Experimenting with Storybird

The Spook House by authors8 on StorybirdThis is a Storybird that Hamish wrote as part of our learning about Digital Storytelling.  This has been a 6 week learning programme through the Winton Gate Cluster.

A HUGE / HUGHES Thank You!!

Hi everyone
This is my last blog post.

Thank you soooooo much for the wonderful farewell you gave me on Friday.  I felt very humbled, and slightly embarrassed by the attention.

I love my gift and can't wait to go shopping!  I will shop with all of you in mind and show you what I bought when I see you next.

I am really loving the study and I it meant so much that many of you wrote cards that included your thoughts on life-long learning - WOW, you are an amazing group of learners  -and teachers.  Don't ever forget that that is what you are too - you teach your teachers as much as we teach you.  That has been one of my highlights so far this year - learning so much from all of you.

I know you are going to have an amazing year and that you will work hard for and with Mr Herring.  He has some amazing ideas to share with you and I'm hoping he'll share them with me too.  :-)

Take care and remember, no one can ever squash your dreams - only you can do that if you let someone get in your way.  Look after each other, keep living the Myross Bush Values.  Dream BIG!

Hugs and smiles
Mrs H :-) :-) :-) :-)

MARKET DAY AND BLOG VISITORS

Hey everybody!!  Are you excited about tomorrow??  I can't wait.  I think the Year 6s will break the record this year.
Can't wait to get the photos up tomorrow.  Loving your blogs - will start commenting tomorrow.  i've been a bit busy with assignments this weekend.  Will share my learning with you tomorrow - great info on blogs and blogging.

Did you also notice that we are nearly at 8000 visits to the blog???!!!  What a great way to finish the term - hitting 8000!  Very exciting.  See you tomorrow.  :-)

Another iPad link for your Analysing and Synthesising

Hey Team!
Have a look at the link below and see what you think.  What else can you add to your PMI, interviews?

http://dancallahan.net/2011/04/05/694

The Wisconsin / Myross Bush Wiki

I am so excited!  I've just had a preview of some of the keynotes being prepared to be uploaded to the wiki - they are most impressive!!  Just listening to one group explaining the Kahikatea tree and how this is where our school symbol and motto comes from and sharing with their epals what the motto is, is very heartwarming.

We can't wait to share these with you.

Vist this Wiki

Have a look at the Room 1 wiki from Grant's Braes School in Dunedin.  They have some fantastic resources on there and would love your comments.  Hopefully they will have a look around our blog - and your blogs - and leave some comments.

Have a look at the organisation and think about whether our one with Wisconsin is as fantastic.  (I know it will be once we start to add content from tomorrow - very exciting!)

http://weareroom1.wikispaces.com/

iPad Explorations! By Robbie and Benjamin

Today our class got the iPad.  We were exploring what it could do for our learning.  It had heaps of exciting math and spelling games.

Our next step is for everyone to be able to use it and decide on the benefits and uses for our learning.

Tomorrow we are going to look at an article about Grant's Braes School in Dunedin and see what they've been up to with the iPads.

We might email them to get their opinions.

Market Day

Hi, Ruby here,
www.rubyslearninglog.blogspot.com
I would like to tell you about Market Day.
Well Market Day is coming up on the 11th of April,
I am so excited.
I am in a stall with Karen,
we are selling all sorts of things like flour balloons, we are having cake raffles and so much more.
Anyway, Market day is the way we raise money for our camp at the end of the year, so that it can cut down the cost for parents.
Bye for now,
Ruby!!

Investigating iPods and iPads in our eLearning

Hi everyone
Sophie, Aleisha, Kaitlyn and Simone here.  We have created a Google-doc to think about the PMIs of using iPods and iPads in our eLearning.

A PMI is a chart and a way of organising our thinking about a question.  We think about the Pluses or positives of an issue, the Minuses or not so positive points, and finally the Interesting or unexpected side of the issue or question.

