In this episode of Flipped Teacher Professional Learning, I walk through the layout of Word Online and give you two examples of how it can be used as a collaboration tool in your classroom. Click here for the full list of FTPL videos.
0 Comments
In this Flipped Teacher Professional Learning video I walkthrough the Office365’s OneDrive menus and some of the basic functions. For the full list of FTPL videos, click here. Day one of FlipCon Adelaide was fantastic and you can find the articles for day one by clicking here. You can also find the Storify of the tweets from day one here. Additionally, Peter Whiting (@Mr_van_w) and his colleague Bill Tink (@BillTink) recorded their own reflections as a podcast which is available here and is a great reflection on the day overall from some different perspectives. Day two promised to be a great day. Part of FlipCon Adelaide was a school tour. Delegates were offered a choice, a few weeks out, of touring the host school, Brighton Secondary School (BSS) or of touring Glenunga International High School (GIHS). Having heard Jeremy LeCornu (@MrLeCornu) speak on multiple occasions (for example, here and here) as well as Olivia O’Neill speak (here) I felt that I would be better served by and would learn more from touring a school of which I knew nothing and therefore had no preconceptions about what I would see or hear.
The initial statistics we were provided were impressive in my mind. Years Eight to Twelve and just fewer than two thousand students representing seventy-four nationalities on the one campus blew my mind, in addition to running the International Baccalaureate Diploma program as well as the South Australian Certificate of Education as parallel courses. Upon arrival at GIHS, we were greeted by the incoming Prefects as well as some of the school Executive staff. In their Performing Arts Centre, we heard a welcome address from Harry Postema, who also introduced the other speakers who would be following him, including Principal Wendy Johnson, Deputy Principal Jeremy Cogan, Innovative Pedagogies Leader Cindy Bunder and incoming Prefects Indigo and Layla.
Part of the tour would be about viewing flipped classes in action, both a technical or academic class, and a hands-on or practical class. We were advised that delegates were arbitrarily divided up into the four groups for the school tours, with each group viewing different classes. There was no consideration of our own teaching contexts or faculty background as it was about seeing the flipped pedagogy in action rather than the content.
Wendy Johnson, GIHS Principal and Flipped Learning International Ambassador, was introduced next, and she spoke about the importance of pedagogy for flipped learning. The role of Innovative Pedagogies Leader at GIHS was focused on helping teachers change their pedagogy to make the best use of the reclaimed class time as a result of flipping their classes. This was facilitated by making a decision to start classes later on Wednesday mornings and make the morning a time for staff professional development and collaboration on developing pedagogies that would assist in taking the school from good to great.
As a primary teacher, we are continually reminded that the first two hours of our school day are the critical learning times when students are at their freshest cognitively and therefore this is where literacy and numeracy teaching is to take place (which makes me question the value assigned to the other key learning areas by policy makers). It is for this same reason that the decision was made to move staff professional development to the morning. Teachers typically feel the same as students in the afternoon; tired and worn out and so the retention of learning and the cognitive engagement is lowered and therefore the value of that time is reduced. I was curious about the late start and what impact it had on the students and the opportunity to ask came during the morning tea break. The Prefects remained with us and quite confidently and willingly engaged the delegates in conversation and so I asked them about what they used that time for and whether those two hours were added back into the timetable somewhere else with late classes. We were told that they were not added back in and that what they were used for varied, as would be expected student to student. The two Prefects we were speaking with said that typically they would use it to either catch up on sleep or would get up at their normal time and use it to complete individual space tasks or study for exams. Returning to Wendy’s address, she advised that they made a conscious decision to invest time and money in professional development on technology use and on pedagogical practice. The then-current model of professional development and learning was not working as teachers would draw on their own experience to form their pedagogical framework or paradigm and then listen to what was being said and take they already know or what they wanted to know. Changing that mentality was a significant challenge.
As you would perhaps expect there was some strong resistance to this change in focus on professional development but that traction won over the period of a few years and that they now have a pedagogical framework that all staff members are committed to. They utilised the mandated Teaching for Effective Learning framework as a starting point and the final GIHS Pedagogical Framework evolved from there. The clear focus from each speaker was on pedagogical improvement for students’ benefit and it was coming through not just in the words that were being said, but in how they were being said and the way that the Prefects held themselves and spoke.
