This page becomes the space for each of you to report on the impact that the conference has on you and your teaching practice or influencing your leadership role. As you begin to embed and try out the ideas you gained from the conference, the expectation is that you will reflect here and update during the next 4 months. Nick and I will use extracts and summeries from the information you supply, for the milestone report.
Another of the cluster milestone objectives is to use an array of thinking tools.
I developed a L'n'P reflective tool that you may like to try. L - what did you Learn N -what did you kNow but now can see a purpose for using P- what do you Promise to Put into Practice when you get back to school
David Heyle created some really useful thinking maps.
Perhaps one of these tools may assist you to clarify your thinking and help you introduce something new from the conference to your students or your staff. I believe it would be really good if you were able to include a thinking map here with your reflections. If you need some assistance this can be one of your objectives for Jocelyn's work with you when she visits your school.
Martin Weaver
What did I learn?
There was one area that stayed with me and I found very useful from my second time at the Rotorua Conference. The important idea I brought back was both around curriculum design and planning. This idea was from Mark Treadwell and was based on integrated planning and science concepts.
Mark Treadwell talked about curriculum design but he focussed in on learning and specifically what teachers decide to teach. He emphasised the point that teachers often choose a topic, find the Achievement Objectives and then “pad” the integrated unit out with activities which may or may not relate to a range of science concepts. He suggested that teachers need to be more specific about the science concepts they concentrate on with their students. He suggested the learning opportunities could directly relate to the science concepts a child is required to learn at a certain year level. Then rather than the teacher introducing new activities and possibly new concepts all the time, the teacher chooses activities which reinforce the focus science concept and support the specific learning intention.
What happened at Leeston?
I followed this through with the senior syndicate at Leeston. We decided to have a science focus this year and really attempt to improve our science teaching and learning. What I noticed is that that this approach really focused the teachers and the children in on their teaching and learning. It also helped focus teachers who had little understanding in a science area by making them really think about what they knew about certain science concepts before they introduced them to children. Teachers were also making better links between the science concepts, learning intentions, “Content” and assessment. The really exciting thing was the teachers were enthusiastic. I often heard the teachers saying I learnt so much myself about this topic.
What could be our next step?
My next step could be for me to take this idea and reinforce it in other learning areas in the school and in other parts of the school.
Sue de Ruiter - An outcome from Learning@schools is our RTLB cluster trial of Mathletics. You might have seen me frequenting this display stall quite frequently...... Mathletics is an online interactive maths programme. Our trial will be with 4 RTLB students from 10 - 21 March. If the programme proves as sucessful as it sounded at conference we will be the first RTLB cluster in NZ to sign up for the programme. Schools, including the NZ Correspondence School, are already using it. The programme is based on the NZ curriculum. I would see it as supporting the classroom programme. The programme can be accessed by password from any computer, at school or at home. It sounded so good and hence our conversations, and online training with Mathletics personnel, have led to the free trial. The cost per student would be $30 per year.
Lynne Silcock, Assistive Technology, MOE - Lynne's presentation on free software and learning how to use the tools available on any computer to support students with special education needs was simply outstanding. My personal goal is to master all the suggestions Lynne made, and I have begun by changing my default print from Times Roman to Tahoma. Research has shown that changing the spacing between words is helpful for our dyslexic students. The Accessibility Options and Mouse settings can be easily adjusted for students so when they log on the computer screen looks different for them. Lynne's suggestions can be downloaded from www.minedu.govt.nz/ - CAT Newsletter 17 (Navigate: Special Eucation, Services and Funding, Quicklinks, Assistive Technology)
Olivia Grantham: For me, the ROT trip this year was focused around inquiry, inquiry, inquiry. Really enjoyed listening to Julia Atkin! She has made me really reflect on the children in my class, and how the individual child thinks and operates. We looked in the parts of the brains and how we will use some parts more than others. I particularly liked the idea of looking at our brain 'capacity' and how we can maximise this through training. From here, I look forward to working with management in getting our school into he inquiry process and just through applying a whole range of thinking tools. I will get that thinking map through to you soon.
Susan Jackson: Wiki's, blogs, facebook, utube, bebo, key competencies, reviewed curriculum, pmis, sms, honouring voices, change agents, targets...these words and jargon have nothing to do with where I have been in the last 18 months. The words I am familiar with are Michaelangelo, Sistene chapel, Italy, metro, Paris, Brussels, Belgian waffles, Harewood house, where will we go this weekend in Europe all seem much more realistic to me at the moment!!! I can fully appreciate how children feel when they are overloaded with information before being able to absorb what they learnt earlier. HELP!!!!
