EMBEDDED TASK THREE - PREZI

WOW! Isn't Prezi FUN!

Prezi is fun because there are SO MANY  things that you can do! I have made and embedded a little presentation at the beginning of my blog, listing a few of the traits of this program. What better way to demonstrate what something can do, than to use it..it's simple, but you get the gist. I personally found Prezi difficult to use, until I realised I was other thinking it, then I learnt how really EASY and EFFECTIVE it is as a teaching tool.

At the guts of it, Prezi is a great free tool, but with free usage comes limited access. This includes your privacy settings. Unfortunately when using the free version, you can't limit who can find your file through a search engine. Prezi do however offer a discounted membership for teachers and students, which if your school had funding could open up a whole of potential for this program.

These privacy settings obviously play into our legal, safe and ethical considerations of ICT in the classroom. It is important that students are using creative commons material with permission, that they don't have any personal information within the documents and that anything that isn't creative common is used within copyright perimeters and with recognition.

Students can use an already created theme to create an presentation that is interactive, easy to follow and even easier to navigate (simple use of the arrow keys on the keyboard). Prezi is easy to access and has apps that are available in both the Apple Store and Google Play, this means it is accessible to students across all of their devices. Prezi can be multi author which means students can use this for collaborative projects as well as individual work. Pictures/VideosAudio can all me implemented into these presentations to make them even more engaging. Students can then embed these presentations into their blogs/wikis for collaboration and comment from other students or easy access to assessment for the teacher. Prezi have an easy embedding link that they just modify to contain the direct link to their own presentation.

While there are many features of Prezi, these are the ones that I found most useful and user friendly. You can also download your presentation as a PDF for offline access. This would be beneficial if I was using this as a teaching tool and wanted to print and hand out the presentation for students to take additional notes on.

I would use Prezi in my drama classroom! I think this is the perfect tool to breakdown a play and analyse scenes/sections. To break this down using the SAMR model, continue reading:

Activity: STORY BOARD for DRAMA PLAY

Substitution: Instead of drawing it out on paper, create a story board using Prezi. Giving each scene it's own 'topic' access area. 

Augmentation: Instead of 'dot points' create an individually labelled slide that provides a clear journey and timeline for the play. Using Prezi these can be clicked between when you need to contrast scenes.

Modification: Link in any stimuli that student think represent that scenes theme/mood/characters etc. These could be YouTube videos, pictures, script excepts. Anything that helps the student categories information for this play.

Redefinition: Embed this Prezi into blog for student reflection. See what other students think of your acquired stimuli for each scene, what have you found that they haven't and vice-versa. Share resources. 

Embedded Task 2 - VIDEO

Photo Source: Pixabay

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The tool I have decided to explore further in this topic is 'video'. I have chosen this for that main reason that it has the potential to bring together both images and audio in the one product, but I'll get to that shortly.

At face value, video is a great tool because it will link in what you want to tell students with a visual behind it too, covering multiple bases of learning. This is useful particularly when trying to accomodate to a wide range of personality and learning types in the classroom.

For dance and drama particularly, video is an invaluable tool in the classroom. Students can use this tool to create their assessments which means they can reflect on what they have done as well. In a subject like english for example, when a student submits an assessment it's in hard copy, so a student can reflect on where they have gone wrong and need to improve - for dance and drama assessment can be performed so it is in the moment and the students can't look back..but using video as a tool, they can still do the performance element as well as building on their other skills. 

Students could also source videos as stimuli for their own work, to get inspiration and ideas. There are many invaluable resources for students - what better way to get an idea of style for dance or drama then to actually watch it and immerse in it.

Video is also a very accessible tool for students. Most students would have an iPhone or similar that allows them to record a high enough quality footage that can easily be uploaded to their laptops. Once on their laptops, a program like iMovie is very user friendly.

Photo Source: Program Screenshot

When they open iMovie, the can select from a preset theme. This is great for a student who isn't confident with this tool and is just learning the ropes, the really tricky stuff is done for them - however if they're more advanced or creative, they can definitely create their own theme.