We were told that the capture of learning cycle documentation (lesson plans, programs, assessment schedules etc.) was revamped to make it more a more valuable process rather than merely the satisfying of policy. I do not have notes on what that revamp looked like which leads me to believe we were not told the specifics of that. Given my current career status as an early career teacher, any guidance on making the development of learning cycle documentation more beneficial and useful is welcome. The above statement is an interesting one and requires some unpacking. The first inference is that if you only have pockets of excellence than by deductive reasoning you must have large amounts of stagnant and / or stale teachers and pedagogies; a sad indictment on a beleaguered teaching profession. It would seem intuitive that teaching, as with any other profession or sector contains a continuum of practitioners of varying qualities and abilities. I do not know if I agree with the surface implications of the statement, however, I can understand the position that the statement is made from.
We also heard about how it was critical for the success of the change in focus that parents understood the goals and to that end, the school hosted an information night showing a unit taught using traditional pedagogies and then using contemporary pedagogies, including flipped learning. They were expecting around fifty parents, however, ended up with two hundred and fifty. Part of the education process for the parents and the students alike was that the change to flipped learning, improved pedagogies, and improved learning outcomes would not be instantaneous. For a change of pace, we heard from two of the incoming school Prefects, Indigo and Layla. One of the key messages that came through in their address was that the change to contemporary pedagogies was not about teachers providing all of the answers to students, but that it was about the teachers guiding students to understand what questions to ask. The message in here is one of trust and strong relationships. Students are used to playing the game of school and of being given the answers when they are unable to work it out themselves. This focus on relationships between teachers and peers is also building trust that the teachers want to work with the students for the students’ benefit.
The vision for the pedagogical framework moving forward into 2017 is that any teacher can walk into any lesson and see the required characteristics and that if that is not the case, then a conversation about why not needs to occur. It is a tough stance; however, given the process that the school has gone through to reach this point, it seems fair. The impact of this framework is especially critical given that teachers need to plan for effective use of the group space with flipped learning to ensure that students are engaging more deeply and using higher level cognitive skills and processes than in traditional classrooms. We next heard about the flipped content or learning objects (LOs) and the delegates heard, once again, that getting hung up on the quality of the LO is not useful. The LO prepared by the students’ own teacher is the best option, and having high-level production values does not make or break the quality of the instruction imparted in the video. This assertion, which I have heard from numerous flipped educators as do you want it perfect or on Tuesday? is supported by research, such as that conducted by Peter Whiting which I wrote about here. A key factor in this is knowing the content and the learning goal for the LO that is being developed to enable it to be created quickly, with minimum fuss and with no post-production, a practice that Joel Speranza (@JoelBSperanza) promotes and which can be seen in the below video. Flipping does not happen every lesson, however, deep thinking and deep learning can [happen every lesson] was the message we heard next, as Cindy Bunder took the podium. Flipped classes should be more active, both mentally and physically with a focus on the Four Cs. She posited that the individual learning space should take no longer than ten minutes maximum, and should not be meaningless homework. I asked two prefects during the morning tea break about this and was told that on average they were both completing roughly three hours of homework most nights. This was across all of their courses and they included their general revision and studying load in this time. On further probing, they both indicated that they felt that the actual homework component of their nightly workload was less than prior to flipped learning, however, that the time spent on a specific course varied depending on the context of what was being covered and how much time was spent engaging by pausing, re-watching, and taking notes from the LO. It was interesting to hear that with flipped learning in place teachers now feel that they have time to teach key skills that are not part of the explicit curriculum such as note taking, time management, critical thinking and how to use individual time and group time to gain the maximum benefit for their learning. Direct instruction is still important within flipped learning; however, it needs to be appropriate and minimal. At that, the opening addresses concluded and it was time for morning tea, pockets of delegates peppering GIHS Prefects with questions formed. I will leave off here and discuss the conversations I had with the Prefects and some other students as we completed the tour and our lesson observations. Thank you for reading, as always, and I would appreciate any feedback on this article. The clear message that came through from all of the speakers was that flipped learning is about and has resulted in improved pedagogies and relationships. In this Flipped Teacher Professional Learning video I demonstrate how to open, create and upload documents using Office365, focusing primarily on Word, PowerPoint and Excel. A OneDrive video is on the way. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. In this episode of Flipped Teacher Professional Learning, I show you how to create a Kahoot using the new Kahoot Creator. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. It has been a while since I have published an Flipped Teacher Professional Learning article. In today’s article, I demonstrate two ways of using Google Sheets to record and maintain student data for the purposes of comparison throughout the scholastic year. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. In this episode of Flipped Teacher Professional Learning, I show a very easy to use but useful function for Google Drive that I call Multi Visibility (If it has an actual name, please let me know) that allows you to have a single copy of a document visible in multiple folders. The reason this is so useful as a function is that changes you make to the file are reflected across all versions. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. In this Flipped Teacher Professional Learning video, I show you how to access the responses from your GForms.
