TeachingSagittarian » Collaboration, Connections, Communication

New Role New Challenges

teachingsagittarian — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 06:22:46 +0000

It’s now official – not only mentally but now physically ……… I’m no longer have my own students or classroom BUT I have wonderful colleagues and their wonderful students to work with. In my mind I’m formulating my own view of my new role. (already a brewing post!). My official title is Technology & Learning Coach. Shorten that to TLC and that’s what I hope to give teachers at my school – a little TLC each, everyday!

Image Attribution: kk+ http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503002894@N01/492908390/

New colleagues to our school have been there a week already. Returning colleagues began on Wednesday. On Monday I had the afternoon to give some TLC one on one to new colleagues as they began working in their new environment. I liked this opportunity for two specific reasons.

It gave me a chance to meet colleagues 1:1 – (build relationships)
Needs are individual and personal when you’re new to the country and the school – meeting with someone 1:1 is as personal and individual as we can get! (meeting learning needs)

There are 11 new teachers just in our Elementary School, all with varying levels of technology skills. What I loved most of from this afternoon, as I wandered zoomed around to their classrooms, was everyone’s willingness to share with me, honestly, exactly where they felt they were skill wise, what they wanted to focus on the most and what I could do for them right now that would help them the most!

Loving this job already!

Inspiring Kids

teachingsagittarian — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:58:37 +0000

I just love this man, Brian Crosby. He’s become a great friend and it’s always very cool to be involved with him and his students in what ever they happen to be doing. (I just wish our timezone here in Thailand was a bit more conducive to skyping like it was when I was teaching in New Zealand!!) – Anyhow, Brian blogs at Learning is Messy. If this blog is not in your reader then it needs to be! He’s creative, he’s passionate and he’s all about the learning!

And if you’re still not convinced then you need to watch this TEDxDenverEd video where his enthusiasm and passion just resonates throughout his talk! Brian – you rock! My 5th graders (who have now moved on to 6th Grade) will be stoked to see their High Hopes comments mentioned in your TEDxDenverEd talk. Thanks for inspiring us all and thanks for including us in your learning!!

Connecting with South Korea

teachingsagittarian — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 06:18:32 +0000

It’s always fun to help out a friend, especially when they are helping their students connect and practise using English.

Today my friend, the lovely Mrs Durff asked me if I would skype into her class of Korean middle school students attending the Global Vision Christian School Pre-camp located in Eumseong, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea. to learn English during their summer break.

Unfortunately only one student was brave enough to come up to the webcam and ask me question. So rather than have them trying to think up a question, I decided to ask them some questions instead. From the safety of their seats, many students answered my simple questions. It was a fun way to spend 20 minutes of my summer break helping them learn during their summer break!

Thanks for asking me Durff – the pleasure was all mine!

Cross-posted at AroundTheWorldwith80schools Skype Project Blog

Raising the Digital Generation – What Can Parents Do?

teachingsagittarian — Fri, 14 May 2010 07:44:52 +0000

The other day I was fortunate enough to experience a Parent Coffee Morning, run regularly (first Wednesday of each month) by our school. This particular day had three workshops running, Summer Reading, Summer Math & Summer Technology and parents rotated through each session in 30 minute slots. We had over 50 parents attend which was very exciting! In the session that I was helping in (getting a taste of what part of my new job will be like) was of course, Summer Technology – ideas for what you and your child could doing over the summer with technology.

In one of the sessions, it became very clear that a lot of parents are afraid. Afraid of privacy on the internet, afraid of managing their child’s activity on the internet, afraid of things they’re not even sure about and can’t really explain. Whilst some are afraid, they realise that the internet is not going to go away and those fears need to be addressed, conversations need to be had, and information needs to be sought.

So when Jeff Utecht shared with our Grade 5 team an article he came across regarding our children and the use of social media, it seemed like the perfect catalyst to start the information/conversation ball rolling. Whilst the rules of having a facebook account are “you must be 13 years of age or over”, the reality is more than half of our Grade 5 students already have a facebook account and are using facebook to a certain degree. We certainly do not encourage the use the facebook in Grade 5 but it would be remiss of us to blindly stick our heads in the sand and pretend that some of our students aren’t using it.

Below is an extract from the article. (click this link for the full article) I’ve shared it on our classroom blog for the parents of my students. It is very informative, has simple but very effective tips for parents and it’s well worth taking the time to read the entire article.

Who are your kids friending on Facebook? What are they really texting to their classmates? How much online time is too much?

Too often, parents who are misinformed about the social web (willfully or otherwise) will shut their kids out of it completely, only to find they are logging in anyway. If you’re not taking an active role in your child’s online life, you may be missing important opportunities to ensure they are on the path toward “digital citizenship,” and protected from inappropriate content and people.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/4446157327

Big Footprints to Follow

teachingsagittarian — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:19:24 +0000

As I lay awake each night contemplating my next big step in the International Teaching Circuit, (ES Technology Learning Coach – name change from Facilitator to Learning Coach was my idea) I’m thinking ……

image attribution: teachingsagittarian

…….. my fabulous friend and colleague, Kim Cofino, will no longer be the 21st Century Literacy Specialist (Elementary School) and Technology Facilitator (Middle School), – she’s leaving the country at the end of the school year and moving to Japan to take up a new technology position in Middle School at YIS (FYI, YIS, you’re incredibly lucky!!) and Jeff Utecht (bless his heart he’ll still be around for me to yell for when the going gets tough) will no longer be the ES Technology Facilitator – next school year, he’s moving up to the High School to be their Technology Facilitator.
It will just be me in Elementary School.

