End of year

Another school year over. For me it brings the end of my time as a sole charge principal. This year I have been on an incredible ICT journey. I have discovered Web 2 tools, not only for my class but for my own proffessional development. I have learned so much from blogs and wikis I have visited. I really encourage others to subscribe to some blogs, and take from them what you can.
Next year I am off to another school and my journey will take a different path. I will be still following blogs and wikis to give me ideas and inspriation to take my new class on an exciting learning journey.

E Pals

In May I blogged about e pals. http://www.epals.com/
For the second half of the year, my class has been connecting with a school in the states through our wikis. This has been very exciting for the kids, and has created a great learning opportunity on many levels. We received a parcel from them, and then put together some things to send to them. The kids selected some art work and two books to send. They took great pride in selecting the things to send.
https://cheltenhamsch.wikispaces.com/MICDS
Have a look at our record of the parcels.
http://geo-squirts.wikispaces.com/
Have a look at our epals wikispace. This school has connected with several school around the world, and keep track through their wiki. I think this a great idea.
Give epals a go.

Leadteachers' Day

On Monday spent the day with lead teachers for the Feilding ICTPD Cluster. Had a great day with Suzie Vesper. She showed us her leadteachers wiki. "It's on the wiki"
http://leadingict.wikispaces.com/

Thanks Suzie for another great resource.

ULearn08

What great experince, I enjoyed the whole thing.

I have gained a greater respect for twitter, over the conference. I loved the way people posted links to great wikis and sites during the conference. One way of getting something from a break out you were not attending.
Why not try twitter.
To be informed educators we need to collaboate, and share with each other.
http://twitter.com/home

Twitter is one of the top 25 must have tools. Follow the link to read more.
http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Top100Tools/twitter.html


Create your own twitter account and start to follow. You never know what you will find.

Video

After much problem solving, by both pupils and teacher, this group of children finished their video, and have embedded it on their blog, and on Aimee's page on our wiki. The kids used the digital camera and movie maker to put this together.
This inquiry learning project promoted the skills of team work and problem solving.

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d9bf95ea0e85a90c125c

"Inquiry teaching needs to be cultivated if we are to develop students able to thrive a unpredictable, but potentially exciting, 21stC. " Canadian educator Sharon Friesen.

Bruce Hammond has recently blogged about Sharon Friesen's ideas on Inquiry teaching. An interesting read. "Leading and Learning"

Video

Sometimes things just don't work out as you expect, and you are forced into another direction. Is this problem solving?
I couldn't get the video camera to talk to the computer, even though I know I have done this in the past. So the group of children who were making a video had to be redirected onto plan b. I introduced them to PhotoStory3. I am sure this will do the trick.
One of the other members of the Feilding ICT Cluster had put a post on the cluster wiki about photostory. Thanks Jenny it is so easy to use.
Have a look at our cluster wiki. Under school showcase there are some interesting things being shared.
http://feildingictcluster.wetpaint.com/

Video

Next week I am going to aim to get video uploaded onto the class blogs.

Conservation Week

This week is conservation week. To help the children refocus on the enviromental work we had done in the past, I introduced them to two great sites.
Tree People

http://treepeople.co.nz/Home.mvc/

The children had a lot of fun joining this site, inviting friends and family to join them. They each made a pledge that would help the enviroment.
My pledge is to recycle paper, and take reusable bags to the supermarket. I am getting there!
I really recommend this site to other classes.

The other site we used was the conservation site. There are great videos on there that were easy to watch. We found one about Turakina Beach, which we had visited a few weeks ago to plant Pingao.

Another site well worth a visit.


www.conservationweek.org.nz

World Literacy Day

8th September is World Literacy Day.
The Manawatu Reading Association have put out some great suggestions for the day.
Here is a site they recommend for our parents.
www.readtoyourkids.co.nz

I am going to introduce my class to Looky book on the day.
http://lookybook.com/

I am also going to share the Readers Oath with the class. We will make a book mark with it on.

Readers Oath
I promise to read
Each day and night.
I know it's the key to
growing up right.I'll read to myself,
I'll read to a crowd.
It makes no difference
If silent or loud.
I'll read at my desk,
At home and at school,
On my bean bag or bed,
By the fire or pool.
Each book that I read
Puts smarts in my head,
'cause brains grow more
thoughts
The more they are fed.
So I take this oath
To make reading my way
Of feeding my brain
What it needs every day.

