Monday, November 9, 2009

Presenting to staff

This afternoon I led the staff meeting sharing my E Fellowship project and getting the staff that went to ULearn 09 to share parts of the conference that really impacted on their teaching. I had to condense my project into about 40 minutes so it was very much speed presenting with no interactive hooks. I am hoping I have at least encouraged others on our staff to give online learning communities a go.
I also enjoy listening to one of our staff members who attended Helen Rennie-Youngers workshop and shared what she has done for her E Fellowship. Prior to ULearn I gave this teacher links to Helens wiki and have had lots of feedback from her about the great things she is trying.
I'm glad that this year of networking has really begun to flow through to friends and colleagues.
Bring on more e learning.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

What next?

What next for this term in our literacy?
I have begun introducing persuasive writing and have used an article about fishing nets and a seal tangled in them. The children have had to discuss the issues surrounding nets then complete a PMI chart. This was a great way to develop opinions for and against. The children to be able to begin developing their opinion in a written form ie letter to the editor then they tried to convince me. They had to be able to justify every reason/ opinion.
Not only have they had fun sharing their ideas but they loved being able to try and change my mind - of course I kept challenging their thinking and kept being difficult (Great fun).
I hope once our internet access at school is back online, some of the children can put their work online - perhaps you might like to challenge their thinking by posing more problems about their subject. Please keep visiting http://room5kea.wikispaces.com/.

Thank you

My class were pleased to hear that some of the delegates from ULearn 09 blogged comments and feedback about their writing. Unfortunately our school has not been able to get onto the internet over the last week due to our Brand New Learning Centre being readied for the grand opening next week. The children that have internet at home have been on line and read the comments and tried to share the feedback with the individuals, so hopefully in the next few days they will be able to get onto their stories and make the suggested changes and complete their stories. Thank you the people that did post a message.

Assessments - exemplars or observational

While my project in my opinion was very successful I had to be mindful of the fact that I needed to have some data to show progress in my students writing levels. Toward the end of the first term I asked the students to write a story with very little assistance or modelling from me. I used Level 1 and 2 narrative exemplars to level the students. I wanted to see what they were capable of and double check on my writing grouping as this was a new genre. When I assessed the students writing at the end of this project I used the same exemplars, made comparisons between their first story and their online fairytale then leveled them again. I can honestly say each child had made improvements in their writing.I guess several questions still remained "Can the students now write independently without the online feedback input? Will they be able to show improvements in their use of the surface and deeper features of writing? Both of these questions can be quantified because they can be assessed by using the exemplars and can be compared to other baseline data we have from our school wide writing assessments.Another question I have been asked to clarify is "Have the students attitudes toward writing changed - how can this be assessed?" While students attitudes are very much opinion based I have recorded anecdotal observational evidence, video interviewed a random selection of students and asked the students to complete a survey about the project.

Final project reflect part 1

During October I was able to present my project to a group of educators at the ULearn 09 Conference in Christchurch. This was a great forum to be able to share what I did, the barriers I faced and how I overcame those hurdles, plus the positive impact my project had on my class and the wider school community.I enjoyed being challenged and being asked questions about the process we went through. I found it very refreshing to get some very good feedback and some future contacts who would like to participate in future online feedback sessions with my students.It was very helpful for me being challenged about aspects of my project, such as, the length of time the blogging took, how much time the students took on the computers, how I or should I say my students achieved typing their drafts up in the class with only two computers, how I moderated the comments and will the students Year 5 and 6 teachers accomodate/ plan/ incorporate online feedback into their literacy programmes next year. All very valid and thought provoking questions which gave me the opportunity to reflect on how we as a class achieved such wide success in such a small amount of time.

Monday, October 12, 2009

U Learn 09

During the school holidays 8 of the 2009 E Fellows met in Christchurch preparing to present our projects to ULearn delegates. This was a very enjoyable time - reconnecting with such amazing teachers from all levels NE - Y13. Although Deidre Senior had presented at the Reading Conference in Queenstown we were able to hear about her workshop and how she has hopefully encouraged some more teachers to use elearning in their reading sessions back in the classroom.
Although presenting is rather nerve racking and knowing I had to fill 90 minutes, it actually went very quickly and I became more confident as timee went on. I was glad the internet was working and very impressed with the delegates that could sign into my class blog left blog messages to my students on their writing. Unfortunately for the students at present our server is being updated so they have not had the opportunity to read the messages.
Over the week I attended several workshops all of which had very interesting ideas and some very useful resources which I am aiming to work into my class programme.
ULearn is a great place for teachers to really see whats going on in classes and make new connections with the online communities which can show us ways to use ICT elearning in our classes. Thanks CORE for organising it.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Reflecting on the project

I have been busy throughout Term 3. It has been about winding up my project and reflecting on the outcomes.Did my project succeed?What was the most effective part of the project and why?Did I have to change my thinking regarding my original project outline outcomes?How did the children feel about themselves and their writing ability?Did the parents/ online community take up the challenge?