Photo Source: Program Screenshot

Once they have chosen their theme, students can import their media easily using drag and drop. From here, students can link together still and video files to create one project. This program also gives students the ability to introduce audio to their work. Students can easily create audio using Voice Recorder on their iPhones or iPads that will import directly to iMovie from their iTunes library. I love how all of these things link. Students can also search for creative-common music and sound effects to upload into their movies to add to the final quality of the product. 

I have used an example in my Reflection 4.2 on Audio & Podcasts. In this I used the SAMR model to demonstrate students creating a radio play and then using iMovie as a tool to add in sound effects etc. I have linked this in for your further reading. I really enjoy how these tools all link in together and that even though we pick to explore one in detail, we really end up learning about them all! iMovie also has a 'record voiceover' feature which means that students can record straight into their project if they wish and it suits their need. This would be great as a narration tool.

The next great thing about iMovie or most video maker tools is that you can upload straight to a private YouTube channel which then allows for easy sharing for the students. Group collaboration if they embed in their blog, or simply emailing the private link for assessment submission which takes us beyond the days of a file being too big for a USB/DVD etc. Easy! I played around (it's very basic) with iMovie to experiment uploading to YouTube and embedding in my Reflection 4.3. I went in with little knowledge and found it very easy to navigate my way around which would be great for students as they're learning. 

I think that we were overloaded with information in topic four, however I know that it's so we can see that no technology stands completely alone. These tools become even stronger when used together and can be a great asset for supporting pedagogy in the classroom.

I'd love to know your thoughts or ideas?

Ella

Reflection 4.3 - Video (Killed the radio star)

'REFLECTION ON VIDEOS'

I think topic four has been a tad overwhelming in terms of how much information has been passed onto us. There are SO MANY resources available - programs, websites, online programs, devices...the list goes on!

I'll keep my reflection on videos short and sweet, because I have implemented how I would use videos to an extent in some previous posts. I think, for dance and drama - videos are an awesome self-assessment tool. What better way to actually judge and perceive what you do, than to watch it back and learn how to critically analyse (not just criticise) ourselves and our work to achieve a greater standard. I think it's important so students don't just start rambling on about their faults, they have to be able to justify their critiques. 

Example:

"I don't like the part in my drama piece where I turn my back on my scene partner - I feel it makes me disengage and I have to work harder to connect to the person I'm doing the scene with" - The student has to recognise a problem, cause and a solution. The don't realise this stuff by thinking about it in the moment.

As a creative tool for both drama and dance, how awesome to start making their own little films (for drama) or maybe choreograph a 'film clip' for dance - then use media and editing tools to piece it together. Most students would have access to an iPad so iMovie is a really user friendly program, if not Moviemaker on winders or an online editor could be used as an alternative. Having this as an electronic tool would mean students could share this material - maybe they could collaborate with a local band and create a film clip for an original song. This could be a great community initiative - or work in with the music students of the school and work across curriculums. For a bit of fun, I played around in iMovie (because if I can do it, anyone can do it) and put together a few little pictures AND videos from our trip to Italy last year. What a fun process that students could defiantly benefit from - putting together both types of media. This would be a great way to present their final projects - then they upload straight to a private youtube link and can embedded into their blogs! Amazing.


(If you care to watch what I created - it's below. Nothing fancy, I just wanted to try creating, finding creative commons music, uploading to YouTube then embedding).

Music credit: http://www.bensound.com/ - Music gained with permission, provided it is acknowledged. 

Reflection 4.2 - Audio & Podcasts

What an awesome tool for a young drama class! As I sit here, Ex TC Debbie is still leaving her mark and many people are without power in Mackay and surrounds. This would be a great hands on task for students to create a radio play. 

First students would find versions of radio plays. Youtube videos/podcasts/recording etc - anything that is available to them. What dramatic elements are the most important when we can't use things like body language and physical expressions. How can we use these elements ourselves?

