The presentation was broken into three parts; my research, a chance for individuals to look through 7 of my student’s ePortfolios and lastly a look at three ePortfolio perspectives (students, parents and mine).

The video interviews (lasting 6 mins long) with a sample of my Parents is not viewable from the slideshow below. I do not currently have permission to share the video publicly. However if you are interested email me at j_lietze@yahoo.co.nz or if you have a Centre4 login you can view my presentation with the video and notes here.

Below is my final platform analysis. Before you view it please keep in mind the following points:

1. eFolio is not an LMS but a smaller product compared to the others I trialled. It was built primarily as an ePortfolio platform. However because my trials have focused on ePortfolios I included it in the analysis.
2. Spike@School has since removed itself from the party of Vendors the MOE had previously identified.
3. I was unable to trial the MyClasses platform. At first they replied to my initial request but then did not get back to me again until yesterday (9th April). At that stage they informed me that I had contacted their overseas office and that they do not sell directly to NZ schools. They then directed me to contact the NZ SchoolZone Helpdesk. Unfortunately I needed to make a decision before school finished for the Term so time has run out. I would still be interested in reviewing their platform in the near future and will contact them later.
4. I realise that within months my analysis will quickly go out of date. Vendors are working hard on developing their product to meet the guidelines the MOE has set for them as Development Partners. I therefore strongly encourage you to talk to individual vendors before making your own personal decisions.

Here is how I rated the following products:

Update (7.5.09): There has been some confusion on my behalf in relation to SMS-LMS interoperability versions 1.3 and 2.0. To clear things up, no LMS-SMS at this stage has been approved by the MOE for Version 2.0.

There was more to eFolio’s V2.0 than what I saw when trialling their beta version. I have therefore updated the “Multiple Spaces and Views” to meet this. My apologies to eFolio for missing this.

So what does this mean for my school?

We have chosen Ultranet as our preferred LMS in our ePortfolio Pilot for 2009.

Why?

• Ultranet is not the perfect ePortfolio option but it came the closest to meeting each of my criteria. I hope to work with them and help them develop their ePortfolio module.
• I believe Ultranet has the cleanest and simplest interface, which I can see 5-18 year olds being able to navigate.
• It was in my school’s best interest to go with a product that is one of the 3 development partners the MOE is supporting. This way I knew for sure it was going to be a sustainable option and one that would meet the MOE’s guidelines.
• I was impressed with Ultranet’s social networking functionality. Entitled “uSpace”, I believe this feature will be a location my students will use regularly to interact and share their learning with others. It will be a gateway that will lead to greater collaborations and peer assessment.

Each of the platforms were measured against the criteria I set earlier. I have repeatedly gone back and fine tuned my purpose and criteria. The final product is included below for your interest (or click here if it does not display correctly):

Where to from here?

• Run the ePortfolio pilot until the end of December 2009 with 4 classes; in Year 1, 5, 6 (my class) and 7.
• Organise and plan for Parent meetings to inform and teach them how they can partner more in their child’s learning eg: commenting on their child’s work and interacting with them though Ultranet. Within these meetings we can address Net safety and other concerns they may have.
• Watch the Ministry of Education’s moves as they are undertaking some research in June into forming one ePortfolio tool for NZ schools. The MOE have indicated a possible date for this launch in January 2010. Stay tuned!

Is there anyone else that uses Ultranet and would like to become a buddy class?

]]> http://lietze.edublogs.org/2009/04/10/eportfolio-6-my-eportfolio-choice/feed/ 11 http://lietze.edublogs.org/2008/11/04/what-do-you-communicate/ http://lietze.edublogs.org/2008/11/04/what-do-you-communicate/#comments Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:06:16 +0000 Jamin Lietze http://lietze.edublogs.org/?p=96 My thought is this, we all communicate things…some things on purpose…some things unconsciously. I believe it is often the unconscious things we do that our students pick up most. Our attitudes, thoughts and priorities are communicated through our behaviour and words.

So I have been asking myself lately, “As a Teacher what attitudes and behaviours am I encouraging and modelling? What am I communicating?”

At the conclusion of the last two terms I presented a survey to my students to complete. Using Survey Monkey I designed a survey that would:

1. Give me some detailed feedback on the term from the students’ perspective.
2. Allow my students to take greater ownership of the classroom and share with me ideas they think would help what we do.
3. Hopefully give me an insight into how I am teaching and communicating.

   

To have a look at this survey click on the picture of the clipboard. (I have left it open and made it possible for you to move through the pages without filling anything in.)

Many will think this is a bit crazy but with careful wording it has been most valuable to me. I will share a few points with you that have been beneficial to me and my teaching:

• The students felt that I could be better at remembering things (This became my goal for the next term and I enlisted the support of a egg timer which now keeps us better on time.)
• A number of students felt I was sometimes unfair. This was something that grabbed my attention as I worked hard on being consistent and fair. I took it back to the class and listened to their thoughts. They were open with me and shared some good points. However I must note that they are students and a number couldn’t see the ‘real picture’ from their own issues.
• I was also encouraged in my teaching as they saw some of my strengths to be a good sense of humour and the ability to teach, communicate, stretch them and provide support. (Thanks E3 :+D)
• Many felt that homework had become too boring and monotonous. They wanted to do some more projects. (This became another goal for me and so to spice things up I now pop a “Brainer” challenge in from time to time to replace part of the standard homework.)

