PedagooNE

I'm just on my way home from the very first PedagooNE and feel the need to update my blog straight away. As I was saying to Martin this evening, I definitely feel that my enthusiasm and interest of teaching follows regular peaks and troughs. The troughs usually follow intense peaks where I become focused and perhaps slightly obsessed with projects or ideas. Although sometimes I just fancy a rest. Events like Teachmeets and pedagooNE serve to give me a real inspiration hit and fill me with enthusiasm. Here are some of the things that I learnt about this evening.

Learning and Outreach: Special Collections Centre provides experience days and a range of free workshops and services related to a range of historical sources.

Claire Illingworth showcased Speak Up Scotland, a resource to encourage debating in the classroom in a way that can be quick and easy. Perfect for plenaries or for teachers like me who maybe are not as confident in leading debates in the classroom. Follow her on twitter @belledefluff

Duncan MacLeod from Aberdeen College took us through the process of creating a badge reward scheme for students at F.E. level and talked about the impact that this had on attainment and attendance. He shared some fantastic media projects that the students had achieved particular success in. Thanks @aktoman

From the virtual world of the Internet, Ian Simpson presented his video about Class Dojo and the positive effect that it has had on his S1 pupils. I spoke to Ian over the October break and he gave me a sneaky heads-up on the Class Dojo resource. I began using it with my class this week and it has been a great success so far. I'll blog about my experience at the end of this term. Thanks @familysimpson

And finally, Stuart Brown gave an insight to his current work with disengaged young people and how he has completely redesigned his workspace to provide a more conducive learning space for the young people he works with. Again, this is something I will follow up with Stuart and blog about in the future. His fresh outlook has already had me thinking about the positive learning environments promoted by people like Steven Heppell.

For anyone looking for my presentation on Our Class Geocache, I have embedded it below. I blogged about this in a previous post so have a look and feel free to post any questions.

 

Geocaching with P6/7s

This term the class found out that their 'travel bug' which had started it's journey less than a mile down the road, in their own geocache had managed to travel across the Atlantic and is currently 'In the hands of afamilywiththreeboys' near Chicago.

Our Scotland trackable

Confused? Excited? Yes, those are two words to describe how my class felt when we first discussed the idea of a geocache back at the beginning of 2012. Here is an account of how our geocaching adventures started and ended and were resurrected.

our cache complete with treasure

Before I continue, I suppose I should really explain the whole idea behind geocaching to anyone who hasn't yet experienced it. A geocache is a small container or 'cache' that is hidden anywhere in the world. These caches can be as small as the dust cap on your car tyre or as big as an ice-cream tub and many sizes in between. Some contain treasure and some simply contain a rolled up sliver of paper with some dates and initials. In essence, geocaching is simply a treasure hunt on a global scale.

Using a web-based database of hundreds of thousands of caches around the world, the user employs their map skills or, more commonly their GPS device to find the location of a cache. They then use clues to narrow the location down from several metres to a specific location. Once found, the log is signed and dated and if there is treasure then the user can take from the cache as long as something of equal or greater value is left in it's place.


Often, amongst the treasures are 'trackables' which are special items with a trackable serial number. These are designed to be moved from cache to cache and often travel between countries.

We decided that we should plant our own geocache and so set about using map work and our local knowledge to pick a sensible place to hide it. The rules state that the cache cannot be buried underground but can be hidden in holes, bushes or sometimes even in plain sight. We had to also make sure that there would be no environmental damage through the hiding of the cache or by the geocachers who would be looking for it.

With all that in mind we decided upon the local community woodland. This was an area that the children had already been involved with the previous year with a couple of days of tree planting. So we decided to walk to the woodland and seek out suitable hiding spots. Each child sketched where they thought it should be hidden. Then each child jotted down directions to help people to find the location. Once back at school we decided upon a final hiding place and I went back to the site after school to log the exact GPS coordinates on my phone.

Since most geocaches are hidden in areas of geographical or historical interest, this provided an opportunity for some writing in the form of a description of the local area based on children's own knowledge and further research about the development of the woodland. Further writing took the form of an instructional text explaining the concept of geocaching and how to hide a geocache. The children were very engaged in such relevant pieces.