Marriene Langton
Chris Quin
James Petronelli
This year I went to the learning@schools conference with greater emphasis and thought on what I want to achieve strategically at Burnham. As much as I like gadgets and new programmes I went to the keynotes/breakouts more suited to grow our school. If there was one thing that became clearer to me from the conference and since working on the charter is that the vision for the school is key – not that it wasn’t clear before but it is something that we need to look at more closely to make sure it aligns with what we want for our children because the vision should underpin everything we do.
Tamara Bell As a first timer to the conference I was unsure of what breakouts to choose (so much choice!) and what impact they may have on me as a teacher. It was awesome to be able to attend Chris and Faye Le Crens workshops about implementing change in your school as it related closely to the new curriculum and where schools need to head in the near future, designing their own school curriculum. I also enjoyed attending a workshop on using the interactive whiteboard effectively to enhance inquiry learning. It was a practical session led by a teacher so I related to the content really well and took on lots of new ideas that I have been able to test run on my IWB with the kids- so very useful and relevant. It was a fab opportunity to attend this conference, I loved getting to know other people in our cluster as well as having the chance to develop my own knowledge and skills related to ICT. Ka mau te wehi!
Dave Robinson The Learning@School conference indicated to me that the vision of your school is absolutely critical to the implementation of the new curriculum - this something our school needs to look at. Trevor Bond thought there were two visions within schools - the paper vision and the heart vision which is the real vision. A vision is a process not an event. I attended a workshop using ICTPD as a Catalyst for Change. There is three stages of change - Initiation (deciding, commitment, planning; successful initiation needs relevance, resource reliability and readiness of staff/BOT etc); Implementation (Action Plans into practice, needs monitoring); Institutionalisation (Sustainability, embedded into practice). The conference tended to ask questions re the new curriculum - I felt some presenters were advocating rewriting your school curriculum while others were saying tweaking it would be enough; I guess its up to each school to make those choices. The conference gave me plenty to consider about as we start to think about the new curriculum and the implications for our school, our children, our staff and our parents. I thought MARVAN had possibilties in the classroom for both teachers and children - it appears to be easy to use.
Tracey Harrold This was my first time at the conference and my brain was on overload for a lot of the time. The inquiry process was great for me because I saw a model that I was not familar with that worked really well with junior children. I also enjoyed Trevor Bond with his ideas about the 7 steps of thinking. Really some food for thought. I thought Julia Atkin had some interesting things to say about the way we have shaped our schooling as we know it and I am excited by the potential for huge changes in our approach to teaching and learning.
Rachel Couling
This was my second ICT conference and much more intense than my first. I found it very beneficial that it covered such a wide range of ICT seminars. I managed to attend some leadership seminars and some practical classroom orientated seminars. Every seminar that I attended gave me something to think about or something to do within my school or class. I thought the keynote speakers were interesting and when I had the opportunity to hear her again in Chch I grabbed the chance. The Rotorua conference has certainly been a support for what we are trying to achieve in our school and classroom.
I found the Learnz' breakout about Virtual Fieldtrips really interesting and I have enroled my class for this term. Other teachers are also looking at enroling their classes.
Warren Hawke
I focussed on attending mostly leadership workshops at the conference. Workshops including those that would help me with writing our new school curriculum, introducing values and introducing change. Some significant points/ideas to come through from some of these workshops are outlined below.
Introducing Change Workshop: Jamie McKenzie
Jamie MacKenzie is an educationalist from United Sates. He specialises in questioning, thinking skills, information literacies and using new technologies for teaching.
He used introducing change as embarking on a Journey. Some change strategies have increased the amount of resistance. Some of the late adopters are our best teachers.
Metaphor of a Journey - There are a lot of things to distract, interrupt wreck the journey along the way. There is a need to create the conditions where people feel supported and comfortable and able to take risks. – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. How do we provide learning experiences that support people on their journey of change?
McKenzie described the following processes as important in preparing for and therefore making significant gains in change.
Discernment: Questioning Wondering Doubting Delaying Challenging
Researching Selecting Prioritising
Pacing: Plateaus Swithchbacks Cruising Phasing The Deep Breath Consolidating Refining
Courtship: Winning buy in. What’s in it for me? Showing value, utility and
Benefits, Identifying and addressing basic needs.
