tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3286769610425930832024-03-05T18:07:19.443+13:00Sitting on the Classroom MattMatt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-48893757059155736062019-03-28T21:10:00.003+13:002019-03-28T21:10:58.734+13:00AdaptingTonight's #RollEdNZ chat started off very slowly, and we ended up changing topic on the fly. Then the conversation really got going. It makes me think about the importance of adapting to our learners' interests with our lessons and units. Very apt for our "Plan B" topic for tonight.<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay" class="wakeletEmbed" height="760px" src="https://embed.wakelet.com/wakes/03f59dd3-9661-4947-a6f2-facfb1fa888c/list" style="border: none;" width="100%"></iframe><!-- Please only call https://embed-assets.wakelet.com/wakelet-embed.js once per page --><script charset="UTF-8" src="https://embed-assets.wakelet.com/wakelet-embed.js"></script>Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-15240483490701479662019-03-02T14:25:00.001+13:002019-03-02T14:25:33.333+13:00Our First #RollEdNZ ChatOn Thursday, we had our first "PD in Your PJs" for Rolleston College staff. We had a Twitter chat to share ideas about how we run things in our own Ako class, and within our own Whānau.<br />
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We only had eight of us take part, but it was still a high-paced chat with some great ideas shared. I am encouraged to moderate something like this again in the near future, so am just considering what our next topic might be...<br />
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Here is the chat, courtesy of <a href="https://wakelet.com/" target="_blank">Wakelet</a>.<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay" class="wakeletEmbed" height="760px" src="https://embed.wakelet.com/wakes/3bf700b4-d617-43b6-9ac8-de61375e71a5/list" style="border: none;" width="100%"></iframe><!-- Please only call https://embed-assets.wakelet.com/wakelet-embed.js once per page --><script charset="UTF-8" src="https://embed-assets.wakelet.com/wakelet-embed.js"></script>Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-41907575612719869492019-02-21T21:41:00.000+13:002019-02-22T20:41:23.054+13:00Learning Task vs. Assessment TaskFor two years, we have used SOLO Taxonomy to guide the learning at Rolleston College. The verbs have become synonymous with the level of thinking expected; the rubrics have helped learners identify where they are at, and "Where to next?"; the graphic organisers have helped learners communicate a higher level of understanding than they gave themselves credit for; and teachers have scaffolded and chunked tasks better to empower learners to succeed. I have been fortunate enough to be entrusted with supporting our staff on this journey, and they have been amazing!<br />
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This year, our establishment learners are in Year 11. We are offering NCEA in every Year 11 course. Does this mean the end of SOLO Taxonomy, and a change in vocabulary to "credits", and "Achieved, Merit or Excellence"? In my role, and from past experience, I really hope not.<br />
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Earlier this week, a member of our Senior Leadership Team led our staff briefing. Along with other reminders, she reminded us of the purpose of SOLO Taxonomy, and warned us against using credits and grades as the motivator for learning. She stressed that SOLO Taxonomy guided the learning, and the learning tasks. We were reminded that NCEA was the outcome of successful learning, not the process itself. She said everything I wanted to say to our staff, and more.<br />
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Since this staff briefing, I have been asked to help with the design of <b>learning tasks</b> (not assessment tasks) for Year 11 courses. These teachers have stayed true to our vision and to our desire to use SOLO Taxonomy. Their learning tasks use SOLO Taxonomy to make the <b>learning</b> transparent, scaffolded (or chunked) and achievable. More importantly (in my opinion), the learning tasks are more authentic. Some are actually going to lead to the creation of work that <i>might</i> be used as evidence for an Achievement Standard. That is exciting, but that is not the primary goal of these learning tasks.<br />
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In my role in the Science Learning Area, I have also been looking at how we will offer each Achievement Standard in the courses we offer that include an element of the Science domain. Seeing how we can guide the learning using the language of SOLO, but use NCEA terminology when we "shift" into an assessment is a positive, to my way of reckoning. This change in vocabulary can signal to our learners that we are now <b>assessing</b> what they have spent time <b>learning</b>.<br />
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We have learning that is around putting on a "magic show", using knowledge and skills from Chemistry, Mathematics and a touch of Performing Arts. No NCEA grade can measure <i>that</i>. A SOLO rubric can, though. Within this big task, there is the opportunity to explore rates of reaction, and <i>this</i> <u>can</u> be assessed. We can use an assessment from the Science domain and we can use an assessment from the Mathematics domain. The assessments will happen within the learning task, because learners need the skills being <b>assessed</b> by these Achievement Standards to succeed in the real task: putting on a magic show, getting their timings etc. correct.<br />
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I personally like this not-so-subtle difference. SOLO Taxonomy is for our learning tasks. It does not have to align to an Achievement Standard, or even a New Zealand Curriculum Achievement Objective. It can be more abstract, more integrated and/or more authentic. NCEA is for assessment. The learning has been done. Now, what evidence do you need to communicate clearly at each level of the assessment? Where, from your earlier learning, can you find that evidence?<br />
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Learning tasks and assessment tasks are separate, but linked. SOLO Taxonomy and NCEA terminology <u>both</u> have important places in keeping these separate, and in communicating what is required for success.Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-6832114248402840962019-02-21T21:02:00.001+13:002019-02-21T21:02:54.712+13:00Sharing in a Busy SchoolWe are in full flight at Rolleston College. We have welcomed a large intake of amazing new colleagues. We now have three Year Groups (Years 9-11). This means staying true to our vision while also accepting that NCEA is part of our world now. We have learned from things we implemented in the last two years, and made the place even better than before. But, most of all, we are BUSY!<br />
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I made a promise to myself (publicly here and via Twitter) that I would be more connected this year. I let my relationship with my PLN diminish. I was not sharing what we were doing at Rolleston College, despite my absolute pride in our successes, and the wonderful learning of our FAILs. I am already struggling with this promise to myself...but I am writing in here now, so I shouldn't be too hard on myself.<br />
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It did dawn on me this week that we have actually become so busy that we are not only struggling to share beyond our school gates; we are also struggling to effectively share the gold that is going on within different teaching teams. We are trying and we have a shared Google Drive, meetings, Thursday morning PLD opportunities etc. However, we are often too busy to make the most of all of these.<br />
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I also reflected on the task I led at the start of the year to get some colleagues onto Twitter. Could this be the solution? I have just sent an email out to the staff to see if they are keen on our first Twitter-based "PD in your PJs". So many of us work from home at night, why not share some of our gold, try to solve some of each other's challenges, and connect? It may be an absolute flop, but why not give it a try...?<br />
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Interested to see if it takes off or not? Follow #RollEdNZ on Thursday 28 FebruaryMatt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-7597709672740095672019-01-30T21:39:00.001+13:002019-01-30T21:39:21.415+13:00Learning Process and SOLO TaxonomyToday was a Teachers' Only Day at Rolleston College. One of the tasks we did was to try and learn a new skill. Some chose to be taught how to do a layup in basketball. Others were taught how to draw a zombie penguin cartoon character. I taught people how to join Twitter, and send a tweet using hashtags.<br />
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The actual skill being learned was irrelevant. Everyone was directed to a skill they knew they could not already do. Needless to say, there were a lot learning to draw Zombie Penguins!! We were building empathy for the learning process. We were also self-assessing using SOLO rubrics.<br />
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In a quickfire 15 minutes, we walked our self-selected groups through the ups and downs of learning something new. The frustrations and the feeling of success. The wondering of the "Why?" at times, and the realisation of "That's why!", for some.<br />
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Our "learners" were able to use the SOLO rubrics to identify where they were with the skill before we started, and track their progress over that very short time period. Our own next steps would be to identify the strategies they used to enable them to improve in their skill(s).<br />
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I really hope this short activity was of value to our teachers, and they have been able to find <i>something</i> they can use in their classes this year. I know that it has reminded me to be very explicit with the use of SOLO (for example) in helping learners be aware of their own progress within a lesson, or across a week/unit, as they learn new skills and knowledge. The key "take home" for me, was to guide learners to identify the strategies that helped them learn and "move to the next level". This is my next promise to myself for the year: I will use SOLO Rubrics more with skills and knowledge and get learners to identify their successful (and unsuccessful) strategies in learning.<br />
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As an aside, the SOLO Rubrics are really easy to make when teaching a new skill. <a href="http://pamhook.com/solo-apps/functioning-knowledge-rubric-generator/" target="_blank">This link</a> takes you to a SOLO Rubric Generator. After inputting a verb and context for the skill, you just do a little bit of proof-reading and editing, and it is ready to roll...Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-70640228273895395952019-01-25T12:28:00.000+13:002019-01-25T12:28:06.463+13:00RebirthThis post is actually a public promise to myself. After two very busy years at Rolleston College, I am promising myself to reconnect with my PLN/support network. This will mean the following promises to myself:<br />
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<li>Sharing my/our initiatives at least once per month.</li>
<li>Being more active on Twitter (and maybe a few Facebook groups that I am part of...we'll see).</li>
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This is the rebirth of something I valued and enjoyed in the past - connecting with other, sharing ideas and challenges, and having/providing support around creative/effective pedagogy.</div>
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Let's see if I can keep either of these promises. Watch this space to see how I go...</div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-29893960618486393672017-07-30T14:09:00.000+12:002017-07-30T18:18:52.747+12:00Curriculum Integration or Thematic Units?A colleague shared <a href="http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/press/abstracts/Chapter%202.pdf" target="_blank">a chapter from <i>Connecting Curriculum, Linking Learning</i>, an NZCER publication.</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fraser, D., Aitken, V, & Whyte B. (2013) <i>"Chapter Two: Curriculum Integration." Connecting Curriculum, Linking Learning</i>. Wellington: NZCER</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/styles/full_node_image/private/connecting-curriculum.jpg?itok=pAcUjXZK" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="180" src="https://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/styles/full_node_image/private/connecting-curriculum.jpg?itok=pAcUjXZK" /></a>This chapter was both affirming and challenging at the same time. It made me think about whether the learning opportunities we plan for and offer in Connected Learning are truly "curriculum integration" or simply "thematic units" that cater for as many Learning Areas as possible. For example, the latter would demand "fitting in" English, Science, Social Sciences, Mathematics <i>and</i> (for example) Drama into every aspect of the learning journey. The former would demand more student agency, leading to only demanding integration of the Learning Areas that are authentically applicable to the learning context. What we planned to do in Term Two with Mantle of the Expert (MOTE) was consistent with Curriculum Integration, but we ended up resorting back to more of a Thematic Unit after some challenges with the "building belief" phase of MOTE. What we have planned for Term Three should be more successful as true Curriculum Integration.<br />
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I have come to the conclusion that I advocate more strongly for Connected Learning being Curriculum Integration rather than Thematic Learning. There are a few reasons, primarily based upon a statement in p16 of <a href="http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/content/download/1108/11989/file/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum.pdf" target="_blank"><i>The New Zealand Curriculum</i></a>: "All learning should make use of the natural connections that exist between learning areas." The word "natural" is important here. Inclusion of certain Learning Areas into thematic units can feel contrived at times. While some Learning Areas may get less explicit "coverage" this way, I put more value in the potential for the depth of cross-curricular, authentic learning that can occur in true curriculum integration.<br />
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Curriculum Integration in Connected Learning will need to see us include some key steps that I will quote directly from the chapter:<br />
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<li>"Negotiating the curriculum." Students take a role "in co-planning, exploring and evaluating" their chosen inquiries or contexts. In our plan for Term three, this is explicit as learners explore a social action they will be challenged to actually carry out. We are limiting it within a parameter, but it is wide-reaching: "Think Globally, Act Locally."</li>
<li>"Issues driven rather than topic driven." Term Three is about Planet Earth. That is a broad enough theme to allow for this. As mentioned above, we are focusing upon a social action, so the learning (and action) will definitely be issue driven.</li>
<li>"Scaffolding [of] student' learning rather than directing them." We are already looking at using SOLO Taxonomy, Design Processes (Technology Learning Area) and Investigating (Science Learning Area) to help with such scaffolding. Why reinvent the wheel...?</li>
<li>"Only draws upon learning areas that relate to the central issues of the inquiry." This feels uncomfortable at first, to be honest. We have yet to explore geometry in any depth, and I expect few inquiries will have need for geometry in Term Three. However, we have to remember that we are viewing Connected Learning as an eight term learning journey. There will be times when every critical element of the explicitly-included Learning Areas will be explored. We are spending a few weeks to explore some aspects of "Planet Earth" as a theme, and hope that these inspire learners to come up with authentic social actions that they can actually succeed in. Once they choose (and negotiate) their issue and inquiry, only the Learning Areas that are related will be explored.</li>
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Finally, there are a couple of things raised in this chapter that really do put the learner at the centre by shifting from thematic units to curriculum integration. The first was that "...curriculum integration affords students status as negotiators in the pursuit of knowledge. Their say matters and, as a result, their commitment in enhanced." Last week, a learner asked me why we were getting them to come up with "Great Ideas" to tackle Global Climate Change, or Pollution.<br />
"We are only kids. Nobody cares what we think."<br />
It was one of those moments when my heart sunk, but it also sparked a great conversation and I explained to her (then later to the class) that we were going to help them see that they did indeed have the potential to make a real difference to their own community, region, country and/or planet. They were going to be challenged to matter.<br />
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This chapter made another statement that helped affirm that we are doing the right thing by aiming to do the right thing by our learners:<br />
"Negotiating curriculum...has been recognised as an approach that caters for the learning needs of Māori students in secondary schools."<br />
In my experience, whatever works well for Māori learners has positive outcomes for all learners. I have also noticed that empowering learners as decision makers results in higher engagement and better learning outcomes for all learners.<br />
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It was great to read a text that affirmed and challenged the direction we are hoping to take the learning in Connected Learning in Term Three and beyond.<br />
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My Further (Future) Reading:<br />
Bishop, P. A. & Berryman, M. (2009). The Te Kotahitanga effective teaching profile. Set: Research Information for Teachers, 2, 27-34<br />
Drake, S. M. (1998) Creating integrated curriculum: Proven ways to increase student learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press<br />
