Day 64 - Demanding...

 Why was today so demanding as the teacher? Didn't I plan efficiently enough, were the challenges pitched incorrectly or was it a case that the students were so integral to the learning that they required support that needed to adapt and morph itself into more effective mentoring? Although exhausted, by the intensity of the day...on reflection I'd like to capture the buzz, energy and urgency to learn that was evident in the classroom today. I almost wish I was the calibre of teacher that could provide experiences like today's, every day.

 What have I used in the classroom today? 

'The Worst Children in the World'  was how the day kicked off, reading the short story about Brian Wong - the boy who never got anything wrong, newly published by David Walliams. This was the stimulus for the cold writing task. The difference today is I used the iPad as a visualiser, projecting live images of the text as I read onto the class screen. Walliams is a master at using alliteration and exentuating words for effect, and this had to been seen to get the full experience. 30 year 5&6 gripped from the mouth-watering first word until the last, which happened to be a grave stone. The children were enthralled by the words but included in the discovery of the tale. This echoed in the first drafts of the cold writing task that followed - no additional need for stimulus as the students had experienced by using all their senses the modelled story. 

One child, who recently joined the school had no prior experience of boxing up a story plan so he and I took the time to plan a story using Adobe Spark (formerly voice). This was transformation for this student allowed him to use his skills in an adapted format in order to be as successful. He joined the class with limited ability to read and almost non existent writing skills - decoding is unknown to him and at 10 years old he's finding school an alien environment. But today his success was obvious as his work was spoken into the iPad and after discussion - he was able to converted his ideas into a beginning, middle and end of a worthwhile story. The task took 40 mins which is the longest that he has stayed focuses and willing to participate. At the end of the day he remarked, " it can't be home time yet" normally the day drags and lasts for so long... This is a celebratory moment, further reinforced by the star of the week certificate for good work and that he can see his work on the screens around the school having uploaded his video to Trilby Tv - then icing on the cake. 

The children are competing to create and code a game - and the stakes are getting higher as the deadline looms. Yesterday the leaders of the groups had an injection of advanced scratch coaching and today was their opportunity to share their newly acquired knowledge with their own groups, mentoring and experiencing life from the other side of the fence. Being in the position of teacher is a privilege and full of different demands - patience & magnanimity being brought to the fore. 

Code was researched and reviewed on iPad before adding to the PC version. Group work being the most important element to making progress. 

During science Book Creator was the vehicle for the evaluation and experiment planning stage of the Light project. Why do bubbles appear to be made of different colours? The students used the stimulus image from Showbie to mark up with captions highlighting the key known facts in addition sound feature was used to verbalise complicated reasoning and explanations of how light that travels in straight line can be affected by interference to create colour. 

The students were the epitome of independent learners, usintilising the iPad to enhance their understanding and reinforce known facts and experiences. Teaching is the best job in the world. 

Day 63 - All sorts

Single apps or a multitude of apps? For lots of reasons dominant apps which can be accessed by a wide variety of ages and abilities are for me more rewarding and nurturing and deserve a place in my classroom. A champion app needs to have all sorts of uses for students to include the iPad across the curriculum, certainly not restricted to a specific subject area, to justify its place on the mobile devices.

So what did I use in the classroom today? 

Firstly, Trilby Tv was refreshed in the library and the screen was instantly rich with examples of excellent ways in which the students & teachers communicate their learning.  From the QR codes on the displays containing links to the video diaries of the geography field work trip , generated by the public link in the app, to a collection of still images punctuated by captions and comments. The screens echoed to the delightful sound tracks which signalled the ePub books made in Book Creator exported directly to photos as a movie file. This enabled the Students to directly upload to the screens as easily as 1,2,3...with huge smiles on their faces.  Their teacher could also instantly recognise the appropriate use of connectives, nouns and accurate SPAG! 

Book Creator has been used to record the thoughts and diary entries of each team entering the computing competition. The books pages are filled with sound bites, videos discoveries and comments on how their games, coded in Scratch and using a Makey Makey for an alternative controller, are being evaluated, refined and edited as a result of peer assessment and additional mentoring. 

Book Creator was further used as an individual digital profile to show progress made in hitting the Early years targets (reception) and consolidating phonics (year 1&2)  In partnership with the cursive writing wizard app the students are developing their cursive writing as they become more confident in sounding out their stories...chooseday became - Tuesday  fansy dress cossoome became - fancy dress costume and prinsess - became princess. The sound capture enables the children to write their own. Vocabulary word list and speak their word (hearing their own voice is such a confidence booster) whilst it is displayed on screen in the correct cursive formation, with the ability to trace the letters properly. 

