It's always so nice to be able to sit down and listen and share how everything is going and where we are all at. I've been so busy with reports I haven't focused on my inquiry much lately, but as soon as testing and reports are out of the way we will be all guns blazing! My kids have started to really enjoy learning the basics and have starting making little 'how to' movies on how use different skills, For eg. how to hold an iPad, how to upload your footage to a computer. We haven't done much much filming yet because there are so many things that they need to learn first.
The site is up and running, it still has a few changes that have to be made because as my inquiry grows I'm realizing some things are more important then others. I've spent a lot of time making how to movies for kids and teachers about how to film and how to edit. I've tried getting my learners to create them so that other learners around the world will be able to understand and can listen to learners there own age.
What are you struggling with? (A question I was asked).
Time is probably my biggest struggle at the moment, with everything going on having time to do this in class has become more difficult than I thought it would be.
Being able to see where everyone is and help each other is great. Having that time to connect and reflect and think about our next steps is great.
What are your views on teaching? What motivates you?
Relationships - understanding the child - where they come from and the child knowing who you are and where you come from as well. Expectations and respect are both massive in the culture of your classroom, you don't just get given respect you have to earn it, just like the children. My mum has always said to me "if the child in the class is not happy and enjoying being there, they're not going to learn as much as they would if they loved school" I'm also a firm believer of this, and have remembered this since I began my journey as a teacher.
We played a game where everyone had a role and they had to question and critique your inquiry and your idea that you have created. I talked with the group and we had a scribe who recorded the whole conversation, it's really interesting!
TEAM MEMBER: Zac - increasing achievement in writing via engagement.
Starting at new learning - Lots of talking to others (woolf fisher case studies included) and experts and engagements..
Made me understand that most of my kids were behaviourally engaged and that it was the cognitive engagement that i needed to work on. -
Started making videos - This had made me then branch out into other areas. Working on google expeditions - struggling to get phones to make this happen. - This would increase engagement and broaden horizons. Utube 360 videos as a tool in the meantime. (Jacob shared another Google doodle?). - great way to engage with descriptive writing. - hoping to do something similar for classroom on air.
Spoke to another colleague - Story book creating. Create and share (including illustrations) with another junior classroom - These were paper books (but could be digital as well). - This pulled in the boys in their class that were least engaged traditionally but were the most engaged in this task as they knew who they were going to gift it to and they wanted to help them.
Re-thinking the who - realised I hadn’t used all of the people listed but needed refocusing on this. - so many experts that are amazing at it.
Questions
Is this tool going to be the process or something they can use - Kid friendly so they can use, but also for teachers so they can use it as well. - If I wasn’t part of a digital school I wouldn’t understand half of what I do now. - Main site and 5 different things and link to classroom on air. - there will also be resources on how to make the different movies.
What are our goals now (and next steps) - talking with people (who?) Sandy, Andrea, Helen Squires) - Dorothy said ”REMEMBER OUTSIDE YOUR ECO CHAMBERS” - I want to tell them my idea and ask them their ideas and what they think will work.
Goal is to keep workin on building up the resource bank so it is useful.
What might this offer from the perspective of the students - it will be usable. They can use animation, audio clips and increase their engagement and achievement altogether - And have fun - and engage in writing.
What research has been used - Dorothy’s daughter sent lots of links, read lots of blog posts about what can behaviorally engage students - alo of this come back to quietness and less distractions. - Looking at previous inquiries and what worked and what didn’t.
Chris Marks - want to reach out to him - as you have read a whole lot of his posts - he had lots of stuff on engagement. - Lots of out of the box stuff - he was really good at inventing stuff to help.
Lots of consulting - .is it connecting to pedagogy and is it going to progress towards the tool - This is something that Zac is grappling with at the moment. - Are you trialling them out as you are going? - Yes…
Danny - asked if the site will also include not just the videos of what you do but how does this relate to learning - why have you chosen this technique going deeper in one idea?.
Focusing on - writing style, or the tool use or the moving making (narrative). - Also how they will film and work together with others to make this more successful. - Also the scaffolding from iPads to Chrome books. - Accessing prior knowledge (comparisons made to make the transition easy).