Preparation: Laying the groundwork Cultivating the soil Building capacity Building capacity Exploring Force Field Analysis Explaining
Support: No solo rock Climbing Scaffolding Just in time support
What can I do for you? What’s getting in your way? How can I help you? Re source Expansion
Balance: No tilting No going overboard Moderation Modul Values Based Education Dr Julia Aitkin
www.learning-by-design.com
Dr Julia Aitkin is an independent education consultant from Australia. Along with listening to her keynote address I attended this workshop about introducing values into the school programme.
How do we educate for values based education?
To make changes in peoples values we must focus on the heart not just the head!
It requires getting in there and doing it. This is not a traditional approach to learning.
Developing values and key competencies involve the development of the self.
In my knowing In my doing and In my capabilities.
Key ingredients transformative learning.
Adolescents don’t switch off to the arts! They may switch off to a lot of other stuff.
The most powerful learning is that which has an emotional quality about it.
Inner World Direct Experience World I know About
World I don’t know about- the world of my ignorance.
It is possible/desirable to enrich ones own view of the world through knowing what others know.
As a school/staff we can decide ‘what are the really key things we need to know’ – learn off by rote? An example of this at Governors Bay School occurred last year when the teachers in the Junior School decided that there was a real need for their pupils to learn basic addition facts. So then with basics learnt and mastered it is possible to move on to extend oneself.
Intrinsic motivation - is the key, which is self motivation. Developing this is a challenge to be accepted.
Use of curiosity is important and a sense of a challenge also following the children’s paths.
Inquiry – Process so you can honour the kids questions. This is a direction in which we have already decided to move and we will be focussing on this through the ICT project this year.
Building a Bridge to the New CurriculumNoeline Street Make sure that your foundations will stand the test of time. How might you span the gap of where you are now with curriculum and where you might want to be in the future? Force Field Analysis Strategic Application Hopes and Desires Futuristic Activity Think about how in ten years time what impact might your school curriculum have on your students? Change Occurring One model to look at is the sound industry with music to see how much the following has changed and how quickly change has occurred and continues since the digital age. Sound Industry - Music Record Players Walkman Ipod What Next? Your Process of Change should include:- Open Dialogue Shared ownership with all parties. Focusing on the why before the what Building on good practice Walking the talk Enjoyment and having fun.
Using Digital Resources to support personalising Learning and the Key Competencies. This workshop was about Digi Store resources which is a set of digital teaching resources that the Ministry of Education have bought into. This workshop out line some creative ways in which these could be used in classrooms. The resource also includes a broad range of learning activities with some problem solving. They are available on TKI and we have used some of them at school in the past. The resource is developed in Australia and continues to grow as an initiative of the Learning Federation. Originally they were available on CD Rom but are now available on line. Resources cover a broad range of subjects including English, Science, Maths, Social Studies and Health. There have been some problems with the availability of various parts due to technical problems. The resources offer high interest, self paced work that can be interwoven into classroom topics. Worth further investigation if the technical issues can be eliminated!