The next task was to find a tub suitable and provide some initial 'treasure'. Some children brought in some small items like rubbers, keyrings etc. I supplied a Scotland travel bug. Since our topic was Europe, we decided that we would like our Scotland travel bug to travel as far round Europe as possible. We packed all our items in our waterproof tub and set off, back to the woodland to hide it.

After a little nudge in the right direction from the Geocaching.com website help page, I logged the cache site and awaited it's approval. A few days later it was live and the children knew that they had a special secret treasure cache that only people in the know would be able to find. We checked the website every once in a while to read logs from others that had found it (including a supply teacher working at Portlethen Primary) and we checked to see where our travel bug had travelled to.

So, almost a year on and our travel bug has travelled 5124miles. If you would like to find out more about Geocaching then visit www.geocaching.com. Our geocache is called A Fishermoss Find and our travel bug is called Scotland Flag Tag.

A lot can happen in 10 months

Wow, has it been almost a year since I last published a new blog post?

So much has happened since then. Perhaps the whole teaching malarky has meant that I'm far too busy to tap tap tap away at this keyboard. Or perhaps I am seeking the elusive 'work/life' balance?

Whatever the excuse, remind me to tell you about;

the collaborative writing using wikispaces.
or
the fantastic Geocaching experience that my P6/7 pupils engaged in and how their travel bug skipped it's intended location and is now half way across the USA.
or
our Health and Wellbeing open day that allowed children to create and run their own stalls teaching other children how to be safe through responsible cycling, healthy through football and tennis and even assisting others through 1st aid knowledge.
or
our work with a class set of iPod touches and apps, learning resources, SMART pages, audio/visual resources and lots of techy fun.
or
our vision to provide cycling provision from Nursery through to P7, from balance bikes to mountain bikes.

Oh I've been so excited. Maybe that's the reason I haven't managed to update the blog.

Ps, I'll also be publishing some new CPD opportunties that I have just learnt about too. Like this

Stu Brown ‏@stuart_g_brown

@familysimpson @mcoutts81 @charliebarrow @charlie_love forum for #pedagooABDN , spread the word!! http://goo.gl/Dpcn0

or this

Ian Simpson shared a link.

7 hours ago

Educators and parents of primary school children. Your weekends are now free: http://pinterest.com/all/?category=education

Creative Activities for Snowy Days

I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed that the snow hasn't taken hold yet. Yes, I know it causes disruption, I know it means travel is difficult... but it's just so much fun! I'm in the process of adding bits and pieces to my class GLOW page so that if we have a school closure due to snow, my pupils will have lots to keep them happy and busy.

Adventure play in snow Photo: Svane Frode

If like me, you sometimes need inspiration to get the creative brain going then look no further than Juliet Robertson's (Aka Creative Star) I'm a teacher - Get me OUTSIDE here! blog. I have included some links to her snowy posts last year which include some lovely, decorative ideas as well as some more sinister, macabre goings on involving fake blood! Just click on the captions to be taken to her blog.

Snow, Stencils and Blood! Photo: Juliet Robertson

They are well worth a look and if you don't already follow her blog, then start now as there are bound to be some fantastic ideas for this year. (Btw, her site has been nominated for this year's 'Best ed tech blog' at the Edublog Awards 2011. It's worth a look!)

For other snow day ideas, have a look at this book, also recommended by Juliet this time last year. Click on the image for more details.

Playing With Snow Photo: Vegard Fimland

Possibly the most difficult exam...ever!

The following was emailed to me by a very clever friend of mine. I doubt that even he would score highly in this!

The Ultimate Exam

Faculty of Applied Omniscience

Read the questions carefully. Answer all of them. Time available: Two hours. Commence
immediately.


1. History


Elaborate on the Vatican history from its beginning until today, and focus especially, but
not exclusively, on its social, economic, religious and philosophical influence on Europe,
Asia, America and Africa. Answer concisely.


2. Medicine


You have been given a razorblade, a strip of gauze bandage and a bottle of Scotch
whisky. Remove your appendix. Don't sew yourself up before your work has been
approved. You have fifteen minutes on this task.


3. Rhetoric


2500 hysterical head hunters are about to invade these premises. Calm them down. You
may use any extinct language, except greek and latin.


