QR Code Geo Quest

I was inspired lately by a session I attended in Albury with Ben Jones called "Building Your Own Geo Epic".

Now, being a Sci-Fi nerd, the name automatically grabbed me. I envisioned teachers and students running around with suped-up mobile devices participating in geek-a-thon cosplay. The reality was, of course, much more practical than this (though I'll never give up hope of running a live-action role-playing game to teach kids about history).

Anyway - Ben's session involved a bunch of educators running around with iPhones, scanning QR codes and completing small tasks. None of us had done anything like it before, but once we familiarised ourselves with the technology it was smooth sailing. It was an awesome way to introduce us to the idea.

Long story short, I came back inspired. I ran a session for my own school at one of our staff meetings. And now the principal has asked me to create a GeoQuest for the Year 6 kids on their transition day. What an awesome way to introduce kids to their new environment and teachers, as well as getting them working in teams with other kids at the school.

I haven't made the transition day quest yet, but when I do, I'll post it. For now, here is the one I did with our staff.

This is the QR from the library door (it's a link to a personalised Google Map):

At each station, teachers scanned more QR codes with instructions for activities to perform. I won't put them all up here, as there are plenty. If you're interested in what kinds of activities you can do, give me a buzz.

Posterous is a blogging tool that allows you to allocate groups and monitor their activity. This way, each time a group sumits an 'assignment' to their posterous blog (via e-mail on their mobile devices), it is automatically categorised into their own rolling record of work. You can keep an eye on times of submission, and all of your groups are stored within your own Posterous account. Very cool.

If you want to see more of Ben Jones' great ideas, head over to: http://benpaddlejones.edublogs.org/

Anyway, happy questing!

Australia in WWI

Have been run off my feet lately, but here's a link to the blog I created for the Year 9 kids earlier this year:

http://missnorberry.edublogs.org/

I didn't delve into any student interaction or creation, as this was fairly early on in my blogging for learning. But you get the idea! :)

Parody (For Teachers)

I must admit - it's nearly the end of Term 3, and I'm facing a little bit of burnout. Not like that's anything new for a young teacher at the end of each term. Learning to cope with the stresses of teaching is an interesting journey. It makes me think of the great school parodies - Summer Heights High and the British Teachers.

For those of you not familiar with Summer Heights High, here is a quick preview.

Summer Heights High is a parody of the 'typical' Australian high school.

And that's all I'm posting. Because we could all use a little comedic release at this time of year.

Satire

Teaching humour is a pain.

It's also some of the most fun you can have with a class. Puns, comedic similes, malapropisms, double entendre, euphemisms...Oh, the joy that can be had!

One of my biggest personal challenges has been engaging the students with relevant humour. I mean, these kids have the same sense of humour I do. They love slapstick, parody and satire. They watch television shows that operate in these genre every night. The Simpsons, The Chaser, Summer Heights High, Kath and Kim, The Colbert Report and so on.

In an educational setting, the struggle with teaching humour is keeping it 'appropriate'.

You can't watch The Chaser skit that satirises A Current Affair, because it mentions 'fat kids'.

I can't show Summer Heights High because "puck you, miss" sounds a little too much like that other nasty phrase.

Now, don't get me wrong. I completely agree that we need to be mindful of 'inappropriate' material in the educational setting. But I don't know if completely avoiding it does any good for kids as they navigate through the 'real world'.

I'm pretty sure that a structured and monitored examination of how A Current Affair sensationalises weight issues might enable kids to be more critical of the 'news' being blasted at them every evening.

I'm lucky enough to be in a professional environment that encourages individual teacher developement. My ideas are met with open minds. Some are shot down. But that's probably a good thing. After all, I don't have the experience to say whether, in the long run, somthing will be a great idea or not.

In honour of my open-minded faculty and inspiring co-workers, here is the lesson I'm presenting to Year 8 English during Period 3 today.



After progressing from simple parody (in our last few lessons using 'Gangster's Paradise' by Coolio and 'Amish Paradise' by Weird Al Yankovich), we will discuss the concept of Satire.

First, show the following video clip. There is an accompanying worksheet at the bottom of the post.

Next, show the following video.

Students will be working in pairs to complete the Simpsons portion of the worksheet.

Then, we'll be viewing something a little more serious. But still funny.

Again, this will be contrasted with the following video clip from The Chaser's CNNNN.

During these videos, which may be played more than once (depending on how quickly students grasp what is actually going on), students work with their partners to answer the questions on the following worksheet.

I'm not claiming any of this is really revolutionary. I know I'm not using technology that will blow peoples' minds. Or even wow them a little. I just want a place to vent about my creative processes!

8 Good Reasons Why Educators Should Use Twitter

I went to a really good professional development session up in Deniliquin last week. It has completely changed the way I see myself in the wide world of education.

The session I attended was run by the HT of Maths at Deniliquin HS, Meagan Rodda. (You can find her on Twitter - @meaganrodda) Our two focus points were Twitter and Maang. Now, don't get me wrong. Maang is a nice idea. But Twitter... Oh. My.

Since the session, I've been connecting to educators all over the world and improving my own teaching practice. I even ran a Twitter session here at our school. Hopefully the idea will catch on.

Since last week, I've perused the internet for as much educational Twitter info as I could find.



Here are the top 8 reasons I could find that you, as an educator, should be connected through Twitter:




1. It is free professional development.

2. It is quick and convenient.

3. It is a free marketing tool.

4. It is eco-friendly. No need to send out paper notices to students or their parents. Have information longer than a tweet allows? Link to the school blog, where all information can be communicated at length, with relevant links and in colour.

5. It is a direct line of communication between the school and parents. And it’s instant.

6. It is the future. Our students need 21st century skills to thrive in the modern world.  As educators, it is our responsibility to teach them to use these new text types safely and effectively.  This means, if you’re interested, you can build a classroom twitter trend.

   For example:

   In class, I ask my students to tweet a statement reflecting on their    learning for the day. They must include the hash tag #norbseng.  A portion of their class work mark (the portion usually dedicated to student reflection) is generated based on their ability to successfully communicate in this medium in an appropriate form.

 7. It is a means of staying up to date with the Board of Studies, Teachers Federation, DET and any other important educational body. The news comes directly from the top, removing the middle-man.

8. Instead of relying on your own innovations, or those of teachers you have regular access to, you will be able to connect directly with leading educators and their resources from across the globe. Need a video to help demonstrate world biomes? Tweet, and ye shall find.

I'm sure there are more ways to use Twitter in the educational setting, and I'm keen to find out what they are!

Trust

Only in a town this small.

And I'm not just talking about the trusting sign out the front of the local drive-through bottle shop. I'm talking about things that really matter. 

For example, my students can leave their bags in the quad all day without a single incident. They can leave sport supplies on the quad racks for weeks and no one will touch it. 

Class sizes are small, and everyone knows everyone.

And if they muck up, chances are their parents will have heard about it through the grapevine before I get the chance to contact them that evening. And they'll have already strung them up.

My point is, the small community here breeds just that - community. And I'm starting to really feel a part of this one. I'm desperate for these kids to succeed. I see them on the streets when I'm walking my dog. I buy groceries from them. I'm friends with their family members. 

Maybe this idea of community can work with education. Maybe we can have small groups working together with teachers, mentors, friends and family to create a holistic learning environment. 

Just a thought.

Maths Brain

Now, I'm all for logic. But I think we could all agree - creativity is awesome.