Ownership Sticking to the knitting Restraint Focus Sheltering: Reducing distractions Limiting new goals and projects Resisting Frivolity Encouraging Calming Filtering Embracing Testing: Venturing Piloting Learning Adjusting Improving Expanding Anticipating:What could possibly go wrong? What’s the worst that could happen? Will what we do improve the ideas, quality of thinking, standard of work. How do we get a change in daily practice? Fullan —Worth investigating. What I have been able to do/introduce - still work in progress... I was pleased to be able to focus on workshops that assisted with leadership and just how we might want to make developments for our school over the next few years. Of particular interest were workshops which may help with either or both strategic planning and building and introducing a new curriculum for our school. The workshops that I attended therefore included:- The Journey of Change: Jamie McKenzie Creating a local School Curriculum with the Key Competencies at the Heart Values Based Education: Dr Julia Aitken Building a Bridge to the New Curriculum: Noeline Street Using Digital Resources to Support Personalised Learning and the Key Competencies It is empowering to be able to draw upon the ideas and models of such experienced, well researched and practical people when setting up a plan to introduce change into our own school. It is also very useful to have ideas presented to you when you can question or clarify rather than through reading a text and/or using a CD or DVD. From the work shops that I attended I have been able to utilise ideas gained in the following ways. Strategic Planning To help write suitable goals and measurable objectives that have become an integral part of my reporting to the Board. Many of these objectives are directly related to our teaching targets in Literacy and Numeracy. Using the strategic plan to introduce changes in teaching practice as a part of these goals. These relate particularly to use of ICT with effective teaching and learning and the further introduction of Inquiry Learning. Values Education Following a model that was outlined at a workshop we have had a staff meeting to discuss Values Education and the values that we feel are important for our school. These values have been drafted into a new model of our School Charter which has been discussed through consultation meetings and at BOT subcommittee and full BOT meetings. Next Steps My next step is to see how I can utilise this information further by incorporating some of these ideas into our school curriculum. Some possible challenges that I will need to lead our school community through are:- How do we want to introduce Inquiry Learning across our school? Do we want to run a major inquiry each term or just take one or two each year? Note we already have concerns about just how many important learning experiences we would like to offer in topics or mini topics of Science and Social Studies for example. We do not want the learning experiences offered becoming so narrow that we are not able to provide our pupils with both a solid grounding in a range of areas but also opportunities to experience learning in a range of different topics. As we work through discussions and consultation it will be interesting to see just what begins to emerge both in content and method. It was very interesting to note from one of the work shop leaders that beginning a new curriculum should not start by looking at what we already do but rather what want our pupils to know and have to prepare them for work and life in the 21st Century.
Val Blackwell : 'Inspirational!' Wonderings, questioning, thinking and more thinking, new strategies and inquiry learning. Would like to find the diagram for the SOLO taxonomy. Can anyone help?
Sarah Wiki Bennett: I learnt about androgogy which in lay peoples terms is coaching or mentoring. Mark Tredwell had an impressive diagram (as only he could) about the how he sees the important sub elements of the NZC. Androgogy sat alongside pedagogoy. For more information about this go to: http://www.i-learnt.com/Index.html this is a maseof information and typical Treadwell that it also leads you into many trains of thought all which will challenge your own paradigms and begin the eve increasing journey of critical thinking and reflective practice. I knew about the "Key Competencies" but after hearing Mary Chamberlain it brings it more alive and is a timely remonder as to question "how are we implicityly intergrating the key competencies in our daily teaching programmes?" "how do they relate to our own school values?" Over the next few months I plan to look into all the classrooms and see where we can possible bring more teacherable momnets into using the key competencies in our everyday teaching.
Val I have the SOLO taxonmy diagram, I'll bring it next time we meet or I'll send you a copy or you can go to this link: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/solo.htm
Fraser Moore: Being a new addition to the cluster, Rotorua was a good chance for me to get to know other LTs and Principals. I had the chance to view a couple of Techie Workshops to become familiar with new programmes that I hadn't heard of. I have had a chance to use Marvin in the classroom context and the children are in awe of it! I also enjoyed listening to Faye Le Cren talk about designing school curriculum and the importance of having a set of values and a shared vision for the children of your school. 23 May - As a staff we have spent a great deal of the first term and the beginning of the second term developing a process of inquiry to be used throughout the school. Time has been spent looking at each stage and deciding what is important at each step and what it will look like in the classroom. We need to make sure we aren't restricted to a linear model and ensure that children can revisit steps as the need arises during the process. We have included ICT into our staff development sessions by having a portion of it dedicated to new skills. A wiki has been set up for our school to cut down on the admin related discussion and make way for more professional development. Now that the ground work has been done for the inquiry process we are mapping out what tools and skills we need to include in our staff development sessions. As a staff we are also deciding on what Graphic Organisers and thinking tools we are going to ensure are taught at each level of the school. This is not to say staff can't use a wide variety but we want to ensure that teachers know exactly what ones have been taught at previous levels.
Cheryl Morrall ;This was my first conference.Not only did it provide me with the chance to get up to speed with current educational developments, I was also able to network with the other lead teachers within the cluster. Joining the group mid year I was feeling a bit out of my depth.It was great to get to know everyone.I returned excited by where our schools are heading, inspired by teachers and educationalists who shared their philosophy, ideas, and experiences with us, and more confident in my role as lead teacher.Mary Chamberlain was my highlight speaker. Two breakouts with junior class teachers confirmed that inquiry learning can be developed, and ICT can be integrated into the everyday classroom activities of our youngest students.
