tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62501571890679132212024-03-14T15:54:52.341+13:00Bridge to the FutureAdventures in Teaching and LearningUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-62850844832637968242018-10-06T21:20:00.000+13:002018-10-06T21:22:15.008+13:00Celebrating Success....and Failure! I really enjoyed <a href="http://madelainesideas.blogspot.com/2018/05/celebrating-success-from-horses-mouths.html">this post</a> from Madelaine Armstrong Willcocks. It explores gifted learners and how they experience success. One of the most frequent things I've struck in my interactions with gifted kids, is their uneasiness when their successes are highlighted and celebrated in front of their peers. This seems to me to be particularly common to high school aged girls but knowing the desire of boys to fit in with their peers and not be seen as different, I'm sure there are boys who feel exactly the same way.<br />
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I've been thinking a lot about how can we celebrate the accomplishments of gifted kids in a way that allows them to feel deservedly proud without worrying about the reactions of their peers. Because when it comes down to it, that's what this is about, right? Worrying about what others think is what stops our gifted kids from celebrating their successes as they deserve to, free of anxiety about what others are thinking. So how can we address this?<br />
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There are two things that keep popping into my head as I mull this over.<br />
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1. Not everyone is going to like you....and that's ok. Maybe this is what we should be teaching our kids. If we keep this in mind, then maybe they'll be less worried about the reactions of others.<br />
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Then again, sometimes it is people in their own friend group who seem to struggle with feeling joy for their successes and in that case, telling our gifted kids not to care about their friends' opinions is not going to help one bit.<br />
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So then what? Well, here's an idea.<br />
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2. Let's celebrate our gifted kids' failures! Let's share when things go wrong for them instead of just highlighting their successes.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gQKv7lYK9c4/W7hvA1ElyJI/AAAAAAAAFv4/ZdQ7SV8fAv8tPJ7wU9hLdv8QrWVpnYecgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-06%2Bat%2B9.14.13%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="541" height="224" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gQKv7lYK9c4/W7hvA1ElyJI/AAAAAAAAFv4/ZdQ7SV8fAv8tPJ7wU9hLdv8QrWVpnYecgCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-06%2Bat%2B9.14.13%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a>Ok, there are lots of things to keep in mind here. First and foremost, this approach needs to be used for all our learners so we are not perpetuating the very behaviour we are actually trying to minimise.....isolating the gifted learner by making them seem different to their classmates. Furthermore, this needs to be done sensitively and with the permission of the learners. But talking to the cohort about the struggles the gifted learner is facing and what they intend to do next to pick themselves up can only be beneficial for everyone. Talking honestly about resilience and the power of mistakes is so compelling and can send a great message to everyone about growth mindset and the power of yet. If sensitively sharing "failures" and disappointments becomes the norm for all students in our classes, then the group as a whole is more likely to feel joy for one another, gifted or otherwise, when a class member works through something to experience success. Mistakes are a great leveller and community builder! And it helps our gifted kids be seen as human, people who face challenge and experience disappointment, just like everyone else.<br />
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Of course, we might have search harder for the gifted kids' mistakes or failures than we do for some other kids. That's ok! (Nobody else needs to know that part!)<br />
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This approach relies on one fundamental thing; that we as their teachers are providing a programme which enables everyone to work at their own level and experience challenge. If our gifted kids are NEVER making mistakes and experiencing failures and disappointments, then isn't it our job as their teacher to reflect on whether we are providing a programme which challenges them enough?<br />
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Just sayin'......<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-3636324147487454372018-10-03T19:17:00.000+13:002018-10-03T19:17:31.983+13:00Giftedness and High AchieversDay 3 of the <a href="https://goo.gl/XWhdVp">GiftEDNZ Blogging Challenge</a> prompts us to consider the difference between High Achievers and Gifted Kids. <br />
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Today's article is <a href="https://goo.gl/5Jpxs9">The Truth About Gifted Versus High Achieving Students. </a> This article is a really interesting one. The writer, Chris Croll, makes some very compelling points and I agree with many of her thoughts. The one point we differ on is that Chris makes a very clear distinction between gifted students and high achieving students; her post implies that there is very little overlap between the two. I'm not so sure about this.<br />
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I have been mulling this over since reading the article and wonder whether this calls for a visual response. Since I am the only member of my whanāu to have no artistic ability whatsoever, I'm turning to my trusty friend, Canva. <br />
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I have drawn three diagrams which might help me to think more clearly. These diagrams are truly primitive but hopefully, you get the gist!<br />
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1. We know not all gifted kids are achieving highly but are ALL high achievers actually gifted? Are high achievers simply a smaller subset of gifted students?<br />
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2. Or is it possible that some high achievers are not gifted at all? Are they simply kids who have learned to "play the game" of school and have mastered it, meaning they are achieving well across the board? If that's the case, go them, I say! </div>
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3. Or does the answer lie somewhere in the middle? Are there some high achievers who are gifted and some who are not?<br />
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In recent years, my thinking has started to become more in line with the first diagram (all high achievers are gifted) whereas before it was probably most like the third (some high achievers are gifted but not all.) I'm not thinking of high achievers as those good, solid students who maintain good grades with a lot of effort but rather the students who consistently achieve at a very high level across the board. Isn't it possible that all these very high achieving students are gifted? </div>
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I wonder if it really matters for the high achievers that we define them? I mean, if they are working and achieving at such a high level and we are challenging them and keeping them engaged, then yay! Happy times! </div>
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However, the kids this really does matter for are the gifted kids who are not achieving, those who are disengaged, not feeling challenged or motivated and who are really left feeling miserable in our current system. These are the ones we owe it to to get it right. </div>
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<i>This blogpost really was a stream of consciousness and as always, I could, of course, be convinced otherwise so feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. </i></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-47194113231260992562018-10-03T16:52:00.000+13:002018-10-03T16:54:56.526+13:00Ten Things We Should Never Say To Our Gifted LearnersDay 2 of the <a href="https://goo.gl/XWhdVp">GiftEDNZ October Blogging Challenge</a> featured a blogpost from Lisa Van Gemert entitled, "Top Ten Ways to Annoy a Gifted Child." I must admit, I initially found this post charmingly hilarious but I acknowledge that this response comes from the place of being an empowered adult with the confidence and life experiences to advocate for my own needs. It is not half as funny if you put yourself in the shoes of a young person without the resources and courage to fight for what they need to truly thrive in our schools.<br />
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Lisa's post is an important one and I imagine we'd be hard-pushed to find a single member of the gifted community who has not experienced at least a handful of the items on her list.<br />
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So I thought I'd add to the list, this time focusing on ten things that a gifted learner should never hear us teachers say. I wrote this list in consultation with some of the gifted young people I've had the privilege of working with. These learners are now in high school so they are particularly sensitive to any sort of feedback that singles them out from the rest of their class, as well as any comments that bog them down under the weight of their teachers' high expectations.<br />
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<i>For the sake of ease, I've called this student Barbara which coincidentally is the name I use in my classroom when I need an example from a "hypothetical" student. I hope all Barbaras will forgive me; it just rolls off the tongue easily........</i><br />
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Without further ado, ten things we should never say to our gifted learners........<br />
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1. "Don't worry about that question now, Barbara! You'll cover that in next year's curriculum."<br />
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2. "Does anyone <i>besides</i> Barbara have an answer for my question?" (Said with a scathing tone after Barbara has offered answers to a number of questions.)<br />
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3. "Why are you struggling? You should know how to do this! You're smart."<br />
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4. "Look at Barbara's work. Isn't it amazing? Barbara always does such amazing work......" or anything which suggests favouritism or singles Barbara out from the rest of the class.<br />
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5. "Don't stress about the test. You're so capable; you'll crush it! I just know you'll get top mark."<br />
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6. Followed closely by, "I have to be honest, I thought you'd get a better mark than that, Barbara."<br />
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7. Please don't EVER email me in my weekend asking for help with your homework."<br />
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8. "Barbara! You're reading AGAIN? I never see you without your nose in a book."<br />
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9. "I'm offering a chocolate bar to anyone who gets 100% on the test."<br />
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10. ""I believe all kids are gifted."<br />
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What would you add?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-19303384172287753162018-10-01T22:40:00.000+13:002018-10-01T22:41:41.739+13:00Five Practical Ways to Be a Champion for A Gifted Child- Teacher VersionI have long been a fan of Rita Pierson's TED talk <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare">Every Kid Needs a Champion </a>With close to 9 million views, it is clear that her simple but compelling message resonates.<br />
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How does Pierson's wisdom apply to our gifted learners? Sadly, we're all familiar with the common scenario of gifted children being left to their own devices in contexts where the prevailing feeling is that they are doing "just fine" and are not "at risk." I'm not throwing any shade here......I know that we educators are frequently stretched thin, with far too much on our plates! It is not at all surprising that when teachers are swamped and forced to prioritise, the gifted kids who, on the surface, appear to be bright and making progress are often left to fend for themselves.<br />
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I know that I'm preaching to the choir here; I don't need to explain why not meeting the needs of gifted learners (and indeed any learner) is a tragedy and an issue of social justice. We're all on the same page and want to be champions for our gifted learners. The question is not Why but How? How do we advocate for our gifted kids? How do we become their champions and support them as they strive to meet their potential?<br />
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Here's five practical ways educators can become champions for our gifted learners- needless to say, these ideas will work for any learners in your cohort.<br />
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<u>1. Interview all the kids on your GATE register-</u><br />
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This is something that I had the privilege of doing with our GATE co-ordinator, Pauline Dann. We asked questions such as-<br />
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<li>What are you curious about? </li>
<li>How do you find the challenge level in your learning? </li>
<li>What do you want your teachers to know about you? </li>
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The process was insightful, revealing, inspiring and in some cases very sad....it spurred us into further action and made us reflect on whether we were meeting the needs of our gifted cohort.<br />
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<u>2. Communicate frequently with the whanāu of your gifted kids.</u><br />
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Parenting gifted children can be incredibly difficult and even isolating at times. Consider surveying the families too. Support each other as you work to achieve great outcomes for your gifted kids.<br />
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<u>3. Offer programmes that will challenge your gifted kids-</u><br />
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There is an abundance of programmes that help gifted kids make the most of their strengths and develop new ones, as well as providing opportunities for them to work with like-minds. Programmes include Tournament of Minds, Kidslit Quiz, Philosophy for Kids, Cantamaths, Brainbee and my personal favourite, Future Problem Solving, ........<br />
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Reflect carefully on your selection process. You might consider allowing children to self-nominate for some of these programmes....whatever you do, please don't select these kids based on some form of one-off test or worse, a school entrance exam! Keep an open view of how giftedness presents itself. Many of our most gifted kids do not test well in formal testing situations but thrive in creative thinking programmes so please do give a lot of thought to how learners are selected. <br />
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<u>4. Ensure that your classroom programmes meet everyone's needs-</u><br />
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High ceiling- low floor tasks are brilliant for ensuring everyone can work at their own level. Offer open-ended tasks such as passion projects, genius hour etc but ensure that you provide adequate scaffolding and accountability checks for all kids. There is sometimes an assumption that gifted kids will automatically know how to master open-ended inquiries and projects and be able to organise themselves with minimal teacher support. Don't fall into this trap. Check in frequently and provide mentoring and coaching to help all kids meet their potential.<br />
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<u>5. Read, read, read! </u><br />
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Learn all you can about how to meet the needs of gifted kids. Follow teachers on Twitter who have an interest in gifted kids. Join Justine Hughes' amazing <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/137238016943562/">Facebook group</a>, a true treasure trove of resources and conversations that will help us be true champions for our gifted learners.<br />
