We can work IT out

After almost 12 months of construction some classes, art and the library are about to move into the new Junior School building. The library is very big with three distinct working spaces. In the picture it occupies the first floor from the tree on the far left until the end of the tall vertical windows – just over two thirds of the length in the photo.

Today at our staff meeting a small group met to review the functions and purpose of a library and a librarian. The meeting focused on possibilities and avoided reasons why we couldn’t do something. It was a really positive and potentially exciting discussion.

Before the meeting I had the opportunity to explore some ‘favourite tweets’ from Judy O’Connell @heyjude:

• A Vision For 21st Century Learning – video at Vodpod (2 minutes 10 seconds)
• 21st Century Learning – video at Vodpod (4:05)
• Pivots for change in school libraries – blog post at Information Literacy Meets Library 2.0
• The Life of a New Media Teacher Librarian – slide presentation (with video) at SlideShare
• Libraries of the Future – blog post at Hey Jude
• Simply Books – twitter feed @simplybooks
• A Librarian’s 2.0 Manifesto – video at Vodpod (3:55)
• JISC – Libraries of the Future – video at Vodpod (9:41)
• Transformation Lab – Library 2.0 prototype – blogpost at Hey Jude
• Academic Libraries in Transition – What Studnets Have to Say – video at Vodpod (59:17)

One teacher suggested the possibility of changing the name of the facility – ie not calling it a library – so that students won’t have a pre-conceived idea as to its function. In other words, we want our new library to be different to how it has been. It would be good if the name reflected some of the new functions, eg research, use of digital media/tools in learning, literature and the love of books, etc.

If you have any suggestions for a new name, or, if you have come across a video or blog post about future libraries or libraries2.0, please leave a comment.

GROUP NOTES TAKEN BY DAVID

·    Clear understanding of expectations of boys – must teach these
·    What is happening in other spaces / libraries around the state and country?
·    St Josephs in Sydney have a good program – Colin to explore and report back

Name
·    What should we call this space?
·    The name will reflect how the boys view and use the space
·    Should it still be called a library?

Staff
·    The librarian needs to be a ‘coach’ with ICT, library skills and literature
·    Teaching teams and the use of the resource room – planning and sharing has become a focus of the School – this space, and the library staff, must support this
·    Can staff check out their own books and resources?

Skills – Resource based learning skills, Library skills, teaching these
·    We must teach the skills associated with research
·    Resource based learning is essential
·    What are the skills needed for this and how does the library / library staff help teach these
·    There is a strong emphasis on ‘story telling’ and ‘literacy’ within the classroom program
·    Should we change the emphasis of the library to reflect a more balance approach with ‘literature’ and ‘skills’ sharing equal weight?
·    There is a strong emphasis on reading and the love of books – in classrooms
·    The strong classroom program should mean we do not loose the love of reading and books – thus there may be room for change of focus in this new space
·    Embracing ‘literature’
·    Changing face of resources must be addressed – text, electronic, web etc

Space
·    Develop a ‘drop in’ approach to the use of the library – small groups / class groups / individual students (especially for older year levels)
·    The new space allows for two / three distinct teaching groups
·    What are the staffing implications of this?
·    The library should be a resource point
·    We should be able to come to the Library and access the resources available
·    How will the space be used after school? – homework, small groups, research – is there a conflict with OSHC?
·    How can we keep the boys interacting in the mornings?
·    Look at year levels having display and resources available in the library

ICT
·    The current catalogue system does not allow for easy access and use
·    Can we develop an on line booking system for staff to use any of the new spaces – class / specialist teachers would take students if librarian is teaching
·    With the new ICT facilities in the library this must be a focus of how we use the library – more computers, IWB, Web 2.0, lap tops
·    Would like to be able to access online services for the library from ‘outside’ the library – classrooms, home
·    Greater flexibility between the library space and the ICT space – closer links
·    Need to marry the old ideas about a library with the new ideas and how 2010 boys see a library

This attachment is a copy of the hand out Colin provided for the group. It makes interesting reading and promoted in me some very interesting thoughts. If we look at the points for change and then use these to question what we can do or should do in this new space it does make us ‘think outside the square’

Download

Having gone to NECC08 and being so far away, the only way to participate this year was via the internet.

One of the memorable moments was Dr Gary Stager’s part in the Debate (Keynote 2), which can be viewed in the video above. (Note, the video has been edited to only include Stager’s arguments.)

There were a few aspects that grabbed my attention.

1) Although he wasn’t angry per se, I got the feeling that he was angry about the lack of change in the use of technology, and it was this anger that made me listen to him more than to the other debaters. In particular, his few “don’t tell me …” lines were strong and emotive. You could really feel the passion that the debate topic held for him.

