Education Investigation

The other night our ICT Cluster was offered the chance to listen to a internet safety talk presented by NetSafe. It was excellent.

The internet safety message reminded me again of the harmful potential that the internet provides. This was also hit home to Rocky, my Cluster ICT Facilitator, who wrote a post entitled: “The Problem Is Not The Technology, It Is How It Is Used”.

Something worth watching and using especially if you are a Teacher, Parent or Principal is this video that was shared during the evening.

Following this and after further discussions with my Principal we have written up some blogging guidelines for our school:

1. General safety rules must be agreed on by the whole class.

a. Only use our FIRST name when writing.
b. Only use SENSIBLE and KIND words.
c. Do not write any of our DETAILS - this includes phone number, address and personal email address.
d. Be careful when putting PHOTOS on (we have permission slips signed by parents). Photos must not have any part of a student’s name at the bottom of it. Where possible group photos are preferred over individual photos.
e. Ask PERMISSION when putting on other people’s photos - tell them what you are going to do with the photos.
f. Only display nice photos of other people (we don’t want people to be embarrassed) .
g. Be RESPONSIBLE when using and writing on our blog.

(The inspiration for these rules came from Rachel Boyd’s class blog)

2. Remove the Navbar by editing the html.

3. Edit html on widgets/slideshows/etc where possible so advertising is removed. (These advertising links lead students often to inappropriate sites.)
Note: It is easier to use Photostory or Moviemaker to create slideshows/videos and then upload this to blogger using the “video upload” button.

4. Links to other blogs or websites must be previewed before linking to the class blog. (Pages with non educational links should not be included e.g. games, advertising, social networks).

5. Comment moderation must be turned on (this will enable all comments to be sent to a designated email box to be moderated before they are published on the blog).

6. Posts must be saved by students in draft form to be viewed by the teacher before publishing.

7. Show http://www.hectorsworld.com/ to students and have this link on your blog so videos on internet safety can be viewed and discussed.

As part of my classes ICT program we created a Voicethread to discuss and highlight the need to follow the above simple safety rules while on the internet:

The internet is a tool and just like a hammer it can inflict pain or build a magnificent house. It is our responsibility as educators to make sure we have done our best to teach internet safety to our students AND their families.

We must make sure our blog is safe; is your blog’s seatbelt done up?

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Wham! The 2008 year has kicked off.

I decided that with my new Yr 6 (Grade 5) class this year I wanted to help develop their thinking. One way to do this was to begin the year with an investigation into Multiple Intelligences. Why? I wanted my students to:

1. Think smarter.
2. Understand how they learn best so they can be involved in choreographing their learning.

Of course it also meant that I could gain an insight into my dynamic bunch of students and look for ways to connect with individuals.

Please note - I do not agree with everything Gardner has suggested. This exercise was meant to open the students eyes to our different ways of learning and give a chance to acknowledge their strengths/gifts and weaknesses. This activity was not meant to put my students in “boxes” and I explained this to them.

I performed an inquiry into online and off line resources and after sifting through some came up with the following:

• Online Diagnostic Survey: This survey was the best I could find because it:
  1. Gave 40 easy to read questions that allowed you to select a dot on a continuum line acknowledging your stance on the question. This was better than those tests in which you can only answer “yes” or “no”.
  2. Produced an excellent graph at the end acknowledging up to 8 intelligences/smarts you may have. Other tests just give you one smart at the conclusion of the test and placed you in a “box”.
  3. Showed a colourful and easy to read graph that was a hit with the students.

  My 10 year olds completed the questionnaire in 8 minutes.

• Teacher Resource Book: The book is entitled “Multiple Intelligences Activities” from Teacher Created Materials, Inc. This book is full of activities for Teachers who wish to develop the students understanding of each intelligence. It is designed for Grades 5-8. Some of the chapter titles are as listed below:
  • 7 Intelligences (”Nature Smart” is missing from the 8 mentioned in the above survey.)
  • How they can be identified.
  • What about assessment?
  • Ways to teach and assess the Multiple Intelligences.