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What ideas would you add to this list?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-45918036848844579102016-08-06T09:00:00.000+12:002016-08-06T09:00:03.247+12:00Twelve Picture Books Every Kiwi Kid Should Know<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When I sat down to write this post of my favourite picture books, my goal was to limit my list to 10. But I just couldn't do it. So I settled on twelve because any more than that makes a very loooooong blogpost. But there are still many more I love dearly; maybe this blogpost will become part of a series! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In no particular order......</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>The House That Jack Built by Gavin Bishop</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ok, so I said in no particular order but that doesn't apply to Gavin Bishop's The House That Jack Built. In my humble opinion, this book is hands down one of the smartest, most important New Zealand picture books ever written and should be in every classroom and family bookshelf in the country. The interplay of text and artwork is phenomenal and the message is so compelling. I have so much to say about this book but I made a promise to myself to keep the text in this post brief so I'm going to leave you with this; if you do not own a copy of this, walk, don't run to your nearest independent bookshop and buy one! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Little Red Riding Hood, Not Quite by Yvonne Morrison and Donovan Bixley </u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This book and its companion, The Three Bears Sort Of are absolutely hilarious! Both are great tools for classroom conversations around being discerning and questioning everything we read. You are guaranteed to know a student who is exactly like the child in the story. And Donovan Bixley's illustrations? Just Wow! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Two Little Bugs by Mark and Rowan Sommerset</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was hard to choose one favourite from this awesome team as they are all so much fun. I settled on Two Little Bugs for its awesome message about optimism. We talk a lot in our classrooms about growth mindset and taking risks and this is a great book for starting that discussion. My class of Year 8s loves this book. Gorgeous die cut shapes too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Gladys Goes to War by Glyn Harper and Jenny Cooper</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This non-fiction book is the incredible story of Aucklander, Gladys Coates an amazing woman who wouldn't take no for an answer. All children will love this story but girls particularly will be inspired by her refusal to bow to societal norms and her determination not to let expectations of girls dictate her choices in life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Changing Times- The Story of a New Zealand Town and its Newspaper by Bob Kerr</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wow! This is an incredibly ambitious picture book and I love it! The book chronicles changes in the way news is communicated in New Zealand but Changing Times is so much more than that. It tells the story of the McPherson family, who emigrate here from Scotland in 1840, and through incredible illustrations and cuttings from the newspapers of the day, it introduces New Zealand history from 1840 to the present day. The style is almost like a graphic novel and there is just so much to look at. This would be a great tool to use as a starter for personal inquiries into events that have shaped Aotearoa into the nation it is today or even for an exploration of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">technological advances. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> I also love Bob Kerr's After the War which has been a favourite in my classes for many years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Dashing Dog by Margaret Mahy</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1137818418"></span><span id="goog_1137818419"></span>How on earth does one choose just one title from the absolute Queen of picture books? What an impossible task. So I let my daughter do it! She is an enormous Mahy fan and some of her happiest memories are around this fantastic story. Dashing Dog is Mahy at her absolute best; full of fun and imagination. I love that Margaret Mahy never dumbed-down her language for young readers'; the wordplay in this story is just fantastic. I will never forget the proud looks on her grandparents' faces when our three-year-old daughter described a wrought iron fence as "curlicued!" Thanks, Margaret! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Taming the Sun by Gavin Bishop</u> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I just love all of Gavin Bishop's Māori Myths and Legends. They are accessible and entertaining and the illustrations are stunning. I also love Counting the Stars and Riding the Waves. He has also ensured a balance of well-known myths with introducing some that are lesser known. These are well-thumbed in our classroom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Fuzzy Doodle by Melinda Szymanik and Donovan Bixley</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I recently came across this amazing book and was absolutely thrilled; A Winter's Day in 1939 by Syzmanik is one of my favourite pieces of historical fiction and everything Donovan Bixley turns his hand to is gold. This is no different; I adore it and I strongly recommend many readings as you will see something new with each reading. It is surprisingly sophisticated with a powerful message about creativity. I can't read this book without humming Paul Kelly's "From Little Things Big Things Grow." This is a great starter for conversations around the power of yet! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Haka by Patricia Grace and Andrew Burdan</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Haka is a must-read for all New Zealand children, actually, scratch that. Haka is a must-read for all New Zealanders, regardless of their age! This picture book had my nine-year-old, rugby-mad son completely mesmerised and gave us all a new understanding and appreciation of the 'Ka Mate' haka. The illustrations are absolutely stunning, an artwork in their own right. Buy this book for your own collection. My prediction is that we'll all reach for it frequently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>The Boring Book by Vasanti Unka</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This book is so much fun! The production values are stunning with lots to explore. I am a terrible font-geek and so I loved Unka's use of typography to highlight various words. This is a fantastic book for a writing workshop on Vocabulary. Use it to start discussions around the careful consideration of word choice and I guarantee your Asttle writing Vocab grades will increase! The Boring Book is anything but boring! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>The Duck in the Gun by Jow Cowley and Robyn Belton</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Duck in the Gun is a true New Zealand classic. It was first published in 1969 and has a strong anti-war sentiment. Despite the powerful message, it is full of whimsy and hilarity and really captures the imaginations of children. I have used this as a starter in Philosophy for Children for a Circle of Inquiry about war. There are lots of ways to use this story in classrooms of all ages. So much fun! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Old Huhu by Kyle Mewburn and Rachel Driscoll</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a stunning book which deals with the loss of a loved one. It features absolutely stunning artwork from Rachel Driscoll and a touching message about grief and the acceptance of losing a loved one. This is a sad story with a very hope-filled ending. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So that's twelve New Zealand picture books I absolutely adore. I could easily sit down right now and write another installment but I'll leave you to mull over this list. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What are your favourite New Zealand picture books? Please share your recommendations in the comments! I'd love to hear your suggestions. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-82968420973169809492015-07-15T09:00:00.000+12:002015-07-15T10:11:51.613+12:00Growing Techno Kids- Selwyn House Takes a Risk.....Yesterday I blogged about the way schools can share and collaborate to support one another. Today I'd like to share something we tried at Selwyn House.<br>
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I asked you to think about something your school is doing well; something other schools would enjoy hearing about. At Selwyn House, we are deeply committed to the growth of computer science and makered programmes. This is a legacy left by the incredible Jill Pears and her work is now being continued by Liz Fairhall, our awesome eLearning Director and my co-teacher.<br>
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As programmes like robotics and computational thinking become more and more widespread, we've had many schools contact us wanting to visit which is fantastic and we love visiting their schools in return. As interest levels have gotten higher and higher, our principal, Lyn Bird called us together to pose the question, "How might we share our Makered programmes to benefit other schools in Christchurch?"<br>
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We decided to gather together the awesome people who have inspired us and continue to support us on our Makered journey by holding a professional learning day for interested educators. This was a big undertaking- we'd be responsible for 7 hours of learning! How would we ensure the day was worthwhile? How would a school offering PD be perceived by others? Would it be seen as thinking we knew it all? After all, we don't by any means believe we have all the answers; we just really wanted to share what we've learned and showcase the people that have inspired us.<br>
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We were so thrilled when our our inspirations/speakers jumped on board. We eventually settled on a format which involved three keynotes spread throughout the day interspersed with four workshops; attendees selected two of these.<br>
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Our keynote speakers were:<br>
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<b>Professor Tim Bell of University of Canterbury</b><br>
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Tim was really excited to be involved and started the day with an interactive keynote using resources from the incredible CS Unplugged which has had a great deal of influence over the way Computer Science is taught at our school.<br>
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Tim is deeply passionate about the teaching of computer science principles from a young age. He shared how the technology industry is thriving in post-quake Christchurch and talked about the opportunities programming skills give our learners to really follow their passions and make a difference in their world. He shared activities from CS Unplugged which is used worldwide and showed us how to use this resource to teach CS principles without even laying hands on a device.<br>
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<b>The ever-inspiring Bridget McKendry</b><br>
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You may know her as @pixelbrid on Twitter. Bridget and Carl Pavletich are the founders of Fabriko and together they started the Christchurch Makercrate soon after the earthquakes, bringing making to the Christchurch community in a container! They also run the incredible Christchurch FabLab in Cathedral Junction.<br>
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Bridget epitomises a maker. She is deeply committed to creating a community of makers through open access to the necessary tools and ideas. Bridget's spirit of generosity and her "girl power" attitude has made her a real favourite of Selwyn House learners. She is adored and respected and is a fantastic mentor to our learners. We are so grateful to have Bridget's support.<br>
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Bridget talked about the role making has played in life and how important makered is for developing problem solving skills, perseverence, creativity and a sense of fun!<br>
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<b>Michael Trengrove and Caitlin Duncan of Code Club Aotearoa</b><br>
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Man, what a team these guys make. Michael is such a genuinely nice guy whose heart's desire is to ensure that all New Zealand intermediate-aged kids have equity when it comes to learning coding. He has always whole heartedly supported Liz and I and the direction we wanted our Code Club to take. He didn't flinch when we insisted it was for girls' only and was fully on board when we insisted that our club be opened to all girls in the Christchurch community; not just those within our school. He has listened to our numerous irate rants about the lack of women being encouraged into Computer Science and has taken our thoughts on board. We feel very grateful to have his enthusiasm and support for what we do.<br>
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Caitlin is the cool computer chick our girls all want to be. She is passionate and inspiring and so, so knowledgeable about teaching coding in schools.<br>
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These two showed us exactly WHY it is so important that we teach our learners to code. Here's why....<br>
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There are over 600 thriving tech firms here in Christchurch and we're a small city of around 400,000 people! We can all imagine the opportunities that creates. Caitlin informed us that for each University of Canterbury Computer Science graduate there were TEN attractive jobs. Most UC comp sci students had good jobs by the end of their first year of their undergraduate degrees! It is our duty to ensure that our learners aren't excluded from these opportunities.<br>
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Michael and Bridget offered coding and 3d printing workshops while Liz Fairhall offered a robotics workshop and I offered a workshop on 5 Tools for Connecting Your Class (not exactly computer science but the theme for the day was Growing Techno Kids so it kind of worked!) I have never run any sort of teacher learning before so I was petrified. I needn't be- the attendees were so lovely and so appreciative. I loved meeting them and starting a conversation with them around connecting our classes.<br>
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Here's my google pres. As you can see, I packed far too much in for a 55 minute workshop but somehow it worked! I could have explored any ONE of these tools for the full 55 minutes but never mind. That's the beauty of giving a link to a google pres.....participants can explore at their own pace in their own time. (Some of you may see tweets from your own classes! Thanks so much for connecting with us!)<br>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="389" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-8xH9VgV9OyNpQJu5rt_6Y9dp2jTYqLirXYoZ5xrkLQ/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe>
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We had more than 40 teachers join us for the day and the evaluations suggest it was a great success. There is so much passion around this topic and the teachers were fired up, ready to learn and share their experiences and this made for a really great atmosphere where we were all learning together alongside one another. Another thing that helped enormously was having our Y8 students on hand to support teachers in the workshops. Our students really are pretty phenomenal and this came up again and again in the evaluation sheets.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6t-ziy9qpY/VaSpjaqEUkI/AAAAAAAADmI/_BdqVbrzyAM/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-14%2Bat%2B6.15.27%2Bpm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6t-ziy9qpY/VaSpjaqEUkI/AAAAAAAADmI/_BdqVbrzyAM/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-14%2Bat%2B6.15.27%2Bpm.png" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creating Lego Balloon Car Racers in Liz's Robotics Workshop</td></tr>
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Our primary goal for this day was to SHARE the Makered love. We had no desire to make any money from the day, hence the small fee of $60pp to cover the speakers' time/ donations to their causes and lunch/ morning tea. The rewards were definitely not financial but the benefits for us at Selwyn House were huge. It was so wonderful to meet so many passionate Christchurch educators. It was a great day to be part of.<br>
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Thanks to everyone who came with open-minds to learn with us. Keep in touch!<br>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By the way, if you are interested in Makered, here's another opportunity in Christchurch. </span><br>
<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/selhouse.school.nz/forms/d/1llAcfa7P5QPiOWWszqdP37EFg0KwbB5t6fOib36-Skw/viewform">Chched Maker Event</a>- Register by Thursday 23 July- I hope to see to you there! </span><br>
<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-9396443144915044932015-07-14T15:49:00.001+12:002015-07-14T15:49:14.212+12:00How Might We share our schools' strengths so that others might benefit? And by we, I mean the "royal we"; I'm talking about your school, my school and schools throughout our community? How might we harness each school's strengths, their point of difference if you like, and share their collective expertise so that rather than competing against each other, we are all benefitting for the greater good, ensuring quality learning for our children?<br />
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Think about it; what makes you proud to work at your current school? What things is your school doing really well? Every school has its unique culture, the things that are really important to them, the things that give a school its special flavour. Is it a wonderful kapa haka programme, exceptional pastoral care, a Dance Academy or a highly innovative mathematics programme? What is it that makes you proud of your school? Maybe there is one area where your place is a shining light for other schools; perhaps there are a number of areas your school is focusing on? What do others in the wider community perceive to be your school's strengths? What are you known for?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kbItgEBKgXk/VaSGfCpquDI/AAAAAAAADlI/5JKBcmo-Z00/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-14%2Bat%2B3.46.24%2Bpm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kbItgEBKgXk/VaSGfCpquDI/AAAAAAAADlI/5JKBcmo-Z00/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-14%2Bat%2B3.46.24%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a> Schools are by definition places where we grow talents. Our purpose is to help our learners thrive and we work hard to help every learner on our roll be the best version of themselves. But what about our duty to other schools in our communities? Do schools have a moral obligation to support each other, sharing strengths and encouraging growth?
