The Learning Journey

QR Codes in the Primary Classroom

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 11:09:00 +0000

I recently learnt of QR codes last year. I never really took much notice. I saw them on soft drink cans I think. At first I thought it looked like a strange bar code. Thanks to a few trailblazing educators I now have some ideas as to how to use these with my students. If you are not sure what a QR code is check out Jeff Utecht's excellent blog The Thinking Stick http://www.thethinkingstick.com/11-the-year-of-the-qr-code

If you are after a QR code generator or reader check out http://reader.kaywa.com/getit

I plan to use them as 'clues' for our treasure hunt around the school. Ill let you know how they work!

Learning Measurement- what are we trying to measure anyway?

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 11:25:00 +0000

Learning Measurement- what are we trying to measure anyway?

My niece in grade2 attending a local Indonesian school is currently learning measurement conversion from meters to centimeters. My daughter who is also in grade 2 is NOT learning how to convert metres to centimeters, and she goes to an international school. ‘What’? My relatives say ‘Why is she not learning this important skill in grade 2, AND she goes to an international school’? I argue that first of all a 7 year old is still coming to grips with what a metre IS. What does a metre mean to the life a 7 year old? My daughter might be able to talk metres but to actually apply it to something that has meaning or relevance is another story. My feeling is that the local school, with all best intentions I’m sure, is teaching this skill without making connections between these measurements and the world in which we move about. This was clearly evident just by asking my cousin. All she really learnt was that by adding a couple of zeros to the end ‘converted’ the measurement from metres to centimeters. So what real significance is this process of memorization? I am generalizing here of course, I mean the teacher might have engaged the learners outside of the classroom and made real life connections with these units of measurements, but I very much doubt it. Her parents are quite proud of her that she knows how to convert metres to centimeters and when it comes to the test, she gets a perfect score. My question of WHY she learnt is never asked. I did not want to sound condescending.

The power of POWER BALANCE

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:33:00 +0000

Have any of your students come into class with a new piece of learning technlogy lately? No, not a netbook, iphone, i pad or any of the newest apps that seem to pop up every second day but a little piece of plastic. Yes I’m talking about those wrist bands- Power Balance. For those of you who do not know what these are they are hologramedwristbands http://www.powerbalance.com that promised enhanced performance, and the professional athletes that flog these swear that it helps them perform (nevermind the gijillion hours of training they do each month….).

Anyhow, these little creatures multiplied on the wrists of my grade 1 class like the movie Gremlins (okay Im dating myself here circa 1984) but of you know the show ….you know what Im on about. So gradually kids in my class have these, they are not really sure what they are for, so I think they have been bought by some very optimistic (and hopeful) consumers.

So we just happen to be weighing stuff in our math session using balance scales when something odd happens. A student cried out LOOK! The student did make the scale balance- the task was to find 2 different objects in the room to make the scale balance, however this crafty kid had PUT HIS POWER BALANCE ON TOP OF THE BALANCE SCALE! I though wow, how creative..and misguided. We decided that this might need a bit more inquiry. Was the Power Balance band REALLY the reason the scale was balanced, so as natural inquirers do, we made some hypotheses and ran some tests. I think you can guess the result. Oh and if you dont believe me then see what The Therapeutic Goods Complaints Resolution Panel found. http://tinyurl.com/2ffww3q

La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia has gone one step further and are testing the Power Balance claims. Stay tuned- reults out in December 2010. OR …..you could just get a few grade 1′s together……

What 'stuff' do you teach?

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:31:00 +0000

So I’ve been thinking about the STUFF we teach. We have the core subjects that are assessed at every grade and are looked and held in such high regard by universities, discussed at the dinner table and compared by parents and classmates. It’s what makes us ‘smart’. It was makes us successful. They are of course Math, English, Science….and the ‘other subjects’. So that’s great we can do long division or some complex trig question. That’s fantastic that we know the date that the Magna Carta was signed and where paper was invented. That’s kind of cool that we study history and know about other countries or cultures. The key word being ‘know’ and not ‘understand’. Then I got to thinking, perhaps these are important but what about the skills we need to be a successful human? Where are the leadership skills, the ability to work in teams, communication skills, compassion and understanding? Are they in Math or English? Are they hidden somewhere amongst this other subjects to decipher? Then I started to question the way the whole school systems are set up. Are we teaching everything…like some scattergun approach to learning hoping our learners will someday need this knowledge? Why do I need long division, if I have calculator and need to remember who invented paper when I can use wikipedia? So much time is spent talking about these personal skills yet are they explicit, valued and celebrated in our schools, curriculum and classrooms? Why not have tasks or challenges where the focus is on conflict resolution, or successful team work and throw some math’s and science in there. However, from a teacher standpoint, its much easier to give a grade on the paper. And have an answer key. These personal development skills are required every day of person’s life, yet these are the skill sets that many teachers and schools seem to be failing in teaching, or creating opportunities for growth. So if our goal is to create lifelong learners or leaders of the future, what grade would we give ourselves? So then I asked WHY is this the case? Perhaps one reason might be that we have lost track of what our learner needs are so we keep teaching the same things PLUS adding heaps new stuff on top. Maybe its more deeper than that in that the system as we know it is so structured around our society that we cannot freely change it. So yes…we now teach STUFF. STUFF that kids may or may not find useful. STUFF that may be relevant to Jane but not Bob. But as teachers weve got to get through that STUFF. In the end all this STUFF is learned but perhaps not understood until many years later when the STUFF they learned becomes relevant. See an engineers STUFF is much different than a teachers STUFF. So I propose an ILP Individual Learning Programme for each child, ye child not teenager starting from grade school. This ILP will be used to track learner goals and be tailored to what the student needs know to achive these goals. So now your thinking, but how does an 8 year old know what he wants to be in life? Won’t this affect the STUFF the they need to know? Well yes, but if we at least have some idea now as to what our learners are interested in that is surely a start. Waiting until grade 11 or 12 is too late. Each learner should have the ir personalised STUFF and means to achieve their understanding. This model or each ILP is encased in personal development. Time management, communication skills, leadership skills etc. I sum, we need to be teaching personal development with subjects woven through it and not the other way around in a personalised way. Unfortunately for the subject specialists who sees 200 kids a week this means an ILP for every student. This shouldnt be such a problem if learners are responsible for their own learning. However in the end our 20th century school structure cannot handle this….yet.

Can I buy a vowel?

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:25:13 +0000

It is unfair that vowels are so over-rated. They are certainly useful for singing Old MacDonald (in case you are unfamiliar with the alphabet version it goes 'Old MacDonald had a farm A-E-I-O-U'). But really what else are vowels used for? Take text messages - the language of the future - who has time to waste on using all those pesky vowels? If wnt 2 gt my mssg acrs I dnt nd 2 use mny vwls. Think of all the time we'd all save - a few seconds here and there, this time would be better spent watching even more Desperate Housewives reruns or sharpening our hand eye coordination (also useful for text messaging even quicker) by playing even more Grand Theft Auto 4. However most importantly we could put an end to the dreaded 'Text Thumb' that appears to be the next epidemic that will soon come to the forefront of modern medicine. So the next time send a txt msg, spare a thought for the lowly vowel and use them as much as you can, give them the love and respect they deserve.