  (Note: the book displayed on the right is the updated version of the 1996 edition I obtained.)

• A Fellow Teacher’s Resources: It was great to be shown this wee beauty of a resource (Thanks Amanda). If you scroll down you will see the following in Laura Candler’s “The File Cabinet”:
  • Multiple Intelligence Survey
  • Multiple Intelligence Lesson Ideas (Directions, 8 Kinds of Smart, Ways People are Smart Sorting Clips and the Smart Song.)

  These ideas provided some good resources that aided me in introducing M.Is to my students.

Well the journey has begun and my students are responding well to coming up with new ways to learn using their smarts. It was a good move to begin here.

Has anyone else come across good resources on Multiple Intelligences?
What lessons on this topic have you found to be successful in your class?

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What: Survey results from Parents. Their response to our class blogging.

Why: I wanted to gather data to see the Parents perceptions of the class blog and how often they use it. I also wanted to perform a stage 2 survey to see if Parents have moved to purchasing broadband since the last survey in June 2007.

How: The survey was stuck into each student’s diary in November 2007 for their Parents. Parents had one week to complete the short survey.

Results:

18 of the 23 Parents completed the survey (78% participation).

1/ Q: “Do you have a working computer at home?”

A: 95% = Yes (95% said “yes” in June)

2/ Q: “Do you have broadband? (Fast Internet connection)”

A: 83% = Yes (55% said “yes” in June)

3/ Q: “On average how often do you as a Parent and your child interact with the class blog?”

A:

4/ Q: “Do you believe that the class blog benefits your child’s education?”

A: 14/18 Parents (78%) = Yes         (4 Parents (22%) failed to complete this question.)

Summary:

1. Most Parents (95%) had a working computer at home.
2. Children and Parents were far less likely to use the class blog if they didn’t have broadband.
3. There has been a definite shift (55% - 83%) to purchasing broadband since June this year.
4. 53% of students use the class blog at home on average more than twice a week.
5. 78% of Parents interact with the class blog on average less than twice a week.
6. ALL Parents who correctly completed the survey believe the class blog benefits their child’s education. One reason why four Parents may not have filled this part of the survey in could be because the question was hard to read and may have been missed accidentally.

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What: Survey results from my class of 6-7 year olds. Their response to using our class blog.

Why: I wanted to gather data to see what percentage of the class actively interacted with the class blog and how often. I also wanted to see what I could do better as an educator through the blog.

How: Students were given the survey in class. I read out the questions and helped them through it so they understood.

Results:

Feeling Statements 1-3:

Question 4:

• “Circle the 2 things that you like the most about the class blog.”

Question 5:

• “If you could choose, what would you like more of on the blog?”

The students said: *Our Art *More games *More jokes *More Maths games

Question 6:

• “I also liked….”

Question 7:

• “I didn’t like……”

The students said:

Question 8:

• “Circle the number that shows how you feel about the class blog.” (1=bad, 2=ok, 3=good, 4=great, 5=awesome)

5% rated it as a 4.                    95% rated it as a 5.

Summary:

1. I am convinced the majority of students enjoyed the blog and used it often.
2. Many enjoyed the Maths games/links more than the Reading games/links.
3. Mathletics was the favourite activity connected to the blog.
4. In the future I will publish more of the students art on the blog and include links to other class blog sites.

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With only 8 days left of school before Christmas it is getting harder to muster energy or time to do things…..even blog posts! (I must be tired) Anyway this is one that I promised I would do.

Mathletics is a online maths site that my students have LOVED! Arriving into the class before school and running quickly to do the jobs expected of them so that they can then hop on to Mathletics before the bell rings, is a common activity I have observed lately.

I first came across Mathletics after hearing about it from Marnie Thomas a teacher in Auckland, New Zealand. She has been using it since the beginning of 2007. I signed my class up to the free 2 week trial (we actually got 3 weeks) and WHAM the kids were off!