You sense my dilemma don’t you? These are some pretty big footprints to follow!!

So, wonderful PLN – here’s where you come in. Help a girl get some much needed sleep will you please??

Classroom Teachers/Educators
What do you most want out of your Technology Learning Coach/Facilitator/Integrator (or whatever else your school calls it)?

What do you not want?

Tech Facilitators/Integrators/Coaches
What’s your best piece of advice for me?
What are the do’s and don’ts of this kind of position?

Principals/Admin/Management
What do you want from your Tech Learning Coach/Facilitator/Integrator?

All suggestions, tips, ideas and advice welcome and gratefully received – thanking you in advance!

The Power of Skype and your PLN

admin2 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:48:04 +0000

My fabulous colleagues back home in New Zealand have been enjoying the Learning@Schools09 Conference held in Rotorua. When my good friend AllanahK tweeted that she was organising a “Matt-style” dance at the start of Wes Fryer‘s Keynote presentation, I couldn’t resist the urge to tweet back “Can I skype in?”

Sure enough – at 7.15am Bangkok, Thailand time, and 1.15pm, New Zealand time, she did just that- skyped me in so that I could join in the dance too. It was brilliant – almost like being there. I was able listen to Wes’s Keynote until Allanah’s battery finally died. I wish I could have been there in personal to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, and learn new things from incredibly talented people. Watch the video!

I originally used jing to capture the screen on my laptop (‘cos that’s all I had), then discovered that it saves as .swf. Drat – not editable (without the Pro version – funny that?). So here’s the master genius work around I used:

Step 1: Grab Jeff Utecht on his way out the door – (‘cos he has ScreenFlow)
Step 2: Replay .swf on his laptop and re-capture using ScreenFlow – saves as a .mov, edit as you go
Step 3: Import into iMovie – add titles and credits
Step 4: Play real “Dancing with Matt” video on YouTube to capture the soundtrack using Audio Hijack Pro
Step 5: Import audio into iMovie – adjust sound levels
Step 6: Upload to teachingsagittarian’s YouTube channel

Did I mention that I love my mac laptop?

Skype-Connection-Fest

admin2 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:44:57 +0000

We’re involved in Silvia Tolisano’s short, simple yet so powerful Skype project AroundTheWorldwith80Schools. In just two short weeks we have connected with seven different classrooms in four parts of the world. And we’re not stopping there! By the end of our school year, I hope to share with you that we managed to connect right around the globe.

As I reflect on our involvement in this project, I wonder what this has done for my students. At first I thought that it really didn’t bother my students one way or another that we were connecting with so many different classrooms around the world. But then, their excitement hardly ever shows – unusual I know, but seriously true. I worry about that because they’re only 5th graders – what’s happened to their natural “wonderment and awe?”

However, my mother taught me really well – not to judge a book by it’s cover – so I decided if I was truly going to reflect on using this tool in the classroom, I ought to ask those that have the biggest stakehold – my students.

Here’s the questions I asked them and a sample of their replies. You be judge of the value of using a tool like skype in the classroom with your students.

How do you feel stopping for 5-10 minutes, to skype with a class in other country?

Yes, we should keep on making connection around the world, because it helps us understand about different parts of the world and their cultures, but mainly because it’s fun.

Skyping with another class in another country for 5-10 minutes is great because you learn about their school, their way of life, their beliefs, and their culture. I have learned many different things about the topics in the previous sentence.

I like the idea of taking 5-10 minutes off to skype because it is a fast and easy way to communicate and learn about the other place we are skyping in a short time.

Do you learn anything when we talk to other students from around the world?

Yes!
what the weathers like
what the other kids in that school play in recess
and other unfamilliar subjects we don’t do.

I learn about other people’s lives and it’s fun to compare them to mine.

I have learned about other countrys, culture, about them, and the location that they are in

Do you use Skype at home to connect with family/friends?

I’ve never connected on skype with my friends in America but I connect with my family in America except the skype that we do is we call them with our computer and it calls their real phone not their computer so that means that we can’t use a camera so that’s how it is different.

At home I Skype with my Grandparents in the USA, and my parents have other contacts in their Skype “phonebook.”

I use skype a lot at home because i skype my dad a lot when ever he leaves the country and i really like to skpe my friends.

I don’t use Skype at home.

No

What have you learned about communicating with others using Skype in classroom?

I have learned that on Skype calls you have to speak loudly and clearly, so the person on the other end of the line can hear you and understand you.

I learned that communicating with other people around the world can be very easy and simple.

Should we continue to make connections with other classrooms around the world? Why? / Why not?