For the full list of FTPL videos please click here. In this flipped teacher professional learning video, I take a look at the basics of how to set up a new GForm. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. This flipped teacher professional learning video introduces Google Forms and looks at each of the question type options as well as some of the data validation features. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. In this episode of Flipped Teacher Professional Learning, I show you two ways to upload files to your GDrive account from your device. For the full list of FTPL articles, please click here. In this episode of Flipped Teacher Professional Learning, I show you how to use QR Codes to share web links (and some other resources) with others via a QR Code. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. This episode of FTPL demonstrates how to utilise URL shorteners, specifically Tinyurl.com, to help make sharing URLs with students easier. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. In this FTPL video, I show you how lists can be used to filter your Twitter stream and enable you to keep track of what users within a particular category are saying. If you have missed the previous videos in the FTPL series, click here. In this FTPL video, I demonstrate a tool designed by Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler) to help your use of Twitter as a tool for teaching and learning. This tool will give your students a voice and create an easy way to collect entry/exit tickets. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. This Flipped Teacher Professional Learning video shows you how you can utilise a program called Storify to capture and archive for later access and reference, posts from social media, particularly Twitter. Using Twitter as a form of notetaking, Storify then serves as the way in which the notes are collated into a single accessible source. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. This video was made for a colleague and demonstrates how to create and edit courses and topics in Mathletics. For the full list of Flipped Teacher Professional Learning videos, please click here. This week’s Flipped Teacher Professional Learning video focuses on the use of a tool called Tweetdeck to make using Twitter for professional learning easier and more streamlined, particular in the fast-paced EduChats that occur, or during conferences. For the full list of FTPL videos, please click here. In this episode of Flipped Teacher Professional Learning, I give an overview of how to get started with Twitter as an educator. If you missed the previous episode, about why you would want to use Twitter as an educator, you can find it here. For the full list of FTPL videos, click here. With the start of a new term, I have put together some new videos for the Flipped Teacher Professional Learning series. This new series of FTPL videos focuses on why and how to use Twitter as an educator, both as a tool for your own professional learning and networking as all as a tool for teaching in learning in your classroom. This first video focuses on why you would want to use Twitter in those two contexts. As always, please leave any comments or feedback below or connect with me on Twitter. For the full range of FTPL videos, please click here. “We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” – Attributed to David Warlick This latest video takes you through the process of setting up Google Classroom on an iPad. Remember to watch, pause and rewind as much as you need to. “There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the classroom and make it work, then it fails.” – Attributed to Nancy Kassebaum The next few videos in the FTPL series will cover some skills that we have already looked at on the computer from the point of view of using them on the iPad. We begin with setting up Google Drive on your iPad. “A good teacher, like a good entertainer first must hold his audience’s attention, then he can teach his lesson.” – Attributed to John Henrik Clarke I am taking a deviation from the recent videos with this one. Something a bit more fun to utilise, and still with some benefits educationally. This video shows you what Kahoot looks like, how to find Kahoots created by others. and how to preview them. A discussion of the benefits of them is included, though only briefly due to time. I will include more on that aspect in the next video on creating a Kahoot. To view the other articles in the FTPL series, click here.
