Interwrite

Hooray,
After a lot of effort I found out how to take a page from Interwrite and post it on a blog.  I should have written it down at the time.... but I'm sure I'll remember when I do it again.
I've also added pictures to my stamper for Maths. I use a stamp of a boy's face or a girl's face when the children are sharing/ dividing.  They can visualise the process of sharing between 2, 3, 4 people.
I don't know how to get rid of the stamps I don't want though. Any ideas??

Easi-speak

I've learnt something new!  Having to use the easi-speak with colleagues this week has prompted me to learn a bit more about it.  It is very easy to operate once you read the instructions!! Isn't that always the way?!  Having to do a voice over myself and having the children speak about KC has motivated me to find out how much I can do with it.  I love an ICT challenge.  Meanwhile there have been numerous tasks to be completed before the new school website will be up and running. I applaud Tania and Marcelle for their commitment to the website.  It has really been a big job for them, and it should look very professional when it's done.

Using PicasaWeb albums

Had time to play around on picasa web albums today.  Works quite easily once you know where to find everything ( It took some looking to find the embed code to put the slideshow on class blog!)  I got the idea after looking at a teacher from Maraetai school's blog.  I could make my own slideshow by clicking on the link on his blog.  It automatically searches for the albums/photo files you have on your computer. You download the ones you want and add captions if you choose.  Slow down or speed up the slides if you wish, then embed in your blog.  It automatically starts when someone is on that page of your blog, as opposed to smilebox which takes ages to wind itself up!  However there is no audio aspect to this slideshow.  I like the idea that I can write captions that the children can read and then they can have comments on each photo as well.

If you want to use this slide show app, feel free to ask for help!  It was not that hard!

cake decorating!!

The Cake Decorating Championships on PhotoPeach

reflection week 3

Restorative Practice: I see many good points in the process and have used it with several children in my class. Having restorative chats with my more "challenging" kids is making small improvements. I feel that they are beginning to see the impact of their behaviour on other children and it's interesting sometimes to hear what they were thinking at the time. l like that you have prescriptive comments and questions to use and you give power to the victim. Often they just want the offender to leave them alone. However, .... At the course, I felt that being asked to share personal traumas / dramas / stories with people you do not know well was not necessary. People were not willing to share their stories with the whole group and I don't know what purpose it served apart from reminding people of things they probably wanted to forget. In reality, restorative practice does not suit every situation for a variety of reasons. I am finding that I need to teach my class about how they are feeling, as they are unable to express themselves adequately. Also, the need for preventative measures,e.g. teaching social skills has become very apparent, as most of the disruptions in my class stem from an inability to behave sociably towards others. Plenty of work to go on with. My goal, at present, is to work through more major issues that concern the whole class so the children understand the process and hear the language.

Term 2 goals

The Junior Syndicate are looking at starting a Junior ICT group,at lunchtime, as well as having a Junior ICT KC group on a Friday afternoon. Hopefully we can have all Juniors turning the computers on and off correctly and logging in by themselves. We want the children to be conversant with the keyboard and able to type in their name on Microsoft Word. We will work on changing fonts etc, and inserting word art, clipart, and photos. That's one goal!...

new toy!

Just trying out my new Sony tablet. It's good having lots of time to play and discover what you can do. Even using the android keyboard is a new skill to learn. This is fun and a bit frustrating.

Key Competencies and Key Skills

Key Competencies and Key Skills

Reflection - end of term 1

I'm finding Twitter useful for finding people who have interesting websites!
I am following lots of people...
I have started a wikipage but have not found a use for it so it's just sitting in cyberspace.
I'm pleased with the learning my class have been doing on StudyLadder and also using microsoft word. They insert word art and clipart. They are starting to draw in Word and can change colours, line widths, rotate shapes and increase or decrease the size of the object without distorting the picture. They are very good at logging on and off and they know how to shut down correctly. The children like using the IWB for their learning. They love that we can quickly shut the curtains, turn off the lights and watch a quick youtube clip or National Geographic video to support their learning. They are all learning what the interwrite programme can do. My favourite action is using the duplicate tool and the children think it's magic that the shape or word keeps producing more and more and more!
I have recently taken a photo of each page in an old shared reader and downloaded them onto interwrite. I use the highlighter to highlight spoken words then the children identify the character who said it and create a speech bubble with the words in it. It worked for some kids who didn't understand speech. You can use it really effectively for expression, phrasing and intonation. I had highlighter lines going up at the end of questions etc to teach them how it should sound. They thought it was a lot of fun trying to follow my highlighted? highlit? directions! The list of ideas is endless...

Reflection

I haven't been on this blog for a month now as I've been concentrating on my class blog and trying various apps to show videos.
I've been thinking about the importance of typing skills and basic computer knowledge for Junior children as I think this will improve the children's ability to take part in blogging from Year 3 upward. My class blog is working well as it provides information for parents and is a stimulus for oral language at home when parents talk about the childrens learning with them.

Blooms Taxonomy for ICT

What tools can you use at each level of Blooms?
http://media2.teachertube.com/files/articles/1437.pdf

Understanding story structure

Try this link to a teacher's blog that is full of ideas!  This idea is for a walk through the story to help children to understand the structure.  As they walk along the path they can practise retelling and summarising the story.  Have a look at some of the other ideas and links too.  I really liked the teacher's bag party.  Many teachers have photographed and described the contents of their "teacher bag". Interesting that most of them take home lots of work and don't get time to do it!

http://www.ateacherstreasure.com/2011/09/treasured-tip-of-day-stepping-into.html

Website to research

http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2011/07/19/blogging-with-very-young-students/

Newspaper Article -L@S 2012

Newsletter created with Smilebox

Learning @Schools

The comment that has stuck in my mind was the "one touch of a key and their future is on the line". In the paper an article on a similar theme gave examples of young people not considering their vast,unknown audience when they posted information and comments on facebook or blogs. It involved losing jobs and friends!! I was also taken with the analogy of giving children the tools then sending them out to play without a duty teacher!!
I still think we need to be mindful of privacy and the ramifications of some of the tools we are working with on line. We have to teach children the safety rules because their parents may know less than the child.

Clever and thought provoking

Photos on blogs

Has anyone else found that when you go to look at photos on your blog , you can click on the photo and you get a slideshow type screen that shows all the photos enlarged?

Reflection time November 2011

Cool... Now I've done it again so - more instructions - when saving the powerpoint page, go down to the last option to choose other ways to save. click on arrow and find JPG.  Change to Edit HTML on edit post.  Put the cursor to the top of the box and insert image.  When I inserted using compose, the 2 slides joined together. Don't know why. As soon as you have inserted more HTML you can change to compose and see what it looks like.

What an interesting way to put this on my blog!!

1. It was a pptx.  Save as JPG in powerpoint.

2. Insert as HTML and here it is. If you click on it, it enlarges!!

photos on blogs

Reflection - It's much better to put photos on a slideshow or photopeach if you are not going to put a caption on each one. It takes up less space on your blog and you dont have to keep scrolling down.

Vocaroo and Interface class blog awards

Chinese Whispers
I am trying this on my class blog.
 I've recorded a sentence onto vocaroo and the children
have to repeat what they heard.
I'm wondering how safe and sensible they will be when recording.

Also I went onto the interface website and had a look at the finalists for best class blog
and use of web2 Tools.  It will be interesting to see who wins it!! It's interesting reading the different reasons for having their blogs too.
http://www.interfaceonline.co.nz/awards-2011.cfm
This next link was to some NZ class blogs. Interesting looking at class blogs for similar ages to mine.
http://nzedublogs.wikispaces.com/NZ+classroom+student+blogs

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