I'm not sure of the answer to this; after all ensuring our own schools are thriving is a big ask, let alone supporting others. Having said that, I have seen many times in recent years the power sharing between schools can have.<br />
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Social Media has enabled us to share and collaborate in ways we could not have imagined 10 or 15 years ago.
But what about face to face? Is a reliance on social media, subconsciously excluding members of our school communities? How can we reach these people? Is there still room for doing things "old school" and sharing face to face?<br />
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I am fortunate to be one of the Te Kahui Cluster Digital Leaders here in Christchurch, lead by the incredible Cheryl Doig and Donna Frame. This experience has been inspiring and has convinced me of the incredible power collaborating in a cluster can have. I am surprised to learn that clusters are not prevalent throughout New Zealand.<br />
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I am unsure of the "history" of clusters here in Christchurch and a google search is not shining any light on this. I suspect they were a structure put in place to provide support to schools when they were suffering post-earthquakes. Belonging to your designated cluster is optional and each cluster has its own unique make-up depending on the types of school in the area. The direction the cluster takes is determined by the members of the group depending on the needs of the schools in the area. Our Digital Leaders group is currently organising a Digital Citizenship Evening for parents in our area while another Christchurch cluster recently held an unconference which was highly successful judging by the twitter feed!<br />
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I'd love to see more visits to each others' schools. School visits are so powerful and benefit both the visitors and the hosts as we see our school through fresh eyes. Taking a whole staff to a neighbouring school during a school day is obviously a logistical nightmare but why not an after school shared afternoon tea complete with a smackdown or perhaps some eduignite talks from volunteers from both schools? After all, its highly likely that both schools are facing similar challenges. <br />
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I'm not a school leader so perhaps this entire blogpost shows my naivety around issues of schools collaborating rather than competing but it seems to me the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. <br />
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So how does your school collaborate and share its strengths with other schools in your area? <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-55587901206739227492015-07-14T15:01:00.000+12:002015-07-14T15:01:14.286+12:00Lost my blogging mojo.....I am so convinced of blogging's power to make me a better educator. Blogging is the most powerful tool for reflection. When I craft a post for my professional blog, there are enormous benefits for me and in turn, my learners.<br />
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<li> Blogging makes my thoughts and beliefs about teaching and learning clearer and helps me see what I need to do to improve my practice. </li>
<li>Feedback from others is enormously beneficial and the quality of the conversation has real impact on what happens in our classroom.</li>
<li>Blogging makes me a better writer and writing teacher. Sharing my personal blogging experiences with my students has had real impact on their view of blogging as a useful learning tool. </li>
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And there's always the possibility that what I share on my blog might benefit someone else. I really do believe in sharing and collaborating but I often have that nagging thought, "Who would want to read this when the interwebs are full of the blogs of truly phenomenal teachers, contemplating deep philosophical ideas about learning and doing incredible things in their learning spaces?" </div>
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But then my growth mindset voice kicks in...... my posts are not of the quality of those rockstar teachers YET! </div>
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And so I persevere, not because I'll ever be a rockstar teacher but because I blog for me; I blog because of the benefits I get from sharing and being part of a PLN. I blog because I encourage my students to create content to give back to our online community, not just take. </div>
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But recently, I lost my blogging mojo. I hugely missed the benefits of blogging but couldn't bring myself to blog about anything.<br />
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I had lots of questions about the purpose of my blog but the biggest was this........... </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">What is the role of my school in my blog? Where does my school end and Bridget start? Are we too heavily entwined meaning my blog has simply become a collection of recounts of things that happen at my school?</span></i><br />
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Over the weekend, I read two posts from two of my favourite bloggers; posts that cemented my ideas about MY purpose for blogging. </div>
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The first was from Stephanie Thompson. Stephanie is the most incredible teacher and when my class first started blogging in 2013 (yes we were fairly late to the party!) I was teamed in an amazing quad which included Stephanie and her class for Aotearoa Quadblogging. </div>
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Stephanie's great post is here; <a href="http://traintheteacher.me/2015/07/09/journey-or-destination/">Is online sharing about the journey or the destination? </a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bCyNNfDB2M0/VaLjSltseUI/AAAAAAAADk4/2VK6BWQWCRk/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-13%2Bat%2B9.58.31%2Bam.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bCyNNfDB2M0/VaLjSltseUI/AAAAAAAADk4/2VK6BWQWCRk/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-13%2Bat%2B9.58.31%2Bam.png" width="320" /></a>It reminded me that blogging is about sharing the ups and downs of life in our classrooms. It is not about having all the answers and its value is in the conversation it inspires. Yes, I've experimented with writing posts that <i>sound</i> like I think I have all the answers but I can assure you I don't! </div>
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Another post that reminded me of the value of sharing was this one from the amazing Silvia Tolisano of Langwitches. </div>
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<a href="http://langwitches.org/blog/2015/07/09/reflection-about-anne-frank-and-making-blogging-connections/">Reflection about Anne Frank</a></div>
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What struck me most was the idea that even the most mundane things should be documented. I can do that! </div>
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And then she shared the link to this oldie but goodie.......</div>
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So thanks to these two amazing bloggers, I'm going to get back on that blogging wagon.....here we go......<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-10837859474702319842015-04-09T11:03:00.000+12:002015-04-09T11:03:28.887+12:00Year 8's Top Ten Reads of Term 1, 2015Our Year 8s are prolific readers thanks to Donalyn Miller's <a href="http://bridgetothefuturenz.blogspot.co.nz/2015/02/kicking-off-40-book-challenge.html">40 Book Challenge</a>.<br />
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Term 1 of 2015 has seen this particular group of students really flourishing in their reading and I'm sure its because they have really embraced the concept of building a reading community across the Year 8 team. It is exciting to hear girls chatting excitedly before school about the book they finished the night before. It is exciting to see them bringing in piles of their own books to share with their friends. It is exciting to see them rushing to sign up for our daily Booksell roster. It is exciting to be part of the #kidsbookchat they lead fortnightly for readers around New Zealand. The reading community they have formed is undoubtedly contributing enormously to their individual growth as readers.<br />
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Last week, <a href="http://8cshs.blogspot.co.nz/2015/03/what-have-been-your-favourite-books.html">I surveyed them about their Term 1 favourites</a>. Here are the results.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-68860357494749016162015-03-22T18:48:00.002+13:002015-03-22T20:48:56.414+13:00A Beautiful Mash-Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Friday, 250 Year 5-8 students, their teachers and more than 20 mentors from the technology industry experienced the magic than can happen when education and industry work together.<br />
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The first ever Christchurch Mash Up for primary schools was initiated by Michael, Tim and Bryn from Code Club Aotearoa and many other parties with an interest in getting young people into technology and design thinking. These included Bridget and Carl from the FabLab, Caitlin Duncan from UC and a huge number of a volunteers from technology firms around Christchurch. The format was based on the highly successful <a href="http://8cshs.blogspot.co.nz/2014/11/we-got-third-place-in-coding-mash-up.html">High School Mash up</a> held last year at the EPIC Hub.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">250 students filled the Selwyn House Atrium</td></tr>
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What is a Mash Up you might well be wondering?<br />
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Well, I'm still not entirely sure of the strict definition myself(which is probably slightly alarming given that I played a small role in helping to organise the event!) but one thing I know for sure is that this Mash Up event provided rich, authentic, highly engaging, real world learning experiences for the 250 students lucky enough to be there.<br />
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The challenge was to work in teams of 5-8 students to identify real world problems, gradually whittling down their list to one problem that really bugged them. They had to work to find solutions eventually planning and designing their best idea. There were mentors for each team who were industry professionals and there were pods of "pros" such as Bridget and Carl with their 3d printers for prototyping, Bryn with his incredible array of sensors and Esther with her marketing skills so teams could get feedback on their logos, company names and guidance with their pitching. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridget McKendry from The Fablab prototyping with teams</td></tr>
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There were many steps to the process and the students were learning all sorts of new terms including-<br />
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<li>Ideation</li>
<li>Market Validation</li>
<li>Solutioneering</li>
<li>Curation</li>
<li>Pitching</li>
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This was a very intense and exhilarating three hours and the learners were so engaged from the get-go; the atmosphere was electric! </div>
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One of the many highlights of this event was the arrival of <a href="https://www.nzte.govt.nz/en/news-and-media/media-releases/media-release-entrepreneur-claudia-batten-to-lead-nztes-north-america-team/">Claudia Batten</a>, kiwi entrepreneur. She had a very powerful message for us all.</div>
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"You only fail if you give up. Keep trying." </div>
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What a great message; have a growth mindset. Her message was empowering and inspiring for the young Christchurch learners. </div>
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A highlight for the teachers was being able to leave the students with the mentors to attend a workshop led by Caitlin Duncan from University of Canterbury. Caitlin shared her research findings around primary school children learning to code and Initial Learning Environments such as CodeAcademy and CodeAvengers. It was a great chance for teachers to chat about the computer science in our schools and what our next steps are. </div>
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The afternoon drew to a close with selected teams sharing their pitches with the three judges, followed by a question session a la Dragon's Den. </div>
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Finally, a prize giving. Prizes were then awarded for a range of things including Best Pitch, Best Solution and Best Teamwork with prize money from the Christchurch City Council. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cobham Intermediate pitches their virtual pet with emotion sensors</td></tr>
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It was an amazing afternoon and I feel grateful to have had a small role working with the industry professionals to bring Code Club Aotearoa's dream to fruition. I learned lots from working with this amazingly dedicated group of people who want to see young people have the opportunity to join the thriving technology industry. Their belief in the ability of the children of Christchurch to achieve amazing things in such a short period of time was a reminder to me that we should never underestimate young learners. Huge thanks to Michael Trengrove and Tim Hatherley-Greene and also to Bridget McKendry for your unfailing belief in and dedication to New Zealand's young people. </div>
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Amazing things can be achieved when schools work with professionals to solve wicked problems. How can our schools benefit from this model? How can we create more opportunities for education and industry to create magic together? </div>
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Here's an article about the event from Stuff.<br />
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<a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/67464535/The-squiggly-path-to-tech-success">http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/67464535/The-squiggly-path-to-tech-success</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-87438943334000254982015-02-28T23:16:00.002+13:002015-02-28T23:28:05.297+13:00What Jessie J has taught me about growth mindset! Last night I was reflecting on my 28 days of writing efforts and feeling pretty embarrassed about my dismal attempt. This is the last day of 28 and I've managed to publish just 18 posts including this one.... a.bys.mal.<br />
