Evernote
Evernote is one of my absolute favourite apps around. I have a desktop version and an iTouch version (and when I get around to buying a iPad I’ll have an iPad version too). I also have the paid version of Evernote. I thought I’d post some ways I use Evernote:

• When I travel I keep copies of my travel docs in Evernote –  the new offline sync means that whatever is in a particular folder is automatically synced and available offline.
• I keep confidential notes on Evernote – I have a link to them from my Google Docs planner – but only I can access them via the online/cloud copy of my Evernote account.
• I save tweets to Evernote via the iTouch Seesmic app. They are automatically tagged with my twitter name as well as a number of other tags making them easy to find via Evernote Desktop.
• I can do the same with documents/emails – basically anything that can be printed can be sent to Evernote (I think this is something I set up myself).
• I take photos of all Travel-bugs that come my way – and note what happens to them (this is for Geocaching).
• I take photos of things I don’t want to forget – for instance I took a photo of my printer ink cartridge and saved it – I’m forever forgetting what I should buy and now I don’t need to worry because it’s there in my Evernote.
• And I can’t forget the simple web-clipping that is a standard for Evernote – I can save excerpts or whole pages or links to pages via Evernote’s Chrome extension (or Firefox).
• I can also take notes, record a voice message, use my iSight to take and save a picture straight into Evernote; send a photo from my cell phone directly to Evernote; and even send a note to myself via evernote’s twitter account.

Differentiated Instruction/Learning
I’ve seen a number of blog posts around from educators talking about differentiated learning. Not quite sure why all the fuss because that’s the norm for NZ education and educators. (Well – it’s supposed to be the norm!)  In my class I cater for students with a range of abilities – it’s been part of my teaching since I first started teaching. Maybe it’s not such a big deal for us here because it is a norm and is something taught as part of teacher training.

During one of my trips to the USA I visited some junior classes in a school and was told about their reading programme they were running where students were mixed around different classes so that each teacher was teaching students at the same level – “…because it was too difficult to cater for a large range of reading levels in one class…”.  Reading levels are a little subjective depending on the type of levels that you’re using but if I were to look solely at students reading at their chronological age then you’d find many classrooms where the reading age range could be as little as 2-3 years or as much as 7-8 years (I once had a class where my lowest reader was reading at a 5 yo level and my highest reader was reading at a 13 yo level). The expectation is that we will manage these students – hopefully providing the lower readers extra help depending on funding and resources – and that all readers will show improvement at the end of the school year.

(I’ve used reading as an example because it’s often the one area that is pivotal to all other learning – my higher ability readers tend to also be the ones who are able to do independent research and who learn new skills more rapidly.)

National Standards
NZ educators have been heading into an abyss aka National Standards. It’s been written into law and so schools/teachers are now supposed to be reporting to parents in plain language (huh – what’s going on here – my reports have always been written in plain language and parents have always been able to understand them!) and assessing their students against some (mythical) National Standards. I am very thankful I’m NOT a principal having to steer a school through the piranha infested rapids that is National Standards. The media reports of bully tactics on the part of the Minister of Education (and the first hand reports that I’ve heard from principals) are not doing us any favours either. I’m yet to see any sign of professional development from the MOE – I mean – come on – NCEA teachers had years of PD – how about some real PD for us! And how come the draft Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori (Ngā Whanaketanga) was developed by Māori-medium leaders in te reo matatini (literacy) and pāngarau (numeracy)? And is being trialled!! IF National Standards are to remain then:

• National Standards need to be developed in consultation with teachers (just like the NZ Curriculum was)
• National Standards needs to be trialled (just like Ngā Whanaketanga)
• PD needs to be provided for the implementation of National Standards (just like the PD for NCEA was)

eLearning
I’ve had a rough week – which actually began the week before with me getting a cold that went to my chest & started affecting my voice. I took Monday off and went back to school on Tuesday – didn’t have too much time in the classroom which was very good as my voice was getting worse; went to school on Wednesday and again on Thursday but just couldn’t make Friday. However on top of my not being well our power at school and our school network were also not well! AND to top it off I had a visiting teacher in my room on Thursday who was there to see how I manage my eLearning classroom – something that becomes a little difficult when the power comes back but not the network!!

Which made me think. eLearning classrooms, while they usually involve high use of technology, must also be able to run when there is no tech available!

What was supposed to be happening in literacy time was:

• 3 pairs of students editing stories from St Clairs School in Dunedin in Google Docs
• 3 students editing their own stories in Google Docs
• Others working on some other stories for a competition in their draft books
• 2 students working on an online questionnaire about the book we’re reading as a class
• (the last three rotating during the lesson)
• Other general activities like spelling

What actually happened was:

• 3 pairs of students editing stories on paper (I’d had the forethought of printing out a copy of the stories)
• Others working on their competition stories
• Spelling

Surprisingly we were actually doing some what we should have been doing – but not all. Because I had printed and photocopied the stories for editing we could have done this even with no power (as had happened the previous day). (Things weren’t helped by me not having a voice either!)