I have gone into more detail on my wiki http://ginnysjourney.wikispaces.com/My+E+Journey

I'm not sure that I have changed my thinking regarding the power of online feedback but like anyone in teaching I adapted my writing process to suit the students and modelled each stage. I also believe that we must take more time to teach the stages of writing including the conventions of print. I planned for the students to be creating their stories over 6-7 weeks including the visual stories. The first 3 weeks was very much immersion of fairytales, comparing modern and traditional fairytales, practising visualisation strategies of settings and characters. recreating fairytales through drama and looking at movies that have fairytale formats. I also found hooking the families by home learning fairytale surveys was informative and lots of fun. Each child was confident in sharing there family members favourite stories and characters and could explain why.I really enjoyed seeing the childrens enthusiasm towards learning about new characters and loved how they could adapt their stories to create a New Zealand setting or use of at least one native animal or mythical creature like the Taniwha.

I have spent part of Term 3 assessing the students writing and comparing it with results from the beginning of the year. I had a core group of low level writers who were predominantly low level readers as well. I would like to think that my project has impacted on the reluctant writers considering their attitude towards writing has significantly changed. I used the exemplars to help assess each part of the student writing process. The data shows all of my students have improved. The children have also made very good progress in their reading levels which again has helped with their attitude towards all areas of their learning.

At the beginning of the term the children continued to complete the writing process. They have enjoyed the project and have continued to upload their writing onto the class wiki for more feedback. Each child has created a visual story in either movie maker or photo story and recorded their stories then uploaded them onto the movies.

Interviews and Surveys
I completed several video interviews with the students, some parents and a teacher who has previously taught the children as well as been involved in adding feedback to the childrens work.I was very impressed with the children when they were interviewed because they were not given any time to write their thoughts down (as usual in teaching I had to record them during class sessions). Each child was able to articulate how they felt about feedback/ feedforward and how they benefitted from receiving it online.I am fortunate that my class have become use to being asked questions and are expected to reply with explanations and examples.

Again during parent interviews I was able to ask my parents to take a survey home and send it back to school with their child. Parent Interviews have been a fantastic forum to be able to really get the personal committment by the parents to help their children in their writing.I have to say that my parents have been very positive throughout this research project. They only want the best for their children and most have enjoyed being able to go online and become participants in their childrens learning environment. One parent said it was fantastic to see what their child had done in the class and how each draft of their writing had developed into a more visual story.

Teaching Colleagues Perspective
I have been fortunate that one of my colleagues has been followed my project and been involved in blogging the students with feedback. Jill Flemming has taught several of the children in my class in the junior school and has had several opportunities to look after my class during Term 2 and 3. She has commented on how proud and impressed she is with these children and how some of them were definitely reluctant writers and now have a positive attitude about themselves and their writing ability.Jill commented on how she has noticed a significant difference in not only the children's writing but in their ability a to share ideas, give constructive feedback and collaborate with each other to help individuals improve the task they are working on.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Christchurch sharing

I have just spent two days with my fellow efellows in Christchurch with Vince from CORE. We shared parts of our projects and had sessions on the presentation techniques in preparation for ULearn 09.
We were shown the do's and don'ts of powerpoint presentations - with some incredibly valuable tips. I'm thinking I'll be spending some hours looking for great visual metaphors
We were also given some great tutoring from a toastmaster and toastmistress to help us deliver our presentations with confidence. They gave us tips on how to stand and for some of us how not to clench hands - this will be my little challenge.
It was really nice to be reconnected with my efellows to share the highs and some of the lows and lots of laughs.
We looked again at what Literacy is now that we have completed our project tasks and viewed readings and been part of professional development discussions. We also looked at whether we have changed the way we think about literacy.
It was a very valuable, reflective and reinvigorating busy two days.

Project update

Gosh it has certainly been a while since I last updated my blog.
This doesn't mean I haven't been working on my project it must mean I've been hectic.

