Posts

Posted on

School’s out Friday

When I first started School’s out Friday posts I discovered improveverywhere. They have been a constant source of fodder for these posts, and I’ve been able to see the evolution of a great idea turning into a financial proposition.

This latest video ‘I love lunch‘, was filmed for the US Today Show and has Ann Curry appearing in a cameo role. Improveverywhere have recently released ‘Causing a scene‘, a book about their exploits. I picked up a copy for our school library. They are certainly becoming more mainstream and it will be interesting watching their growth in the next year or so. I can feel a commercial media deal coming on!

Today, for me, was one of those days where you reflect on life.  I attended the funeral of a former colleague from a previous school. I’m reflecting because Pam’s life was cut short just when retirement was looming, along with plans for travel and spending time with young grandchildren.  What was inspiring about the day was the turn-up of her former work colleagues to pay their respects. Pam was our school receptionist; she had impeccable phone manners and a smile for all who crossed her path. The school was not an easy one, some of the kids were difficult and the staff needed to be united. We were a real community and you could feel that today. Pam would have loved being a part of it.

So, do something that makes you feel good this weekend. Enjoy life. I’ll try to as I put together a presentation about ‘Getting started with Web 2.0’ this weekend for the VITTA conference on Monday. Wish me luck with that one!

Posted on

Influence and the John Ward Award

Can you pinpoint the moment in your life when you decided on your career direction? For me, I can’t pinpoint it to the exact date, but I can identify the time of my life.

Once there was a little girl who went to a Primary School. She was the little chubby kid who had a brain in her head and who discovered a place in the school where she mattered. It was the school library. Unusually, it was run by two men, one of whom took an interest in her and encouraged her. He gave her responsibility and helped foster the love of reading that had been established early in life by her mother.  He pushed her to read widely, even when it was Paul Zindel’s, ‘My Darling, My Hamburger’, and she had to go back to school and kindly inform him that really, this book wasn’t suitable for someone in Grade 5.  He gave her ‘The Nargun and the Stars’ for her work as a Library Monitor, and even though she didn’t really like the book, she kept it on her bookshelf for years; it followed her from house to house through her married life and still occupies a place to this day.  The man’s name was Wayne Hassett, and to this day, he has no idea of the influence he had on this young girl’s life. He helped her to love libraries and harbour the desire to be a Librarian when she got older.

Picture 014

Picture 013

That little girl was me, and yes, I did become a Teacher-Librarian. Last Friday, I stood on a stage in the Clemenger Theatre at the National Gallery of Victoria and accepted the John Ward Award from the School Library Association of Victoria. The award is given to a recipient who demonstrates an outstanding contribution to learning and teaching at their school and raises the profile of the profession through their role as Teacher Librarian.  It was one of my life’s proudest moments, and in my speech I paid homage to the Teacher-Librarian who all those years ago influenced a little girl to pursue a career where she could encourage others to experience the joy that comes from reading and acquiring knowledge.

So, all of you out there. Do your job well. Do it well so that you can motivate others, spark a desire within them to reach for their dreams. You never know who it is that you are influencing, who out there is remembering the kind word, the encouraging comment, the friendly smile, the nudge to extend themselves beyond what they thought they were capable of doing. It’s probably the most important thing we can do.

*SLAV’s blog, Bright Ideas, have posted about the award – thanks very much to Judith Way for writing such kind words about me. Judith, herself, was a well deserving recipient of the innovator’s award last Friday at the ceremony. Congratulations Judith!

Posted on

School’s out Friday

I can’t wait to show my son this latest effort from the improveverywhere crew. This is Grocery Store Musical. My son is a huge fan of Food Court Musical and I am too. I don’t think this one lives up to the quality of Food Court Musical, but it’s still worth watching and raises a smile.

Been a busy week for me. Camp all week, writing a blog from there for parents, and today I was the recipient of the John Ward Award from the School Library Association of Victoria. I’ll write more about that over the weekend. Pretty worn out right now and in need of a sleep-in!

Have a great weekend. Hot one coming Melbourne’s  way.

Posted on

Loving my iPhone : )

I’m on camp at the moment and the iPhone has come into its own for me. I’ve only had it for a week and a half, but already I am viewing mobile technologies and their relevance for education in a whole new light.

The phone has become my digital camera for camp happy snaps. I can upload the pictures easily to my computer for the blog I am writing for the parents. It’s even taken video of my daughter’s efforts on the giant swing. It’s my instant weather update. In the heat we are experiencing I am able to check the CFA updates to see if fire conditions might be an issue for us. I can stay connected to school and my online network through the access I have to email and twitter. If I wanted to, I could read Macbeth or A Christmas Carol (or any other out of copyright book!)  through the Stanza application. I can access the iPod within it and listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In the tent my Just Light application is acting as a torch so I can locate what I need in the dark. The Google Maps application assisted us on the first day when our bus driver got lost and we couldn’t find the camp location. Google got us there!

