Juniors CAN ! ! !

ICT, Higher Order Thinking, Authentic Contexts, Inquiry, and dare I mention it – pedagogy. No doubt you’ll have heard the terminology, but what does it mean in the classroom? How does one enhance student learning and raise achievement, and where does ICT fit in all of that?

For me it’s about connecting the head and the heart – combining a love of learning and the challenge of thinking, and taking it as high and as wide as you can go. It’s about transforming education.

So where do you start?

Connecting the head and the heart – combining a love of learning

•Develop the passion and arouse the interest•Authentic issues and contexts - things that are relevant to the kids e.g. What happens to the food we eat and how do they affect the way we live?•Develop inquiring learners - fuel and enable their inquiry (state of mind not process)•Share the power with kids - let them have areas of control and involve in planning•Have some fun with learning - develop their creativity and self expression•Use the tools of their age and don’t feel you have to teach these to them - give them opportunities to discover and teach you!

What are the qualities, attributes, characteristics of the children in our junior classroom?

Active Learners and

short concentratio

n span

Unpack how you will cater for this:

Short, simple tasks.

Use creative software e.g. Paint, Kid Pix

Regular access

Use wide range of

ICTs. Inquiry Process

Value and display their

efforts.

What is the world going to be like when our children leave school?

What skills will they need to have developed?

Vision of the Learner

Lifelong Flexible Adaptable Thinkers & Inquirers

Students who are ready to accept and move with change. They apply learning confidently and successfully to new and different situations.

Self Directed / Reflective Learners

•Students who are intellectual processors and competent thinkers. They reflect on their findings and evaluate, validate and discriminate.

Effective Collaborators

Students who have skills to work effectively with diverse individuals and groups and within a range of situations to achieve common goals.

Effective communicators’

Students who are able to convey and receive information confidently and competently in a range of different contexts.

Key Competenciesfor the Learner

Managing Self

Relating to Others

Participating and Contributing

Thinking

Using language, symbols and texts

Good communicato

rs

Audio conferencing

Video camera recording of

children expressing

ideas

Multimedia programme

s

Use of spreadsheets & graphs

Email & Online

projects.


Formulating

questions

Practising use of phone

Focus on message

and presenting

Blogs and wikis

Digital camera

Great Writers

Class Blogs

Multimedia programme

s

Use of spreadsheets & graphs

Email & Online

projects.


Class wiki for

home/school interaction

Digital camera &

Photostory

Effective Ideas to use in Effective Ideas to use in your Classroomyour Classroom

-Work from the child and the -Work from the child and the curriculum to the ICT choices of curriculum to the ICT choices of

activity.activity.

You don’t have time (or hopefully You don’t have time (or hopefully desire) for add ins!desire) for add ins!

Use the current context.Use the current context.

Keep focused on literacy and Keep focused on literacy and numeracy and inquiry.numeracy and inquiry.

Yes - ButThe reality is I have 20 five year olds in

my class and 2 computers!

Classroom and Computer Management Considerations

Start from the CurriculumDefine the focus - begin with the end in mind and “unpack” the processModel the process – computer at the matUse flexible rotation systems - 3 ChairsFoster independence – independently achievable tasksWork in groups at the computerCreate opportunities for Discovery learningEnforce routinesPlace computer within teacher view.Utilise Computer Suite systemsUse Visual Aids to memory

Teacher Doer Observer

Name Skill1 Skill2 Skill3 Skill4 Skill5

Peter

Susan

David

Anna

NB! Change the font size -> View -> Text Size

Mathshttp://www.rainforestmaths.com/

http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/bookchat/

Wikispaceshttp://nepekerau.wikispaces.com/ http://pauapeople.wikispaces.com/Hat+Quest http://room10kina.wikispaces.com/

To make your ownWikis for educatorshttp://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers/100k For subsequent wikis use http://www.wikispaces.com/t/x/teachers100K

Exampleshttp://appleby-waimea.blogspot.com/ http://moutere.blogspot.com/ http://www.kahurangi-school.blogspot.com/

Tuesday 17th February• Text box set up here

to record the news items.

• Animation can be customised in template format.

• Duplicate slide x10• Children’s art can be

added later.

These shapes are round . A round shape is a circle.

Gaining familiarity with the Keyboard

Typing Hands

Language Games

Can you copy this picture using these tools:

Print and paste this picture in your maths book and label the shapes.

