Module 10

Wikis have been explored at school to co-ordinate level planning and is proving to be quite successful, allowing teachers to access the information anywhere, home included.  It is a far more efficient way of working and the fact that you can add links makes it even more appealing.

I look forward to further exploring ‘Ning’, the links to Classroom 2.0 especially interested me.  It is not which wiki, blog or tool that a teacher is using that is important, but rather how to engage students through whichever medium is going to help them be successful at the time for the purpose in hand.

Since viewing Eric Mazour videos and learning how he used Google Docs with his students and completing a ‘Google Doc’ tutorial at school last year, we have been using them increasingly as a tool for collaboration.  It is efficient, time saving and incredibly powerful as a means to communicate with others.  The fact that any person with access can contribute ideas at any time or place  provides equality within a team.  I find this empowering and tend to want to contribute more, it also allows for more time to deliberate on possible suggestions. 

Virtual learning communities will be a way that our present students may conduct their working lives and every opportunity that we can give them now to familiarize themselves with this way of communicating will assist them in becoming global life long learners.

FINAL REFLECTION:

I think that undertaking the Web 2.0 course has encouraged me to explore more tools but also has given me a wealth of resources at my fingertips to ensure successful integration into my work.

Scootle, teacher tube, YouTube allows you to view tutorials, implementation ideas and even lessons.

Twitter, blogs and nings ensure that I can ask questions or have an educational or intellectual conversation with other educators at any time.

Picasa, Bubbl.us, Prezzies and other tools have enlightened me to other forms of presentation options as well as storing information to access anywhere, anytime.  In this digital age, students should be au fait with combining video, photos and music to present information and Web 2.0 tools provide this opportunity.

At times during the course, this saying came frequently to my mind:

‘Getting information from the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.’

 (Mitchell Kapor)

While I find the visual image forming in my mind amusing, I think it is important to educate students to be discerning about the use of Web 2.0 tools and to be clear as to the purpose of tools.

The course reflection module in my mind tied all of the other modules together and I was delighted to view the iLE@RN (CEO Sydney) link.  Since technology has had such a profile in schools, for me that was being part of the LaTTiCE project in the late 90’s onwards, I have been a firm believer that ‘engagement’ is the key to unlocking learning for all learners (students and teachers alike). 

It is not about technology but about quality teaching and learning.  With the introduction of so many new forms of communicating via technology I think it is even more important to keep this a very clear focus. 

 Web 2.0 tools give us the opportunity to assist students, anywhere, and at any time to participate in powerful  learning opportunities. We can offer both students and ourselves the opportunity to collaborate, reflect, question ourselves and others and engage in higher order thinking with others from around the world.

The adaptation of Bloom Taxonomy for digital technology is very helpful in assisting teachers to identify stages their students are at and how to move them further.  It could also make a very valuable self- assessment tool for students themselves.

I particularly like the idea of using Twitter to improve work study habits by encouraging students to take notes on what is being discussed in class and using the ‘chunking’ principle to post brief points.  Notes can be reviewed quickly and shared with others to participate in ‘discussions.’  This would help in retaining information and would facilitate higher order self- reflection.

Students (and teachers) need to ask:

How do I learn best?

What skills do I need to succeed?

How do I contribute to 21^st century learning?

Nearly one hundred years ago, John Dewey stated, “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” These words are particularly applicable to the utilization of technology in the classroom. If teachers fail to teach the new literacies, they are failing to prepare students for tomorrow, as well as missing valuable opportunities to engage student learning. According to Hagood, this practice consists of teaching “reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and designing in print and nonprint media using pop culture and digital technologies.” Through technology, students collaborate, communicate and create to learn. According to Werner-Burke et al., for many students, technology in the classroom provides much needed motivation as well as preparation for the daily digitized world outside of the classroom.

Hagood, M. (2012). “Risks, Rewards, and Responsibilities of Using New Literacies in Middle Grades.” Voices from the Middle, 19 (4), pp. 10-16.

Werner-Burke, N., Spohn, J., Spencer, J., Button, B., and Morral, M. “Bridging the Disconnect: A Layered Approach to Jump-Starting Engagement.” Voices from the Middle, 19 (4), pp. 45-49.