Drake, S. M. & Burns, R. C. (2004) Meeting standards through integrated curriculum. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum DevelopmentMatt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-62142599337610961212017-06-13T15:19:00.002+12:002017-06-16T07:30:11.452+12:00Addressing Numeracy<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been reading </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#EDJourney</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Grant Lichtman for quite a while now. I have learned a lot from this book, and applied a lot of it to my teaching in the past six months. The lessons I am learning from the book now are even more applicable to something we are trying to do better at - Numeracy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I used </span><a href="http://www.easybib.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Easybib</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to create this citation for the book:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lichtman, Grant. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Hoboken: Wiley, 2014. Print.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chapter 6 was an unexpected goldmine for where my thinking is regarding Numeracy. While I am really happy with the level and amount of Mathematics being covered and used in Connected Learning, I have been wondering how to get more Numeracy into our Learners’ programmes. This will have a home in Ako Learning in the near future, but how do I want it to look for the Learners whose programmes I am overlooking?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This chapter explored a few things (that I think we do well here, actually):</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Listen to Students</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why Go to School?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students Own the Learning</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blending Content and Skills</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reach Every Student, Every Day</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the last section of Chapter 6 that helped me unpack how Numeracy may look in my Ako Sessions. This is based upon Grant Lichtman’s account of a Mathematics programme being run at Presbyterian Day School in Memphis. This is an Elementary School (equivalent to a primary school in New Zealand), but what we can learn from them has a lot of value in our setting.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each Math Programme runs for eight days. The “units” include video podcasts, short assignments and tests that the Learners can opt into. The video podcasts and assignments (possibly the tests as well) offer real time feedback to the Learner and Learning Coach. It would be great if the same feedback went to parents as well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learners who pass the test in the first three days move into project-based learning, called “Guided Challenge”. Those who do not pass the test (or opt out of the test) in the first three days move into a “Learning Circuit”. So much of this programme appeals to me for how we can support our Learners’ numeracy development here.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For us to offer such a programme over eight days, I expect that would take a chunk of time out of two Ako Blocks per week, so run for four weeks (per critical numeracy skill). This would not detract greatly from the other important learning and opportunities in Ako, while adding the support to develop every Learner’s numeracy (one of our school’s Critical Skills).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learners would be attempting the test in the second week of such a programme, which would be ideal timing. They would have had enough time and opportunity to get support from Learning Coaches, whānau, peers and/or other mentors etc. to make a genuine effort with the test. It is also early enough in the programme to allow students to really “get their teeth into” any inquiry-based extension work (Guided Challenge)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #434343; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learning Circuits</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There will be numeracy skills that Learners struggle with. There will be Learners who always struggle with numeracy. Persisting with the same type of work (podcasts, videos, worksheets etc.) is not going to address this. Expecting all Ako coaches to be able to support these Learners is also not going to address this adequately.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Using the skills and time of Learning Coaches who are confident with leading the learning in numeracy is key to this being successful, if implemented here. If a variety of “workshops” are offered by different Learning Coaches, all of which unpack the numeracy skill in different ways, Learners should make progress. If these workshops within the Learning Circuits are engaging </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> provide enough repetition, Learners should gain more fluency in the numeracy skills being explored in each unit.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #434343; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guided Challenge</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I may come across as a bit of an academic snob for saying this, but it is this side of the programme that really excites me. Not only are there Learning Circuits to support those Learners who are struggling, there is the opportunity to extend and challenge all other Learners. As a teacher who specialises in an aspect of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), this is the “next step” that I really like.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learners who already have fluency in a particular aspect of numeracy can be challenged to apply and/or extend that fluency via an abstract and/or complex context. I can imagine a lot of contexts that could form the basis of Guided Challenges, and I bet the other pro-STEM Learning Coaches here would jump at the opportunity to design and lead the learning in a Guided Challenge.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The pathways this opens for our Learners are also exciting. The obvious pathway is that Learners may get even more engaged in STEM and the opportunities STEM courses can provide. As part of that, our numeracy programme could be (should be?) supporting Learners in gaining the NCEA qualifications (and any other NZQA qualification that may exist by then) along the way. The real “wow” that popped into my head when I was reading about this was that, in Years 11-13, these Guided Challenges could be helping prepare Learners for Olympiad and Scholarship as well. The natural next thought was that these Guided Challenges could also be preparing our Year 9 and 10 Learners for Cantamaths, and other such Mathematics-based competitions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #434343; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Numbers Count</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The section of Chapter 6 may have been titled “Reach Every Student, Every Day”, but it really helped solve a burning issue for me: Numeracy. I can see how such a programme would indeed reach every student. Hopefully it would reach them every day, too. Mathematics can be a bit polarising, so even if it doesn’t “reach” them, it would at least allow them to grow as learners.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think that a system of real time (ideally automatic) feedback would also be critical to its success. Every Ako Coach could facilitate that, while the STEM-specialists could lead the learning in the Guided Challenges and Learning Circuits. If parents/whānau </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> learners </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> learning coaches all have real time access to the feedback, this can only help “Reach Every Student, Every Day”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am going to enjoy to continue reading #</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EDJourney</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, by Grant Lichtman, and to continue to learn more and challenge my thinking, as well as the way we do things here.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-16674871612306793852017-05-30T21:13:00.001+12:002017-05-31T07:23:06.504+12:00Connected Learning Musings...Tomorrow, we will be presenting to the community what we have done in Connected Learning so far, and what we plan to do in the months ahead. I have to be articulate tomorrow, so why not practise it here...?<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Term One: Identity</span></h2>
In Term One, we looked at Identity. I have already shared a little bit from that. We had Health working with us. Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and English are ever-present. Our big idea was Identity. What a great context to explore: personal identity, personal journeys, nature vs. nurture (vs. nous), and our country's identity. We finished with "Kiwiana Games", and unpacked the results with some pretty clever Statistics. Throughout the term, Hauora, working in teams, and Kiwi identity really stood out. But we also spent time exploring genetics, statistics, graphing, geology, push-pull factors, Māori mythology, and formal writing, to name a few.<br />
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In saying all of that, we also felt like we struggled a little bit with keeping the some tasks authentic and engaging. However, when it came to our celebration (Kiwiana Games), the positives quashed most of our anxieties and where we felt we may have fallen short. Did we cover every Learning Area in real depth? No. We made the decision to primarily focus on only a couple of Learning Areas per term, with the others supporting the contexts and learning. There is one big element from English being focused on per term, as well. This means we have a film study and a lot more Science and Mathematics to do in Term Two!<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Term Two: Movement and MOTE</span></h2>
Term Two. Connected Learning Theme: Movement. Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences, English and Drama. Initial thoughts: Biomechanics, Dance, Social Movements, Political Movements...<br />
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In the end, we decided to break Movement down into three main themes:<br />
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<li>Geological Movement</li>
<li>Polynesian Migration</li>
<li>Political and Social Movement</li>
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The way Drama fits in is that we are teaching the entire term using a method called <a href="http://mantleoftheexpert.co.nz/" target="_blank">Mantle of the Expert (MOTE)</a>. The class is a "company". The learners are "experts" employed by the company. The company is given commissions by (fake) businesses to complete by a deadline. The staff attend Professional Development (actual teaching of skills and content). The staff have to fill in fortnightly self Performance Reviews, each focusing on a different KPI.</div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;">Building Belief</span></h3>
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In order to lead the learning in this way, we had to start the term building belief in the company and what it stands for. This has taken a lot of time with 58 learners, but we are now seeing the value in this step. Learners were genuinely invested in our latest commission, to the point where there were constructive (and not so constructive) disagreements, and frustrations...but also a very pleasing level of work and team work. It was probably really helped by the fact that they needed to present their Geology Roadshow to Y6-8 Learners from a nearby school!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beauty and the Fossil - the name and logo were devised by the class...and this was drawn by one of them!!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;">The Hook</span></h3>
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To kick the term off, we wanted a hook. This would give the learners a few clues as to what their company was all about. An audio message from the company's CEO was played, followed up by a memo. Discretely hidden in the messages were some key qualities of the company. Also hidden in the messages were some clues as to what this company did.</div>
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That troublesome intern (I think it was Intern Matt...) made a mess of the exhibits the staff had worked so well on. The courier would be here to collect the work to take them to the clients at 3pm...</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1GLB8LJGDERnj3RnGXkcqCKnmMr8zZ1oqZdLWXnYa7MA/embed?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe></div>
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What the learners did with this was very pleasing. Not one finished product was the same, yet they would all be valid exhibits to communicate an aspect of Earth Science.<br />
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After the hook, we worked on Building Belief alongside a "mini commission". The clients (museums) were so impressed with our work, that they wanted the company to create lesson plans to go with the resources. These were at different age-levels. The output from the staff was a mixed bag, but it was interesting to see who had "bought into" the company and its values, and who was struggling with learning this way.<br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7;">Staff Professional Development</span></h3>
It also led to our first PD Day. I led some learning around Plate Tectonics etc. Interestingly enough, most learners found out from the PD Day that they already knew most of this stuff, anyway! They really were "experts"...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RkuaAQYjbnSn0VsU39FjCRmk-y68OZXld5EobPRSNVQ/embed?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DdQuUbATyJQuXVP8tQ7-Cp1_F4rAuSzch9vVA9qAiaM/embed?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7;">Other Learning Opportunities</span></h3>
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Staying true to MOTE has been tricky, but I personally feel like I am slowly getting better at it. Learning in this way has seen us offer some really enjoyable and engaging learning:</div>
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<ul>
<li>EOTC Visit to Canterbury Museum</li>
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<li>Archaeological "Dig"</li>
<li>Museum Audit (yes, we did an audit on some of their exhibits!)</li>
</ul>
<li>Geology Roadshow</li>
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<li>Authentic Audience</li>
<li>Feedback Analysis</li>
</ul>
<li>Company History</li>
<ul>
<li>Video "Archives" of key moments in our company's history</li>
<li>Advertisements/Infomercials</li>
</ul>
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And coming up, we have a team-building day, constructing and racing boats. Personally, I am really looking forward to the Physics and Algebra (in context) that we will explore in this, as well as seeing the creativity the learners show in constructing their boats.</div>
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In case any of our learners are reading this, I am not going to disclose any more spoilers. Please believe me when I say that we have some amazing commissions coming, and the final commission (celebration) could be epic.</div>
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I have failed at being concise, but I do think I have unpacked why I am very proud of what we are achieving in Connected. I hope the community see the value in what their children are doing and learning, as well.</div>
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Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-57851184816090096892017-05-05T20:55:00.000+12:002017-05-05T21:16:04.711+12:00"Proof!" ReflectionsIt is far too long since I sat down to write. Working at a brand new school has been invigourating, while also being extremely busy. To get the wheels moving again, I thought a great place to start would be a reflection on <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2017/02/prove-it.html" target="_blank">this post</a> from February, about the Selected Learning course I taught, "Proof!".<br />
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Since then, I have presented about this course at a Christchurch EduIgnite evening, held at Haeata Community Campus (another brand new school), and went waaaay over time in last night's #scichatNZ-run TeachMeetNZ Virtual. We have also celebrated the learning by having Learners "man" the crime scenes and labs for our Term One Exhibition evening at the end of last term.<br />
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The video of the latter is here. My talk starts at the hour mark, but I do suggest watching the whole thing if you have a passion in Science education.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f-MEX5jL83Q" width="560"></iframe></div>
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The following Slide are a hybrid from my EduIgnite presentation and out Exhibition evening:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="380" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oXr3dwLaHHtNtQxbcTKygXzmh_i2927Gd7RIhAheel4/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="600"></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">The Positives</span></h3>
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Where to start...? This course was the highlight of my term. I loved working with these learners. I loved where they took the learning. The stand-out positives were:</div>
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<ul>
<li>The learning was (on the whole) self-directed</li>
<li>Learner engagement was excellent</li>
<li>Learners could identify what they learned through the course, without prompting</li>
<li>We had fun</li>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">The Negatives</span></h3>
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It wasn't all rosy. So long as we learn from these, and make "Proof!" better in the future. The main things that stood out as negatives/challenges were:</div>
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<li>Difficulty finding mentors in a timely fashion</li>
<li>Not being able to resource all of the directions the learners wanted to take with their learning (e.g. dissections as part of autopsy; gel electrophoresis for DNA testing). This was a "new school" issue, not being able to order the desired equipment etc. in time for the start of the course.</li>
<li>Time. The lack of mentors meant we dedicated more time to research and learning of skills than we had planned.</li>
<li>Learners (generally) made limited progress in their ability to solve a staged crime scene. This may have been due to the complexity of the second crime scene, but this cannot be assumed.</li>
<li>Learners did not provide enough evidence of mastery of their chosen skill. This may have also been due to the complexity of the second crime scene, but there were other avenues for learners to present evidence, specifically via the "Sequence Your Skill" assignment.</li>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">The Interesting</span></h3>
