thoughts, wonderings, observations, explorations, discoveries, enjoyment!
Today I was working with a teacher using Photo Filtre to enhance images. We used inspiration from the artist Andy Warhol’s art. Here is an example showing one of the neat effects you can use! Photo Filtre is freeware – click here if you want to download it and try some of the filtres and colours yourself.
On Monday our Principals and ICT Lead Teachers visited 3 of our ICT Cluster schools – Paroa, St Joseph’s and Apanui. Here are some photos of classroom environments … 21st Century teaching and learning in New Zealand schools!
Yesterday I had a discussion with a teacher about what a mind map was for. Our understandings about how you made and used one and what it looked like differed, so I checked out Tony Buzan’s website.
7 Steps to Making a Mind Map
1. Start in the centre of a blank page turned sideways. Why? Because starting in the centre gives your Brain freedom to spread out in all directions and to express itself more freely and naturally.
2. Use an IMAGE or PICTURE for your central idea. Why? Because an image is worth a thousand words and helps you use your Imagination. A central image is more interesting, keeps you focussed, helps you concentrate, and gives your Brain more of a buzz!
3. Use COLOURS throughout. Why? Because colours are as exciting to your Brain as are images. Colour adds extra vibrancy and life to your Mind Map, adds tremendous energy to your Creative Thinking, and is fun!
4. CONNECT your MAIN BRANCHES to the central image and connect your second- and third-level branches to the first and second levels, etc. Why? Because your Brain works by association. It likes to link two (or three, or four) things together. If you connect the branches, you will understand and remember a lot more easily.
5. Make your branches CURVED rather than straight-lined. Why? Because having nothing but straight lines is boring to your Brain.
6. Use ONE KEY WORD PER LINE. Why Because single key words give your Mind Map more power and flexibility.One Word Per Line
7. Use IMAGES throughout. Why Because each image, like the central image, is also worth a thousand words. So if you have only 10 images in your Mind Map, it’s already the equal of 10,000 words of notes!
During 2009, when I introduced blogging to the teachers in the eBest ICT Cluster (where I am the facilitator) I set their blogs up in Edublogs. At the beginning of 2009 I decided to change to another host. There were several reasons – Edublogs lack of stability at the time:constant resetting of passwords and the difficulty getting new passwords. The final decision was reached when Edublogs decreased their free space from 100mb to 20mb. To get 5gb you needed to be a ’supporter’. As I work with 90 teachers who use a blog with their students (i.e. as part of their job) I don’t think it should cost them anything.
So the question was ‘where to now’? The two main contenders were Blogger and WordPress. I chose WordPress and haven’t regretted it even though Blogger is neat too. My reasons were:
1. WordPress is the format used by Edublogs, so my teachers were familiar with the tabs and layout
2. Teachers could import all their posts from Edublogs into the new WordPress blog (An earlier post shows how to do this)
3. 3gb free space vs 1gb in Blogger (Doesn’t that make Edublogs 20mb look sad?!)
4. WordPress had a photo gallery function. Photos have to go into posts singly in Blogger
5. WordPress allows pages to be added to the blog, Blogger does not.
The decision was quite difficult though because Blogger has some really neat features and gadgets that WordPress doesn’t have. Of course there’s nothing to stop teachers using both hosts and linking the blogs.
An event or focus occurs:
Last Friday I was at the Waimarino Conference in Tauranga. It was held at Bethlehem College in the new performing arts building – which is enormous and absolutely fabulous. Tony Ryan was the first keynote and as always his message was though-provoking and challenging. He began by saying that New Zealand has the best education curriculum in the world! Titled ‘How Good Could You Be?’ his keynote was about applying the NZ Curriculum Key Competencies to our own teaching practice and to our own lives. Kind of a ‘walk the talk’ thing. He asked us to answer these questions:
- Thinking: How will you advance your thinking and learning this year?
- Using language symbols and texts: What further texts/symbols/language (especially online) will you explore?
- Managing self: How will you maintain inspiration for your work?
- Relating to others: How will you enhance your capacity to engage in professional dialogue?
- Participating and contributing: What will be your personal contribution to local and global causes?
During the couse of his keynote he expanded each of these. I am determined to be a better person from here on!
I presented a workshop about the Habits of Mind’ titled ‘Caught being Intelligent’. (Resources shared during my workshop are on the eBest ICT Cluster website and can be accessed by clicking here.) I received this lovely little decorative wall tile as a thank you gift.
The Waimarino Conference is always a inspiring day – I’ve been to all three. Judi Buckley and her team are wonderful hosts.
Having fun at school camp – New Zealand style! This is a little movie I discovered on one of my school visits.
This week I’ve been working with groups of teachers at Allandale School, Whakatane on their Term 2 Planning. The junior school teachers planned a teacher directed Inquiries about ‘Keeping Clean’ and the senior teachers planned one about “Endangered Animals’. You can view their planning on the eBest ICT Cluster Website under ‘Our Teaching and Learning Resources’ on the Junior and Middle & Senior pages.
In the afternoon they learnt more blogging skills and inserted a photo gallery (like the one below) into a post.
Yesterday I facilitated a whole day catch-up workshops with the 12 ‘newbies’ of the eBest ICT Cluster. These are the teachers who started at cluster schools this year. The idea was to get them up to speed with thinking strategies, behaviours, tools and dispositions (as much as is possible in one day!)
As part of talking about De Bono’s Thinking Hats and how to use them, one of the activities centered around this news article and photo:
CABBAGE PATCH COP
A police officer with a speed camera hides in shrubs in Lower Hutt, near Wellington, while reporting speeds via walkie-talkie to a colleague further down the road.
Dominion PostThe group then discussed the photo using the white, red, yellow and black hats. As part of the red hat discussion I asked the question ‘Is it OK to flash your headlights at oncoming cars to warn them of a police car or speed camera up ahead?’ Half the group would and the other half wouldn’t and this lead to interesting discussion, opinions and justification! No-one knew for sure if flashing your lights was illegal in New Zealand. Does anyone know?
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