Digital tools for physical education with GoNoodle

This is the third in a series of blog posts about how and why we use digital tools in our school to enhance the learning experiences of our students.

Go Noodle was recommended by another colleague and I was hooked from the first moment.

Go to www.gonoodle.com to sign up...it is FREE!

Check out the ways we use Go Noodle:

1. Movement or brain breaks between learning tasks where students have been sitting.
2. Wet weather physical education classes focussing on fitness.
3. Relaxation breaks.
4. Warm ups for PE before lessons (thank you Koo Koo Kangaroo for Pop See Koo)
5. Pop See Koo will be an act in our school concert this year.
6. Students have signed up their families at home and do it at home!!!!

I invite everyone to comment and add to the list of ways to use GoNoodle in our school!

Whooos Reading on Learn2Earn.org

This is the second in a series of blog posts about how and why digital tools can support learning in a small school environment.

This post features www.learn2earn.org


By chance I came upon it in a Twitter chat. When I read a testimonial which said "Our students have improved more quickly using Whoos Reading than Accelerated Reader" my interest was piqued. I have a core of high performing students (up to 2 years ahead of expected level) and was seeking a way to keep them engaged and keep them reading.

Check out the timeline of implementation:

Mid-May 2015 -

Signed up 8 students in Grade 2 and taught them how to complete a reading log, answer responses to their texts and explore how to create their avatar. Engagement was almost instant, but we negotiated to trial it until the end of the term in June.

 Key observations 1

• As students read their books and logged the minutes they earned coins to spend on their owl avatar.
• Students were given their login and password to take home and use in class.
• Each day the Grade 2 student group scrambled to Read to Self (Daily Five)
• Some boys who had stopped reading at home, read for 2 hours the first weekend, logging each minute and earning more coins. (information from parent comment) 
• I was able to see what they had read and assess their reading comprehension based on their answers to reading response.
• Students were able to "like" and comment on their classmates books.

End of May 2015

Eight Grade 1 students demanded to use Learn2Earn and Prep students also wanted to log in.

Key observations 2

• Those who could log in independently did so
• Those who were learning how to were more motivated to log in.
• Grade 2 students mentored Grade 1 and Prep students to complete reading logs.

June 2015

Students in the upper primary classroom (Grades 3 to 6) asked for log ins to be created.
Their biggest question was "Does it let us talk to each other and share our reading?"

Key observations 3

 Upper primary students spend 5 minutes daily completing reading logs.
The potential for using Learn2Earn to support the teaching of reading comprehension is enormous.

July 2015

School purchased a premium subscription, which allows access to content like Lexiles and detailed reading data.

August 2015 and beyond

Teachers invited to Learn2Earn so they are able to provide students with feedback.

I plan to explain the reading data available on Learn2Earn.

Reflection and review scheduled at end of 2015.

If you knew of a way to motivate your readers and excite them about reading would you try it?

 

A journey into collaboration with parents using Class Dojo

This is the first in a series of blogs about how and why we use particular technology and devices in our school. This blog is a way of sharing and reflecting on the steps we are trying out with our school community. It is my hope that it demonstrates the value of and provides evidence for using digital tools in small schools.

A bit about us
We are a small rural school of 37 students. We are seeking ways to communicate and share school life and student learning with our parents.

Check out this week's

Class Dojo is still in the implementation phase where we are working out the best ways to use it to share your children’s learning and school life with you.

First and foremost it is a way for you to see how your child is going at school!

BUT here are some examples of how some of our parents are using Dojo at our school.

·         Messaging reminders about Sporting Schools

·         Looking at pictures of work done in class.

·         Getting broadcast messages from teachers about upcoming events (eg Friday is PieDay) (PS these are also broadcast on Facebook and in the newsletter)

·         Messaging teachers about things that have come up at home.

·         Making times for Parent Teacher Chats.

·         Giving feedback to teachers and children about work done at school.

·         Asking teachers questions about what’s coming up in class.

At the moment one teacher is testing Class Dojo messaging to parents by:

·         Broadcasting messages about upcoming events

·         Sharing pictures of children working.

·         Sending messages about learning done in class – for example “Ask your child about counting by 5s”

 
In a few weeks we will do a brief survey to see if Class Dojo is a useful way to communicate and then roll it out across the school.

Collaboration..the journey begins...again.

You know that feeling you get when your wonderings and gut feelings are vindicated, but not really in a good way? Well, the first step in the journey to know more about teacher collaboration has begun....again


Teacher collaboration can take different forms and I have also discovered that it means different things to different people. This has led me to mapping out the steps I am taking to learn more.


Step 1:
Introduce concept of teacher collaboration to colleagues.
I started with a staff meeting discussion which brought out these points:

• Using Google Docs was considered to have positive potential for planning whole school initiatives, but planning across grade levels was not viewed as useful. Indeed, there appears to be a belief that planning for literacy and numeracy across grade levels and sharing same was not acceptable.

"Why google docs?" rather than school intranet server?

• Accessible anytime anywhere.
• Can edit simultaneously.
• For sharing across grades, we can use teaching activities from each other's plan.
• Builds a culture of understanding different teaching approaches and an appreciation of colleagues' strengths and weaknesses.