I’m thinking of submitting a preso for Ulearn10 about eLearning – but not just a show and tell – also looking at how to choose what you do; what some of the choices are; and what to do when things don’t work type of thing.

Potpourri
I guess that’s the end of my potpourri of thoughts. Feel free to comment on any or all of the subjects.

At the beginning of the year I bought myself an ITC Innovative Teacher Planner. It’s quite neat. Every second double set of pages throughout the book has thinking strategies and examples. There’s lots of space in the planner and it’s spiral bound and stays together very nicely.

BUT …

A paper based planner isn’t me. It just doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve persevered with it all through Term One and the first few weeks of Term Two but no more.

This weekend I sat down and used my old Google Docs based blank planner to set up weeks 4-11 of this term and then to plan this week in more detail. I feel happy. I’ve got my hyperlinks where I want them (cut and pasted into my plan) – I’ve linked to my maths weekly intro Google Preso – and I even have some YouTube video links.

Having my planning in this format means that my kids see what I’ve got planned (well – they do this anyway via the class wiki) but that’s ok – there’s no secrets to my planning. If I need to make confidential notes I do them in another place (another online secure tool – Evernote). The beauty of this type of planning is being able to add/cut/copy/paste etc as you go. Why plan my literacy & Maths for Tuesday-Friday until I’ve seen how much actually gets accomplished on Monday? (And actually I set up a weeks work for my kids and they choose the order they work in during the week – all that I set in ’stone’ is reading groups.)

And you know what? I feel at peace with myself. This week I’m happy with my planning – not anxious at all.

This is what’s been missing from my teaching life for the last term.

(If you’re a paper planner type person then check out these planners ‘cos they’re very cool!)

(And for those wondering about access to my plans – I embed them into a daily planner section on my own wiki – that way any of my senior teachers can check them whenever they want/need to.)

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.

3. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

4. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.

5. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

6. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

7. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

8. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

9. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

10. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

11. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

12. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

13. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

14. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

15. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

16. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

17. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognise a mistake when you make it again.

18. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

19. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy fridge.

20. It’s not the jeans that make your bum look fat.

21. If you had to identify, in 1 word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, & never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings”.

22. There is a very fine line between “hobby ” and “mental illness”.

23. People who want to share their religious views with you never want you to share yours with them.

24. You should not confuse your career with your life.

25. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

26. Never lick a steak knife.

27. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

28. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers and have a sense of humour

29. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

My personal tribute to ANZAC Day

I was browsing through some blog entries tagged “mum” on my old livejournal blog and came across a post entitled “Lessons I learned from my mother” so I thought I’d repost them here.

• You’re never too old to do something new
• Always try to do the thing or things you’re passionate about
• Don’t give up just because things seem impossible
• You don’t have to be young or a male to influence other people
• People aren’t important because of possessions or money, they’re important because they’re people
• Music is a universal language – you don’t have to understand the words to feel the emotion
• You don’t have to stop working just because the government says it’s time for you to stop
• Even if you can’t travel you don’t have to remain ignorant of other peoples and cultures
• You can’t judge something you have no experience of
• Rules made by men are not necessarily the same as what God would say
• You’re never too old to be a rebel

I am the product of two people who shared their passions with their children. There’s so much that is “me” that I can trace back to my parents. The sci-fi geek me comes from dad; the passionate reader me comes from mum and dad; the music loving me comes from mum and dad; the passion for teaching comes from mum. I would not be the person I am today without the influence of my parents.

Thanks.

Here are two versions of what I did.

And many thanks to Animoto for my education code.

These are the last of our POP ART pieces of work.

This year, for the first time, I have students clamoring to share their mihi with others. Sometimes the Te Reo we learn becomes a rote kind of thing, especially if we’re not visiting a marae any time soon. This means that learning their mihi becomes just another thing to do.

So why the difference this year?

I had spoken with my friend Myles @ Melville Intermediate, Hamilton via Twitter and arranged to skype with a class at his school to share our mihi. Another friend, Claire, from a school in Dunedin got in on the act too. (We skype with them this week.) Suddenly there was an authentic reason to learn their mihi.

We used our school’s learning journey as the basis of our mihi and did lots of practise. My Maori students also were able to find out which iwi they belonged to with one discovering that she was a descendant of Te Rauparaha and then discovering that she and another student shared a connection with the Tainui waka. That was very exciting especially as we live in the area that Te Rauparaha lived. (Our mihi relates to Kapiti Island which was Te Rauparaha’s tribal stronghold.)

As our skype appointment drew close I asked for volunteers to share their mihi with the Hamilton class. Nearly 1/2 the students wanted to share so I had to divide them into two groups one for sharing with each school. Our skype session was fantastic and all those who shared are very proud of themselves.

Luke sharing his mihi (in the corner) with Melville students watching

We finished with a waiata – Ka Mate – appropriately written by Te Rauparaha! I used my RearSight gadget to quickly change the webcam view from front to back so the whole class could be seen while they sang/danced the waiata.

you can just see the RearSight attached to the macbook lid

We hope to skype with St Clair’s School in Dunedin this week and all those who shared last week want to share again along with those scheduled to share.

