take any photos but was in a few others took.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.3859999656677247; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, I wanted to do these things but forgot all about it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.3859999656677247; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I even had planned to say the word "dance" in my presentation but don't know if I did - I certainly planned to.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Who are 3 people that you connected with and what did you learn from them?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a very old connection - Pam Hook @arti_choke - well long story (she was my old Biology teacher); a colleague at SCC and now SOLO expert. I have always wanted to learn more about SOLO and I am so glad I did - I have lots to learn and do with my classes - so interesting.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">- an old connection - Steve Bargh from NZQA - I went to his talk on digitalising external exams - interesting to hear about NZQA's proposals - my thought is - they can't come soon enough.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">- and two new connections - Megan Peterson from HPSS - loved her talk! and Sonya who I met last week at the teachMeet Geo - where I was the twitter broadcaster. That was cool.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. What session are you gutted that you missed?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wanted to go to the un-conference and to many others but had to go back to work and gave a presentation back to some staff which meant that I didn't see many on Friday. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Who is one person that you would like to have taken to Edchatnz and what key thing would they have learned? </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyone who "scoffs" about twitter and thinks it is ridiculous! The key thing that they would have learnt is that the connections are awesome - I feel like I know so many people even though I have not really met them. This is weird. And they would have learnt that it is not like FB. (although a bit like FB today with the passing of Robin Williams - my twitter and FB feeds are full of tributes to this awesome man).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRUGn1ugA2tirpaOwGXIfiGLd7tVSy3dsQ6xfaRYDbsNTDBQIDvVSKUTn0FynohVbCgCpLpJTqOXkR5PmjYzxccZy480FPmp8IhcMJXWORE7oSX4HK4oniZmy3XO_Vf1wkbdRxFqF4YF0/s1600/robin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRUGn1ugA2tirpaOwGXIfiGLd7tVSy3dsQ6xfaRYDbsNTDBQIDvVSKUTn0FynohVbCgCpLpJTqOXkR5PmjYzxccZy480FPmp8IhcMJXWORE7oSX4HK4oniZmy3XO_Vf1wkbdRxFqF4YF0/s1600/robin.jpg" height="292" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And actually people on twitter don't make you feel alone.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Is there a person you didn’t get to meet/chat with (F2F/online) that you wished you had? Why?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heaps - such a pity - next time though. :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did love how we introduced ourselves by our twitter name.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. What is the next book you are going to read and why? </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333;">Anything on SOLO I can get my hands on - actually have read one already that I had at home in the office - </span></span>SOLO Taxonomy: A Guide for Schools. Planning for Differentiation - interesting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, I plan to read Key Competencies for the Future - must get my hands on one of these. (just have to get the Curriculum Information evening out of the way now and then I can rethink my teaching!)</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. What is one thing you plan to do to continue the Education Revolution you learnt about at #EdchatNZ?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reading</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Staying connected with others</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sharing the power of twitter with everyone</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Giving power of learning to the students even more than I have done in the past</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trying the idea of different assessments for different students (I learnt this from Megan @Mrsmeganpete</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Loving learning for myself and sharing this with the students I teach.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 18.01799964904785px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(I can't read - this is more than one)</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. Will you take a risk and hand your students a blank canvas?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always have and always will until I stop teaching.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who will I tag with this meme: </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #66757f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">@emmaaotearoa</span></div>
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<span style="color: #66757f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">@muddicea</span></div>
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<span style="color: #66757f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">@deblean</span></div>
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<span style="color: #66757f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">@klaris1904</span></div>
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<span style="color: #66757f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">@teacherthomasnz</span></div>
Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-42352682637388122402011-04-28T00:01:00.000-07:002011-04-28T00:04:57.265-07:00More fun... videos I love.Ice Age - teaching us about Plate tectonics. Wil use this in my class somehow.....<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bdeb7qGSnP4" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />And this is fun - how could I use this in my class?<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0TJ8tiGEsGM" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe>Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-50494541665679686642011-04-27T03:37:00.001-07:002011-04-27T03:39:34.314-07:00The Marshmallow ChallengeI think I will start this term off with the Marshmallow challenge - getting the students working together.<br /><br />Looks like heaps of fun.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/H0_yKBitO8M" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="450"></iframe>Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-23398959609593500062011-04-27T02:00:00.000-07:002011-04-27T02:32:51.346-07:00Families and HolidaysOne of the best parts of being a teacher is the time we have (about every ten weeks or so) to reflect and relax.<br /><br />I find these breaks so very necessary as a teacher. For me it is a time to sleep in; catch up on marking I did not manage to do during the last few weeks of term; as a geography teacher do some reconnaisance for field trips; watch a fe clips on Youtube (for my classes, PD and enjoyment :)) and it is a time to <span style="font-weight: bold;">reflect on how things went and most importantly what I do do to make it work even better next term</span>.