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I found it interesting that most learners were focused on either:</div>
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<ul>
<li>forensic science, or</li>
<li>police work (interrogation, specifically)</li>
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I expected more to be interested in the law aspect of the course. Only one learner went down this road of inquiry/learning.</div>
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The biggest "Wow!" moment of the course came with the learners who wanted the chance to write (and set up) a crime scene as their skill. I did not expect this; I did not plan for this; I was delighted by this. These two learners have shared their thoughts (and learning) in the Slides above. Check out how articulate they are about their own learning. They even identified their own mistakes in setting up the crime scene - one even had to clean hers up and start again, because her mistakes were irreversible.</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Reflection</span></h3>
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I cannot wait to offer this course again. I have already set up boxes with the resources for the most popular skills. I have already ordered some of the chemicals and equipment that we were lacking. Next time, I will make sure we have the connections with the NZ Police, lawyers and a university in place, so the learners have easy access to mentors, and so we have easier access to experts and equipment (such as gel electrophoresis). Next time, the assessment tasks will be handed out earlier, to make it very clear to every learner what evidence they needed to present. Next time, I will write the second crime scene (for consistency etc.), but encourage the learners to write any crime scene that may be in the celebration.</div>
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Finally, like many of the learners, I cannot wait for "Proof 2.0". I just don't know what it will look like yet... If you read this far, I would love to read your ideas for "Proof 2.0" in the Comments section.</div>
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Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-6730325580111981262017-02-21T20:48:00.000+13:002017-02-21T20:57:45.415+13:00Our Place, Our Story, Our IdentityIn Connected Learning over the past seven school days, we have been exploring the link between our place (country, province, district, town, school...), our journey (born here, moved here, migrated here...) and our identity as individuals and as a group. The learning is multi-disciplinary, involving elements of Social Sciences, Health, Mathematics, Science and English.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iCP1DElVNMJ0Xd3dTmjHuniT7aVQzRkFl3pxpbzuAXQ/embed?start=false&loop=true&delayms=5000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe></div>
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We provided a task that looked at two narratives behind the formation of Kā Tiritiri o te Moana (the Southern Alps). Kā Tiritiri o te Moana are at the boundary of our place, the Selwyn District. They are a major part of our place when we look further out to Waitaha (Canterbury), Te Waipounanu/Te Waka o Aoraki (the South Island), and Aotearoa (New Zealand).<br />
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<iframe height="500" src="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MpiZgUEzehcp3OqeY7-5Sf1Wz1eZFlnjTaRxevTSj7U/pub?embedded=true" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Ākonga did a very good job of summarising the two narratives into sequences that made it easy for the reader to see the flow of the key events. However, the evaluation of the importance of the two very different narratives was lost on most of them. In many cases, it was a bridge too far, and nothing was written (although time could have been a factor in this as well).</div>
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For many, they were happy to express an opinion about which was more relevant now - still fresh in many of their minds are the earthquakes we experience, that can be explained by the Plate Tectonic Theory but ākonga could not immediately see any link to the Ngāi Tahu narrative for these.<br />
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Despite ākonga generally not taking this as "deep" as I would have liked, I really enjoyed guiding them through the learning of these two narratives. I enjoyed the conversations and had to remind myself that these were only 12 and 13 year old students. I am enjoying giving feedback and advice when reviewing their responses. I always feel like ākonga have been offered a good learning opportunity when I enjoy reading and marking their work from the task.<br />
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When I reflect on this session, my main point to change would be the time allowance. We have 100 minute learning blocks, and this could easily have taken an entire block, particularly with the amazing human resources we have - 3-4 kaiako for 60 ākonga per block.<br />
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I would also consider altering the bullet-points used to guide them with their evaluation. I think challenging them about which story had more meaning for them, personally, might have led to even more interesting responses. Still, not too bad for their second piece of work in Connected Learning.</div>
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Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-12584105039426821952017-02-20T09:36:00.001+13:002017-02-20T09:36:40.800+13:00But I Don't Have Anything to Read...This is a bit of a follow-up post on <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2017/02/rolleston-reads.html" target="_blank">Rolleston Reads</a>. Today, I my Ako group decided they wanted to read today and Wednsday this week. Great idea...except that I left my book at home. So did one of the students. Two ākonga without a book. Hmmm...what to do?<br />
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The process of Rolleston Reads is my saving grace for this:<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-1ec7bf5c-5811-5c76-bc0d-04ccda225cba"><img alt="Untitled Diagram.png" height="230" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/NtRpi-E3hOCsIceoF98I4TuRVX1ZpGd7MsMMDNkruMdM4teiyc9nhdwkjlLphiYRHRdaw_gqSLrJ0IrYwAA-59OSSDOnx4iYRDrbuecXfXaskV_niqdtrJC6H5YcheCgquyqwp9Q2O0" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span>Because most of us have already done some reading, we do not all need to be in that step of the process. The student who left his book at home has done some non-digital reflection in his notebook. I have done some blogging (okay, not about my book, but about Rolleston Reads itself, instead).</span></div>
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<span>As I type, I see that another student has moved from finishing her book to starting her blog post about her reading. Another is making notes about her book as she reads. Everyone else is so engrossed in theire respective book that I dare not stop them yet!</span></div>
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<span>The process behind Rolleston Reads does more than just tell a student the answer to "What next?", it also tells all ākonga (me included) what we could do instead, if we have not come prepared for this session of Rolleston Reads. Simple, but effective.</span></div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-47419912438291937582017-02-16T17:49:00.000+13:002017-03-13T20:16:11.066+13:00Prove It!Last year, none of my Selected options had enough enrolments for the courses to run in Term One, 2017. Instead, I was asked if I wanted to take a class of "Proof", a course about forensic science and New Zealand law. Fortunately for me, and sadly for two other staff members who did the original course design and brief, there was a timetable clash which meant I was being offered the chance to lead one of the two classes of Proof.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TCk9yfJoPzaQ8E2X01j1dcRx_WsZ__IMi_bmcimizmqLM527A_hXMLaSht7WLwGrSWA8z46BHaxpRhFtD7FiBF8VwbTqjNYKvWbXrE1NYNqWszqbHeabBbbVdR3MxhoLT_cdwJkkQ6s/s1600/Proof.PNG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TCk9yfJoPzaQ8E2X01j1dcRx_WsZ__IMi_bmcimizmqLM527A_hXMLaSht7WLwGrSWA8z46BHaxpRhFtD7FiBF8VwbTqjNYKvWbXrE1NYNqWszqbHeabBbbVdR3MxhoLT_cdwJkkQ6s/s400/Proof.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yr6xuSuOKHmrMe3Zs_ZR6AAWIOOHLIRn4lnePAuD5zC4Ay2QKgXk34tHrhkXaoqWawqNB0yDL3E8qXobKEWJ94AvXxNoAFrFtIOIJEq03phR-mzwtMpmZc4HmdbQaggkJgvba7rKgzQ/s1600/Interviews.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yr6xuSuOKHmrMe3Zs_ZR6AAWIOOHLIRn4lnePAuD5zC4Ay2QKgXk34tHrhkXaoqWawqNB0yDL3E8qXobKEWJ94AvXxNoAFrFtIOIJEq03phR-mzwtMpmZc4HmdbQaggkJgvba7rKgzQ/s200/Interviews.PNG" width="200" /></a>A lot of planning went into getting this course ready and making it feel authentic, including writing a script for the first crime scene, setting up a crime scene, and preparing the evidence for the students to use. Some amazing colleagues gave up their own time to help with staged interviews, to plant evidence leading to them as suspects, and even to pop into class to be grilled by the students.</div>
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Today was my first 100 minute block, and all of the effort was worth it. I can honestly say that was one of the most invigourating, enjoyable "lessons" that I have ever "taught". Not only were the students engaged, they were challenged and having <u>fun</u>. Word must have got out, because we had a lot of visitors during the lesson...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5AE_LPwCwrtnPpFDGfB4m4-Sakd3uPjimnVuwBMfxmQB1RrO2tdNhCFP9sEkrLHGofzjp6Em55dCnKT46y3_urSI8C9zEY0PhFRVAFE7eFrAzaP_6nCdma7Np2Rs73i-OUdiuDperDo/s1600/Dossier.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5AE_LPwCwrtnPpFDGfB4m4-Sakd3uPjimnVuwBMfxmQB1RrO2tdNhCFP9sEkrLHGofzjp6Em55dCnKT46y3_urSI8C9zEY0PhFRVAFE7eFrAzaP_6nCdma7Np2Rs73i-OUdiuDperDo/s200/Dossier.PNG" width="200" /></a>It was a huge relief to see that our crime and available evidence is not too easy to solve. They may only be Year 9, but these students have already exceeded my expectations in other things in the first few weeks. Luckily, we have written in enough stumbling blocks and misdirection to keep them engaged, entertained and driven to succeed. They have been asking questions that I never considered when writing the script. Overachievers!!</div>
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We are very lucky. This is a Selected course, so students opt into it. We also have two uninterrupted 100 minute blocks on subsequent days (Monday and Tuesday for one class, and Thursday and Friday for my class). We have a small roll in a big school, so can close off a lab to set up as a crime scene. Only the last of those things will change in the future, and it is definitely not an insurmountable barrier.</div>
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I am buzzing at the moment, more than I ever have after a lesson in 17 years of teaching. I am genuinely excited about what lies ahead in Proof...<br />
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The grand plan goes something like this for "Proof 1.0":</div>
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<b>Week One:</b> Use evidence to solve a crime scene - Crime Scene #1. The evidence has been collected for you and suspects interviewed. Now use this information and your own observations to create a timeline and deduce "whodunit".</div>
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<b>Week Two:</b> Reflect on Crime Scene #1. What went well? What did not? Reveal the true story and reflect on our own conclusions and assumptions.</div>
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<b>Week Three:</b> Learn about some forensic and other crime-solving techniques via online games. Students will decide which skills they want to become experts in. We will seek out experts (and do some actual teaching and experiments, of course) to help students become competent at, for example, collecting and analysing fingerprints, or interviewing suspects, or collecting and analysing fibres. The students decide, we guide them to those who can help...</div>
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<b>Weeks Four-Six:</b> Learning skills and proving competence and/or proficiency in these skills. During this time, I will be writing Crime Scene #2, based upon the skills the students have elected to learn.</div>
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<b>Week Seven:</b> Crime Scene #2</div>
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<b>Week Eight: </b>Reflect upon Crime Scene #2. The class then plan and set up Crime Scene #3. This may be a Murder Mystery evening for teachers, parents and/or friends. It may be something completely different. The students get to choose how to celebrate the amazing learning they have achieved.</div>
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<i>Author's Note: Since writing this, there has been a change to the plan. More time has been needed for the exploring of key ideas, such as eyewitness testimony, which has put things back a bit. I am now co-writing Crime Scene #2 with one of the learners, and this will be the foundation of the Celebration of all ākonga learning. It may still be something we set up for friends, kaiako and/or whānau, but time constraints have forced a small change to the plan laid out here. M</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztlGMspOgOUxys_4XNwjRGTbRtvtEeQr_-0839v0CVOeETH5KLywE4uew-5VDo7xtqiSTrwIvghB9XgBKsOjhQwSyFCcLlyMc2CMArD3wSTgEKTmO2B13XXYCTE-LNVpi01XRrfQ9iXQ/s1600/Proof+Brief.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztlGMspOgOUxys_4XNwjRGTbRtvtEeQr_-0839v0CVOeETH5KLywE4uew-5VDo7xtqiSTrwIvghB9XgBKsOjhQwSyFCcLlyMc2CMArD3wSTgEKTmO2B13XXYCTE-LNVpi01XRrfQ9iXQ/s320/Proof+Brief.PNG" width="320" /></a>We will be offering learning experiences beyond the obvious scientific observation and analytical skills. "Proving" is tougher than "knowing". Writing convincing arguments. Articulating convincing points of views. Weighing up the value of evidence. Formulating questions for interrogations. Using evidence to catch people out on a lie. Teamwork. Resilience (there <i>will</i> be deception in Crime Scene #2, so students <i>will</i> get frustrated). Science. English. Social Sciences.</div>
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Then, we are looking at where we go from here: Proof 2.0. What will the next level of course look like? When will it be offered? Just for Year 10? For any student from any year level who has completed Proof 1.0? Will the timetable allow for that? Should it? Will Proof 2.0 provide opportunities for students to earn NCEA credits? Should it?</div>
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This is what teaching can be like. This is what learning can be like. And I get to do it all again tomorrow...</div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-78291417589694396692017-02-14T18:16:00.001+13:002017-02-21T20:50:52.321+13:00Rolleston ReadsPart of Ako time at Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata involves "Rolleston Reads". We read for 30 minutes with our students. Not very ground-breaking, is it? However, this is a big deal for me. I do not read enough. This is going to make me read more.<br />
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The other part that I like about Rolleston Reads is the processes we are instilling in the ākonga, and ourselves:<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-7ebeafa1-3af2-5a7b-4d6a-e2ef8d37764f"><img alt="Untitled Diagram.png" height="225" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/lT_Fz7YIybzupSrh1ejH15mwaLZVE8qW3n3bgeOBdYypqSYQbbyDQ86ka5EA0_yVTYnWtYFcL30ahWglTkkvK2IipRh_4DtOiSkwHg2b2RDitEFS-mifRlI0cd917joVDgdKFMok5rE" width="400" /></span></div>
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Today, we got reading. Today, we set up a blog. Today, we made some notes in our notebooks (on paper, not digital) about what we were reading. Once we have finished a book, we aim to write something about it, no matter how much or how little.</div>
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Today, every ākonga wrote something small about why they read. It is only fair that I model this practice here:</div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">Why I Read</span></h3>
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Ever since my eyesight started to deteriorate (in my early 20s), I have been a reluctant reader. I had a couple of favourite authors, such as Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton. Other than that, I only read non-fiction. I read for information, not for relaxation or pleasure. I want that to change. I still want to read non-fiction and have three books "on the go" at the moment. But I want to read for pleasure again <i>as well</i>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMcUt7WvcmvNJcIdd_guBwWQ_XuuwK2rqlyognoORf0WIU7sta3ab8Z9lIulyIgmWQPdxYW_1e6d9M3uMIGPrpuyqaghjcSa74uztQAyIYSnzt4f6voMbF7b9bO0MNL7f6R4ccAne1LDg/s1600/d95b5967a878259768927d399b0f391a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMcUt7WvcmvNJcIdd_guBwWQ_XuuwK2rqlyognoORf0WIU7sta3ab8Z9lIulyIgmWQPdxYW_1e6d9M3uMIGPrpuyqaghjcSa74uztQAyIYSnzt4f6voMbF7b9bO0MNL7f6R4ccAne1LDg/s320/d95b5967a878259768927d399b0f391a.jpg" width="212" /></a>I am starting off with something easy. I am a huge fan of the discontinued series, <i>Firefly</i>. There are now some graphic novels to complement the television series. I have bought the first three of these and am starting to "digest" them. I love them. I can "hear" the actor's voices in my head when I read their respective characters' dialogue.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Today, I finished reading <i>Better Days and Other Stories</i>. I learned more about River and Book and was left wondering what happened to Wash after the TV series.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A story where River calmly returns after killing a group of scoundrels gave me a quietening insight into her character, and Shepherd Book's. River proclaimed to Book that it was easy...then commented that he has found it easy as well, hasn't he? I can't wait to read <i>The Shepherd's Tale</i> to get more insight into Book's past!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The story told through the recollections of past shipmates of Wash was difficult to read, simply because I wondered about the reason for their reunion. The ending was ambiguous but still left me thinking that Wash has died, but not until after Zoe had become pregnant. The final scene shows a very pregnant Zoe proclaiming that Wash's daughter will also be a helluva pilot...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HvC-vHT46RqSKaizSm3WnaVj1GcrI_M0vTI8zXWuqq3Fa-DA9Js_kwa5N4yrRdjJ8IS3wb6ZuxImOVHf4fN63VeMCW2zozVXay18-fT3rp-9XCjHeIzGX6kJr8Yx7gkwwVIDzt-RKlY/s1600/DH18741lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HvC-vHT46RqSKaizSm3WnaVj1GcrI_M0vTI8zXWuqq3Fa-DA9Js_kwa5N4yrRdjJ8IS3wb6ZuxImOVHf4fN63VeMCW2zozVXay18-fT3rp-9XCjHeIzGX6kJr8Yx7gkwwVIDzt-RKlY/s320/DH18741lg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
