Learning to Blog and Blogging to Learn

“Are you reading other people’s blogs” Asked George Couros.

My answer was no! No wonder I was having issues blogging! Apparently, writing a blog doesn’t come easily to me and of course – one way of improving is by learning from others who have succeeded and are further along this journey than I.

I began reading, reading, reading, reading! There are SO many different blogs out there covering everything and anything! Being someone who is beginning to blog about education I naturally gravitated to those who also blog about this subject and as I began to read I could see a pattern emerging, like one of those old-school optical illusion pictures which you’d have to focus on to find the picture or message within…. do you remember those? Anyway…. from reading other people’s blogs I am learning to blog!

How do I blog? Well I ask this question: What have I learnt so far? Isn’t it a great question! It’s the main question that I ask myself whenever I sit down to write a blog. What have YOU learnt so far on this journey of being an educator? What have you learnt about yourself? What have you learnt about how students learn?

So, it seems there is an art of learning to blog which consists of reading others blogs and actually having a go yourself! What’s the worst that could happen?

The other flip-side of this blogging journey is the joy of blogging for learning.

I learn and reflect and refine my thinking through blogging! This doesn’t mean every blog has to be perfect and well written but what it does mean is that I need to get my ideas out there! As I write my ideas get better and are more refined and are even sometimes confirmed or challenged by others in the field! I love that! You know, the same principle applied when I was writing my PhD thesis. I didn’t always know what to write or how to convey my thoughts but sure enough, as soon as I began write the thoughts began to flow and as I got my work out there through conferences or publications others either cheered me on or gentled challenged me to make me better!!

What is holding you back from blogging? Give it a go and who knows your Professional Learning may go to a whole new level!

I know it can be scary but I believe it’s something necessary…. check out this Youtube clip about the transition from using scrolls to pages – yes a help desk was needed and it seems like a different way of thinking lol… blogging can also seem like a different way of thinking and it can seem daunting maybe even a bit weird and scary but it’s how the world now works…. I wonder if one day, everyone will be blogging? Hmmm… 🙂

Relationships for Learning – Using Twitter and Storify to Capture Student Learning

I am a big believer in reflecting on learning during and at the conclusion of the learning process. There are many ways I have asked students to reflect but it’s only been since June that I have tapped into the AWESOME value of Twitter. Twitter helps my students to connect with me, their tutor, and it also gets them connected with teachers, administrators and principals from all over the world. During my final class I asked them to tweet about their learning in this topic. Here is a Storyify story I created using their tweets! Enjoy!

How do you reflect? I find that tweeting and blogging are very useful!

relationships-for-learning-reflection

Character – doing the right thing when no one is looking

The Teacher Professional Standards is a document I have engaged in for a few years now. I was part of the original focus group at Flinders Uni discussing what the standards should include and in recent years I have taught pre-service teachers about the importance of striving to reach each standard to help us improve our teaching practice and of course (most importantly) improve student learning.

In more recent times, I have re-entered into the primary school classroom. I teach Grade 6/7 and LOVE it however, I have encountered some challenging behaviours! Standard 4 emphasises professional practice, in particular 4.3 focuses on managing those challenging behaviours! It states “Manage challenging behaviour: Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to manage challenging behaviour.” Now, I am aware that some in the education community do not believe in having to “manage” behaviour and that “behaviour management plans” are  a waste of time and are demeaning to students, but in my experience (and yes I am still new at this and am still gaining experience) I strongly believing in systems to encourage good choices and provide consequences for those choices that are not so good.

Personally, when it comes to managing behaviour, I am concerned about the internal processes just as much as the behaviours we can see outworking in the classroom. So, when it came to devising a behaviour management plan I created “character cards”.

Someone once said that “character is doing the right thing when no one is looking”. I love that definition and I encourage my students to focus on this during learning. Character is all about doing the right thing even if i cant see them doing it! It’s about having a pure heart in all they do, their interactions with others and in their motivation to learn. I made little cards called “character cards” which states the above saying on it and they were used an individual rewards and were given out to students who made good choices throughout the day. The whole idea is that they are doing the right thing when they think no one is looking, so I try to catch the kids being good!