Debra Angstead

Class Blogs

This term we are working on team work, this can be hard in such a small school. I have got two teams keeping a blog each, about a technology unit we are doing called, "Stuffed Potatoes". I am getting the teams to use blogs as a way to record the process. Keeping a blog can help the students share their work with their families and friends. It is a natural progression to an e portfolio. We put a link to the blogs on the home page of our wiki, this makes it easy for the students to access.

Tony Ryan

I have just bought this book.
"The Ripple Effect, how you can make a difference to the world every day"
It's a great feel good read, and if you are feeling a little stressed, is a good pick me up.

from page 97
"Look after yourself
you are your own greatest asset. Look after yourself so that you will have the energy to make a difference in the lives of others."

Have a look at Tony Ryan's Blog.
http://tonyryan.edublogs.org/

Smilebox

Using new ICT tools can sometimes be an exercise in problem solving, and very frustrating. I checked out smilebox at home, worked out how I was going to use it, all set. Got to school only to find that I couldn't use smilebox because the firewall blocked it! I really don't know how to fix this problem, so I think the best thing to do is to find another tool to use.

Smilebox

I have been looking for ways the children can publish the reports they will be writing about the Olympic Games. This may be it.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Dotmocracy

I am always looking for easy ways to consult with the school community. Last term I displayed some tick charts at a shared tea we had at school. I was pleased with the results, and that it involved both children and adults. I came across a link to Dotmocracy on a blog called Think Beyond. I think this could be very useful in this situation. I can also see it being useful in the classroom.

tutpup

After reading Suzie's blog, I tried this site with my class today. The basic facts and spelling games were great, and the children loved competing against other kids around the world. Try it! I was great to introduce the kids to a new game over the 5th wet lunch time in a row.
http://tutpup.com/

Voice Threads

I tried Voice Threads with my class today. We used it as an oral language activity, and it led directly into self assessment and peer assessment. The children are highly motivated and I hope that they can use it for other oral language activities this term. After we have finished the voice thread I intend to post it on our school wiki so the children can share with friends and family.
Take a look at these examples.
http://voicethread.com/share/154051/
http://voicethread.com/share/160448/
http://voicethread.com/share/163585/

Interface Magazine :: Supporting the use of ICT in learning

Interface Magazine :: Supporting the use of ICT in learning

This is a great resource. If you haven't seen it look for it in your school. Follow the link to lesson plans. Some great ideas here.

World Enviroment Day

This World Environment Day web site is a great opportunity to connect your class to others. You need a pass word which was sent to your school. Find it, log on and connect up for this worth while topic.
http://efs.tki.org.nz/wed

Conferences

It must be my year for conferences. Over the last two weeks I have attended the Sole Charge Principal's Conference and the N.Z.E.I. Rural and Teaching Principal's Conference. Both were great experiences, and very affirming, what a great job this is.
Many of the workshops I attended covered ideas for thinking tools. All these ideas support the ICT journey.
Sharing, supporting and catching up, is always an important part of these conferences for me.

E Pals

Last term we were writing letters for our topic. We joined e pals, and the class all ended up with 2 or 3 e pals each. It was a very good way to put letter writing into an authentic context. An added bonus for me was to make contact with teachers from around the world. It doesn't matter where you are from, teachers are always good at sharing ideas.
check out e pals
http://www.epals.com/

It does take a few days to get your profile approved, and a few days to find schools to connect with, but once up and running it works really well.

Want to start your own blog?

I decided that starting my own blog was a great way of learning more about web 2 tools.
This wiki has useful information, check it out.
http://schoolsupportservices.wetpaint.com/

Great ideas from Allanah King of Appleby School.

Getting Started

This year I am part of the Feilding ICT cluster. My school is a sole charge school 12kms from Feidling. I am wanting to use ICT to connect my class with others, so they can share their work and ideas with others.
Yedsterday I went to the "Manawatu ICTPD e-learning Conference 2008". The key note speaker was Derek Wentworth. Last night I started reading New Zealand Teachers' Blogs. What a lot of information out there. There are so many people out there doing great things. This blog is going to be a diary of my ICT journey at Cheltenham School, and a place for me to keep track of useful ideas.
Have a look at Derek Wentworth's Blog.
http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/

He also has this blog workshop page with heaps of links on it.
http://www.protopage.com/dereksblogshop#

Both are very helpful