Cursive Writing Wizard - Kids Learn Joined Letters by L'Escapadou

https://appsto.re/gb/4E8kT.i

Using VPP the price of the app is greatly reduced and as a class set resource, common word lists are easily shared to support word recognition and formation. 

This is developed further in the school by encouraging students in Key Stage 1 to speak their stories before the process of writing. This has been made possible by the introduction of Adobe Voice. The progress is rapid in the sentence structure and construction of language written in pen within their exercise books. 

Book Creator is such a creative app which allows my students the chance to stamp their personality on their tasks, providing them with the opportunity to enjoy, experiment and be flamboyant about being creative. Year 6 continue to add references and pages to their Shakespearean dictionary - Shakespearean words are defined but sound memos allow the children to be transported back to the Tudor age with quotes from the playscript puts the alien-words into a contempary context. 

Year 5 have are been adding to their ePub template by inserting screen shots of refined coding blocks as they tweak and develop their Scratch game. It's good that tasks can be returned to and worked on beyond the lesson usual timetabled duration. 

As a personal reflection, I sat and watched the celebration screens around the school. As I watched, I was bowled over by the variety and scope of the work that the digital citizens in our school can communicate and share. Their work is exceptional in parts and wonderfully wacky and individual in others. But some how it works. Learning has been transformed and through Trilby Tv has managed to reach and 'infect' others with the excited buzz that the digital learning continues to bring. 

Day 62 - Established

"Prove it works Vickie! " - prove that the iPad adds an extra dimension to the students learning. I have been unyielding in my belief that the iPad, once embedded into the normal way of learning and accepted into the curriculum will result in the students showing their understanding in creative, collaborative and exciting ways. Today - proof was given. 

What did I use in class today? Scratch, Scratch Jr , Showbie , Quik, Trilby Tv  & Book Creator. 

Collaborative, informed and responsible learners are the ultimate aim of any digital strategy that I support. The students should have exposure to the skills that will support them as informed digital citizens. Digital natives that work confidently, flexibly and on reflection try to improve and refine their skills. Appointing digital leaders in the school goes some way to achieving this lofty aim. However, at my present school, all the children get the opportunity to be a digital leaders, mentor and tutor to allow others to benefit from their digital skills. This enhances their self confidence and motivates them as they reap the reward of feeling valued for their skill set. ( plus the odd dojo or house point too!) 

The summer born Year 1's had their first introduction to Scratch jr, having experienced coding using the beebot and using the excellent NAACE site to instruct the screen robot, they were up for a challenge. So the Year 5&6 coding Queens and Kings embarked on a 30 minute mentoring session to familiarise their young counterparts using Scratch jr. 

After the initial three minute introduction, the pairs were off designing their own games with the sprites based on "under the sea" topic. The knowledge that the students brought to the task was burgeoning but interestingly because these young students have yet to fully master reading or be fluent in spelling the ability for them to communicate their ideas through the speech function made their eyes sparkle. The instant feedback of inputting the code and seeing the result was a revelation for some as their own confidence grew in front of my eyes. Moreover, the gentle sharing and handling of being a teacher, was  expertly administered by the older ones. Responsible, informed and creative learners. What more proof do you need that the introduction of technology can both support and at times accelerate understanding. 

The work completed was shared back to Showbie directly from the app (although the airdrop function hides this feature) and shared via AirPlay onto the screen back in reception class to the utter astonishment but pride of their teachers. the work was also share don the screen I the assembly hall via Apple TV  so the rest of the school were able to celebrate the high quality learning. Finally, the screens around the school displayed the positive images of our school community learning together using Trilby Tv as well as added to the schools website via an embedded code that the clever widgets incorporated in Trilby Tv allows. Technology is now established by all the stakeholders within the school 

Day 61 - Obvious?

Working together spiders are a powerful force. Negotiation, listening, refining and agreeing are skills that shouldn't be under-estimated in the process. The higher order thinking skills lend themselves to being practiced when working on a demanding task. It's not always obvious to the students that they are learning as much from talking in their group as much as from presenting the final outcome. Being able to design and create their own task. 

What have I used in the classroom today? All the resources were accessed via Showbie. 