2) Towards the end of the video clip, he compares an article from twenty years ago to what is going on now, to illustrate how little things have actually changed. Having used logo considerably before the world wide web revolution and the use of Web2.0, it is intruiging to consider whether logo programming is still a better use of technology than the bells and whistles of a content driven web2.0 task. Something that I need to think further on.

3) I get the feeling that Stager is not a fan of IWB technology as it would seem that the control is ’still at the front of the room’, ie with the teacher. I agree that this is not great use, but I hope that as teachers in my school develop their skills and understanding that the use of the IWB will become less teacher centred and more student centred. I guess time will tell if IWBs end up being an expensive form of chalk and talk instead of a tool for students to collaborate in rich and authentic tasks.

4) Lastly, the final few lines: “we have network policies that treat teachers and children as either imbeciles or felons, we install iPod labs so that children can be marched down a hall once a week for iPod lessons. We chain laptops to desks so children can’t take them home when that was there point in the first place. … the blame lies in the bankruptcy of our imagination.” go to the heart of the possibilities and also explain why such low level use of technology is dominating our education systems.

Video: source

This post was written for a PD Session

“Students in Years 5-7 should each have a laptop for use at school.”

What Do You Think?

Do you agree or disagree?

Give some reasons to back this up.

Image: Source

This post was written for a PD Session

What Comes Next?

Below are 5 different number patterns.

Choose one of them and write a comment that includes:

• Your name (first name only)
• the pattern you choose
• the next three numbers in the pattern

(1) 1, 3, 8, 18, 38, …, …, …,

(2) 301, 289, 277, …, …, …,

(3) 1, 4, 9, 61, 52, …, …, …,

(4) 1, 8, 27, 64, …, …, …,

(5) 1020, 500, 240, …, …, …,

Image: source

This post was written for a PD Session

The Case of The ______________________

In the picture below, Detective Sheerluck is in a delicate situation.

Write a story where the picture is the start of chapter 4 – what will happen next?

blank text – intentional

Image: Source

This post was written for a PD Session

A verb is an action word and there is quite a lot of action in the photo above.

Can you think of at least 6 verbs to describe the action in the football photo?

Click on ‘comment’ and type them in – remember to put your name.

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Image: source

This post was written for a PD Session

Here are a collection of blogs that you might find interesting. Spend 30 minutes browsing through some of them.

Note that most blog posts aren’t too long – educational bloggers understand that teachers are time poor but do want to do professional reading.

If you find one you like, add a comment below, name the blog and say what you like about it.

Teacher / Subject Blogs

Maths With Mr B link ………. Langwitches link ……….Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day link

Hey Jude link ……….Teacher Lab (Science) link ……….Alison Hall’s Blog (Music) link

Tom Barrett link ……….The Whiteboard Blog link ……….Teaching Challenges link

Professional Blogs

Stories From School link ……….Joanne Jacobs link ……….Classroom 2.0 link

GoogleDocs Blog link ……….The Principal’s Page link ……….The Tempered Radical link

Classroom Blogs

Miller’s English 10 Classroom Blog link ……….Technology In Our Classroom link

Mrs Hossack’s First Graders link ……….Mrs Trefz’s Fifth Grade Blog link ……….The Tillis Tribune link

Look What’s Happening in Room 102 link ……….Piazza Mannino, 23 link

2km Leopold Primary School link ……….Grade 2 link ……….Room 5 At Work link ……….6KF link

Long List of Primary Blogs link ……….English Teaching blogs list link ……….Miss T’s Talented Texans link

Student Blogs

Jamie’s Blog link

Emily’s Blog link

Alexei’s Blog link

Image: Source

Two year 5 classes and I were playing and learning with MapSkip last week.

GOOGLE ACCOUNTS PROBLEMS

The week before we explored GoogleMaps and had a look at well known locations around Adelaide, eg Our School, AAMI Stadium, Glenelg Beach, the Clipsal Racetrack, etc. In the last 10 minutes we had a bit of a race to see who could find a landmark the fastest. Then we created our own Google accounts so that we could “edit” our own maps in the next lesson. Well, I have to say that having students sign up for a Google account was not easy. The security image was difficult to read; the password difficulty was really fussy and some boys were not receieving email confirmation – they all have their own school email address. In the end, I decided that it wasn’t worth the hassle – to be fair to Google, the problems could be at our end – and decided that I would use MapSkip next lesson.

CREATING MAPSKIP ACCOUNTS

It was easy to create an instant Teacher account at MapSkip. They then advise teachers of three ways to have students use MapSkip. I chose the way where I did not have to enter an email address, and had to fill in the form on the left for each student. It was a very simple process and it would be great for some other sites to use a similar approach. I was able to make the student’s password the same as their username (which is the username they use to log onto our school network). With student accounts being linked to mine, I initially had them set so that each time a student added to a map, I was sent an email. Well, after a mere 30 minutes, I had more than 50 emails from MapSkip, so I soon turned that off!

