I have found that during the course of reflection in this blog that it is very beneficial for my professional development so I feel that this space could be utilized for reflecting across my other modules as well.
I feel our input on Friday 18th February is worth reflecting on as I found it very helpful and exciting. During this input we set up our context area in groups which we decided was 'People Who Help Us' as it is a prominent topic for nursery and early years education.
We were then joined by a nursery class who were free to explore every area set up by our entire year. This gave us all the opportunity to interact and observe the children and learn more about nursery. I have had lots of nursery experience as the bulk of my work experience before university was in nurseries rather than higher up in the primary school however I had been observing and interacting without having it backed up by theory. Because if this I was comfortable around the children and could easily interact and have fun but I could now add to that by taking into account the aspects Erika and Brenda have been talking to us about. I found this helped me with respect to observation as I was thinking about what to watch and what I could note if I had planned an observation however I was unsure how much we were expected to get involved as we were being told to interact but are often told in lectures that we should let the children play on their own and not dictate to them what to do. I feel that I managed to strike a balance between the two but until I have had more experience applying theory I cannot be 100% sure.
I learned a lot about what attracts children to a certain area. I think our area was great but the position was wrong as we were right next to the door in the corner and our tables were out of reach for the children. The areas which were colourful and had objects at the children's height were very popular plus colourful and crafty things were a favourite! Also, leftover balloons from the 1CM1 World Cafe were more popular than any area which goes to show the point that Erika and Brenda make all the time that you can create a fantastic context area but it still may not interest the children.
Overall the input has made me even more excited about my nursery placement!
Sunday 20 February 2011
iPhone Treasure Hunt
This week Sharon had us running around the university looking for clues in out treasure hunt! Using the code-scanning app we took pictures which led to another code with another clue! Unfortunatly nobody found the prize, I'm not sure if Sharon was joking and sent us on a wild goose chase just for the experience or if there was actually a prize somewhere and we all missed it. Either way it worked because the experience was extremely engaging, even if we didn't win the prize I still enjoyed following the clues and working together. It may have worked better if each team started out with a different code though, as the first person to solve the clue was followed by everybody else. Doing this with a class would end up in a pile up of thirty children all trying to take photos. The active learning with the modern technology was a perfect combination! I will definatly use this in the classroom! This is my favourite transferable activity so far!
Movie Making!
Over the past few weeks our groups have been making movies based on out topic. Our movie was about cooking a traditional Scottish meal of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties and it all going disastrously wrong.
First was the Filming, our plan was to film outside and inside Tesco's but the camera wasn't working when we got there! This was our first obstacle, but we decided not to let it frustrate us and cut the supermarket scenes from the movie. This worked out better in the end as our movie would have been way too long if we had included them. We then went on to film with Kirsten as camera-woman, Sarah as director and me as the actress. I didn't mind being in the movie but would have maybe liked everybody to be on camera at least for a small part. Although nobody else would join me in front of the camera, filming was fun, there were so many out-takes as we all kept laughing, especially me! I can see how children would find this fun because there are roles for pupils who want to be in front of the camera and pupils who prefer to be behind the scenes. I think that this gives the teacher the important role of grouping carefully. This is not a job for the random group generator which can be used on the Smartboard.
Next came the Editing which involved cutting the scenes, writing titles and adding music all using Windows Movie Maker. Kirsten and I worked together on editing the movie, Kirsten was in charge but we both had input into what our movie would look and sound like. Sharon questioned whether I knew how to edit a movie after seeing Kirsten in the driving seat but I learned through the process as I know the processes for each step of the movie making after first being told by Sharon and then testing it out for myself.
During the first input for editing the video we finished cutting the scenes together and had most of the subtitles but whilst saving on a memory stick all our editing was lost! This was extremely frustrating as my known lack of patience was already being pushed with the specific nature of the movie making process! Kirsten managed to make the movie again quickly and this seemed to be a common problem amongst the groups. This shows how careful we would need to be when teaching this to children. We picked up where we left off in the next input and added French subtitles to the spoken English which were translated by Claire. We then added music using Audacity. Although it is simple to use we had to record our songs from heaphones onto the microphone and the quality was often quite bad or would include the background noise. Also the sound was very low and it was only resolved when we figured out how to turn it up in Windows Movie Maker. Because of this I am not too fond of this program.