4. Biology


Create life. Discuss the future culture differences of this life form, given that it has
evolved from about 500 million years ago. Be specific about the expected effects on
Norwegian party politics. Prove your assumptions.


5. Music


Compose a piano concerto. Orchestrate and perform your work with flute and drum.
You will find a piano under your chair.


6. Psychology


Based on your knowledge of their works, evaluate the emotional stability, adaptability
and the surpressed frustrations of Alexander the Great, Ramses II and Hammurabi.
Support your assumptions with quotations from their works. Remember to name your
sources. It is not necessary to translate.


7. Sociology


Present the sociological problems that might arise in connection with The Day of


Judgement. Design and conduct an experiment to prove your conclusions.


8. Technology


On your desk you will find a disassembled coarse-caliber rifle. You will also find an
instruction manual in Swahili. In ten minutes a hungry Bengal tiger will be released in this
room. Take all precautions you find necessary. Be prepared to defend your decisions.
Remember that the Bengal tiger is an endangered, protected species.


9. Economy


Develop a realistic plan to refinance the national debt. Explain what effects the plan will
have on the following fields: Cubism and the Donatist-dispute over the wave-nature
of light. Establish a method to avoid these effects. Then criticise this method from all
conceivable points of view. Identify the weaknesses of your viewpoint in the same way
as in the previous question.


10. Political science


There is a red telephone on your desk. Start World War III. Give a report on the
sociopolitical effects of it, if any of the kind will occur.


11. Epistemology


Decide whether to defend or to reject truth. Prove the substance in your choice.


12. Physics


Explain the structure of matter. In your explanation, please include an evaluation of the
significance mathematical development has had on all science.


13. Philosophy


Outline the development of human ratio. Estimate its significance. Compare with the
development of any other form of thinking.


14. General knowledge


Discuss the topic in detail. Be objective and specific.

Literacy and Numeracy in Curriculum for Excellence - Part 2

As promised, in this post I will talk about my thoughts on the second half of the Literacy and Numeracy in CfE presentation that I was lucky enough to attend last Saturday 29th October. Tom Renwick presented and easily kept the room's enthusiasm and interest that had been handed over by Bill Boyd.

I try very hard to avoid being one of the statistics of people who like to talk about how terrible they are at maths. I'm not terrible at all, though I didn't do well at school. Since school I have been back to evening classes and worked on my 'areas for development'. Tom's presentation helped me to see where I had gone wrong and the importance of providing the right opportities for the children in my class so that they can get to grips.

Tom made a frightening but, I fear, well known point. Numeracy in Britain isn't as good as it could/should be. Many of the daily number tasks we do as adults are done with calulators, spreadsheets, phone apps, google. These are all great tools but if you don't know what they are doing, how can you cope when they go wrong?

With the aid of his huge 100 square, Tom talked the audience through a series of related problems. What is heavier, a tennis ball or a golf ball? How much water is in a plastic cup? How to use mass to measure volume?  I must admit, I did get a little lost at points but the message I took away was valuable nonetheless.

At every opportunity Tom solved the problems with the hundred square. The numbers that were flying around the room were no longer abstract. They were all part of patterns that were clearly illustrated on the square. They were all related to the practical demonstrations. And they all seemed to make sense (a little revisiting and reinforcement later on would have sorted me out!)

Like many adults, my wobble with maths confidence stems largely from a fear of being put on the spot or being asked a question I can't answer. Tom spoke about the idea of parents and children learning together and explained that this could easily be done in school. I saw this done a few years ago when the assembly hall of the school I was in was taken over for a day by parents and children learning maths, playing maths games and sharing their own skills together. It was fantastic and was a very comfortable and positive experience for all.

The overarching message presented in the session was that the most important thing that we can develop with children is a fluency when it comes to mental agility. The faster and more accurate a child can solve mental number problems, the more likely they are to cope with the maths through school. As a child learns to develop words using knowledge of the alphabet, they should also be able to develop maths agility through knowledge of number bonds and patterns.

I would recommend visiting Tom's website Maths On Track  and look out for the live Glow maths session lead by Tom on the 26th November. Tom has lots of free resources and videos on his site too.