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As I was sitting staring at my laptop in front of the tv waiting for inspiration to strike for another post, I was beating myself up about my very disappointing efforts. 17 posts in 28 days? How come so many other educators managed to write 28 posts...and not just good posts.....phenomenal, inspiring posts, all 28 of them with new insights and challenges and beautifully crafted. I was deeply engaged in my own negative self-talk; "I'm not good enough" I told myself as that great philosopher of the modern era, Jessie J came on to perform on the Graham Norton show.<br />
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Next thing she was singing these words.....<br />
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Wow! Just what I needed to hear.......the great Jessie J was singing right to me! ;) <i>As an aside, this is a great song for teaching growth mindset or would be if I could work out how to beep out the nawty words! </i></div>
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What a great lesson in growth mindset "28 days of writing" has been. Our Year 7/8 team is currently fully immersed in a Unit of Inquiry on mindset for learning. We've been really exploring our own self-talk and I've come to the realisation that I can be incredibly hard on myself. The girls in 8CF inform me that the biggest challenge for many of them is going to be changing their self-talk when faced with the success of their peers and I know they are onto something. At times during the month, the incredible quality of others' posts took my breath away. Rather than being inspired though, I let it totally get the better of me, becoming quite intimidated and giving up. But I need to take a leaf out of Jessie's book and hum this tune....... </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"I wanna hang with the greatest, gotta way to go but it's worth the wait......." </span></div>
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She's right you know, old Jessie J. Sure, I have only managed 18 posts in February but that's 17 more than January! And yes some of them were pretty light and fluffy about extremely important subjects like whether schools should send out class lists at the end of the year or allocate desks in class! But in others I really put myself out there which is quite an achievement for someone who is scared of conflict! That's growth, right there. </div>
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Yesterday, I read my girls this beautiful book from the ever- amazing Mark and Rowan Sommerset. </div>
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Just like Jessie J, these little bugs have lots to teach us about the power of optimism and having a growth mindset. I could choose to be like the blue bug, blown away and allowing myself to feel intimidated by the many talented writers in my PLN, eventually giving up. Then again, I could choose to be like the red bug, proud of what I've achieved and facing towards the sun! I could read the posts of others and be inspired by them, asking myself, "How does she do it? What can I learn from her?" Being the blue bug can sometimes be the easier option; it needs less courage and effort and its safer....no risk of failing. But boy, what a miserable way to live.........</div>
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For the month of March, I choose to be the red bug.</div>
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Thank you so much to Tom Barrett for starting the 28 Days of Writing adventure! I'm so glad I joined in. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-35468504766363245422015-02-23T22:50:00.001+13:002015-02-25T22:47:43.438+13:00Home, Sweet Home! Loving Where You Live<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">15 Things that will make you smile in Christchurch</span></div>
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Ok, so for the second day in a row, I've been thinking about something seemingly unrelated to educational pedagogy; the importance of loving where you live. I guess that's because my love for my hometown is always strong around the anniversary of the quakes; that's what's on top for me at the moment. I promise to blog about something with a less tenuous link to education tomorrow.<br />
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But of course you guys are a smart bunch; I'm sure I don't need to point out the connection between being happy in your life to being an effective teacher. Yesterday after attending the River of Flowers, my husband, children and I were feeling sombre and reflective and we ended up in one of our favourite Christchurch cafes eating curly fries. My eight year old son, probably sensing my sadness, suddenly reached for my hand and said, "I love Christchurch, Mum," which cheered me up no end.<br />
"Me too!" said his big sister. "Its amazing!"<br />
We then dug out my phone and made a family list of things we love about Christchurch. I've left off the things like "playdates" and "the friendly people" because I'm pretty sure your city has those too.<br />
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So without further ado, and in no particular order, here's the Compton-Moen family list of 15 things that make us happy in Christchurch. It should be noted that this is just half the list and also, not all members of the whanau agree with <i>every</i> item! ;)<br />
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1. The Street Art- amazeballs! Wander the CBD and be blown away by the some of the most incredible and uplifting street art you've seen. The Spectrum Streetart exhibition is really wonderful and was LOVED by each of my family for different reasons.<br />
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2. Hagley Oval- seriously, what's not to love? Sitting on the embankment is like being at an English boutique cricket ground. Lovely even if you are not a cricket fan.<br />
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3. The <a href="http://www.fablabxchc.org.nz/">Fablab XCHC</a>- this place is just incredible. A real playground for all ages. If you like making stuff (and who doesn't?) this is the place for you. Take the entire family and spend time tinkering and creating together. Fun!<br />
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4. The Beach- Sumner, New Brighton, Taylor's Mistake, Waimairi.....all are fantastic places for fish n chips, an ice cream and a a swim if you're brave! And all are so close to the city.<br />
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5. Taking in a Crusader's game at the new AMI Stadium- even if you hate rugby, go for the horses! Just awesome. And you are sooooo close to the players, you could give them a few tips and they'd hear you. And believe me, my son does.<br />
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6. The Tannery- this "boutique shopping emporium" is so well done. Even the gorgeous toilets will make your jaw drop. Great coffee, awesome craft beers, beautiful shops and the most delicious retro cake store. Love it.<br />
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7. Biking/ Jogging/ Walking/ Scootering/ Walking the dog in Hagley Park- 165 hectares of pure bliss right in the centre of the city.<br />
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8. CBD adventure- A ride on the Tram, punting on the Avon River, visiting New Regent Street and Restart- This is the best way to really see what is happening in our city in transition. I am a huge fan of the tram and always learn something new despite having lived here for 75% of my life! New Regent Street is just gorgeous and Restart is a must-see; a shopping precinct created from shipping containers at a time when containers really were the only option! Very cool and I desperately hope it will always have a place in the New Christchurch.<br />
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9. Drink goooooood coffee. Having lived in all of NZ's main centres(Between us) and being somewhat coffee connoisseurs (or perhaps just addicts!), my husband and I know for sure that Christchurch coffee is amongst the best. Try quirky C1 with its curly fries which arrive in pneumatic sliders or Black Betty with its range of different coffee methods such as Coffee Syphon. Brick Farm has amazing coffee and grows its own delicious organic produce right on site.<br />
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10. Or perhaps you're after something stronger than coffee! Visit one of the many new bars in Christchurch; Engineers and Merchants has a fantastic roof top bar; Strange's Lane has a collection of great bars including Vespa which I love for its delicious street food inspired menu and its quirky musical offerings. Burt Bacharach anyone?!<br />
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11. The Antarctic Centre is an oldie but a goodie- so much fun. Ride the Hagglund (unless like me you get motion sick!) meet Little Blue Penguins and experience the power of the storm. My kids' favourite.<br />
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12. Visit <a href="http://www.gapfiller.org.nz/">Gapfiller Site</a>s- these are changing all the time so check the website. Our family's favourite is The Dance-o-Mat....if its good enough for Charles and Camilla, then its good enough for the C-M family!<br />
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13. Mountain Biking at Macleans Island or Bottle Lake- the boys in our family LOVE doing this. The girls are happy with a lazy walk before beaching in the park with a good book. Either way, this is a fun family activity and the tracks really are great for a range of ages and abilities.<br />
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14. Christchurch Farmers' Market at Riccarton Bush- this is just such a fantastic and delicious way to spend a Saturday. And what a beautiful setting. The hardest part is deciding what to eat for lunch. YUM.<br />
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15. Day trips- one of the most fantastic things about Christchurch is its proximity to a huge variety of locations for amazing day trips. In around 90 minutes, you can be on a ski field at Mt Hutt or in hot pools in Hanmer Springs. You can be whale watching in Kaikoura or dolphin watching in Akaroa. Only got half a day to spare? Lyttelton and bays such as Diamond Harbour or Purau are stunning and a trip to Quail Island on the ferry is a great way to get out on the water.<br />
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Ok, like I said that's only half our list but creating it was such a mood enhancer I just had to share. What do you love about your hometown?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-3092986494353165632015-02-22T17:44:00.001+13:002015-02-22T21:35:15.835+13:00Four Years On.........Today it is four years since the day that Christchurch and Cantabrians were changed forever. It is so hard to believe that it is 1461 days since that horrific day that not one of us will ever forget. In many ways it feels like yesterday......and in others it seems like a lifetime ago. The scars are so deep and Cantabrians are a changed people. It is impossible to go through such tragedy and be untouched by it.<br />
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Having said that, I feel like a fraud writing this. I feel like I don't have the right to comment. You see, I know that I'm one of the lucky ones...the very lucky ones. I didn't lose any whanau or close friends, none of us suffered horrendous injuries that changed the path of our lives and force us to live with daily pain, we didn't lose our home and our house's structural damage has now been fixed. We didn't lose jobs or equity in our home or business.<br />
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My heart goes out to all those whose lives have been changed irrevocably....to those who have lost, arohanui.<br />
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Today, as in previous years we marked the anniversary by attending the River of Flowers. We bought flowers for Christchurch, red of course, and stood on the banks of the Avon River. As a family we were quiet and still for a minute at 12.51 before a lone piper played Amazing Grace. The tears flowed as I suspect they will for many years to come. Yes, I am one of the lucky ones but the hurt and sorrow I feel for Christchurch and our people remains raw.<br />
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I still find it hard to accept that so many in this city are suffering so much after all this time. I still struggle to come to terms with all that we've lost. The shops where my mother took me to buy school shoes and a brownie uniform as a child, the tea rooms where my grandparents took me for lime milkshakes, the Town Hall where I sang in numerous music festivals and attended my first rock concert, the City Mall where we used to sit on Friday nights as fourth formers outside HMV in our kungfu shoes, every single bar and nightclub my friends and I frequented as uni students, the restaurant and movie theatre my husband took me to on our first date, the church where we were married, the hospital where my son was born, the list goes on and on......the special places that mark the passing of my life are gone; only rubble, road cones or bare land remains. <br />
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But these are only buildings; though it is sad, I can accept their demise. What is harder to accept is the loss of innocence and the new found realisation that life can be taken from us at any time. I feel such anger at the quakes and I hate that I am now so desperately frightened of Mother Nature's ferocious power. Like many Cantabrians, when we suffer aftershocks it takes me a long, long time to recover. My heart races, my mouth is dry and my mind jumps straight away to mentally locate my children. It is hard not to think back to that horrific day at school and not hear the screams of 250 terrified children or picture their petrified faces. I hate that Christchurch people now live with a fear in their hearts that is so hard to shake.<br />
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And yet, today I look forward with hope. I believe strongly that there will be a better future for our city. I love the creativity that is such a part of the new normal in Christchurch. I love that we are more grateful and able to find joy in the little things. I see changes in Christchurch's children and feel proud of them for their resilience and compassion for others. This generation of children will be a force to be reckoned with, of that I am sure.<br />
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Today is a tough day; tomorrow will be better.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-6817291292675272462015-02-21T17:57:00.001+13:002015-02-21T18:07:31.450+13:00Making Class Blogs Authentic- a cry for help! Today's post is a cry for help of sorts. I am hoping that all you blogging gurus will read this and weigh in.<br />