On the flip side…. what about the students who made decision that were not so helpful? Well, I used community service like pulling weeds from the oval or sweeping. At times I would take away character cards but this was rare.

The children could redeem the cards for various rewards such as: 10 cards = certificate sent home in their diaries, 15 = prize out of the prize box and 30 = time on our super comfy couch!

The system seemed to work well but now that term 2 is nearly upon us it’s time to rethink and mix things up a bit!!

Stay tuned for more behaviour management ideas ….. if you have come across something that works…. let me know!

That four letter F word…. FEAR

Just in case you were wondering…..No,  I’m not writing about THAT four letter F word…

I am reflecting on FEAR!!!

One of the incredible teachers I’ve connected with through Twitter is Craig Badura (@MrBadura) and he says:

“Fear” is the new four letter word when it comes to the use of  technology.  Too many times we are not providing engaging opportunities for kids because of our fear.  “What if the kids know more than I do?”  “What if a kid corrects me?”  “What if it fails?” (Check out Craig’s Blog)

Fear can hold us back…….I am sure we have all experienced that…..  But have you experienced this: Once we’ve overcome or conquered that which we fear, we  gain the greatest feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction unlike anything else! Or….. if we encounter failure then we learn many things we may never have learnt otherwise!

In teaching and learning there are many things that can arouse fear in us…. I teach pre-service teachers in numeracy and mathematics (yes they ARE different things…) and I also teach in ICT. These subjects are renown for arousing a fearful response from both teachers and pre-service teachers alike! We can’t let this hold us back.

Fear is a common feeling that all of us encounter at some stage or another and it IS sometimes a part of learning – I would even argue that it is a very important part of learning. I don’t know about you, but I believe that one important aspect of learning is risk taking which sometimes involves fear! BUT it’s what we do with this fear that makes all the difference!

I attended a PD session (at Flinders Uni) with the amazing George  Couros (@gcouros also check out his inspiring blog here)  and he showed the following clip which beautifully encapsulates the anticipation, suspense and fear before taking that leap when you’re about to take that risk! Check it out…….

What I love about this kid is the self talk….  “I’ll be okay” “I can do this” and when the JUMP finally occurs… this is the response “YEAH, it’s just the suspense at the top freaks me out … it seems like nothing now”.

One of my personal spiritual heroes, Joyce Meyer (@joycemeyer), has coined the phrase “do it afraid”. Sometimes, to really become the teacher you want to be, to facilitate learning in the best possible way… we need to take risks (even if they are not popular).  Overcome that fear and DO IT AFRAID!! Make sure you encourage yourself and ensure that your self talk is positive – just like that cute kid on the ski jump because you CAN do this if you let go of the fear.

Self talk is SO important. When I was in the final months of writing my thesis, I had to be aware of my self talk and make sure it was positive – positive self talk makes all the difference – it can empower you and help you achieve your goals! Have you had similar experiences with the power of self talk?

You know what?…. We expect our kids to take risks in their learning but are we as teachers taking risks in our own learning? I do hope we are…. I KNOW many, many teachers who are taking risks but I, personally, believe I can take more risks – A LOT more risks and I need to take more risks.

Honestly, I have been fearful about blogging. I am so used to being under pressure to pump out perfect, rigorous academic publications in journals and at conferences. I feel the pressure to be perfect. What I am beginning to understand however is that no one is perfect, we are all on a learning journey. Blogging is about learning and reflecting and SHARING those thoughts – not to be criticised but to be a part of a world-wide discussion where we can learn from one another!

So… I commit to regularly writing blog posts, to overcome my fear of this technology for the sake of my professional learning and the learning of my students.

May I leave you with some questions to reflect on? In terms of your teaching and student learning: What technology or tool are you fearful of, how can you overcome it and most importantly, when will you overcome it?  What new innovative things are you wanting to achieve with your students and their learning but you’re encountering fear? What is it? What is it? DO IT AFRAID! What’s the worst that could happen?

Alternatively…. reflect on when you DID take a risks: What were some of the great things that happened from overcoming this fear?