This page becomes the space for each of you to report on the impact that the conference has on you and your teaching practice or influencing your leadership role. As you begin to embed and try out the ideas you gained from the conference, the expectation is that you will reflect here and update during the next 4 months. Nick and I will use extracts and summeries from the information you supply, for the milestone report.
Another of the cluster milestone objectives is to use an array of thinking tools.
I developed a L'n'P reflective tool that you may like to try.
L - what did you Learn
N -what did you kNow but now can see a purpose for using
P- what do you Promise to Put into Practice when you get back to school
David Heyle created some really useful thinking maps.
Perhaps one of these tools may assist you to clarify your thinking and help you introduce something new from the conference to your students or your staff. I believe it would be really good if you were able to include a thinking map here with your reflections. If you need some assistance this can be one of your objectives for Jocelyn's work with you when she visits your school.
Martin Weaver
What did I learn?
There was one area that stayed with me and I found very useful from my second time at the Rotorua Conference. The important idea I brought back was both around curriculum design and planning. This idea was from Mark Treadwell and was based on integrated planning and science concepts.Mark Treadwell talked about curriculum design but he focussed in on learning and specifically what teachers decide to teach. He emphasised the point that teachers often choose a topic, find the Achievement Objectives and then “pad” the integrated unit out with activities which may or may not relate to a range of science concepts. He suggested that teachers need to be more specific about the science concepts they concentrate on with their students. He suggested the learning opportunities could directly relate to the science concepts a child is required to learn at a certain year level. Then rather than the teacher introducing new activities and possibly new concepts all the time, the teacher chooses activities which reinforce the focus science concept and support the specific learning intention.
What happened at Leeston?
I followed this through with the senior syndicate at Leeston. We decided to have a science focus this year and really attempt to improve our science teaching and learning. What I noticed is that that this approach really focused the teachers and the children in on their teaching and learning. It also helped focus teachers who had little understanding in a science area by making them really think about what they knew about certain science concepts before they introduced them to children. Teachers were also making better links between the science concepts, learning intentions, “Content” and assessment. The really exciting thing was the teachers were enthusiastic. I often heard the teachers saying I learnt so much myself about this topic.What could be our next step?
My next step could be for me to take this idea and reinforce it in other learning areas in the school and in other parts of the school.Sue de Ruiter - An outcome from Learning@schools is our RTLB cluster trial of Mathletics. You might have seen me frequenting this display stall quite frequently...... Mathletics is an online interactive maths programme. Our trial will be with 4 RTLB students from 10 - 21 March. If the programme proves as sucessful as it sounded at conference we will be the first RTLB cluster in NZ to sign up for the programme. Schools, including the NZ Correspondence School, are already using it. The programme is based on the NZ curriculum. I would see it as supporting the classroom programme. The programme can be accessed by password from any computer, at school or at home. It sounded so good and hence our conversations, and online training with Mathletics personnel, have led to the free trial. The cost per student would be $30 per year.
Lynne Silcock, Assistive Technology, MOE - Lynne's presentation on free software and learning how to use the tools available on any computer to support students with special education needs was simply outstanding. My personal goal is to master all the suggestions Lynne made, and I have begun by changing my default print from Times Roman to Tahoma. Research has shown that changing the spacing between words is helpful for our dyslexic students. The Accessibility Options and Mouse settings can be easily adjusted for students so when they log on the computer screen looks different for them. Lynne's suggestions can be downloaded from www.minedu.govt.nz/ - CAT Newsletter 17 (Navigate: Special Eucation, Services and Funding, Quicklinks, Assistive Technology)
Olivia Grantham: For me, the ROT trip this year was focused around inquiry, inquiry, inquiry. Really enjoyed listening to Julia Atkin! She has made me really reflect on the children in my class, and how the individual child thinks and operates. We looked in the parts of the brains and how we will use some parts more than others. I particularly liked the idea of looking at our brain 'capacity' and how we can maximise this through training. From here, I look forward to working with management in getting our school into he inquiry process and just through applying a whole range of thinking tools. I will get that thinking map through to you soon.
Susan Jackson: Wiki's, blogs, facebook, utube, bebo, key competencies, reviewed curriculum, pmis, sms, honouring voices, change agents, targets...these words and jargon have nothing to do with where I have been in the last 18 months. The words I am familiar with are Michaelangelo, Sistene chapel, Italy, metro, Paris, Brussels, Belgian waffles, Harewood house, where will we go this weekend in Europe all seem much more realistic to me at the moment!!! I can fully appreciate how children feel when they are overloaded with information before being able to absorb what they learnt earlier. HELP!!!!
