Edmodo - A Great Way to Share.

It's been a chaotic year so far, and with horror I realised that I have not updated this blog this year! How did that happen and where has the year gone!?

Anyway, let's get to it!  Last year I participated in a SchoolNet Webinar about using Edmodo which I have been using for a while with a couple of classes internally.

However, this year we have taken the step of using it with a class in Sydney, Australia. If you are not familiar with Edmodo, have a look at their site, and give it a try - you won't be disappointed and neither will your class. The opportunity for collaboration and discussion is huge!

Looking like Facebook is an added attraction to the learners.

We were involved in the Flat Rosie Project with their Grade 2's last year, and this term we decided to work together with our Grade 6 classes to discuss democracy, strengths, weakness and issues facing each of our countries.

We began by making Voki's where each child recorded a little about themselves and then they uploaded them to Edmodo. They had an opportunity to chat to one another within Edmodo to find out who they had things in common with, and leave them comments.

Their Grade 6 teacher has began the conversation and currently we are discussing what the problems are in our countries, and we are finding that we have similar concerns.

I am enjoying watching my children's enthusiasm as the project unfolds and look forward to seeing how it will play out. At the end of the term, I hope to have a Skype Video Call with their class where we can "meet"our friends face-to-face and enjoy chatting there.

Will keep you posted!

Khoisan Fables! Done.

The term is finally over and holidays are here!

Before I put away all things to do with school, let me show you at least one of the San Khoi fables that I told you we were doing. I was so proud of my class, they did a great job!

• Click to view my tale.
• 
• 
  

This turned out, as I expected, to be a lovely project.

My Own Fable

My Grade 5's are busy studying the Khoikhoi and San tribes at the moment which I always find to be so  interesting. I decided to do something different this time with them and I am beyond excited about it - in fact I think I am going to do it myself!

Every second week in Assembly throughout the year, we have concentrated on different character traits that we would like to raise our children with. Things like humility, perseverance, diligence, selflessness, tolerance, patience, compassion and so on. I thought it a good idea to combine these into the final project for them this year.

I read them a couple of Fables (short stories with a moral), and then surprised them with a "package handout". In this handout was their brief which consisted of a template booklet with place for pictures & text, a written brief of due dates, and a character trait they had to use. 

Their task is to write their own Khoi San Fable using the moral they were given. For example, make up a story where the moral is "It is better to be diligent than lazy". We talked about how, in Fables, even trees and flowers, beetles and butterflies can have voices and personalities. They were encouraged to be creative with their story. It had to embrace the lifestyle of these people groups.

They have to conclude it with a poem of their own writing, titled "Tribe".

Little Bird Tales had been such a hit with the Grade 2's that I was amped to use it with the older grades. So I decided that their fable and illustrations will be done using this. They will be done in rough first, after which they will draw and type it into Little Bird Tales and narrate it. From there it will go to their Wiki which acts as their Display Board for their family and friends to view.

I would love (next year perhaps), to join together with other schools and create an online book where we all write our own fables that are indigenous to our countries and their people - and put them together and maybe Skype to read them to one another and have a Q & A time about our stories.

That will have to wait for next year... because this year is flying by so fast I can barely catch my breath!

Creating your own Blog

Today is DAY 1 of Innovate 2012: Schools' ICT in Education Conference which is hosted by e-Schools Network.

The weather decided it would be spring. This may sound odd, but considering that recently our weather was uncertain of the season, it was a welcome surprise to have a lovely sunny spring day.  It was just as exciting to see all the eagerness around in people who were coming to share and learn together.

Today I felt privileged to present a workshop here and I was so looking forward to sharing my experience as a blogger and how it has changed the way I teach.

I promised those who attended the workshop that I would upload the presentation for them - so here it is. It was lovely to meet you all today and I look forward to reading your blogs one day! Tweet me to read them when they are up and running!

Enjoy! If you need any help - feel free to leave a comment.

Creating a Blog from MrsLG

Little Bird Tales

I finally got around to using Little Bird Tales!

I was so looking forward to it and it didn't disappoint me or the children. 

The Grade 2's had listened to the story of The Cricket and the Ant in class and they had to write their own abridged version of it. Once they had typed that up, they drew pictures to match their story.

After that, they narrated it and I uploaded it to their Class Wiki.  I really encourage teachers to use Little Bird Tales, it's so easy to navigate and simple to use. It also just adds so much more to story writing than merely opening a lined page and doing it the traditional way.

Here is an example of one of the childrens work. Click on the Cover to view!

Have fun!

Our Intro To Glogster

Most of this term has been taken up with a fun Olympic project. How can one ignore this international event?