Towards the end of last term my students continued writing their stories and loved accepting online feedback. They responded extremely well to any feedback they received and waiting for more after they uploaded their new drafts.
As well as continuing to write their stories they were also asked to create illustrations that would reflect their stories. These illustrations were to be used to bring their stories to life through movie maker or photostory.
By giving the students this creative hands on ICT task it meant they were rereading and reshaping their stories when they recognised errors either with grammar, structure or the delivery of their story.
The next stage of their online presentation was to practice reading their stories out loud, practising expression, change of voice for different characters and fluency in the telling of their story. Once they were confident with this part they were able to record the story and and the recording to their movie.
It has been interesting to notice the children's self assessments of their recordings. Some have listened to their movie and others and have asked to record it again as they feel they could improve it.
The final chapter for these children in this project has been to upload their movie into the class wiki our stories page and wait for more feedback.These Year 3 and 4 students have become extremely competitive and reflective about their online work.
While I still have a lot of work to do to prepare my presentation for the ULearn 09 conference in October, I have been very impressed with how the children have continued to be motivated by the online learning and feedback. I asked them to complete a survey to help round my project off. Almost all of the students would like to continue to have input from an online audience in a wider range of learning areas. The parents that returned a similar survey enjoyed the process and many commented that they felt they saw a different side to their child. They also enjoyed being given the opportunity and guidance to give feedback to more than just their own child.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Regional Cross Cluster Workshop

Last night I presented at one of the Waikato Regional Cross Cluster ICTPD workshops.
This was a very good opportunity for me to trial what I might do and say at ULearn. With an audience of about 60 teachers it was a little bit nerve racking. Once I relaxed and started sharing my project people started asking really good questions.
I aimed to get across the importance of giving the students time to process the conventions of print and the skills they have learned to assist in their fairy tale writing.
I also explained how important it is to get the parents involved with the online feedback - showing some examples on the wiki and explained how engaged the students have been because of the reflective feedback.
One teacher asked how the children dealt with negative feedback - I explained how the class have realised that all reflective feedback is important and they actually haven't been upset by what could be seen by adults as negative feedback. It made me realise how important it has been for me to get across to the students from the beginning that we need reflective and constructive feedback to help us improve in our learning.
I showed examples of the Web2 tools we are using and shared how important it is for the students to be given time to practise the new tools skills in the classroom with a relevant context ie: writing a fairytale for an online audience.
I also shared the ICT tools we have used in the classroom and some examples of what ideas the children have recorded.
I hope some people got comething from it.
I hope the group got something from my project.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Sharing my project

Over the weekend I have been preparing a presentation of my project for a cross cluster ICTPD workshop on Wednesday.
Preparing for this workshop has allowed me to review my project and really reflect on the impact online audiences have had on Year 3 and 4 students.
I think it is very important to get across to this group the importance of incorporating ICT and Web2 Tools throughout all areas of curriculums and the power of reflective feedback within the class and from an online audience. I think the other point I want to get across to this group is how important it is for us to slow the process down to give the students the opportunity to produce quality work rather than only giving them 3-4 weeks to complete a specific writing genre.
I have been using our school STARS Inquiry Model during the planning and implementation of this project. This has really reinforced how effective and relevant each stage of the writing process fits within our Inquiry model. The children are constantly being reminded of the stages of learning and how important reflective feedback is to their learning.
I have shared how I have used our school inquiry model with John Cubitt (Pekerau Primary School Principal) and he now wants me to share the plan to with our staff.

During Week 8 I want to spend more time conferencing and videoing the students to show what they have learnt and what has impacted on their writing the most.

Reflective Feedback

The children are continuing to check the blogs hoping to get feedback.
Several have commented on how important and helpful the feedback is for them. It helps them read their stories again looking for the parts that have been commented on and make decisions on how they can change their story.
Some students have had assistance with the word processing so that they can get a lot more of their story uploaded.
Fortunately we have some extra adults in the room prepared to help the students.These extra adults read the story to the student specifically focusing on no punctuation so they can recognise what punctuation is required. The student also notice if their story is repeating itself or doesn't make sense Yay.
The students are also becoming so use to getting and giving feedback that they are confident in transferring the feedback strategies into their Inquiry tasks.