During the Strictly Come Movies Carrie commented that our movie was a good introduction into teaching about how food gets from the ground onto our plate and that the comedy aspect was something primary school children would find extremely funny! I was glad to hear this as I was uncomfortable acting on my own and the fact that it came across funny was a relif but it was still embarrassing for me to watch!
Throughout the journey of movie making I have been increasingly frustrated and impatient, every aspect seemed to create obstacles. Despite this I have learned that ICT is about problem-solving and finding different ways of overcoming these obstacles but I am still undecided whether I would use it in a primary classroom.
First was the Filming, our plan was to film outside and inside Tesco's but the camera wasn't working when we got there! This was our first obstacle, but we decided not to let it frustrate us and cut the supermarket scenes from the movie. This worked out better in the end as our movie would have been way too long if we had included them. We then went on to film with Kirsten as camera-woman, Sarah as director and me as the actress. I didn't mind being in the movie but would have maybe liked everybody to be on camera at least for a small part. Although nobody else would join me in front of the camera, filming was fun, there were so many out-takes as we all kept laughing, especially me! I can see how children would find this fun because there are roles for pupils who want to be in front of the camera and pupils who prefer to be behind the scenes. I think that this gives the teacher the important role of grouping carefully. This is not a job for the random group generator which can be used on the Smartboard.
Next came the Editing which involved cutting the scenes, writing titles and adding music all using Windows Movie Maker. Kirsten and I worked together on editing the movie, Kirsten was in charge but we both had input into what our movie would look and sound like. Sharon questioned whether I knew how to edit a movie after seeing Kirsten in the driving seat but I learned through the process as I know the processes for each step of the movie making after first being told by Sharon and then testing it out for myself.
During the first input for editing the video we finished cutting the scenes together and had most of the subtitles but whilst saving on a memory stick all our editing was lost! This was extremely frustrating as my known lack of patience was already being pushed with the specific nature of the movie making process! Kirsten managed to make the movie again quickly and this seemed to be a common problem amongst the groups. This shows how careful we would need to be when teaching this to children. We picked up where we left off in the next input and added French subtitles to the spoken English which were translated by Claire. We then added music using Audacity. Although it is simple to use we had to record our songs from heaphones onto the microphone and the quality was often quite bad or would include the background noise. Also the sound was very low and it was only resolved when we figured out how to turn it up in Windows Movie Maker. Because of this I am not too fond of this program.
During the Strictly Come Movies Carrie commented that our movie was a good introduction into teaching about how food gets from the ground onto our plate and that the comedy aspect was something primary school children would find extremely funny! I was glad to hear this as I was uncomfortable acting on my own and the fact that it came across funny was a relif but it was still embarrassing for me to watch!
Throughout the journey of movie making I have been increasingly frustrated and impatient, every aspect seemed to create obstacles. Despite this I have learned that ICT is about problem-solving and finding different ways of overcoming these obstacles but I am still undecided whether I would use it in a primary classroom.
Smartboard Training
At the beginning of the week both the ICT and modern languages electives were given training for the Smartboard.
I found this training extremely useful as the technology is designed for and frequently used in classrooms therefore all the skills we were learning could be directly transferred into classrooms.
We were learning the basic skills like moving the objects, resizing, writing in different colours etc which was necessary and needed but we also learned how to use tools which made lessons which could have previously been simple or boring into something a bit more exciting and engaging.
I really liked the idea of using different ways of revealing answers, methods such as erasing, dragging objects onto colours, sliding and linking question pages to the answers. This was all made possible by contrasting background colours with that of the written answers. All this could be done whilst pupils come up to the board and write over anything with a pen.
The technology makes the lesson engaging for the pupils and is easy to use for the teacher.
The possibilities are endless for any subject and pupils can really be involved in the activities!
The voting systems are a fantastic tool for the classroom as each pupil can type in their own ID and the teacher can see who is answering and record their answers from every vote ever made. Their assessment is automatically saved and easily accessible.
The voting systems can also be confidential so are similar to Poll4 in this respect but are better as they are already linked to the Smartboard and do not need each pupil to have a device linked to the internet.
I found this training extremely useful as the technology is designed for and frequently used in classrooms therefore all the skills we were learning could be directly transferred into classrooms.
