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.