Module 9

I love Scootle and the Learning Paths but I must admit I have not used it of late.  I was first introduced during the 'LaTTiCE' (Learning and Teaching Technology in Catholic Education) program but it has come a lot further since then.
Upon looking at it over the last few weeks, I am quite excited to see how it can be utilised by staff to help plan our next inquiry unit.  The whole school is going to be inquiring about the same big question and I have found alot of helpful material that I plan to show to staff at our Inquiry staffmeeting in the next week or so.  I certainly will be encouraging all levels to explore and use Scootle.

Social networking also is not new to me but again I have not utilised this very well. I follow people on Twitter but don't all that often contribute although I do find very interesting links.  I am just learning Linked In so I am basically just playing around with this.  Facebook I really love - for reasons other than keeping up with friends - I am receiving alot of links via Pinterest about early education and am finding this an incredible source of ideas, educational reading and global trends. Much of this information I am passing on to teachers at school to open our ideas and experiences.

I am a person who loves to learn, explore, experiment and come up with different ideas and all of these social networks ensure my learning capacity grows and grows!!

Module 8

I was loving this module on RSS feeds until I looked further into Google Reader and see that it is about to be discontinued.  How annoying when I have found so many interesting things to read.
However, I read on Anthony (Speranza's) blog that he is using 'Feedly' so I plan to read more about this and then transfer over before July.
I often wondered how people could be so informed about so many issues - and how they found the time to read them - but Google Reader gives me the simple answer of having information fed to you.
It's amazing when you browse through so many various brilliant 'feeds' how something jumps out at you and seems to be just what you need at this moment.  Inspiration can come in many forms and at any time!

The link below is my inspiration of the moment.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/05/how-to-write-copy-that-goes-viral.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Module 7

I have had fun exploring Diigo and Delicious for bookmarking but find Delicious more familiar.  I have used this in the past (not very well) to keep links mainly to articles but after this module, I am determined to use it to store all bookmarks.  I tend to use whatever computer I am working on to bookmark, and this is quite frustrating, especially this year when I tend to do quite a bit at home and never have the bookmarks I need at the time.  I also intend to organise the bookmarks by tagging, something that I have not done previously.

Online communities to share information and learning is also an advantage - and whilst we do this in a number of ways at our school, it is a great way to communicate to a wider range of users. 

Module 6

I love Picasa and have used it for the past few years to sort and store photos on my computer but this module let me explore the many extra advantages of it.  I was unaware of the editing section of Picasa and hadn't considered the advantages of storing photos on Picasa itself.

From an organisational perspective Picasa has been great to store school images and then when looking for photos for presentations  it was very simple to scroll through and find suitable images.

I had absolutely no idea that it is so easy to edit and enhance photos.  Our students are coming to school with much of this knowledge already.  I get so much joy watching my grand daughter using the ipad, taking photos, adding text........ she is already teaching her family things they did not know (and the 2 year old treasure is not far behind).

We as educators, owe it to our students to be helping them be the best learners that they can possibly be, and in this present age, that has to be by using the technology available to them - in the best possible way.  I'm also not beyond learning about advancing technology through the students themselves - teachers are not the keepers of all knowledge!

Technology starts at such an early age!

Module 5

Today I have spent quite a bit of time looking through the references for this module.  I decided to look at Bubble.us today although I have used it in the past when looking at Tony Buzan Mindmapping.  I had immense difficulty getting into the progam - I had to google it and go through 3 or 4 other links to get to it as it would not load via the website address.  I finally managed to get there, created a mind map, exported it - only to be unable to find where it was exported to - and then could not get back into the program.  Could be an 'Apple computer' problem (although I don't see how) so will try again tomorrow.

However, I have to say that I find Bubbl.us very uninspiring.  I have used Mindmapping with classes for over ten years and find it much more rewarding to create them by hand - this allows for the use of colour, curves and other various shapes, illustrations,  different fonts and styles..... - I believe this embeds the content far more into the minds of our students.


Prezi however I found quite fun and I loved the links to the samples - especially Shakespeare.  I had a play and created a very simple one on the brain - the link is below.  With time and enough practice I think this could be a very beneficial way of presenting to our students - instead of just teacher talk - a very visual powerful way of engaging them.