FEAR – Get rid of that four letter word from your vocabulary and have a great week!  🙂

A QR code dilemma … how do YOU use them?

How do you use QR codes in your classroom? I have only recently heard about QR codes and using them has been even more recent. I am now faced with a dilemma in relation to my use of this tool.

Before I become vulnerable and share some of my practice…. some of you might be asking what is a QR code?  Well, I am glad you asked! 🙂 Check out Selena Woodward’s blog post on them here (also with some great videos about how other teachers are using them!) To briefly explain, they are simply a bar code which teachers are using to link to Youtube clips, websites or graphics. These bar codes can be placed on worksheets or posters and students scan them and it sends the students to some extra content, video or website to help, inspire, motivate. The best things about QR codes, is they are FREE to create. I personally use: http://www.qrstuff.com/ because I like the fact that its easy to use and understand!

Here is an example of a QR code – go ahead, scan it using a reader such as I-nigma and have a look at where it takes you – it will set the scene and the mood for my upcoming dilemma! 🙂 hehe

Okay… so now that you kind-of-know what a QR code is …. here is how I’ve been using them:

I don’t know about you but I am a little tired of some of my pre-service teachers arriving to class without the require texts that are foundational to the lesson which is about to unfold! One would think that bringing the correct books and materials to class would be an expectation – although it IS expected and students MUST do the readings- some don’t and even more don’t even bring the book with them (ggrrrrr)!

After giving constant reminders to bring the books and do the readings (to no avail) I discovered the irony that many students “couldn’t carry a textbook in their bags” or “forgot to bring it” or…. in reality choose not to bring it AND also choose not to read the required readings BUT they could easily bring their laptop, Ipad and Iphone without a second thought and read Facebook and Twitter updates without a worry haha! (in your mind insert dramatic music here)

It seems this is very “normal” for the generation coming through the university system – so…. I thought to myself – “How can I use these devices to connect the content to my students”. Helooo… QR codes!

Instead of asking students to turn to page… whatever… to look at a diagram and discuss it in groups – recently, I have taken a picture of a small text except, a diagram or maths problem, posted it to Twitter (to spark discussion among my PLN) and then created a QR code to use with students. In class, I ask them to scan the QR code and bingo – they have the except of text, diagram or maths problem on their smart phone, Ipad or laptop! This is almost quicker than getting the textbook out. Students can then engage further with the reading and have a copy of it for future reference on their portable devices! Not only are students enjoying reading the content electronically, but they think that scanning the info into their smart devices and actually being allowed to use this technology in class is “awesome” 🙂

To be honest, I began trying QR codes out of curiosity but lately I have found that they may have helped me overcome a road block I was encountering in most of my classes …. or perhaps in reality my use of QR codes is setting up another road block?!!

You see, I’ve seen some good engagement when using QR codes but I am unsure as to the overall message I seem to be sending!   It seems these codes are changing the way my students learn – changing it in a good way???… Maybe??… Or is it encouraging laziness and reinforcing the fact they don’t have to bring the materials?! Hmmm… interesting thought – one which I am still wrestling with!

Also, I wonder if I am breaking copyright by taking pictures of the diagrams etc….. ??? I don’t know… (please tell me if I am)….

So… how do YOU use QR codes in the classroom? Please do tell!

The Power of Building a PLN via Twitter!

Welcome to my blog!

Today I’m writing about an awesome experience I had recently thanks to Twitter which has not only grown my professional learning network (PLN) but has also enriched my life and the lives of the pre-service teachers I work with in Adelaide, South Australia .

So, let’s go back in time about 3 weeks…. I had just joined Twitter and felt a bit overwhelmed by the amount of “stuff” there was to read, YouTube clips to watch and teaching practices to investigate. Although I felt overwhelmed, there was also a sense of feeling inspired and sudden motivation to experiment as tools like Weebly, Moodle, Google Docs, Edmodo, Wikkis and blogging jumped off the page and into my grand visions for my preferred classroom and ideal student learning. I then found myself spending a great deal of time reading blogs and asking questions on Twitter to find out more.