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1BCGySrHabTqSVm0znRjnFFQLG9uNGb2GTeGvVcVM3wOj_-QEEH_Hh83TTEzNYjOwFkSRTKQC9NpN0ZGKs9UoJXL8-AYzhscpGX31m7Kr_AsA0MNS0HOU24jRty11AMwNv-U1IwBoJo/s1600/6_warning-challenges.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1BCGySrHabTqSVm0znRjnFFQLG9uNGb2GTeGvVcVM3wOj_-QEEH_Hh83TTEzNYjOwFkSRTKQC9NpN0ZGKs9UoJXL8-AYzhscpGX31m7Kr_AsA0MNS0HOU24jRty11AMwNv-U1IwBoJo/s320/6_warning-challenges.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600189655091586898" border="0" /></a><br />These holidays there has been a bit of all of that and especially lots of reflection. One of my classes has a wide range of abilities and the challenge is always to challenge the students who "get it" quickly and at the same time help those who take a little longer to "get it".<br /><br />The class I am thinking about are Year 13 Geography students and we are studying coastal processes at Muriwai beach on the west coast of NZ (40km from Auckland city). I have decided to differentiate much more and give them a bit more independence with their learning. I hope that they will enjoy the change in the learning environment and that the students will take responsibility for their own learning rather than relying on me for everything. I will give them choice as well as setting examination type tasks for them to complete - will keep you posted on how this goes. I have differentiated the learning with younger students but have never really been brave enough to do this with this age group as it is their last year of school and so much hangs on their results that they get at the end of the year.<br /><br />Will keep you posted on how this goes.Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-82340764630406064842011-04-25T13:10:00.000-07:002011-04-25T16:02:41.223-07:00This is a very interesting clip from Sugata Mitra on letting students research for themselves.<br /><br /><object height="326" width="446"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/SugataMitra_2010G-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/SugataMitra-2010G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=949&lang=&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education;year=2010;theme=how_the_mind_works;theme=rethinking_poverty;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2010;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=unconventional_explanations;event=Unconventional+Explanations;tag=Technology;tag=children;tag=development;tag=education;tag=third+world;tag=web;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;"><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/SugataMitra_2010G-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/SugataMitra-2010G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=949&lang=&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education;year=2010;theme=how_the_mind_works;theme=rethinking_poverty;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2010;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=unconventional_explanations;event=Unconventional+Explanations;tag=Technology;tag=children;tag=development;tag=education;tag=third+world;tag=web;" height="326" width="446"></embed></object><br /><br />What do you think?<br /><br />Thanks John Sayers. :)Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-46402378157991656232011-04-25T01:18:00.001-07:002011-04-25T02:15:46.744-07:00ANZAC Day 2011Another ANZAC Day -<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">On 25 April 1915, eight months into the First World War, Allied soldiers landed on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula. This was Turkish territory that formed part of Germany's ally, the Ottoman Empire. The troops were there as part of a plan to open the Dardanelles Strait to the Allied fleets, allowing them to threaten the Ottoman capital Constantinople (now Istanbul) and, it was hoped, force a Turkish surrender. The Allied forces encountered unexpectedly strong </span><span style="font-style: italic;">resistance from the Turks, and both sides suffered enormous loss of life.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">The forces from New Zealand and Australia, fighting as part of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), played an important part in the Gallipoli campaign. At its beginning, people at home greeted with excitement the news that our soldiers were at last fully engaged in the war. New Zealand soldiers distinguished themselves with their courage and skill, establishing an enduring bond with the Australians they fought alongside.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.anzac.govt.nz/significance/index.html">http://www.anzac.govt.nz/significance/index.html</a><br /><br />It is interesting now how many people <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10721458">go out to celebrate ANZAC day</a> nowadays compared to when I was a child. I don't remember it being very important when I was ten whereas my daughter aged 11 has been to at least seven ANZAC services (not today though as we all have colds and felt miserable and the rain did not help).<br /><br />I am thinking that this is an excellent topic for us to teach at school - not the history stuff - although this is very important but the issues affecting us now, such as:<br />- where are the poppies made NZ vs China - what are the issues?<br />- is war a solution to a problem?<br />- should we have a holiday for ANZAC day - why or why not?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipk8_H_a00-tHipVKQV0PbvLxJoNYUqexmMRiKkMNgD8Q5tGcQvgpl8HCfBsqoGH4Igvuf-NN2Ddk6zx0P7r5j7kDbXGuFyyg8S31vkWLPgVLkDzpcH2S8XdRyg3cjIBPaiMyRB8Kkiyo/s1600/redpoppy.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 158px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipk8_H_a00-tHipVKQV0PbvLxJoNYUqexmMRiKkMNgD8Q5tGcQvgpl8HCfBsqoGH4Igvuf-NN2Ddk6zx0P7r5j7kDbXGuFyyg8S31vkWLPgVLkDzpcH2S8XdRyg3cjIBPaiMyRB8Kkiyo/s320/redpoppy.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599447172515215698" border="0" /></a><br />- why particular places or surroundings such as Gallipoli or other major locations where New Zealanders have fought are significant to people.<br /><br />Any of these ideas would be great to do with classes. Maybe they could have an online debate; create a blog from a particular perspective then others could comment on this; maybe they could create a podcast or make a tv documentary on their chosen topic; Perhaps they could put themselves in someone elses shoes and argue from their point of view. What other ideas are there?Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-56854444488277058312011-04-24T14:16:00.000-07:002011-04-24T15:55:39.870-07:00Professional development<span style="font-weight: bold;">Professional development - what is it?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Professional development refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal </span>and career advancement. Professional development encompasses all types of facilitated learning opportunities, ranging from college degrees to formal coursework, conferences and informal <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensive and collaborative, ideally incorporating an evaluative stage </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> There are a variety of approaches to professional development, including consultation, coaching, </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">lesson study, mentoring, reflective supervision and technical assistance</span>.
