Just like Jill I need to plan a lesson regarding how to reference. However, I won't be using an online tool to do this because my class will not be referencing any of the normal 'things' so its just easier to do it by hand. Also, they've never done it before.
So my first day on prac was great, but holy moly the teachers (and the students) LOVE powerpoint. Fortunately they've given me lots of resources to be able to plan (using powerpoint) but I would argue that for one of my classes we could use so much more. However, my yr 10's seem to learn best by 'read-write' through powerpoint. The are so 'spongey' they just soak up all the information and are able to do so much with it, to the point where we had a good 15 minutes of not doing much in the class because they had all finished. - sigh, they're amazing, talented, extension kids.
anyway, I think its time for bed. I'm teaching 2 lessons tomorrow :) wish me luck!
Monday 18 May 2015
Saturday 16 May 2015
laptop trolleys on prac
On my last prac, every student had a laptop, we were using ICTs for teaching and learning every single lesson (except for maths in some cases). At my school on Monday, for every class we need to book laptop trolleys to use ICTs, (which to me actually feels like I'm stepping backwards in terms of what I can show I can use with ICTs). Not to mention that I feel like I'm going to be hogging the laptop trolleys if I want to use them every lesson because they only have a limited amount available. Anyway, because I haven't really had much experience with laptop trolleys except once or twice at my first prac school and before then not since I was in grade 9, I thought I should read up on some tips. This blog provides some tips.
Obviously when I'm planning my lesson using laptop trolleys I will need to consider how I will manage the students to make sure each of them gets a laptop etc.
I need to ensure I am monitoring their use of laptops. I also need to make sure I have a back up plan. I need to make sure my mentor books them for me they day before.
At my old prac school where students had laptops with them all the time, they all got into the habbit of coming to class and immediately going on to them and not focussing on the lesson first, so I probably wont have the issue of having to tell the students to shut their laptops before we even start the lesson.
But mainly, I need to make sure I'm organised, give direct instructions, make sure students know what to do when they have their laptops to ensure they don't start to use them innapropriately.
Obviously when I'm planning my lesson using laptop trolleys I will need to consider how I will manage the students to make sure each of them gets a laptop etc.
I need to ensure I am monitoring their use of laptops. I also need to make sure I have a back up plan. I need to make sure my mentor books them for me they day before.
At my old prac school where students had laptops with them all the time, they all got into the habbit of coming to class and immediately going on to them and not focussing on the lesson first, so I probably wont have the issue of having to tell the students to shut their laptops before we even start the lesson.
But mainly, I need to make sure I'm organised, give direct instructions, make sure students know what to do when they have their laptops to ensure they don't start to use them innapropriately.
lets use all the apps!
I want to give a holla out to Laurenn's blog here where she talks about using the AITSL app.
Just wanted to let you guys know as well, ACARA has an australian curriculum app. BCE has a religious education and religious life of the school curriculum app. They are all really handy tools. Khan academy has apps for certain things.
Other apps that may come in handy
- tuner apps for music teachers
- calculus formula apps for maths teachers
- mindly mind map app for all teachers. (kind of like padlet and poplet).
Theres heaps, so many. But I've found that there appears to be more apps for primary teachers than secondary, but you know, we can't have everything.
But definitely, we should all have the AITSL and ACARA app. - just saying, they are amazing.
Just wanted to let you guys know as well, ACARA has an australian curriculum app. BCE has a religious education and religious life of the school curriculum app. They are all really handy tools. Khan academy has apps for certain things.
Other apps that may come in handy
- tuner apps for music teachers
- calculus formula apps for maths teachers
- mindly mind map app for all teachers. (kind of like padlet and poplet).
Theres heaps, so many. But I've found that there appears to be more apps for primary teachers than secondary, but you know, we can't have everything.
But definitely, we should all have the AITSL and ACARA app. - just saying, they are amazing.
PD for all you kiddies
Everyone in education should be at QUEDREX on the 25-26th of July
Check this link for more info.
Positives about it:
It's free (now when I say free, the workshops are free, the registration is free, and a lot of the resources are free, BUT the food is expensive and I suggest you bring some pocket money in case you want to buy some books and stuff).
The workshops are great. Last year one of our own lecturers at USQ spoke there. There was an ICT workshop (I can't remember exactly what it was on, only that they had tech issues setting up).
Its run by educators, for educators, and the people who showcase there provide their products to educators.
The only negative about it, is that its very 'primary/early childhood' focused.
Its easy to get to by train, they give you a lovely bag to stash stuff in.