Also i really think that this helps people in our class to because you finally get a chance to say things about yourself and were you live to other people around the world.

I think that we should continue making connections with other schools because you will get to meet more people and learn more about the place that they are at.

I think we should keep skyping with other classrooms around the world because you learn about other people’s experiences and daily lives. Afterwards, you can compare and contrast them with your experiences and life.

I think we should keep doing skype calls but a thing we could do to make it better is if the calls had a bit more purpose because right now we arent getting anything really meaningful about the country we skype with.

I was thinking this was pretty honest and valuable feedback. My class are relatively well-connected with family and friends that live around the world – being International families means they need to, they like the fast and simple stuff, they enjoy learning about students just like them and comparing themselves and they like meeting new people.

My take-away ……. Keep using skype to make connections and have conversations around the world – keep it short – skyping is fun but it needs a purpose. Even in Grade 5 students are looking for the purpose in whatever it is they being asked to do.

Image Attribution: 'Skype Phone' www.flickr.com/photos/23456072@N00/41676755

Gr8tweets for the Month of March

admin2 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:17 +0000

For the month of March, a group of educators and lifelong learners will be picking a “Tweet of the day” and ReTweeting it with a tag: #gr8t

Hopefully, you will join us in doing this too.

There are a number of reasons why you might want to participate:
• To share what you value about twitter.
• To [[|see what others value about twitter]].
• To celebrate the power and wisdom of your Personal Learning Network.
• To find interesting people to follow on Twitter.

My choice for what to retweet with #gr8t will be a Tweet that I find interesting, or insightful, or humorous. It might link to something I enjoyed reading, or it might have something profound or even fortune-cookie-like that appeals to me:

There aren’t really any rules to participate: Find a tweet you value, and share it!

For Example, here is a Tweet I’d like to share:

And so I retweet it with #gr8t:

Then it shows up on the Gr8Tweets wiki and on twitter searches for others to see and share.
I’m looking forward to sharing the Gr8tweets that I find, at least one daily for the month of March, and I’m hoping you will join me and share what you find.
Feel free to follow Gr8tweets on Twitter and Gr8tweets will follow you back, (this part is totally optional).

Even if you aren’t on twitter or you don’t want to participate, be sure to check out the Gr8Tweets wiki and see some of the reasons why so many educators are finding Twitter a valuable tool!

Network in Action

admin2 — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:56:32 +0000

Fellow COETAIL’s – we’ve been reading about personal learning networks and the power of connectivism.

Here’s a real life example of what is possible with a network. New Zealand’s next door neighbour, Australia is suffering right now from raging bushfires. These fires have already claimed the lives of many Australians, their homes, their schools, their communities.

From Jenny Luca‘s Ning – Working Together 2 Make A Difference

Victoria, the State I live in in Australia, has been hit by a tragic natural disaster that is affecting the lives of many of our country communities. On Saturday the 7th of Feb., bushfires, fanned by fierce northerly winds in 46 degree celcius temperatures, ravaged our countryside, leading to the deaths of 173 people. This figure is expected to rise to over 200 in the coming days as they gain access to affected areas and search homes. Native animals, livestock and family pets were other victims of this disaster.

So how can we all make a difference? We would love to see our education community from near and far band together to support the communities in need. What is needed is money to help schools rebuild, families rebuild their lost homes and for communities to build the infrastructure needed that has been lost in these fires.

What can you do? Anything that will help your students to understand the need to help others when the situation is dire. Be it a sausage sizzle, free dress day, bake sale, whatever it takes to raise a few dollars that can be used to support others. In the next few days, with the help of Sheryl Nussbaum Beach and some words of wisdom from Clarence Fisher, we’ll be setting up a paypal account to direct funds you raise to the Red Cross appeal that has been set up to support those affected. Create a page here and let us know your plans. We can support one another and link our schools to a common cause. Let’s show the world how the education community can use the tools at our disposal to connect and support one another for a common purpose.

Let’s make a difference too and continue to show the power of a network by extending a hand to those that are in desperate need of our help.

Anything is Possible

admin2 — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:00:59 +0000

I’m so glad that I am learning and teaching in a time when just about anything is possible.

I encouraged my friend and colleague Robin, (also new to International School teaching like me) to email a Canadian author whose books she bought with her from Canada to share with her class. Her class of 5th Graders have thoroughly enjoyed hearing Mike Wade‘s books read out loud to them during snack time. I encouraged her to ask Mr Wade to skype into the class and talk to the kids face to face. It’s was building on the idea of skyping in “experts” that is talked about alot in my PLN. And the worst thing that could happen is no reply right?

So Robin did exactly that. She sent an email to Mr Wade (Author of And Then It Happened) just yesterday and what do you know? His wife replied (Mike’s on the road at the moment) and they are really keen to do it. Just 5 – 10 minutes was all that was asked for and now it’s going to happen.

How great is that? I’m so thrilled for Robin and her class. Plus, this is so cool for this friend of mine who had not heard of skype before coming to Bangkok!

One email, one simple request and one heck of a memory to share forever!