Change Leaders

Thoughts from the first draft of an item for my Digital Pedagogy Licence:

I also reflected a lot on how important your team is when trying to implement change. Whether it's a new pedagogical approach, new school priority or a new Government initiative I think the people in charge of spreading the word are key to the success or failure of the change. At the schools I have worked, I have seen people implement change in a variety of ways:

      · From the top:

Admin decides a change has to be made: this usually results in confusion amongst teachers (as to the reason for the necessary change). Teachers will grumble about it but accept it as a necessary change because it’s come from the top.

      · The chosen ones:

People are (seemingly) chosen by admin to lead a change. This usually results in resentment amongst staff, and teachers discuss reasons as to why this person got the job. If the consensus is that the reasons are not worthy, the change does not go down well.

      · The newbie:

The new person has to be personable. They have to be seen as hardworking, as approachable and passionate. I have seen new people crash and thrive. It’s been a good learning experience to see how they have gone right or wrong.

· The old school turned new school but doesn't really get it:

These people try to talk the talk and claim they have everything under control. They have their own interpretation of the change and leave others a little confused.

The challenge is, who is the ideal person to lead change? is it a teacher? a HOD? a deputy or a principal? a whole team of people? What type of person/people can make the majority happy and get on board with change?

eCurriculum Diagram

My mum is a Primary School teacher and she is not far from retirement.  She is resisting the digital revolution with the comment "How could I teach my students anything about technology?".  I agreed with her that it's a challenge to keep up with the technology and it takes hard work and time to design lessons/units that will be engaging for digital natives.  She acknowledged that it was her responsibility to put in the effort and make it happen.

She asked me "What do you expect year 5s to know, they already do word processing and maths practice on the computer?"  I told her it wasn't just about the skills they developed computer wise, it was more about how they used ICTs to engage with the curriculum.  She said "Ok, great... what does that look like?"


So I showed her this: [from my DPL]:

I wanted the diagram to show a progression from the Curriculum to e-Curriculum and to show what the kids get out of it.  She got it. [now she wants me to plan her units]

How do I do that?

Well my coach got back to me really quickly (awesome!) and he gave me some great feedback on my first item for my DPL.  He suggesed I write more about what the kids are actually doing/have done and this makes complete sense - I will fix this up.  He also asked that I write more on PV4 which is the one about ethical and safe use.  He said:

"I would also expect you to detail - PV4 further.  There is more to this than simply referencing e.g. netiquette, copyright and other ethical issues for an working online environment.  Managing a class of year 8s with laptop is a huge challenge - there are many examples of ethical behaviour to include."

Very true.  Now I have to think of how I actually manage the class.  When you've built up a classroom environment so slowly, it's hard to think back and say how you did it or how you maintain it.  I'm going to have to think about this for a couple of days and 'watch' my classroom carefully...

Digital Pedigree Licence

I like the new name.  My lovely boyfriend has coinned a clever new title - evokes images of a glossy Border Collie using a laptop but I'm going with it. 

I just had a whole day to stay at home and work on my DPL - supported by my school (love them).  I worked from 7:30 - 3:30 with an hour for lunch.  I wrote 2351 words and I more or less finished 1 of my 3 items.  I've sent it off to my poor coach who has to read it all and make sense of it.

I've found it very therapeutic though, it's like the clock has stopped for a day for me to look back at a unit and think about why I did and why it was good (or not so).  The hints they give you are very helpful but in the process of answering one I find 10 more unanswered.  Then there's the internal struggle between the teacher me and the graphic designer me - "I could make a cool diagram instead of writing this... just got to teach myself how to make a diargam..." 4o minutes later, "I'll get help on that later..."

I was looking foward to today, telling myself that it can't be that hard, surely you'll knock it off in one day but I was wrong!  It's going to take way longer.  I'm going to do it though, my goal: done by the end of November, let's just see if my Coach plays ball and gets back to me with feedback asap.

The World Wide Web is a Big Old Mess

According to my kids anyway! They have no idea how to research on the internet, this was really hit home when I caught one of them taking notes from a webpage made by Jack and Wendy from a local Primary School.  When I asked my student what year she thought they were in; 2 or 4? she said she didn't care.  Typical!

How can I fix this problem? It's way bigger than me, I don't have time to double check every fact I read in 27 animal adaptation reports.  I already talk to the kids about how it is important and that they should care about getting thier facts straight but it's not having much of an effect. 

I think the fix for them, for now is to explicitly teach them how to effectively search the internet.  Maybe if they can find the authentic information they require more easily the won't tempted to copy from a dodgy source.  So far this year I've worked with a few students one on one with their searching techniques, getting them onto Boolify has been helpful and improved individuals.  I'd love to have the time to tell them about the Boolean logic behind this search engine - next year I will make time.

I'm also going to have to work out Google Squared and make better use of Wolframalpha. 

ICT Certificate PD

Over the past few months I have been working on documents to support staff in completing their ICT Certificate as part of the Smart Classrooms Professional Development Framework.  It has been very rewarding, colleagues have given me really positive feedback.

I wanted to design a template that would give people a headstart on the Certificate and I knew that once people started to work through, the majority would be able to fly through it.  So I used examples, the guidelines and the indicators and I designed a word doc for people to use.  I also designed a visual dictionary of the indicators - which I plan to continue and add to in the future, and a cheklist to accompany the visuals.  I found both very useful in explaining the indicators to people.

I thoroughly enjoyed the session. My resources:

Flip Ultra HD! Love it!

I love my Flip Ultra! I've had it over the weekend to play with and figure out how it all works - it's SO easy.  I  love the features of the accompanying software, especially the movie application.  I will be using it this morning when I make a last minute video for the Year 8 Student Leadership Program - I'm thinking a one word summary from all of my kids would make a great movie.  The kids are going to love the Flip - we might have to get more. :)
 

Keeping up with Twitter

I've found quite a few awesome educators to follow on Twitter.  Great stuff coming out about eLearning and about innovative teaching practices.  Now I've just got to read it all! It doesn't help that I can't follow most of the links at school (where I spend most of my time).   Aaaagh! School holidays will be great for reading and getting new ideas.  I'm trying to get into blogging and I can't get my head around the fact that anyone would want to read it, but maybe it's not about that.  I'm coming to realise I should use my blog as a reflection, I'm going to post a highlight or lowlight from school each day and see how that goes. 

Posted via email from Kate's posterous

Untitled

Ok, I think I've got it working :)

Posted via email from Kate's posterous

YES WE CAN (If you apply yourself)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/ 

Barack Obama's Back to School address to school students.  I like.  I wish I could have these words printed on my classroom walls.  My favourite bits:

...But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

and

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

and 


But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Love it O.

Monday madness

Monday the seventh of September... very s.l.o.w day.  I think I actually aged three days today.  I am feeling very unmotivated and I for the first time all year I am sick of looking at the computer screen.  The last two weeks of this term are going to drag as the kids are getting restless and the teachers are getting tired of kids. 

All the things I'm excited to do; I have no time for.  AAaaaaagh. Very frustrating. 

Also very sad that I didn't get to go to the SC Expo.  Looked foward to it all year, it would have given me the lift I need to get through this last bit.
Bring on the holidays and some free time.

edu-katie

Some bloke said I should have a blog. So I got one...