These stories keep me hooked on the <i>Firefly </i>and <i>Serenity</i> franchise, despite their demise as a television series. Who knows, maybe Fox (or some other channel) might reboot <i>Firefly</i>. It seems to be the vogue thing to do these days... Shiny!!</div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-19922600141599689522017-01-19T11:27:00.000+13:002017-02-17T07:03:14.427+13:00Going Solo in a Collaborative World<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ">Yeah, I
admit it: that was a catchy title to grab your attention! This is about my views on SOLO Taxonomy, my new
role at Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata, and what I hope to learn from this
role. </span>At the end
of last year, I was appointed to a role supporting the implementation of SOLO
Taxonomy into the teaching and learning in the College.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ"></span><br />
<h2>
<span lang="mi-NZ"><span style="color: #134f5c;">WHAT IS
SOLO TAXONOMY?</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ"><br /></span></div>
<span lang="mi-NZ">SOLO is an acronym for
“Structure of Observed Laerning Outcomes”. In New Zealand, </span><a href="http://pamhook.com/" target="_blank"><span lang="mi-NZ">PamHook</span></a><span lang="mi-NZ"> is the guru of
implementation of SOLO Taxonomy into schools.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9JtpCDXXssDg2pMr-UBMwraRsJsonRCpYO8JBV9UAJ_GN0KvrdhEi1X1ctmFT6jexo0sE_ePXkCTxwycwsKua7Ox8NaGAHPVIOnf9h4Eg-P-ILCW2MjrUzE8UDde491DPbWG1wRsjB0/s1600/compare+and+contrast.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9JtpCDXXssDg2pMr-UBMwraRsJsonRCpYO8JBV9UAJ_GN0KvrdhEi1X1ctmFT6jexo0sE_ePXkCTxwycwsKua7Ox8NaGAHPVIOnf9h4Eg-P-ILCW2MjrUzE8UDde491DPbWG1wRsjB0/s320/compare+and+contrast.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A SOLO HOTMap (graphic organiser).<br />
To get full access to these, contact <a href="http://pamhook.com/" target="_blank">Pam Hook</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ">At my last
school, I was very fortunate to have been exposed to SOLO Taxonomy from Day
One. Pam led Professional Learning during a Teacher-Only Day, and provided
ongoing support. I was impressed with the </span><a href="http://pamhook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/HOT-SOLOTaxonomyPoster_Verbs.pdf" target="_blank"><span lang="mi-NZ">common language</span></a><span lang="mi-NZ"> (much like any other taxonomy that
I had been exposed to beforehand) and the graphic organisers for helping
students get started – you do need to sign up with Pam to get access to these. I
thought the </span><a href="http://pamhook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/HOT-SOLOTaxonomyPoster.pdf" target="_blank"><span lang="mi-NZ">symbols</span></a><span lang="mi-NZ"> were a bit abstract at first, but I now “get”
them. I was overwhelmed by the </span><a href="http://pamhook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/SOLO-Functioning-Knowledge-Rubric-Template.pdf" target="_blank"><span lang="mi-NZ">rubrics</span></a><span lang="mi-NZ">, but saw the huge value in helping students be
explicitly aware of what was required from them to have deeper knowledge and/or
understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ"><span style="color: #134f5c;">MY INTRODUCTION
TO SOLO TAXONOMY</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ"><br /></span>
<span lang="mi-NZ">As the “new
kid on the block”, I was more than happy to adopt SOLO Taxonomy. This was what
the school saw value in and I had applied for the job because I had the utmost
respect for this school. Pam had made it very clear that you didn’t need to be
an expert to try using it. She recommended starting something eay, like using
SOLO verbs in our lesson Specific Learning Outcomes, first. As I was already in
the habit of writing these on the board at the start of every lesson, this was
a natural place to start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ">I was also
a strong believer in providing students with graphic organisers to help them
get started with work, and to offer some guidance for how “deeply” they should
aim to take the task. Therefore, I took it a step further than what Pam
suggested and started using the graphic organisers as well. That meant I had,
by default, created a requirement to give feedback in terms of the SOLO
Taxonomy. The symbols and terms (prestructural, unistructural etc.) had to be
adopted and visible in my classroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ">Communication
with students and parents was needed to explain what these meant. I nailed the
first part, but failed in the second. The school did a very good job at
providing information for parents, so I presumed I just had to report progress
in terms of SOLO. Not quite. More explicit explanation from me, the classroom
teacher, was needed. The classroom time I invested into teaching the students
about what SOLO meant for them and their learning did need to be replicated for
their parents. I fell short on that front.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ">The next
time Pam visited our school, I was asked to go to the TV Studio to be filmed talking about
SOLO in my practice and in my specialist subject, Science. It was still early
days for me, but a lot of this still holds true:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="mi-NZ"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4xhaGDiqZWM" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="mi-NZ" style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="mi-NZ" style="color: windowtext;">One of the
key things I found with implementing SOLO Taxonomy was that it was being used
across multiple Learning Areas, particularly Science, Mathematics, Social
Sciences and Health/Physical Education. At Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata,
this needs to be a consideration. However, as our teaching and learning is, by
its very nature, going to be multi-discipline, this should not be difficult to
implement, monitor and maintain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="mi-NZ" style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #134f5c;">SOLO TAXONOMY IN MY TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2011, our Science Department had started to move from
SOLO use only in class and homework tasks to being <i>the </i>way we would report student progress and achievement. We
redesigned our assessments to include SOLO verbs, graphic organisers to help
students plan and start their answers, and rubrics for marking and providing
feedback for “next steps”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By 2012, our Year 9 and 10 exams had strong SOLO elements in
them, which correlated well with the work done in classrooms, and allowed
students to express their thinking better. We kept things like multiple-choice,
short answer and graphing in our tests and exams, as these could explicitly assess
content knowledge and critical scientific skills. With the advantage of
hindsight, I feel that we undervalued the SOLO-centred tasks, giving more relative
weighting to the content knowledge in the exams. If I could do that again, I
would not change the format of the tests and exams, but would place a lot more value
on the tasks assessed using SOLO Taxonomy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDO2Xe0L8TYBYfRsdncpfKYAMzKz5VzcY2zGt3bPTvus2c9bZb1E6z8QQbemAhoXy-STrDvUI9_JgbQJUZZudNE1sfC7I37WGR3P4Dl3OT4J7sNJnRytVIn3RlJo1Qo7pckROivsRj3k/s1600/HOTSOLOVisualRubric-Describe_450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDO2Xe0L8TYBYfRsdncpfKYAMzKz5VzcY2zGt3bPTvus2c9bZb1E6z8QQbemAhoXy-STrDvUI9_JgbQJUZZudNE1sfC7I37WGR3P4Dl3OT4J7sNJnRytVIn3RlJo1Qo7pckROivsRj3k/s320/HOTSOLOVisualRubric-Describe_450.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Visual Rubric<br />
SOURCE: <a href="http://pamhook.com/2016/08/27/essence-of-wet-dog-thinking/" target="_blank">http://pamhook.com/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the best things about the work in our department in
2012 was the use of <a href="http://pamhook.com/2016/08/27/essence-of-wet-dog-thinking/" target="_blank">visual rubrics</a>. They made it much easier to make judgments about student work and
provide quick feedback for the students’ “next steps”. As a department, we also
put together more detail rubrics for marking. These were very similar to what
we see NZQA produce for marking NCEA assessments. Students could be given
either (or both) of these rubrics to help them understand the level of thinking
they had communicated, and to see what would be needed to show deeper thinking
in the future. I do not think I used the visual rubrics nearly as often as I
should have, and will look into using them more in feedback and learning
discussions in the future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By 2013, SOLO Taxonomy was being used by me in all of my
classes, not just in Years 9 and 10. I was so fluent in the use of SOLO with
Years 9 and 10 that I wrote a <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/flying-solo.html" target="_blank">reflection</a>
on why it worked so well for me and for my students. In Years 11-13, students
were more interested in the NCEA Achievement grades. Therefore, SOLO was used
for learning and feedback related to specific tasks, while the NCEA grades were
used as judgments for assessed work, such as past exam questions or practice
internal assessments. Most homework tasks were the latter, while most in-class
tasks were the former.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfynQy9ZMp6OlDnvm9p4xSGp_K_6lDstQMJ5aRtte_ePV3WnIvGNyqOy9z112ZCCzyCNsFgDt2Rx7hDAHXpxkShIJqWfPX3x30of0Xrc7O_DrX2nFYXci_uGiEmvxN713jH8cxm4VzIQ/s1600/WIN_20140812_110655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfynQy9ZMp6OlDnvm9p4xSGp_K_6lDstQMJ5aRtte_ePV3WnIvGNyqOy9z112ZCCzyCNsFgDt2Rx7hDAHXpxkShIJqWfPX3x30of0Xrc7O_DrX2nFYXci_uGiEmvxN713jH8cxm4VzIQ/s320/WIN_20140812_110655.JPG" width="320" /></a>2013 was the year that I was introduced to SOLO Hexagons. I
saw these as a vehicle for making the learning more student-centred. I had
already <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/student-driven-unit-planning.html" target="_blank">tried to make the learning more student-centred with my senior Chemistry classes in2013</a>, with <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/student-directed-unit-planning-update.html">mixed
success</a>. It was an engaging way for students to learn and gave them
ownership. It lacked a way to show the relationship <i>between</i> concepts. I felt that hexagons might be a way for students to
visually and explicitly create those links. <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/exploring-organic-chemistry-with-solo.html" target="_blank">In 2014, I tried again</a>, this time with hexagons in my kete. I do not think we
fully exploited the potential of using the hexagons, but it was a start. I had <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/solo-hexagons-reflection.html" target="_blank">a few ideas after reflecting</a> on this second attempt.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2015 and 2016, some of those ideas had really come to fruition,
particularly in Year 12 and Year 13 Organic Chemistry. We also used SOLO-driven
tasks for the learning of Spectroscopy, and Atomic Structure and Periodicity.
However, time pressures did limit the amount we could actually explore the
concepts in class. Many of the gamification ideas were left with the students
to take or leave. They proved useful revision tools in class. The “Hexagon
Challenges” were something we only had time for once or twice within the unit.
That was a shame, as I am interested to see whether this reinforcement would
have a positive influence on the students making links between the key concepts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="color: #134f5c;">COLLABORATIVELY SOLO</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am excited about my role in implementing SOLO at Rolleston
College Horoeka Haemata in 2017. There are a few elements that really “float my
boat” about this opportunity:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Cross-Curricular use of SOLO</li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Supporting other staff</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">“Leading from behind”</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Reflection</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The very nature of how learning is structured at Rolleston
College Horoeka Haemata means that SOLO will be utilised across different
Learning Areas. I envisage that we will need to find and/or develop tasks,
rubrics etc. that measure student success in dispositions that transition
different Learning Areas. Conversely, I expect that there will need to be
success criteria specific to each Learning Area within each topic, or even
within each task.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I see this as an excellent opportunity for me to learn about
other learning areas while supporting other teachers’ needs in developing
success criteria, tasks, rubrics etc. What will be measured? How will it be
measured? How will this be reported? Each Learning Area has its only
peculiarities. Which ones are critical in the success criteria for each task?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I see my role as one of supporting other staff to upskill in
SOLO, while also looking at how SOLO might satisfy their needs or complement
their current practice. From our time together in Term Four 2016, it is clear
that we are not only a very collegial group, but we are well on the road to
being a strongly collaborative team. This has made me think seriously about how
I want to “lead” the implementation of SOLO in the College.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So often, when asked to “lead” something in the past, I have
looked to drive it as an “expert”, taking others on a predetermined journey.
From this point forwards, I found it easier to support individual needs.
Interestingly, it was often how I taught my students as well… I expect that
things will be much different in this role at Rolleston College Horoeka
Haemata. The idea of “<a href="https://hbr.org/2010/05/leading-from-behind" target="_blank">Leading from Behind</a>” is one that I really want to experience,
and I hope that this role will be more in this mould.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata, Learning Leaders are currently
synonymous to Heads of Department at most other New Zealand Secondary Schools.
Serving and supporting their needs is critical in leading the implementation of
SOLO Taxonomy, in my opinion. Rather than directing Learning Leaders in how
they should be incorporating and implementing SOLO, I expect that I will be
doing a lot of listening and asking many questions. <i>How</i> can SOLO help with that problem? <i>How</i> can SOLO help measure that? <i>How</i>
can SOLO support student learning in this? I wonder if I will need to be the
point of contact for parents who need clarification of “this SOLO thing”. If I
do a good job, I expect that this would not be the case in the future, though…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my reflections of using SOLO Taxonomy in the past, one of
the big questions was why it lost traction in the NCEA years with so many
colleagues and with students. Was it just a change in focus, or was it less
relevant beyond Year 10? Did we SOLO-assess too often? Were the correlations between
SOLO (for learning) and NCEA grades (for assessment) not made clear enough?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If, despite a staff that are “sold” on SOLO, we see a similar
lack of traction at my current school, it will be critical to ask why. I see
this reflection (and the potential for teaching inquiry around this) to be the
bases of this role if it continues beyond 2017, along with continued support
for colleagues, particularly new staff. For now, though, let’s get started in
leading the implementation of SOLO in a highly collaborative workplace. I am
looking forward to a role in which I will learn a lot, while also getting to
apply my experience to new challenges and opportunities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-15404879353701050692016-11-03T11:11:00.000+13:002016-11-03T20:31:16.544+13:00A Chance to Read<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvLPyNeMm5WbA4c-rBRzW6G5Z8ABhV2g8AWvIp97oABTz47htKq_rB5zfoYkebxtyYv3HBfQv6HEtX2nOd1xTp-0JdlaouFcrQbxbNA81i20pNMF0P1Tsu5dt2z7KRjRXnjH1mCOHalg/s1600/4408703896_d83d8a9b05_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvLPyNeMm5WbA4c-rBRzW6G5Z8ABhV2g8AWvIp97oABTz47htKq_rB5zfoYkebxtyYv3HBfQv6HEtX2nOd1xTp-0JdlaouFcrQbxbNA81i20pNMF0P1Tsu5dt2z7KRjRXnjH1mCOHalg/s200/4408703896_d83d8a9b05_z.jpg" width="135" /></a>Today's first task suited me in more than one way. We had to "read" something, and we had to write a blog post. I use quotation marks because every "reading" option was a video being read out to us. That was useful for me because I am a really slow reader!! As for being given time to write a blog post, well...<br />
<br />
The given options were:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 16.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U"><span style="color: #0097a7;">Ken
Robinson - Changing Paradigms</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 16.0pt;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><a href="https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate/2010/05/rsa-animate---the-empathic-civilisation"><span style="color: #0097a7;">Jeremy Rifkin - The Empathic Civilization</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate/2010/09/rsa-animate---21st-century-enlightenment" style="font-size: 12pt;">Matthew Taylor - 21st Century Enlightenment</a><br />
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I chose to "read" Daniel Pink, primarily because I intend to start properly reading his book over the summer holidays. I bought it for my Kindle, so I have made that commitment to myself already.</div>
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I liked the idea that, <i>provided you take money out of the equation</i>, separate studies have identified a few common motivators:</div>
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<li>autonomy (give me the space and time to do things my own way)</li>
<li>mastery (I want to get better at this)</li>
<li>purpose (this is meaningful to me, my family, my society, my planet...)</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm7iAKseLcrQNRmtk3tcuO3N_WlIiXvjR70xHJcRMsAaMy9quYaZ5ILALrv3-1bDYwTymAlTG2s7TDXfcBCfoAiCKXLlXdHdCBomx9RZLMR89UArrIwUVDYt2zciAKamJ_kXYJbQKP0I4/s1600/6355351769_766503f534_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm7iAKseLcrQNRmtk3tcuO3N_WlIiXvjR70xHJcRMsAaMy9quYaZ5ILALrv3-1bDYwTymAlTG2s7TDXfcBCfoAiCKXLlXdHdCBomx9RZLMR89UArrIwUVDYt2zciAKamJ_kXYJbQKP0I4/s200/6355351769_766503f534_b.jpg" width="200" /></a>These resonate with me. I do find that these are my primary motivators. What a pity, though: I thought I was special!! I also find that when I am under financial pressure, these are not necessarily my key motivators and drivers. Money definitely needs to be taken out of the equation... I wonder how much money individuals need to take the issue of money off the table. I wonder how governments and businesses can afford this amount of money to everyone. I wonder how they cannot!</div>