Please click on the link below to see our thinking about this question.  We will begin to add our ideas later on today.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eqb444jhmVz4Q2cZ5RxfAmode8ZCgDL9XZI9Ho7btuI/edit?hl=en&authkey=CLq752U

Your Blogs

Hi everyone. Your blogs are looking fantastic! I love the learning that you are showing through them. It's great to see you thinking of your audience and what they need to know to be able to understand your thoughts.

Bruce, I think we have an old blog link attached to your one - oops, my mistake. Please email me your new one.

Everyone - please check that you have your comments being moderated. Some are going straight onto the blogs. Remember, Internet safety is crucial. Also remember to publish the comments after you and I have checked them - some of you must have over 20 comments to publish!!!! ;-)

Some of you also need to change the time zone of your blogs. Remember, it needs to be set to GMT+12 in the settings part - scroll right down and you'll find Wellington - click on this. (Otherwise it looks like some of you are blogging at 1.25am!!)

Keep up the fantastic work Team - you are great learners and teachers.

Inspiring Students

Hi everyone! I know I've said this before but... thanks for being such an inspiring group of students.

I loved hearing all your ideas using Socratic Questioning today Rooms 7 and 8. You are always able to see many sides of an issue and to use the Habit of Mind of Thinking Flexibly. You certainly showed that today!

I've also loved seeing the progress everyone is making with their blogs. You are adding so much that shows your learning. Remember to aim for correct surface features and check before you publish. Someone in our class did point out to me today that, because you are learning and developing in your use of blogs, that you would expect to see some errors and that these would disappear over time as you improved in your knowledge and accuracy. Great thinking Team and you are so right - another way to see development in your learning. Proud of all of you!

A Beautiful Gift from a Talented Artist

Today Cameron gave me a wonderful leaving present - a piece of his art work.

This was so special and I will value it always. It's going in my study / office so that I

can look at it while I'm working hard on my learning.

Isn't it fantastic!!

what is eLearning

What is elearning? Many people say it is electronic learning but.... not the kids in room 8.

What we thought it meant is educational learning, environmental learning, collaboration and connecting with others. I think people should think a bit harder when it comes to these things and think outside the box bit more often do you agree? Write a comment telling us whether you agree or disagree.

by Liam and Karen

Photopeach

Exploring Photopeach as a Learning Tool on PhotoPeach - discuss how this could be used to show your learning. You can turn it into a quiz by adding captions, etc. Would it be useful for our Wisconsin / Myross Bush wiki? We could use NZ music perhaps - checking copyright first though! :-)

Wacky Wednesday

Hi Team!! Great day working together with Room 7 and 8 looking at Habits of Mind, and planning Market Day.

I was soooooooooooo impressed with your ability to manage your impulsivity with the Pebble Challenge.

You showed a high level of skill in being able to define this Habit of Mind.

Miss Stewart and I think you're the best!!

A Fantastic Earthquake Wiki by Rm 1 Grant's Braes School

Hey everyone!

Check out an awesome wiki about the Christchurch earthquake and earthquakes in general. I am really impressed by what they have on it.

Their school is in Dunedin. See if you can find it on Google Earth.

Are there ideas on here that you could use on your epals' wiki? See what you think.

They'd love feedback but make sure that you use Reader Courtesy and check all those surface features before posting. :-)

www.christchurchearthquake2011.wikispaces.com

Relating To Others

Last of the 5. We'd love to read your thoughts and comments. What would you add? What have we missed? What are the skills you believe are important for our fantastic Myross Bush Learners?

We will be turning these thoughts into statements that show examples of the Myross Bush Learner.

Thinking

One of our favourites!!

Using Language, Symbols and Text

This was one of the hardest ones and we are still working on it.

Managing Self

Participating and Contributing

Click on the image to see a larger version.

Rm 8 Exploring the Key Competencies / Blogs

We have started to explore the Key Competencies of the NZ Curriculum and what they mean for us as Myross Bush Learners.