Prezi sample

Module 4

I have been very engrossed in reading Ned Herrmann's book 'The Creative Brain' lately and while participating in this module, reflecting on many of his findings.
"Have you ever felt like you're missing the mark?  I have.  In fact, if the life lived fully and well were a bull's eye, then for a number of years, most of my arrows seemed to be hitting around the edge of the target rather than its center.  Even though I was considered to be successful, many of my arrows never hit the target at all."
Herrmann was referring to his learnings about the brain being the center of who we are, but I connected strongly with this thought.
I felt in my earlier years as a teacher that  content was the target - and should be the epicentre of the classroom.  All students needed to learn the same thing, at the same time, in the same way.  How off the mark was I!
The more I explored pedagogy and different methods the more excited I became.  There are so many ways of thinking, so many ways of learning - we can all reach the centre of our target by so many different avenues.
This to me, is what Module 4 is all about.  By using - or introducing our students to - Podcasting, Vodcasts, Videos - and digital storytelling - we are inviting them to be creative, unique, exploratory in their learning. We are accepting their different ways of thinking and celebrating their ideas.
I hope today's students grow to realise how lucky they are!

'Every now and then we educators must close our books on pedagogy and open books on science, art, literature, theatre, cinema, politics, sociology and tear down the walls that separate these disciplines. Let these things contaminate each other!''

                                                                 Loris Malaguzzi

Module 3

I have really enjoyed Module 3 and have spent a great deal of time exploring Google Docs.  I have thought of many ways that I could utilise this to improve work practice.
 Even though I am not a classroom teacher (and I could think of many great ways to use this in the classroom and have seen examples of Google Docs in action at school) I decided to use this to publish our Term 2 Learning and Teaching outline last week.  I am amazed at how many staff members commented on receiving this.  This has encouraged me to post the Inquiry Planner that I have been updating to incorporate the Australian Curriculum to invite feedback and collaboration.
I'm really quite excited about this as it is difficult to find time in the school day to authentically collaborate with staff when there is so much 'just in time' learning happening.  Google Docs gives a person time to think in their own time, to reflect and then to add their thoughts, opinions and suggestions.  I'm not quite sure why the following quote comes to mind, except that it reminds me to value the creative, the person - not the idea ... we all think differently and it is great to have the opportunity through the use of Google Docs to share each other's creativity and uniqueness.

"Grown-ups love figures.

When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters.

They never say to you, 'What does his voice sound like?  

What game does he love best?

Does he collect butterflies?'"

St. Exupery

The Little Prince

How to empower the brain

I decided to test the blog for a summary of our Term 1 learnings on the brain

YOUR MAGIC BRAIN

YOUR MAGIC BRAIN: Target – for every child in the school to begin to be aware of this and for teachers to refer to parts of the brain constantly!

● Has three distinct brains in one:

-       An instinctive brain (often referred to as reptilian – just reacts automatically without thought)

-       An emotional brain (often referred to as mammalian)

-       And the amazing cortex (thinking brain)

If every child knows this much, how can it be used in the classroom??

In lining up for class Tom pushes Jack out of the way so he can be first.

Teacher: Wow, that was  a real ‘reptilian’ action Tom.  Lets back up (rewind) and try again.

Allow a few seconds ‘wait time’ and then: Now, what was it that you were trying to achieve?

Tom: I wanted to be first and he was in my way.

Teacher: He was first, so what else might you have done?

Tom: I guess just be second or be quicker next time.

Teacher: Or perhaps we could discuss in class and take turns at being first or see if another child has another good suggestion?

Now, Tom  - you used your mammalian brain to decide what you wanted and then your thinking brain to find a solution which was really responsible of you. 

You could relate this then to 3 I’s – next time I see you solving a problem without reacting first you might get a ‘I am responsible’ or ‘I am a learner’ token.

THREE BRAINS IN ONE

THREE BRAINS IN ONE!

Please add this information to last week’s to extend the student understanding of how their brain works and how they can enhance their own learning.  It is vital that ALL levels in the school have this information to empower their learning.  Please cover in the next fortnight before we move on – This would be a good time to implement the VAK (Visual, Audio, Kinesthetic test).   I am happy to help in any way – please ask!  Kerri

 YOUR LOWER BRAIN OR BRAINSTEM – REPTILIAN BRAIN

It is an extension of the spinal cord and controls our most basic, instinctive responses such as breathing and heartbeat.  Its nerves are connected with all parts of the brain and the nervous system.  It is joined to the cerebellum which co-ordinates information for smooth muscular movement.

