Does your class require students to be extroverts?

Susan Cain’s TED talk on the Power of Introverts has really made me think – “a third to a half of the population are introverts”. Like her, I have had to force myself to be an extrovert in professional situations and I avoid large social situations, and the staffroom, like the plague as I do not enjoy the multiple conversations bouncing around the room.

I am a firm believer that, as a teacher be you introvert or extrovert you have to be out there, teach with passion and flare, or Teach Like a Pirate as Dave Burgess says, and hook your students into learning and develop that passion for knowledge and curiosity. But, then do we always allow that space or opportunity for the introvert to operate within the class?

I have quiet working spaces and caves. Provide opportunities to work outside or use earmuffs to remove the background chatter.  I allow wait time with students, so they have time to process their response and make sure that I have a quiet chat with each student every day.  As a class we have modelled and pulled apart co-operative, paired and individual learning and I allow opportunities for student to choose how and where they work. I would like to think that the needs of the introvert is catered for in my classroom, but am not 100% sure.

Now to the next tricky question. How often is the introvert teacher shut down in the  staff room or in meetings by the extrovert teacher? Or, how often

Click to Enlarge – Borrowed from Twitter from @Psychology.

is the introverts idea squashed because it is not out there enough? Or, more commonly, how often does the introvert teacher not contribute in staff meetings because they just do not feel comfortable? I do not know the answer to those three questions or even if they are real issues, but they are things that we need to think of as educators.

We need to nurture and empower the introverts in society or schools or staff rooms and allow them the opportunities to be who they are and allow them to become the person they will be, not force them to become extroverts because we think it is the way we all should be.

Apps that Create – GIF Makers

I have used many a .gif file (Graphic Interchange Format), but until the other day never created one. There have been two iOS apps that I have trailed over the past week and both have simple interfaces, are easy to work and the end result is a GIF image that can be uploaded to blogs, webpages or other presentations.

The two Apps that I have used are GIF Shop and Gif Me, I am sure that there are online webpages or downloadable programs that will do the same or better, but both these Apps are cheap (Were actually free on Apps Gone Free).  Both gather images through either your camera roll or take images through front or back cameras.  You sequence the images, choose the speed of the Gif and then create. You are able to email to a friend or save to camera roll.  The whole process takes no longer than a few minutes.

Applications in the classroom

1. Sharing a sequence.
2. Advertising an event.
3. Showing change over time time.
4. Get kids to create a GIF from photos taken every Monday over a term.
5. Just cool!

Why not a video?

• Gif is just an image file, so does not need to be embedded through Youtube or Vimeo.
• File size is quite small, where video is much larger.
• Just shows images in a set sequence and can create from photos taken over a long time period.

The Teacher Blog: a Powerful Reflective Tool

If you have a professional Blog then I hope that you have had the same experience as me.  If you do not then I think you should give it a go even if you are going to keep it to yourself like a diary or journal. Just by writing down your thoughts you will look at you actions in a different way and reflect on them and I believe that the act of reflection is one of the keys to being a learner.

Only 4 months ago I published my first post on this blog with the only person I was intending to read it being me or my principal when it came time for my appraisal.  I did not really have a goal or vision, but just wanted a place to record the successes and fails and moments of clarity.  After a few posts I realised that it was missing the connection of others so shared with a few members of staff and then Tweeted it to my PLN.

Made with GIF Shop on the iPhone. First attempt and might be a bit annoying?

Once that first share through twitter was out in cyber space the blog became a true reflective tool.  I had those people who I think of as friends and respect as educators commenting and reacting to my posts in a positive way or in a feed forward way that gave me links to further learning or ideas from others – success as there was an audience.  Then came the next point that I had not thought through – if make a post public it can bounce around the world many times and the people that you get feedback from you have never met before and often are not educators, who was my initial target audience. Posts have been pinned and re-pinned or pinged back or tweeted or posted on FaceBook and scooped then re-scooped; a whole new language of online literacy.

I reflected on a Fighting Fantasy book that I read to my class.  A few teachers commented, but scores of gamers sent me messages commenting on the concept.  Their comments ranged from how their teacher read a similar book to them and it was a highlight of their education or a teacher hassled them about gaming (Dungeons & Dragons etc…) and it was the beginning of the end to their respect of teachers and education.  Then I received a comment from the man who authored the book and WOW, what a Fan Boy moment that was.  I wrote a post on my classroom design. I was sent links to others who were on the same wavelength and had Swedish designers ask me questions about why and how I had done certain things and what the effect on the students was from the choices that I had made.