It would be great if students could then adapt their own choice of story into a short script. This could be ANYTHING. Ipads all have PDF annotate apps now with are amazing for this sort of work. Having a hard copy of the script is great, but a digital copy makes for easy sharing with classmates and collaboration (SUBSTITUTION)

Students could then find videos of 'melodrama' and take from these actors what is important in their vocals etc - to make notes for their own characters. Being 'overdramatic' in these times and exaggerating is really important so that the emotion will carry across through their voices (AUGMENTATION).

Students could then record their play using their iPad or device. This would mean they could listen back to it, instead of trusting their own ear in the moment. This will allow them to make their own critiques as to needing more/less in their piece (MODIFICATION).

Students could then add other dramatic elements to their piece using a tool like iMovie - Sound effects, music, effects on their voices, playing around with all the tools. This would then be uploaded as a YouTube video and embedded into their blogs to share with other students. The final product would be more involved than anything they could produce in class by just reading it because of all the extra things they could add in (REDEFINITION).

Not to mention there are some awesome educational podcasts that we could listen to in class on our own personal devices and then report back to everyone. Students respond well to a learner driven activity - maybe they could find something of interest and then teach the class about it. I love the idea of giving students ownership of their work. Exciting times with the use of technology.

I'd love to hear your thoughts - I've kept this post short and sweet with a pending blackout during these trying weather times! I hope all fellow CQ residents are safe and dry!

Ella. 

Reflection 4.1 - Images

Photo obtained from pexels.com 

#ShakeItLikeAPolaroidPicture (Outcast, 2003)

I think there is great value in having a visual stimulus for the classroom. My teaching areas are drama and dance. I ALWAYS tend to sway towards drama - but I think that this in particular is relevant to dance.

There are so many domains to find (creative common approved) images on the web. I really enjoyed this first section of topic four, although overwhelming because I feel like there are so many resources, I think it's definitely something that could be explored further.

True to the age old adage 'a picture speaks a thousand words' (not referenced because no one can agree on who said this first) when working through history and cultures, they can be a great discussion starter to spark an interest. If I was using this in my classroom to support my learning area,  I would use it during a 'contemporary' topic.

Instead of students just reading about history - I would show a photo stimulus (SUBSTITUTION)

Credit: http://world4.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/italian_national_costume-002.jpg

Have students discuss and research further all of their questions. Maybe within discussion someone in the class has family history and can share on their experience in terms of emotion/history. Once students have researched their own question, have them explain to the class with a quick 'one minute topic'.

Have students now find examples of this traditional dance on the internet - YouTube clips, photos (that they're allowed to use), music/audio - any documentaries or newspaper articles. Link and embedded these into their personal blogs to share with our class. Quite often choreographers are more than happy to help, linking through their blogs it would be great for students to build their networks and ask a professional choreographer what key elements they would use in a national dance. (AUGMENTATION)

I would like to use my an infographic here for MODIFICATION. I think this would be an awesome visual way for students to present the information they have gathered. Having Italy on the brain - they would start with a map and break into sections, then add in extra facts/anything they think is important.

Now using everything they have learnt - sparked from our initial stimulus, I would like students to choreograph their own one minute piece to music they have found that best suits the stimulus image. (REDEFINITION)

I love this concept because it is so learner driven, and then end result could differ depending on their personal interpretation - provided there is justification, this is amazing and will result in a wide range of styles for an end product. 

Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org

In regards to a learner generated image, I think it would be really great for them, following the above model to have to stage a photo that they think is an accurate reflection of their piece. They could pretend they were going to promote their piece and have to 'show it in a snapshot'.

We could have so much fun with this in the classroom - who knew dance could be more than just pointed toes and Grand Jetes!

Embedded Task One - Digital Spaces - What's what?

