Wearing smaller shoes.

For a moment, just for a moment, forget that you've grown up.  Put yourself back in that time where the world was full of wonder and fun. Get yourself a piece of a4 paper and roll it up into a "telescope".  Put it up to one of your eyes and put your free hand half way down the tube in front of your other eye.  Hey Presto, you can see through your hand!  This is all it takes to put yourself into your student's shoes.   Those tiny tiny shoes.  A simple willingness to be a little goofy and just take some pleasure in the unusual.

Have you ever done the worksheets you hand out to students or do a "dry run" of the activities you give them at home alone?  This is now one of my "standard tests" and if it's just plain boring I think I probably shouldn't be giving it to my students. 

Of course I didn't always do this and tended to work it all out in my head until one day I took some stuff I did in the classroom into a collegial meeting.  It's just stuff I picked up along the way that I knew the students had fun with to just share it with the others so they could use it too.  Well...  What came next sort of surprised me.  A pair of teachers started playing the games and were having fun.  Then another joined and had fun too.  Then another.  Rather than join in I just stood back and watched.

One was fresh out of university, one was in the last stages of their career and the other two fell in between and there they all were, just having fun.  It occurred to me that sometimes we aren't really that different from our students despite the gap of years and all of the "wisdom" we are supposed to accrue in that time.  It's a rather simple thought really, "fun is fun".  The impact this has had on how I approach teaching though has been huge.

I have been able to cull many of my original resources (although they still remain in my files)  in favour of others that are just as effective in teaching students but just more fun.  I know they're more fun because I enjoy them more than others.  Rather than just evaluate them I also play with them.

As a result my students are more engaged and I have a much easier time as a CRT.  Behaviour issues are kept to a minimum and, though my classrooms can be a little rowdy at times, it's rowdy with the sound of enjoyment gained from learning. 

What I really like though is the ongoing effect to flow from it.  The students that I get often enough become more passionate and invest themselves more deeply in their own learning.  They start wanting to know more and it causes a shift in preferred activities from pure fun to educational fun.

Regards,

Mel.

Free Resource from the CRT Resource Challenge!

Initially I was going to use "Prezi" as my "one thing" for the CRT Resource Challenge.  The idea was an extension of my observations on how many teachers focus on classroom technology as a tool to teach with and not really the side of how to use it to make their own lives easier.  We do this with Laptops all of the time in making handouts, typing reports and so on but I don't see a lot of teachers extending this concept to other in-school technologies.

For those of you who don't know, Prezi is an alternate offering to take the place of PowerPoint and other presentation software designed to fill its own little niche of making Motion one of the central capabilities.  As such it makes it very easy to incorporate with a simple and easy to use interface that does a LOT of the work for you.

Some of you may have seen us use Prezi before on this blog on our VIT CRT Networks page on this blog as well as the Cycle of Professional Learning presentation we use on occasion.  It's clear that one of the advantages of Prezi is that you can embed it in web pages to make animated presentations in your blogs etc to "spice things up a bit".  This is how we've been using it for a while now.

In Victoria though, CRTs often don't get access to classroom ICT resources like Interactive Whiteboards.  More and more frequently there's no "regular old whiteboard" in the class and, even though many IWBs are made to be used as a "ROWB" you get yelled at for doing so.  Initially I wanted to use this year's CRT Resource Challenge to explore how you could use an IWB as a simple projector to "fill the gam" of the missing ROWB instead of resorting to butcher's paper.

So my initial plan was to make a "digital Bag of Tricks" of Prezi presentations on various things that could be strung together to form complete lessons when I needed them, using Prezi and a bit of planning to avoid the morning scrabble for butchers paper and an easel to hang it from.  In the end I thought this was a little broad for the Resource Challenge and went with something else but my "trial run" is still ready to go so I thought I would share it.

How it works;

Prezi can be played from your own Laptop in two ways;  Either through your web browser from an online source OR through a self-projecting program that Prezi creates from your presentation.

On Tablets (such as an iPad or Android tablet) an app is available that will show the Prezis from an online source and then "remember them" so you can play them back offline.