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I like that these findings are claimed to be based upon evidence. I hope only two examples are expanded upon to maintain the flow of the argument, not because the others were flawed or contrary. I wonder about some of the details of the investigations. What data was collected? How was this data collected? What were the tasks being employed to measure the impact of monetary motivation?<br />
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Now for some more reading...</div>
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Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-86307984646548882772016-11-02T15:50:00.000+13:002016-11-03T08:22:43.336+13:00My New Tools<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJGt5Q5Ny4sVZ9MqEUnazSnmiaDEq_D0ApyyTAiA-NtvdQKaMgZ51CDjSfvur4K-YxuvZf1YFoc18ngkNsmIGzTMs8jQShH9ae_ZpE23wO1weg32jXS5wB9ElEsSKaqtDO7kleSrfk6g/s1600/tools-191794_960_720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJGt5Q5Ny4sVZ9MqEUnazSnmiaDEq_D0ApyyTAiA-NtvdQKaMgZ51CDjSfvur4K-YxuvZf1YFoc18ngkNsmIGzTMs8jQShH9ae_ZpE23wO1weg32jXS5wB9ElEsSKaqtDO7kleSrfk6g/s320/tools-191794_960_720.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The tasks we have been set in our first few weeks at Rolleston College/Horoeaka Haemata have had the side effect of adding some new tools to my kit. Hopefully the learning at our school next year will provide the opportunities and time for this same growth for students, and for me!<br />
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1. CONVERT POWERPOINT AND/OR PUBLISHER TO IMAGE</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46T4hHDBDR-ZI8Mhfy8Atf4zT5hn5v-N6abQ-EPHrZ1HEmNXqvPhFKobS-pVkbXr6YobfIg1YvrjfsekkEynASGQrBTPUD9ka5Smj5NgQUbSU4fcW5GYJiS-A61zcZM3h5GrQQ1f7Nnc/s1600/Microsoft_PowerPoint_2013_logo.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46T4hHDBDR-ZI8Mhfy8Atf4zT5hn5v-N6abQ-EPHrZ1HEmNXqvPhFKobS-pVkbXr6YobfIg1YvrjfsekkEynASGQrBTPUD9ka5Smj5NgQUbSU4fcW5GYJiS-A61zcZM3h5GrQQ1f7Nnc/s200/Microsoft_PowerPoint_2013_logo.svg.png" width="200" /></a>While I was using MovieMaker (don't judge - it was what I had at my disposal) to create video records of our work, I needed ways to make static images. I also had some fun with the built-in features of MovieMaker to pan across, or zoom in/out of the static images. I also found the need to make composite images for my work in Canva.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVMzSx-0E1wptxCqLnynhFpBsNv4XILzc3pqunjP7-859d9WaG6bYeWXxT3DItoYT3Qtur72D6LW8GfBwJTiTpjqd0tD_o6ILLC7KmjBPCDbG1w6JjNh1dr8eIdyy2nF_Sv0utb7to4To/s1600/Microsoft_Publisher-Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVMzSx-0E1wptxCqLnynhFpBsNv4XILzc3pqunjP7-859d9WaG6bYeWXxT3DItoYT3Qtur72D6LW8GfBwJTiTpjqd0tD_o6ILLC7KmjBPCDbG1w6JjNh1dr8eIdyy2nF_Sv0utb7to4To/s200/Microsoft_Publisher-Logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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I had forgotten that you can do your work in PowerPoint or Publisher (horses for courses, or personal preference), then save them as JPEGs or PNGs, which can be used in MovieMaker and any other apps/programmes that require images, such as Canva and ThingLink (I am still learning to play with ThingLink, but it looks useful).</div>
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I liked using PowerPoint better, because I could create a series of slides (a presentation, if you will), then turn all of these into separate images in a folder. That made inserting them into a movie project very easy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbI0kZ5rB4BTuVRX_svf53LgxiRBOn_SrbdqFtdEoZk3ibennQKauhlRTCw0qHRBA9pDOXAGzujhNsH4PM8lkQ2XHJ_4lPoXnry4kek9TRPeVaQvUd0yxii_WbXB1Ig4YLhkWy-PDOGU/s1600/Robots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbI0kZ5rB4BTuVRX_svf53LgxiRBOn_SrbdqFtdEoZk3ibennQKauhlRTCw0qHRBA9pDOXAGzujhNsH4PM8lkQ2XHJ_4lPoXnry4kek9TRPeVaQvUd0yxii_WbXB1Ig4YLhkWy-PDOGU/s320/Robots.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlr87v9tx5I9lf4807byPUi3SbQ8uNLdTV1cSaG2xPTg0Ae92DYcVdVixEEhnThXbC2AYfiC7K6emI6Ri5WpKgMzxnmofPWdOWJ9HFFEFtM3zD880iPnYtfb2LaPKaQt0Cn6OTRHX8qQ/s1600/Canva_Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlr87v9tx5I9lf4807byPUi3SbQ8uNLdTV1cSaG2xPTg0Ae92DYcVdVixEEhnThXbC2AYfiC7K6emI6Ri5WpKgMzxnmofPWdOWJ9HFFEFtM3zD880iPnYtfb2LaPKaQt0Cn6OTRHX8qQ/s200/Canva_Logo.png" width="200" /></a>2. CANVA</h4>
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We were trying to put together an AppSmash into a digital, interactive poster. Canva was a really useful tool for collating the work every team member did, and to present it in a visually-pleasing way.</div>
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We could embed links to slides, videos, audio files and images in our Google Drives, and to YouTube.</div>
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Since learning to use this, I have also used it to make a collage of ideas that were sparked in an activity earlier today.</div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/a/rollestoncollege.nz/file/d/0B3GCfLSIWmIWc1l3dEpSUzV2MEk/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QjmuWTxMq2ES_ll4KZhYpRzo-7gBk9QdtdKycHotOslfPJs250mO_NO2KvN7-ShrLZc_VyKlXn8HwubZRk_xT59-JuQLhng5O5Q5Uuyj5LucCJgjjvGueFfYsAjc4-8poc0MaAnuzWo/s320/Spirit+Challenge+Poster.PNG" width="320" /></a><span id="goog_1222324988"></span><span id="goog_1222324989"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/a/rollestoncollege.nz/file/d/0B3GCfLSIWmIWcHRlUkNxRkU2ZG8/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsd7st8-CCrJMGaNHg-08OemKycNw-ijsgcX3GTf0RhHzuCt1us1QAJjujLCbgqRP_rMzCW7m7Eo9VP6BVJw1U0NxG8aXQhzoBZP_ggbgGfFhWHjqWQfdK15zJLqRbnL1wqgDEY2ZXImg/s400/Robots+Sustain+Poster.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EohBApeyx6Nw1tgapLdk0tcNiD4kBcCbbpgtetLpfqrtiE-ReP8OviNEfSsMeWyWNeCvWKzU3XLs3CriFpbnaDPJQWGSJdIhK244vYjU0J8GLLPACVHk2UNlU-0KIPqlM9SRa5HY2Ho/s1600/Sites.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EohBApeyx6Nw1tgapLdk0tcNiD4kBcCbbpgtetLpfqrtiE-ReP8OviNEfSsMeWyWNeCvWKzU3XLs3CriFpbnaDPJQWGSJdIhK244vYjU0J8GLLPACVHk2UNlU-0KIPqlM9SRa5HY2Ho/s320/Sites.PNG" width="320" /></a>3. GOOGLE SITES</h4>
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I have never played with Sites, although we did need to upload work of ours, and links to some of our work (such as our blogs) into a shared Site. There was a need, so I learned...</div>
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Then, we were given time to create our own site, to get a feeling for the kinds of things we <i>might</i> be getting ākonga to do. Sites seem a bit clunky for now, but apparently there are some exciting ("pretty") changes ahead. It seems to be a good way to store an electronic portfolio. It was easy to get started, too...</div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-62380100589765131472016-10-23T11:05:00.001+13:002016-11-03T08:21:47.504+13:00A School with No Students...Yet<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83S2kZ0Y3UQUFVdUCdsVjReSj_qhrTpRSMhFS2T2lcewDDBZ73q3cbg9z81uuTVpL4EhfZUMRBIcO5uyfXn0RT4OzmlHd2enK7WxYFLggCv5tc-_ZbRquiCCSQ7dxBUe7JJLDFuhIXKA/s1600/rolleston-college-logo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83S2kZ0Y3UQUFVdUCdsVjReSj_qhrTpRSMhFS2T2lcewDDBZ73q3cbg9z81uuTVpL4EhfZUMRBIcO5uyfXn0RT4OzmlHd2enK7WxYFLggCv5tc-_ZbRquiCCSQ7dxBUe7JJLDFuhIXKA/s200/rolleston-college-logo-1.jpg" width="197" /></a>Two weeks have passed at Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata. Two weeks working at a school with no students and hosted by another school (West Rolleston Primary School/Te Kura o Te Uru Kōwhai). It sounds a bit like a dream, doesn't it? All this time and space to...well, to do what?<br />
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I am relieved for the long weekend, because a lack of students has definitely not meant a lack of tasks to achieve or an "easy ride". It is just a different kind of busy. I have always fed off the energy and enthusiasm of students, so that driving force is actually missing. However, it has been replaced by highly enthused colleagues, and lots and lots of coffee!<br />
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The way our first two weeks have been structured has actually made me reflect a lot on what it must be like for students/ākonga. We had the excitement of the first few days, and getting to know each other and our place (including elements of the community). Friendships and working relationships have started to form. The expectations of those leading the learning have started to become more transparent. The learning tasks have been rich and every one of us has put in a genuine effort to complete each task to a high level.<br />
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The richness and relevance of the tasks (as well as the realistic time frames) have ensured high levels of engagement and that we actually <i>want</i> to work on them outside the allocated time allowed each day. We are not being <i>made</i> to do "homework", but we are <i>choosing</i> to do it anyway. Add into that the fact that most tasks are collaborative and each individual is striving not to let the rest of the group down. It is a great learning environment. It is fun, rewarding and a bit tiring being ākonga!!<br />
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As a teacher/kaiako, non-contact time is often used to mark student work, plan future lessons/tasks/units or maybe organise some extra-/co-curricular activity. It definitely isn't downtime. At Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata, we are given some individual learning time. Some of us collaborate on the tasks we have due this week. Some of us retreat into a corner to read, reflect or work on our own. Some of us need the time out and throw a rugby ball around, talk over coffee or kick a shuttlecock around.<br />
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The busy schedule of the last couple of days of last week meant this individual time was not available, and it was missed. Some of us did early starts to collaborate on our big learning task. Others did late finishes for the same reason. What I have learned from this is the value of "downtime", both for kaiako and for ākonga. Our students need time to reflect or even get active in the day. As teachers, we also need that time to do what is best for us.<br />
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The other standout from the past two weeks has been how flexible the daily programme has been. The leadership team must have a timeline and agenda, and it feels like we are making good progress. However, tasks and schedules have been adjusted in response to our needs as learners on a day-by-day basis. This makes me feel as though my needs and well-being/hauora are valued. This makes it very easy to get up in the morning and be excited about going to work. I hope ākonga will feel the same when we start working with them.<br />
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While we have not been treated like students in the first two weeks, I feel that we have learned a more immediate empathy and understanding for what it is like to be one. For a group of motivated ākonga/kaiako, engagement and quality of work are maintained at a high level through:<br />
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<ul>
<li>authentic tasks</li>
<li>tasks that are meaningful to the individual</li>
<li>collaborative tasks</li>
<li>realistic time frames</li>
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Additionally, the hauora of ākonga/kaiako has been accounted for in the structure of the day and the flexibility of the programme in response to us as learners. As well as managing our workload, it keeps us in a frame of mind to do our best work, and to be good collaborators. So, it is a new school with no students, but the teachers are the learners at the moment. That can only be a good thing for the students!</div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-11172291922974409992016-10-18T23:51:00.001+13:002016-11-03T08:18:41.025+13:00Subject Communities, not Silos…<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtxTR5CBsq9z-8uWV7Nxp0LRdQtILmHgxkyDOCOC16rMPAlu-tGu1BXxdOJjhG7GyhqIWWuEFIB4rjent69ZGJyyrixhWGORPNmGt0w8u86lOMIPl8NhsKYpe8sf_sM6UXJUWen-js7s/s1600/Nautilus_fullcolour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtxTR5CBsq9z-8uWV7Nxp0LRdQtILmHgxkyDOCOC16rMPAlu-tGu1BXxdOJjhG7GyhqIWWuEFIB4rjent69ZGJyyrixhWGORPNmGt0w8u86lOMIPl8NhsKYpe8sf_sM6UXJUWen-js7s/s200/Nautilus_fullcolour.jpg" width="200" /></a>During the week, two of our tasks involved the unpacking
of two Learning Areas from the New Zealand Curriculum: one given to us (<i>not</i> one we strongly identified with –
unfamiliar text, you might say…); and the one we most strongly identified with.
For me, this meant the first task was to try and unpack Health and Physical
Education and to present what I thought to others, one of whom was actually an
HPE specialist! For the second task, I worked with another Science specialist to
unpack this Learning Area, and present the key elements (and “non-negotiables”)
to all other staff.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_TL8IORPttIoOSq1i6g5Ni00CTWC2tsWzgXu41SBr8XDyEaHrT2z0gB3perBF_mnsO4MY8YqZbNCyPzsI3sqqrZDE_PTxuBtjC_86jHhnHbCKsvYX7dxHy4QByPBBEwLNhBKji9ueWY/s1600/community.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_TL8IORPttIoOSq1i6g5Ni00CTWC2tsWzgXu41SBr8XDyEaHrT2z0gB3perBF_mnsO4MY8YqZbNCyPzsI3sqqrZDE_PTxuBtjC_86jHhnHbCKsvYX7dxHy4QByPBBEwLNhBKji9ueWY/s200/community.jpg" width="200" /></a>One of our Senior Leaders talked about how we needed to
be respectful when unpacking Learning Areas that were not our own. He addressed
the term “Silos” that keeps being bandied around. He explained that he preferred
to think of these more as Communities. This resonated with me. These
Communities are populated by people. These people have adapted to be successful
in these Communities. These people know what the key elements are for being
successful in their respective Community. These strengths and predispositions need
to be respected when we try to communicate which elements we see as being
important in our new (broader, connected) Community of Learning…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExbGC9lz2Gd4SifWsrrZeIJkwjtmYnzBopQJ3wpzO_MnYLBrEdVj9LzZLQENk30al_gF2yA3aUV_2zZS8VQNwOVrzJY9dGlhuiJdtOQ0h_YXwSbxY-_x59MsmSNPGZ40J3qxMG2nod1U/s1600/gears-1381719_960_720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExbGC9lz2Gd4SifWsrrZeIJkwjtmYnzBopQJ3wpzO_MnYLBrEdVj9LzZLQENk30al_gF2yA3aUV_2zZS8VQNwOVrzJY9dGlhuiJdtOQ0h_YXwSbxY-_x59MsmSNPGZ40J3qxMG2nod1U/s200/gears-1381719_960_720.jpg" width="200" /></a>If we think of Silos instead, it is very easy to forget
the human side of the Learning Areas. I know that I immediately think of each
Silo being a different part of a machine, doing its own unique and important role,
that contributes to the functioning of the machine we call Student Learning. To
get those Silos (machine parts) to work together successfully takes a fair bit
of coordination. It often takes students a long time to see the connections
between the parts. I guess this analogy works for me as well, but it lacks the
human element of Communities. I like the human element.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What about those tasks?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<h1>
Unfamiliar Learning Area</h1>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZNqucB4-Wk1TfkI53U9r_m9eGlBzyMsBmwINSN6iLBo_aPCHqhkECSRLS9vih3Fz4kgMEm0Z0z7w2nxlW9XktLG0h7JfhfqPu0_ui0Wx2HoP0pgSCIUpjunvVfXtl0PoJ1H0xuzCDe8/s1600/HPE.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZNqucB4-Wk1TfkI53U9r_m9eGlBzyMsBmwINSN6iLBo_aPCHqhkECSRLS9vih3Fz4kgMEm0Z0z7w2nxlW9XktLG0h7JfhfqPu0_ui0Wx2HoP0pgSCIUpjunvVfXtl0PoJ1H0xuzCDe8/s320/HPE.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We were given a period of time to try and break the Learning
Area down into 20 (or so) words/key points. From this, we had to break it down
into only five!! When discussing multi-disciplinary learning with peers in the
past, the common concern has been about the potential for “dilution” of content
and key skills. This thought struck me again – only five words/key points?!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Once I started, it was surprising how easily this
Learning Area unpacked. A couple of different ways to arrange the Learning Area
quickly evolved for me: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<u>Four Strands/Contexts</u><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Personal Health and Physical Development</li>
<li>Movement Concepts and Motor Skill</li>
<li>Relationships with Other People</li>
<li>Healthy Communities and Environments</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p> </o:p><u>Four Concepts</u></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Hauora</li>
<li>Attitudes and values</li>
<li>The socio-ecological perspective</li>
<li>Health promotion</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ultimately, though, I felt that everything emanated from
Hauora. Therefore, I felt I had my five words, so long as I showed their
interdependence with arrows:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEivJQFqJMyVI9hwvODP4Mu9Kqx_s8Np9KmKiSYQPTqPEicTI9qBmSdMVz_4HpoCRYPaHti_jTkrkGFqqHXat1r3qSk_CZfgp975VEZCg2E30H5R6_w5sRSAirf40Sbt5w6EVlbMBFCjk/s1600/HPE+Diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEivJQFqJMyVI9hwvODP4Mu9Kqx_s8Np9KmKiSYQPTqPEicTI9qBmSdMVz_4HpoCRYPaHti_jTkrkGFqqHXat1r3qSk_CZfgp975VEZCg2E30H5R6_w5sRSAirf40Sbt5w6EVlbMBFCjk/s400/HPE+Diagram.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Then came the tough part. Share this with someone from
the HPE Community. When I fleshed out my simple little diagram with some thoughts
about context and content, this was received much better than I thought!!</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<h1>
Familiar Learning Area</h1>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeyHJBK0ZiK3wXKFM5aqadbFFFUj4xj_TwO9KZUqKBWKgLVLxyQpn6zYnRuTwjH1JrvR6xQJsSxRfFBAmOck-qPzGDkhpBU3tUwb-C3dYRzQhrqBRj6wAto5hrUGua0u7nmABQbqq6qc/s1600/Science.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeyHJBK0ZiK3wXKFM5aqadbFFFUj4xj_TwO9KZUqKBWKgLVLxyQpn6zYnRuTwjH1JrvR6xQJsSxRfFBAmOck-qPzGDkhpBU3tUwb-C3dYRzQhrqBRj6wAto5hrUGua0u7nmABQbqq6qc/s400/Science.PNG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mā te whakaaro nui e hanga te whare;<br />
mā te mātauranga e whakaū</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The task for this seemed much easier. It was the same
task but within “my” Community – Science. I worked with another member of the
same Community. This should be easy, surely! Not so. Within our Community, each
member seems to put different value on different elements of the Community.