Literacy and Numeracy in Curriculum for Excellence - Part 1

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the literacy and numeracy event run by Bill Boyd and Tom Renwick. The presenters individually had such a wealth of experience and knowledge that I am going to blog each presentation separately to really try to give them both justice (although there is no substitute for actually being there).

Bill Boyd

Bill, a.k.a The Literacy Adviser, does just what it says on his tin (except he uses less cliches!) Having been a Principle Teacher of English, a Depute Head Teacher and an Education Manager with LTS he shares all of this knowledge in a way that captivates his audience. He has an obvious interest in modern culture and uses of film, comics and technology all blended together to present his argument that being literate means more than the understanding of books. In his talk he referred to a range of texts from comics to digital novels in the most authentic and unique sense. I'll attempt to summarise my notes from the morning in a series of paragraphs.

Language

Bill highlighted the evolution of language through our interaction with everyday texts. We learn to follow patterns in texts. He started off by having the audience consider ingredients, song lyrics, instructions and computer screens showing that we decode everyday texts using our prior knowledge and links to function. The fact that the range of texts that we use is wide and varied is highlighted by the wording of the Curriculum for Excellence's definition of texts.

"a text is the medium through which ideas, experiences, opinions and information can be communicated." CfE Literacy Across Learning: principles and practice.


Games-based Learning

Bill argues that the narrative in modern games are as valuable as texts as are film and written word. Games such as Myst are valuable when used as contexts for learning. Creative writing, fantasy worlds, problem solving and many cross-curricular themes can be found through games such as Samarost, Machinarium and the more recent Doctor Who games.

This made me think, surely the Doctor Who adventure games could provide a whole term's primary topic as children could delve into character development through the regeneration of the Doctor, exploring key points in history, familiar and fantasy geographic settings, technology as well as the idea of creative writing and parallel narratives.

The interactive novel

This resource really interested me. Bill took us through a novel titled Inanimate Alice. This was like no novel I had ever seen before. It was not simply a book converted to an ebook or simply an interactive decision-making  story. Inanimate Alice puts you in the shoes of a young girl and fires stimuli at all of the senses for a completely immersive experience. As the chapters progress, the story of Alice and her trans-migratory family progress through different territories, exciting problems that Alice solves with the help of her handheld device-based friend. Children have created their own episodes which can be seen via the website though I have yet to explore this.

Graphic Novels

I've not been into comics since I stopped my subscription for 2000AD in the early 90's. I really think I've missed something! I remember visiting my cousin in Portsmouth as a child and being awestruck at his collection of thick graphic novels (He's now a successful graphic artist). These were not comics, these were novels with all the credibility of any piece of literature. Bill reignited my interest in graphic novels and made me realise that the gap between our literacy interests and that of the children is not as great as it sometimes seems.

Having thought about this, literacy is a perfect example of human's varying learning styles. Whilst studying English Literature at University, I would often sit through the film's of Shakespeare's plays. For me, this made the language far more accessible and the characters much more understandable. For Year 4 boys two years ago, Macbeth was brought to life by the graphic novels. The narrative remains the same but the means in which children digest, process and deconstruct these 'texts' is individual and as teachers we need to understand that. Bill says, look out for The Invention of Hugu Cabret and Chemical Reactions. I say look out for Macbeth: The Graphic Novel.

Film

I used to run the Filmclub for children where we would receive feature films to watch, discuss and write about. It worked but was difficult in the sense that a two-and-a-half hour film takes 3 weeks to watch and loses much of it's impact.

Bill directed us to a fantastic few websites that provide a great deal of teaching resources for short films that are more than manageable in class. Have a look at Moving Image Education, Scotland On Screen and Screening Shorts. I was very pleased to find the short animation The Sandman which I found so intriguing and terrifying that I have never deleted from a VHS tape that I recorded it onto, accidentally, about 15 years ago!

If you haven't been convinced of the value in analysing computer games, digital novels, film and animation as forms of text by now then Bill has provided further help in the form of the 7 Reading Strategies and the 10 Tools for Reading Film. These are certainly worth a read though I think it would be far better to share them with your pupils whilst deconstructing comics or film.

You can follow Bill's blog at http://literacyadviser.wordpress.com/ and you can must follow him on twitter @literacyadviser