Professional_learning

Teach Meet Melbourne No 1.

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What makes 40+ teachers give up an afternoon of their precious holidays and come from all over town to talk ‘shop’?  I guess the answer is that there are a variety of motivations.  Yesterday, I shared a few hours with such a group: our first Melbourne Teach Meet.  I wrote about the beginnings in a previous post.

The success or otherwise of events such as this relies on participation as well as content and context.  Jess McCulloch (@JessMcCulloch) set the context for us by reciting her poem “Magical Connections” – reminding us that the heart and soul of teaching lies in the children we teach and our relationship with them.

We then heard from volunteers in either 2 or 7 min spells – they shared skills, tools, experiences and passion.   A great mix which I would hope provided some food for thought for all in the diverse audience. For the details see our Wiki. I came away with a variety of feelings:

Awe – at some of the clever technical things some people are doing with their students but also at the simple but powerful classroom techniques being employed

Inspiration – the feeling that I could give that a go

Camaraderie – that despite the fact that we teach in different schools, often at different levels and in different educational sectors, we share many commonalities.  A face to face meeting with people who up till now have been an avatar.  One even accompanied by a hug, as we felt a kindred spirit created through our long term on-line conversations .

Encouraged – the mere presence at this event encouraged the likelihood of another.  It could have been a flop – everyone too interested in their holidays to take the time to participate but the vibe was positive and feedback since has been heartening.  People wanted to be there !

Thankful – I am not aware of any other profession where the participants are so willing to freely share their expertise with others – the non-competitive nature of these teachers is refreshing and inspiring.  It is a blessing to work in this arena and one that we may often not acknowledge.

Teach Meet’s are a wonderful and natural extension of the collaboration that so many of us receive and value in the Twitter and Blogosphere.      Teachers are taking control over their own professional learning and seeking like minded people to learn along with.

 I couldn’t finish this post without mentioning Henrietta Miller who inspired our first meeting.  Despite efforts to include Henrietta in our meeting, technology failed us and we did not connect.  Also thanks to @mr_mitch_hughes, @aimee_gale @medg56 and @Ky_Maree  for making it all come together. 

 

 

 

Add it to the list – Yammer

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We are in the midst of a term break from the regular school activities, but that has not stopped some of my colleagues from consulting with each and collaborating on school based matters (and a few non-school based ones as well). After a gentle reminder of the potential of Yammer by @HamishCurry from The State Library of Victoria’s education team, we have been giving it a go. In the week since we began experimenting, we have had shared discussions, highlighted websites and resources we might use in the upcoming term, encouraged each other and generally got to see the potential of this tool.  This is quite remarkable seeing we are supposed to be on holiday, but just proves that teachers never really shut off.

Yammer is a microblogging or activity stream application which allows a particular community to communicate in a manner very similar to Twitter. It can be accessed via web browser, desktop client, or smart phone. The main difference between Twitter and Yammer is that Yammer is for internal use within an organisation.
Yammer is not a replacement for regular meetings, email, or face-to-face conversation—it is simply another communications tool which extends staff experience with new technologies and complements existing forms of communication.
National Library of Australia – Gateways

I am yet to decide if I think it will have a future in our small school circumstance, but I do like some features:

  • the similarity to Facebook and the common skills
  • the simplicity – it is not over the top with gadgets etc
  • the ability to connect it with Twitter by using the #yam hashtag
  • the private nature – only people sharing a common url email can see your network
  • the ability to create small networks within the system
I am wondering how to integrate it with my list of social media tools : Google+, Twitter, Facebook, email etc .  I don’t want or need to operate in all these arenas, but until I find one that serves all my purposes I will persist and accept that each seems to have some benefits and some shortcomings.

My weekend @ Reform Symposium #rscon10

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It has been a cold and wet weekend in Melbourne and my ‘geek’ status has been given a bit of an elevation in my household, as I sat by my laptop at different stages ‘attending’ the online conference Reform Symposium. An amazing collaborative effort from inspirational educators around the globe. All conducted through the Elluminate on-line conference system, groups collected at allotted times to be led by volunteers who offered to lead discussion. Lots of good humour from both presenters, moderators and participants made for interesting and entertaining sessions. A short review of some quotes I noted :

Reform Symposium on PhotoPeach

I have come away with more homework, points to ponder, sites to visit and many recording of sessions I did not attend to view.

Notes from blogging session

  • Best practice for blogging – need to model it first
  • Start with a class blog
  • Connecting blogs to authentic audience
  • Write posts on class blog
  • Then have their own – blog licence
  • Install a bloggers’ lounge/cafe in a classroom
  • Children get ‘right’ to blog after showing good practice
  • Then children get their own
  • Bloggers café time in Literacy

Notes from research session

  • Research is not different – just different ways to do it
  • Research was individual – now it is collaborative (Google Docs, WikiPedia)
  • Taking a lot and making it into less = synthesising

Sites mentioned that I need to look at later

Try out Scribble Maps http://www.scribblemaps.com

Try out Stupeflix – video with text

Try out Answergarden

Try out FotoBabble.com

What is Symbaloo ?
What is Engrade ?
What is Zotero ?

…… and it’s not over yet …. maybe one more before bed ??

Week 9 – My journey with blogging

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“Web 2.0 has moved the Internet from our traditional one-way information flow to a two-way “conversation” in which the Three R’s have been supplanted by the Three C’s: Contributing, Collaborating, Creating — through mediums like blogs, wikis, and twittering.”

http://audio.edtechlive.com/Educational-Networking-The-Important-Role-Web-2-0-Will-Play-in-Education.pdf Steven Hargadon

My personal experience is very raw. I started blogging only 9 weeks ago and I have written about this learning journey in previous posts. I loved experimenting with how to develop an audience etc. I soon decided I would initiate blogging with the students at my school (8- 12 year olds). I struggled at first to find a ‘purpose’ and then realised that the writing IS the purpose. It did not matter what content the children were writing about, it mattered that they we were writing and now with a potentially varied audience. I introduced blogging to them by discussing diary writing and how diary writing was an intensively personal experience, diaries even used to come with keys. Blogs on the other hand are normally public – we write with the intention that others will or may read them. We discussed that they are a two way experience, the writer and the reader both benefit.

The first attempts were varied, I suggested they reflect on the year so far and their efforts and thinking varied dramatically (as you would expect). I asked them to comment on each other’s first attempts and was pleased with the language they used – they stayed positive and encouraging. I will persist as the year progresses, but I am hoping that maybe one or two (at least) will be inspired by the nature of blogging and extend themselves just a little.

I chose to use KidBlogs due to the ability to monitor posts and comments. It was simple to setup and the children (and I) learned to navigate around very quickly. I am already thinking that I might change due to the limited customisation available.

Steven Hargadon argues that computers had not really altered education to any great degree until the advent of Web 2.0. The advent of the internet “ has so significantly changed our relationship to information and our own personal learning opportunities outside of formal education, that we’re beginning to see a set of software tools emerge that are profoundly altering both learning processes and outcomes.”

I certainly feel that we have yet to alter our teaching to include use of the technology available, but understand that whilst we do not have complete access to the hardware, it is difficult for teachers to fully embrace the potential. A class teacher with occasional access to a lab and class access to 4 pc with a group of 25 students, can only plan so much – access is so important. Perhaps when the ideal world exists and we have 1:1 in all schools, we can expect more – but for now, we are doing the best with what we have.

Poster street

poster-street

The blogging has continued to interest my 17 year old – three posts so far Motzie’s Blog.