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We've had a class blog for two years now. Starting <a href="http://8cshs.blogspot.co.nz/">8C Happenings</a> in 2013 was so exciting. Our learners were completely and utterly on board and practically fought each other to get blogposts up. We formed many connections and spent lots of time reading other blogs and writing comments. We took part in International and Aotearoa Quadblogging and other projects including the Global Read Aloud. In 2014, we did a Unit of Inquiry around digital citizenship and sharing in online spaces. The unit was called "Straight to the Blog" a title which was kind of a sad in- joke between those of us old enough to remember the "straight to the poolroom" quote from that classic piece of Australian cinema, The Castle. We got all classes in our team blogging and making global connections. We even started a New Zealand-wide kids' book chat on twitter via our blog. I had endless enthusiasm for blogging as a class.<br />
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This year, I've got to be honest, I don't seem to be able to rekindle that fire! I am not sure why this is but I think its because our blog has really become a sequence of recounts. There seems to be an absence of the higher level thinking that my girls are so great at. We are documenting the events that punctuate life in our classroom but I have this question in my head that I just can't shake. </div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">So what?</span></div>
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I need to think back to my original learning intentions when we started our blog. I had three goals for 8C Happenings. </div>
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a) Document life in the classroom for our whanau</div>
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b) Flatten the classroom walls so we could connect with and learn alongside others</div>
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c) Develop our skills in writing in online spaces and maintaining an engaging blog</div>
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We are certainly working on Purpose A but I'm not sure parents and family members are reading it. When I surveyed parents via google form last year, I got a lot of mixed responses. Most loved it and checked that they would hate to see us abandon the blog but many confessed that rarely read it, even when I emailed out links. Hmmmmmm......how do I address this? <b>How do you encourage parents to engage with your class blog? Any suggestions? </b></div>
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Purpose B is the one that I believe provides the greatest rewards and I always feel the greatest enthusiasm for blogging when we are right in the thick of connecting and forming relationships with classes around New Zealand and the world. I am deeply committed to giving constructive comments with wild abandon as a class; giving others feedback and helping others learn if we can. Our greatest challenge is time. I am wondering if the best way to give real impetus to commenting is to incorporate blog reading into our reading programme. <b>I wonder if there is some way to bring blogs into the 40 Book Challenge? How do you make time for reading and commenting on blogs in your classroom? Is it timetabled? A Must-Do? Homework? </b></div>
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Purpose C brings in those ideas around blog management. My learners are good writers and can create posts with visual elements with independence. The challenge for me is to hand some of the initiative needed for blogging over to them. I don't want Liz (my co-teacher) and I to be the ones who initiate every post. The girls will blog at the drop of a hat if we ask them to but we need a better system for getting them to take charge. <b>Do we need a job list around this? A daily reporter? A photographer? A videographer? A tweeter? Should a small team be blogging every day or just when there is a special event? (I am pretty sure I know your answer to this!) How do we get our posts out there for others to read? And how do we create posts that <i>make</i> others want to comment? </b></div>
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As you can see, I have highlighted my questions. I am really hoping to hear about the systems you have around blogging in your classroom. Our goal is that our blog will be more authentic and chronicle our thinking and learning, not just the "big ticket" events. I'm really hoping that this blog and your feedback will help recapture my blogging mojo! </div>
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Thanks in advance! </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-46672410599312157112015-02-20T22:39:00.002+13:002015-02-20T22:39:14.920+13:00A Must-Read: Book Love by Penny Kittle There are a number of professional books that have had a profound effect on my teaching. Their content has resonated so strongly with me that it has transformed my practice. Sometimes it is not that the ideas held within are radical or completely new to me, but rather that the book's author has given me the courage to follow my instincts and abandon ineffective classroom practices. <br />
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Penny Kittle's Book Love is one such book. Reading it was strangely comforting, like spending time with an old and dear friend; a friend who makes you feel good about yourself and empowered to change! Penny Kittle is inspiring and passionate and a great storyteller; Book Love really is a great read. </div>
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The full title is Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina and Passion in Adolescent Readers and the book is chock full of strategies that seek to do just that. It is a great companion to Donalyn Miller's <i>The Book Whisperer</i> and <i>Reading in the Wild</i>. It is aimed at High School English teachers but as a teacher of Year 8s was still very relevant to me. A lot of what Kittle has to say applies to educators working with all ages of learners although many of the strategies would work best with students about Year 6 and up.<br />
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One of Kittle's strategies that worked very well for me in 2014 was calculating personal reading rates and using these to measure one's progress and increased stamina. I used this strategy once a term and it was hugely popular with those learners in my class who liked to see numbers or data as evidence of their growth. It also makes weekly goal setting very easy as students can choose to read more than their current reading rate.<br />
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Another strategy I found very helpful was the term reflections. This involved listing books read in the term from most to least difficult. This strategy was powerful because it created in my students, a mindfulness around the challenge level of their reading material. This is turn had the effect of pushing many of them to ensure they had included some challenging books in their reading plans for the following term.<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/a/selhouse.school.nz/document/d/1HTZfzUd--cTIb_BlXdFeSXbpoZRSkcK9JkN7hKIINMA/edit">Here is an example</a> that I created. You may or may not agree with the order I have chosen to list my reading material in (and in fact even I now disagree with my own list) but that's actually not important. What is important is this process made me aware of the challenge level of my reading choices. This in turn helps to create depth as learners try to raise their own personal challenge bar. And yes, it became sorely apparent as I created this, that I should probably read more books intended for adults!<br />
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I loved this quote that reminds us of the ultimate goal.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Georgia Serif';"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> "We have to commit to helping students choose texts they can navigate alone, then teach the skills needed to unravel more difficult texts in class, so that their skills increase while they experience the pleasure of reading. When skills and pleasure align, students begin to choose more difficult texts to read independently." (p. 14) </span></i></span><span style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
I have read the chapter "Creating a School Community of Readers" numerous times. This chapter tells the story of the author's own school's journey to create a lifelong love of reading in every one of their students. There are lots of practical suggestions to help nurture a school-wide reading culture. This section shows what is possible under visionary leadership even if not all are on board.<br />
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My principal takeaway from Book Love is that any educator who teaches reading has a duty to read themselves. That sounds incredibly obvious but since reading this book I have heard and read of an alarming number of teachers who comment that they are not readers. Kittle shared this great quote from Jim Trelease;<br />
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Which professional books have you loved? I'd love to hear your recommendations!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-73609445059299907592015-02-11T22:51:00.003+13:002015-02-11T22:51:25.449+13:005 things I couldn't teach withoutOk, so of course if push came to shove I could teach without these tools.....but I'd really rather not have to! ;)<br />
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1. Post-it notes- Is there no end to the wonders you can perform with these babies? I have a special softspot for those ones that come already concertina-ed? Do you know the ones? Those are awesome.<br />
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2. GAFE- Gosh, I don't want to be one of those educators who is the equivalent of a Crusaders supporter! (You know the ones.....who won't have a bad word said about their team and are so loyal to them that when anything goes wrong it is the ref's fault?) Those people exist in education too, don't they? They are so loyal to their chosen product that nothing else comes even close and they won't entertain the thought that something better might be out there. Like I said, I don't want to be like that but I feel like I just might be that person when it comes to GAFE! I just couldn't love google apps any more if I tried. GAFE should really just pay me for all the promotion and fangirling I do over their products!<br />
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3. Picture Books- There really is the perfect book for every learning experience. My current favourite is this.<br />
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This is just must-have if you do any iteration of passion-based learning such as Genius Hour, Passion Projects or 20% time.<br />
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I was going to use it for Passion Projects but have absolutely zilch self- control when it comes to sharing great books with my learners so I just couldn't wait a whole week and shared it for Leadership Week instead, the day it arrived. There's a reason why my word for 2015 was Patience. (Boring I know but I just couldn't shake it!) <br />
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4. Apple TV- Oh my goodness! I feel so grateful to have this in my classroom. This tiny little black box, costing a relatively meagre $149, enables my learners to share so easily with the whole class via a television, straight from their device. So many uses for this (DING! Blogpost idea) but my favourite is Student Led Conferences when the learners display their eportfolios through the apple tv. Seeing their pride and joy's hard work on a big screen does something funny to parents- its just lovely.<br />
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5. My PLN- After a move to Year 8 from Year 5, I joined Twitter because I was terrified and hoped it would help me find some answers to burning questions. It helped me more than I could ever have imagined; mostly to feel confident and trust my instincts about things I wanted to change in our classroom. I "met" some amazing people and took part in some incredible twitter chats and suddenly I was hooked. Now I couldn't be without twitter and my PLN and would be devastated if I was working in a school where Twitter isn't allowed. Blogger is another tool that connects me....and my learners to a huge learning network. My PLN also includes the amazing teachers I am lucky to work with and others who I connect with Face to Face over a coffee or wine .... when time allows!<br />
I might be able to survive in a classroom without items 1-4......for a little while! But I know for sure, I would seriously struggle to do the best for my learners without my PLN and the ties that bind us, Twitter and Blogger.....and the occasional Sauvignon Blanc! <br />
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So, what tools do you love? Are there any tools you couldn't live without? I'd love to hear your recommendations. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-69870184135734456292015-02-09T22:46:00.001+13:002015-02-09T22:53:02.870+13:00Are you wondering what #bfc630nz stands for? #bfc630nz stands for Breakfast Club, 6.30 NZ<br />
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This is a new "sparkchat" started by Kerri Thompson from Tamatea Intermediate in Napier and Surin from Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Whanau Tahi in Christchurch. "What's a spark chat?" you might well ask........I asked exactly the same thing!<br />
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It is a 15 minute, one question twitter chat which kicks off at, you guessed it.....6.30am, every week day. Kerri and Surin post one question at 6.30am, ONE provocative question designed to challenge us and most importantly get us "sparking" for the day ahead. We share, chat, favourite, retweet and like any twitter chat are hugely inspired by other educators. This "small but perfectly formed" chat can really get us pumped for the day ahead.<br />
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Kerri and Surin decided to introduce this concept to New Zealand educators after being inspired by <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from the #bfc630nz blog</td></tr>
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the US version, #bfc530! And you thought 6.30 was early!!! And 5.30 may be early in the US but its LATE here in NZ- 11.30pm in fact, so I have completely failed in all my efforts to take part in this chat, often failing asleep with my phone on my face and waking when the chat is well and truly over. Kerri and Surin insist it is amazing, that the BFC530 community is amazing.....and I believe them. So I'm very grateful to them for taking the initiative to bring the sparkchat concept to Aotearoa. <br />
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Yes, its true, 6.30am is a very busy time in many New Zealand households, including my own. In the last week, I have tweeted with my phone in one hand while making a school lunch with the other, I have tweeted while scrambling eggs, I have even tweeted in the bathroom straight from the shower......and it has really been worth it. I find myself feeling invigorated and fired up for the day ahead. There is no way I can make the chat every day but Kerri and Surin's motto is<br />