Year 5&6 - Book Creator - Shakespeare was the focus of the lesson today, investigations and considering the language that Shakespeare used. When heard today, initially the old fashioned language can feel inaccessible. But if you compare it to text speak then instantly connections are made. 

The task was to make a Shakespearean dictionary and enhance the usual dictionary by adding in quotes from Shakespeare's play where the word was used, to give context forsooth! 

Modification of this task allows the students to make deeper connections between the vocabulary and the context, in speaking the verse an appreciation is built up of the iambic pentameter in the verses. 

Scratch, Makey Makey & Book Creator - these three apps combined today to give an experience that connected together science, maths, english as well as computing -tick! Working with the competition in mind, the groups continue to create a game that will appeal to others to play. Half of the success is going to be how the group incorporate the Makey Makey as a controller. Coding using the PC reinforced the skills learnt on iPad using the Scratchjnr app. 

To fire up the enthusiasm each group made their Makey Makey into a keyboard to make a musical piano. The fun level was raised but more important,y the understanding of the link between electrical circuits cemented the understanding so that this knowledge in fed their choices for their own games. 

Year 3&4 work with Year 1&2 to share their knowledge using Scratchjnr. After preparing a template game, each year 3&4 pupil was paired up with a younger student to introduce the coding blocks and sprites in Scratchjnr. The experience was beneficial all round, having over 60 children working on their own games could have been horrific but actually the focus, determination and willingness to learn won through and each pairing was able to complete the whole process unless than 30 minutes, in a positive and surprisingly quite working environment. 

Whilst the children worked I converted the photos into a movie using Quik which was shared as the planetary too reinforce the collaborative skills that were on display. This was then finally shared using Trillby Tv so the rest of the school could be part of the fun & excitement but also marvel in the skills being shared. Coding champions...it's obvious - children make the best learners and teachers! 

Day 60 - Too simple?

 ,Technology should be simple and intuitive to use. In the classroom situation technology is best utilised when the technology seamlessly integrates into the task or learning style. This sounds as if I am preaching but today there was ample evidence that when a school reaches a stage in which the technology used neither stands out or demands additional attention; it just simply works. This is the proof that schools crave. Seamless integration is often cited as a schools' visionary aim. 

The apps we use also need to be intuitive. That's why I continue to champion Apple. Their iWorks suite of apps that are free with the iPad just work, the development of these super apps, which are created by a fanatical army of dedicated, super intelligent & creative individuals is quite beyond my comprehension. I can however revel and appreciate the difference that it makes to my students  in the classes I teach. I applaud their pursuit of excellence, their insistence that it needs to be as good as it can be and that the experience of the learner should be almost ethereal. Gossamer apps. 

Today I had the misfortune of using an app which was the polar opposite of the Apple apps. My year 1 students were asked to extend their independence whilst writing stories. The hope was that their burgeoning vocabulary and knowledge about whales would set this exciting prospect in motion. 2 create a story was the app made by 2 simple. Well known in the profiling assessment arena, this app was unnecessarily tricky. It neither delivered a good experience for either learner or more importantly enabled the students to use the app as a foil for their creativity. It tried to simplify the process but only succeeded in limiting the possibilities for the students. Like the antonyms featured in the SATs It only served to be restrictive and ultimately frustrating.  

So - what did I use successfully in the classroom today? 

Year 3&4 - Numbers, Showbie, Book Creator and the built in camera features of the iPad. Shared on Trilby Tv to ensure the rest of the school could see the progress being achieved. 

Any maths teacher knows that pentominoes are an excellent way to introduce and consolidate area and perimeter. The varied resources easily accessible for the students - modelled templates that become individualised and editable once opened in the appropriate app. The differentiated tasks required the student to work in synchronicity with the traditional equipment of multi link, pencil and ruler but to incorporate the using a spreadsheet and accenting their work with screen shots to reinforce the connections made. The maths skills were uppermost, the technology merely enabled the students thought processes to flow naturally between the demands of the tasks. As the challenges got "hotter" the use of the devices changed and adapted to the needs of the learner. Whilst the students were working the photos that I took were quickly added in to the Quik app which I them showed as the plenary of the lesson. This was also uploaded to Trilby Tv to allow the rest of the school to share our success. It was received by a spontaneous round of applause, not for the animation but that the class recognised that they had really moved their learn on to another level. Magical. 