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<br />It is the subject of much debate and is difficult to get the balance just right. Is it something you do at a particular time in a particular place? Is it something that you can do on your own? Can you do it at home?
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<br />Can you count reading a blog from someone you admire as PD? I do. I read many blogs and articles on the internet and it is where I get most of my new teaching ideas.
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<br />Andrew Churches from Kristin School on the North Shore is someone I admire and whose work on his <a href="http://edorigami.edublogs.org/">blog</a> is always interesting and thought provoking. I've heard him speak about technology in schools and he is marvellous. He and I were nominated as Microsoft Distinguished Teachers here in NZ a few years ago. Neither of us won but he sure should have. His interest and involvement in ICT is impressive and he is someone whose presentation at a Conference I would not miss.
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<br />I have recently used his Blooms Digital Taxonomy which has been very useful for planning tasks for students. I have found reading his stuff on this taxonomy excellent PD.
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<br />The highest order tasks "creating" are some of the hardest to do especially when you are teaching students in their last year of school. In many ways, these students are reluctant to do things like this, as they think it is a waste of time when they should be learning things "off by heart" for their exams. I continue to perserve however.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIwqZS3Kd7hVNpW_IiAsOhudgMVmtdRZgH9IGEIM8ugSIBKldDIhpnKdFdcY2KBwutRfz0tCjdnWJHHVTnY9iHgC9tZA7Krc8s6y404pTsSiVNdDh907wop4_V3hTXUQ6lGVnL4OwSjQ/s1600/Blooms_Digital_Taxonomy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIwqZS3Kd7hVNpW_IiAsOhudgMVmtdRZgH9IGEIM8ugSIBKldDIhpnKdFdcY2KBwutRfz0tCjdnWJHHVTnY9iHgC9tZA7Krc8s6y404pTsSiVNdDh907wop4_V3hTXUQ6lGVnL4OwSjQ/s320/Blooms_Digital_Taxonomy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599273953155749762" border="0" /></a>
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mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1027"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment-->Here is some information taken directly (with some deletions as I am applying it to my classroom and those in my faculty) from Andrew's site on the taxonomy - I am really interested and hope to get my students beyond the simple lower order thinking skills to the HOTS.
<br />
<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Remembering</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >This element of the taxonomy does infer the retrieval of material. This is a key element given the growth in knowledge and information.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >The digital additions and their explanations are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm; font-style: italic;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Bullet pointing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – This is analogous to listing but in a digital format.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Highlighting</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – This is a key element of most productivity suites; encouraging students to pick out and highlight key words and phrases is a technique for recall.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Bookmarking or favorite-ing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – this is where the students mark for later use web sites, resources and files. Students can then organise these.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Social networking</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – this is where people develop networks of friends and associates. It forges and creates links between different people. Like social bookmarks (see below) a social network can form a key element of collaborating and networking.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:formulas> <v:path extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" connecttype="rect"> <o:lock ext="edit" aspectratio="t"> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_9" spid="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" style="'position:absolute;left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:306pt;"> <v:imagedata src="file://localhost/Users/maryr/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0clip_image001.png" title=""> <v:textbox style="'mso-rotate-with-shape:t'/"> <w:wrap type="square"> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Social bookmarking</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – this is an online version of local bookmarking or favorites, It is more advanced because you can draw on others' bookmarks and tags. While higher order thinking skills like collaborating and sharing, can and do make use of these skills, this is its simplest form - a simple list of sites saved to an online format rather than locally to the machine.</span><span style="font-size:9pt;"> </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Searching or "Googling"</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > - Search engines are now key elements of students' research. At its simplest the student is just entering a key word or phrase into the basic entry pane of the search engine. This skill does not refine the search beyond the key word or term.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm 0.1pt 36pt; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 675px; font-style: italic; height: 70px;" border="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0cm; background: rgb(204, 204, 204) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; width: 417.45pt; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" width="417"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Key Terms - Remembering:</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Recognizing, listing, describing, identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding, Bullet pointing, highlighting, bookmarking, social networking, Social bookmarking, favorite-ing/local bookmarking, Searching, Googling.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <b style="font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >
<br /></span></b> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Understanding</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >The digital additions and their explanations are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm; font-style: italic;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Advanced and Boolean Searching</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – This is a progression from the previous category. Students require a greater depth of understanding to be able to create, modify and refine searches to suit their search needs.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Blog Journaling</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – This is the simplest of the uses for a blog, where a student simply "talks" "writes" or "types" a daily- or task-specific journal. This shows a basic understanding of the activity reported upon. The blog can be used to develop higher level thinking when used for discussion and collaboration.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Twittering</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – The Twitter site's fundamental question is "what are you doing?" This can be, in its most simplistic form, a one or two word answer, but when developed this is a tool that lends itself to developing understanding and potentially starting collaboration.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Categorizing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – digital classification - organizing and classifying files, web sites and materials using folders etc.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Commenting and annotating</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – a variety of tools exist that allow the user to comment and annotate on web pages, .pdf files and other documents. The user is developing understanding by simply commenting on the pages. This is analogous with writing notes on hand outs, but is potentially more powerful as you can link and index these.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Subscribing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – Subscription takes bookmarking in its various forms and simplistic reading one level further. The act of subscription by itself does not show or develop understanding but often the process of reading and revisiting the subscribed-to feeds leads to greater understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm 0.1pt 36pt; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 675px; font-style: italic; height: 70px;" border="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0cm; background: rgb(204, 204, 204) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; width: 417.45pt; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" width="417"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Key Terms - Understanding:</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Interpreting, Summarizing, inferring, paraphrasing, classifying, comparing, explaining, exemplifying, Advanced searching, Boolean searching, blog journaling, twittering, categorising and tagging, commenting, annotating, subscribing.