Like 99% of other presentation programs you just use the arrow keys to move through the presentation (or the on-screen arrows included for the Prezi on touch-screens or via mouse).

So, here we go!  This is designed as a Literacy lesson for students already familiar with rhyming and basic forms of poetry.

You can find the lesson plan on our online storage here.

• The .zip file contains the Lesson Plan as well as the Prezi files (55.5mb).
• The .PDF file is the lesson plan ONLY.

You can play the Prezi directly from the internet here (using a web browser for computers OR the appropriate Prezi app for your iPad/Android tablet).

In the downloadable plan you will find the projector files for this Prezi so you can run it from a flash drive on any relatively modern computer (Windows or Mac).  This will still require an internet connection to play the Prezi because the Wonky Donkey video is on YouTube.

Being able to run from a flash drive, Prezi also opens an interesting advantage.  Do you have a student who's ahead of the curve and needs some classroom differentiation?  With a little guidance, this can deliver a full lesson of your devising through a single computer for that student needing a little more of a challenge than the rest of the class.  The pre-prepared Prezi can essentially run the activity with minimal input from you allowing you to challenge that student while focusing primarily on the rest of the class.

Do you teach in a distance-education setting?  Prezi also has a handy "present online" function.  Your students can open the prezi from an online source (you send them the link) and it runs much like a webinar.  You can advance the presentation using your own computer while talking to your students through a voice chat program.

Passing on Prezi to your Students;

Prezi can also be used by students to create class presentations.  Being so easy to manipulate, it allows even quite young students to think cinematically about their work and explore creating an EXPERIENCE instead of a slide.  To consider how the motion and different formats can be used to generate a "feel" to a presentation to help their class mates connect with the topic.

Are they doing a presentation on Flies?  You could bounce a little randomly around the screen with arrows with Fly pictures on them so you get the feel of a fly buzzing around the room.

Something to give your students options with which to expand their own horizons AND create something they are truly proud of.

Regards,

Mel.

Shuffling of OneDrive

Some links we have supplied here relating to the CRT Resource Challenge have now become "dead" as we have done a little shuffling of the CRT Resource Challenge folder for new entries to be uploaded.

Everything is still there, we just created a new folder for last year's entries and a new one for this years.

The parent folder is here.

Nothing new has been uploaded yet but they will start coming soon!

Regards,


Mel.

Collective Capacity and Collegial Learning.

The CRT Resource Challenge has come to a close and we thought we'd discuss two of the reasons we hold this internally;  Allowing newer members to see the potential of collegial learning in action and help them remain enthusiastic about teaching.

For the challenge, one of our members chose to base their ideas on a simple Paperclip.  The first time we saw her list it looked like this.

• Ebay success story;  Kylie McDonald going from a red paperclip to a house in 14 sales.
• Join Paperclips together;  Predict length and then predict how many to make any given length.
• Weight bearing exercises:  How many pieces of paper can each size hold.
• Arrange by colour/size/type etc and graph the results.
• Paperclip Bingo.

After taking this to the table to discuss what we were doing, further ideas were added.

• Build an object.
• Paperclips in Art.
• Write a story "A day in the life of a paperclip".
• Different uses of a paperclip (divergent Thinking exercise).
• Who invented the paperclip, what is it made of, how is it made, where are they made.
• Maths equations eg;  2 yellow = 1 blue, 2 blue = 1 red, 2 red = silver.

On the 3rd visitation with another group

• Paperclip Jewellery
• How many paperclips can you string under a magnet?
• What can a paperclip be replaced by?
• Paperclip rubbings/Paperclip tracings.
  Glue down coloured paperclips to make a picture.
• Informal Measuring.

Each time it was brought to a new group of people, different thinking brought new ideas, variations on ideas already there or specific ideas about how to use the paperclips in another idea..

• Predicting the length of paperclips grew to include using them as an informal form of measurement.
• Paperclips in Art got refined by specific activities;  Rubbings, tracings, gluing.

It must be mentioned that this was by no means the full list, all extending from something as simple as a paperclip.  Seeking the ideas of others allows you to expand your options and refine your lessons to something really special that your students are going to have a lot of fun with.  Doing this improves your results as a teacher and makes you a more effective and desirable CRT.  That, however, is not all it does.