<strong style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30.6000003814697px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">* WHEN YOU CAN * WHEN YOU NEED* </strong><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; line-height: 30.6000003814697px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">so I like that I can join the chat when I can and when I need some inspiration to get me through the morning. I love that it's short and sweet and cuts straight to the point. Perfect. </span></span><br />
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You can read more about #bfc630nz on the <a href="https://breakfastclubnz.wordpress.com/">Breakfast Club blog</a> and also check out the storify archives of previous chats.<br />
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Here's the topic for tomorrow's #bfc630nz chat-<br />
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Sounds inspiring to me! <br />
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Thank you so much to Kerri and Surin for all your hard work to bring this to NZ! You're amazing!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-10087231839657856092015-02-08T16:06:00.001+13:002015-02-08T16:43:56.926+13:00What would you do if you weren't a teacher? <a href="http://bridgetothefuturenz.blogspot.co.nz/2015/02/elmo-and-element.html">Yesterday's post</a> about helping our learners find their element challenged me to consider this question.......<br />
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Hmmmmm......... this is tough. I LOVE being an educator. I love the learners, I love the creativity, I love the variety, I love the changing technologies, I love constantly learning and I love the relationships that we work to form with our learners, their parents and with other educators. <br />
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So, what would I do if I chose for some reason to give up my role in the classroom? I have been thinking a lot about finding one's element. Sir Ken Robinson describes your element as the place where your aptitudes or talents and your passions meet. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image by D.Richards, inspired by Sir Ken Robinson's, The Element</td></tr>
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What would "the element" be for you? I find this question very, very difficult to answer. The irony is that I can see exactly what my family members' elements might be......<br />
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My daughter is deeply passionate about computer science and animated movies. She has a real thirst for learning more about animation and story creation. She gets on lynda.com and works through tutorials to teach herself Blender in her spare time. She watches Disney movies in a very academic way, passionately pointing out where both hand-drawn and computer-generated techniques have been merged. She even tracked down an animator from Dreamworks on my twitter account and quizzed her about the software she uses. I can see if she continues on this track, she'll end up working for an animation company and I wouldn't put it past her to start her own storyboarding and animation company.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heroes/ Mentors are so important for following our dreams. </td></tr>
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My 8 year old son LOVES rugby the way I love dark chocolate! He is also very passionate and good at maths and spends a lot of time making books of statistics in the rugby season...things like who carried the ball the most during a game and who achieved the longest drop kick. Totally beyond me. He is also mad keen on geography and I think that his current dream job would be as a travelling statistician for the All Blacks- even better would be if he could also play First Five! That'd be perfect for him! He'd be in his element!<br />
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My husband is incredibly creative, a very talented artist with a deep passion for healthy city building (how ironic that we live in Christchurch, a city desperately in need of people just like him) Exactly six days ago, I think he found his element when he moved from working with engineers and people who look at the world in a very different way to working for a new firm of urban designers and landscape architects- people who care deeply about creating a vibrant and dynamic city with the well-being of its people at its very heart. It is truly awesome to see him having found his element. His enthusiasm for his work has increased exponentially and it's wonderful to see and be part of that.<br />
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So, what is my element? When I asked my family what they thought I'd do for a profession if I wasn't a teacher, my husband answered that he thought I'd either own my own florist shop (hmmm....not a morning person so that's probably NOT going to happen!) or open a children's bookshop, matching children to the perfect book. That sounds very cool- I would LOVE that! My son answered that he thought I'd be a person that helps people or perhaps a lawyer- he and I are quite skilled are arguing our points! My daughter answered that she thought I'd have a job helping people identify their passions....how ironic that I can't identify my own element but can clearly see possibilities for others.<br />
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So what would you do if you weren't an educator? Hmmm.....I don't have the answer; perhaps that's because I've already found it.....in my classroom. <br />
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Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear what you'd do if you weren't in education. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-41240583284808184312015-02-07T23:41:00.001+13:002015-02-07T23:41:37.072+13:00Elmo and The ElementLast night, for family movie night, we watched a really fantastic documentary on Apple Tv. Our eleven year old daughter hasn't stopped talking about it. It was called Being Elmo and was the story of Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who brought us Sesame Street's much-loved Elmo.<br />
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The documentary tells the story of a young boy growing up in a working class neighbourhood in Baltimore. From a very young age, he was passionate about puppetry, becoming obsessed with Jim Henson's muppets as seen on a new show at the time, Sesame Street. He spent many hours designing and sewing puppets and creating their personas. His dream was to work for Jim Henson and the documentary tells the inspiring story of his path to making his dream come to fruition.<br />
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Kevin didn't have support at school, in fact he was bullied for his obsession with puppets, but what he did have were two loving parents who were strong advocates for him, encouraging and supporting him every step of the way despite the fact that wanting to become a puppeteer was an unusual dream in 1970s Baltimore.<br />
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This story resonated with me because our school is committed to helping our learners find their passions. We strive to help them identify their strengths and the things that they love doing and to celebrate each girl's uniqueness, giving them the time and space they need to really explore and become fully immersed in their passions. Each year group has a different form of passion-based learning so our girls are constantly reflecting on who they are and what makes them tick? In Year 8, our primary medium for passion-based learning is the incredible <a href="http://bridgetothefuturenz.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/passion%20projects">Passion Project</a>. These are a full year self-led inquiry into one of their passions and seeing what the girls create is the hands-down highlight of my school year. <br />
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There are so many things I love about these projects and for so many reasons. My greatest fear is that education is becoming too standardised, that we are turning our learners into carbon copies of one another. I know we can all think of schools that pride themselves on creating the XXXX boy or the XXXX girl . I strive, in my classroom to do exactly the opposite, to enable and empower each of my learners to be unique and to celebrate that unique identity by becoming the very best version of themselves. I want my learners to be individuals who are aware of their strengths and are working towards finding that thing that Sir Ken Robinson refers to as The Element, the place where their strengths and passions meet. <br />
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Kevin Clash found his element and then he put his head down and walked straight towards it. Sure, the line to get there was wiggly, not straight but he never gave up, always keeping his eyes on the prize, that illusive job as Jim Henson's puppeteer.<br />
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I can't wait to share "Being Elmo" with my Year 8s.<br />
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I have lots more to say about this documentary but my 28 minutes is up. I thought I'd leave you with an Elmo clip that was a favourite of my son's not all that long ago. I hope you enjoy it!<br />
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<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-43063245487032171402015-02-06T17:58:00.000+13:002015-02-06T17:58:15.800+13:00The Global Read Aloud rocks! <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Bubblegum Sans'; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>This is a post I wrote for the Literacy Online list. I hope its ok to share it here too. </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the past couple of years, I have watched the Global Read Aloud unfold with great longing! This is a global project where classes read together, build connections and form friendships over the same shared book. It was started by the amazing Pernille Ripp (and if you are not following her go and do so right this minute! She is amazing!) I’ve desperately wanted my learners to be a part of the GRA but the timing is horrendous, falling over the New Zealand Term 3 holidays. This year, I decided to bite the bullet and sign up- I’d address the scheduling issues later. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First my class and I needed to select one of the novels on offer. These five titles had been selected via a social media campaign and the selections ensured there was something for everyone. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane- Kate di Camillo</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Fourteenth Goldfish- Jennifer L. Holm</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One for the Murphy’s- Lynda Mullaly Hunt</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Fault in our Stars- John Green</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My class selected “One for the Murphys” by Lynda Mullaly Hunt which thankfully only five had read and all five were very keen to read it again. The Global Read Aloud is very well supported by the authors of the selected titles and we were fortunate to be able to watch Lynda Mullaly Hunt herself read the first chapter via a youtube clip. This was a great experience. She also held frequent open question sessions via google hangout which were able to be watched later on youtube. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Screen Shot 2014-12-01 at 5.57.29 pm.png" height="257px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8gLSUzip6rzMmAQpt_LCIvhIjuQfJiliUxDrj-0QTyI97FTjWqqOrU3HIY6oWMVjXvDp4PrZqrGM5XkFPTphZn1uSwBzCNPfna5_pbA0nemlVUE9CZa-msmaAV_X0tuN-X4" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="178px;" /></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next, I registered to make connections with other classes who had also selected “One for the Murphys”. It was easy to find classes who were very keen to connect with a school at the bottom of the earth in little old Christchurch, New Zealand! I was inundated with tweets and emails, people inviting 8C to connect. I formed a connection with the first class who approached us, a class in Oshawa, Canada. Their teacher and I hit it off right away and started planning fun and meaningful ways to connect our classes. I created a quiz for our buddy class to complete which would eventually result in them establishing that we were in Christchurch, New Zealand and we did a similar thing in 8C, completing quiz questions that eventually led us to their map coordinates. We would have loved to have done this via Mystery Skype but the timezones were completely incompatible. We each created a movie introducing ourselves which highlighted the many differences between us but perhaps more importantly the many similarities we share. </span></div>
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<a href="http://8cshs.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/introducing-8c-to-our-buddies-in-oshawa.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://8cshs.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/introducing-8c-to-our-buddies-in-oshawa.html</span></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We each created challenges and reflective tasks based on “One for the Murphys” which we shared between our classes. We collaborated via padlet, our 8C blog and their individual kidblog accounts. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The greatest challenge we faced was timezones. Without organising an out of school event, connecting synchronously was very difficult. Also, 8C uses Twitter a lot for slowchat- type questions but in our buddy class’s district, Twitter is blocked and they were not a google apps school. So there were some initial challenges to work through none of which was insurmountable. They do however use Edmodo and I was inspired to join and learn more about this platform. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About halfway through the novel, we discovered a fantastic site called Flipgrid. This is a paid website but offers a 21 day trial. I used my flipgrid account incessantly during this 21 days and will absolutely be buying a paid account in 2015. I can see so many possibilities for this amazing tool. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flipgrid enables educators to make grids of questions. The students film themselves responding to the questions and the responses form a grid. We posed questions such as </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Be someone’s hero” is an underlying theme in One for the Murphys. Who is your hero in life? Share reasons why.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was fantastic to see our students from opposite corners of the globe lined up side by side, sharing their reflections on the novel. Their responses were often very personal and the students have requested that I don’t embed the grid into this post. However, here is a screenshot for those of you who are curious to see how Flipgrid might look. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Screen Shot 2014-12-01 at 5.41.23 pm.png" height="309px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/eTsKlugaZSBh1liqqs4PYj6aU6jioj-PNFgCf1HzPJuOk9tfwZvOruVYvxuMrIWRcZX6NMiC10Y460tqZjyusnIqFnHiusTu7JNOZVg3OWZZLEyOzUTatXGlZfu6DdwS4e8" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="720px;" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“One for the Murphys” is a compelling and emotional story which touched all of us very deeply- it is so moving that I often had to give the book to one of my students to read as I experienced “sweaty eye syndrome”. Having another class with a different perspective and set of life experiences to discuss the book with was a very special experience and one I would love to repeat. There were challenges along the way and things I will do differently next time but despite this, the collaboration between us has been powerful and made our experience of an amazing class novel significantly richer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ok, so I've cheated for today's #28daysofwriting challenge by posting something I had already written. It is Waitangi Day here and after a huge couple of weeks at school, I've had a fantastic day with my whanau.....as we all should on Waitangi Day. ;) </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-3916136755863034892015-02-05T17:55:00.000+13:002015-02-05T18:08:22.461+13:00Allocated seats; yay or nay? With tomorrow being Waitangi Day, our first week of school for the year is over! Today we posed the question;<br />