Target Groups

My target groups are making good progress with their stories. I have found it interesting that one group which has had a lot of group planning sessions and have joint plan, have written completely different stories. These guys definitely think quite differently.
I have asked the groups what they have enjoyed the most. They enjoy the 1 on 1 conferencing and like to share the online feedback they have had. They agree with some of the ideas and make some of the changes.
One area we are still having a struggle with is their editing skills. I'm sure kids don't see the point in punctuation and think we are simply nagging them. I'd love to have an easy way for them just to get the importance of editing in the writing process.
I am finding I need to get some of the students to dictate what they have written mistakes and all, just to get another draft online.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Week 7

We are thinking that we will begin by using Art Rage to create the scenery and their story then put it in movie maker and upload it onto the wiki this way. We are trying to use the programmes we have available at school rather than pay for new ones for a one off task. I would like to use the interwrite programme but I am investigating whether it can be uploaded easily. Last year this was difficult so I will have a wee practise prior to giving the children the task, making sure I have ironed out any issues.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I have been busy looking for relevant readings on online reflective feedback. I am finding most of the students are really enjoying getting feedback online and are happy to make changes to their stories and am wondering if this is what other teachers have found or is it just because its a new techniques for them.
The students have become confident at being able to share their stories to the class or just to small groups expecting some form of feedback. They are also the first to remind me to get the camera ready to video the discussion sessions.

Week 6

Our computer time is often when our Prinicpal John Cubitt wanders through to see what we are up to and how the project is going.
My class are very good at getting John involved in their wikis. One of the children has shown John how easy it is to blog so we will be setting him up with his own sign in next week and give him a more intense lesson so that he can participate in the online feedback. John is very impressed with the progress of the students writing
love Thursday mornings because of our class computer time. We have 16 computers in our suite which means most of the children can go on at the same time and finish updating then uploading their stories.
After our computer session I had a quick look at the changes then discussed them with the class. A few of my students have commented on their frustration at the typing. They are not fast at it and their stories don't get up to date compare to whats in their books or that it takes them a long time to try and edit all of their work because have too many mistakes. I have decided I will rewrite them online over the weekend as best possible then upload them into their wiki page.

Hopefully they will also get more online feedback because the audience can actually read it and make constructive comments
Some of the children feel they are ready to move onto the next part of their story. Several have decided they need to work out how to create a second problem and its solution. Having the children use a traditional fairytale as their basic framework, with a New Zealand twist, has been an easy way for them to remain focussed. It has been interesting to see how some of the stories have evolved from the basic fairytale into something quite different and intriguing. I am looking forward to seeing each new development in their stories

Week 5

This last week the children have been busy trying to edit their work, making changes from the online feedback and class feedback. We had a discussion which I remembered to video about how they felt getting feedback online. It was really interesting and filled with positives. They get excited when we are viewing the blogs. They love seeing their names and wonder who some of the audience are. They also think its great when we look at the traffic feed and see that we have had hits from all around the world , including South America.
The children are really understanding how important it is for their stories to make sense and tell a great story rather than just get to the happily ever after bit. They are beginning to make real connections with their writing and the writing process including the conventions of print. When they have had to read their stories back to their buddy word for word they realise there are bits missing and that punctuation does have an impact on their stories.