We were learning the basic skills like moving the objects, resizing, writing in different colours etc which was necessary and needed but we also learned how to use tools which made lessons which could have previously been simple or boring into something a bit more exciting and engaging.
I really liked the idea of using different ways of revealing answers, methods such as erasing, dragging objects onto colours, sliding and linking question pages to the answers. This was all made possible by contrasting background colours with that of the written answers. All this could be done whilst pupils come up to the board and write over anything with a pen.
The technology makes the lesson engaging for the pupils and is easy to use for the teacher.
The possibilities are endless for any subject and pupils can really be involved in the activities!
The voting systems are a fantastic tool for the classroom as each pupil can type in their own ID and the teacher can see who is answering and record their answers from every vote ever made. Their assessment is automatically saved and easily accessible.
The voting systems can also be confidential so are similar to Poll4 in this respect but are better as they are already linked to the Smartboard and do not need each pupil to have a device linked to the internet.
Bear Blogs
Throughout the module our class has teamed up with the Modern Languages elective to send off a teddy bear to a foreign country. We named him, took pictures and sent him away in a little box with a few treats for our friends in Germany.
We are connected to Sharon's bear blog and posts are going up from our class and from our friends across the world. I think that the whole process has been engaging and would defiantly work in a classroom. The bear's adventures are exciting for the learners as they will be interested to see where their bear has been and will be able to take the bear sent to them on adventures of their own. Sharon's stories of the bear on the bike rove that pupils love this idea as they wanted to know exactly where it was and the excitement generated when a bear arrives in our input is enough to sow how much fun pupils will have!
Our post for the bear blog hasn't been added yet as it was the responsibility of somebody from the modern languages group however, although she volunteered for the job I think it would have been better if Kirsten or myself had done it as we have more emphasis on the blogging aspect of the project. This is about decision making and I feel that we did not anticipate as a group that blogs have less importance outside of our elective. I would like this not to be the case as I am finding blogging useful and although I can fall behind due to my laziness, I feel that I am learning as I write. I am coming to conclusions about the activities because of my reflections.
I think this is what separates the two blogs as this is my reflective blog which I can learn from and use in the future whereas the bear blog is used for communication and documentation. This shows me that blogs have many uses and I should be more focused on completing mine on time as I am the one who will benefit.
I think that my new found appreciation of blogging helps me to use the skill in my own practice as Ganley (2004) states that, 'when a teacher believes in what she's doing and is confident in her tools, well, it rubs off on even the most resistant of students. As reflective research teachers, we must continue to circle back and look at how what we do ties into our long-term educational goals.'
Richardson (2006) writes in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms that, 'If we want students to learn from blogs, we have to experience that learning firsthand,' and that, 'teachers should blog to show students that it is something of value and to model appropriate ways of doing it.'
I agree with this point as throughout this module I have gained a better insight into the obtacles learners will face during each task. This will help me overcome them myself and be able to teach them with confidence.
We are connected to Sharon's bear blog and posts are going up from our class and from our friends across the world. I think that the whole process has been engaging and would defiantly work in a classroom. The bear's adventures are exciting for the learners as they will be interested to see where their bear has been and will be able to take the bear sent to them on adventures of their own. Sharon's stories of the bear on the bike rove that pupils love this idea as they wanted to know exactly where it was and the excitement generated when a bear arrives in our input is enough to sow how much fun pupils will have!
Our post for the bear blog hasn't been added yet as it was the responsibility of somebody from the modern languages group however, although she volunteered for the job I think it would have been better if Kirsten or myself had done it as we have more emphasis on the blogging aspect of the project. This is about decision making and I feel that we did not anticipate as a group that blogs have less importance outside of our elective. I would like this not to be the case as I am finding blogging useful and although I can fall behind due to my laziness, I feel that I am learning as I write. I am coming to conclusions about the activities because of my reflections.
I think this is what separates the two blogs as this is my reflective blog which I can learn from and use in the future whereas the bear blog is used for communication and documentation. This shows me that blogs have many uses and I should be more focused on completing mine on time as I am the one who will benefit.
I think that my new found appreciation of blogging helps me to use the skill in my own practice as Ganley (2004) states that, 'when a teacher believes in what she's doing and is confident in her tools, well, it rubs off on even the most resistant of students. As reflective research teachers, we must continue to circle back and look at how what we do ties into our long-term educational goals.'