Why on earth wouldn’t any student who has one of these powerful tools in their pocket not be using it in classrooms today? Why would any school ban them from access to information they can use for the course they are studying? My iPhone has been configured to my school’s network so that it will tap into it when I’m there. My thinking is that we should be doing the same for the students. Rather than ban, let’s embrace and support them in using these tools to their maximum potential. I know that I have only tapped the surface of what it can do. Can’t wait to see what more I can learn.

Posted on

School’s out Friday

Christopher Rehage walked through China for a year and recorded the trip with a series of photographs that chronicled the growth of his beard and his hair and everything in between. It’s fascinating and worth watching more than once to take it all in.

Our school library is going to be demolished and rebuilt over the coming months. I’m thinking of taking photos of the stages of the build so that I can put it all together at the end and create something akin to Christopher’s effort. I think it’s a good idea. I’ll have to make sure I take the photo from the same position each time and actually discipline myself to do it. Considering I’ve written it here it might just happen.

Great weather coming up this weekend and I’m off to camp on Monday. Should be fun.

Have a good one!

Posted on

Guess whose Library has a Kindle!

If you guessed the one I work in, you’re right! Today we accepted delivery of three Amazon Kindles much to our delight. We are very interested in the possibilities presented by the introduction of ebook readers and thought we should try out the new technology to see how we think it may impact on Libraries and the way they deliver their services.

Picture 006

So far we’ve downloaded a couple of books (with incredible ease!), figured out how to change the font and listened to the speech function that reads the text for you. I took one home and sat in my backyard in direct sunlight. I’m pleased to say all of the reports are true; the screen is easily readable even in those conditions. Clear and no reflective glare. I’m sorry to say that my husband seems to have deleted the new Malcolm Gladwell book I was intending to read in bed tonight. I don’t suppose they will reinstate the book to the Kindle considering it was a mistake??

My elderly mother was over and she was very taken with it. This is the generation who you might think would reject the idea. Not this septuagenarian! She’d love to get her hands on one.  Mum loved the lightweight nature of it and the fact that the font size is so easy to enlarge. The price of downloads is pretty impressive too and would have a lot of appeal for the pensioner set (that’s if they could afford the purchase price in the first place).

In the picture above you’ll notice we purchased a skin for the Kindle. It’s lovely; just adds to its appeal and I didn’t find it a distraction while reading. I was able to immerse myself in the new Malcolm Gladwell; all the more disappointing that it’s disappeared!

Would we go the way of Cushing Academy in Boston?? They’ve begun the process of deleting their print book collection and have purchased 65 Kindles to loan out to students. I don’t think so,  given that Amazon have the Kindle as their product and not every book is available from the Amazon store. Maybe the proposed Apple Tablet will tie up the market? Once ebooks become tied into the itunes (or ibooks?) library I could see possibilities opening up. All speculation right now; the next 12 months will prove very interesting indeed.

Right, off to bed now to see how it compares with the original. Lightweight and can be held with one hand. Think I’m hooked already!

 

Posted on

Adapt or die

BBC_sign_Broadband_is_killing_TV

The above picture was taken in the foyer of the BBC three years ago. It was put there to coincide with their Creative Futures Project, their attempt to keep themselves relevant in the Digital Age. The BBC’s Director General  asserted that;

if the corporation is to prosper in years to come, it must connect with the audiences of the future as well as those it already serves.

Hmmm…..think I’ve heard that same thing mentioned in relation to education in recent times.

Tom Coates wrote a great post in reaction to this picture (and the BBC announcement) called, ‘Is the pace of change really such a shock?‘ In it he asserted that media organisations (and we, the public) really shouldn’t be surprised at the pace of change, because it’s been creeping up on us for years now;

There’s nothing rapid about this transition at all. It’s been happening in the background for fifteen years. So let me rephrase it in ways that I understand. Shock revelation! A new set of technologies has started to displace older technologies and will continue to do so at a fairly slow rate over the next ten to thirty years! I’m completely bored of this rhetoric of endless insane change at a ludicrous rate, and cannot actually believe that people are taking it seriously. We’ve had iPods and digital media players for what – five years now? We’ve had Tivo for a similar amount of time, computers that can play DVDs for longer, music and video held in digital form since the eighties, an internet that members of the public have been building and creating upon for almost fifteen years. TV only got colour forty odd years ago, but somehow we’re expected to think that it’s built up a tradition and way of operating that’s unable to deal with technological shifts that happen over decades!? This is too fast for TV!? That’s ridiculous! This isn’t traditional media versus a rebellious newcomer, this is a fairly reasonable and incremental technology change that anyone involved in it could have seen coming from miles away.

I’ve been liberal with my lifting of content from his post, but it’s because I think Tom made some good points (three years ago!!).  It reminds me of the post I wrote recently about deleting the VHS collection. A comment on that post remarked how brave that was. Brave?  Maybe. In my mind, it is common sense to move us forward, even it it does bring with it a level of discomfort.

There is so much in Tom’s post that is relevant to both media organsations and the work we do in education today. Hard to believe it was written three years ago. It could have been written yesterday. He made a salient point we can all take heed of;

These changes are happening, they’re definitely happening, but they’re happening at a reasonable, comprehendible pace. There are opportunities, of course, and you have to be fast to be the first mover, but you don’t die if you’re not the first mover – you only die if you don’t adapt.