I won’t give you the details on this product as you can read about it on their website but I will give you my positives and negatives: (Please understand this is my view and it is limited to my experience after 3 weeks of trialling it.)

Positives:

+ All my students loved it (boys and girls).
+ Gives opportunities for 24 hr learning through the online website.
+ Provides a huge motivation to learn basic facts (addition, subtraction, division and multiplication) through the “Live Mathletics” challenge. This live maths game allowed students to play against others from around the World and so it excited and inspired my students to play it again….and again….and again!
+ Mathletics provides immediate access to support for any of the activities if a student doesn’t know what to do.
+ Enhances students focus through auditory and visual stimuli.
+ Students gain credits for completing math activities. They use these to buy “bling” for their Mathletics avatar.
+ Online certificates (bronze, silver and gold) are given to students who pass a certain level of credits.
+ Students progress at their own rate and can move onto a higher level if they wish.
+ Parents receive weekly email reports of their child’s progress.
+ Full curriculum coverage from Years 1 to 13 (5 to 17 year olds).
+ As a teacher I could completely control what level and mathematic activity each child was assigned. This enabled me to provide extra support for my class programme.
+ As a teacher I was given full reports on individual student’s progress eg: percentages, time spent, credits gained, certificates achieved and results for each activity.

Negatives:

- If you don’t have a computer with an internet connection you can’t access it.
- Mathletics is excellent for teaching mathematical knowledge but I saw little evidence for the teaching of the many mathematical strategies in Number.
- Students loved the Live Mathletics challenge so much they were distracted away from the other activities (unless I had assigned their tasks. This blocked students from doing any other activity until the assigned task was completed.)
- Students could choose the Live Mathletics competition level. Most of mine therefore stayed on level 1 so it was easy and they gained points quicker.
- It could be said to be expensive. Individual parents pay $99 NZ to use it for a year OR schools pay $30 NZ a year ($20 if they sign up for 3 years.)
- Students missed it when the trial expired.

So you ask “Are you going to use it in the future and sign up?” Well………I am currently in negotiations with my school management. The biggest issue for us is funding it. I would love to sign up.

Does anyone else use Mathletics? What have you found? Do you agree with me?

Note: Mathletics also has a brother called Spellodrome. I trialled this also. If you are keen to hear about it leave a comment or look at the screenshots I took of it here.

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It is drawing close to that time of year when you:

a) Look back on what you have done.

and

b) Look forward to next year :+)

Well I have been thinking . . . . . My school has given me the chance to go up to a Year 6 class (10 year olds) and I have some new ideas. BUT before I get ahead of myself (as I do when I get excited) I need to do some weighing up.

Here are some questions that help me evaluate my teaching and the activities I immerse my students in:

1. Did the students love the lesson?
2. Does it engage creative thinking?
3. What did it teach them……..REALLY?
4. Could I have done it a better way?
5. Was the effort/stress worth it in the outcome?
6. Could the ICT activity be done better on paper? (vice versa)
7. Was I doubling up on anything?
8. Does anyone else do it differently?
9. What does research say about it?

What questions have been helpful for you?

However to deal effectively with any of these questions I need more than my 5 minute shower reflection time. I need rest (so that I can think creatively - mountain tops work well for me). It really comes down to time.

I noticed that Jeff Utecht has shared on his blog “The Thinking Stick”

“I would love if every teacher got 20% R&D time.”

If we were given time to do some Research and Development our efforts as educators would be more effective and we would feel more rewarded. This is also how we can help keep ourselves and our school on the cutting edge of education.

I know I was blessed to have 5 days this term looking into Inquiry Learning. I felt so rewarded and so much more confident as an educator.

Are there creative ideas out there as to how our schools could incorporate more R + D?

Picture Authors: 

“Footprints” - http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/beware-your-digital-footprint-is-your-resume.html

"Question Mark" - http://www.sbac.edu/~media/hurricane_preparedness.htm

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