Junior School teachers are currently participating in the PYP Workshop – Transdisciplinary Learning.
The Specialist teachers were to review the final session for Day1.
To do this the following presentation was designed using these apps
Word Collage and
Tellagami
The Transdiciplinary Learning blog for St Andrews is here.
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Source
http://www.copyblogger.com/10-steps-to-better-writing/
Term 2 is focused on asking questions and what it means to ask questions.
Sometimes the question is more important than the answer.
What does this mean?
Students have been asked to ask me their questions (about anything) and I will endeavor to find an answer. Part of this process will be also demonstrating my research to find this answer (or answers).
STUDENT QUESTIONING
As a PYP school we encourage students to ask their questions and to direct their own inquiry.
One concept based on student questions is the PASSION PROJECT and GENIUS HOUR.
TEACHER QUESTIONING
Jamie Mackenzie has many books and blog posts about types of questions and how to formulate the right questions. This is the link to his QUESTIONING TOOLKIT.
This approach to developing effective questions is often coined as ungoogleable and it is essential that we support students “move beyond the cut and paste“.
DIGGO LINKS QUESTIONING
Read more about PASSION PROJECTS
LET’s BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING…
St Andrews Lutheran internet MOODLE
Each year level page has starting links to general information about the topic for inquiry.
These resources have gathered using tools like DIGGO (bookmarking) and LIVEBINDERS.
These are sometimes known as curation tools.
Yr 4 has been using SYMBALOO to easily share their resources with the students. This is another example of a bookmarking tool.
GENERAL SEARCH ENGINES
An awareness that Google is not the only search engine is important. Each search engine has a different purpose (such as wikipedia). Later in this post are some examples of search engines for younger children.
WIKIPEDIA and its usefulness
Wikipedia can a starting place to get an general understanding of a new topic or concept. It is now improved in its quality control (as content needs to be substantiated) and often can be the most current source of information on a topic. Weblinks and references to supporting information can assist students to explore more deeply about a topic. It is a springboard tool in my opinion.
Like all sources ACCURACY of content needs to be assessed and this is a skill that students need to develop.
Some teachers are still concerned about using wikipedia, but it should be viewed and assessed like any information source for:
One way to do this is using RADCAB – an acronym for Relevancy, Detail, Currency and Bias. This is an excellent online tutorial for students designed to teach them about these key aspects.
OTHER TOOLS
NOODLETOOLS – is a student research platform.
READY TO DIG FURTHER?
The following search engines are designed for younger students in mind. I strongly encourage younger students to use these.
GOOGLE SEARCH HINTS
Understanding how to research and locate relevant information is a life skill. Students need to understand how different search engines work in order to be successful and efficient in their searching.
When searching students (at the very least) need to understand the following
– Key words and designing a search query
– Identifying what they need to find!
– Relevance to inquiry
– Ability to scan and re-assess the research process.
OTHER TIPS & TRICKS
Using simple ‘tricks’such as using CONTROL F – to find a key word in a webpage or a lengthy PDF saves time and can be helpful to analyse the usefulness of a resource to the current inquiry.
Designing a search query is also where some students struggle. This tutorial explains how to do this.
Additionally, the following video looks at the importance of key word order when searching in Google.
Why Word Order Matters in Google Searches created by Google’s Search Anthropologist Daniel Russell.
Another great resource is the list of 10 Google search tips.
(These last two resources came from Richard Byrne’s Free Technology for Teachers site.)
Image attribution
Danard Vincente’s photostream < ;http://www.flickr.com/photos/danardvincente/ >;
Digital Learning Day is coming soon- 6th February 2013.
See the Digital learning facebook page.
Digital learning is also known as e-learning. One example of e-learning is flipped classrooms. This can take a variety of formats. Please ask me if you would like support with this.
Currently, I am a participant in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) E-Learning and Digital Culture. It is a coursera course – online courses run by various universities around the world (and it is free!).
This is the twitter feed.
ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE THE E-LEARNING CHALLENGE?
Great reading: Flip your classroom
See the website below for some resources to help you. “The Alliance develops toolkits to provide digital learning resources and ideas for teachers in specific subject areas. The tools and resources in these toolkits are not the totality of good information available; instead, they are designed to provide guidance on how technology and digital learning can enhance the educational experience and outcomes for all students. We continue to add to this collection and welcome any ideas, tools, models, or resources. Learn & Explore with these incredible toolkits!”
Source http://www.digitallearningday.org/take-action/ Other resources
See more about flipping the classroom at
Another valuable resource for Australian educators is The National Digital Learning Resources Network (Education Services Australia) http://www.ndlrn.edu.au/default.asp
Take the challenge, improve your learning, reach your students and have FUN!
WELCOME TO 2013 – SEARCH -ASK – LEARN -CONNECT
BEGINNINGS … We SEARCH…
Source
The Daring Librarian
http://www.flickr.com/photos/info_grrl/7125917627/
This year for my orientation to use of the PYP library we are going to use some QR codes. I will have a scavenger hunt for students to orientate themselves but I am also looking for some higher order and creative thinking to be employed.
We will look at what a contemporary library is using the Y chart as a stimulus (looks like, sounds like, feels like) and consider how this is different from the library of the past using the PYP ATTITUDES and PYP LEARNER PROFILE as support materials.
Teachers and students will have a chance to look at the PYP library using the QR CODE.
See the following links for more information.
http://jssalclibrary.wikispaces.com/HOW+TO+USE+THE+LIBRARY
http://www.diigo.com/user/jssalc/QR_codes
http://jssalc.wikispaces.com/Augmented+Reality
See the link below for a great example of QR codes being used in a Specialist class (PE).
http://www.thephysicaleducator.com/resources/skill-posters/
Finally, this glogster is an excellent introduction to QR codes in education.
Enjoy!
In order to compile students and teacher reflections about iDevice use, I have created a podcast to post these.
This hosting is using the service Hipcast.
Podcast title
Conversations with teachers & students about iDevices
Support blog LEQICT Blog
The Year 3 students had a combined session with their Specialist teachers this week.
What have Year 3 been learning?
The Year 3students have been learning How the world works. They have been expresing the emotions of fishermen working on their boats. The dance goes with the soran bushi song to depict hauling nets, throwing baskets of fish over their shoulders and putting nets out.
This Sorin Bushi dance can be viewed on YouTube on morocojin’s Channel.
Year 3 and Specialists on PhotoPeach
Consider the story of Cinderella. Add some interactive-ness, then put on DeBono’s thinking hats and you will have a recipe for expressing ourselves from the perspective of Year 1.
This is the interactive version the story of Cinderella we used to set the scene.
These are some shots of us working, thinking and collaborating.
Yr 1 Express Ourselves – Cinderella on PhotoPeach