The posts above are what the children have come up with so far - their initial thinking. We've created Wordles to show our current thinking. We'd love to know your thoughts too. The children will also blog about what they think they mean for them.

What do you think of their blogs so far? We are currently developing our expectations for learning using the blogs and we will share these with you shortly.

From the NZ Curriculum:

"People use these competencies to live, learn, work, and contribute as active members of their communities. More complex than skills, the competencies draw also on knowledge, attitudes, and values in ways that lead to action. They are not separate or stand-alone. They are the key to learning in every learning area". TKI Website

Congratulations!

Free slideshow design created with Smilebox

Congratulations on showing the Habit of Mind of Persisting Team! You didn't give up on creating your learning blogs even when we had tech issues. Proud of you!!

Inspiring Students

Inspiration for teaching and learning can come from many experiences. One of the most inspiring weeks I've had has been this week. We have been getting all the blogs set up for the children - many thanks to parents as well! I have been inspired by the commitment to their learning the children have and also by the way they have taken on board and explained the reasons for having their own blogs.

In Room 8 we are all teachers and we are all learners. This will come through clearly as you read their blogs and I hope you will also be inspired by a wonderful group of children.

I won't be commenting in their homework books as often as my comments - and yours - will have more value on the blog as they share their learning journeys with you. My goal is to comment on each post.

Please let me know your thoughts as they add more to the blogs. We also continue to focus on internet safety so that they can have the best learning experiences while keeping safe on the net.

15/3/11

Today we read the book Garlunk. Garlunk is a big, fat, ugly giant. We needed to listen out for some words in the book that described him. After we had got some we did portraits of Garlunk and we used the words in the book to help us draw him.We also used pastels to blend the colors.

Jack and Cameron

Epals

Hi everyone. Your first reply from your epals are in your epal inbox!! Very exciting. You can reply from home any time you like. All emails come back through me for checking but you need to make sure that you are using correct spelling, grammar and punctuation - all very important for reader courtesy.

Don't forget to ask lots of questions but also to reply to the questions they have asked you.

Athletics

Hello, Emma and Jaidene here.

We all had a great day on the 9th of March because it was athletics! It was great to see all the kids getting along with the other schools. It was great because the 9 year old girls came first in the relay team so did the 10 year old boys also the 9 year old boys.

Our Learning Journeys Blogs

Hi everyone. What a busy week! Next week's going to be even busier!! As you will see on the blog, the children are beginning to create their own blogs and link them to the main blog.

The idea of having their own blogs is that they have a place to begin to record their learning, a great way for them to show their families the progress they are making, and to receive feedback on what they are learning.

One of the biggest advantages of learning blogs is that they stay with the learner for as long as they want them to. Imagine being able to look back at your learning achievements in 30 years time!

Please share your thoughts on this. We love reading them.

Look out for the rest of the blogs linked to this one during the week.

Global Connections

Today we explored how we are connected globally. Some very interesting thinking that I know you will be so impressed with. Come in and see what we are up to towards the end of the week as part of our inquiry.

I am so impressed with the level of thinking and the children's ability to make connections and realise that there is a much wider world out there. I am very excited about what else they will come up with!! Stay tuned for more updates as they blog about their experiences.

Showing Our Epals Who We Are

Add your ideas here about how we can show our epals from Suamico, Wisconsin,

who we are and about the area in which we live, our hobbies, interests, families,

pets, etc.

Suamico Weather

Guess what the temperature is in Suamico at the moment? -4! Yikes - that is really chilly? What tools could you sue to find out more about the weather?

Another Tool

This one is called Animoto - another way to show our learning. I've created a quick slideshow to show what we've been doing so far this year. It includes music that is free to use - you don't have to worry about copyright.