I will leave you with a thought:

“The problem with communication … is the illusion that it has been accomplished.” George Bernard Shaw

Picture Author:

Dictionary = http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/library/tutorials/behavior/communication.html

Clipboard = http://www.arb.ca.gov/ports/cargo/documents/survey.htm

His practical idea to encourage the application of values was called “Academic Controversy”:

1. Form into teams of 4 and appoint two ‘yes’ and two ‘no’ representatives.
2. Identify the statement. Eg: Every human being must be respected and tolerated, without expectation.
3. In your pairs, brainstorm all of the arguments that support your side.
4. Present your arguments to the other pair.
5. Now change sides and present the other perspective.
6. Drop the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ representatives and determine your group’s final response to the topic.
7. Mark your group’s final decision on a Yes/No continuum line and justify your stance to others.

Other ways I am working on that encourage the application of values include:

• Drama: Act out a scene where a value isn’t, and then is applied.
• Goal Setting
• Retelling a Story: Julia Atkin first showed me this technique at ULearn 07. In groups of three:
  • Person #1 tells a story of an act that they admired or touched them in some way where a value was demonstrated.
  • Person #2 retells the story that #1 shared.
  • Person #3 then retells the story from the perspective of the person who was admired.

I would love to hear of other ways you have found that encourage the application of values. Please leave a comment below to share these.

Picture Author: http://tinyurl.com/5kl8r4

• Write a poem using similes to support and emphasise your message.
• Write an acrostic poem using alliteration.
• Write a palindrome poem using onomatopoeias.
• Write a cinquain poem using verbs, adjectives and nouns correctly.
• Recite our poems fluently and with expression to our buddy class.

Yellow Hat Thinking (Positive Reflections):

1. Finding Poetry examples on the net supported the teaching of new poetry forms.
2. The use of visual images on our class W.A.L.Ts (I found these easily using a ‘Google Image’ search)
3. Teaching a variety of poems meant that students learnt and experiemented with different poems.
4. The students were encouraged to keep an “Ideas Book” which enabled them to run with an idea when it was time to write.
5. Sharing our poems with our buddy class via a web conference meant that our students had a live audience.
6. Recording our spoken poems onto a voicethread meant that others could listen and our successful poems were celebrated!

What have you done to make your poetry units successful?

What other ICT tools could be used to enhance a unit like this?

The overal aim of this unit was for students to work co-operatively as a company to design and create a new type of chocolate bar and to produce a visual presentation outlining the process.

The following is a list of the activities the children had to complete:

1. In your chosen Company of 5 members assign the following roles: Co-ordinator, Recorder, Creative Arts Director, Communicator and Collator.
2. Design a Company name, logo and jingle.
3. Develop a timeline showing the history of chocolate.
4. Survey 60 people regarding:
   1. Their favourite chocolate.
   2. Time of day they enjoyed eating chocolate.
   3. How often they ate chocolate each week.
5. Sort, display and comment on the findings of the survey.
6. From these findings design a chocolate to enter into E3’s Chocolate competition.
7. Design a wrapper for your chocolate bar that includes your logo, company name and list of ingredients.
8. Make the chocolate.
9. Present your Company chocolate to the class and include in the presentation:
   1. Graphs displaying the survey and written comments.
   2. Description of the chocolate making process.
   3. Jingle.
   4. An advert for your chocolate eg: Newspaper, T.V or Radio.
   5. A timeline depicting the history of chocolate.
   6. Company chocolate ready for the taste test! (Of course I had the privledge of doing this part)

Green Hat Thinking (creative thoughts) If I was to do the unit again I would…

• Do it at the beginning of the Term when the students are less grumpy/tired. The co-operative nature of the unit was socially very demanding.
• Give the rubric out earlier in the process so students had a clearer picture of the expectations.
• Give more demonstrations and examples of the successful criteria set out in the rubric.

Overall it was a very successful unit as students worked through a motivating subject overcoming relationship issues to produce a tangible and tasty product :+)

Has anyone else taught a similar unit? What worked well for the students/teaching in your unit?

Picture Authors:
http://www.chocolate-world.net/images/Chocolate.png

1) My class, E3, has begun a new relationship with a school in Nelson, Room 8 from Ranzau School. We have been collaborating together on our speeches. Below is one of my students who was going into the semi finals so we used Voicethread so that our buddy class (and others) could provide some positive support and critique her speech to help her better prepare her for the semi finals.

Click on the picutre below to be taken to the Voicethread. (I had some trouble embedding it.)