If you dissected your brain, at the base of your skull you would find a segment almost identical to that found in a lizard, crocodile or a bird.  This is why scientists sometimes call it the ‘reptilian brain. 

Turn on a bright light and any insect nearby will stop dead still.  The bright light will send a signal to its tiny reptilian brain.  Drive toward a bird sitting on the road and it will fly off an instant before you hit it: its reptilian brain has an inbuilt program to flee. 

There are certain things that keep the Reptilian Brain happy e.g.: maintaining a sense of territorial space, ritual, avoiding anxiety..etc.  If the Reptilian Brain is not kept happy and the learner becomes too cold, stressed, insecure ... etc then learning becomes biologically impossible. Professional educators need to make sure their learning environments are places of low emotional and physical stress if learning is to be most effective.

THE CENTRAL PART OF YOUR BRAIN – MIDBRAIN - LIMBIC SYSTEM – MAMMALIAN BRAIN – contains the thalamus, the hypothalamus and the limbic system.  Scientists say mammals kept their reptilian brain but added to it.

This is the emotional centre of your brain.  Scientists call it the  ‘limbic’ system (from the latin word ‘limbus’ meaning ‘collar or ring’ because it wraps around the brain-stem like a collar.  Since emotional arousal is needed to activate attention and memory, the limbic system is probably a key to the learning sequence.   The hypothalamus monitors the blood and controls our responses to hunger, thirst, oxygen needs and temperature changes.  This keeps our vital energy, water and oxygen flowing to the brain and the rest of the body.

RAS (Recticular Activating System) works with the Limbic System to control attention. It filters the data that flows through the senses - picking out the important pieces of information and bringing them into consciousness (eg; why you are able to hear your name through a cacophony of sound). The more senses learning experiences trigger or are needed for response, the more memorable the experience will be.

THE CORTEX OR NEOCORTEX – makes us uniquely human. It enables us to think, talk, reason and create.

Scientists call it the cortex – the Latin word for ‘bark’.

This covers the midbrain and is the most highly developed section.  This is the thinking part of the brain, setting humans apart from the rest of the animal world.  The cortex is the ‘grey matter’ of the brain, its colour being due to its dense supply of blood capillaries.  It controls the use of language and symbols, analysis and synthesis, appreciation of art and music and any rational responses to external stimuli.  It integrates information to build up overall pictures and to make connections with what is already stored.  Most memory recall seems to come from large sections of the cortex. 

And tucked out the back you have the cerebellum which plays a vital role in storing “muscle memory”: the things you remember by actually performing tasks such as riding a bike or playing any sports.

You use many different parts of your brain together to store, remember and retrieve information.  Each one has an important bearing on how you use your own inbuilt power. 

This is the academic brain where the higher order thinking skills occur. It is divided into two hemispheres: the right and the left (see below). The brain is stimulated to learn by novelty, multi-sensory learning techniques (see VAK theories), high stimulation and regular feedback. It works best in short bursts.

Each brain is unique and the individual must tailor learning approaches according to their own needs (see Gardner's 8 Intelligences/multiple intelligences).

WHAT NEXT?

NOW WE KNOW ABOUT THE THREE PARTS OF THE BRAIN, WHAT NEXT?? Well, let’s look a little further about how we can begin to use this information.
 The working units of the cortex are the nerve cells, called Neurons.  These nerve cells are made up of a cell body, a fibrous stem called the Axon and tree-like structures called Dendrites that connect with other neurons across tiny gaps called Synapses.  The brain collects messages by the dendrites.  The messages are processed in the cell body and converted to chemical material that is sent along the Axon.   By the time that this information reaches the end of the dendrites it has been converted so it can cross over Synapses to other dendrites.  This movement of electrical energy within our brain creates Brainwaves.
 Our brain contains as many as 15,000 synapses connecting to other neurons.  Although the number of neurons is fixed at birth, the number of dendrites increases as more learning occurs and more information is processed.
 Wow, this means the more we use our mind, the greater its capacity becomes.  A mature brain may have a 100,000 kilometres of dendrites.  However, it is said that we only use a small fraction of our brain – perhaps less that 10% of  our brain’s incredible capabilities.
  So, over the coming weeks we will look at how we can ‘power’ our brains to maximise our learning opportunities!!  It’s how we use it that counts – our responsibility to be the best learner we can be!!