That is natural.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
However, what prevented this becoming a barrier was how
easily these could be fleshed out. We were speaking the same language. We were
able to group, classify and categorise our own ideas into bigger pictures under
the “Nature of Science” umbrella. Finding five words/key concepts was,
ultimately, not too tough (being familiar with <a href="http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Science/Key-concepts">TKI</a> helped a
lot with this, too!!):</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Evidence</b>-based</li>
<li>Knowledge is <b>Provisional</b></li>
<li>Uses <b>Models</b>
and <b>Theories</b></li>
<li>Influenced by <b>Society</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We then unpacked each strand (Material World, Physical
World, Living World, and Planet Earth and Beyond) into a couple of key “non-negotiable”
points. These were the elements we felt were non-negotiable and may not be “diluted”
by involvement in multi-disciplinary learning. Student learning <i>must</i> include the key elements (content
and/or skills) of Science we identified. Boiled down, we did really get it down
to:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Matter</li>
<li>Energy</li>
<li>Forces</li>
<li>MRS GREN</li>
<li>Ecosystems</li>
<li>Inheritance</li>
<li>Cycles</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Throw in some critical thinking, and I think the key
words and non-negotiables cover the nature of the Nature of Science. The
excitement came from hearing how other Learning Areas were unpacked, and seeing
how Science could complement each of those “Communities” without diluting
either. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZC-BdH5vNNY2O41tj__YFazQC3F0cmFtrqkqt6gjye2vyMZxb9K6dgZU-s18R2jZaE8QHDj-5S8UHoeIh7pXPxS8M0ltJ2W_hy4EeY-Hd3v2UQ76f7gDqJoLENvlJhv6uPfpVh6QFGVM/s1600/1471758387769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZC-BdH5vNNY2O41tj__YFazQC3F0cmFtrqkqt6gjye2vyMZxb9K6dgZU-s18R2jZaE8QHDj-5S8UHoeIh7pXPxS8M0ltJ2W_hy4EeY-Hd3v2UQ76f7gDqJoLENvlJhv6uPfpVh6QFGVM/s200/1471758387769.jpg" width="200" /></a>In fact, I can imagine how each Community (Learning Area) will be
enhanced, along with the overall learning of each student, by having natives
from each Community involved in each multi-disciplinary module. The NZ Police
may build “Safer Communities Together”, but we will build “Stronger [Learning] Communities
Together”.<br />
<br />
<h1>
#scichatNZ</h1>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21S2RkNHpseWDwDbgnIYe_O5xRw9x2lqCAU8sNPo2uDcTwh6qVX_1aVw3fAsXaz804pLJi0uGnCZc_QV1cxFsvMtCc24OlofdZyfZhYSesf41J7DFzO1DKWgtU9R03Qoath38wGhlJyA/s1600/HM-c7rjX.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21S2RkNHpseWDwDbgnIYe_O5xRw9x2lqCAU8sNPo2uDcTwh6qVX_1aVw3fAsXaz804pLJi0uGnCZc_QV1cxFsvMtCc24OlofdZyfZhYSesf41J7DFzO1DKWgtU9R03Qoath38wGhlJyA/s200/HM-c7rjX.jpeg" width="200" /></a>In my mind, #scichatNZ exists for the growth of Science as a Community (rather as a "Silo"). Rachel, Chhaya and I are very keen to welcome "non-Scientists" into the #scichatNZ Community. This is a Community with members who have a passion for Science and Education. They "live" where these two Communities meet. Some Community members also "live" in other Communities. This enables them to bring their expertise from their experiences in these Communities into #scichatNZ chats and the #scichatNZ Community, in general.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
More than just preserving the subject Community (Silo?) and its special characters (skills, content, systems etc.), #scichatNZ is inviting in new members and growing from their experiences. The Community grows by having regular input and collaboration between members from different Communities who visit or also live in the #scichatNZ Community.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzk-M1hOHwkkk3Uk04wf9R6uIh6edGiony9q_XSZgpt0VtT_4ktrJQhaaTpd2zbUiNvdcqm_4kBSwCeO17XvTHLNrz7bHv07ivMOui0Hgq3Ulzh46PMjt_ilK9fEc6QEURgVd9livkD80/s1600/fotor0813195423.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzk-M1hOHwkkk3Uk04wf9R6uIh6edGiony9q_XSZgpt0VtT_4ktrJQhaaTpd2zbUiNvdcqm_4kBSwCeO17XvTHLNrz7bHv07ivMOui0Hgq3Ulzh46PMjt_ilK9fEc6QEURgVd9livkD80/s400/fotor0813195423.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-55398866012836442362016-10-12T22:06:00.001+13:002016-11-03T08:15:59.821+13:00Welcome to Selwyn!Today was exhausting! Yet, here I am at 9pm starting to write my second blog post for the day. It might have something to do with how invigorating the day was, despite also being very busy, full-on and requiring a <i>lot</i> of concentration at times.<br />
<br />
What was it about today that has got me buzzing so much that I am writing instead of getting a much needed early night? Today, we were sent out into the community in groups of 3-4, and challenged to find evidence of the Rolleston [College] Spirit in the Rolleston Community (11 Dispositions). Each group chose different ways to go about this and, hearing from the others, all were rewarding experiences. What ultimately came out of this for me was two-fold:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>I feel like I have a better understanding of more of the things that make the heart of the Rolleston community beat, and</li>
<li>I felt a huge sense of welcoming and excitement that we were joining the Rolleston Community and even the wider Selwyn District.</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As soon as we introduced ourselves, the welcome mat was laid out and we were accommodated, despite not making prior arrangements to visit any of the kura, businesses or institutions that we visited. We were told at almost every place we visited how excited they felt about the opening of Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata - Rolleston's very own high school!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Without exception, this morning's task had the theme of "Welcome to Rolleston; welcome to Selwyn!" The rain was never going to dampen this experience. Thank you to Andrew, Di and Murray for being part of a great team to explore Rolleston with!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I would also like to comment on the task itself. We had absolute agency about where we would go and what we would try to find out when we got to each place. We were in control of how we completed our task, and our own success/failure hung on our own decisions. Regardless of whether we have found evidence for every single Disposition or not, the task was rewarding and involved great opportunities. The process has been a success even if our finished product doesn't end up feeling quite as successful. That is a win in my book...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The remainder of this post may be a bit dry. It is a reflection of some of the specifics from the day - we have to put together a 2-4 minute presentation, so it is more for me and my team, to be honest! How we will turn 40+ minutes of interviews into 4 minutes (by Friday), I am not quite sure yet...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQa4Tkot1qDF0z2YpeiCIqbvG0zF1yFrbF5XD9gSGpuB9wQgK9UPn6keNRdPXul5ONd_kaiyyACCxdMNr2bU1fQuflqEKWVkBlTvMPgUcGmtMpJORt4uwVLz2NgXl8zNrsiCgsMlgHDE/s1600/IMG_20161012_101835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQa4Tkot1qDF0z2YpeiCIqbvG0zF1yFrbF5XD9gSGpuB9wQgK9UPn6keNRdPXul5ONd_kaiyyACCxdMNr2bU1fQuflqEKWVkBlTvMPgUcGmtMpJORt4uwVLz2NgXl8zNrsiCgsMlgHDE/s200/IMG_20161012_101835.jpg" width="200" /></a>SELWYN DISTRICT COUNCIL BUILDINGS</h4>
<div>
My team's first port of call was the Selwyn District Council buildings. The use of local stone on the building itself was our first motivation. We see this as <b>creative</b>, one of the 11 Dispositions. To me, this is also represents a connection between the land and the people.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
While there, we asked to talk to someone about initiatives the Selwyn District Council was currently involved in regarding sustainability and the environment. We were already confident that there would be great evidence of another Disposition, <b>be environmentally aware</b>. This was when we realised how crazy and rewarding today would be. Would we like to meet with the new mayor? </div>
<div>
"Yes, please!"</div>
<div>
"Look, Sam won't be free for another 10 minutes, so go down the hall and chat to someone there about recycling etc. They will be expecting you."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLKDMB7oZvzRP7zo6WfgOs4MA3J9R9ARKrfiM-OmL8pGl_HxtEtalktXtQ9Ov80eYh8yqjYojFlGP5OUbu7nLEop_9vxM4ykB2SVIYMdNGVUS_rpjJp-kH10Bmc_XPvB83xLRF5oDW7c/s1600/1475897714657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLKDMB7oZvzRP7zo6WfgOs4MA3J9R9ARKrfiM-OmL8pGl_HxtEtalktXtQ9Ov80eYh8yqjYojFlGP5OUbu7nLEop_9vxM4ykB2SVIYMdNGVUS_rpjJp-kH10Bmc_XPvB83xLRF5oDW7c/s200/1475897714657.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SOURCE: http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/<br />
85114019/david-ayers-and-sam-broughton-<br />
elected-in-waimakariri-and-selwyn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Not only did we get to talk to someone about environmental and waste issues and initiatives (who was very engaging, interesting and informative), but we also got to see the mayor on a whim. Sam Broughton has a background of working with youth and we talked about his desire to be connected to young people, their issues and their ideas. We were invited to help facilitate keeping our future students connected with Sam and the Council. A few more Dispositions: <b>inclusive</b>; <b>collaborative</b>; and <b>able to communicate and connect</b>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
I-ZONE AND TENNANT ENGINEERING LTD.</h4>
</div>
<div>
Our team saw the relationships between the College and the industries/businesses of the community to be very important. Through such relationships, we imagine many aspects of the Rolleston College Spirit (the 11 Dispositions) can be realised for many akonga.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_PLx_kaqY-LXdBp6FbreSfRLVwo99uz0FFs4PBqIBUxZolmN94UqE547k1Jjt1_OR9-oO3kFg5Up0T63UmAy4nloUI3FeCX9vQyA9qeA6G1EeZBbzqZgoXKIYWuiwMPhe8ViCMZBiWA/s1600/IMG_20161012_111234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_PLx_kaqY-LXdBp6FbreSfRLVwo99uz0FFs4PBqIBUxZolmN94UqE547k1Jjt1_OR9-oO3kFg5Up0T63UmAy4nloUI3FeCX9vQyA9qeA6G1EeZBbzqZgoXKIYWuiwMPhe8ViCMZBiWA/s200/IMG_20161012_111234.jpg" width="200" /></a>Driving around I-Zone, the variety and scale of the industries and businesses reinforced this. From its small beginnings, this is one of the largest industrial parks in the country. There must be stories behind many of these successes, and opportunities for now and the future.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We were lucky enough to be given a few minutes to speak to a floor manager at Tennant Engineering Ltd. He told us some of the qualities he would be looking for in an employee, and definitely kept the door open for opportunities for collaboration with the College and its students in the future.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
ROLLESTON SCHOOL AND CLEARVIEW PRIMARY</h4>
</div>
<div>
Again, the doors were flung open for us, and we were made to feel most welcome - not just as visitors of each school but as new members of the Rolleston education whanau. Rolleston School was the original primary school in Rolleston and has grown from 200 original students to its current roll of over 800 students.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At Clearview, we talked through the meaning and background behind the school's name. The clear view to the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana made perfect sense once it was explained.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At both schools, the leaders we interviewed talked with passion and excitement about the connections they envisaged between their respective schools and Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata. Sport plays a big part in the lives of Rolleston residents, and this is an obvious potential link but definitely not the only one that was discussed with great enthusiasm.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If only there had been more time... We wanted to visit so many more places. We wanted to see students having fun in their respecting learning environments and in their respective learning activities/opportunities. We wanted to learn more about the Maori name gifted to Clearview Primary. So much to learn, so little time...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-72190215834416005462016-10-12T16:24:00.000+13:002016-11-03T08:14:08.418+13:00Things May Never Be the Same…<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcRCilKVSR34ZTrFAR6mC_o1Z9Zdvh0PWuWUFgU21SfAbKJgO11e4MTbhh5v8vT3tmpdh_f0s9HUb7jKn_W5zNlQbkU-m7nrbE5KVKVe84nRLy8ioWnNU-c5avglCgt-7r7TrRkaUTcg/s1600/rolleston-college-logo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcRCilKVSR34ZTrFAR6mC_o1Z9Zdvh0PWuWUFgU21SfAbKJgO11e4MTbhh5v8vT3tmpdh_f0s9HUb7jKn_W5zNlQbkU-m7nrbE5KVKVe84nRLy8ioWnNU-c5avglCgt-7r7TrRkaUTcg/s200/rolleston-college-logo-1.jpg" width="197" /></a>This week, I was one of approximately 20 staff who
started their journey at Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata. It has been great
to be surrounded by similarly-minded people, and getting to know these impressive individuals. It has also made me reflect on the changes that lie
ahead for my own pedagogy and practice in general.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Over the past few years, I feel that there has been one
particular strength in my practice. I am uncertain whether this strength will be a big part of my <i>modus operandi</i>
here. If it is, there will need to be tweaks and adjustments…and that is
exciting!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: purple;">REWIND ME</span></h4>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
One thing that I spent a lot of time implementing into my
practice was to record the teaching moments of lessons, and make this available
in a blog for my students. Complementing this with notes and images of the
whiteboard work etc. meant there was a record of the key content and tasks
available at any time for students. They could use this for revision, catching
up on missed work, and/or revisiting something that didn’t “click” at the time
of “delivery”.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I suspect that this “routine” for my lessons will be much
less relevant at Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata. That could be a scary
prospect. Instead, I see that as an exciting change. I envisage that I may
collaborate with akonga and other kaiako to make instructional records like
these. They are likely to be more polished and impressive than anything that I
have done in the past, too (I hope)!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h4>
<span style="color: purple;">THROW YOUR ARMS AROUND ME</span></h4>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
While I was reflecting upon this potential change, the
idea that “things may never be the same” brought an old favourite song to mind.