2) We have recently finished an inquiry into “How Great is Our God?” with the focus being on Space. Here is a link to a Voicethread where Bono’s Thinking Hats were used to reflect on the inquiry.

3) At the end of last Term I set up a Voicethread so that students could record collectively their thoughts on the question “What would school look like in 100 years?” Tony Ryan’s ‘Prediction’ Thinkers Key was used to provoke this thought.

4) I used Voicethread at the beginning of this year to help teach internet safety to my Year 6 (Grade 5) students. It has proven a good source to go back to when we need to remember how to be safe on the net.

5) Last year I was teaching a group of Year 2 students about “How Things Move”. During this time we used Voicethread to reflect on and celebrate what we had learnt during this topic.

Please share other ways you have used Voicethread to enhance teaching or learning in your class.

Humour aside, I do find that to be a Primary (Elementary) School Teacher I need to know how to spin many plates.

Now this clown may do it for entertainment but I don’t. I do it because I have too. I find all too often that the goal is to hold it together, rather than develop and improve what your doing.

Psalm 90v12 says: “Teach us to realise how short our lives are. Then our hearts will become wise.”

Are the plates I’m spinning actually worth spinning?? Maybe it’s time to let a couple of plates drop so that I can focus and improve a few of the things in my life? Or is it time to remove some stuff from the classroom? We have been talking about the “crowded curriculum” for some time now here in New Zealand – what therefore can we take out?

Looking back over the last 2 years only, I see a number of things that I have added to my “Teacher’s toolbox”:

• A range of Thinking Skills eg: Tony Ryan’s Thinkers Keys, Bloom’s Taxonomy, De Bono’s Thinking Hats, Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.
• Formative Assessment: feeding forward and back (via conferencing, marking books, WALTs, etc)
• Inquiry Learning
• Classroom blog
• ICT Contract (with this comes new goals, stretching, conferences and meetings)
• Other Professional Development: readings via Twitter, Wiki’s, Centre4, my Netvibes account, etc.
  

These development are great and I have enjoyed growing as an educator, networking and integrating these new tools into the class. BUT it all takes time, energy and what we call “mental power”.

So these holidays for me are not only a chance to rest but also a chance to remember again my priorities. I am reminded of what my Syndicate Leader said to me at the beginning of the year:

“Life is a lot like juggling balls. However some of them are rubber and others are glass. The glass balls are important relationships in our lives eg: our spouse, family, etc. Drop the other balls if you need to but DON’T drop the glass balls.”

So the questions we need to ask ourselves are: What are the glass balls in my life? What balls do I need to drop?

Picture Authors:

“Spinning Plates” http://www.thefeinline.com/blog1/entrepreneurship/

“Inspector Gadget” http://www.i-learnt.com

Below are only a few of the many “gold nuggets” I personally gained from reading his book:

• Harro Van Brummelen talks about how Teachers are guides (Page 8 ) who “guide young persons into knowledge and discernment that lead to service for God and fellow human beings.” Just as Jesus the great Shepherd guides us. Psalm 23, John 10:2-4
• Competition (Page 211): “The bible promotes cooperation and self-sacrifice rather than competition….competition is desirable only when students strive together to develop their physical potential, and when they try to better others as well as themselves as they participate.” This builds the type of community spoken about in Eph 4:16.
• Sex Education (Page 212): Schools should teach a holistic and biblical view of sex not just the physical side. “Schools shrink their responsibility if they do not concurrently teach about the emotional, social, economic, and ethical consequences of sexual relationships.” Students must not be lead to think sex is only physical.

• There are 3 mandates our Heavenly Father has given us which we must uphold in our Schools and classrooms (Chapter 3):

1) The Creation Mandate: Gen 1:28, 2:15. God entrusts us, His stewards to rule over the earth and enable everything in God’s creation to fulfil its intended function so that all will benefit and God will be glorified.

2) The Great Commandment: Matt 22:37-39 We are to love the Lord with ALL we have and to love those around us in the same way we love ourselves.

3) The Great Commission: Matt 28:18-20 As Christian educators our priority is to share Jesus with others and encourage them to know the Lord personally, walking with Him and following His ways.

From time to time you come across a post that is worth sharing and collecting for future reference.

Today I was catching up on my Netvibes account (as you do) and Durff’s post “Who Do You Want To Be?” caught my attention.

According to research there are three types of teachers: expert, experienced, and novice. They each focus on different aspects of classroom culture.

Expert teachers are more effective scanners of classroom behaviour, make greater reference to the language of instruction and learning of students, whereas experienced teachers concentrate more on what the teacher is saying and doing to the class and novices concentrate more on student behaviour. (Hattie, 2003).

Reference: Hattie, J. (2003). Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence? Interpretations, 36(2), 27-38, Retrieved November 23, 2007 from http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/RC2003_Hattie_TeachersMakeADifference.pdf

Hmmm now which one am I?

Thanks Durff (and Hattie) for challenging us with your work.

Picture Author: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Blue_flag.svg