I involved Grades 4 -8, created an Edmodo group for them, and set up a project where they needed to source information about the Games, their origin and history. They also had to select an athlete and create a "Profile Page" on them and upload it to Edmodo for their friends to see. They had to watch their athletes events and record a radio broadcast as though they were reporting it live.

They really enjoyed this and it was fun seeing how everyone's enthusiasm was stimulated by who their friends supported.

The project is just finishing off now and as a 'finale' I have introduced them to Glogster.  Glogster is an interactive Blog/poster/pinboard in which you can upload photo's and video's. You can also do audio/video recordings.  You can add your own page backgrounds and animated graphics. The limit to its creativity is halted only by your imagination.  I think I had as much fun learning about it as I had teaching it to my children.

Here is my example that I gave them.  Enjoy experimenting with it yourself.

Adventures in Storyjumper

This term has been so hectic that I haven't had much time to update my Blog. This doesn't however mean, that nothing has been happening! On the contrary, we have had a great ICT - filled term!

One of my favourite things that we did this term was for Bookweek.  Traditionally, the children are able to come to school with their books, blankets, pillow and a toy and are given 'free reading time'. They also use this week to choose a poem, which they learn to recite to their class and 3 from each class are chosen to recite their poems to the school. This week has much more to it, but this is not the point of this blog!

What I did this year that I am so excited about because it worked really well, was to pair up a Grade 5 with a Grade 7 learner and use Storyjumper to write a collaborative story for Bookweek.  They didn't know who their partners were and, until they sat down at their PC, they didn't know what the story was about that their partner had started.

The site is user friendly, easy to open the account and simple to set up a class.  It gives you the option of either choosing one of their story starters or creating your own. 

You are also given characters, backgrounds, random pictures that you use to make up your story. Adding /editing the text is simple for even younger learners. It gives options for Parent Codes to allow the students to work from home and not only under the guidance and time-range of the Teacher.

I had one pair that got so into it, that they ended up writing volumes! I decided to upload it to Flipsnack to make into one easy reading book.

All of their work was uploaded to their Class Wiki's for easy access.

The 2 Volume Flipsnack...

They really enjoyed this activity and I am keen to do it again - perhaps with a school in another country.
That would be awesome!

Wonderful Wordstash

A friend recently introduced me to Wordstash.  It's very easy to sign up for and just as easy to use.

I have introduced it to my Grades 4- 7 already and will be introducing it to our Teachers early next month. My desire is that the Teachers will bring their classes into the ICT Centre and allow them to create their lists each week, and the learners will be able to log on at home and either use the site to assist in learning or else create their own lists.

Another thing I enjoy about Wordstash is that it also automatically gives various definitions of the word, and allows you to either choose which definition you would like, or, alternatively, to add your own. In this way, the child is not just learning how to spell a word, they are also learning the definitions of each word.

One also has the choice of adding an image to the word. The site automatically sources images from either Wikipedia or Flickr for the learner to choose from.

When playing, they are presented with a variety of games and ways to test their Spelling.

View List |Play Match Game |Play Waterfall Game

 

Another way that this site could be used is just for learning definitions. I am thinking specifically of things like in English that one needs to know for language or poetry.

View List |Play Match Game |Play Waterfall Game

Enjoy!

Flashcard Stash

A Wonderfully Techy Term!

I feel so spoilt to have had such an exciting first term!

Do you remember this post about World Maths / Spelling and Science Day? Well, we took part and it was fantastic.  The Science Day didn't work too well as the site took very long to load, but the fun that we had on the other two days made up for it!

Then, this post about the Cultural Exchange Project was written when it was merely a plan within a plan. We are now well into it and its been going so well. We are looking forward to continuing with it after the holidays!  Today, we loaded the story of "What we did on the weekend" into Little Bird Tales! What excitement - so much of chattering. One very busy Grade 4 class - but they were stars!!!

Reading the points our Partner School posted
about themselves to us.

Then we had a nice surprise email from an International School in Switzerland to ask if our Grade 2's wanted to Skype Video Chat with them. Of course we thought that it was an amazing idea and said "Of Couse!"  They were studying Seasons and we had a list of questions from them to research. They asked us these questions and our children each had 2 turns to answer them.  The Grade 2's were very confident and we were very proud of them.  I learnt a couple of things about Skype video chatting though, more about the set-up and where to place the camera/screen. It was a learning experience for me and I loved it. I can't wait to connect with other classes around the world. 

Waving Goodbye after our Chat!