One side effect that I’ve noticed is that the students pronunciation has improved rapidly over the last couple of weeks – knowing you have an audience that’s not just your class really raises the standard for students (and teachers).

By that I mean learn it so that it becomes instinctive not just regurgitated stuff.

The title of this post is how long we’ve been at school this year and it doesn’t seem like a very long time at all. Yet when I reflect on all the learning that has happened so far I’m amazed.

I know that before school started this year most of my students hadn’t used Web2.0 tools at all. Most had been on computers to play games, some had use word processing software, and less than a handful had used/visited a blog or a wiki let alone actively engaged in either of those.

Not all of what we do is Web2.0 though. It’s just that we use Web2.0 to enhance our learning – and one of the early things I talk about with any class is that the best way I can be a great teacher is to be a learner alongside them so we learn together.

I’m aware that NZ teaching is a little different to other education systems (including the fact that I do all the teaching – there are no specialist teachers at our school) so I thought I’d give you a little idea on some of what we’ve done in our first four weeks at school. Our classroom is a little unusual in that it used to be the library and is not a standard box shaped room – this lends a real atmosphere to our class that other teachers are envious of.

We have a deck and steps out from one set of doors and it’s a handy place to work on warm afternoons when there’s a cool breeze.

I have bean bags and a couch which students can use when they are working – if they’d prefer to lie on the floor to work they can do that too.

I also like to provide games for them to play during maths time or other times when they’ve completed their work and let’s not forget the joy of reading!

At the moment we don’t have a school library to use (the librarian is unofficially part of our class for this term) and so we are walking up to the public library every second Friday to get class books out.

Of course we’ve done maths and we’ve been looking at statistics – every one can now ask survey questions, collect data, create a graph of that data and talk about what their results mean.

And we’ve been doing some testing traditionally done at the start of the year.

We’ve even found time to have some fun and social times such as our Te Moana whanau assemblies and our Bike to School day.

But how about some of the techie stuff? The Web2.0 stuff? We have a number of computers in our classroom – 4 of them actually belong to the school library so will be removed at the end of this term but that still leaves 9 computers with a possible 2 more coming from a parent. We run some on XP; one iBook (mine); an old Acer fitted out with Ubuntu (my daughters old laptop); and an older HP that I reformatted with Ubuntu too. Only 2 students had used an OS other than XP before the start of school – now all of them can quite happily work on any of the computers. As I tell the parents all that really matters is the browser (Firefox) that they’re using and that’s consistent over all the OS we use.

The students have been using edublogs for their ePortfolios. Some have already memorised their (randomly generated) passwords. A couple of parents have already got into the act to comment on their child’s blog.

Several of the students recorded themselves sharing their mihi (part of a formal greeting in Maori where you introduce yourself) and embedded them in their blogs.

Some have videoed themselves reading their stories to add to their posts.

We’ve used Google Wave and DropBox and the classwiki which is used to direct their learning. Next week we’re skyping into two classrooms – one in Dunedin and one in Hamilton to share some of our mihi and the following week we’re going to use Google wave to write some collaborative stories with a class in Dunedin and a class in Nelson.

Every student in the class is using all of this technology. They may not all have it at home but they have very quickly grasped hold of this new “stuff” and are using it daily. Each week I have a new student email monitor who checks the class email account – our management is using email for school daily notices and all comments on our class blog are sent to the class email (which I monitor very carefully – these are only 8 & 9 year olds after all).

We even have used technology for our art work – I’m more of a music person rather than a visual art person and I’m rather proud of the fact that we’ve produced two major pieces of art already (that really is amazing for me!). Our first piece was around symmetry and created using the digital camera.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by dragonsinger

The second was using photos to enhance their art work. Students first planned their picture; then a buddy took a photo of them in their designated pose; then they cut out their photos and sketched their work and then coloured in their background and stuck the photo onto it. Pretty nifty work!

So back to my original question – how long does it take to learn “stuff”. It seems to me that our young people who are not intrenched in negative ideas (you know the ones I mean – “but 5 year olds can’t do that!” type) and who are willing to have a go are able to learn fast – if they are given the opportunity to do so.

I think our school sign says it all – Raumati Beach School – where we learn, play and make friends. It’s a fantastic learning environment for anyone willing to have a go – children and adults – and I love working in an environment where discovery and curiosity is a valued part of the curriculum.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by dragonsinger

So I was excited to discover a new site (via a post from someone in my Feedly feed – can’t remember who unfortunately) – PDFmyURL.com. Sometimes you just want to save the whole page!

I tested it out on this blog post from a friend of mine – Phone a friend. It saved into 4 pages – here’s a snapshot of the first page.

By dragging the bookmarklet from the home page to your toolbar you can then just click on it whenever you’re at a page you want to save as a PDF file.

NOTE: Tested only on a Mac and with Firefox – I have no idea how this works with a Windows machine or other browsers. What DOESN’T work is trying to save secure pages – for instance trying to save this page as I was editing it resulted in the Edublogs login page showing.