So I shall see you all there :)
PRAC! - What else would I be talking about?
Some of you I know haven't got placements. Some of you I know hate the fact you can't work. Some of you I know are bummed about being in a religious school when you aren't religious (I on the other hand, have the opposite issue, having one of my teaching areas as religion, and NOT being in a religious school... but whatever, I got a school, any experience is good experience, I can't complain). So yes, I've flicked through all the other posts about prac including This one and I thought you would all like some cheering up with some RESOURCES!!!
After talking to my two amazing mentors (yes I've already formed an opinion), they mentioned that the students at the school I'm going to really enjoy interactive powerpoints, and they've already given me heaps of resources to have a look at. But one of my teaching colleagues showed me Neapod! I suggest you check it out. Its 'basically' a powerpoint generator.. but its so much more. You can add quizes, polls, vidoes, images, draw on it, sound, get the students to log in and collaborate on it. AND its free (weooo yeh free stuff!).
Hope you enjoy!
Saturday 9 May 2015
religious education and ICT
ICTs are difficult to come by in the world of RE. I reckon its because most of the resources are books.
But I've found this. Its a handbook for RE and ICT. They basically say that use it when its going to benefit the learning and meet the objectives. use it for speed. use it for information. use it to communicate. use it for assessment and presentation of work.
Which is what I've pretty much done in the past :). So thats a good sign that I'm on the right track with using ICTs in my RE classroom.
But I've found this. Its a handbook for RE and ICT. They basically say that use it when its going to benefit the learning and meet the objectives. use it for speed. use it for information. use it to communicate. use it for assessment and presentation of work.
Which is what I've pretty much done in the past :). So thats a good sign that I'm on the right track with using ICTs in my RE classroom.
Instagram and self esteem
Well, today was interesting.
I went onto Instagram and decided to check out what your average teenager is doing on Instagram. I saw things that I didn't want to, but I guess its a reality check thing. I saw a lot of photos of young people cutting. A lot of self hate. A lot of body image issues. A lot of social anxiety. A lot of depression. A lot of attention seeking. And all that from starting with #anxiety. Just google (images) "self harm instagram" and you will understand what I mean.
I think we need to make social media a tool for positive self esteem, self loving, etc.
I'm going to critique the cybersmart PD that we did here. I think there wasn't enough emphasis on how to teach students to be positive in their Internet use. I just want to clarify here. By positive I mean, not not negative. (Ok that sentence got away from me a bit). not negative is ignoring the positive. Just being positive and teaching students how to use social media in peace might be a step in the right direction.
Just for some information. Youth beyond blue is a handy website with information about self harm in particular.
I went onto Instagram and decided to check out what your average teenager is doing on Instagram. I saw things that I didn't want to, but I guess its a reality check thing. I saw a lot of photos of young people cutting. A lot of self hate. A lot of body image issues. A lot of social anxiety. A lot of depression. A lot of attention seeking. And all that from starting with #anxiety. Just google (images) "self harm instagram" and you will understand what I mean.
I think we need to make social media a tool for positive self esteem, self loving, etc.
I'm going to critique the cybersmart PD that we did here. I think there wasn't enough emphasis on how to teach students to be positive in their Internet use. I just want to clarify here. By positive I mean, not not negative. (Ok that sentence got away from me a bit). not negative is ignoring the positive. Just being positive and teaching students how to use social media in peace might be a step in the right direction.
Just for some information. Youth beyond blue is a handy website with information about self harm in particular.
IWBs
Funs fact for you. My class at school was THE FIRST classroom to ever have an IWB in it. And my best friend Tara was the first student to ever touch one.
Thinking back to grade 5 when that happened (in 2005), my teacher really didn't use the IWB that well. He mainly used it as a substitute for a normal whiteboard. That's from what I remember anyway.
In terms of using IWB's in the classroom. I find that I prefer just a projector. Especially for physics and maths teaching. Unless I want to record what I'm doing. The reason being, is that a normal whiteboard is sometimes all that I need to explain a difficult concept.
Also, at uni, on level 2 in building B. I think the collaborative rooms are poorly designed because they don't have a proper whiteboard in there. They are not designed for learning. Teachers who want to use a normal whiteboard can't. Especially in engineering, where they need to write normally on the board.
I think its because when you are writing on the board, you can add animation to it. The teacher can be physical. Whereas, in the uni collaborative rooms, although they do have the tools to write, they can't animate and talk to the whole class as they do.
Anyway. As I've said before, everything is contextual. It depends on the students. It depends on what is available. It depends on the task and the content that needs learning.