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What do you need to ensure this is your best year yet? (More on this in another post)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"I need my own desk to do my best work"</span></div>
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Although our classroom is not officially a Modern Learning Environment, the learning happening in our team is most definitely based on Modern Learning Pedagogies- it is student-centred with lots of project and passion-based learning; makered and design thinking are a big part of what we do. Student voice is at the centre of our class culture and we are constantly reflecting and innovating together to make things better for all of us as learners. </div>
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So I feel a slight tension with their desire to have their own designated desks. For a start we don't even have enough desks! We removed lots to make room for the big watering hole table in the centre of our room. And what about the lovely comfy couch? Don't they want to work there where they can relax? Don't they want to sit on the floor in front of the coffee table? What about the chill- out space in the corridor. Don't they want to chill out on beanbags or lie on the floor? </div>
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Apparently not! But why? </div>
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This is obviously "on top" for my girls so we had a long chat and explored why having a designated desk was so important to them. </div>
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"Sometimes my friend wants me to sit with her but I know we're a bad combination. I think I should sit somewhere else but don't want to hurt her feelings." </div>
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"Sometimes I'm late for school and all the way here I worry about which desk I will get." </div>
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"My eyes aren't great and I worry about not being able to see."</div>
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" My ears aren't great and I worry about not being able to hear." </div>
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"I like not being too close to the windows because I get distracted."</div>
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" I like being close to the windows so I can look at the view." </div>
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"Honestly, I am more likely to sit and work with new people when the teachers choose my seat than when I choose. Then I tend to stick with the same old people. "</div>
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" I just worry too much about where to sit." </div>
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So I've spent the day reflecting on this. Should we be working through the reasons the girls have given and finding workable solutions for them all? Is that really a good use of our time or could we be spending that time engaged in amazing learning and working to make a difference in the world. They've already said they really want to switch table groups every second Friday so they'll still be working with a variety of people. Might this be a case of don't sweat the small stuff? </div>
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In this case, Liz and I have decided that the voice of our learners is more important than our vision of what an MLE should look like with its few scattered tables and highly engaged kids lounging around on beautiful soft furnishings. So on Monday, at the request of our learners, our girls will be pulling desk/ table numbers out of a hat and sitting in their allocated seat. </div>
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I seem to have <a href="http://bridgetothefuturenz.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/giving-up-control.html">some issues</a> when it comes to setting up the classroom. What do you do in your class? What age group do you work with? What do you think is the ideal situation regarding desk/ tables? </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-22135604355942352682015-02-04T22:53:00.000+13:002015-02-04T22:53:00.271+13:00Kicking off the 40 Book ChallengeI tried so hard NOT to write my #28daysofwriting about the 40 Book Challenge today because I've blogged about this numerous times, such as <a href="http://bridgetothefuturenz.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/were-community-of-readers.html">here</a>, <a href="http://8cshs.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/were-in-50-club.html">here</a> and <a href="http://8cshs.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/the-40-book-challenge-is-underway.html">here</a> just to share a few! I don't want to bore anyone or appear to be a "one trick pony" so to speak. It's just that the 40 Book Challenge has impacted so deeply on my practice that I find it impossible not to share my wild enthusiasm.<br />
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Donalyn Miller is one of my eduheroes- her books "The Book Whisperer" and "Reading in the Wild" are must-reads if you teach in a primary/ intermediate school or secondary English. The basic premise is that learners are encouraged to read at least 40 books (students set individual goals but 40 is a good minimum number because it is gives enough of a challenge that learners have to work steadily at it throughout the year.) Some girls set the goal of 50, 65 or even 80. Some of these girls will make 80 and need to reassess the goal later in the year. Others might not make 40; like any goal, not meet it is not the end of the world because I guarantee that with this challenge in place, these girls will read more frequently, more deeply and read more widely than they did last year. They will also learn a huge amount about where and how to find reading material they enjoy and they will leave Year 8 with a number of favourite genres and authors. Perhaps most importantly, we will see, as we have in the past two years, 8CF transform from being a collection of children working independently in the same classroom to a truly supportive learning community where girls discuss and share reading experiences, sharing their favourite books and helping each other be successful. </div>
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Today was the third 40 Book Challenge Kick-off party I've held for our Year 8 girls. The girls are now well aware of the challenge before they join Year 8 so today the 40 Book Challenge announcement was met with a mixture of fear and trepidation.....and great, unbridled enthusiasm. Either reaction is perfectly understandable! </div>
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This year, after feedback from last year's girls, I've made some changes. </div>
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1. Picture Books-</div>
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I'm sort of shocked at myself for not including picture books in the challenge before now. I'm a huge picture book lover so I'm a bit disgusted at myself for not including these sooner. Ten picture books = one book and we did discuss the importance of variety in these books but the girls "get it" and are grateful for the opportunity to explore the way text and visuals combine to tell a story. </div>
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2. No specific genre numbers- </div>
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Previously I had set the genre guidelines eg 3x Fantasy, 3 NZ Literature and 10 Free Choice. What was I thinking? This year, I've scrapped that but do want them to read at least one book in each category. After that, the world's their oyster so to speak. </div>
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So after sharing the slideshow, we set goals and then we laid out piles of books including many from the National Library. The girls were so, so excited to select books, I was actually concerned there might be a punch up over, "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart. I had two thoughts as this unfolded......</div>
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a) Why didn't I bring a first aid kit?</div>
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b) How much longer will children around New Zealand get this much joy from National Library books for? (sigh........that's another post!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Appletise; Toasting ourselves! Let's do this thing! </td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-67511626171250306662015-02-03T23:09:00.000+13:002015-02-03T23:09:46.519+13:00The Power of PodcastingLate last year, I became part of a global phenomenon (to use a completely over used phrase!) I found myself utterly hooked on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_%28podcast%29">Serial</a> podcast series. I had never been much of a podcast listener but I had read about Serial's <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/serial-podcast-smashes-itunes-records-but-success-brings-family-backlash-9868604.html">unprecedented success</a> on Twitter. I am inclined to be struck by nasty bouts of <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fomo">FOMO</a> so I just had to see what all the fuss was about. (Since I am having such fun with links in this post, here is one more- the <a href="http://serialpodcast.org/">link for Serial</a> so you too can be be of the fun!) <br />
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From Episode 1, I was hooked. I have never been one for forensics or court room dramas but this true story was told in the most engaging way by investigative journalist, Sarah Koenig. I was intrigued by the storytelling devices and strategies she used to tell the story and hook the listener without visuals. I devoured all twelve episodes (some of them twice) while on my morning walks and a number of times became so engrossed in the story that when I arrived home, I couldn't even remember which route I had taken! Like the millions of others who had gotten addicted to Serial, I was bitterly disappointed when I listened to the final episode. What would I do now?<br />
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Serial had opened up a whole new world to me; the world of podcasting. I have become a huge fan of downloading podcasts for listening to while walking or in the car or even if I am having trouble sleeping.<br />
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Early in January, I decided to explore educational podcasts and I have stumbled upon some real gems. There are many out there but here are some that I have enjoyed.<br />
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<b>Adam Jones</b><br />
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Adam's podcast is brand new and as such there are only 4 episodes so far but I have really enjoyed them. I particularly enjoyed his chat with Hans Mundahl about the paradigm shift needed to make schools more relevant. He has four steps he thinks we need to take and I really enjoyed his ideas.<br />
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/adam-jones-education-podcast/id955037998?mt=2">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/adam-jones-education-podcast/id955037998?mt=2</a><br />
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<b>EdReach</b><br />
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Wow! There are heaps of these so you are bound to find something that appeals to you. I'm a bit of a google fan girl so I really enjoy the googlecast episodes. The latest one I listened to had me totally intrigued by google cardboard! The little one minute podcasts are worth a listen too although downloading enough for a decent walk is enough to bring on a migraine!<br />
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/edreach/id412489812?mt=2">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/edreach/id412489812?mt=2</a><br />
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<b>Moving at the Speed of Creativity from Wes Fryer</b><br />
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I love that Wes has lots of great guests on his podcasts. The amazing Jennie Magiera of Gafe Summit North and South fame features in a recent podcast. You are bound to find something here that interests you.<br />
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moving-at-speed-creativity/id78007370?mt=2">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moving-at-speed-creativity/id78007370?mt=2</a><br />
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<b>The Whole Child Podcast</b><br />
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I just stumbled across this in the weekend so have only listened to one podcast but it was a goodie! I listened to a podcast about STEM education called STEM Makers and Shakers. I really enjoyed some of the ideas that were shared.<br />
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/nz/podcast/whole-child-podcast-changing/id306347401?mt=2">https://itunes.apple.com/nz/podcast/whole-child-podcast-changing/id306347401?mt=2</a><br />
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Do you listen to podcasts? Do you have any other podcast suggestions for me- educational or otherwise? Do you create podcasts with your students? Which tools do you use? Please leave me a comment if you're a podcast fan.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-257896924355642972015-02-02T21:53:00.001+13:002015-02-02T21:55:56.120+13:00Class list or no class list? That is the questionYesterday, on a stunningly beautiful Christchurch day while sitting on the side of the school pool, my friend <a href="http://gins.edublogs.org/2015/02/02/growing-talents-takes-hard-work/">Ginnie Thorner</a> and I boldly announced to another dear friend that we had decided to partake in the 28 Days of Writing challenge. She was enormously excited for us.......possibly more excited than we were! You see, our friend <a href="http://nataliekingwrites.com/">Natalie is a writer</a>.....a very successful one at that.<br />
