The big flight

Today is my last day in Adelaide for three weeks.
First, a week stop off in Melbourne to watch some volleyball and then off to the US for a conference on the brain. The trip will be a drag because of it's length and it's 'lag but the conference will be good I am sure.
Leaving behind some controversy at school because of the jealousy of going on a fully-paid trip but that's their problem.
Hope to develop a full package of teaching methods that are brain-friendly and will hope to use them with my Year 9 students in particular after their review of my teaching.
I can see I have a few things to work on.
BTW, this was done using scribefire within Firefox...just for something completely different.

Last weeks for 9 ICT

What a class. It was a pleasure to teach and they taught ME a lot.
Next year (if I get it again) it will be different.
I will still incorporate both blogs (which have been very successful) and wikis (less interactive but I think I can improve on it) but will focus on podcasts (nearly all students successfully produced a podcast) and Game Maker.
Game Maker has been the surprise packet. It was something I allowed them to do as free choice and they took to it like ducks to water. They produced more in 3 weeks than my Year 11 class did in a term!
So it will be something like:
Weeks 1-3 Introduction to blogs and the wiki. Safe use of the internet.
Weeks 4-7 Social Networking assignment.
Weeks 8-12 Podcasting - introduction, main features, making their own podcast.
Weeks 12-19 Game Maker - introduction, building and modifying a simple game, building your own game. Will need to introduce the Design process for these students otherwise they will just sit and create without any documentation. Will also give them the opportunity to podcast or screencast their documentation if they want or create a website (the blog site can do this) to do this.
Week 20 Trialling and feedback.

Sent off my Summer School Application

Finally sent off my application for post Summer School money.
I am not sure it will get through but I hope I am given the chance to spend some time with the Science teachers building a wiki and showing them the power of the blog.
The costs might be slightly derailed if we set up a Moodle which apparently has both blogging and wiki facilities.

The Year 9ICT course is going well. At least 6 of the class are getting the idea that they can add to the knowledge the class has. It is a bit tricky to know how to edit their information - too much and they might lose confidence, not enough and they might not think it is worthwhile. The blogs are going well and give me a real insight into how they are going. Again, I need to give them feedback. But at least I can do it in my own good time.

Finally, I am setting up a 9 Maths wiki to use with students. Given the static nature of Maths, this could be an ideal set up for students who are struggling with Maths. The trick is to structure it so that there is enough information but not too much clutter.
Interesting times.

Year 9 ICT - a brand new approach to teaching

Well - new for me.
The emphasis in this whole unit will be on collaboration. We will focus on four units - blogging, wikis, podcasts and social networking.
Already we have covered blogging and I can see the benefits. Students have to make at least one blog entry per week and comment on someone else's blog each week. It has been terrific because

• I get some idea how much they are taking in
  
• I can see who is doing the work
• It is much easier to give feedback (in the form of comments)
• It is much easier to assess (as long as you have developed the criteria beforehand)

We are now starting on wikis - the students get to modify the course's wiki - which they have initially been very excited by but also very intimidated. Students actually have a say in what they learn - revolutionary! At the moment I am confining them to changes to the content part of the course ie what is a blog, how can they be used etc.
Eventually I want them to have a say in the assessment of the course - very empowering. Also I want them to use what we have learnt in other subjects.
More to come....

First Blog for 2008 - Proposal for Professional Learning

Here is a proposal I am submitting to obtain a grant for $2000 for Professional Learning basically on using wikis:

This project is based on the research done by Dr Debra Panizzon, (Deputy Director, Flinders Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century). Her research suggested that outstanding outcomes in Science can (in part) be achieved by Science teachers where there is a culture of collegiality, shared assessment practices, communal teaching resources and shared goal-setting and class expectations.

I will work with a group of Science teachers (middle school focus) and I will:

· Introduce the idea of using a commonly-accessed web site (called a wiki) to write curriculum documents for the Science course.

· We would cover

o The main science concepts and skills

o Teaching and learning resources

o Common and/or shared assessment tasks

· Emphasis is on working on the website collaboratively. Wikis allow anybody to edit, add, delete or in some way modify the contents. This wiki will be a private one so only invited teachers can submit content.

· It also allows discussion of topics and this should allow teachers to clarify ideas, discuss the meaning of key concepts and give feedback on what has been uploaded

· If it continues beyond this year, it will evolve into a useful, up-to-date yet dynamic working document.

The Professional Learning program that I will run will have the wiki as it’s focus. However, to break up any sessions I also propose to give some short input on some of the key ideas presented at the Summer School. Here the focus is on how this information or research might impact on their science teaching.

These sessions will include:

· The survey of Year 10 Science students by Terry Lyons (Choosing Science Project for 2007)

· Neuroscience and Learning by Professor Ian Fitzgibbons (South Australian Neuroscience Institute)

· Learning Capital by Mike Lawson and Helen Askell-Williams (Flinders University, School of Education)

· Hands-on Science practical and tutorial sessions (by various members of the Science and Engineering faculties at Flinders University)

The sessions would run in the following manner:

1. A short introductory session – Introduction to Wikis (what are they, how they work, how to get into our wiki and use it).
2. A full-day session to write the curriculum documents (creating the framework, research, sharing information, reflection)
3. Follow-up sessions (clarify any issues, continue to share experiences, discuss how other teachers [e.g. student teachers, new teachers] might use the resource)

Ulimately, I would envisage that this group of teachers would develop wikis with other teachers and possibly even with students!