Thinking back to grade 5 when that happened (in 2005), my teacher really didn't use the IWB that well. He mainly used it as a substitute for a normal whiteboard. That's from what I remember anyway.
In terms of using IWB's in the classroom. I find that I prefer just a projector. Especially for physics and maths teaching. Unless I want to record what I'm doing. The reason being, is that a normal whiteboard is sometimes all that I need to explain a difficult concept.
Also, at uni, on level 2 in building B. I think the collaborative rooms are poorly designed because they don't have a proper whiteboard in there. They are not designed for learning. Teachers who want to use a normal whiteboard can't. Especially in engineering, where they need to write normally on the board.
I think its because when you are writing on the board, you can add animation to it. The teacher can be physical. Whereas, in the uni collaborative rooms, although they do have the tools to write, they can't animate and talk to the whole class as they do.
Anyway. As I've said before, everything is contextual. It depends on the students. It depends on what is available. It depends on the task and the content that needs learning.
Monday 4 May 2015
PRAC! please hurry up and come!
I would really like to know where I'm going for prac. I was at 2 schools this afternoon. My old school, and another school for work. I'm getting a little excited about going and teaching again :D. I just wanted to touch on one of the things that I do just before I go on prac. I search for the school online. I check out the school's website, their newsletters, the mission statements, any news publications, information about the community they are a part of, whats coming up in their calendar etc.
If you are in a Catholic school this link might be handy, its a list of all the schools in BCE.
If you are in a Catholic school this link might be handy, its a list of all the schools in BCE.
students being creative with youtube and ICT
Well, now that I've finished my unit plan (even though I feel like I could justify all my ICTs more, i.e. I really needed more than 500 words) I'm starting to wonder whether ICTs can be used for more than just teaching academically. And of course I know that they can. But after looking at Jill's post and Jesse's post I was wondering, why aren't students making more videos, animations, music, games, website etc. in their spare time. When I was in school, I remember a group of our friends made vlogs everyday because they walked home together. But we don't hear a lot about kids making millions of dollars through Youtube channels. We hear a lot about adults making millions with Youtube channels, as in, it becomes their income. I know there is one channel of some little kids who cook online (they were on sunrise this morning).
However, I have seen a lot of youtube videos of young girls asking the online public to 'rate' them, and tell them they are pretty or ugly. This, (insert rant face and rant voice here) is disgusting and horrible use of the internet. The girls themselves should not be asking those sorts of questions, they shouldn't have to, and people should not be responding in a negative way. This is legitimately the reason why students commit suicide. And I don't like that.
So, how am I going to change this? Well, going through that PD, there are some basic things I can do, teach students how to respond and how to prevent. But also, I need to make sure that my classroom is a place where students can express themselves safely.
Which brings me back to vlogging and videos, animations, music etc. Through all of these websites that help students to create stuff. Students, through these mediums, can truly express who they are, and can in some instances find their purpose/career path.
For example, when I was on prac, I had one student that wanted to learn how to mix music. I knew one of the teachers kind of knew how to do some stuff, so I referred him on, and he found a niche :).
However, I have seen a lot of youtube videos of young girls asking the online public to 'rate' them, and tell them they are pretty or ugly. This, (insert rant face and rant voice here) is disgusting and horrible use of the internet. The girls themselves should not be asking those sorts of questions, they shouldn't have to, and people should not be responding in a negative way. This is legitimately the reason why students commit suicide. And I don't like that.
So, how am I going to change this? Well, going through that PD, there are some basic things I can do, teach students how to respond and how to prevent. But also, I need to make sure that my classroom is a place where students can express themselves safely.
Which brings me back to vlogging and videos, animations, music etc. Through all of these websites that help students to create stuff. Students, through these mediums, can truly express who they are, and can in some instances find their purpose/career path.
For example, when I was on prac, I had one student that wanted to learn how to mix music. I knew one of the teachers kind of knew how to do some stuff, so I referred him on, and he found a niche :).
Sunday 3 May 2015
connect.ed PD
This was a very informative piece of PD. I myself have grown up with teachers teaching us about cybersafetey. This PD is on point. It really does explain it well, they know exactly whats going on. I personally think that idea of having student leaders monitoring people discussions online is really handy. Or at the least, teaching students to block, report, take screenshots etc. I know that while I was online as a student, I wasn't the perfect cyberuser. I definitely think that teaching students the right and wrong behaviour online is a very good idea, and teaching them early what they should and shouldn't be doing. And why don't we do this using ICTs? I have come across this site before that has helped me to think about my role as a teaching in the world of cyber stuff.
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