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Applying</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >The digital additions and their justifications are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm; font-style: italic;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Playing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – The increasing emergence of games as a mode of education leads to the inclusion of this term in the list. Students who successfully play or operate a game are showing understanding of process and task and application of skills.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Uploading and Sharing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > - uploading materials to websites and the sharing of materials via sites like flickr etc. This is a simple form of collaboration, a higher order thinking skill.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Editing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – With most media, editing is a process or a procedure that the editor employs. <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm 0.1pt 36pt; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 678px; font-style: italic; height: 54px;" border="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0cm; background: rgb(204, 204, 204) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; width: 410.35pt; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" width="410"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Key Terms - Applying:</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Implementing, carrying out, using, executing, running, loading, playing, operating, uploading, sharing, editing.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Analysing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >The digital additions and their explanations are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm; font-style: italic;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ></span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Linking</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – this is establishing and building links within and outside of documents and web pages.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Validating</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – With the wealth of information available to students combined with the lack of authentication of data, students of today and tomorrow must be able to validate the veracity of their information sources. To do this they must be able to analyse the data sources and make judgements based on these.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Tagging</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – This is organising, structuring and attributing online data, meta-tagging web pages etc. Students need to be able understand and analyse the content of the pages to be able to tag it.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm 0.1pt 36pt; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 678px; font-style: italic; height: 54px;" border="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0cm; background: rgb(204, 204, 204) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; width: 417.45pt; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" width="417"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Key Terms - Analysing:</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Comparing, organising, deconstructing, Attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, integrating, Mashing, linking, reverse-engineering, cracking, mind-mapping, validating, tagging.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Evaluating</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >The digital additions and their explanations are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm; font-style: italic;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Blog/vlog commenting and reflecting</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – Constructive criticism and reflective practice are often facilitated by the use of blogs and video blogs. Students commenting and replying to postings have to evaluate the material in context and reply.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Posting</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – posting comments to blogs, discussion boards, threaded discussions. These are increasingly common elements of students' daily practice. Good postings like good comments, are not simple one-line answers but rather are structured and constructed to evaluate the topic or concept.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Moderating</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – This is high level evaluation; the moderator must be able to evaluate a posting or comment from a variety of perspectives, assessing its worth, value and appropriateness.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Collaborating and networking</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – Collaboration is an increasing feature of education. In a world increasingly focused on communication, collaboration leading to collective intelligence is a key aspect. Effective collaboration involves evaluating the strengths and abilities of the participants and evaluating the contribution they make. Networking is a feature of collaboration, contacting and communicating with relevant person via a network of associates<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm 0.1pt 36pt; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 679px; font-style: italic; height: 70px;" border="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0cm; background: rgb(204, 204, 204) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; width: 424.5pt; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" width="425"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Key Terms – Evaluating:</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging, testing, detecting, monitoring, (Blog/vlog) commenting, reviewing, posting, moderating, collaborating, networking, reflecting, (Alpha & beta) testing.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Creating</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >The digital additions and their explanations are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm; font-style: italic;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Programming</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – Whether it is creating their own applications, programming macros or developing games or multimedia applications within structured environments, students are routinely creating their own programs to suit their needs and goals.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Filming, animating, videocasting, podcasting, mixing and remixing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – these relate to the increasing availability of multimedia and multimedia editing tools. Students frequently capture, create, mix and remix content to produce unique products.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Directing and producing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – to directing or producing a product, performance or production is a highly creative process. It requires the student to have vision, understand the components and meld these into a coherent product.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" >Publishing</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" > – whether via the web or from home computers, publishing in text, media or digital formats is increasing. Again this requires a huge overview of not only the content being published, but the process and product. Related to this concept are also <b style="">Video blogging</b> – the production of video blogs, <b style="">blogging</b> and also <b style="">wiki-ing</b> - creating, adding to and modify content in wikis. <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm 0.1pt 36pt; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:9pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 676px; height: 70px;" border="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0cm; background: rgb(204, 204, 204) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; width: 464pt; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" width="464"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; font-style: italic;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" >Key Terms – Creating:</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising, making, programming, filming, animating, Blogging, Video blogging, mixing, remixing, wiki-ing, publishing, videocasting, podcasting, directing/producing, creating or building mash ups.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p>Thanks to</o:p></span></b><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/maryr/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal.dotm</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>21</o:Words> <o:characters>121</o:Characters> <o:company>St Cuthberts College</o:Company> <o:lines>1</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>148</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>12.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; 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mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><span style=""><u><span style="color:blue;">Churches, A. 2007, Educational Origami, Bloom's and ICT Tools</span></u></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">for this excellent information.