In amongst the jumble of all these new ideas, one idea caught my attention, stopped me in my tracks and compelled me to take action. The following tweet signified the beginning of an amazing learning journey, a journey that I believe will never end and for the sake of my students it MUST never end:

“Have you signed your classroom up? Doing #mysteryskype is a great way to engage ALL students in your classroom! http://mysteryskypes1213.weebly.com/”

Craig Badura (@MrBadura) 1^st August 2012

I was immediately interested in the idea of a Mystery Skype but hadn’t actually used Skype before so…..I felt scared BUT I didn’t hesitate in tweeting Craig (@Mr Badura) to find out more:

@mrbadura … what is the process of setting one up? I’m interested in doing this with my preservice teachers at Flinders University 🙂

Craig was very generous, replied promptly and offered to Skype my class to explain what Mystery Skype is all about! I was SO excited that I had the opportunity to connect with an educator overseas AND share this with my students. I also felt very nervous leading up to the big event but had the wonderful support of Selena (@Teachertechnol teachertechnologies.com) who calmed my nerves greatly and after we had a test run with Craig and discovered all of the technology was working – I was ready to introduce my Master of Teaching students to my new friend Craig and the world of Skype and Mystery Skype as a pedagogical tool!

If you haven’t heard about Mystery Skype – head to Craig Badura’s blog: http://comfortably20.blogspot.com.au/  and his Mystery Skype website.  Very simply put, it is where two classes Skype and they use problem solving skills and closed ended questions to investigate, gather clues and find out where the other class is located.

Here is a list of jobs, compiled by Silvia Tolisano (Twitter – @langwitches) that need filling for Mystery Skype to work effectively in your classroom. Every student has a role and is responsible for something – each role seems to have links to other curriculum areas!! See if you can spot them!

Mystery Skype is a fun, fast paced activity that is jam packed full of cross curricular perspectives. For example (this is not an extensive list but explores only a few of the curriculum areas): Geography- mapping skills, locations; English communication, closed ended questioning, effective questioning techniques; Maths- problem solving, lateral thinking, data collecting and analysing; Social Studies- finding out how others live by following up on any similarities and differences between the locations of both classes; and of course Technology and ICT- use of Google Earth, Google Maps, IPads, blogging, capturing movie clips of the Skype session and using digital cameras to capture moments of learning and the connection between the classes. It also seems that the seven thinking hats are covered nicely.

Overall, it seems that Mystery Skype has potential to help develop numeracy, literacy and ICT skills and capabilities which are very important within an Australian context as these areas are called “General Capabilities” within our new Australian Curriculum (ACARA) document and are expected to be developed in ALL learning areas across the whole curriculum and across ALL year levels!!

To find out more about using Skype in the classroom and Mystery Skype check out the following links:

Using Skype in your classroom:

http://comfortably20.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/connect-your-classroom.html

Mystery Skype:

http://mysteryskypes1213.weebly.com/mystery-skype-jobs.html

http://mysteryskypes1213.weebly.com/resources.html

The Skype with Craig was engaging, fun, super inspiring and encouraged my students to think outside of the four walls of their classroom and to think globally! Craig gave us so much to think about and changed how we view technology in the classroom!

Mystery Skype with Craig – Thanks to Selena (@teachertechnol) for taking the picture!

Never before has it been this easy to gain a global perspective on learning or to connect with educators in other countries and to hear about their teaching practice! Twitter empowers us as teachers to develop a PLN where the extent of our personal learning and the new ideas are endless!

This amazing experience is all thanks to Twitter….. if you’re not part of the Twitterverse yet – sign up today www.twitter.com and develop your own PLN. Many of my students have joined Twitter since this event and they too are amazed the at the power of a PLN through twitter! Make sure you follow Craig (@MrBadura)!

So… my first blog post is complete … where to from here? Well, I am loving Twitter – I have tweeted 400 times since joining Twitter on the 27th of July (hehe), I have just over 100 followers and of course I am keeping in contact with Craig!  We are planning a Skype session with his class and I will also be connecting with some of the other teachers at his school very shortly!

Keep an eye out for future blogs and for the launch of Mystery Skype in Australia! Exciting times ahead!!