Being in on this process, as well as having similar input into their own projects, allows our newer members to see EXACTLY where the advantages are in collegial groups in a hands-on way.  Essentially it's just a translation of the hands-on learning advantages we give our students back on ourselves as teachers.  By immersing them in a way that is totally relevant to THEM, they walk away with a much deeper understanding of the collegial framework and the benefits it offers.

It also serves as a yearly reminder of how important it is that we make our classrooms hands-on and relevant to the students wherever possible.  By allowing ourselves to become immersed in the process of the CRT Resource Challenge we refresh our understanding and enthusiasm for these educational concepts, helping to prevent us to become jaded about them as "just something we are supposed to do".

It reminds us of why we became Teachers in the first place;  How fun and rewarding it is being a teacher.  When we are able to supply our students with these sorts of experiences in their educational journey we are offering them a gateway to share in the same sorts of positive feelings we get from educating and being educated.

Regards,

Mel.

AITSL app for Teacher Standards.

AITSL has released a new app for iPhone/iPad (coming soon for android phones and tablets as well) making it handy to carry the standards around with you.

The free My Standards app makes the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers accessible anywhere, anytime. Collect and annotate your own artefacts, referenced to the Standards to inform and evidence your professional growth. 

http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/my-standards-app

Regards,

Mel.

Registration renewal is looming.

Re registration is starting to come to the front of our minds and many CRTs are beginning to worry about what's coming.  Because the "20 days" is a hot topic and being well-discussed at the moment, I thought I would take a moment to look at the other half;  20 hours of professional development.

First and foremost;  If you are provisionally registered you are not required to seek 20 days employment OR 20 hours of PD.  These are requirements to renew your full registration.  Provisional framework assumes that you will seek appropriate employment and Professional Development to work towards the goal of full registration.  If you have reached the end of your provisional registration and do not feel ready for the full registration process you can apply to remain provisionally registered and continue on as you are.

VIT has a very broad interpretation of what "PD" is. It includes workshops/webinars/seminars, professional readings of multiple sources and even such sources as relevant youtube videos etc. There is no longer a stipulation on an amount of "pre-approved" PD or types of PD you may source like some other states still require.  The focus is squarely on you seeking out the information you need to fill gaps in your knowledge and solve problems you need solved irrespective of where the insights are coming from.

VIT uses an evidence-based model where you must be able to reference your PD material to the National Professional Standards for Teachers and write a reflection on how it will effect your practice as a teacher.  Pro-formas are available from VIT to track your PD and we also have an in-house pro-forma to help teachers formulate their reflections;

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=0D641AD8750D17A5&id=D641AD8750D17A5!127

File;  Validating_PD4_March2014.  The 2 VIT parent documents this was formulated from are also included in this folder.

MyPD, available to you via your MyVIT account, allows you to track your PD online (as well as upload scanned supporting evidence such as Certificates or other required documentation).

In 2012 the Wodonga CRT Support Network (A VIT CRT Network) worked with VIT to make everything more understandable for new teachers and clarify that "valid PD" wasn't just spending 100's of dollars on workshops and seminars;

PD and YOU.
What is PD part 1.
What is PD part 2.
What is PD part 3.

Later that year we also defined further how VIT expected collegial learning opportunities and professional Networking were intended to be utilised to form a process for seeking out and accessing valuable PD opportunities:

(Online presentation - viewable full-screen - advance slides using the arrow keys).

Dawn Colcott (VIT Manager of Professional Learning):  Registration and PD presentation.

Within the network we recommend that Teachers seek various sources of PD instead of just relying on one.  Over the years a healthy mix of PD from multiple sources has yielded the best results for teachers needing problems solved.  A workshop gives you a broad understanding, online/print sources add to this knowledge, collegial discussion helps you refine it all into a working model for you to make the most of your capabilities in the classroom.

May Meeting details

Hello everyone,

The May Meeting details are avaliable at the below link:
http://wodongacrtsupportnetwork.blogspot.com.au/p/hi-everyone-next-wodonga-crt-support.html

I am looking forward to seeing you there!

Regards,

Mel