<br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ><span style=""><u><span style="color:blue;"></span></u></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p> <!--EndFragment--> Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-65803799634205123582011-04-23T23:01:00.000-07:002011-04-23T23:47:26.238-07:00It's in the genes....<span style="font-weight: bold;">Both</span> my parents were teachers - maybe that's why I am one, and my sister also. Perhaps I had no choice. In some ways they are my role models for my teaching career.<br /><br />My Dad was a school principal - he taught in many different schools in the Upper North Island. He was an innovative teacher in his time. He taught at East Tamaki Primary in Otara, Bruce McLaren Intermediate (Henderson) and Hay Park Primary (Mt. Roskill) to name a few. He set up reading programmes for families who had few books in their homes; he was available to talk to parents 24/7 and he tried his best to ensure that the best teachers were in front of the students in his care. Dad always got to work early and stayed late to ensure the schools he was in charge of were safe and the students were too. We often went as kids to the school fairs and I loved seeing how popular he was with the kids he worked with. He had an infectious laugh and even at a school fair with thousands of people there I could always find him laughing with a parent or a student. He also had a crazy handshake - so strong - it almost pulled your hand off - we try and replicate that in my family now but never as strong or as long.<br /><br />He always told me make your vocation your vacation - not sure who said this originally but I do take this on board - no point going to work every day and hating it. Love your job I say - you're a long time doing it so best to have fun and enjoy your job. I like this quote <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-style: italic;">"Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else"</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> by Jame Barrie </span>- so true.<br /><br />Despite th<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMXgwW8b2FjP7bqJTP3EgN2oNWbBfBCCIWz1az3PHQTl0ZkQfSOComfEOiX4qOo4eShIBqOUcSaNejIeHsWq2RYW9CoztnfXF0LBxUy5KlQKomR5vSt3LmucOCcelBWB06s5-1Mkhb5Y/s1600/dad.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 184px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMXgwW8b2FjP7bqJTP3EgN2oNWbBfBCCIWz1az3PHQTl0ZkQfSOComfEOiX4qOo4eShIBqOUcSaNejIeHsWq2RYW9CoztnfXF0LBxUy5KlQKomR5vSt3LmucOCcelBWB06s5-1Mkhb5Y/s320/dad.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599034183879453922" border="0" /></a>is strong work ethic, Dad always had time for me and his other kids. He came to nearly all of my hockey games (cheering me on from the sideline); drove me all around Auckland; took me on holidays and spent many hours with us kids up in the Bay of Islands. I wish this for myself - I hope my kids think that I don't spend all my time working but spend time with them doing fun stuff as well.<br /><br />Sadly my Dad passed away in a boating accident in 1990 and I miss him every day - he was much loved and the many, many people who came to his funeral in September 1990 were testament to his giant personality and dedication to his job. We read this poem at his funeral - so true of him and so true of what I would like to be remembered for. This sketch of my Dad was done by my cousin and is such a great likeness (Thanks for this Shirley!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">To laugh often and much,<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children,<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">to earn the appreciation of honest critics<br />and endure the betrayal of false friends, </span> <span style="font-style: italic;" class="text_exposed_hide"><br />...</span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="text_exposed_show">to appreciate beauty, </span> <span style="font-style: italic;" class="text_exposed_show"><br />to find the best in others,<br />to leave the world a bit better,<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;" class="text_exposed_show">whether by a heathly</span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="text_exposed_show"> child,<br />a garden patch<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="text_exposed_show">... to know even one life has breathed easier<br />because you have lived. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;" class="text_exposed_show"><br />This is to have succeeded!</span><br /></div><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"> Emerson</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">My Mum was also a teacher. She retired about 11 years ago to look after my daughter full time when I went back to work. She was also a school principal but in a school for students with special needs. She cared hugely about these students who had so many physical disabilities often unable to show their mental abilities as they were so disabled. She worked tirelessly for these children and their families - and eleven years later she still keeps in contact with many of the families she worked with. She loved working and was a real inspiration for many of her staff. I admired her enthusiasm and efforts she put in even when she did not win the battles - sometimes though she won the war. She would have loved to have been in teaching, with ICT in the mix - somehow she would have battled to ensure that all the kids at her school would have had access to the most up to date hardware to ensure they could communicate with everyone and that they could maximse their learning.<br /><br />I try to do this with my students who though not disabled, need help to learn and ICT can be the vehicle to do this.