“For it is in giving that we receive.” – Attributed to Francis of Assisi This afternoon I spent close to an hour and a half providing some one on one PD, around some new software that is being utilised in the school. I had indicated in conversations that I was familiar with the software, and after my colleague was left feeling overwhelmed by the quick training session offered by the vendor’s local representative, I was approached and asked if I could spend some time this week helping this teacher learn their way around the software. Thank you to Nicole Mockler Part of the reason that I write these blog articles, record the instructional videos for my colleagues each week and am active with Twitter on a professional basis is that it is an investment in my own professional development. The opportunity to consolidate my own understandings on a variety of topics and skills, to reflect on my practice, to engage in networking, is invaluable and is an investment in my own continuing professional development. However, an additional reason is that is also an investment in my colleagues. Thank you to Andrea Stringer A school is a community (1), a sentiment we see often in the narratives around education. When you hear about successful schools, you often hear that the teaching staff have a high level of collegiality. Harris and Anthony(2) concluded that “providing teachers opportunities for continued development as they practice their profession is crucial for meaningful change in any educational system.” Additionally, they wrote that the ongoing development of skills and self-confidence in students is impacted by the personal and professional development of their teachers’ than anything else within a school. Thank you to Paul Hamilton The ongoing publishing of this blog, production of instructional videos and engagement with Twitter are an opportunity to invest on the school community, at the immediate, local level, and then also further abroad, to the wider school community of teachers everywhere. I invest of my time as I want the best for my students, and that means that not only my practice needs to be top quality, but so does the practice of my colleagues. If society is to continue to develop and improve, then the broader community of teachers need to do the same. I invest of my time, as it is an opportunity to do my part to develop teachers. While I certainly do not believe myself to be a paragon of teaching practice, I know that I can offer something to the teaching community. Thank you to Amanda Gibson I happily gave of my time to my colleague this afternoon. This person is in the twilight of their career, yet is still incredibly passionate for their craft, and has been outspoken in staff meetings around the need for further investment in technology in the school in a range of areas. They always have a kind word and time for a chat, and have invested their time in the development and mentoring of younger teachers, including myself and others in the school, both temporary and casual. I am not able to offer something to every teacher, I still very much feel that I am a developing teacher, and am only in the very early stages of my career. This person still desires to learn and increase their skill set in order to improve their own craft. If I can offer something that will benefit this person, I can think of no good reason to not do so. Thank you to Mitch and Trish Investing time in my colleagues is not just that. It is an investment in my students, in the teaching profession, and an investment in myself. Knowing that I have been able to help a colleague learn something new has a similar effect for me, mentally and emotionally, as seeing the “a-ha” moment in my students. As a new teacher, who feels like he has daily struggles in a range of areas, who is very much discovering my teaching identity, and finding my place in the school community, the value of a thank you from a more experienced teacher cannot be understated.I feel valued, I feel appreciated, I feel worth while and it reminds me why I teach. Thank you to Linda and Nessie With the recent news that nearly forty percent of new teachers are walking away from the profession (which is not necessarily a revelation), I felt that it was a timely reminder. If a colleague has invested of their time in you, whether they are more, less or equally experienced than you are; higher, lower or equal to you in in your local hierarchy, whether they are in your local and physical professional learning network or in your online professional learning network thank them. Let them know their time, knowledge and experience is valued and appreciated. I have not even remotely thanked everyone who has invested their time, knowledge and experience in my professional development, but I have included throughout, a small few who have, and I cannot thank them enough. Who has invested time in your professional development? (1) Redding, S. What is a School Community, Anyway?, The School Community Journal, 1:2, pp.7-9. Retrieved from http://www.adi.org/journal/fw91%5CEditorial-ReddingFall1991.pdf October 14, 2015
(2) Harris, D.L. & Anthony, H.M., Collegiality and its role in teacher development: perspectives from veteran and novice teachers, Teacher Development, (2001) 5:3, pp.371-390http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13664530100200150 Ordinarily, Monday afternoon is the day that I post a new FTPL video, such as this one, and ordinarily, I would open an article with a quote that has either some relevance to the article topic, or education in general. Not today. You may recall that I recently wrote about my troubles with engaging with reading for professional development and that I would begin reading Invent to Learn by Sylvia Libow Martinez and Gary Stager. I have read the introduction, and I have begun writing an article based on that portion of the book, but I felt that the last page of the Introduction was deserving of an article in its own right. If you do not yet have a copy of the book (a state you may rectify by clicking here), the Introduction concludes with a poem, which I have found online and included in full, below. The Hundred Languages (1) I showed this poem to Mrs C21 this afternoon and asked her for her impressions, wanting to find out if they echoed my own. She replied “yep, that was school” which was essentially my own initial emotional response to the poem. It is a sad indictment on our education system, I believe, that the above poem is an indicator of what schooling has been reduced to. It is a narrative that we have seen play out in the nightly news and the election cycle over the last few decades as schooling gradually moved towards the data-driven standardised-testing focus mechanism that it now appears to be. Many teachers do work hard to include facets of tinkering and play in their teaching, and I believe, I hope, that we will see a balance found between the need for data to drive the political cycle, and the needs of our students and their futures. I am looking forward to diving into this book over the coming weeks, and to challenging my own perceptions and beliefs about tinkering, the makerspace movement, its application to education and education in general, and would very much like to hear what your thoughts and responses are to the poem above. (1) Loris Malaguzzi (translated by Lella Gandini) as cited in Libow Martinez, Stager (2015), p. 8, Constructing Modern Knowledge Press. Retrieved from http://www.innovativeteacherproject.org/reggio/poem.php 12 October 2015
|
Categories
All
|