But, taking aside the fact that people actually read my reflections I asked myself why I actually do this and discovered that it is therapeutic.  By recording down 2-3 posts a week I am looking at my teaching practice in greater detail and am a better teacher for it.  Each post takes me 10-30 minutes to write, but that 30 minutes is time I am thinking only about my teaching and classroom practice.

My blog is..

• …therapeutic.
• …makes me ask the hard questions.
• …it lets me celebrate the successes.
• …models the writing process and although my students do not read my blog they know that I write it. Like them I am a writer.
• …a record of my learning journey.
• …a portal for feedback

With technology it is so easy to record and share, so why don’t we more often?

Found a great iPad and iPhone App, had a play, then recorded a super quick review and after all that was done I uploaded it to YouTube. Entire process was less that 10 minutes.

Maybe my editing could have been better?

Maybe I should have scripted?

Maybe I should have had a third take instead of being happy with the second?

…but the task was not to be perfect, as it was to share and to share quickly, then procede with my day.  It is open for the world, but I could have saved it just for those with the link, then embedded it in a Wiki or class blog thus sharing the learning with a specific group of people.   I guess my message with this post is that we have the technology to quickly record then share in a way that is accessible and rewindable, so why don’t we, as it would help a lot of our kids. I don’t at the moment with my year 3s and 4s as I have always thought them too young, but  now I feel that I might have been wrong?

Collaboration on the fly – #NZSchoolTimelapse

Yesterday morning, with only 30 minutes before the bell went I had some students playing, and we all know that kids learn through play, on the iLapse app. A few days previous Stephen’s (@PalmyTeacher) class had time lapsed with some letters the proverbial phrase “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” and over the holidays a collection of teachers collaborated on the #NZTimeLapse project; we never talked and it was all co-ordinated through twitter and a Google Doc.

So I sent out a tweet, sent my class off around the school to time lapse busses arriving, classes beginning and waited. Then the messages came in, a Google document to coordinate was requested and the project began.

As I post there are classes around the country, and even some distance learners through the correspondence school, trying to capture moments of their school day. Stephen’s class have already created the opening title sequence and there are already a couple of clips completed and ready to be edited together.

If this works, and I am sure that it will, there is already talk of future collaborations – pass the story, pick a path stories, retelling of stories or plays where each school takes a scene and performs it in a style of their choosing  (Much like the Star Wars Uncut project).  The big learning here is the process and connections of schools and teachers – who knows what will happen when we allow the students to take over.

Choosing a different type of book to read to the class – Fighting Fantasy

Every day we spend at least 10 minutes where I read to the class and they listen and respond with questions.  We build up a understanding of the characters, discuss what makes a book good to read aloud and how the authors describe through showing what is happening in detail rather than telling. Normally it is a novel, occasionally a book of poetry and if we find a great picture book author we might spend a day or 2 reading through a stack of their books investigating how the art moves the story along and tells what words do not need to.

I have a list of books that I know I would captivate any class – The Tale of Despereaux, A Series of Unfortunate Events, anything by Roald Dahl, The Iron Giant, Kensuke’s Kingdom and the list goes on.  Additionally I have a list of some of my most beloved books that just do not sound good being read aloud to a class and have not gotten past chapter three before I say “…and if you are loving this book it is at the library.”

Ok, I’m usually blogging about IT integration in the classroom and I still do.  When we read are reading a book we will have the Interactive Whiteboard open and use…

• dictionary.com – Discovering the meaning of the word suppurating was fantastic.
• Google Earth – Tracking the trip around the world in Kensuke’s Kingdom.
• YouTube to compare books to their movie trailers

To the real point of this posting. I found in the back of a cupboard the other day my copy of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain – A Fighting Fantasy Gamebook. Now at age 9 this book captivated me as it is a cross between a board game, puzzle and just a great story.  So I brought my dusty, crusty old copy that was given to my brother fresh from publication in 1982 then secretly stolen from his shelf . The game record page had been worn thin from pencil scratchings and eraser marks.

I simplified the fighting rules and presented it to the class on Monday morning – eyes were rolled, groans echoed around the room and one even said ‘Really Mr Dyer, rolling a dice when you read a book sounds a bit dumb’. So I read, the noises stopped and the ears pricked as the language unfolded. The first argument began as we were asked to turn East or West at a junction in the passage  and decided by voting visually by standing either in the East or West side of the class.

Next they chose to enter into a room were faced with 2 goblins and the first battle began. We dispatched one instantly, then we took a hit and then the second goblin was slain – the class actually cheered and the teacher from the room next door had to pop in her head to check we were ok. We pillaged the room and found a key marked 99 that was recorded on the Adventure sheet that was up on the IWB.