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW89qDoZEZEZ8-8KYEVTrmOCGpDvkjMh5wp3KkzBrrKU9fyAcm6QdTaE016kA8_Yawy8AxixoqXGvdoxeRwmnubZuqyuBml9i-3ycJ4ZZZX7xU0t0dv5HfM2jL_fHj5BfqNELEPqUDCcE/s1600/alexandra%2527s+grandma+2005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW89qDoZEZEZ8-8KYEVTrmOCGpDvkjMh5wp3KkzBrrKU9fyAcm6QdTaE016kA8_Yawy8AxixoqXGvdoxeRwmnubZuqyuBml9i-3ycJ4ZZZX7xU0t0dv5HfM2jL_fHj5BfqNELEPqUDCcE/s320/alexandra%2527s+grandma+2005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599035932025410258" border="0" /></a><br />My daughter drew this picture of her Pammie five years ago - it's gorgeous. And quite a good likeness!<br /><br /></div></div>Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-9711753388204653082011-04-23T20:28:00.001-07:002011-04-23T20:38:19.444-07:00Born to Learn - does education/schools change that?<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">We have to think differently.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">How we raise our kids.<br />How we teach our students.<br />How we learn.<br />How we communicate.<br />How we assess learning.<br /></div><br />We need to be more creative with our learning and thinking. We need to be more caring. We need to be more flexible in our teaching and learning.<br /><br />I like this clip on Youtube. It makes me think about where we are going and why with education. It makes me think about what I want out of teaching and how is the best way to teach and have students learn. You just can't say to kids - go and learn something say about coastal processes, for example, you have to sacffold and help them into the learning but perhaps we, as teachers need to be less controlling and give the decisions back to the kids. Let them find out why and be inquistive, like they were when they were three years old and always asking WHY? WHY? WHY?<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/falHoOEUFz0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="450"></iframe><br /><br />And, also it makes me think that we don't all fit into the same box. Some of us think differently. Maybe that student in my classroom (or yours?) who doesn't really "fit in" - maybe they are just not able to do things like you want them to but maybe they could do them differently. I'm really going to work on this with my classes this coming term. Maybe it might make learning more fun and interesting, for some.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4oAB83Z1ydE" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="450"></iframe>Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-74897638566910729592011-04-23T17:47:00.000-07:002011-04-23T20:14:03.283-07:00Videos I love to watch (over and over again)Taking a break now from some marking to share some of my favourite videos on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/">youtube</a>.<br /><br />This one from Ronnie Corbett makes me laugh no matter how many times I watch it.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kAG39jKi0lI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="320" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />This is also a cool one for technology which I always find funny as well.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pQHX-SjgQvQ" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="450"></iframe><br /><br />I am showing this clip to my Geography scholarship students at the start of next term. We are going to look at the issue of global warming for the term - what causes it, possible consequences, why we should be worried (and this clip called The most terrifying video you will ever see.... might be very thought provoking).<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zORv8wwiadQ" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="450"></iframe><br /><br />We will then debate, discuss and look at different perspectives on global warming. The geography scholarship standard requires students within a geographic context:<br />• critically analyse a particular setting by:<br />− interpreting the geographic nature of the context <br />− evaluating geographic perspectives<br />• apply the critical analysis to another setting.<br /><br />and demonstrate:<br />• a high level of integration and abstraction<br />• insight<br />• sophisticated communication<br /><br /><br />I think a discussion and time spent on the issue of global warming will develop those skills.<br /><br />I also love to use this one for school: (It's not a funny one though!) Hans Rosling rocks! My scholarship students will look at this one as well when discussing big issues such as disparities around the globe.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jbkSRLYSojo" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="450"></iframe><br /><br />And staying with something serious - Sir Ken Robinson is a great guy (very funny presenter) and thought provoking as well. It's 20 minutes long <span style="font-weight: bold;">BUT OH SO WORTH IT!</span><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iG9CE55wbtY" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="450"></iframe><br /><br />Sir Ken Robinson is interesting to listen to (and watch) and his recent discussion at a<a href="http://vimeo.com/22441226?ab"> Summit on Science, Entertainment, and Education in the USA</a> - what follows is interesting stuff.Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-12654703700967758722011-04-23T14:28:00.000-07:002011-04-23T20:13:16.636-07:00Happy Easter!It is eggsellent that people have time off to spend with their families a<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVGAiOOQVNNp0OfnrHoatvkEGCRzwh4SgsXuw_7WR504IB7d22Pyz-tOvS-cQEM-97eIdWS_tzOySHv7FRo3XnZsOsCvDGsJgnkx3eEMrnUgqr9tpKQSAwHBLDQIdEj4VY8Pksd0tvQjI/s1600/EasterEggs.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVGAiOOQVNNp0OfnrHoatvkEGCRzwh4SgsXuw_7WR504IB7d22Pyz-tOvS-cQEM-97eIdWS_tzOySHv7FRo3XnZsOsCvDGsJgnkx3eEMrnUgqr9tpKQSAwHBLDQIdEj4VY8Pksd0tvQjI/s320/EasterEggs.