EdPuzzle.com

A new resource that looks to have great potential! (have gathered and added a tutorial video link, a review and some google slide instructions).
I know.. I rock!

Instead of giving students YouTube links or telling them to search for a video on a particular subject, with EDpuzzle teachers can select videos, edit them down, assign them to students, and quiz them as they watch.

http://www.edudemic.com/edpuzzle-review-easy-use-tool-lets-teachers-quickly-turn-online-video-lessons/ 

EDpuzzle: Teacher Instructions - Google Slides


Getting Started with EDPuzzle - Smore

how to use edpuzzle - YouTube

Learning The Code

For a few terms now I have been taking two under 13 boys I mentor to a weekly coding class. It's part of a global network called Coderdojo.  Ours is based around Scratch which is a graphic based coding language aimed at younger learners. Coders move blocks of graphic code around like lego to create a variety of quite complex programmes.
We do this for a number of reasons - we love gaming, we like spending time together, I want them to experience learning outside the classroom, one of them thinks he wants to be a game developer, they think they are tech savvy but really aren't (spending all their time on tablets and The Playstation) and the list goes on.  What has ended up happening is I am seeing them learning new math skills, problem solving, perseverance and operating in the mid to high end of Blooms taxonomy. Coding is another language and I think it's important we all have an understanding of what goes on under the hood of our digital devices...

Below is an example of one of our Scratch Creations...


I have gathered a few coding readings and resources...

Paul Ford writes a story (more like a short novel...) about what code is from a coal face perspective...

For your entire working memory, some Internet thing has come along every two years and suddenly hundreds of thousands of dollars (inevitably millions) must be poured into amorphous projects with variable deadlines.

A computer is a clock with benefits. They all work the same, doing second-grade math, one step at a time: Tick, take a number and put it in box one. Tick, take another number, put it in box two. Tick, operate (an operation might be addition or subtraction) on those two numbers and put the resulting number in box one. Tick, check if the result is zero, and if it is, go to some other box and follow a new set of instructions.  

You, using a pen and paper, can do anything a computer can; you just can’t do those things billions of times per second. 

Most programmers aren’t working on building a widely recognized application like Microsoft Word. Software is everywhere. It’s gone from a craft of fragile, built-from-scratch custom projects to an industry of standardized parts, where coders absorb and improve upon the labors of their forebears (even if those forebears are one cubicle over). Software is there when you switch channels and your cable box shows you what else is on. You get money from an ATM—software. An elevator takes you up five stories—the same. Facebook releases software every day to something like a billion people, and that software runs inside Web browsers and mobile applications. Facebook looks like it’s just pictures of your mom’s crocuses or your son’s school play—but no, it’s software.

It's a long read but will take you further into the code world that is for sure! (and you get a certificate at the end ... which is good coz you'll feel like you deserve one!)

Report: 6 of 10 Millennials Have 'Low' Technology Skills

"Digital natives aren't as tech-savvy as they think they are — at least, not according to their bosses.Opportunities to learn problem solving with technology must become the rule rather than the exception," the report's authors stated. "Now is the time for business to join forces with government, educators and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) advocates to ensure that all young people...have the opportunity to become tech savvy."

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/06/11/report-6-of-10-millennials-have-low-technology-skills.aspx

Why You Need To Know Code (And How You Can Learn In A Month)

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130716014745-7374576-why-you-need-to-know-code-and-how-you-can-learn-in-a-month?trk=mp-reader-card

In a world where kids are born with smartphones in their hands and iPads in their cribs, computer programming is becoming the new literacy. And though the number of coding jobs in America is set to grow 30% by 2020 (twice the rate of general job growth), understanding programming concepts—or even knowing a bit of code—will be important to almost any job of the future.

One Month Rails, created by an overachieving startup kid in New York named Mattan Griffel. Griffel experienced all the abovementioned frustrations when he taught himself to code, and because he comes from outside of the programming industry (and has a natural gift for teaching) he was able to distill all those frustrations and create a better mousetrap for teaching all of us wannabes to get up and coding in dramatically shorter time. 

https://onemonth.com/courses/one-month-rails/

eTeacher...

I have taken on a professional challenge!
This term I am to be an eTeacher for the VLN.
I am starting by teaching a 6 week Astronomy course.
I found out today that there are already enrolments for my course and I start on Thursday!