“You only die if you don’t adapt”. In my mind, technology will never replace a good teacher, but good teachers need to understand how to use technology well to support good teaching.  For many, it’s time to start the process of adaptation.

Posted on

School’s out Friday

I dare you not to smile while watching this. Bet you’ll find it impossible not to.

This is the brainchild of Volkswagen, who’ve developed a site called The Fun Theory.com . Here’s what they say on their site about their motivation;

This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better.

I think we all know this to be true. Think of the best PD’s you’ve been to, the best lessons you’ve taught, the best classrooms you were ever a part of. Was humour an element of the experience? Most of those that have stuck in my memory have an element of fun/humour attached to it. For me, humour is a vital ingredient that I use in my interactions with students; it makes the course of the day far more enjoyable for both me and them. It’s important for connective purposes. I think most of us would agree that relationship forming is a key ingredient for creating environments where our students have a desire to learn.

You have the opportunity to enter a competition on The Fun Thoery site. The Fun Theory award carries with it a 2,500 (euro) monetary incentive. The competition has been extended to December 15th, 2009. Here’s what you need to do if you’re interested;

Find your own evidence for the theory that fun is best way to change behaviour for the better. For yourself, for the environment or something entirely different. Your entries should be presented with a written explanation plus a visualisation of the idea itself. It could be a simple sketch, photos or a film of a prototype. You decide what will do your entry justice.

For inspiration, here’s another example from The Fun Theory of how you can change peoples’ behaviour for the better by adding an element of fun.

Love the idea.

Long weekend for me coming up. Very happy about that too! Enjoy whatever comes your way.

Posted on

New Millenium Learners

Now here’s a conference I wish I could have attended, and not just because it was in Brussels and I could really do with a relaxing break right now!

The OECD’s  Centre for Educational Research and Innovation launched the New Millenium Learners Project in 2007 and they have just held a conference where they explored the first phase of their project. On their site, they detail their aims;

…the global aim of investigating the effects of digital technologies on school-age learners and providing recommendations on the most appropriate institutional and policy responses from the education sector. The project comprises two phases: the first phase explores the demand side, i.e., the changes, if any, experienced by learners. This phase is now coming to an end. In the second phase, current and emerging educational responses will be reviewed. The first NML conference aims at showcasing the results of the first phase and linking them to the next.

Tom March was lucky enough to be invited to the conference to participate in  a panel discussion,  The New Millennium Learners – Needs, Opportunities and Responses.

Tom has written a very thorough summary of his take on the conference, full of links to audio and PDF’s of keynote presentations.  I’ve read through Tom’s debrief, but haven’t had time to follow links to read more deeply. A good long weekend activity I’m thinking. Tom was also interviewed by the EdTech crew and that makes for an interesting 50 minutes or so of listening.

Thanks Tom, almost as good as being there. Did that sound convincing??

(and yes, I know things changed to italics, but wordpress wouldn’t let me change font and I’m too tired to keep working at it!)

Posted on

Global Poetry Project

Recently I wrote about Working together 2 make a difference, the Ning I help to run along with Angela Stockman and Mike Poluk. One of our new members, Rob Currin, from Alden, New York, has started a group called The Global Poetry Project. Here’s what Rob has written to explain the project and its motivations;

The Global Poetry Project aims to provide a space for members to expand upon their cultural views through the writing and reading of poetry. Members should feel free to submit poems and share thoughts and feedback with fellow poets. The project aims to provide a positive and open atmosphere for all visitors and contributors alike.

Each month a new theme will be presented. Feel free to address this theme and share some original poetry that relates. Contributors are not to be judged on their poetry. This is simply a place to share and grow through original poetry.

As this space begins to grow, we are hoping to receive poetry and feedback from writers all over the world. We will self-publish an anthology of this work with the permission of each writer included. This will eventually be sold, and all proceeds from this sale will be donated to a cause identified by the collective membership of Working Together to Make a Difference. We’re grateful to Angela Stockman for this suggestion and for her assistance in making this happen. We are excited to align our work within this group to the incredible mission of the Working Together to Make a Difference community! I’m looking forward to collaborating with Angela face-to-face and within this space as we take this project to press.

I’m so pleased to see a writing project that links to service learning. Angela Stockman has been instrumental in guiding Rob and helping the project connect to the purpose of Working together 2 make a difference. Hopefully teachers and students will find their way to the site and begin the process of creating, sharing and forging global links. If their writing can then work to contribute to worthy causes it makes it all the more meaningful.

The Northern Hemisphere school year is moving into full swing while we in the Southern Hemisphere are heading towards the end of our school year. It would be wonderful to see contributions come from all corners of our globe. I know that I will be promoting it in my school, but I also know that we are about to embark on our Beyond Boundaries camp program and on our return we head into serious exams and wind down. It may well be that we’ll have to gear up for involvement in our 2010 school year. Whatever transpires, it’s a project that holds promise and one that I encourage you to get involved in.