Step 2: Input teacher response and adapt plan for next meeting 


In light of initial responses it is clear that we need to clarify and consolidate our understandings about teacher collaboration. Step 2 also involves gathering evidence:


What do other teachers do?

1. To cast a wider net we have contacted all of the small schools in our network to gather some ideas about how they collaborate.
2. Access resources and evidence online, for example

Making the most out of teacher collaboration
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-collaboration-strategies-ben-Johnson


Pathways to collaboration - across grade levels
https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2012/10/18/pathway-to-collaboration/


Looking at student work collaboratively
http://www.essentialschools.org/resources/60


The Seven Principles of Highly Effective Professional Learning - DET Victoria


This highlights the value and the expectation that teachers will participate in professional learning together and collaborate.


3. Talk to my PLN - Twitter will be ablaze this weekend

What I read on the holidays

Kept reading about teacher collaboration
Supporting hesitant/resistant colleagues.
Leading others to unlearn
Specific tech tools to use in class and working on developing a way to bring the traditional approach of paper recognition and acknowledgement alongside the digital format of CD. This is in the name of honouring the opinions/beliefs and perception of others.
Collected a range of thoughts from Twitter to help my own thinking

Did a chat with #BastowLSDA ppl

You're quoted in: How can schls use social media to help their schl community feel better connected? http://sfy.co/h0on4

Josh Stumpenhorst‏@stumpteacher Jul 1

We need to be asking less "how do I get tech" and more "why do I need tech". Intentional use and purposeful integration. #ISTE2015

 

edutopiaVerified account ‏@edutopia 4h4 hours ago

Meta-collaboration = thinking with one another: http://edut.to/1NS4UGf .

 

Read about coaching as well.

 

 

 

 

Whaddaya stand for?

To lead you need to know what you stand for. To lead you need to be able to tell people what you stand for. To lead others, they need to know what you stand for.

I stand for empowering others through teaching and learning. I stand for giving others the power to create their own story. People have the right to find and work towards what they want in life. They have the right to follow their own passion.

As a teacher I guide students to develop the knowledge, skills and abilities which lead them to uncover the thing that are really good at and really want to do. When they do this, students build confidence and then they fly...take risks, try anything, because they know I believe in them.

I want to make sure that all of the students I teach get something out of my lessons. This will vary for each student, despite there being a clear learning intention and an expectation of what I am looking for.

Some students will understand the learning intention, link the concepts together and instantly be able to teach another student. Others will barrel past the instructions and hurl themselves at the task, then link the concepts together and be able to teach another student. Other students will be oblivious entirely and be unable to explain. These students may need reteaching

Some will appear to be oblivious but at the end of the lesson be able to explain part or all of the learning intention. Another group of students will link the learning intention to something else that they already know, or synthesise two areas of learning (like patterns in fractions and multiplication times tables) with little prompting from me.

For each student the outcome may be slightly different...and I can draw professional satisfaction from each child's experience of my teaching.

In the moment of teaching, when I am with the students, if I focus on the learning of the students and not on what I need to "cover" in the curriculum it is a much more fulfilling role. It is also in these moments that ego or self consciousness departs and I no longer wonder if my colleagues think I am doing my job "right".

As a leader I support colleagues to become the best they can be. In this I hope to enable teachers empower their students. So my leadership focus reinforces what I stand for. However one difference springs to my mind - adults already know stuff. They bring a field of experience, training and knowledge, as well as fixed opinions and beliefs to all aspects of their lives. Children as learners are forgiving, adults tend to be less so. This makes the task of leading others a slightly different challenge but nonetheless worthwhile.

So while trying to lead colleagues through collaboration a range of questions streak into my thoughts. These are questions you need to have responses for in order to show that you are able to lead. These responses also need to be firm, positive and with as little hesitation as you can muster.

• If my best effort cannot support struggling students to engage or learn, why shouldn't I ask others for help?
• And what reason would others have to respond with "We all teach differently" rather than "Have you tried ....?"
• Are you an effective colleague if you don't have the time or willingness to support the endeavours of your fellow teachers?
• Does it matter if I don't get my job right all of the time?
• Does it matter if my colleagues know that? Is it ok to make mistakes?
• Is it ok to be a bystander as these mistakes occur?
• Do we give up on a trial approach just because it's in the implementation dip?
• Do we need to disrupt the teaching and learning?

Next steps

A few days away from the beginning of Term 3 and I am planning, scheming and preparing.

 

I plan to:

•  Re-read our ICT change plan and check when and where I am going to deliver PL for Ts and Ps
• Share the results of LIP and my recommendations regarding teaching of growth mindset - perhaps even explore Hattie's teacher mindsets as well.
• Prepare HPE plan for Term 3 - Football skills, Dettol Healthy Schools, Growth Mindset - learning to learn.
•  Put these ideas into some coherent format:

Write a submission to CSSN/local secondary schools regarding Yr 6 to Yr 7 transition which assists Ts to understand the nature of each other's classrooms and support Yr 6s to make a successful transition.

Write a submission to same about involving some middle secondary students studying history to engage with us for the school centenary in 2016.

• Develop a digital learning work program for a neighbouring school's grade 3 to 6 class - Monday afternoons.