Friday, May 29, 2009

I have been discussing with our IT Tech Angela about ways in which we can get more people involved in the online reflective feedback. We are getting viewers from all around the world and would like to be able to encourage them to share their comments as well. We think we will create a separate sign in link that gives them a link to ask to be invited onto our site. We will still be able to moderate what their comments are so it will remain a safe option.
I love Thursday mornings because of our class computer time. We have 16 computers in our suite which means most of the children can go on at the same time and finish updating then uploading their stories.
Our computer time is often when our Prinicpal John Cubitt wanders through to see what we are up to and how the project is going. My class are very good at getting John involved in their wikis. One of the children has shown John how easy it is to blog so we will be setting him up with his own sign in next week and give him a more intense lesson so that he can participate in the online feedback. John is very impressed with the progress of the students writing.
After our computer session I had a quick look at the changes then discussed them with the class. A few of my students have commented on their frustration at the typing. They are not fast at it and their stories don't get up to date compare to whats in their books or that it takes them a long time to try and edit all of their work because have too many mistakes.
I have decided I will rewrite them online over the weekend as best possible then upload them into their wiki page. Hopefully they will also get more online feedback because the audience can actually read it and make constructive comments.
Some of the children feel they are ready to move onto the next part of their story. Several have decided they need to work out how to create a second problem and its solution. Having the children use a traditional fairytale as their basic framework, with a New Zealand twist, has been an easy way for them to remain focussed. It has been interesting to see how some of the stories have evolved from the basic fairytale into something quite different and intriguing. I am looking forward to seeing each new development in their stories.
This last week the children have been busy trying to edit their work, making changes from the online feedback and class feedback. We had a discussion which I remembered to video about how they felt getting feedback online. It was really interesting and filled with positives. They get excited when we are viewing the blogs. They love seeing their names and wonder who some of the audience are. They also think its great when we look at the traffic feed and see that we have had hits from all around the world , including South America.
The children are really understanding how important it is for their stories to make sense and tell a great story rather than just get to the happily ever after bit. They are beginning to make real connections with their writing and the writing process including the conventions of print. When they have had to read their stories back to their buddy word for word they realise there are bits missing and that punctuation does have an impact on their stories.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Thursday is always our computer session and the students know they must have their work ready to upload the next draft. We initially thought the stories could be scanned from their draft books but then realised some of the handwriting is difficult to read so they are publishing their stories in a Word document first then also save it as a pdf to upload. We used the pdf so that no changes can be made by the audience.
We have printed their stories so far and they are editing (especially spelling and sentence structure). The students then make changes on the one of the two computers in the classroom, also making changes from the online or buddy feedback.
The online audience are becoming more involved and are becoming more confident with their comments/ feedback.The students or should I now call them writers, know that the online feedback is about their story not about their spelling (thats my job and theirs during the editing process - which some are still learning).
I have also found it interesting that the students are experimenting with the different text styles and still keeping up with the task. Some have chosen old style writing and when asked why, they could justify it "It looks like the olden days and fairy tales are stories from the olden days". (They are getting it)
Sue from NZCER spent the day with me. The children showed they understood what they were doing through each stage of the writing process. The children are really involved in their writing and have become writers in their own minds.
Sue interviewed two groups after spending the first part of the morning observing and connecting with the children. My boys creative thinking was on fire. They were coming up with adjectives they thought might work in their stories. I have found it rather interesting working with these boys. We have been building on their story setting and have continued to use Ali Baba as the story to base their own fairy tale on. While we are working together and recording their ideas onto the easi speak, the boys stories vary. They listen to their recordings and copy it down (which one boy told Sue "we aren't learning anything we are just copying"!! Thankfully the other boys set him straight and said the stuff that they are copying are all of their ideas for the story (Yay)).
The other group Sue interviewed could really articulate their thoughts about the writing process and how important the online community and feedback is for their story writing. As writers they know reflective feedback is essential because they want the audience to enjoy their stories.
I have been working with the class reflecting on their fairy tales so far. I wanted to observe the students with their peer buddy to see how effective their reflective feedback is at present and to work on the areas that appear to be less helpful.
Prior to working with their buddies we revisited what effective feedback is and why it is important for their story writing. The students could articulate how useful it has been so far and they like it because people are being honest and helpful by giving some very helpful suggestions. They also have time to record the suggestions in their draft book before they listen to the other writers story. They said it was good because it keeps them focussed on their stories and they know they don't have to rush through just to get the job done.
We also reviewed the stories that have already been uploaded onto their wiki story page - the children immediately went into visualisation mode (they shut their eyes and really listen to the narrator trying to visualise the setting and the first main character). It's great to see Year 3 and 4 children can become completely absorbed into the stories being read.
We also discussed what feedback they have already received and how they think it has helped improve their descriptive writing. We also discussed how important it is to focus on the WALT and not on the spelling or punctuation for this online task.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Today my boys from yesterday worked independently but with the easi-speak to review what their ideas were. It was great to see them so involved in their writing. When they came back to conference with me they were reflective about their writing. They decided their fairy tale was sounding rather spooky and more like a scary movie. We discussed ways in which they might change it. We also looked at other fairy tales that might have caves in them to help guide them with their actual story line and message. I read them Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. They could see some similarities with their setting and thought it might be good to use some of the ideas from this story but with a New Zealand theme to it.
We also reflected on why they thought their story was developing so quickly, what was helping and what else they might need to do. Some comments were "the easi-speak was good because we could just keep telling our story and we didn't have to stop and write", "the plan was good with all of the brainstorm ideas - it meant that we could look at the keywords and come up with other ideas". "We liked it that we didn't make a mess in our books because of our spelling". "It was good to make up a story together because we could use all of our ideas and make them better together. We didn't have to think up the whole thing on our own". "I liked it that I could hear my own ideas on the easi-speak".
I noticed some of the children were having difficulty thinking about their story problem and message. We had had a discussion yesterday about what direction they wanted to take in their fairy tales. Some wanted to write their own others wanted direction, so as a guide I have suggested they choose a fairy tale that has some similarities to their plan, use its message but use a New Zealand theme and animal characters ie tuatara, kiwi etc. This seems to have helped them refocus their writing.
My second aha moment reinforced how important peer feedback is. We have been practicing writing descriptive settings over the last week. I have explained how the reader needs to be able to picture the setting. We practiced this by getting the children to close their eyes and visualise the scene that I read to them. We began with very basic settings then discussed what might make it more effective. The children very quickly understood and participated. I then paired them up, reminding them of the learning intention, then share their own stories expecting reflective feedback from their peer. This was an excellent strategy - the children used the feedback, made changes and swapped roles. Most of the stories improved.

