Teaching and using Scratch

This week we have been teaching the kids about the basics of coding using scratch. Scratch is a great starting place for coding as it allows for children to be creative by creating their own background and
characater.

A Film Festival Movie: Go For Gold!!

Here is my finished film festival movie. I was a privilege watching in on the extreme screen at Sylvia Park movie theatre. The hard work first my amazing learner made me so proud. I hope you enjoy the movie.

In Term three the Pavilion children learnt about the Olympics. We enjoyed learning about sport and it got us thinking about working hard so one day we can go for gold at the Olympics.

Our Presented introduced the movie like this:

Kia ora Pisirina
Kia ora Levonah
Remember how we learnt about the Olympics last term.
Yes. Why?
Well, I have decided I’m going to be an Olympian.
Really? What kind of Olympian?
I’m not sure yet, but whatever I do I’m going to work hard and Go for Gold!

Miss Davis Class Onair

This is my first ever episode of class onair. I used the Manaiakalani Google class on air as a model and created my own short video to show the snapshot of a measurement lesson. I choose to use measurement as it uses both digital and non-digital resources and shows learners exploring a new concept. I hope you enjoy my lesson. 

Link to Lesson

PRT sites

In New Zealand beginning teacher in there first two years of teaching have provisional registration. Part of the process of working through provisional registration is check a record of learning that aligns with the practicing registered teacher criteria. You need to be able to effectively explain and provide evidence to show that you meet these criteria to become full register.

Some teachers see this can be a challenge but it doesn't have to be. Just like we get our learners to keep a record on their teaching through google drive and blogging our PRT criteria are a record of our learning as teachers. I keep my PRT information on a google site and use embedded google docs to make work flow easier.  This not only helps me to meet the legal requires but it is a record I can add to forever and refer back to when ever I need to.

I have also started labelling posts on my blog which specific teaching criteria to help me collect my evidence more effectively. This is something you need to keep on top of as most blog post about teaching and learning will link with a criteria.

The best thing about my PRT site is it is special and specific to me. It all make it easy for my mentor to see how I believe I meet each criteria and see which areas I still need help in. Below is a screenshot of how I have personalised my PRT site so that it is mine and I am proud of it.

I highly recommend using a google site as a home for your PRT information as it is practice and easy to share.

Sharing my practice

This year I have been lucky to work closely with Karen Belt this year and watch her sharing her practice on Google Class OnAir. This week we been planning how we will create our very own Class OnAir lesson.

Thinking about how I will do this today have been a challenging and exciting experience. I want my lesson to be exciting for the learner and of course use the digital affordance effectively to support critical thinking and learning.

Today my focus was getting my site ready for my context and beginning to plan the writing lesson that I will teach next week. Diving back into HTML and site had it challenges but borrowing Karen's HTML. I also found that I could draw on past design ideas to build my site. Also having the past Google Class OnAir lessons to explore has supported me to think about which elements are important to capture and share in my video.

I am excited film this lesson and share it for other teachers to see and for me to see and reflect on as my practice continues to develop.

Connecting at digital immersion

This year we have connected with other beginning teachers each term. Today was our last digital immersion meeting with other beginning teachers.

Our focus today is around Visibility enables accelerated shift, this is important for our priority learners. For priority learners one years progress in a year is just getting older not moving forward.

We need to engage learners in the learners process is central acceleration. Hooking learners into learning, so that they are engaged with the curriculum. Engagement supports learners and teachers to have a productive and supportive learning experience.

How do our learners connect with their learning?
Everyone in the world is an individual. We all have a way that we learn new information. It might be that we learn best by talking to others, by listening, by exploring, by watching and so much more. This is why it is so important to provide multimodal learning experiences so that all learner can connect in a way that works for them.

Multiple texts
Learners can access text written for adults, written or for scientists. This takes away the ceiling for learners, they link these difficult texts to easier text and use their search knowledge to unpack ideas. They can build a wider understanding of a topic and see an idea from a range of perspectives. When teaching learners to do engage with multiple texts, start with a scaffolded text (one learners can connect with), then complimentary  text to build knowledge and tension texts, then learner can self select texts to continue to build knowledge.

Here are some examples of multimodal  and multi textual ideas.
Click the image to view the presentation to see some amazing multimodal resources.

Today we created a multimodal site to promote critical thinking and engaging with a range of texts. For this task I focused on extending the science learning of one of my top reading group. The focus of this site is DNA and how DNA is used to solve crimes. 

This was and interesting topic to find resources for and I am still looking for the best materials. 

Here is am image of how far my site has gotten so far. 

As I continue to develop my skills in teaching multi textually my aim is to provided more options and opportunities to explorations. This will support learners to extend their ideas have ownership.  

Sketch-noting Toolkit

Sketch-noting is something I have come to very much enjoy and have found beneficial to making the learning process visible. This made it the perfect thing to share with other teachers in the cluster. The great thing about sketch-noting is that it is flexible and n be done in multiple ways from paper, to google draw, to buying and using specific iPad apps. Presenting this toolkit with Danni was a great way to share these ideas with other teachers.