VLN Astronomy!

Just finished my third session in the Virtual Learning environment of the VLN.  Things are so hectic in there I have not taken any screens my self yet - but my co-ordinator did!

This was from the second session where we dipped our toes into the galaxy just to see what that was like... the numbers out there are RIDICULOUS!

The start of today's session involved a triad of multi-tasking. Not just two things but three for a minute or two. That gets the blood pumping and the synapses firing!!

I have been creating and expanding the potential for more interaction (something I perceive as vital to engage students in a format that has the potential to slip into a mundane fact filled lecture) - however that system is not entirely in my control as it involves students actually remembering to do the small tasks such as going outside and spotting for the moon - so that they DO have something to contribute in the next session.

If today's session had not been taken up with ten minutes of techie issues it may well have scored low on my expectations for interaction because no one did go outside and look at the moon this week 

(and it was a blue one too. Figuratively, not literally...).

Have sent a follow up email to the principals of the schools with students in the class to try and gain some support for those issues. I am quite uncomfortable with just lecturing at them as I know that is potentially a wretched yawnfest!

Another strategy is to come up with more mindsparking deep thinking questions that are opinion based but time is a bit of a limit there as well, perhaps. 

We discussed our nearest star today - I had asked them 'how long it would take to get there and who would go' as their between class thinking last week - however not everyone did that so the deeper thinking part (who would go) did not actually spark for some of them until they heard in today's show that it was 78 000 years.

So then we talked about the Battlestar Galactica concept - a community of people travelling through space to a destination that they themselves would never reach but many many generations in the future would.

Then I blew that all away by saying that then it would be too late because in 33 000 years time that wouldn't even be our closest star anymore, MUWUHAHAHAHAH!

P.S. Yes, I realise there is a danger that my sense of humour is really only funny to me.

Mindfulness in Schools : Airy Fairy or Vital?

I have seen a lot of discussion lately about schools in New Zealand introducing elements of Mindfulness into their school culture and the wildly varying reactions to this. From the parents that think it's great, to those that don't mind to those that think it's taking away from the important stuff (I assume they mean reading, writing and maths...) to those that think it is airy fairy nonsense and those that oppose it on religious grounds.

"Some members of his congregation felt mindfulness was inappropriate for children, he said." stuff.co.nz

I found this notion dumbfounding and did some digging to discover that this comes from Christianity (in NZ). Mindfulness (and hence the resulting self-empowerment) is linked to meditation which is linked to religion (as it is a foundation practise of Buddism, for instance).  Christianity relies on people getting their strength externally through Christ and they see mindfulness as a threat to that (I could spend a whole blog post delving into the validity of this kind of linking but that is not a great use of MY attention right now...).

Richard Burnett is the creator of a Mindfulness in Schools programme to provide a fundamental skill that benefits all people. Training the muscle of our attention - the foundation of mindfulness.
In the TEDX talk below he talks about where we put our attention and how important this is. He mentions his experience and also current research by others showing our mental health and happiness are profoundly shaped by what we do with our attention.


I have to say that I believe, based on my personal and professional experience, that Mindfulness is a crucial skill. This has been a fundamental part of my pedagogy for a long time now. Through my experience  with connecting and re-connecting (especially those) 'at-risk' students with a love of learning (or in the very least a respect and appreciation for it!) and the curriculum.
In the very least it provides the mind the down time it needs to do what it does - sift through a vast amount of information and make connections to come up with unique solutions to our problems and create pathways forward in our life journeys.

I have linked to some more mindfulness resources below (some I have not viewed in depth yet).

  - Just breathe
 - Mindful Schools In-Class Instruction
 - Mindful Schools Curriculum Training - Sample Footage
 - Mind in a Jar - Planting Seeds: The Power of Mindfulness for Children
 - Mindfulness in Education
 - Teaching Mindfulness at Children at Home and In Schools

If you are feeling annoyed, frustrated and overwhelmed with all the things you have to do in your days, you need some mindfulness in your life. It may seem counterintuitive to put aside time to just 'do nothing' - but that time will support your brain to more effectively deal with all the stuff you are throwing at it. Try it yourself, you will be surprised! In the very least experiment with it on your class and watch their learning outcomes and social interactions improve!

Mindfulness is VITAL to enhance personal happiness and success in whatever we are doing to sustain ourselves in this life. 

IDEC in NELSON!

So IDEC is coming up!  It is the International Democratic Education Conference - so exciting as it is IN NELSON and I CAN GO!

I am going to be the Youth Zone Volunteer and I will actually get to see Yaccov do his talk!

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

Inanimate Alice

Have had a brief look at this resource which looks to be exciting - especially to engage reluctant readers.

I think only the first "chapters" are freely available. Then resources start costing.

The importance of cleverly guided facilitating discussion.

Students don't learn anything they don't already know....

Ponder that a while.... I'll wait.