At the end of the session we reflected on the feedback strategy. One child (Year 3) said "It helped because I could go back and really focus on the parts of the setting that wasn't very descriptive. I liked the suggestions and it helped me come up with better language".

I have noticed the specific reflective feedback session has already helped focus the peer discussions. It has created some very constructive debating and the children justifying their suggestions.
Yesterday I had 2 aha moments.
The first was when I was working with a group to help them plan their fairy tale. We brainstormed some setting from fairy tales they have read. I scribed for them so they didn't have to worry about the spelling or getting all of the ideas down. They then decided which setting they would like to further develop - a cave. The boy began to talk about what the cave could look like and what might be in it. I told the boys we would record their thought on the 'easi-speak' so we didn't miss anything ( a real brainwave that was). We decided their fairy tale will begin with once upon a time ...The boys agreed to put their hand up when they wanted to share their ideas. This worked a treat as they became so involved in sharing their story idea so that the story could develop. We then replayed their recording and I scribed it. The boys then reread their story and came up with more information and recorded it. I have downloaded their recording into their ICT folders so they can listen to it or use it at a later date.
Having used the easi-speak often in the class the boys were not phased by its presence in our writing planning session. It also reinforced to me how effective a tool it is to get our reluctant writers to share their ideas. The language these boys used was brilliant.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Had a good session on character desciptions. The children are beginning to feel more confident in sharing their ideas with their peers. It has been good listening to their discussions about how to possibly improve their writing. Some are still needing a bit of direction, mainly because of their age or writing level. They are making very good connections with the huge range of fairy tales available in the class for reading session. Tomorrow we have our first parent/ grandparent in to read fairy tales to the class. It will be great for the children to see how different people can bring the characters to life.
Tomorrow we will continue to develop our characters and our settings. Not sure if they will use these pieces of writing for the main story or if they will just be practise pieces.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Our learning intention today was to make a list of adjectives to help describe a setting.We started looking at adjectives and descriptive sentences for the beginning of the fairy tale and describing the setting.
We began by talking about places we liked to visit around our region. After some thinking time, the class were asked to write down their favourite five places ie: Kihikihi Speedway, Lake Whakamaru, Waitomo Caves, The beach etc.
From their I modelled and asked them to brainstorm words that would describe: what it looks like, how it smells/ feels, and where it might be. I worked alongside my lower ability students supporting them by encouraging them to visualise and verbally describe their place. During this brainstorming stage I realised it would have been a great video session and I didn't have it set up (Note to myself - get the video set up before school each day ready for these teaching moments).
We shared some of our places and the keywords. We also shared some of the beginning words for fairy tales ie: Once upon a time, A long time ago etc.
The Learning Intention for this piece of writing was: to write a descriptive beginning of the story so that the audience can picture the setting;to write 2 - 3 sentences adding some of the adjectives to introduce the beginning of their fairy tale.
The children were asked to decide on a starter and then using some of the keywords begin to describe their setting. After they had written 2 - 3 sentences we came together to share our beginnings. I got the children to think about giving reflective feedback (refer to Shirley Clarke - Unlocking formative Assessment - Chapter 4 Feedback) specifically to do with the WALT. To do this we modelled the process by asking 2-3 students to share their piece of writing. When each child was sharing their beginning, the children were asked to shut their eyes and try to visualise what the reader is sharing. This strategy worked really well as you could see students facial expressions when they were confused or understood the readers description. The children were honest with their feedback and gave good suggestions which helped the writer make improvements confidently. I then got the students to continue with this strategy in pairs. I have given further feedback for their next writing session.
My reluctant readers have been reading and practicing fairy tale plays which has been a great way for them to understand sequencing, the importance of expression, getting the message across and have fun with reading.
We have also been discussing the online fairy tales that some of the children are reading for home learning. I asked what they found good about them. I received comments like: "my brother will help me with the hard words because its on the computer"; "I don't have to worry about looking for my books somewhere in my room"; "My dad wants to see what I'm doing and comes over and reads with me". "We don't have many fairy tales at home so its good because I just need to go online".I also asked them if there was anything that could make it better: "The pictures could move to help us with some clues for the words"; "The text size could be bigger"; "I would like to have a sound button for the really hard words, in case no one can help me"; "The story could be recorded and play at the same time as the text".
Listening to some of the parents, the online fairy tales has had a twofold effect. Firstly the children are motivated to get their reading and home learning completed and secondly the parents are becoming involved in the online activities and familiar with the class wiki.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