This embedded task requires us to explore in greater detail one of our web spaces we have set up over the last three weeks. I will be exploring the use of blogs further. I have chosen blogs because I think there is such great potential to cover so many things using them - I will discuss below. I have tried to use examples from my own blog as these are my personal learning experiences about this tool;

Photo Source: Personal Blog Screenshot

In terms of construction, blogs are reverse chronological, meaning that the most recent post is at the top and then follows down in date order. Further to this, they can be set up so that there is a sidebar allowing you to quickly search through the blog archive by month or year. I have mentioned in a previous reflection that I think that this tool becomes a great revision tool, especially when students have had to use their blogs for topic summaries and activities. All posts are dated as well which means that marking for deadlines is easier because you definitely know when it was submitted.


The posts themselves are ordered:
- Title
- Post content
- Comment section

Photo Source: Personal Blog Screenshot

This comment section is a great way for students to have input on each others work. In a classroom setting you could request that a student provides constructive feedback on a blog space and then students have to take those changes into account. As I say this, I think to myself "but what if the student doesn't agree with the suggestions" ... well this would be a good time for a healthy debate and justification of why the particular choice was made. This in itself could be a great learning tool. The comment section also allows teacher's to give feedback in a quick way that can be applied without having to wait for a submission date etc. Comments can be turned on and off as the activity requires at the discretion of the student and teacher. The down side to blogs is that they are single author, however I think with commenting enabled, it still gives the students chance to have input and collaborate with each other while being solely responsible for their own works.

It's also beneficial that students can save their work to publish at a later date if they wish. This means they don't have to post their work immediately and can work on it and build it over a couple of days/weeks depending on what the topic requires. This saving as a 'draft' is really handy.

Within the posts...

Within the blog posts themselves the possibilities are endless for what students can submit. Pictures, audio, video media, google docs, hyperlinks, screenshots the list goes on, I even learnt how to embed an interactive mind map. This gives them a wide platform of which they can a) reference their media and sources but b) instead of just telling us about a really great Ted Talk (or any video), they can show us! As we learned when having to embed a google doc in our own blogs, this is a great way for students to share graphs/charts/spreadsheets/templates etc.

Making it your own...

Blogs can be personalised. This is a great way for students (including us) to get creative and make the domain really feel like our own. There are set themes are layouts that you can chose from, or if your skill set permits, you can design your own. You can even customise your colour scheme (I picked red because it's my favourite colour).

Privacy...

One of the great features I found with using my Blogger Blog was that you can limit the audience. This is great in terms of cyber safety for students. You can choose your setting that only permits certain users to be able to access your blog. This would mean that when blogs were set up in class, you have a class list of user names which will determine who can and can't access student work. This is a great tool, because the internet can be a scary place!

It is important while student's blogs are their own, they shouldn't have their actual name as their display name. Personal details shouldn't ever be published to protect student privacy.

Obviously even in a restricted domain, you need to have talent and media release forms from your students to say that parents/guardians give permission for photos or videos of students to be shared, even for educational purposes.

The pedagogy...

As discussed in our first week, it doesn't matter how fancy the technology is, it still has to be what best serves the pedagogy and the learning outcomes for the students. Reading Skill for the 21st Century: teaching higher order thinking higher order thinking is not just the process of retention but the process of transfer. In other words, it's one thing for a student to be able to tell you what something it, but to be able to use it effectively and in a correct manner is more important - this is were we come to higher order thinking and high level pedagogy. Instead of just reading texts, students can engage with them, read other peoples thoughts and connect directly to people with first hand experience in their topic. The internet and positive use of it, is making the world a smaller place which makes it easier to build connections and networks.

You will find in my reflection 2.2 I have discussed the SAMR Model and how I could implement this to one of my drama classes. There are a world of possibilities to use ICTs in the classroom to further learning and understanding, the SAMR Model (Substitution, augmentation, modification, redefinition) is a great tool to follow to implement these successfully. 

One of the greatest aspects of having a blog is that it can connect you to thousands of other bloggers around the world. Blogs that link directly to your topic. For example, while reading about the SAMR Model I came across a great educational blog, that although the information is informal (like most blogs) to gives good reference for further reading and it a good resource. If I was a student, I would save it into my blog, so other people could access it too. I have linked it for you here.