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598902188769304946" border="0" /></a>t Easter and more public holidays are needed I say. And this year in New Zealand two of our public holidays have fallen on a weekend so no day off for people then. The second of these days is tomorrow - so Happy Easter Monday and Happy ANZAC day.<br /><br />I have been on holiday for the past week (after a very long term) and have made some progress with some marking of work that Year 11 NCEA Geography students have done. The students have made websites on <a href="http://www.weeebly.com/">weebly.com</a> and have done an excellent job. The site is very intuitive and easy for students to use and I think they enjoyed using it to present their work rather than just hand writing it in a test. They took great care in their publishing of their work as they realised that it was up on the net for everyone to see it (should they be able to find it). They also realised that they could show it off to other people - grandparents, parents and friends and this I think made the learning much more authentic for them. Next time, I will get them to make websites abou<span style="font-family:georgia;">t different things as I have read about 40 all about the same thing which is a tad boring for the marker so I h</span>ave lots planned for this assessment for 2012.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;color:black;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">"The integration of ICTs and thinking skills is a core component of teaching and learning at St Cuthbert’s College. Classroom practice that enables multi-modal personalised learning is essential for all students to reach their potential.<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Digital literacy is essential for students to be prepared to face the challenges of a future which is largely yet unknown. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Our intranet is based on Moodle - a multimedia rich interactive platform for a student learning management system that provides for student centred constructivist learning environments. Student enthusiasm for web 2.0 tools and social networking can be harnessed through our integrated social bookmarking system and individual portfolios</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">." </span><br /></span></span><br />This quote from my schools website is interesting. We are not there yet with our vision I don't think. But well on the way. I guess the hardest thing in education and using new ICT tools is that often teachers are behind the eight ball with technology and don't always feel comfortable doing something that they don't fully understand but I think this is the beauty of using ICT in the classroom. If the teacher doesn't know the answer someone else in the class will and then we are all learners together. This teacher and student interaction is vitally important to how students perform and when there is mutual respect between both parties then the classroom teaching and learning will be positive and engaging and <span style="font-weight: bold;">LEARNING WILL HAPPEN.</span><br /><br />This is one of the findings of John Hatties research which you may be familiar with. <strong style="font-weight: normal;">Hattie's meta analysis ( a synthesis of 50000 previous studies) found that student teacher interaction came out on top.</strong> (not a surprise, I say!)<br /><br /><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">Hattie's book is about the power of directed teaching, focusing on 'what happens next' through feedback and monitoring.</strong> This is an approach that also informs the teacher about the success (or failure) of their teaching; <strong style="font-weight: normal;">making learning for both teacher and student 'visible'.</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><br /><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><br /><strong style="font-weight: normal;">Hattie found, that 'expert' teachers had real respect for their learners as people with ideas of their own</strong>. They are <strong style="font-weight: normal;">passionate</strong> about teaching and learning, able to present <strong style="font-weight: normal;">challenging tasks</strong> <strong style="font-weight: normal;">ensuring 'deep learning'</strong>. They are able to <strong style="font-weight: normal;">make lessons their own</strong>, <strong style="font-weight: normal;">invite students to 'engage'</strong>, <strong style="font-weight: normal;">integrating and</strong> <strong style="font-weight: normal;">combining new learning with students prior knowledge</strong>. Their expertise allows them to <strong style="font-weight: normal;">understand their classrooms</strong> and to be <strong style="font-weight: normal;">more responsive to learners</strong>. <strong style="font-weight: normal;">They are extremely flexible</strong>, improvising to take advantage of contingencies and new information as it arises. Hattie found <strong style="font-weight: normal;">it was pedagogical knowledge rather than content knowledge that distinguished the 'expert' teachers. </strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I am continually striving to become that 'expert' teacher - and this is always my goal. Roll on term 2 with new ideas and ways of making the learning 'visible' to the learners and certainly I believe e-learning is one of the ways to do this.</span>Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510734073839782386.post-25258334377921756152011-04-23T00:38:00.000-07:002011-04-23T01:38:31.825-07:00The start of something big???<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVvinSbZjZInFNKOjTrKMo9Tbw_YZ_ijYd9ABiphtjP7EGizwUUy1sJtViNSvMR5t_B-ca-zIOkOwdKPinY88iHrl4vEN8rGQ0NJQO30v-_ktxmn4_ylicERt5FJyLNjs8mYYQRzYutM/s1600/Newsletter_cover_photo_150.