•Why do we promote Inquiry as a way to learn in a junior classroom?

•What’s it all about?

•Talk about components with another person in the room.

•Inspiration summary.

KISS Inquiry

•Arouse curiosity•Develop their questions•Predict likely outcomes•In depth teaching of ways to gather and process information•Involve students in planning and structuring their inquiry/process•Keep flexible but dig deep•Communicate with others, share ideas, build the knowledge and understanding•Connect the head and the heart•Create something new or different in the student•Empower students to feel they can make a difference in the world.•Utilise all the resources available and constantly expand their awareness and use of diverse range.•Remove barriers and extend horizons•Springboard•Value and display process and product•Review, revise, reinvigorate, realign

Initiate curiosity

Quality questions

In depth information gathering and processing

Understanding

Negotiate planning and pathways

Read, review, revise, reinvigorate, reach clarity

Yeah! We did it! We made a difference!

Understanding

Understanding



Quality questions

Quality questions

Initiate curiosity


Understanding

Initiate curiosity

Quality questions


Understanding

Negotiate planning and pathways


Yeah! We did it! We made a difference!

It’s NOT a rigid, tightly structured process:

Immersion to So what!

It’s NOT something that takes a whole term or more to complete!

It’s NOT an unplanned laissez-faire picnic!

It’s NOT about lifting your feet and letting it happen!

It’s NOT about letting the kids take over control!

It’s NOT about a simple assessment

task to prove you did it well! It IS about

learning!

In my view . . .

Science Inquiry Video•Why do you think I showed you this video?

•What does it have to do with inquiry? And what is not about inquiry?

•Stage One - arousing curiosity

•What can you take from this for inquiry in your classroom for any unit or activity?

Arousing curiosity•Large sheet of paper and crayon per person

•Be the class of NE chn

•Create a dark place in your imagination - close eyes - create a scene.

•When you think you know what it is about, open your eyes and begin drawing a picture about that scene - what is in the picture, in the background, details of the animal. (This can be used as an individual before view for assessment)

•What is our animal?

•Further questioning to encourage detail in their drawing

•Why does a kiwi have these features?

•Use Kidspiration or Inspiration to record what we all know about kiwis.

•Add ideas to planning of stage one.

If this was your class and your topic, what would you do next? What would this stage be called?

Immersion Tuning In Setting the Scene•What activities would you use in this stage?

•What resources would support this?

•Get into groups and share ideas for your unit planning

•Record on your powerpoint.

How long would this stage last?

What is its main purpose?

Books, visits, visitors, video clips, homework, Internet, Pictures,

So what would the next stage of inquiry be?

Developing Rich Questions and Finding Answers

How might you initiate this stage to refire their curiosity?

What resources might you use?•E.g. Read a story of an injured kiwi

•Video or web page or picture

•Felt pens, inventive spelling, write your questions

•Discuss - What is a question? Developing questions - what words do they begin with? Sort into 2 piles - questions and statements.

•What? Where? When? Why? Who? How?

What

are

their

enem

ies?

Why a

re k

iwis

endangere

d?

How

do k

iwis

get

hurt

in t

he b

us h

?How can we help kiwis so that they don’t get injured?

Who helps kiwis to stay alive? How can I help kiwis?

•Hand out scissors to individuals to cut out some good questions and place onto separate charts of “Fat and skinny” questions. Discuss placement. Move.

•Introduce audioconference process.

•Move into new groups and share ideas for your unit plans.

•Add to your info capture.•Think of questions that your children might ask - How? When? Where? Why? What? Who? How will you extend them? (Fat and skinny ?s / Jamie McKenzie QuestioningToolkit. http://fno.org/nov97/toolkit.html )

•What ICT resources might you use?

•What people resources might you use?

•What book, picture, activity resources might you use?

What search engines? Little Explorers, Yahooligans, Google, TKI

What important ideas or concepts do you want them to gain?

Unpack how you will get there.

And then . . . .

Taking action

What might this involve for your unit?

So what barriers do you think you might encounter?

What are the solutions?

Before the light can switch on it has to make a complete circuit. This is an open circuit which means that the light is off because the wires are not joined at the switch.

When the switch is closed the light will shine because the wires are connected.