To see a working model of how these tricks can be implemented, please flick through my previous reflections to find video resources, google docs, pictures, links etc. The possibilities really are endless.

Reflection 3.2 - Wikis for learning!

I think I should first of all begin by linking you to my Wiki Space! It's basic - I've played around with it a little bit, so it's messy - but it's an organised mess! Find it HERE!

As I began thinking today about how great these technological tools would be in a classroom, the internet at the library cut out, so I had to find a plan B! I 'hotspotted' my personal device and I kept blogging! Perfect...almost...this wouldn't work in a school setting though, I couldn't have 25 students all logging onto my personal internet...lesson learnt? NEVER rely on technology and always have a plan B, C, D - Z!

Some immediate differences I noticed about a WikiSpace were that it can have multiple authors. This is great for group collaborations and work..I don't like however that it only saves one author's work at a time - this would limit how students worked on these documents outside of school. I think that for a possibility of marking though, a WikiSpace would be a great tool, because I would have access and be able to add in ideas, corrections etc that the students can work with in real time. Long gone are days of waiting for assessment results to come back in.

I like how you can link key words to a new page and then keep elaborating on the new idea! It's like a real life interactive flow chart that keeps information very clear and accessible for students.

My second teaching area is dance and like every other subject in the Australian Curriculum it is very involved! Like most creative subjects - engagement in the younger years is vital. Often these students are coming through because of rotations and not necessarily because they want to be the next winner of So You Think You Can Dance. I think using a WikiSpace could be a great way to engage students in the subject even if the practical side of it doesn't come naturally or easily.


Reading through the description of dance for year seven and eight - I was trying to find one of the elements that I could cover using a WikiSpace and I found one that I thought was perfect!
'draw on dances from a range of cultures, times and locations as they experience dance' if you're interested about reading further into what the dance curriculum covers, I've linked it in for you (or you can focus on your own curriculum, I'm not offended).

To explore this concept, I could set up teams through my WikiSpace! Team 1, Team 2, Team 3 and add students in accordingly. I could then from here, assign each group an area of the world to research in their groups. Instead of just pulling out the butchers paper and having them draw me a mind map with brief descriptions, they could build this online and link actual examples in i.e. youtube clips of traditional dances for those areas. They could set it up how they liked, using new pages for seperate countries or any extra information they want to delve into. The best thing about this is working in groups, we would cover more content in a shorter amount of time and working online means we build a library of resources to refer to. Once we came back together as a class, each group could present it as a discussion and teach the rest of the class about what they had learnt. This could even be done as a practical demonstration if the students were confident with that. This would be a great way to even get the 'non dancers' involved in the lesson!

I still have a lot to learn about WikiSpaces! Imagine what I could plan when I completely understand them!

I'd love to hear your ideas or experiences with WikiSpaces!

Ella.

REFLECTION 3.1 'Blogs'

Blogging for me at the beginning of week one felt about as easy as it looks in the above picture...I was stressing because technology is a weakness of mine. I broke the tasks down though and began to work through them slowly - look at me now...I'm blogging!

What have I learnt over the last two and a bit weeks in regards to 'blogs'?...well...quite a lot. I've learnt that blogs are an excellent tool for sharing/storing information that you have gathered. Going past the old word document, you can link straight to other websites and resources, have images that are relevant to your text, and embed videos for easy access to aid what you are writing about. All of these are excellent features that would make a blog great for student use!

The internet can be a brilliant yet scary place at the moment, so I like the blogs are single author for content, but I also like that commenting can be turned on or off which means when turned on, you can give students feedback as they're going, or other students can add "have you checked this out too?" or "this looks awesome, how did you get that image?" which is also helpful!

Another great feature that I think is very beneficial is the fact that blogs are displayed in chronological order - this is great for student revision! Imagine if they wrote a summary at the end of each topic covered and then come exam time, they just had to read back through their blog! Amazing! It also means that their revision is accessible anywhere they have a device (which is everywhere these days)...Blogs are also easy to edit - much easier than the old workbook with a pen which is quite permanent. Students can go back and edit, add in or change things at any time!