Richardson (2006) writes in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms that, 'If we want students to learn from blogs, we have to experience that learning firsthand,' and that, 'teachers should blog to show students that it is something of value and to model appropriate ways of doing it.'
I agree with this point as throughout this module I have gained a better insight into the obtacles learners will face during each task. This will help me overcome them myself and be able to teach them with confidence.
My New iPad :D
This week is my turn to explore the iPad, having had it for four days now I can safely say that I am addicted! There was an app which had already been downloaded called Virtuoso which is a touch keyboard style application. This is obviously useful for music and reminds me of a point Sharon mentioned about an app for a scientific calculator. The money it would cost for a calculator for every pupil would not need to be spent as it would not need to be spent on keyboards. It is one of the many apps which is included in the price of the iPad itself. I found it more engaging than a regular keyboard as it is a novelty to begin with, I started teaching myself new songs and testing out chords for songs I already knew. I felt a sense of achievement when I could play the songs and realised that what I had just seen as messing about was actually learning. There is an emphasis on playing for learning across the nursery modules which Erika and Brenda are teaching us, however this type of play could be spread throughout the whole school and expanded. From this app I found another called Music Drawing Lite which allows you to place a note on a scale and play it. Introducing the notes on a scale could be built upon with this app as pupils can practice through playing on this app. I would use this in my own practice by refreshing knowledge of musical notes including visual reminders on the interactive whiteboard, then I would write the notes of a popular song out in letters. The pupils would have to fill these notes in on the app and play the song. This will involve them matching the notes in letter form to the notes on a scale. I would then let them create their own piece of music which the app enables them to save creating a sense of ownership of the song.
As well as using the music apps, I downloaded games purely for the novelty of having the iPad, I though I may as well enjoy it!
I have become addicted to Bakery Story and Restaurant Story where you build a cafe/restaurant serve customers. The apps have a similar format to Farmville which has never attracted me before however these games were more appealing. At first I thought they were simply something to play but after reading Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use by Susan Brooks-Young (2010) I realised that it could be more educational than I first thought.
According to Brooks-Young, 'Besides being highly engaging, imaginary worlds provide environments where students can learn to make sense of the real world as well. Increasing numbers of educators are experimenting with using virtual worlds to engage students in a wide range of learning activities.'
I agree with this point as I found the game engaging to the point of addiction!
Brooks-Young expands her point by stating that, 'students who could directly manipulate objects in animations learned better using a variety of problem-solving measures. Virtual worlds make it possible for educators to create environments where students can learn by manipulating objects in the environment to test hypotheses and see "what if?"'
This is very true of these particular apps as the progression of the virtual world is dependant on the actions of the user. Deciding what to cook, how much money to spend on furniture, how long the food will take etc are all decisions the user needs to make to move up levels and have a successful virtual business.
The Curriculum for Excellence outcome;
By experiencing the setting up and running of a business, I can collaborate in making choices relating to the different roles and responsibilities and have evaluated its success.
As well as using the music apps, I downloaded games purely for the novelty of having the iPad, I though I may as well enjoy it!
I have become addicted to Bakery Story and Restaurant Story where you build a cafe/restaurant serve customers. The apps have a similar format to Farmville which has never attracted me before however these games were more appealing. At first I thought they were simply something to play but after reading Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use by Susan Brooks-Young (2010) I realised that it could be more educational than I first thought.
According to Brooks-Young, 'Besides being highly engaging, imaginary worlds provide environments where students can learn to make sense of the real world as well. Increasing numbers of educators are experimenting with using virtual worlds to engage students in a wide range of learning activities.'
I agree with this point as I found the game engaging to the point of addiction!
Brooks-Young expands her point by stating that, 'students who could directly manipulate objects in animations learned better using a variety of problem-solving measures. Virtual worlds make it possible for educators to create environments where students can learn by manipulating objects in the environment to test hypotheses and see "what if?"'
This is very true of these particular apps as the progression of the virtual world is dependant on the actions of the user. Deciding what to cook, how much money to spend on furniture, how long the food will take etc are all decisions the user needs to make to move up levels and have a successful virtual business.