The lyrics of the chorus are quite poignant for how I have reflected upon the changes
ahead – I may never meet my old practices and pedagogy again. I feel exposed, both
my flaws and short-comings alongside my strengths and skills. That is more than
okay; it helps me feel even more like part of a great team.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Additionally, the support around me – fellow “new” kaiako
to Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata, and the leadership team who have been
guiding us for the past couple of days – has thrown its arms around me. I am
excited about the unknown ahead, and feel secure to push my own boundaries.
After all, it is to help be part of providing great learning opportunities for
akonga.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“And we may never meet again<o:p></o:p></div>
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So shed your skin and let's get started<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And you will throw your arms around me<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Yeah, you will throw your arms around me”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5-hDK76bIps" width="560"></iframe></div>
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Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-1131818304085005192016-06-03T09:25:00.001+12:002016-06-03T10:50:35.224+12:00The Class vs. Nicoll - Choosing the Tougher RoadA key focus for my <i>teacher</i> <i>inquiry</i> this year has been to explore ways to develop perseverance ("grit") in my students. I have <i>taken action</i> in two of my classes, with mixed results.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: purple;">LEVEL 3 CHEMISTRY</span></h4>
<div>
In the current unit, the students were posed a series of challenges that would guide them to explore atomic structure and periodic trends, such as electronegativity and ionisation energy. These challenges were in the format of booklets, each with three scaffolded tasks and the ultimate <i>challenge</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The challenge in each booklet was beyond the requirement for Level 3, so was my "test" to see if students would explore concepts deeper, if given some direction and challenged to do so. Each booklet also contained some past NCEA questions, and completing these by certain deadlines was the minimum expectation on the students.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I found that very few of my students even attempted the challenges, but every student made an honest attempt to complete the scaffolded tasks. Most students met the deadlines for the NCEA questions, but not all. I was disappointed that any students at this level of learning needed to be pushed to meet important deadlines, when they have all told me that success in the NCEA exams is their ultimate goal.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I was not overly surprised that few students attempted the challenges, as they were very difficult. However, having none share their thoughts on the challenges with me was a disappointing outcome. Was the work simply too challenging? Was it too boring? Does the "carrot" of NCEA assessment override intrinsic interest?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There are some questions to ask the class before I try something similar in the next topic...</div>
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<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXhDylIdQgvqZiUtBeSXPN75A-fR_mHnZoNtZW-N_EON4ykA_2gqG2NarhaRW3lnHMEirgd4Eb_HDzykAfQgKLr86xKOVaWFNyoDq3bTen53xKZ2CudW1cCyLKMaBid2DizyMBY1Rkdo/s1600/Rugby+Investigation.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXhDylIdQgvqZiUtBeSXPN75A-fR_mHnZoNtZW-N_EON4ykA_2gqG2NarhaRW3lnHMEirgd4Eb_HDzykAfQgKLr86xKOVaWFNyoDq3bTen53xKZ2CudW1cCyLKMaBid2DizyMBY1Rkdo/s320/Rugby+Investigation.PNG" width="320" /></a><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: purple;">LEVEL 1 PRACTICAL SCIENCE</span></h4>
<div>
We are in the middle of learning about "Fair Testing" - developing and carrying out a procedure (method) to find a relationship. In our current context, the class are investigating the relationship between angle and distance when kicking a rugby ball from a tee. We are recording our processes and learning <a href="http://pracsci2016.blogspot.co.nz/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My experience of <a href="http://pracsci2015.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/rugby-kicking-investigation.html" target="_blank">doing this last year</a> led to some changes, as well as an opportunity to explore how much grit these students would have, particularly if they knew their chances of success were very low.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The class actually chose this context after hearing how much fun the 2015 class had with it. I think some of the less diligent souls thought it would be a fun way to waste time, pretending to be doing something constructive. How their attitudes have changed; how happy I am with this change!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6jM99-w0aJxk3Pwskzstc-FF8y94Ffx8LJeej7eerYxnZIeEuZzhJHuxXQytQgvoVN_VivFPLP5UQFgRBz9-52wTVCry7PAvO8BX108VXTm-aTdeKDHJGy6gY89kv1yXtCMPlumP2jg/s1600/WIN_20160525_101459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6jM99-w0aJxk3Pwskzstc-FF8y94Ffx8LJeej7eerYxnZIeEuZzhJHuxXQytQgvoVN_VivFPLP5UQFgRBz9-52wTVCry7PAvO8BX108VXTm-aTdeKDHJGy6gY89kv1yXtCMPlumP2jg/s320/WIN_20160525_101459.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
I gave the class some planning templates and we explored the key variables as a class discussion, led by me. I warned them that there were variables we would find impossible to control, due to their random nature. Do you want to carry on? YES!!!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They were told to write up a method for homework. I seldom give homework, so stressed that this must be important if I was giving homework tonight. The next day, the students shared their methods with their group (we sit in groups of 4-6 students) and came up with a hybrid that they were happy with. I went around each group and gave honest critique. I also said, to each group that there was an easier way, involving models. Would you prefer to do that? NO!!!</div>
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At the end of that lesson, I told the class that no method contained enough details to be successful. None of them controlled enough key variables to give meaningful results. All the while, I had my hand on a cannon that fires projectiles at known angles. I explained that in Science, we sometimes use <i>models</i> to test an idea, then go out and see if our results apply to the real world. If they wanted, I would provide them with a method, using models.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyuDSQg7wFFwte9mOf-dK0-WF6Xams3Y_vMROA8ACvMFQ5K_C6mbaeNHlJ2nHs7MYAFPocL70XULIN5FJDWXwXVtEFGoyAoRejjQZNvZ94aNX3SnQdlvSv6P5zhx9qAftpMC9zYCBygE/s1600/WIN_20160602_120543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyuDSQg7wFFwte9mOf-dK0-WF6Xams3Y_vMROA8ACvMFQ5K_C6mbaeNHlJ2nHs7MYAFPocL70XULIN5FJDWXwXVtEFGoyAoRejjQZNvZ94aNX3SnQdlvSv6P5zhx9qAftpMC9zYCBygE/s320/WIN_20160602_120543.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Alternatively, they had two more lessons to work as a team <i>against</i> me. If they could come up with a workable method that <i>might</i> get meaningful, valid results, I would let them do it <i>their way</i>. I must warn you: This is the hard road; I will challenge every decision you make in your method; I will push you for details; you will have to organise all the equipment. Or, I will give you <i>my</i> method... What do you want to do?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They took the tougher road, and boy did they prove me wrong!!! I still suspect that their results will be invalid, but their process in developing a method and what they have learned has been a huge success. Their method is workable, at Level 1 of NCEA.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What did I observe?</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The class needed guidance for allocating jobs to achieve what was required in the very tight time frame. "Focus Groups" met this need, as well as regular "checking in" by me.</li>
<li>The students who were "passengers" stepped up to the challenge once they were made accountable by their peers in their "focus group" and me.</li>
<li>The chance to learn in a context <i>they chose</i> seems to have had a positive outcome for engagement <i>and</i> grit.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<h4>
<span style="color: purple;">WHAT NEXT?</span></h4>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYODcrD4yGI4rUsLJM7zny2rWoI6qz-PXLKNWD1eGT4vR0-sJgGG1Ixoo0Sm7cO9YwyqCBNA8FX8CMsErxPIHxJIZ7HbHJtkdCkcdg0PvAvdP4ThPK6s3Eh6XdH0US07v6xKHYRYjohtk/s1600/000.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYODcrD4yGI4rUsLJM7zny2rWoI6qz-PXLKNWD1eGT4vR0-sJgGG1Ixoo0Sm7cO9YwyqCBNA8FX8CMsErxPIHxJIZ7HbHJtkdCkcdg0PvAvdP4ThPK6s3Eh6XdH0US07v6xKHYRYjohtk/s320/000.PNG" width="320" /></a>One "investigation" does not make for meaningful, valid conclusions. I need to come up with some other ways to push my students in a way that will test their grit and perseverance. In terms of a spiral of inquiry, new action is required...</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In Practical Science, I will be playing "Agent Provocateur" when students are learning about Conspiracy Theories. This will put barriers in the way of them coming to conclusions. I look forward to seeing if this makes students review and refine their evidence and conclusions, or if they will just brush me off and submit their work, as is.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In Chemistry, I am not quite sure what to do next. Feedback from the students has to be the next step. What did they like about the challenges? What did they dislike about learning that way?</div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-17043900761658464442016-01-19T11:08:00.000+13:002016-01-19T12:52:48.696+13:00Practical Science Reflections<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year was our first with a new Science course, utilising
NCEA Internal Assessments to assess the learning of our students, based upon
their own inherent (or developed) interests. It was a very interesting journey.
I learned a lot of things that we will need to apply to how we run the course
this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h1>
<span style="color: orange;">Conspiracy‼</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our context for learning about Scientific Literacy was to
look at conspiracy theories, asking students to either debunk them, confirm
them, or come up with their own theory to explain their findings. This was not
intended to be explicitly assessed at the time, as we had reservations about
whether the quality of the work would be at the level required to earn Level 1
credits. Instead, students were given the option to revisit their work and present
it towards the end of the year, and assessing it against AS90853, which is an
English Achievement Standard.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This created three issues:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Student engagement in the unit lapsed quickly,
as they did not see the value in the learning if it was not being assessed at
the time. Despite being assured that they could submit it later in the year,
when their writing and other scientific skills had developed, they wanted
tangible reward (credits) or more meaningful immediate feedback (“What </span><u style="text-indent: -18pt;">is</u><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">
needed to pass this?”).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">By assessing the learning later in the year,
many students did not submit any work. They had no interest in revisiting work
from earlier in the year, and/or felt they had already earned enough credits
via Science without it.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The timeline for moderation, feedback and
resubmission was difficult. Again, this issue was created by assessing the
learning so late in the year. It was compounded by working with another
Learning Area. Despite the wonderful assistance and guidance of our English
Department, finding the time for cross-curricular collaboration in Term Four
was nearly impossible.</span></li>
</ol>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Therefore, something needs to change in 2016. Fortunately,
it looks as though the change is an easy one. When we teach the unit, we will
assess the students’ learning at the time. If they do not meet the standard
required for the Achievement Standard, it will be up to them whether they want
to use their own time to prepare it for resubmission.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGqixzslfeFZXCMbb2lBBF9S9KqThe-GKoIrAju4gZmN5RS1hyphenhyphenxRYrhg7KcWDH3s2-F8aBGk08-DzSBkFygtpVjl5on1xn3QCxw9b-AO88WPOeVuXEHDZGGAKewG41lSeAnELPFYamy8/s1600/CRAAP.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGqixzslfeFZXCMbb2lBBF9S9KqThe-GKoIrAju4gZmN5RS1hyphenhyphenxRYrhg7KcWDH3s2-F8aBGk08-DzSBkFygtpVjl5on1xn3QCxw9b-AO88WPOeVuXEHDZGGAKewG41lSeAnELPFYamy8/s320/CRAAP.PNG" width="320" /></a>The other issue we had was ensuring the written language was
at the correct level. This is an unspoken criterion in all English Achievement
Standards, I was informed. Therefore, we should be more rigid with how the work
should be submitted. We had tried to give absolute flexibility to cater for
student individuality. However, expecting the finished product to be a speech
(which we will record), and asking students to also submit a transcript of the
speech should be another way to allow for our students to submit their work
earlier in the year (many of the students enrolled in this course need more
support and time to develop their writing to the required level for a written
submission) and meet the required standard.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h1>
<span style="color: orange;">Team Teaching</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year, I was delighted to hear that a colleague was
being given one period per week to work with me and my class. This made a huge
difference for managing the students’ individual inquiries and different
learning needs. In 2016, we are looking to go a step further with this. It is
planned that one member of the Learning Support Department will join the class
for at least one period per week, as well as having the support from a Science
Department colleague.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not only will this allow for more support for the students,
it will allow for more feedback and sharing of ideas for how to best cater for
the learning and assessment. It should also provide more opportunities for <i>in situ</i> moderation of activities and
tasks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h1>
<span style="color: orange;">Personal Inquiries</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Spending the second half the course on Personal Inquiries
was a mixed bag. I was delighted with the learning going on <i>most of the time</i>. Some lessons were
complete write-offs with some students. This was particularly true when we had class
in the last lesson of the day and sometimes diabolical when this was the last
period of the week.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0mTjsODuy9yrd6bvrZuTH0g30IJ_u7abHyXHKl6nPGurSOOpePAwIKcrCxHRUDPssxf9EptmZ7PPswquK60s9-yD_0ggh-lobJo5OeOabptNZc6eUFxYoTWJDKiQ3z13lz-Ow_yIst8/s1600/005.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0mTjsODuy9yrd6bvrZuTH0g30IJ_u7abHyXHKl6nPGurSOOpePAwIKcrCxHRUDPssxf9EptmZ7PPswquK60s9-yD_0ggh-lobJo5OeOabptNZc6eUFxYoTWJDKiQ3z13lz-Ow_yIst8/s320/005.PNG" width="237" /></a>I do believe that the increased support will help keep
students focused on their inquiries and learning. It should allow for more
conversations to press students about what they have learned and what their
next steps are. It should allow for more opportunities to guide and direct
students if they seem a little “rudderless”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have developed some very useful templates, checklists and
activities to scaffold and direct the learning. Ensuring these are commonplace and
used by all students should also help keep inquiries on-track, while also making
the assessment expectations explicitly clear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From the work done in 2015, it is clear that more regular targets,
goals and checks are needed for all students, not primarily those who seem
disengaged or to be struggling; many students have excellent avoidance
strategies that can be hard to pick up on in a busy classroom where everyone is
working on something different. There is a little bit of work to be done here,
but this is more about routines than about resources etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h1>
<span style="color: orange;">Moderation</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Making/finding time for moderation was challenging in 2015,
particularly with the variety of tasks being used to assess the learning. I do
not believe for one minute that we have all tasks 100% correct. Moderation of the
tasks was done with the Head of Department, prior to them being given to the
students. However, it is unsustainable to persist with passing every task over
his desk. We need to explore a better solution.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fortunately, we now have a set of tasks for a variety of
contexts utilising a range Achievement Standards. These are likely to need
refinement, but this is less daunting than writing them “from scratch”.