How could we use this to show our learning? Is this a tool we could use to show our epals more about where we live? What about a trip around Invercargill to show them what we are all about as Southlanders and Kiwis - what do you think? Add your thoughts.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

GLOGSTER EDU Example

Have a look at this Glog. What was the learning? How have the children shown what they have learned. Let me know your thoughts. How could YOU use this tool in your learning? (Let me know if you have any trouble viewing this).

http://sahillin.edu.glogster.com/false/

GLOGSTER EDU

A while back, I signed us up to another tool - GLOGSTER EDU. It's a presentation tool and yet another way to show your learning. I will add some great examples of what can be achieved to show learning on GLOGSTER over the next few days. Check out the clip and let me know what you think.

Our New Epals - Wonderings Using Prezi

PREZI - Click on the link and add your thoughts. I will take you through this in class. It's another tool to show our thinking and learning. While you are adding to this, think about the ways you could use this tool in your learning. (Always link the tool to your learning). :-)

TASK - How many questions can you come up with about your new epals? What do you want to know / learn about them?

Habits of Mind - Persisting

We've begun to look at Habits of Mind and the valuable place they have in our learning and our lives in general. We brainstormed what we thought a habit was for us. Come in and check out our thoughts and reflections on the wall.

The first Habit - Perisisting - was all about not giving up, trying new ways, staying on task and remaining focussed. Again, this has been explored and there are lots of fantastic thoughts on our wall. Come in and see what you would add to it - we'd love your contributions.

Please add your examples of times when you had to persist and not give up on something - add as comments. Family members are encouraged to contribute too.

This week's HOM is Managing Impulsivity

I've also added some photos of pages from the book written and illustrated by Marie Ciota with a forward by Art Costa and Bena Kallick - the developers of HOM. (If you would like to purchase this book, please let me know and I can point you in the right direction).

Christchurch Earthquake Appeal

What fantastic support we had this morning! We have raised over $900 with more to come!! The ILT will double what we have raised. Just brilliant. I will add the photos I have so far but I know there will be lots more on Monday, along with blogs from the children.

It was also fantastic to see the support for the Marshall family and their caravan which is now full of supplies needed in Christchurch.

Please also check out Room 7s blog for more photos and don't forget to comment and become a follower if you haven't already.

We are very proud of Cameron. The coin trail was his idea and got the ball rolling!

SUPPORTING CHRISTCHURCH

Hi everyone. Just a reminder to bring along any canned food, water, toilet paper and, of course coins for the coin trail tomorrow. I feel very proud that you have been so concerned for others and that you want to do something to try to help them. Don't ever change!

Habits of Mind

Today we also explored Habits of Mind. There are 16 of these and they help us to organise our thinking and learning. We will be learning about the Habits and how they can help us to become effective learners. Look out for more information here on the blog. There are also links for you to check out on the sidebar of the blog.

We can't wait to share our thinking with you!

In the meantime, you may find this information helpful in understanding what your wonderful children are learning about.

A Thought-Provoking Day!

Today Rm 8 were challenged to show their skills as questioners, thinkers and researchers.

They looked at the clues on the Wallwisher and had to identify ways to find out where their epals school is. I did not make this easy for them! I was so impressed with how they went about searching for the answers. The skill level was outstanding and it was also incredibly exciting to hear the discussions and debates.

We also talked about what great learners do - they don't always do all the talking, they are fantastically skilled at listening too.

Below is the link to our new epals' school. We are so excited about communicating with them and can't wait to come up with ideas for our collaborations. This is a great way to make learning relevant and real.

I will also be helping Room 7 set up their epals. I can't wait!! See you soon Room 7.

Mrs Kiefer's class

Andrew's thoughts about being a Kiwi

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Andrew's thoughts about being a Kiwi

View more presentations from Myross Bush School.

Jaidene's ideas about being a Kiwi

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Jaidene's ideas about being a Kiwi

View more presentations from Myross Bush School.

EPALS CLUES

This has moved because I've added all these great keynotes - more to come too.

The post you are looking for is further down the page - just scroll down Team.

What Makes Us Kiwis?

We've been thinking about this question and we're beginning to record our initial thoughts in many different ways.

