Exploring Learning

One of the greatest joys of this process has been the conversations. Teachers and students have welcomed me into their classrooms with openness and trust, and our discussions have been equally generous and insightful. This culture of dialogue, where wonderings are met with reflection and opportunity, is a bright spot in itself. It reflects our shared belief that we are already strong educators and learners,  and  we can continue to grow together. When we plan, we give shape to an intended curriculum . In our context, this sits in Stage 1 of our planners (learning goals) and Stage 2 (assessment criteria). From this, we design the taught curriculum  - Stage 3 - where sequences of learning engagements and classroom experiences bring those goals to life. But between these stages, a gap often appears. This is not unique to us; it is a familiar challenge across schools. The Balcony View In conversations with colleagues, one theme that surfaced is how easily we, as teachers...

As an English teacher, working overseas with a majority of learners with language needs, any tool that I can find to support the writing process is one that I HAVE to explore. In the past, I have used Ginger Software , and Read and Write , which I find useful, but  Grammarly  is a tool that has been on the edge of my explorations so far, and this seems like a perfect opportunity to see if I can add another writing support tool to my repertoire. What makes Grammarly different, is that it is free. Ginger used to be free, but as it has grown, it has limited options in the free version. What I do like about it, is it works on ALL online apps - and the same appears true of Grammarly. Once added to Chrome from the Chrome Store, it works across all online platforms: The links appear automatically and once added to my Chrome toolbar, I was taken to the page to create an account:- What I am impressed with, is that the account suggests it saves your style, learni...

"The educational system is moving with monolithic slowness in this [visual literacy] area, still persisting in an emphasis on the verbal mode to the exclusion of the rest of the human sensorium and with little sensitivity, if any, to the overwhelmingly visual character of the child's learning experience." D. Dondis . (1973) A primer of visual literacy. Cambridge: MIT Press We have just arrived in another new country to start a new life and work in a new school (see Global Living and Connection ). Due to Visa rules and restrictions, I am unable to start work until next term, which gives me more time to sign up to complete TWO modules of my Masters in Education. I must say, to a learning junkie like myself, the idea of studying 'full time' over the next few months is really appealing. My Masters focuses on technology in the classroom and this semester, I will be studying how to use technology for instructional improvement - using tech for AfL essentially - ...

I spoke at the Google Summit KL in 2013 about tech that enhances the reading and writing process. One of the apps I shared, Ginger, was one that I had been using as an assistive technology with a targeted number of learners who particularly struggle with spelling or who are dyslexic . Whilst there are in-built  spell checkers in a lot of word processing systems, Ginger differs because it ... analyzes the context of an entire sentence, and its corrections conform to the writer’s intended message. This method is especially successful for dyslexic students who often confuse words which sound the same but are spelled differently.  (http://www.gingersoftware.com/ginger-for-schools) Ginger is more sophisticated and identifies homophones, which helps many EAL/ESL learners too. In addition, rather than being isolated to one system, it highlights words in all online writing - including Blogger, email, Twitter etc.   Areas that need attention are highlighted and s...

Year 8 have been working on a unit about customs and traditions around the world. Final Preparations on the Exhibition The unit stems from the novel Ties That Bind, Ties That Break  by Lensey Namioka, set in China in 1911, about a young girl who fights the tradition of foot binding. China In addition to reading and talking about the issues raised in the novel, learners have also worked collaboratively to research customs and traditions of a country of their own choosing. In teams, they decided on a country and set off to find out about it in order to produce an exhibition at the end. The unit has covered essential information literacy skills as learners explored strategies about how to search for information, as well as how to evaluate the information they found. They also explored how they best take notes, and how to use and reference the information they find. Mexico In order to present their information clearly, learners also looked at how to use ...

To practise  the great work we have done lately on figurative language , I decided to use the website Build Your Wild Self hosted by New York Zoos and Aquariums. Learners had to create a Wild Self from the myriad possibilities of the selector tool. They then had to write a detailed description that would allow someone else to try to recreate the avatar they had designed. This meant they had to employ their newly polished descriptive writing skills. Once they had written their descriptions, learners were put into pairs to read out their descriptions. Their partner had to draw what they heard and then compare to the original to see how well the descriptions had been written. I enjoyed the cries of, "I used a simile Miss!" when they were drafting their descriptions and the results were incredible. The accuracy of the representations is testament to how well my learners are developing as writers from the opportunity Spilling Ink gives them to explore and play...

Sometimes, with all the best will in the world, and even with eons of research and hours of planning, the best lessons are the spontaneous ones. The ones that serendipitously arise from teachable moments. I experienced such as occasion over the past week. Laurie Halse Anderson, The Impossible Knife of Memory My Year 8s are learning about different cultures and traditions around the world. Underpinning the unit is the novel T ies That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioke, which concerns foot binding in China at the beginning of the twentieth century. From this, I teach note-taking and search strategies, while groups learn to research customs and traditions of a country of their choice. The culmination of the project is an exhibition of their findings. A new teacher joined our team part way through this unit. She wanted to have a piece of writing to gauge her class's needs. So, as part of the novel study, we built in personal account writing. I devel...

If anyone read my article in The Guardian about paper blogging, you will know I am a fan of teaching digital skills using analogue methods. True to form, I discovered another 'blend': using story cubes to teach 21st century skills. No computer or Internet required. http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/4csposter.pdf The Partnership for 21st Century Skills  identify the four big Cs of skills that are essential for today's learners. These are communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity . Generally, I address these skills through digital rather than traditional learning such as  blogging or connecting with other classes.  However, I believe that some simple cubes can also be used to address these important areas. My Year 10 second language learners undertake all the regular aspects that I deem important for all my learners, such as silent sustained reading and free writing, every lesson. However, some of the free writing prompts are not alw...

In conjunction with my Learners' Reading Challenge , I have also decided to start the year with a writing challenge. Inspired by a student's blog post, shared by  @intrepidteacher , about noticing the sunset and the importance of paying attention to our surroundings, I decided it was time to cajole my learners into noticing more about their world. Everything I read about writing starts with a) reading and b) observing. I think we have the reading part covered, so I want to get my learners to begin to be more present. Writers all say that we must take note of everything around us - to fuel our characters, plot, dialogue etc. But I am not sure how present my learners are. We have made a great start in writing, and spend time every lesson working on our Spilling Ink journals (see Christmas , Halloween , Inspiring a Writing Community  and Spilling Ink Journal agreements ). This year, I am also going to include some mentor texts in Spilling Ink time, to develop close ...

Creating and sharing books using iPads Literacy today is more than reading and writing. Reading today is more than print. Writing today is more than ink. To engage my second language learners, I developed a blended learning unit on picture books that  utilised   both traditional and new literacies, and both analogue and digital tools. The whole unit was delivered via Edmodo  and Google Sites . Edmodo.com I booked out a selection of picture books from the library, including classics such as ‘ The Giving Tree ’ and ‘ Green Eggs and Ham ’. We began with traditional literacy in the form of analytical skills, such as examining sentence structure, and identifying language patterns such as rhythm, rhyme, repetition, and onomatopoeia. We explored characterisation , and developed visual literacy by analysing   how the images enhanced and helped the text. We also looked at the cover, the style of illustration, the page turners, the main ...