USING MAPSKIP

Two weeks prior to this we had made a list of 10 things we like about living in Adelaide, so the boys’ task was to show each of these on MapSkip. Once they were logged in (which went smoothly for all for their first use), they needed to locate one of the places from their list on the map. They could navigate (just like in GoogleMaps) using the hand, zooming in and out or by typing in a location in the search box. It was interesting to see that some boys had trouble negotiating where they thought things were or which direction to go to get somewhere – maybe they spend their travel time playing psps instead of looking out the window!

Once a place was found, merely clicking on the map would place a hand marker where you can type in a name for the place. As you can see, a lot of boys placed a hand somewhere on our school. After that they can add a “story” about that place.

Other students are able to comment on places that their peers have added and at present, I have blocked outside people from adding comments.

ISSUES

Like all classes, we had one or two boys who strayed from the task and wanted to write silly or annoying comments/stories, or the two boys despite a long explanation about cybersafety and not giving out personal details, marked their houses! This posed a problem as I wasn’t sure how to either edit the story/comment or delete the place marker.

HELP FROM MAPSKIP

After a little searching around I decided to use the “contact us” link at the bottom of the page. My simple message was “Hi, I have created student accounts linked to mine and they have started writing stories. Is there a way to edit them or delete comments?” I have to emphasise how impressed I was with their response. I sent my comment at 3:18pm Australian time and had a reply within 5 hours (not sure what time it was wherever MapSkip is).  This is what constantly amazes me about Web2.0 tools – the reply quickly and politely and I’m not even paying for it! I’m sure we all know software companies where you pay for software and don’t get a response that quickly.

Their suggestion was to sign in as the student, loctae the place and there will be an edit button where stroies can be edited. Then they went on to say, that they realise that teachers may want more control and that they would fast-track changes to the teacher interface!! And, they thanked us for using MapSkip!

Our next step is to embed our maps into our blogs, or if that can’t be done, to have links or maybe a screenshot to them.

Overall, I have really liked using MapSkip. It has been easy, the boys have enjoyed it and also found it easy, and the support has been great. Are you using MapSkip in your classroom – can you tell me how?

Last week via Twitter rmbyrne invited people to be a guest blogger on his blog “Free Technology For Teachers“.

Being the reckless type, I emailed Richard, gave a link to my blog and said that I’d love to be a guest blogger.

Why would I do that?

Well, I admit it, I wanted the exposure that his blog could provide. But, I also wanted a challenge.

Richard replied that I could do a post on Wednesday.

Now, late wednesday evening in Adelaide is early morning wednesday in the USA. Wednesday arrives and at about 8pm I go for my regular run through the parkland around the city. It’s hot, so I waited til dusk to go and the whole time by mind is thinking ‘what shall I write about?’ That afternoon I had run a PD session for the management team about Web2.0. It had gone really well, and I thought, I might write about that.

I have been noticing that since school has been back that my ability to keep up with all my social-networking tools has decreased. These now remind me of what my email inbox used to look like. I considered writing a post about that.

I have been using Edmodo for a few weeks and I considered writing a post about how things were going there. I had also suggested to Richard that I might write about clayanimation. He liked that idea, and I really liked that he liked it. But, I hadn’t really done much recently with these tools and while I had ideas and could talk about it, I wasn’t really up-to-date with software changes.

Fifty minutes later and back at home, I have another look at Richard’s blog to remind myself of the types of posts he normally has. They seemed to be useful, with examples on applications in education. It was then a choice between Edmodo and Animation, and I chose edmodo, only because it was more recent and therefore fresh in my mind.

A quick shower and then I blogged. It was after 11pm when I had finished. It took 2 hours to write my guest post.

Now that it’s over, I can reflect on the process.

I was so excited to be offered a guest blogspot. While it is just one post (wel, one post each from a number of us), I think Richard was very generous to do this. He has built up a following and could easily losse readership, if the posts were not what readers were expecting. As well, it’s a brilliant idea, as it does keep your blog active while you are away and it exposes the regulars to a different voice for a while. It provides opportunity for the guest blogger and the reader.

In the hours leading up to writing my post and while I was writing it, I experienced the typical “why did I say I wanted to do this?” thinking. That voice nagged and nagged until after I was done, and has only just stopped now, that I have read Richard’s post thanking his guest bloggers.

Would I do it again? – you bet!

I’d also like to offer guest spots on this blog. (Not yet, but I can certainly see it happening in the not too distant future.)

Finally, a huge thank you to Richard. You have certainly assisted me in my blogging journey!