The Curriculum for Excellence outcome;
By experiencing the setting up and running of a business, I can collaborate in making choices relating to the different roles and responsibilities and have evaluated its success.
relates to this sort of game. Pupils experience a taste of enterprising which can relate to projects within the classroom and school.
Animation!
Here is the video animation me and Kirsten made during a previous input.
As I have stated before, the patience it takes to make the video is very important. I find that this patience is sometimes lost on me as I personally prefer instant results however I do feel that looking back at my experience and the end product of it is very enjoyable and I feel that I have not only learned to be more patient but I have reflected on ho I would use this in my own teaching. I think that some people would respond to this activity the same way I did whereas others would appreciate the experience. Paying close attention to detail is a process certain people enjoy. Knowing whether a class would enjoy this comes with knowing the pupils. If I were to use this in education I would set the time frame for the activity at a rate which would suit my own class. We completed the animation in just a few hours as we were only testing and learning the processes ourselves. teaching this to children could become a mini topic which splits each aspect of the task up so completion of smaller tasks could be achievements in themselves. This could be expanded to blogging as each activity could be documented and blogged about e.g. taking pictures of plasticine characters, practicing with the Digital Blue camera technology and the final movies as well as taking pictures of the children during the process. Pupils could also reflect in the blog about how they found the activity. This would help them reflect on their own learning experience by self-assessing and inform the teacher's practice.
During the animation process I feel that the pupils would be working towards the Curriculum for Excellence outcome;
I can create, capture and manipulate sounds, text and images to communicate experiences, ideas and information in creative and engaging ways.
I feel that I have enhanced my skills in this area as well as practicing the skills involved in the Curriculum for Excellence outcome;
Using appropriate software, I can work individually or collaboratively to design and implement a game, animation or other application.
Collaborative Task
In the most recent input Sharon assigned us a collaborative task in which we were to create a video in which we were to make a video using Animoto.
Our group created a Wordle using words from a collaborative wiki.
I liked the idea of a space where each person could input ideas at the same time. This would defiantly work in the classroom as it could be used in the same way as mind-mapping. Instead of calling out answers with the teacher recording, the document could be shown on the interactive whiteboard whilst pupils are typing in ideas. This benefits pupils who may not want to answer in class.
We also needed to use Zamzar to convert our picture files into JPEG format. We've used Zamzar before when converting music files for our animations and I think it a very valuable website for teachers as before I wouldn't have known how to do this and may have had to use another resource or no resource at all.
The collaborative document could be useful for homework as it could be accessed from home computers.
Another good use for a document like this is for pupils questions. If pupils are finding an certain aspect of an activity difficult then it could highlight to the teacher that something specific was not properly explained during the introduction of their lesson. Instead of the teacher finding that the pupils are struggling by helping several pupils individually the teacher could see quickly that a task may be causing confusion or difficulty.
The collaborative document is similar to Poll4 which allows pupils to vote or comment on a particular question. This may or may not be anonymous which allows the same benefits for quiet pupils.
Our group created a Wordle using words from a collaborative wiki.
I liked the idea of a space where each person could input ideas at the same time. This would defiantly work in the classroom as it could be used in the same way as mind-mapping. Instead of calling out answers with the teacher recording, the document could be shown on the interactive whiteboard whilst pupils are typing in ideas. This benefits pupils who may not want to answer in class.
We also needed to use Zamzar to convert our picture files into JPEG format. We've used Zamzar before when converting music files for our animations and I think it a very valuable website for teachers as before I wouldn't have known how to do this and may have had to use another resource or no resource at all.
The collaborative document could be useful for homework as it could be accessed from home computers.
Another good use for a document like this is for pupils questions. If pupils are finding an certain aspect of an activity difficult then it could highlight to the teacher that something specific was not properly explained during the introduction of their lesson. Instead of the teacher finding that the pupils are struggling by helping several pupils individually the teacher could see quickly that a task may be causing confusion or difficulty.
The collaborative document is similar to Poll4 which allows pupils to vote or comment on a particular question. This may or may not be anonymous which allows the same benefits for quiet pupils.
Thursday 17 February 2011
Blabberize
Sharon set us a task during the workshop today to use blabberize to make a talking picture. I used my avatar and found it worked well and think using pictures with more than one face in them would be even more effective. I used a quick sound clip from the Dance-ejay programme for my example.
http://blabberize.com/
http://blabberize.com/
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