Tuesday 30 November 2004


Is it a pig or a dog? Making masks.

Hard work making Christmas movies

Eltham Primary

Eltham is having a busy time production and so are having a Pure Week - look forward to seeing the results - showtime next week. In the meantime I have been working on a Mini-Action Research Project. An opportunity to get hands on with some kids, keep out of everyone's way while they are so focussed on other things, have some fun (of course) and give myself a reality check - a reminder of life at the coal face :-) Here is a little bit of info about my plans, already started, some reflections to follow & hopefully if I can get a handle on uploading photos, some pics too.

Mini Action Research Project – EPS T4 W9 (3 days)

Goal
Gather evidence to demonstrate that the use of ICTs in learning can promote student engagement & motivation.

Setting the scene
A group of six Year 6/7/8 students not participating in Whole School production spend three days working with ICT PD Facilitator on Movie Making Project.
Profile – 4 boys, 2 girls. Most excluded from involvement in production as having ‘difficult behaviours’, one had missed on the production preparation and so was not involved. One Y8 boy ADDH on Retinol, one Y6 girl & Y7 boy also medicated. Split into three groups of two.

Curriculum Objectives:
English, Technology, The ArtsStrand - Visual language
Processing information: Learn to view and use visual texts to gain and present information, become familiar with and use appropriate technologies to present ideas.

Essential Skills
Communication, Information, Problem-solving, Social and Co-operative


Preparation
Research area of ‘student engagement & ICTs’
Ensure access to equipment (computers & cameras), working space & time.

Project
With guidance students – brainstorm topic, storyboard movie, shoot & edit film, promote & present their work, evaluate their learning.

Evaluate & Report
Anecdotal – blog & photobiography
Students – self/peer evaluation
Comparison to research

Evaluation
Reponses to be recorded into computer – edit into I-Movie alongside student photo:

Tell me how you made your movie? What was the process? What did you have to do?

Did your team work well together? What worked well, what didn’t?

What do you think you have learnt in the last couple of days?

If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

What did you like best about making this movie?

What did you think the other two teams did well?

Thursday 11 November 2004

Mahoe

I was privileged to spend some of the day with Mahoe - just hanging out & observing. The kids were all in teams (vertical level) making music videos. It is interesting to see them in action and watch them interact as they work together on a project. They are pretty serious about their work.

Tuesday 9 November 2004

Eltham

Busy time in the Junior rooms at Eltham - more PowerPoints. NE just learning how to put in a picture & type a few words - Letterland is really useful to help them identify the letters on the keyboard - perhaps we should create a letterland overlay to help them with their typing. This is the most frustrating thing - is the time it takes to find the keys & write something - aaaaaahhhh! So nice that i am getting invites from little boys to come & play at their house :-) Come & play Tonka Trucks on the computer. I tell them they should be outside playing. The very little children seem to sit and wait for the computer to do things for them instead of getting stuck in & doing something - i guess this is the computer/ tv / playstation mentality and most of them would have some experience with being entertained & playing games instead of having a purpose for using the computer. This will change as they gain experience with what they can do with the computer rather than what the computer will do for them.
Eltham's Production is going to be awesome - consulting with the senior students as they created their digital scenery - there are some great pieces of real scenery as well - excellent artworks.

Friday 5 November 2004

SchoolZone Rocks

Well we hope so - its been highly recommended by other schools and a more affordable option now we have subsidised Internet Management Systems. I have spent pretty much 2 days full on helping with the migration to SZ at Stratford & the beginnings of basic training at St Josephs. Will be doing an introductory workshop to staff at Stratford next week to get them up and running. I really think they are going to love that anywhere access to email - i know i will i have been waiting all year to have my email configured to be picked up from home. SZ has made it easier.

Wednesday 3 November 2004

St Josephs School

3 days here this week - all sorts of things happening including today school photos :-) Held a Vision & Planning staff workshop and brainstormed ideas for what is important in this school for the needs of the learner, teachers & resources to support that - some good discussion & ideas shared. Information shared in the area of resourcing helped when we looked at the ICT strategic plan for 2004-06. Reviewed this today. PTA workshop also on Monday - "Keeping up with our kids Online" - I guess with any parent invitation you are preaching to the converted & this group was no exception - they were pretty informed about what their own kids were doing online & were aware of issues that can occur when kids go online. We discussed some strategies about how to manage issues at home & to keep up with the every changing world our kids are living in. I guess the important point is that whatever our own skill levels we keep in touch with our kids so we know what they are doing & how to support them - whether its in a chatroom, on the cellphone or the street or playground.
Room 3 have been researching the planets of the solar system & we are helping them to gather relevant facts - having sources some kid friendly sites to start with.
Room 4 worked together to create their first movie "St. Josephs: Sharing, Caring & Daring In Prayer." We worked through the storyboard process & groups went out to take photos that illustrated the message they wanted to give. Then as a whole class we used movie maker & the data projector to edit their movie. They worked together well to make design choices & decisions through the process & were really excited to see their final product. The difficult thing is the next step when they work through the process independantly because of access to computers that run XP. There are a couple in the school & it will be up to Kim to work out the best way to manage this with her kids.
St Josephs has just gone online with SchoolZone so I will be spending some time with Carol to start some basic training in managing SZ. The transition went smoothly (thank goodness) The challenge is now to explore this fantastic online tool & use it to its full potential - it is more than an Internet service.