In Topic One we discuss how Generation Z are 'social entrepreneurs' - they want to change the world! They are technology users, this is the world they have been born into. They want to gain their own knowledge, though as discussed in our Moodle topic this isn't always from school. Having ICTs in the classroom for this generation is great, because ICT learning has to be 'learner centred' which is what this generation needs (mostly). In a previous reflection, we discussed if we're willing to give up some control as to how students learn...I think we're going to have to no matter what we feel comfortable with. There are so many great tools that we can give them the outline, but they will have the ability to fill in the gaps through their own personal research. Having a blog in this situation would be amazing because they can show you where they are finding the information, link you to what is relevant to them and how they are learning!

I've also learnt how to embed videos. This is an easy way to share media and for students to be acknowledging authors/owners of material. Check out this fun Ted Talk from a member of the Generation Z community! What an amazing young girl!


In week two we discussed the nature of pedagogy and how we can link this in. I've learnt so much about the ability to use blogs as a foundation to implement the SAMR model - using them as building blocks will keep information in one place and keep it easily accessible.

I'm excited to have learnt to much about blogs in just a short two weeks. I'm sure this knowledge will continue to grow as I begin to use them in my own lesson plans as I build and improve my own pedagogy.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and what you've learnt? As I said in the first week, we're all in this together!

Ella.

Reflection 2.2 Bloom's Taxonomy / SAMR & High end pedagogy

My mind is racing with ideas of how I could implement the taxonomy, SAMR model and high end pedagogy into my classroom. My teaching areas are Drama and Dance - I want to focus on Drama however because there are so many possibilities!

In drama we have so many different elements:
 - Staging & direction
- Script work
- Intention
- Responding and reacting
- Themes
- Style
- Performance
- Periods/centuries and costumes
I could go on for forever!
 If we look at the activity of 'script analysis' then Bloom's Taxonomy fits perfectly! Using the table found here (table 2) we can apply this to our classroom. I love the idea of high end pedagogy and explicit instruction. My favourite thing about explicit instruction is the setting of a clear goal at the beginning of class. This is something that now, even in my private teaching, I already implement. I find my students work well when a) they have a personal goal but b) when they know my expectations. This means we all know where we are heading during our 60-90minute class.

A good goal for all classes working with scripts (even at a junior level) would be a script analysis to find the main themes of the text. This is an activity that you could demonstrate how 'I do', complete some together with some class discussion 'we do' and then allocate each student a few lines of the script 'you do' to come back together at the end for a justification and discussion. Here students would have to demonstrate knowledge, comprehension and application while working on their own and then demonstrate analysis, synthesis and evaluation when we come back together. Having each student justify why they've chosen a meaning/intention for their section of the script will mean they have to demonstrate their understanding, but also their interpretation which is exciting because there are so many choices! (I should mention that I love drama, because there is no 'right or wrong' with this stuff...if you can justify it and make it relevant then we can use it!)
 

SAMR Model:

Image Source: http://www.schrockguide.net

There is also so many great ways to implement the SAMR model! If I had a perfect classroom, where every student had an iPad their parents had signed talent & media release forms and we had drama bogs set up then we can could have some real fun! Watching the Moodle YouTube video, I was inspired about some ideas for Shakespeare texts! Something that was once so boring for students can now be made fun and interactive! If I had to teach Hamlet to one of my drama classes - I could use the SAMR Model in the following way:

SUBSTITUTION I would have the students access the text electronically through SparkNotes - I would do this for a number of reasons. The text is broken down into Acts and Scenes very easily - making is a great way for them to compartmentalise the text. The other great thing is that a direct translation is provided meaning they can make the comparison between old and new english, but also comprehend the text and the story line! Once they have read the text, there are quizzes available for them to revise what they have just read. This however isn't really providing them with anything that library couldn't - it's just in a digital form.