This week we are looking at fairy tale settings and characters. The students are reading and making comparisons between a range of fairy tales, particularly focusing on settings and characters. They will be given their learning intentions over the next two days to begin to plan their modern fairy tale using a story plan template. The children will be expected to use a wider range of adjectives to make their story more interesting and visual.
A couple of my parents have commented on how good the online fairy tales are to encourage their children who are reluctant readers, into reading. Hopefully this will flow on into their writing.
The children are beginning to make the connections between fairy tales and other narratives. They have also realised that fairytales generally have a message which is appropriate for them to take notice of as well. We have begun to link the messages to the key competencies and our school values. We have also been reading narratives that have a biographical background. The authors have used cars as their main characters with very human personalities and actions which the children can realate to. It is great to see the children making these connections without having them pointed out.
Our team are looking at Inventions for our Inquiry and have been visited by people that have vehicles across the ages for recreational or practical purposes. Yesterday we had an ex pupil bring in her horse and gig which she uses for competitions. The students were able to make the connections between the way we move around now and in the past. They were also beginning to discuss which fairytales had horses and carts in them. Yay.
Today we had a local businessman land a helicopter on the school field for them to have a very close look at. I overheard one child say Cinderella could have gone to the ball in it (Yay another connection). One of my boys was given a ride in it overlooking Te Awamutu. (I also got a flight - Thanks Bryce). The language used to describe how it felt flying around, taking off and landing was fantastic. It was a great hook to begin developing a poster of adjectives in preparation for their writing tomorrow and next week.
On Friday we are continuing with the transport theme by having my friend bring in their speedway vehicles for the children to have a closer look at. Next week we will have motorbikes on display and a local business putting on a motorbike demonstration.
By using these visits and the vehicles as possible focuses in their story development, I am hoping that the childrens writing will begin to show richer language and encourage them to share some of their visual experiences. I guess we will have to wait and see our first draft.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Today during our weekly computer timetable, most of the children worked on their wikis and set up their own blogs - some children posted a message. We now have to encourage the parents and wider community to participate in feedback on their work. Next week I will send home the hardcopy of a learn how to use a wiki, blog and give constructive and reflective feedback. I will also upload it to my class wiki. I have also drafted a notice for our school newsletter to inform the school community of my project and how they can become involved. In groups the children will also be expected to write updates sharing their work in the newsletter. Our School IT Tech Angela Cole is ironing out any possible glitches in our online audience participation. She is one extremely supportive of my project and will go that extra mile making sure things work.
Overview of my first TRD.
I started the term off by immersing the class with fairy tales. I decided I'm going to try and use our school inquiry model to help the students further develop their higher order thinking by using graphic organisers; created an online a writing survey; video interview students for their personal views regarding writing and online wiki knowledge; researched further information on reflective feedback and met with IT Tech to discuss technical ideas and issues that will assist with online audience interaction; wrote homework tasks for two weeks; wrote a draft outline of my project and what the class are doing.
Over the holidays the children were asked to read as many fairytales as possible and bring their favourite fairytale books to share. We started the term by discussing what fairy tales are; brainstormed as many fairy tales as possible - this brainstorm will be uploaded as a Wordle to show which fairy tales are the most known at the Year 3/4 level in our school. We viewed "Shrek" without sound focusing on the characters, then transferred the characters onto a fairy tale identification chart. The students are already beginning to make connections between fairytales.
Within our guided reading programme the students have tasks that relate to their specific reading level fairy tale. They are also expected to complete a classification chart then select two to complete a venn diagram.
We have discussed what are the main features of a narrative and how to use a story plan to assist with ideas and sequencing. We have read traditional fairy tales and some modern day silly fairytales. All of the children have written an unassisted fairytale based on one they have already read. They were expected to change the story in some way.. Just as I was expecting there is certainly a huge range of writing levels within the class.
I have created a writing survey which I am using when video interviewing the children. We have also created it online for the children to go online in the classroom to complete it. The results will then be sent back to me for collation. I video interviewed 5 students which was interesting.
One question they were asked was how could the easi-speak or a recorder help them with their story writing. Two said 'it would help them to get their ideas onto the easi-speak then they could replay it to make sure they had their ideas down'. Yay exactly what I was hoping for. I believe the students have become extremely confident and competent with using the easi-speak that they can see all sorts of possible uses that will help them in their learning.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I have spent the day at school going through the resources we have relating to fairy tales. I also spent quite a bit of time working with our IT Tech discussing what would be the best and easiest way for the children to manage their wikis and blogs. We decided to have a page called Our Stories with each childs links to their blogs. What we think will be best is that the children will write their story, scan it and upload it as a PDF file. Our online audience will be able to view it but not make changes. They can then click on the childs blog link and blog their ideas, feedback and suggestions.I also found a hook that will lead into using our Inquiry focus on inventors and cars. I went to the Hamilton 400 Streetrace and bought the book 'Go Murph". This story is about Greg Murphy but written in a narrative using the car as the character. This story was written by students from Hamilton West School, so this is another form of motivation showing primary children can produce amazing stories. It also explains the research process which will blend nicely with our inquiry and our narrative.I have also found some very good webquests using fairy tales so I will link the sites to my class wiki.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I seem to have many wheels spinning at the moment to be prepared for Term 2 and ensuring I have covered the main teaching points for my E project.
I've been busy researching fairy tales online and ways in which to teach the writing process in a Year 3 / 4 class. The students will be viewing a modern fairy tale to help them recognise a range of fairy tales. They will be able to check the fairy tales off their lists that they will brainstorm at the beginning of Term 2.
I have also been researching readings on "Constructive Feedback/ Feed forward" which will help my classes online audience to provide appropriate feedback so the students can make changes to their writing. My parents will be given a hardcopy booklet which will give them ideas and examples of constructive feedback/ feedforward. The booklet will also have a basic guide on how to communicate their ideas onto the students wiki page or make comments on the students blogs.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

