Jill Hammonds EdBlog

The loss of my South Island clusters and move to mostly North Island has meant that I now have only first and third year clusters. Doing the final visits for the year has made me realise just how marked the contrast is between the two.

Last night I stayed with a friend who has a very young puppy. This puppy is full of energy, explores everything with its teeth and gets very excited over anything new. This is so much like the first year clusters, where they are excitedly telling me about the new things that they are discovering and learning and seeing make a difference for their teachers and students. There are reports of those aha moments where connections are made and new territory unfolds. There is also the uncertainty of writing their first variation report with all that that entails in reviewing, meeting with principals, tracking their progress and deciding where to head next year. There are also often little yelps as they discover some things that don’t go smoothly and where they need some additional support to ease the way and resolve issues. Not all schools are on the same page and there is more diversity of need.

In contrast, the visits to my third year clusters to date, have been golden years, with really solid discussions about learning, achievement, processes, learning, teacher capability, students articulating their learning, teachers reflecting on the three years, recognition that there is ongoing learning to be done and practical discussions about how this can be achieved now that the funding is drawing to an end. There is discussion of the Draft Curriculum and how this fits with where their thinking has now lead them. There is recognition of the opportunities that Web 2.0 presents and last minutes requests for more input into setting up good resource areas for clusters and establishing lasting communication channels using the technologies.

Three years and smiling. Still work to be done, but at a settled pace. Time in the day to bask in the sun as well as to hunt and enjoy the feed. Three years and smiling.

One of the great things about my job is that no matter where I go to visit schools, I always seem to find something to excite me.  I’ve seen a fair bit of technology use and students doing some pretty amazing stuff.  However, you may have picked up by now, that what really turns me on, is seeing students and teachers learning in powerful ways.  This may or may not involve plug in or push button technologies, but does include some component that changes the way people think or operate.

Today I met a really vivacious second year teacher who is also a lead teacher in her school.  She didn’t just talk to me about what her class were doing, but shared her passion and excitement.  She had been to the ULearn Conference and had learnt about podcasting during one hands on workshop, and decided she would like to try that with her year 3-4 class.  They began by listening to some podcasts and critiquing them to then make a list of criteria that would be important to  use for their own attempts.  The criteria related to the message, the delivery and the technical skills they would need to employ.  These were then built into a period of focusing on each and brainstorming how they would operate.  They discussed the collaborative skills they would need to develop, and assigned a variety of roles for each team – which included a quality control component.  Whoopee – critical and reflective learners aiming for high standards.

Book reviews were their first context, so book selection, review writing, reading with expression and awareness of pace, podcasting techniques were all skills to be developed.  Finally they were ready to record and then to listen and critique.  Audacity and a cheap, very basic microphone had been employed, but the cheap microphone amplified all the consonants producing the popping sort of static noises.  Teacher recording studio knowledge and a bit of No 8 wire ingenuity solved the problem via a coathanger and a pair of pantyhose.  Check it out in the photo – note the X on the home made sound boom to ensure that the readers faced the microphone.

So OK, we can now podcast and we’ll use this skill again as part of our space unit to provide some sound files for other classes.  But wait – this is a critical reflective teacher and so there is more learning that can be developed from the experience.  So now the class have looked at audience and how that impacts their context, their presentation style and the content.  They looked at how having an elderly audience would impact what they produce.  What if any changes would they need to make?  And to interest fathers?  Kids in kindergarten? Others?

Well the story ending hasn’t been developed yet, but what is brewing for the future is podcasting for the blind.  Talking books via podcast maybe.  Obviously there will be much research required and the year is running out but plans are afoot nonetheless.  I hope I get to hear more about the sequel to their first exploration of podcasting.  Real learning is evident even in the preliminary process.  This teacher has paid more than lipservice to the desire for her students to be collaborative, critical thinkers and problem solvers.  They are already building practise of these into their work.  Well done Kelly.

Another great day out in a cluster, this time closer to home in the Waitomo area. Towards the end of the day I had the chance to pop in to some junior rooms at Pukenui School to chat briefly with some teachers about how they were using ideas gained in a full day workshop. One of the things that had really taken off in this school and some others in the cluster, was the idea of having a computer by the mat and using it for modelling on a daily basis. Several teachers had been using a powerpoint template to capture a bit of student news each day, and in so doing, focusing children on the typing and editing of their work. The template had a place for the date using WordArt, a simple sentence in a text box, and the space for the child to create their own illustration using a Paint (Bitmap) insert. The animations and transitions were set from the first slide by the teacher, so there was no time spent on this feature, but the result was that the class created digital readers that used their own vocab and experiences that became part of their reading rotation – no big deal – but the kids loved it.

However, the big aha came when one teacher told me how when she first used it and asked the kids about how they could go back and fix up the spelling errors (typos), the kids started calling out whenever a red wiggly line appeared as she typed or they spotted some other mistake. “So what?” you might think, but then they became very error conscious, and the teacher found that they were now spotting errors in not only word processed writing, but they became much more aware of them in their own bookwork, and also started to self correct more in their reading and running records.

Ahaaaaaa :->> It impacted their learning!!!! No-one told them to do it – they just became much more aware and this awareness transferred to other situations.

And that is what ICT enhanced learning is all about! 

Today I visited a school where a group of 7 and 8 year old kids worked alongside an engineer to design and build an outdoor chess court for their school.  The principal had set one up originally, but the kids were critical because the squares were black and red, and too small.  They felt it should be black and white and larger.

An IPENZ competition provided the fuel for these kids to select building a new chess area for their competition entry.  A local engineer volunteered his time to work through the design and specification process with the kids.  They found out about using a theodolite, measuring angles, calculating dimensions and depth requirements, drawing up plans and scale diagrams, calculating and costing materials, and then assisting to carry out the work.

The chess court has recently been completed and the write up of their process submitted for the competition.  Today the students were finalising a presentation about their process, and practising delivery for this week’s assembly.  No doubt they will eagerly await the results of the competition, but the real benefit was obvious when talking with the kids involved about the learning that had occurred while working alongside the engineer and asking their questions.

Anyone for chess – just check out Otatara School in Invercargill.  The paint is now dry.

Well done and good luck to this great group of Yr 2 & 3 students.