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"How awesome!" she squealed in her characteristically enthusiastic manner.<br />
"Argh but its 28 days, Nats!" I wailed. "I don't have 28 ideas in my head!"<br />
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And so began a very fruitful brainstorming session where Natalie, a parent of four, threw topics at us at an alarming rate; all the things she had always wanted to ask her children's teachers' but never had the guts! The topics came thick and fast and by the end of it, we had a list of educational "hot potatoes" some of which I'm not sure I'll touch....."Public versus private?" anyone? "Single Sex versus Co-ed?" Not today......<br />
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But here's a quick and light post for the first day of the year......<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Should schools announce the classes for the following year in December or wait until the first day of the new school year?</span><br />
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See? I told you this was heavy stuff......<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>But seriously, what does your school do? The school where I currently work sends out a class list with the child's class for the following year with the school report. This goes out on the Friday of the second to last week of school. The following Monday we have a school Christmas party and the students visit the teacher for the following year. My co-teacher and I have our current students leave advice for our new students- Haiku Deck or imovies or something offering pearls of wisdom which I share with them during that visit. I hope and believe that the girls leave knowing a little about their teachers and excited about the year ahead. In January, we send them a letter via snail mail (When did the cost of sending a letter go up to 80 cents by the way??!!) I think this system works well for us.<br />
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My son's school also arranges for the students to go and visit their new teacher late in the school year. No class list comes home and my son could only remember about five of the children who were in his class so I spent most of the summer asking, "Oooh is XXX in your class next year?" but that was really just me being nosey and certainly not vital knowledge! I LOVED that on that day in December, his teacher for this year sent home a fantastic imovie showing his current students working and explaining his philosophy. It was such a great idea and the parents really appreciated it. I might have to steal that idea!<br />
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One of Natalie's children is at a primary school where the learners find out who their new teacher is and who is in their class on the first day of school for the year. He was completely at ease with this way of doing things; not the least bit perturbed and actually had a great summer discussing with his family the merits of both teachers on offer! He was fully prepared for either scenario and completely nonplussed about finding out on Day 1.<br />
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The "first day" system is the system I remember when I was at primary school. I remember my dear friend and neighbour keeping our fingers crossed for a every waking hour of the week before school started in Standard 4, desperately hoping that we would be in the same class for the first time in our school careers. We weren't. Looking back on it, I can see clearly why the school kept us separated (ahem!) but I wonder if we would have been saved a lot of angst if we had have known way back in December that "it ain't goin' to happen!" Maybe. Maybe not.<br />
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My strong feeling is that learners, especially anxious students, can benefit enormously from knowing who they will be working with the following year. The future-referencers amongst our students will be much happier knowing a little about what the year might look like. To be honest, I can't think of any cons for letting the students know in December who their teacher might be. I just hope it is not those dangerous 8 words that keep schools using this practice, "because that's the way we've always done it!"<br />
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What do you do at your school? If you have your own children, which system do you and your children prefer? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this very pressing educational matter! :)<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250157189067913221.post-5539182863617831702015-01-04T10:00:00.000+13:002015-01-04T10:00:01.816+13:00MORE or LESS in 2015Sometime in December, I came across a tweet that has been at the forefront of my mind ever since. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Sadly, after a significant amount of time searching for this gem, I am unable to find it despite the fact that I am sure I must have favourited it....hmmmmmpf.)</span><br />
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Anyway, the tweet was two simple yet provocative questions.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What will you do more of in your classroom in 2015? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What will you do less of or throw out entirely?</span></div>
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Or words to that effect........</div>
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Here is where I am currently at with these questions. This list will undoubtedly change, and so it should, as I get to know my learners. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">GIMME MORE!</span> </div>
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<b>1. Student feedback- </b></div>
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Year after year, my aim is always to be effective in the classroom and make a difference for my students. So this year, I want more student feedback with regards to how I'm doing. I want to know how they learn and what we can do in our room to help them learn. I want to know what they love about our class and what they want more of. I want to know what they don't love and what they want less of or what needs to be tweaked.<br />
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First Steps:</div>
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I'll be starting the year with a survey about how we can work together to ensure that my girls' final year at primary school is their best year yet. But that will be just the beginning. Throughout the year, I'll survey them regularly about how I'm going. Yep, I feel a little nervous about this- twelve year old girls can be devastatingly honest so I'm going to have to be wearing my thick skin! But I give them frequent feedback about how they are doing in our class so isn't it only fair that they get the chance to give me feedback?</div>
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Hmmmmm......I'll let you know how it goes. </div>
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<b>2. Collaborating, not just connecting-</b><br />
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Over the past couple of years, 8C has become pretty good at connecting with other classes. We've taken part in global quadblogging, Quadblogging Aotearoa, the Global Read Aloud plus lots and lots of connecting through blogs. We even created a <a href="http://8cshs.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/first-ever-kidsbookchat.html">New Zealand-wide twitter chat</a> to share book recommendations. We've formed lots of friendships in the past few years but in 2015, I hope to step it up and actually work with others on an authentic, collaborative project. </div>
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First Steps:<br />
There are a couple of amazing tools I'm hoping to explore with my girls including Flipgrid and Wevideo. I'm fortunate to work in an International Baccalaureate School and our Program of Inquiry this year offers a multitude of opportunities for collaborating with learners well beyond our classroom walls. I'm excited!<br />
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<b>3. More Picture Books- </b></div>
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In the last month of 2014, I embarked on a <a href="http://bridgetothefuturenz.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/a-picture-book-day.html">Picture Book a Day</a> challenge. Actually, calling it a challenge at all is a bit of a stretch as that implies some degree of hardship or even suffering. There was absolutely no degree of suffering except maybe to my credit card balance as I couldn't resist purchasing for my own children many of the titles I had borrowed from the library. Picture Book Month was a huge success and something I will definitely be repeating in 2015. I have seen many teachers on Twitter who commit to the Picture Book a Day Challenge for a full year. While I love this idea, I have decided to broaden this slightly to a Read Aloud Challenge for the year.<br />
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First Steps:<br />
Read something varied and high quality to the girls every single day of the 2015 academic year. It might be an article, a poem, a letter to the editor in our local newspaper or the first chapters of an amazing novel. No more stressing that I am not going to get the 357 page novel finished before the holidays! Of course, there will still be complete shared novels but they will be less frequent, enabling us to share significantly more genres. </div>
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<b>4. More opportunities to CREATE-</b></div>
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I want to ensure my learners have lots of opportunities to create content, sharing their learning and teaching others. To do this, I hope to give the girls the choice of a huge variety of medium and tools.<br />
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First Steps:<br />
Wrack the brain of my team leader and Performing Arts guru, Greg Pearce and learn how to use the Arts more to share our learning. I'm also excited to do more coding with the girls. Computer Science is very strong at Selwyn House and I love that our girls choose HTML/CSS over drag and drop website creation tools. </div>
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Having gotten totally addicted to the podcast "Serial" these holidays (like five million others) I am also interested in exploring the use of podcasting as a tool for sharing what we learn. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">LESS OF THIS, PLEASE!</span></div>
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<b>1. Boring spelling programs</b></div>
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I fully admit that this is something that I have not yet mastered in our Year 8 classroom. We are a 1:1 classroom and the vast majority of writing that we do is digital; this means that the personalised spelling lists I used to have learners create based on their own writing are challenging to set up since the girls can easily see when they have spelt a word incorrectly on their google doc and fix it themselves. When we write on paper it tends to be a collaborative activity; identifying who owns spelling errors days later is tricky and pointless. So what is the answer? I've tried a few things and none of them have really grabbed me or my students. Have spelling lists had their day? Is a stand alone vocabulary and word origin program the answer and if so, how on earth do I make this fun and engaging? </div>
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Any thoughts, good people? I need your input on this one! </div>
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<b>2. Clutter</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ENCQkxIFyc/VKZjJI1twsI/AAAAAAAACYQ/NHXdbfb75nY/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-01-02%2Bat%2B10.21.09%2Bpm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ENCQkxIFyc/VKZjJI1twsI/AAAAAAAACYQ/NHXdbfb75nY/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-01-02%2Bat%2B10.21.09%2Bpm.png" height="320" width="240" /></a>Last year, <a href="http://bridgetothefuturenz.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/giving-up-control.html">I boldly got rid of my desk</a>. Anyone who knows me is well aware that I attract clutter in large doses and that this choice to eliminate a teacher desk was destined to be a challenge for me! If she is reading this, my teaching partner Liz Fairhall, will be nodding vigorously! So removing my desk had mixed results. Yes, it gave us more room for the girls themselves but it also increased exponentially the piles of paper and miscellaneous clutter around the area where the desk USED to be! </div>
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I'm deeply committed to eliminating the clutter but I need some help. As my Mum used to say when I was an incredibly untidy teenager, "You'd be much happier dear, if you just had a system." So desk-less members of my PLN- how do you do it? Any tips for me?</div>
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<b>3. Filling of Gaps-</b></div>
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(More celebrating strengths and passions!) </div>
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By this I am referring to our "fragile learners" for want of a better term. In the past, common practice has been to try and fill these gaps in the skills and knowledge of our most vulnerable learners. This deficit model has often meant lots of individual learning programs, removal from class to go to support programs and plenty of repetitive work to try to get these children to have a profile that is more "in line" with other class members. While this learning support work is important and hugely valuable, my question is, how can I work to find these students' strengths? How can I find their true passions and help their classmates see them in a different light and perhaps more importantly help them see <i>themselves</i> in a different light? </div>
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I hope I have explained this clearly.......</div>
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<b>4. Less Teacher Talk</b></div>
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'nuff said</div>
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So what do you plan to do more of in your classroom this year? And what about the things you'll do less of? I'd love to hear your ideas for your own classroom and also your tips to help me achieve this! </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3New Zealand-40.979898069620134 177.1875-90 11.953125 36.240464930379872 -17.578125