AUGUMENTATION (offers functional improvement). There is a great company based in NSW that proved awesome Shakespeare resources as well as (if you have a budget) workshop and masterclasses. Alongside that, Bell Shakespeare also provide link for students to 'players' blogs - the people acting our Shakespeare in an education sense, that gives students the opportunity to network with these people. I like the idea of them getting a first hand account from people working with the text! Check out their website! There is lots of great resources, particularly if you are from that region!

MODIFICATION Using the students blogs - once they have read and understood the script and interacted with actors of Shakespeare work, we could begin a script analysis - not however in a standard way! There is a great learning tool (there's a few, but I like this one) that allows students to create a mind-map that they could use to categorise their thoughts on characters/themes/key words etc. They can then embed these mind maps into their blogs and make comment on each others about things they didn't think of or extensions to other students ideas. I would hope that this in conjunction with everything else would help them to comprehend the text! The app I like is www.mindmup.com as it can be done without an account. I created a little mind map as an example to embed below:

REDEFINITION Using everything they have learnt, students could then take the most important scenes and re create them in two groups. Each group would film the other groups scene and then have these uploaded to their blog to be shared with the people they had already connected with. They could then compare their interpretations to others on the web. Students who would like to be a bit more creative, could use the translated text to bring Hamlet into modern times and change their scene completely and perform their interpretation! The possibilities are endless!

Source: Cartoonstock.com

I know I probably got carried away, but I just wanted to show how even I, self confessed technologically challenged, could follow this model to implement and find new ways to keep the classroom engaging. There are so many more, I could go on for forever!

Looking at other students blogs, everyone has such great ideas! This blog is a great way to keep up with what everyone else is doing and use it accordingly if we can!

There are so many ways to use ICT to enhance our pedagogy and work with the curriculum, even to extend it!

I'd love to hear your thoughts?

Ella

Reflection 2.1 - My experience of pedagogy

I am one of the lucky ones...or so you could say - that leading into this experience I already have experience in teaching. There's been many moments already looking through the course work that I have had 'uh ha' moments where I have realised that I do a lot of these things already. Below is a table reflecting my experience. I have really tried to make it relevant to my private teaching because I believe that these skills will be transferrable into a classroom.

As to where my strengths lie? I think my strengths lie in encouraging students through their own learning journey. To help them find materials when needed however allowing them the flexibility of finding their own relevant materials if they life. I have found in my short career that students love that they can take ownership of and responsibility for. making sure that my students understand their theoretical work and how that applies to the practical activities that they do. I believe that these are my strengths going forward, because these are things that I value in my own learning. I am also very lucky that an important technique in drama is making our script work relevant to real life. This is a valuable technique in all disciplines as when the students find the material relatable they work harder. Look forward to continue using this technique especially over in the dance stream as well.

Many opportunities exist for improvement to my own practice. I think everyone has room for improvement, when you think you know it all, you stop growing as a professional. I think improvement for me lies in relating other disciplines into my areas. I think a big challenge is going to be making clear decisions as to where numeracy lies in dance and drama - as this is so important in the pedagogy and curriculum. I don't think that anything is unachievable though and with the right guidance and research I believe that it can be done!

REFLECTION 1.3 - Challenges & Engaging with them!

When I position myself as a learner in this ICT design unit - I feel like I am staring down the barrel of many challenges.

The first challenge being that I don't feel like I know enough! What a great challenge to have though - because through all of our other readings so far (across all our units) we learn that we can keep learning (the word 'grit' is mentioned more than a few times... ). To engage with this challenge I will ensure I put my head down and work towards making myself better! Look at the smaller picture...what skills can I gain? Already writing this post I am gaining a new skill - who knew I could blog? Now that's exciting! With each little win will come some confidence. I wonder what will be the next skill I gain!

My next challenge will be to ask questions. I hate feeling like I don't know something or that I am behind the eight ball. I know however, that me asking questions will mean that I gain vital knowledge. What do you know that I don't? Will you share it with me? As I consider this challenge, I make a pact that whatever I learn along the way I too will share. 

I think we need a theme song for ICT designs because we're all going to have to bind together and help each other through...