Marriene Langton
Chris Quin
James Petronelli
This year I went to the learning@schools conference with greater emphasis and thought on what I want to achieve strategically at Burnham. As much as I like gadgets and new programmes I went to the keynotes/breakouts more suited to grow our school. If there was one thing that became clearer to me from the conference and since working on the charter is that the vision for the school is key – not that it wasn’t clear before but it is something that we need to look at more closely to make sure it aligns with what we want for our children because the vision should underpin everything we do.
Tamara Bell As a first timer to the conference I was unsure of what breakouts to choose (so much choice!) and what impact they may have on me as a teacher. It was awesome to be able to attend Chris and Faye Le Crens workshops about implementing change in your school as it related closely to the new curriculum and where schools need to head in the near future, designing their own school curriculum. I also enjoyed attending a workshop on using the interactive whiteboard effectively to enhance inquiry learning. It was a practical session led by a teacher so I related to the content really well and took on lots of new ideas that I have been able to test run on my IWB with the kids- so very useful and relevant. It was a fab opportunity to attend this conference, I loved getting to know other people in our cluster as well as having the chance to develop my own knowledge and skills related to ICT. Ka mau te wehi!
Dave Robinson The Learning@School conference indicated to me that the vision of your school is absolutely critical to the implementation of the new curriculum - this something our school needs to look at. Trevor Bond thought there were two visions within schools - the paper vision and the heart vision which is the real vision. A vision is a process not an event. I attended a workshop using ICTPD as a Catalyst for Change. There is three stages of change - Initiation (deciding, commitment, planning; successful initiation needs relevance, resource reliability and readiness of staff/BOT etc); Implementation (Action Plans into practice, needs monitoring); Institutionalisation (Sustainability, embedded into practice). The conference tended to ask questions re the new curriculum - I felt some presenters were advocating rewriting your school curriculum while others were saying tweaking it would be enough; I guess its up to each school to make those choices. The conference gave me plenty to consider about as we start to think about the new curriculum and the implications for our school, our children, our staff and our parents. I thought MARVAN had possibilties in the classroom for both teachers and children - it appears to be easy to use.
Tracey Harrold This was my first time at the conference and my brain was on overload for a lot of the time. The inquiry process was great for me because I saw a model that I was not familar with that worked really well with junior children. I also enjoyed Trevor Bond with his ideas about the 7 steps of thinking. Really some food for thought. I thought Julia Atkin had some interesting things to say about the way we have shaped our schooling as we know it and I am excited by the potential for huge changes in our approach to teaching and learning.
Rachel Couling
This was my second ICT conference and much more intense than my first. I found it very beneficial that it covered such a wide range of ICT seminars. I managed to attend some leadership seminars and some practical classroom orientated seminars. Every seminar that I attended gave me something to think about or something to do within my school or class. I thought the keynote speakers were interesting and when I had the opportunity to hear her again in Chch I grabbed the chance. The Rotorua conference has certainly been a support for what we are trying to achieve in our school and classroom.
I found the Learnz' breakout about Virtual Fieldtrips really interesting and I have enroled my class for this term. Other teachers are also looking at enroling their classes.
Warren Hawke
I focussed on attending mostly leadership workshops at the conference. Workshops including those that would help me with writing our new school curriculum, introducing values and introducing change. Some significant points/ideas to come through from some of these workshops are outlined below.
Introducing Change Workshop: Jamie McKenzie
Jamie MacKenzie is an educationalist from United Sates. He specialises in questioning, thinking skills, information literacies and using new technologies for teaching.
He used introducing change as embarking on a Journey. Some change strategies have increased the amount of resistance. Some of the late adopters are our best teachers.
Metaphor of a Journey - There are a lot of things to distract, interrupt wreck the journey along the way. There is a need to create the conditions where people feel supported and comfortable and able to take risks. – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. How do we provide learning experiences that support people on their journey of change?
McKenzie described the following processes as important in preparing for and therefore making significant gains in change.
Discernment: Questioning Wondering Doubting Delaying ChallengingResearching Selecting Prioritising
Pacing: Plateaus Swithchbacks Cruising Phasing The Deep Breath Consolidating Refining
Courtship: Winning buy in. What’s in it for me? Showing value, utility and
Benefits, Identifying and addressing basic needs.