The school at which I work is undergoing a process of self reflection in order to inform their next steps in developing the school. The ambition of the school belies their small village location. These three focuses, will form the corner stone of the development plan. Digital literacy and the use of technology was reported as a real strength amongst the staff. This in just 60 days of development. Incredible progress that should be celebrated and recognised as a real strength in the locality. 

Year 1&2 - instead of the using the 2 simple app mentioned earlier, this group of students were asked to combine their story writing skills in Book Creator.  Using the images taken in their school visit to the local aquarium already in photos added to this the screen shots of their Tux painting images, combined quickly with one tap into the panel of the ePub template accessed from result was unparalleled compared with the earlier group. 

Day 59 - Re-imagined

It's understandable,  when school is busy and deadlines need to be met, to plan lessons that have a specific end point. The final outcome is proof of understanding - or at least that the objective for the lesson has been adhered to. Today, in my classes it was evident that deeper learning is achieved when the task set requires or allows for development. Re-imagined. Whether that is because the initial task is a collaborative group task that can be developed in new ways as an individual or vice versa. 

What have I used in the classroom today? 

1) Year 3&4 - quiz creation. 

There is nothing that gets the classes that I teach me or excited than Kahoot! It doesn't matter if they are KS1 or KS5 the reaction is the same. Today, my year 3&4 's were set a task to extend their comprehension skills through the development of an individual quiz. The quiz was based on the Mayan's...an ancient civilisation that one wouldn't necessarily have any experience or knowledge of. Their influence however on society today was huge huge and has stood the test of time. 

Firstly, the class has to download their template resources form Showbie it now takes no time at all to 'open in ' another app to edit and amend scaffolded and differentiated work. This time the checklist was in Numbers. This however was essentially a literacy based lesson, so using a spreadsheet to plan was quite new to the students. This re-imagined task required sourced facts for the multiple choice answers for the quiz as in order to 'fool' the audience plausible answers needed to be used. 

Once the first few questions were written, there remained a few gaps so some research was required. Where to go for accessible, child friendly easily decipherable answers? www.DKfindout.co.uk the information is well organised and logical. It follows the systematic approach that I was encouraging. Having started to run out ideas, some pupils shared their workload by air dropping their half completed spreadsheet to combine to a full quiz allocation. No one likes to be one question short of a quiz! The questions were rapidly converted into a Kahoot by the pupils and played at the end of the session. The feedback on the PC was proof that the students had enjoyed their experience, developed their knowledge of the Mayan's, researched facts and learnt something new...that to ok to go the extra step and push boundaries. Student led work, satisfying and fun. 

2) Year 1 - today the class worked on re-imagining their digital artwork and assessing their work using green screen. The short movies they made as a collaborative task were looked at again in order that they could individually decide how they want to improve and develop their work further. All too often in the understandably busy classroom, it's easier to make life simple and take the thinking element away from the task. Decision making is hard. Choices whether to listen and act on instructions need to be taught and this takes energy and focus. If the path to the 'right' answer is always simplified or made too easy then the thinking process is diluted and our students expect someone to always be there to help them. That's not to say that I don't help or assist if a child misunderstands. But I do try and phrase my response to a question that just requires a little deeper thought, so that the child does the thinking...and not me. "What do you think you should do? " is better than "what you need to do is". The self reflection was recorded in Showbie as a voice note as it was instant and captured the essence of the thought process, whether stuttered, confident or prompted. The essential part then is to allow for the refining process to take place and for the student to celebrate the changes made and that the student took ownership of their learning. The Early years teachers strive hard to instil such worthwhile charcteristics and are often successful in developing the essential self reliance needed in the classroom. 

3) Year 2 - one child when asked if he enjoyed the school trip indignantly said..."Nah because you're always asked to write a story about it when you get back,"  so having returned from a trip recently to a Sealife Centre, a recount task needed to be reimagined. The iPads were taken along to capture images and snapshots of the day. So instead of the usual recount, the same features were used to produce a scaffolded and supported Adobe Voice recount using the images taken and chosen by the children. This group work then led onto a Book Creator where the pupils almost forgot that they were expanding their literacy skills as they applied stealth-like the recount text devices. The quality of work was extra ordinary as they students took charge and used an expanded vocabulary to verbally recount their day in Voice. The ultimate end point today was to be published authors on the school website.  This was then re -imagined and then published as an ePub book. The magical turning of the pages unfurled to the delight of the authors. It's always good to have surprise and delight in the classroom, especially when the skills the children are consolidating are the exact ones being tested in the standardised but sterile method of SATs. I know how I'd rather teach them...