My Project:
Developing Rich and Reflective Writing with Year 3 & 4 Students: to explore the use of strategies which enhance student engagement and success of their writing through sharing with an online audience.
The aim of this project is to use fairy tales as a context, where students will develop their understanding of the codes and conventions of narrative writing to communicate meaning and ideas through the use of mind mapping, graphic interpretations, multimedia and/or animations enhancing student's learning and understanding of effective communication, using a range of ICT / Web2 Tools.
The students will begin to understand how to develop their writing through interactions with an authentic online audience, for their personal reglections on their work and through their engagement with implementing changes, as a result of processing feedback. To do this, the students will be uploading their draft writing onto their wiki page http://room5kea.wikispaces.com/Class+Page where regular discussions / feedback and feedforward from the wider community will be used to assist the students to reflect and make changes to improve their writing.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009



While sitting at the airport we continued to reflect on our three days together. We know how valuable collaboration in the classroom is and we have had plenty of opportunity this week to spend time getting to know each other, the CORE team and Sally and Sue from NZCER our researchers and mentors.


We've completed challenges, icebreakers, energizers and culinary experiences that have helped us become a tight knit group.


We even managed to involve "The Stormers" last night in our "Navigational literacy". With a little bit of encouragement it's amazing what we can achieve.

Yesterday and today we have been busy discussing our projects with our Mentors. Marion and I have Sally from NZCER. Through our discussions I have been able to clarify my plan in more detail. I've already done some of the ground work during this first term so it feels good to know that I'm on the way.


After looking at the photo of us all at the base of the tree I began to wonder if this was some form of symbolism. The strength of the tree trunk and the power of many minds (our e fellows team)!!
Now that I have spent 2 hours on a flight home I've had time to reflect on my project. So far I have come up with the following statement hoping that as I work my way through the project lights will go on with my students.
My project aims: To explore the use of strategies which enhance student engagement and success of their writing through sharing with an online audience.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

I've finally started my blogging journey. With some anticipation, anxiety and excitement I am looking forward to the development of my blog.