I am quite nervous about how to engage learners in what is basically a lecture style format - small group webcam/skype kind of thing with a screen sharing function - a set up I have not used before!

I am doing a flurry of research as Astronomy is not something I consider myself an expert on - but that is not a concern I have.

A nice boost today was the release of my eTeacher profile written by one of the VLN co-ordinators...

Shine is an experienced classroom teacher living in sunny Nelson. She is passionate about the environment, loves hiking and geocaching; also playing Minecraft and Lego. Shine places a high value on equality in education, promotion of student directed learning and collaborative learning. Shine has been an environmental educator, with strengths in Science and eLearning. Later this year Shine will be travelling to Nepal with with First Steps Himalaya to build earth bag education facilities.

All that and I can whistle too!

The resources and discussion board for it will be up on WeLearn but that is user only viewing  - I will attempt to keep you all updated with some screenies at some point.

:)

Big Screens, Sharing and Padlet

Today our new 60 inch screen was up and running.
Mundane tasks took on a whole new meaning  - teaching and learning moments all round. I didn't have to say one thing during roll call - they all knew who I was about to say because they could see!

The very first thing I noticed... lots of reading was happening (WOOT!).
We used the screen for a timer for maths rotations - worked better than I thought as the placement of the tv is not optimal for the whole room to see it.

The sharing has been rewarding - during music we used Garageband and people were saving to the student drive and getting down on time so they could share with Airplay. People showing how they did a certain thing, people asking "How'd you do that!". Perfection.

I was minimally concerned about their ability to jump onto the screen in any of our classrooms at anytime - we had a short talk about etiquette and it never became an issue - something to keep an eye on though. They also the ability to bump the current sharer off the big screen f they are on one of the silver laptops ( most of the laptops are older white ones which don't have the airplay function). I can manage this by being elective about who uses the silvers.

Later in the day I threw up a padlet with a topic related question - and they had a few mins to go away and throw an answer up then come back and share someone else's. They were mostly all occupied watching the big screen as more and more answers went up - most people put more than one contribution (YAH!).

Big disappointment at the end of the day (for me) - I had planned for them to use clipping magic.com to isolate themselves away from a background so they could then paste themselves onto an olden days image (to them write/blog about). I got it going and got them to have a turn with the group on the screen - then we went to save the image and suddenly my awesome free resource is a pay per use!
Grrrrrr - so looking for alternatives now (will mention this after I have checked it out...).

After school I popped around to the other classes for a "Big Screen Debrief" - attempted some problem solving and went back to my room to experiment with the interactive pen aspect of the tv... that is ongoing! I am interested in how we will introduce that to our younger poppets - drawing on school TVs and not TVs at home!
Maybe that is only something we think they will have trouble with.

So.. in short ---> reading up, engagement up,  peer teaching up, teacher talk down, social yap down, complaining down.

WOOT!


P.S: More on using padlet in your rooms

Gateways to Learning...

Intense Interest Gateways

Like the story about the teachers who missed the potential of their block builders, some parents think their job is to smooth things out — e.g., if a child already likes art, then we need to gently push them into other areas.

Both at home and at school, we tend to focus on deficits. We concentrate on smoothing, balancing, trying to make things even.

We miss the opportunity to use that intense interest as a gateway.

Everything is connected.

That intense interest is so valuable — it shouldn’t be tossed away. It should be exploited.

Intense interests as opportunities for learning - not for "smoothing out" or  diverting to fill a deficit in knowledge.
I connected with this article quite a lot as I can feel this with a number of particularly disinterested learners. Those ones that cringe when you say "time for writing" (which I now fully attempt NOT to!)

I have found that for those learners who are having trouble in our traditional learning environments you really MUST find a way to turn their intense interest into their curriculum.

This is my argument for MINECRAFT in our classrooms... my suggestion still not taken seriously by anyway I have spoken to in my current range of colleagues!
Perhaps mostly due to fear of the unknown?

Doodle

Have been introduced to Doodle as an online scheduling tool through my ICT inquiry meetings - V useful for arranging our meetings as this is the only time we see each other as we are scattered at schools far and wide.

It lets you put in a few time options then emails out to all the people then they check box answer their preferences and doodle lets you all know which time is the go!

Love it!

The meetings - now that they are finally going - are great for collaboration and networking.
I am REALLY disappointed that our group did not have this advantage for the whole year.

Technology is a tool NOT a learning outcome!

More here