In the picture above it has what a light looks like when it is on. The battery is the electricity source. The power runs from the battery through the wire and into the screw. When the metal strip is touching the screw the power can flow so the light glows.

When you switch off, the metal strip lifts off the screw, the power can’t flow and the light goes off.

Two men began to dig a hole out in our soccer field. They piled the dirt around the sides. The dirt was very, very soft. The pit they dug was made deep enough to put in hot irons and two metal baskets. They were digging a pit for our hangi.

A fire was laid beside the pit. When they stacked the wood, they criss-crossed it. The steel hangi irons were on top of the stack of wood. The stack was taller than ME. The day was wet and we saw a wonderful rainbow.

The fire was lit and flames flew up into the air. The fire burned for about two hours. As the flames died down, the men dragged the hot irons out of the glowing embers and heaved them into the pit.

Kids Search EnginesKids Search Engines

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Dictionary

Kids Search EnginesKids Search Engines

http://www.yahooligans.com

The sky’s the limit!Make sure you, the teacher,

are not!

Essential Questions

These are questions which touch our hearts and souls. They are central to our lives. They help to define what it means to be human.

Most important thought during our lives will center on such essential questions.

* What does it mean to be a good friend? * What kind of friend shall I be? * Who will I include in my circle of friends? * How shall I treat my friends? * How do I cope with the loss of a friend? * What can I learn about friends and friendships from the novels we read in school? * How can I be a better friend?

If we were to draw a cluster diagram of the Questioning Toolkit, Essential Questions would be at the center of all the other types of questions. All the other questions and questioning skills serve the purpose of "casting light upon" or illuminating Essential Questions.

Most Essential Questions are interdisciplinary in nature. They cut across the lines created by schools and scholars to mark the terrain of departments and disciplines.

Essential Questions probe the deepest issues confronting us . . . complex and baffling matters which elude simple answers: Life - Death - Marriage - Identity - Purpose - Betrayal - Honor - Integrity - Courage -

Temptation - Faith - Leadership - Addiction - Invention - Inspiration.

Subsidiary Questions

These are questions which combine to help us build answers to our Essential Questions. Big questions spawn families of smaller questions which lead to insight. The more skillful we and our students become at formulating and then categorizing Subsidiary Questions, the more success we will have constructing new knowledge.

Hypothetical Questions - These are questions designed to explore possibilities and test relationships. They usually project a theory or an option out into the future, wondering whatmight happen if . . .

Suppose the earth had no moon. What if the South had won the Civil War?

Hypothetical Questions are especially helpful when trying to decide between a number of choices or when trying to solve a problem.

When we began to generate questions which would help us decide whether or not to offer e-mail accounts to our students, we asked . .

What's the worst that might happen? What are the potential benefits?

Hypothetical Questions are useful when we want to see if our hunches, our suppositions and our hypotheses have any merit.

Telling Questions lead us (like a smart bomb) right to the target. They are built with such precision that they provide sorting and sifting during the gathering or discovery process. They focus the investigation so that we gather only the very specific evidence and information we require, only those facts which "cast light upon" or illuminate the main question at hand.

In schools which give students e-mail accounts, what is the rate of suspension for abusing the privilege? In schools which give students e-mail accounts, what percentage of students

lose their privilege during each of the first ten months? second ten months?

The better the list of telling questions generated by the researcher, the more efficient and pointed the subsequent searching and gathering

process. A search strategy may be profoundly shifted by the development of telling questions.

Planning Questions lift us above the action of the moment and require that we think about how we will structure our search, where we will look and what resources we might use such as time and information. Too many researchers, be they student or adult, make the mistake of burying their noses in their studies and their sources. They have trouble seeing the forest, so close do they stand to the pine needles. They are easily lost in a thicket of possibilities.

The effective researcher develops a plan of action in response to Planning Questions like these:

Sources

* Who has done the best work on this subject?* Which medium (Internet, CD-ROM, electronic periodical collection, scholarly book, etc.) is likely to provide the most reliable and relevant information with optimal efficiency? * Which search tool or index will speed the discovery process?

Sequence

* What are all of the tasks which need completing in order to . . . ? * What is the best way to organize these tasks over time? How much time is available? Which tasks come first, and then . . .? * Which tasks depend upon others or cannot be completed until others are finished?