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVvinSbZjZInFNKOjTrKMo9Tbw_YZ_ijYd9ABiphtjP7EGizwUUy1sJtViNSvMR5t_B-ca-zIOkOwdKPinY88iHrl4vEN8rGQ0NJQO30v-_ktxmn4_ylicERt5FJyLNjs8mYYQRzYutM/s320/Newsletter_cover_photo_150.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598682937490433858" border="0" /></a>Well, I have decided to start a blog for my ramblings and thoughts about teaching and learning. (And I might talk about my life - family and friends as well) Now for some basic background.<br /><br />I am a secondary school teacher in Auckland, New Zealand. I teach Geography at St. Cuthbert's College - <a href="http://www.stcuthberts.school.nz/">www.stcuthberts.school.nz </a>- I love teaching and spend ages on my lesson preparation trying to do interesting things with my students. My students all have laptops and I am keenly aware of the importance of ensuring the learning that happens in my classroom is just right for the digital natives we are teaching now.<br /><br />STCC is an independent girls school. It is an independent Christian day and boarding school, in the Presbyterian tradition, for 1,470 girls, from Year 1 to Year 13, in Auckland, New Zealand. The College is located at 122 Market Road, Epsom. I have taught there since 1999 - had eighteen months off when my daughter was born but pretty much I have been there for just over a decade. All the other schools I have taught in are in the Auckland region and include Kaipara College, Lynfield College, Macleans College, Mahurangi College and a brief stint at Avondale College.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwV3NY1GlSWKjx66x7WxMcNZBLxvctF_iPsAaROUmoMS-3_3MTRnRUqynJkoX-G1LC7vYemkMPxH5XBFsHvDPChNbtBODJ6i2ZNbfuT1EI8xF2f0LJN28JYnyrFfFmUyBhktwJzKfVd6Y/s1600/MCRelf.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwV3NY1GlSWKjx66x7WxMcNZBLxvctF_iPsAaROUmoMS-3_3MTRnRUqynJkoX-G1LC7vYemkMPxH5XBFsHvDPChNbtBODJ6i2ZNbfuT1EI8xF2f0LJN28JYnyrFfFmUyBhktwJzKfVd6Y/s320/MCRelf.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598684129771337394" border="0" /></a>I am currently Head of the Social Sciences faculty; Head of Geography and for this year Curriculum Manager. I teach Year 13 Geography (NCEA) and IB Geography (which I enjoy) and various other classes.<br /><br />Since being a staff member at STCC I have been a Dean of Year 12; TIC of Beginning teachers and TIC of lots of co-curricular things. It is an excellent place to work.<br /><br />I have a family and I manage to have quite a good work-life balance (I think).<br /><br />My husband, Anthony Fowler is a university lecturer at the University of Auckland. His teaching responsibilities lie across the sub-disciplines of climatology and hydrology. Environmental change (especially palaeoclimatology) and hydroclimatology are foci at senior undergraduate and graduate levels. Phew! Anthony and I love to travel. We have been to many places, both in New Zealand and overseas. Our last trip together was to Melbourne in Australia (where we lived when our son was born) and we had two weeks together exploring the area again. I loved living in Melbourne (the cosmopolitan lifestyle was wonderful!) but back now in NZ where most of my extended family live. The photo below, was taken by daughter, in Melbourne of me and my best friend (Anthony!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DqrcQ2aEdsIuG1LnM1OFYY__yjL1oWrFrBpLcEDAavaTV931BawhC3c0pvuhHidE_5KGAJtnfTCwBNcs-bBA3831XU3uoQHJRy-lRmSKb9t1KADjfhIML4NnofIwz1hT-FIhjcLf3LY/s1600/maryandamf.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 332px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DqrcQ2aEdsIuG1LnM1OFYY__yjL1oWrFrBpLcEDAavaTV931BawhC3c0pvuhHidE_5KGAJtnfTCwBNcs-bBA3831XU3uoQHJRy-lRmSKb9t1KADjfhIML4NnofIwz1hT-FIhjcLf3LY/s320/maryandamf.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598688907829716962" border="0" /></a><br />My son, Michael is nearly 20 years old (freaky!) and studies Computer Science. To be honest I don't understand much of what he does but he is a great young man and a real home boy. I don't know where he will end up (jobwise) but my best guess is in a large city somewhere (London, New York etc) doing something with intellectual property - well time will tell.<br /><br />My daughter, Alexandra (although she prefers to be called Alex) is 11. She is in year 7 at St. Cuthbert's College. She is a busy wee thing. She plays in two football teams, a netball team, a band, learns the flute, is in the literature Quiz team for her school, does Orienteering and has lots of friends she manages to fit in every now and then. I am her main driver to take her from place to place. Luckily I love reading and often I am found reading beside the soccer field. Or sometimes I mark!<br /><br />I am always busy. I love reading (anything with words is great); walking my dog (Nugget); spending time with my family; kayaking and swimming; meeting friends for coffee and wine; fiddling around with new teaching and learning resources; reading interesting educational blogs; catching up with friends on Facebook; and I have a twitter account which I enjoy updating (and reading other peoples updates and links to cool websites. I am on a few committees and am secretary of the Auckland Geography Teachers Association - I update their facebook page with cool websites as well. I have a wikieducator page <a href="http://wikieducator.org/User:MaryR">http://wikieducator.org/User:MaryR</a> which I fiddle around with a bit. All very fun. Sometimes I manage to bake for my family with brownies and cupcakes and muffins being my favourites.<br /><br />Well, that's me for now. Looking forward to blogging some more soon.Mary Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01778472458400890674noreply@blogger.com0