Ruby's thoughts about being a Kiwi

View more presentations from Myross Bush School.

Jack's Kiwi Keynote

View more presentations from Myross Bush School.

Gabby's Kiwi thoughts

View more presentations from Myross Bush School.

Sophie w keynote

View more presentations from Myross Bush School.

Where In The World Are Our Epals? by cossie

Where In The World Are Our Epals? by cossie

Hi everyone! Here are your first clues about your new epals. Add your thoughts, ideas, guesses as comments to the Wallwisher and I'll let you know how close you are getting. I will also add more clues to the wall so you will need to look for them. All you need to do is click above and you can then just type straight onto the wall. (I will also share this with you on Monday). Happy thinking and hunting Team!

How will you go about investigating the clues? What skills, strategies and techniques will you use as researchers??

Room 7 and 8 Artists At Work

Rooms 7 / 8 Art Explorations

We have some amazing artists at our school! This morning Rooms 7 and 8 worked together to begin an amazing art journey. It was exciting to see the groups all mixed up and working so well together. A great blend of the two rooms.

I can't wait to follow your journey and see the final creations!!

River / Water Safety

Today a special group of kids got to learn about river safety and surf safety the fun thing about it was the big waves. Anyway that was today. We all have about 6 sessions to go.

Jaidene

What's Happening Next Week??

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for another fabulous week.
Next week's learning will involve beginning to find out more about where our epals come from - we should have a class by then.
We will also begin to learn about the Habits of Mind and explore more about our Multiple Intelligences. These tools help us to identify our strengths as learners and also to know what we need to work on and strengthen.
In maths, our focus will be on place value and number knowledge.
This is just for the start of the week!
We will also begin to explore our thinking skills and tools, including Socratic Questioning. What on earth is that you may ask. Well it's... no I cannot tell you yet. You will have to explore this with me next week!
See you on Monday. Have a fantastic weekend.

A Fantastic Group of Learners

Hi everyone! I have loved reading your comments on your learning this week and have really enjoyed commenting on your thoughts - just go back into comments to read your feedback.

You have really impressed me with your writing too and I can't wait to see them all published and up on the wall and blog.

You are already an outstanding group.

We will be working with Rm 7 on the papier mache creations so I am very excited and can't wait to see everyone's work.

Have you noticed how many followers we now have?? I think our goal of 100 followers may be met earlier and beaten!

Keep up the wonderful effort and look forward to another great week of learning. We will begin to look at our Multiple Intelligences, Habits of Mind and, of course, we may have our epals by then too! Very exciting.

I will put more information about epals on the blog and will also send some more information home for your families.

Houdini - The String Challenge!!

Another great challenge to promote thinking outside the square, co-operation, problem solving and team work.

I couldn't believe the creative thinking that went on for this challenge!! Add your comments below about how you had to communicate your ideas to the other person and work as a team.

I am still not sure how one team ended up linked to the basketball pole!! Now that could take some explaining.

The Marshmallow Challenge

Friday saw us completing two interesting challenges. Have a look at the photos of the first challenge - The Marshmallow Challenge

There is a great link for this:

http://marshmallowchallenge.com/Welcome.html

This challenge promotes team work and co-operation. Part of our homework this week is

to comment on the challenge - what the children found the hardest part, what thinking went on and what they could do next time.

A Wonderful First Day and Your Thoughts

Thank you to all the fabulous new Room 8 Stars for a wonderful day! Already I can see what talented learners you are going to be.

It will be a busy term and we will have a great deal of fun in our learning.

What are your hopes and dreams for 2011? Add your thoughts and ideas as comments. We'd love some comments from parents too.

Welcome to 2011 and to our wonderful blog!

Well here we are today we learnt about collage. We had to show our personality by cutting out all these pictures out of magazines and we had to show our personality for who we are and what we do.

There is going to be a Room 7 and 8 newsletter coming out tomorrow.

Come back soon to see what we have been up to.

Emma, Sophie S, Benjamin