After a week we have taken hits, freed a crazed madmen gave us a clue that saved us from certain death. Choosing to try and steal a gem resulted in the statue to come alive attack us and we only just left the room with one health point left after the battle with the Iron Cyclops. We have an inventory list of items that we are yet to use and every time we come to a door the class hope it asks for key 99.

It may sound silly to some, but to me, the geek who was raised on D&D, Warhammer and similar games, it is normal and just too much fun. I was not expecting it to work, but hoping that it would provide a type of book that might appeal to some of my reluctant boy readers. The reality is that I have found a text that the whole class is engrossed in. Looking on TradeMe (NZ version of EBay) you can pick Fighting Fantasy or Pick a Path books up for $1 each and even if they just sit on the shelf of your classroom library for the kids to read individually you are providing a new genre for your students.  I know they will be a hit with the class, so give it a go.

1:25 iPad Classroom – A Creative Model

There are so many truly lucky classes out there in the world of education where every child walks in with a device of their own. It may be that the school is BYOD, runs a 1:1 iPad or laptop programme or just well resourced.

Once the network upgrade reaches the school that I am at and we have ultra fast broadband we will look into BYOD as the majority of our students have devices of their own. My class is well resourced with an Interactive Whiteboard, desktop PC, 8 Netbooks, cameras, Flip-cameras, microphones and 1 iPad.

It is that one iPad that has been the focus of my learning the past 6 months. At first I played, then I let the students play, then I researched, then we played some more. I gave a workshop at a conference in Invercargill in the holiday on the topic (Slides Below) and still I am redefining my understanding of its best use, but I have come to one constant across the whole learning journey – if you can do it on a computer or on paper with the same ease and effect, then you should.  There are too many amazing things to do with an iPad to be working at the Substitution level.  Ok, if you are 1:1 and going paperless, then kudos to you and some of what you do will be at all levels of the SAMR spectrum, but if you have 1 or 2 or even 10 iPads and they are being used predominantly for maths and spelling games (and it might not be you, but many are) then you need to rethink your approach.

So 1:25 iPads to students…

• Gorilla Blogging- Capturing events as they happen and through Wifi share them with your parents, community and whanau. (Blogger, WordPress, KidBlog)
• Movies – Your ipad is a one stop camera, audio, editing and publishing device.  It could be for getting the students to share a visit or a trip, explain their learning, create a documentary, a news article, your own TV station or just having the opportunity to create a movie for the sake of a movie.
• Share the learning – Using Explain everything or Screen Chomp or Show me or Notability as a mini white board that records the students learning visually and their spoken word so that they can show their understanding or share with another or upload to their blog.
• Spice up a School Journal Play and have the opportunity to share it with Grandma in Germany – Puppet Pals, Toontastic or Sock Puppets with any School Journal or play book.
• Things that can be embedded – Create then share on your Blog, Wiki or Website with quick embed codes. (YouTube, Vimeo, Haiku Deck, SoundCloud, AudioBoo, Explain Everything)
• SOCIAL MEDIA! Ok, you can do this through computers as well, but on an iPad there is no need for the constant passwords and the such. It is Imperative that we introduce our students to social media in a safe, scaffold environment.  Our Students are digital natives who use devices intuitively, but do not have the cognitive development to understand the consequences of their actions – most teachers are digital immigrants who have had huge learning curves around technology, but do understand what the reaction will be of our actions.

In conclusion, I view an iPad as the ultimate creation device within a classroom, but not the only; we must remember that not a single iPad App was created on an iPad.  I pose that  if Bill Gates was provided with an iPad at school, not a second hand Teletype 33, we might not have the computers that we have today.

1to25 i pads in the classroom from dukelyer

Are we using Technology for Technologies sake or to make a difference?

I am in a bit of a conundrum and have a question that I seem to ask myself every six months.  I look at the technology that I use in my class and what I see as being important to my students with becoming digital citizens and have to ask myself am I using all this technology to make a difference or just because it makes it all look prettier and engages the students in the same way that a PSP or Gameboy would? I know that the students I teach are born into a digital world and technology is part of their lives, but I need to ensure that the technology that is used enhances their learning instead of just coinciding with it.

I assume that if you are reading this that you are an educator so I want you to ask yourself the same question about your classroom and the classes within the school that you work. Is it all making a difference or just more engaging for the students?  I have a feeling that if you are taking the time to read this that you are one of the few that are looking at technology as a way to enhance education and provide students with opportunities that were previously unattainable without modern technology, but how many classes in your school still use computers to publish stories and I pads to play maths and spelling games? With most schools the technology is in place, but the pedagogy behind the technology and the vision and understanding is not.  We still use the term 21st Century Teaching and Learning, but in 2013 we should just be calling it Teaching and Learning.