I am thinking that our Grade 7's study Natural Distasters in the 3rd or 4th term and maybe trying to connect them with classes in areas that have tornados or hurricanes or earthquakes. It would be interesting for them to create a list of questions to ask them.  Anyway - watch this space for that!

What a wonderful term!

Fabulous Timelines

The Grade 8's are going to be busy with the Industrial Revolution from next term. I love history and so have had great fun using Dipity Timeline as an example of what they will be creating in it. If you view this in Dipity, you will see that one can use videos, photo's, music and sites to enahnace your Timeline.

The Industrial Revolution - Grade 8 on Dipity.

I have loved using it, although on the odd occassion various dates seem to default back to 1969! Not sure what that's about, but after some perseverence, I hope I have it sorted out.

I am looking forward to teaching it to them - and seeing the results of their work!

Cultural Exchange Project

We are back at school and the year has began in earnest. The new Grade 1's have completed their first week, the new students feel at home and the Staff are back in the swing of things.

I have prepared an open-ended project with a school in the UAE in which our Grade 4's and their Year 4's will be sharing information about their Country and their Culture.  We will be making movies, sharing our findings with avatars, writing stories, turning journals into Little Bird Tales and hoping to Skype one another to learn some words in one anothers languages. 

We will be looking at things like:

• My Class and My School
• My Pet(s)
• My Weekend
• My City, My Country
• Tell me about...
• My Culture
• A Story for You
• Wrap Up

We will be using a wiki to upload our clips, photo's, stories and discussions. It's only starting this week but I am looking forward to a wonderfully enlightening project. I will track the project and ideas / what works / doesn't work here - in case you want to try something similar.

It's early days, and the Project being particularly organic, may take shape differently to how I envisage - but there is atleast a plan in place to begin.

So, let's begin, shall we!?

World Maths Day

World Maths Day is coming up on 7 March 2012.  Have you considered participating?

As a school we have taken part and it was a great experience for everyone. Its really simple. All you need to do is get permission from parents, register the children, and then follow the instructions that are very clearly laid out on their website.

It looks from the Pre-registration that one now signs up for World Spelling/ Maths /Science Day.  Even better!

I registered the children who wanted to take part, and then each day from the time that "practice" begins, they can come in and get used to how the whole event works. I do this so that it is not a surprise when they get to the timed event - they are confident and ready for action!  What I also enjoy about this, is that they can log on at home and continue to practice or compete after school in their own time.

The best was listening to their excited shrieks of "I'm playing against Japan!" or "I am playing against India!" or "I am playing against someone in Australia!"  Suddenly the world was bigger than our ICT Lab and we embraced every moment of it!  We got a report back on how each child did and how we achieved as a school.

I am really looking forward to registering our learners for these events again this year. Why don't you?

Wishing all a wonderfully educational 2012!

Fun with Image Chef

I introduced the Grade 4's to Image Chef today.

A fun site is where one can create, and publish to blogs or other social networking sites.

Today they had to come with a poem, their own or another, and use the 'Visual Poetry' link on Image Chef. 

When their poem was done, they just wanted to test all the other fun activities on the site!

Here are some of the FUN THINGS they created!

 

 

 

Looking forward to finding new ways to use this site! 

World Adventure

The Grade 1's have spent the last 6 weeks learning about different parts of the world.

Their teacher has focussed on culture, attractions and food that they eat. It's been a lot of fun watching the little ones arrive on a Friday, with their suitcase of clothing suitable for the climate they are travelling to. Hearing their shrieks as they 'take off' in the aeroplane. You guessed it, their seats are in airline style!

I pop in now and again to photograph the excitement and am often greeted with the lovely sight of food being prepared in the classroom, like pizza for Italy, and most recently, the frying of hamburger patties for USA.

These are the things that memories are made of!

They are following this up in ICT, sourcing Clipart pics of the world, learning to use WordArt for the names of the countries they visit, find the flag and identify sights and food from these nations.

This map I made for them as a visual illustration to show them the distance they have 'travelled' in the last while. It's done on Tripline, which is a wonderful interactive mapping site and very easy to use.

It would be a great tool for older students to use themselves.

Grade 1 World Adventure on Tripline

Grade 7 Voki's

This week, I decided it would be a fun thing for the Grade 7's to make their own avatar using http://www.voki.com/.

Since they are the first Grade 7's going through the school I thought it would be fun for them to create an avatar with a message to the Grade 1-6's giving them some advice or a parting message.  I decided not to tell them how to use the site in the traditional manner, but instead, using Jing, I created a screencast of the instructions which they viewed and followed.

It worked like a bomb - and I think I shall teach them how to use Jing next!