THE AMAZING BRAIN

THE AMAZING BRAIN

Language sets up different patterns in your brain – and different patterns in your culture.

If you grow up in China or Japan you learn to write a ‘picture’ language; in western cultures you learn to take in information through all your senses but to communicate in linear writing.

If you grew up in a traditional Polynesian culture in the Pacific then your main communication would be through sound alone – rhyme, rhythm, song and dance.

This is either visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learning.

HOW YOUR BRAIN STORES INFORMATION

The brain stores information by making use of associations.  Every person’s brain has an association cortex.  It can link up like with like, from different memory banks. 

Learning to store information in patterns and with strong associations is the first step toward developing your brain’s untapped ability.

The second step is learning to use your subconscious mind.  This is where we meet up with brain waves.

Parts of your brain can send and receive information on different frequencies.  Like TV, tune in to Channel 9 or 7 and you will be able to receive messages sent out on that wavelength.

Scan your brain when you are wide-awake and it will be transmitting a certain number of cycles per second.  Scan it when you are dozing and it will be transmitting on a different frequency. 

Researchers are now convinced that we can absorb information much more quickly and effectively when our brains are in a state of relaxation.

That’s why nearly every successful study session starts with relaxation – clearing your mind so your subconscious can receive uncluttered messages and store them in their right file.

So this week, lets practise breathing deeply to relax –

Sitting straight – it is impossible to breathe well when the spine is hunched.

Balloon breathing – move the lower rib cage out and up for inhalation and in and down for exhalation while shoulders remain relaxed and almost stationary.

Breathing deeply – breathing in to the count of four and out for the count of six – a great strategy for students before and during tests and when stressed.

STILL THE AMAZING BRAIN!

How I would love one’s like Julia’s (Atkin)!

I am sure Julia extended everyone’s thinking on Friday so I thought it would be a good time to recap.

3 parts of the brain –

Reptilian – instinctive reactions

Mammalian – emotions

Cortex – thinking/ storing information

The brain collects information through the dendrites.  Dendrites can connect together through the synapses to link stored information.

A mature brain can have 100,000 kilometres of dendrites.  Great Maths activity.

(Lix K/ Xav – please pass this on to your class – we were discussing this when I was in there)

POSSIBLE LEVEL TV DISPLAYS

So – how many dendrites can you ‘grow’ this week to store new information????

Store some new information in your (memory) bank to grow new dendrites!!

FURTHER INTEREST:

http://pinterest.com/kathytps/growing-dendrites-with-kathy-griffin/

http://www.wtc.edu/mathhelp/docs/BrainPPpdf.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3ZKCyGCiPk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b58ofU_SVO8

Module 2

After recently exploring the use of blogs I'm now thinking that a blog may be another way of sharing ideas and information with others. Each week I have been putting an article about aspects of the brain, how to empower the brain and how to understand the way we think and learn. Instead of adding an article on My Classes each week I could just add another installment on 'The Brain' onto the blog for all to access.

This would be far more beneficial for the staff (and myself) as it would provide an ongoing 'picture' rather than individual readings.

On another note, a number have staff have met together to work on the Web 2 course today and it is really affirming - even comforting - to share our expertise and areas for further learning!

Life with Web 2.0 Module 1

A new challenge is what we all need!  Module 1 certainly put lots of ideas forward about how we can be using technology - and how we should be using it.  Our students are sure to know more about this than we do but that is all the more reason to keep abreast.  We are not going to inspire students using antiquated methods and strategies.  This course will challenge us to keep updating but best of all, gives us a structure to follow and we are lucky that so many of us are doing this together. Collaborative support!  

I have been reading over some of our weekly entries on My Classes and this is very relevant now:

'So, over the coming weeks we will look at how we can ‘power’ our brains to maximise our learning opportunities!!  

      It’s how we use it that counts – our responsibility to be the best learner we can be!!'