Preparation: Laying the groundwork Cultivating the soil Building capacity Building capacity Exploring Force Field Analysis Explaining
Support: No solo rock Climbing Scaffolding Just in time support
What can I do for you? What’s getting in your way? How can I help you? Re source Expansion
Balance: No tilting No going overboard Moderation Modul
Values Based Education Dr Julia Aitkin
www.learning-by-design.com
Dr Julia Aitkin is an independent education consultant from Australia. Along with listening to her keynote address I attended this workshop about introducing values into the school programme.
How do we educate for values based education?
To make changes in peoples values we must focus on the heart not just the head!
It requires getting in there and doing it. This is not a traditional approach to learning.
Developing values and key competencies involve the development of the self.
In my knowing In my doing and In my capabilities.
Key ingredients transformative learning.
Adolescents don’t switch off to the arts! They may switch off to a lot of other stuff.
The most powerful learning is that which has an emotional quality about it.
Inner World Direct Experience World I know About
World I don’t know about- the world of my ignorance.
It is possible/desirable to enrich ones own view of the world through knowing what others know.
As a school/staff we can decide ‘what are the really key things we need to know’ – learn off by rote? An example of this at Governors Bay School occurred last year when the teachers in the Junior School decided that there was a real need for their pupils to learn basic addition facts. So then with basics learnt and mastered it is possible to move on to extend oneself.
Intrinsic motivation - is the key, which is self motivation. Developing this is a challenge to be accepted.
Use of curiosity is important and a sense of a challenge also following the children’s paths.
Inquiry – Process so you can honour the kids questions. This is a direction in which we have already decided to move and we will be focussing on this through the ICT project this year.
Building a Bridge to the New Curriculum Noeline Street
Make sure that your foundations will stand the test of time. How might you span the gap of where you are now with curriculum and where you might want to be in the future?
Force Field Analysis
Strategic Application
Hopes and Desires
Futuristic Activity
Think about how in ten years time what impact might your school curriculum have on your students?
Change Occurring
One model to look at is the sound industry with music to see how much the following has changed and how quickly change has occurred and continues since the digital age.
Sound Industry - Music
Record Players Walkman Ipod What Next?
Your Process of Change should include:-
Open Dialogue
Shared ownership with all parties.
Focusing on the why before the what
Building on good practice
Walking the talk
Enjoyment and having fun.
Using Digital Resources to support personalising Learning and the Key Competencies.
This workshop was about Digi Store resources which is a set of digital teaching resources that the Ministry of Education have bought into. This workshop out line some creative ways in which these could be used in classrooms. The resource also includes a broad range of learning activities with some problem solving. They are available on TKI and we have used some of them at school in the past. The resource is developed in Australia and continues to grow as an initiative of the Learning Federation. Originally they were available on CD Rom but are now available on line.
Resources cover a broad range of subjects including English, Science, Maths, Social Studies and Health. There have been some problems with the availability of various parts due to technical problems. The resources offer high interest, self paced work that can be interwoven into classroom topics. Worth further investigation if the technical issues can be eliminated!
Ownership Sticking to the knitting Restraint Focus
Sheltering: Reducing distractions Limiting new goals and projects Resisting Frivolity Encouraging Calming Filtering Embracing
Testing: Venturing Piloting Learning Adjusting Improving Expanding
Anticipating: What could possibly go wrong? What’s the worst that could happen?
Will what we do improve the ideas, quality of thinking, standard of work.
How do we get a change in daily practice? Fullan —Worth investigating.
What I have been able to do/introduce - still work in progress...
I was pleased to be able to focus on workshops that assisted with leadership and just how we might want to make developments for our school over the next few years. Of particular interest were workshops which may help with either or both strategic planning and building and introducing a new curriculum for our school.
The workshops that I attended therefore included:-
The Journey of Change: Jamie McKenzie
Creating a local School Curriculum with the Key Competencies at the Heart
Values Based Education: Dr Julia Aitken
Building a Bridge to the New Curriculum: Noeline Street
Using Digital Resources to Support Personalised Learning and the Key Competencies
It is empowering to be able to draw upon the ideas and models of such experienced, well researched and practical people when setting up a plan to introduce change into our own school. It is also very useful to have ideas presented to you when you can question or clarify rather than through reading a text and/or using a CD or DVD.