Here is an example of one of their final products:

It was great watching them work it out, discover different images and voices, and enjoying the activity. I was thrilled with the outcome of their Voki's and already have ideas where I can use this with other classes.

Saturdays Teachmeet

I was pretty brave, I feel, by accepting an invitation to put my name into the hat for the pilot Teachmeet in our area. I thought about the things that I had being doing in the last couple of months and wasn't too sure what I wanted to do. 

I happened to read Mark Brumley's blog about Flipsnack and immediately thought that I would like to share that.  I know this is fairly simple and not part of a lesson that I had prepared, but I saw, from an administrative point of view, for a school, what promise this tool offers.

Here is a quick Step-by-Step guide on how to upload to Flipsnack.

A basic intro to Flipsnack from MrsLG

It's "flipping easy" to use and I have been uploading for a couple of days now!
Here is an example of how the finished product can look.

Flip your:

• School Prospectus,
• Curriculum Documents,
• Any other documentation that you could upload to your School Website instead of a plain PDF

At the end of each year, why not collate all of your School Newsletters and create a "Yearbook" as I have begun to do here?

The end result is a beautifully bound book that looks like a work of art.

The French Revolution

I only have to teach this lesson in a couple of months, but am having such fun preparing it. I think that one learns more in preparation for presentation than one learns in the receiving of it. A teacher is an eternal learner no matter how one looks at it.

I have been plotting a virtual tour of France to add another dimesion to the Module. Having been to Paris, I have seen it at street level and am enjoying flying around it in the "Birds Eye View".

My idea (which may change later!) is to introduce the Module by watching a YouTube clip about the Revolution and the reasons for it.  I think it will add an extra dimesion to the lesson if the learners can see the size and opulence of the Palace and its gardens, and take a stroll through them before actually beginning with the content.



A Bird's Eye View of Versailles

 I found this fabulous site Google Art Project that allows one to take tours through museums around the world and the Palace of Versailles is one of them.



Inside Versaille on Google Art Project



The Memorial of the Bastille



I have created a wiki for them to work on together, and expect them to write a paragraph on:

• their impressions of the Palace,
• what life was like there,
• what the nobility was like,
• how did it compare to the life of the lower class, and
• why the revolution happened - in their own words.

I also expect them to upload a photograph or two of the Palace onto the wiki with their paragraph.

I have no doubt that the ideas for the introduction of this lesson will evolve before it is actually delivered, but this is my starting point - for now! 

There will be more to come!

Story Writing

Wow, times flies when you are online and flying through resources!  I found so many lovely story writing sites, but these two especially caught my eye.

The first one is Word Tamer - it is visually a very pleasing site with a real feeling of adventure!  You have a 'live' narrator who guides you through the process of your story.

You can choose:

• your character's traits
• their hair
• their eye colour
• their size, etc.

You are then led on to jot down information about your character:

• where they live
• what they like
• what they don't like
• who there friends are, etc.

You can choose a few words to incorporate into the story too.  I think that I will try this with my older children this term!

The other one I liked, I think may be more suited to younger children, but, having said that, I felt like writing something seeing the funny combinations that popped up!  This is from Story Starters.



• Enter your name
• Then pull the "SPIN" handle
• Each section comes up with an idea
• If you don't really like the idea, you can press the button in that section for a "Re Spin"
• From there you select the format you want your writing to take: "Notebook, Letter, Newspaper or Postcard"
• Begin to write
• There is also a space for budding illustrators should they wish to add a drawing
• Print!

So often children's stories are tied in with their favourite movie, or TV program, even their characters are, at times, a re-hash of a character that they already like.

This is why I love these ideas. I feel TV has had a negative impact on our imagination and so I like the idea of re-engaging imagination and fantasy - We will be surprised what our children come up with, I am sure!

Global Peace Movie

I recently read this post which invited Primary School learners from around the 

world to take part in a Global Peace Initiative by submitting a short movie clip on "What peace means to them".  The organisers then take all the submitted clips and blend them to create a "Peace Movie" made by children.

"What a great idea!" I thought, and promptly passed it on to our Grade 4 class  teacher who was equally as enthusiastic.  I emailed the organiser, expressing our interest - and directly began receiving updates and correspondence from them.  Today I took their photo's and helped them record their messages, the class teacher had taken the video clip, and I put the movie together with the music... and then we submitted it!

This is our first time working with other schools around the globe, and one thing I know for sure is that it will not be the last! 

Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

The E-Beams are in!

Happiness for everyone!  Much enthusiasm and am loving their zeal to just dive right in.  Staff training is ongoing as required but begins in a couple of weeks time - but it didn't stop our teachers from getting started!

Learning - fun for everyone!