Pacing

* How much time is available for this project? * How long does it take to complete each of the tasks required? * How much time can be applied to each task? * How should the plan be changed to match the time resources?

Organizing Questions make it possible to structure our findings into categories which will allow us to construct meaning. Each time we come upon valuable findings, we extract the relevant data and place them where they belong. Our challenge is teaching students to paraphrase, condense and then place their findings thoughtfully rather than cutting and pasting huge blocks of text which have been unread, undigested and undistilled.

Focus - complete a chart for each focus of study.

Source List sources used here.

Keywords List the keywords here.

Abstract Summarise the information that is relevant here.

Probing Questions take us below the surface to the "heart of the matter.”When it comes to information-seeking, the convergence is established by creating a logical intersection of search words and key concepts, the combination of which is most likely to identify relevant sites and articles. Probing Questions allow us to push search strategies well beyond the broad topical search to something far more pointed and powerful.

And when we first encounter an information "site," we rarely find the treasures lying out in the open within easy reach. We may need to "feel for the vein" much as the lab technician tests before drawing blood. This "feeling" is part logic, part prior knowledge, part intuition and part trial-and-error.

Sorting & Sifting Questions enable us to manage Info-Glut and Info-Garbage - the hundreds of hits and pages and files which often rise to the surface when we conduct a search - culling and keeping only the information which is pertinent and useful. Relevancy is the primary criterion employed to determine which pieces of information are saved and which are tossed overboard. We create a "net" of questions which allows all but the most important information to slide away. We then place the good information with the questions it illuminates.

* Which parts of this data are worth keeping? * Will this information shed light on any of my questions?" * Is this information reliable? * How much of this information do I need to place in my database? * How can I summarize the best information and ideas? * Are there any especially good quotations to paste in the abstract field?

Clarification Questions convert fog and smog into meaning. A collection of facts and opinions does not always make sense by itself.

Hits do not equal TRUTH. A mountain of information may do more to block understanding than promote it. Defining words and concepts is central to this clarification process. * What do they mean by . . . ?" * How did they gather their data? Was it a reliable and valid process? Do they show the data and evidence they claim to have in support of their conclusions? Was is substantial enough to justify their conclusions?

Strategic Questions focus on Ways to Make Meaning. The researcher must switch from tool to tool and strategy to strategy while passing through unfamiliar territory. Close associated with the Planning Questions formulated early on in this process, Strategic Questions arise during the actual hunting, gathering, inferring, synthesizing and ongoing questioning process. * What do I do next? * How can I best approach this next step?, this next challenge? this next frustration? * What thinking tool is most apt to help me here? * What have I done when I've been here before? What worked or didn't work? What have others tried before me? * What type of question would help me most with this task? * How do I need to change my research plan?

Elaborating Questions extend and stretch the import of what we are finding. They take the explicit and see where it might lead. They also help us to plum below surface to implicit (unstated) meanings.

* What does this mean? * What might it mean if certain conditions and circumstances changed? * How could I take this farther? What is the logical next step? What is missing? What needs to be filled in? * Reading between the lines, what does this REALLY mean? * What are the implied or suggested meanings?

Unanswerable Questions are the ultimate challenge.

Inventive Questions turn our findings inside out and upside down. They distort, modify, adjust, rearrange, alter, twist and turn the bits and pieces we have picked up along the way until we can shout "Aha!" and proclaim the discovery of something brand new.

Provocative Questions are meant to push, to challenge and to throw conventional wisdom off balance. They give free rein to doubt, disbelief and skepticism.

Irrelevant Questions take us far afield, distract us and threaten to divert us from the task at hand. And that is their beauty!

Divergent Questions use existing knowledge as a base from which to "kick off" like a swimmer making a turn.

Irreverent Questions explore territory which is "off-limits" or taboo. They challenge far more than conventional wisdom. They hold no respect for authority or institutions or myths. They leap over, under or through walls and rules and regulations.

e.g. Are schools the best places for students to learn?

Corporations like IBM have learned that today's heretic - the one with the courage, the tenacity and the brash conviction to question the way things are "spozed to be" - often turns out to be a prophet of sorts. The Emperor's New Clothes is the classic story showing what happens when Irreverent Questions are discouraged and obedience, subservience and compliance are prized. The emperor parades naked. The corporation clings blindly to old beliefs.

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Juniors CAN ! ! !