External moderation feedback will be very useful for this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was encouraged with the external moderation feedback we
received for our Chemical Reactions internal assessment task. We volunteered
this task, as it was co-written by the two 2015 Practical Science teachers. Our
marking schedule was criticised for being too tough but, other than this, we
had done a good job according to the moderator. It meant some of our students’ work
had to be remarked, and their grades had to be raised. I would much prefer
feedback saying this, than saying we had rewarded work that did not meet the
required standard.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nevertheless, this does reinforce the importance of
collaboration and moderation with tasks designed to formally assess student
learning. We need to work on better systems and routines to ensure the busyness
of school life does not hamper the completion of these important tasks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h1>
<span style="color: orange;">Course Content</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While this course has been based upon the Nature of Science
and student interests, we have included a few mandatory topics and their
respective assessments. I have already mentioned <i>Conspiracy‼</i>, which helped develop students’ scientific literacy
(and cynicism, hopefully). This had its issues but I think we have a way to
make this unit more meaningful to the students.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Additionally, we have also had:<span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Chemical Reactions</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Practical Investigations</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;">CHEMICAL REACTIONS</span><o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was our first unit. It used different types of chemical
reactions to develop some key scientific skills:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoT6ZvAxaCVS7p-Od8sVRuReJOgl-bRZutVAOIm-Vaymn-WLpRkIOjMLaXuyfW8iDWSE2CJKscV08J6pFr_7RKf4rGqfR4YZQ57yj_UqFUG3PzXK2t4jHesWHLZ004SEfT2c_qiC4NIY/s1600/Chem+Rxns.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoT6ZvAxaCVS7p-Od8sVRuReJOgl-bRZutVAOIm-Vaymn-WLpRkIOjMLaXuyfW8iDWSE2CJKscV08J6pFr_7RKf4rGqfR4YZQ57yj_UqFUG3PzXK2t4jHesWHLZ004SEfT2c_qiC4NIY/s400/Chem+Rxns.PNG" width="233" /></a>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Making observations</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Classifying (reaction types)</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Writing Equations (word and symbol)</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The learning was assessed using a portfolio over a few
weeks. Students collected evidence that they could carry out simple procedures
and explain their observations using equations. They also had to use this
information to classify the types of reactions occurring. This was assessed
using AS90947.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The students enjoyed this topic and it was a great way to
start the year. It built their confidence and “playing with chemicals” is
always fun. The assessment task has been adjusted slightly in response to
feedback from external moderation, but there will be few changes to this in
2016. This unit served its purpose well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Keeping a <a href="http://pracsci2015.blogspot.co.nz/" target="_blank">blog</a> to support the learning being done in class was also a worthwhile exercise and I will be doing this again, this year. It included videos of experiments and images of the whiteboard notes. These allowed students to revisit key parts of the unit when they needed them.</div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;">PRACTICAL INVESTIGATIONS</span><o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Trying to find contexts for practical investigations that
resonate with the students is a potential challenge. I was fortunate enough to
have a class of sports-mad boys and this unit was studied during the Rugby
World Cup. This made it easy to choose a context for the learning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7AH_6jkeg12g-1jq_xSagWILqtO4xNX90FkWeS8sg6Nx7xiogCQIEdsEEmwsj5DZQJB2lg64x8TzVqsDznT5ioO0sUkwlEOpjKNGMpsefwJTllvqd5ZukSEhtjATZ6Wf_VbF33pszZE/s1600/Investigation+Planning.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7AH_6jkeg12g-1jq_xSagWILqtO4xNX90FkWeS8sg6Nx7xiogCQIEdsEEmwsj5DZQJB2lg64x8TzVqsDznT5ioO0sUkwlEOpjKNGMpsefwJTllvqd5ZukSEhtjATZ6Wf_VbF33pszZE/s320/Investigation+Planning.PNG" width="320" /></a>In 2016, I have a co-educational class, so expect this to be
more difficult. I will need to think of a context for an investigation the
whole class can work on together, because this worked very well in 2015.
Students fed off each other and learned from each other’s mistakes and
successes. Collectively, the class did very well, and this was reflected in the
final assessment task.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The final assessment task had nothing to do with our rugby
investigation, by the way. It was a task common to all Year 11 students,
regardless of which Science course they were enrolled in. Students’ results and
engagement in 2015 suggest that teaching the skills and expectations via a
common student-selected practical investigation, followed by a teacher-selected one is a winning
formula, so I will go down this road again in 2016.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Using the assessment planning templates in the learning was
also a good idea, and using colour-coding to help students plan their
investigations was also very useful for assisting the students with
organisation or learning difficulties in this class.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
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<br /></div>
</div>
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----------------------------------------------------------------</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
With 2016 about to start, I am really looking forward to a
second year teaching Practical Science. There are some changes to implement for
the teaching, learning and assessment. It will be interesting to see how
successful this course is with a different cohort of students. Regardless of
how this year plays out, I am really looking forward to what I am about to
learn about teaching Science in this more flexible, student-centred way.<o:p></o:p></div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-5125052969769006412015-10-07T09:58:00.000+13:002015-10-07T09:58:12.217+13:00Grant LichtmanHere I am at ULearn15, listening to the inspiring and knowledgeable Grant Lichtman. I have just started #EDJourney, which I love. Then there is this wonderful keynote speech. They both remind me of a recent chat hosted by Danielle Myburgh of #edchatNZ with Grant. I was lucky enough to be invited into that chat:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hFn3Nyz5R7o" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
He puts it so simply - let's let go of our fear and challenge the inertia of traditional education. Let's reignite the learning for today's (and tomorrow's) world!</div>
Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-77910264892494588992015-10-01T07:44:00.001+13:002015-10-01T08:20:44.334+13:00The Purpose of Learning?<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It has been a slow year
for blogging, primarily due to the workload of balancing my pastoral role with
another passion – leading and teaching a new Year 11 Science course. I have
been able to explore and inquire as to the motivation and purpose of learning
for my students, comparing and contrasting the students in this course with
those in my senior Chemistry classes. Honestly, I have probably ended up with
more questions than answers, but I have found one way to offer a course within
a traditional school system which has the learning and the student at the
centre, with NCEA credits being conveniently earned along the way.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
<span style="color: orange;">Year 11 Practical Science</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmfz7d60C1R0MtaVSI30lazMwvmpM3si0UyYkd2jWVjSuWCrugBC_XdHLws4iQPhLp8hKXpWyUk6rCZcaomuNUQv6mAslY9r_3c2OtCHmk3OO0nFuozBiSxfVJkNhqYwYmhGiLC4Ae2c/s1600/005.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmfz7d60C1R0MtaVSI30lazMwvmpM3si0UyYkd2jWVjSuWCrugBC_XdHLws4iQPhLp8hKXpWyUk6rCZcaomuNUQv6mAslY9r_3c2OtCHmk3OO0nFuozBiSxfVJkNhqYwYmhGiLC4Ae2c/s320/005.PNG" width="237" /></a>At the end of last year,
I approached my Head of Department about redesigning our “Alternative Science”
course. This was already a completely internally-assessed course, designed for
students who struggled to achieve success in exam-format assessments. It was a
meaningful and valuable course already; I just thought that it could be a
little more student-centred and could offer more student agency.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The development and implementation of this course has
been a real eye-opener for me, and highly rewarding for me, the teacher of the
other class, and for most of the students who were given the opportunity to
enrol in this course. I have been forced to become more fluent in a range of
Level 1 Achievement Standards, and not just those in Science. I have learned a
lot about the “credit-shopping” focus of students, regardless of their
perceived ability and/or motivation. I have finally developed a way to support
and guide less-organised students through portfolio-style assessments – it
isn’t perfect, but it is a huge improvement on where we were at the start of
the year!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If you are interested, you can read more about the
journey in these posts:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/our-new-science-course.html">http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/our-new-science-course.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/practical-science-inquiries.html">http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/practical-science-inquiries.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We have designed a course which starts off with a
Chemistry unit (because everyone loves mixing and burning chemicals) to teach
observation and experimental skills. This is followed by a unit based around a
Conspiracy Theory to teach about Scientific Literacy and research skills. The
final prescribed unit is a Physics practical investigation to develop students’
Fair Testing. For these parts of the course, we kept a Class Blog to record the
important content and skills: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://pracsci2015.blogspot.co.nz/">http://pracsci2015.blogspot.co.nz/</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4wrwfnuPtCzpCGQBCuXNr5SeEX50faNJ63Fc9fs70y7Kv-rEedQU_7-UDPVjLLfM9iSpuOjgcW2soexHAwL7IIfXzqS35TZzpSiPllLcaT7JESrGXDZjPtbAN6O_JqqPjUrNpzxeB3k/s1600/000.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4wrwfnuPtCzpCGQBCuXNr5SeEX50faNJ63Fc9fs70y7Kv-rEedQU_7-UDPVjLLfM9iSpuOjgcW2soexHAwL7IIfXzqS35TZzpSiPllLcaT7JESrGXDZjPtbAN6O_JqqPjUrNpzxeB3k/s200/000.PNG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->The remainder of the
year is focused on students’ interests and finding ways to structure these
interests into robust inquiries. We had inquiries based on shotguns, MotoX,
artillery, rugby kicking techniques, rowing technique, skateboarding tricks…it
was amazing!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The teachers’ role is that of a mentor and (supportive)
critic, while also being charged with finding suitable NCEA Achievement
Standards to assess the learning with. As part of this, the marking schedules
and portfolio coversheets have been co-constructed with the students. This has
given transparency to the assessment and the expectations upon the students. This
has also been the really time-consuming part, but also very rewarding!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The purpose of learning in this course has been,
ultimately, to explore an inherent or developed interest and investigate it in
a scientific manner. The wonderful outcomes have included most student earning
at least 16 NCEA Level 1 credits along the way (some at Excellence level),
outstanding student engagement, and a dramatic increase in students’
self-belief and self-worth.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<h1>
<span style="color: orange;">“Academic” Courses</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This year, I also had my philosophies regarding
assessment challenged. While teaching the Year 11 course, I have also been
teaching Level 2 and Level 3 Chemistry. These are courses where grades are
ever-important. Most of these students are expecting to be shown how to excel
in assessment tasks, sometimes regardless of the quality of the actual
learning.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xLlI0v8nibf2dwucv05mqetFXatVWRyoPhAYnO5WPsljzcJuE75-p3RJMLM4NlJ0_mDyFAo8_bgtGRs7fGXdRHanSrYxp1nTEBU3XnvsKSScisaY7ivwamFQTx_c7W0syUXTdiJ0paQ/s1600/resizedimage202303-m-nicoll-lab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xLlI0v8nibf2dwucv05mqetFXatVWRyoPhAYnO5WPsljzcJuE75-p3RJMLM4NlJ0_mDyFAo8_bgtGRs7fGXdRHanSrYxp1nTEBU3XnvsKSScisaY7ivwamFQTx_c7W0syUXTdiJ0paQ/s200/resizedimage202303-m-nicoll-lab.jpg" width="133" /></a>It would indeed be great to offer the same level of student agency
and flexibility in these courses. However, the assessments do have the power to
drive the learning in these classes. The day-to-day teaching and learning
opportunities can be such that student choice and differentiated learning can
be provided but, ultimately, there are externally-assessed examinations to
prepare for.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There is no way to avoid the amount and specificity of
the content that must be “covered” for these assessments. There is no escaping
that students need to be coached how to answer examination-style questions at
some stage through each unit. There is no avoiding the issue that to offer a
meaningful number of credits, there is a LOT of work to get through.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If tertiary institutions put the main onus upon the
externally-assessed Achievement Standards, courses such as Chemistry will
always be driven by the assessment, rather than the learning. As I say, my
philosophies have been challenged. By offering such an exciting course to the
Year 11 “strugglers”, I have felt as though my senior chemists have missed out
on the opportunity to explore the magic of their subject due the focus on
grades. This is not a criticism, merely an observation…tinged with a little
frustration, as I do not have the answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<h1>
<span style="color: orange;">Why Are We Learning This?</span><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Through two very different types of courses, I come back
to that old adage from the disenchanted student, “Why are we learning this
stuff? When will I ever need it in my life?” If you do not view these as fair
questions, then I suggest you care more about your subject than you do about
your students.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Student agency regarding contexts and, dare I suggest it,
means of assessment are key components of making the learning meaningful to
students. Surely this is achievable in Year 9 and 10, even in the silo of a
single subject. Not to be disparaging, but context is even possible in
Mathematics. NCEA is using contextualised questions more and more. What better
preparation can there be than to apply mathematical skills to real student
interests? I know that subjects like English, Social Studies and Science lend
themselves more towards this type of learning, but Science is often prone to
being too abstract if taken out of context and focused more on content.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If it is manageable in Years 9 and 10, why not beyond
this? This is where the students’ respective reasons for learning become vital.
Does the student sees learning in school as part of the journey to tertiary
study? Does the student see learning in school as a way to learn how to learn,
but has no (current) aspirations for further study? Does the student just want
to be entertained until he/she finds a job that is interesting enough to do
instead of being at school?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_M2C7sqmm4UwZJn1j0-HctlrhxWf9G5DFU_JJ0B9KyJbbpHWmSKrHfrVaF51Q1DsUguHK0s_IQmCL8PejIPMX-fBAN1MB7N8A5gq5hAnnB-sJgDxxj5SEXadWCaB1ptlbBRmZZgbg7I/s1600/2013-11-29+11.01.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_M2C7sqmm4UwZJn1j0-HctlrhxWf9G5DFU_JJ0B9KyJbbpHWmSKrHfrVaF51Q1DsUguHK0s_IQmCL8PejIPMX-fBAN1MB7N8A5gq5hAnnB-sJgDxxj5SEXadWCaB1ptlbBRmZZgbg7I/s200/2013-11-29+11.01.16.jpg" width="200" /></a>If the student sees tertiary study as the ultimate goal,
then getting the grades to achieve this goal makes the learning authentic in
itself. Courses that optimise this student’s ability to reach this goal are
suitable. At the same time, these courses need to develop the whole student, of
course, but the purpose of the learning is further study; the course must cater
for this for this student.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If the student does not see tertiary study as the goal,
then grades themselves (beyond getting sufficient credits to earn their NCEA
Level 1 certificate, for example) are not going to be motivation enough.
Authentic learning opportunities are vital for this student. Can the learning
be applied to a hobby, interest, potential career…? This student’s course must
provide enough flexibility and agency for this student to persevere with the
learning, and to see the value of learning.</div>
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As I said at the start, I think I have more questions
than answers. Do we need to offer two (or more) pathways for students in our
courses beyond Year 10, in every school? How do we make them synergetic enough
that students can shift course if they find their goals and aspirations have
changed along the way? Regardless of the answers that are correct for your
students, your school, and your community, when looking at your courses please
always ask yourself what the purpose of the learning is.</div>
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Matt Nicollhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01425549774267107543noreply@blogger.com4