Now I know that those of us who are the leaders of eLearners within our schools have only just reached the point where we have gotten the reluctant eTeachers on board or are still battling them to come to the party, but we still need to be moving forwards and improving our own practice and that of our colleagues who are thriving in the technological world alongside us. Now I have mentioned SAMR previously, but yesterday I came across the flow chart below and traced it back through Twitter to a man who I always get inspired by when I read his tweets named Mark Anderson (@ICTEEvangelist).  This Flow chart, created and freely shared for our use by Mark, is  the ultimate tool for use within a school as it is so simple in use, but instantly identifies if your chosen tool or lesson is at a low or high level in relation to SAMR and then provides you with a clear path for rethinking your choice.

Look at the flow chart, take it to your Syndicate and Staff meetings, get your colleagues to look at it to and evaluate their technology usage and maybe we will really begin to put all the technology that is within our schools to use in the way that it was intended.

Changing of the Guard – Apple is in, PC is out.

Now this week something happened that I never thought would unless I was forced to by a schools computer preference… I bought a MacBook Air.  I always knew the pros of Apple with regards to Education; Movie Maker does not quite compare to iMovie and comparing Audacity  and Garageband is like comparing Lego and Duplo – they do the same things kind of, but not really.

The biggest game changer has been the use of my iPhone in class and the class iPad (Singular, Uno, Tahi, like Han it is Solo).  I have come to love Apple and the ease of its applications and interface. Now I am not going to claim that there is only one device to rule them all, as that is just malarky and we all know it, but for now I am going the Apple path and am plaining to absorb myself in all it has to offer.

Now I have chosen the MacBook Air 11 inch, which is small in size and storage and that could be problematic, but I do not feel that it will be.  The majority of all the ‘paperwork’ that I make at the moment is cloud based in Dropbox, Evernote or Google Drive, so storage of that will not come into the equation.  All of the movies or audio that I have created over the past 6 months is using either an iPad or iPhone then sent to various hosting sites such as YouTube or Vimeo, so again it should not be a problem.  My only issue that I can see being a problem with storage will be music and photos; the photos could be cloud based, but I prefer not to send family photos out to the net, so I think that with a new hard drive this problem will also be saved.

Ok, so I am sure that those are not the only three issues, but the rest will be part of the adventure. In 15 minutes of playing i was able to hook into the Wifi at school and workout how the proxy settings worked and I think that the command key works like right click on a mouse, but not always. The journey has begun and I’m feeling good about it, so lets hope that I am feeling the same way once school is back and I have to use it in my class.

In conclusion I must also add that I am not going to miss Microsoft’s constant change in operating system… I am sure that Windows 7 is quite fantastic, but I am not going to take the time to relearn how to use my PC every time a new operating system arrives. So as of now, I am the newest Apple Fanboy and quite excited at the prospect.

Collaboration through connections made on Twitter

Collaboration through twitter has been a fantastic learning curve for my classroom and I over the past year. I recognise all tweets as being a collaboration with either a specific or unidentified audience, but sometimes it becomes a bit more.

Initially there is that tweet to share a resource or idea, followed by the tweet to find or answer a question. A step further you have that focused conversation around a prearranged topic and set of questions followed by those interested with a Hashtag; I find this a great way to find like minded educators or education heroes that inspire you.

Next step in conecting is that project like Quadblogging or the Travelling Rhino, which is about to visit my classroom next term. These projects really provide the opportunities for classes or teachers to connect.  A shared purpose and goal with the connectivity or modern technology means that distance or time zone is no longer an interference to connecting nationally or globally.

Last year through a blog share we connected with a class in Hamilton through Skype.  Although in the same country our lives were so different. We shared our skis and ski boots with them, they showed us how they could do 180 spin jumps of wooden blocks and then discussed the issues with having a giraffe as a class pet. The connection was not great internet wise, but the connection of thoughts and ideas was beyond worth – my children could not understand that there were people in the world that could not ski, let alone had never seen snow.

The last collaboration that I have discovered through Twitter is Friendship, people who you may never have met, but you build a professional relationship first, then relationship of trust and if you are lucky enough a friendship.  Then I have discovered that when you go to a course or conference you always seem to know someone in the room and the conversations are much longer than 140 characters.

Below is a collaboration between 4 teachers using time lapse technology; 8:30 until 9am on the same day all over New Zealand.  We hope to create another with more participants later in the month.

#NZTimeLapseProject

The timelapse was co-ordinated by @Dakinane and has footage from @Dakinane @Zoopita @MsBeeNZ & @Dukelyer