I think by now you've worked out my areas are dance and drama (yes I could teach you the choreography to the above clip).. my final challenge, for this post anyway, will be finding ways to link ICTs to my area in a creative and fun way that makes sense! Not just putting them there because they need to be. I am completely open to ideas and suggestions!

I am looking forward to taking this journey, it's already seeming less scary than last week!

Ella

REFLECTION 1.1 & 1.2 - Zero to Hero ICT Capabilities!

On a scale of 0 (totally unprepared) to 10 (totally ready) to teach with ICT in your classroom, where would you rank yourself?

On a scale of 0 to 10 in terms of readiness to teach ICT in my classroom, I rank myself at a 3. I am so completely overwhelmed by the intense amount of information that is currently available along with how far a classroom has come in such a short time. I myself graduated high school in 2010 - not that long ago, right? Wrong..The classroom is so completely different now along with teaching expectations and curriculum inclusions.

I base my ranking on two documents. The first being the AITSL 'National Professional Standards for Teachers' ICT Elaborations. This document can be found here. Although standards 3.1 - 3.3 are things that I think I can achieve - the moment we assess my ability based on 3.4  'using resources' is where I begin to panic! I am quite limited when it comes to 'technical' ability. This will no doubt present many challenges in terms of my lesson plans and my own professional development.

I am lucky that my work at the moment is based around working with children (private drama, singing and dance training) so skills in behaviour management and student inclusion etc come quite naturally to me now. I'm glad this is the case because it means that I can use my energy to focus on my ICT ability. This is all very new to me, but I am looking forward to this exciting challenge and broadening my own skill set.

The second document I base my ranking on is the Australian Curriculum ICT general capabilities, this can be found here. The benchmark that the Australian Curriculum expects students to be by the end of year 6, 8 and 10 in ICT is past where my own capabilities are. This means I am going to have to ensure my learning is ahead of the students so I can give them to best chance possible at attaining these skills. The learning curve is for everyone! How exciting!

What an exciting semester we have ahead of us, getting our head around this wonderful world of technology that is ever evolving...

I definitely say 'exciting' to try and alleviate my own anxieties.

As I've now had time to settle into this course and what it has to offer, I reflect upon my own values towards this technologically savvy age! I can't tell you how many times someone has said to me: "You're young - you should know how to do that"
"Do what?" I ask myself! I feel like this world is evolving so quickly I can't keep up. In a past life, I worked in a law firm as a clerk. I got the job because I was tech savvy! My skills? I could type at a fast rate, use Excel to a decent capacity and I knew my way around Powerpoint and Outlook..How things have changed. Kids are BORN with these skills now, or at least it feels like it - which means they're starting one step ahead! No wonder they're programming computers by 10! That's insane! So here my values and my emotions plays out together! I think it's extremely valuable and beneficial, particularly when engaging students. So I will 'come to the party' so to speak when it comes to ICT, put my own hesitations and insecurities behind me and venture out into this unknown technological territory. What do I have to lose?

My approach to learning and teaching has always been to make it about the students. I'm lucky that my professional background gives me experience in this. If students aren't engaged, they don't learn. It's as simple as that. I also like to give students control of their learning - to set guidelines and then to let them explore and take some ownership of what they're about to learn! I think this will be very valuable as I head into a school classroom.

Before I finish (what was meant to be a short post), my last experience with technology in a classroom (before my undergraduate degree) was being the 'guinea pigs' in year 9 for a completely digital year. I remember being panicked and fumbling my way through as teachers thrust this idea of 'paper free' upon us. This BEST thing about that year - was that I learnt what I never wanted to become as a teacher. My needs weren't catered to, so I as a student shut down. This is vital, through all of these ICT expectations, it's still necessary and important to cater to your individual student needs to allow them to succeed! If they succeed, we succeed!

In summary, although I feel unprepared, I honestly think that's probably the overload of information clouding my vision. I'm ready to learn, ready to grow and ready to explore..isn't that what teaching is about? Always learning and then sharing..

I'm excited to launch into this world of technology!
3..2..1..Blast Off!