Group items tagged

A world wide project around the stacking of OREOs and then sharing the data with classes from around the world. Running from Sep 16 to Oct 4.

"Type Description Descriptive writing Not reflective. Description of events that occurred/report of literature. No attempt to provide reasons/justification for events. Descriptive reflection Reflective, not only a description of events but some attempt to provide reason/justification for events or actions but in a reportive or descriptive way. For example, "I chose this problem-solving activity because I believe that students should be active rather than passive learners". Recognition of alternate viewpoints in the research and literature which are reported. For example, Tyler (1949), because of the assumptions on which his approach rest suggests that the curriculum process should begin with objectives. Yinger (1979), on the other hand argues that the "task" is the starting point. Two forms: Reflection based generally on one perspective/factor as rationale. Reflection is based on the recognition of multiple factors and perspectives Dialogic reflection Demonstrates a "stepping back" from the events/actions leading to a different level of mulling about, discourse with self and exploring the experience, events, and actions using qualities of judgements and possible alternatives for explaining and hypothesising. Such reflection is analytics or/and integrative of factors and perspectives and may recognise inconsistencies in attempting to provide rationales and critique, for example. While I planned to use mainly written text materials I became aware very quickly that a number of students did not respond to these. Thinking about this now there may have been several reasons for this. A number of students, while reasonably proficient in English, even though they had been NESB learners, may still have lacked some confidence in handling the level of language in the text. Alternatively, a number of students may have been visual and tactile learners. In any case I found that I had to employ more concrete activities in my teaching. Critical reflection Demonstrates an aware

Introducing Breezy Brie An educator who has some amazing Special Education blogs, including one that is particularly dear to me: Planning Community Trips for the Year.  My time in a Special School Transition class demonstrated how important it is for students to be exposed to different life skills, for example going to the local shopping centre for morning tea.  Breezy Brie also includes links to resources she has found effective, such as a store logo flash card set.  

Educator Anissa Grumetza visited the Fraser Coast Campus on Tuesday to share her knowledge of ICTs in the classroom.

This is a website designed by a group of 3rd year teachers from a variety of schools in the Brisbane area. It provides a forum for classes to share what they are doing in the classroom. It is kind of a mix between a newsletter and a resource/idea sharing centre. It is great to get ideas and see what other classes in other schools are doing.

Website created by a High School history class (or two) after discovering a suitcase at their school

Great resource for Foundation/Year one to help consolidate number recognition.  It enables students to match objects with words and numbers.  This is a great visual tool for those visual learners within the class.  Each student has a turn at matching the number of children with the number on the bus and further along in the  lesson, the pictures change to trees and apples.  Very engaging for students.

Great post that talks about the learning enabled through Minecraft that moves beyond using it to build something related to a curriculum. Also a good illustration of using a theory to make an argument about why you might use an ICT to enhance/transform student learning. Perhaps not directly applicable to a class setting due to the constraints of the current education system, but useful for expanding your concepts of ICTs and their impact on learning (as opposed to education).

interactive game could be used to help develop content vocabulary and to practice student spelling lists. Good for small group actives or whole class. 

A history/English teacher talking about how he uses Twitter in his classes.

One possible approach to the problem of students using phones in class. Not such a great fan of it and then one of the comments offers the solution that I imagine quite a few students adopting "I'd just put it on an old phone connected to wifi and stick it in my bag. BOOM 24/7 locked phone"

Post describing the process and outcomes of a year 4 class (Canada) using digital cameras to go on a "light scavenger hunt" around the school and organising the photos by their source.

"My blog will share the creative ideas I use in school and demonstrate how effective use of ICT can impact across the curriculum. My role this year has been deploying a class set of iPads and piloting the use of iPads to enhance learning across the curriculum. I can also provide inset training, 1to1 intensive courses and workshops for a variety of ICT areas, in particular using iPads in the classroom for schools. For more info please email davyhulme.ipad@gmail.com for enquiries."

A student made video for a digital story task. She shows how many ways an iPad can be used in a secondary English class.

Class resource for behaviour management reinforcement and tracking

This is a great tool...I have tested on my own kids lol. Just received an email recently stating that this app can now be used "school wide" as opposed to just in one classroom. Therefore teachers can share behaviour management strategies throughout the school.

WA-based high school using a wiki and a game to teach history to Year 10 classes.

Short article covering some of the research about the limitations of lectures. For example, "For some educational goals, no alternative has ever been discovered that is less effective than lecturing, including, in some cases, no teaching at all" But also making the broader point that research has yet to effectively explore all of the possible applications of lectures. An example of evidence that can be used to guide pedagogical decision making.

An interesting article particularly comments made on study hours. My thoughts are that some learners do gain the most out of independent study and / or reading information whereas others achieve most in class listening to lectures... I don't agree that there is a 'one size fits all' approach rather that teaching should be delivered in multiple ways so as to meet the learning needs of a diverse student cohort.