From the work shops that I attended I have been able to utilise ideas gained in the following ways. Strategic Planning To help write suitable goals and measurable objectives that have become an integral part of my reporting to the Board. Many of these objectives are directly related to our teaching targets in Literacy and Numeracy. Using the strategic plan to introduce changes in teaching practice as a part of these goals. These relate particularly to use of ICT with effective teaching and learning and the further introduction of Inquiry Learning.
Values Education Following a model that was outlined at a workshop we have had a staff meeting to discuss Values Education and the values that we feel are important for our school. These values have been drafted into a new model of our School Charter which has been discussed through consultation meetings and at BOT subcommittee and full BOT meetings.
Next Steps My next step is to see how I can utilise this information further by incorporating some of these ideas into our school curriculum. Some possible challenges that I will need to lead our school community through are:- How do we want to introduce Inquiry Learning across our school? Do we want to run a major inquiry each term or just take one or two each year?
Note we already have concerns about just how many important learning experiences we would like to offer in topics or mini topics of Science and Social Studies for example. We do not want the learning experiences offered becoming so narrow that we are not able to provide our pupils with both a solid grounding in a range of areas but also opportunities to experience learning in a range of different topics. As we work through discussions and consultation it will be interesting to see just what begins to emerge both in content and method.
It was very interesting to note from one of the work shop leaders that beginning a new curriculum should not start by looking at what we already do but rather what want our pupils to know and have to prepare them for work and life in the 21st Century.
Val Blackwell : 'Inspirational!' Wonderings, questioning, thinking and more thinking, new strategies and inquiry learning. Would like to find the diagram for the SOLO taxonomy. Can anyone help?
Sarah Wiki Bennett: I learnt about androgogy which in lay peoples terms is coaching or mentoring. Mark Tredwell had an impressive diagram (as only he could) about the how he sees the important sub elements of the NZC. Androgogy sat alongside pedagogoy. For more information about this go to: http://www.i-learnt.com/Index.html this is a maseof information and typical Treadwell that it also leads you into many trains of thought all which will challenge your own paradigms and begin the eve increasing journey of critical thinking and reflective practice. I knew about the "Key Competencies" but after hearing Mary Chamberlain it brings it more alive and is a timely remonder as to question "how are we implicityly intergrating the key competencies in our daily teaching programmes?" "how do they relate to our own school values?" Over the next few months I plan to look into all the classrooms and see where we can possible bring more teacherable momnets into using the key competencies in our everyday teaching.
Val I have the SOLO taxonmy diagram, I'll bring it next time we meet or I'll send you a copy or you can go to this link:
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/solo.htm
Fraser Moore: Being a new addition to the cluster, Rotorua was a good chance for me to get to know other LTs and Principals. I had the chance to view a couple of Techie Workshops to become familiar with new programmes that I hadn't heard of. I have had a chance to use Marvin in the classroom context and the children are in awe of it! I also enjoyed listening to Faye Le Cren talk about designing school curriculum and the importance of having a set of values and a shared vision for the children of your school. 23 May - As a staff we have spent a great deal of the first term and the beginning of the second term developing a process of inquiry to be used throughout the school. Time has been spent looking at each stage and deciding what is important at each step and what it will look like in the classroom. We need to make sure we aren't restricted to a linear model and ensure that children can revisit steps as the need arises during the process. We have included ICT into our staff development sessions by having a portion of it dedicated to new skills. A wiki has been set up for our school to cut down on the admin related discussion and make way for more professional development. Now that the ground work has been done for the inquiry process we are mapping out what tools and skills we need to include in our staff development sessions. As a staff we are also deciding on what Graphic Organisers and thinking tools we are going to ensure are taught at each level of the school. This is not to say staff can't use a wide variety but we want to ensure that teachers know exactly what ones have been taught at previous levels.
Cheryl Morrall ;This was my first conference.Not only did it provide me with the chance to get up to speed with current educational developments, I was also able to network with the other lead teachers within the cluster. Joining the group mid year I was feeling a bit out of my depth.It was great to get to know everyone.I returned excited by where our schools are heading, inspired by teachers and educationalists who shared their philosophy, ideas, and experiences with us, and more confident in my role as lead teacher.Mary Chamberlain was my highlight speaker. Two breakouts with junior class teachers confirmed that inquiry learning can be developed, and ICT can be integrated into the everyday classroom activities of our youngest students.