This is a photo taken on April 16th at the Dimboola Memorial Secondary College. DMSC put on a great 2 day conference to highlight their work with the Leading Schools Fund with the focus on technology in the classroom. Dimboola teachers were passionate about the use of their Interactive Whiteboards and had them set up in just about every classroom.
Here is a snapshot of how the IWBs were used -
Modelling lessons
Interactive quizzes
Manipulating data
Shared writing
Reflective dialogues
Student presentations
Podcasts
Videos
Skype sessions with students from other schools
Deputy Prime Minisiter Julia Gillard was there to acknowledge their wonderful work and was available for questions, chat and photos after her speech.
“Hullo. I am Angelica. I am 5 years old. I really don’t have much of a past. In fact, I am the future.”
If we were to teach not only for today but also for tomorrow, what should we be teaching our students. Hedley Beare raises this question in his story about Angelica, a fictional 5 year old sitting in your classroom.
Today we asked teachers what they believed to be the most important 21st Century Skills were for our students. These were some of the comments -
Flexibility
Communication
Empathy
Global Awareness
Learning how to learn
I have set up a VoiceThread below and would love for you to add your comment.
Where are you now? Oh, I see you. On the couch reading. Feet up. Using your laptop with a small snack by your side. Lights low. Music going, telly in the background. Did I just see you get up to get a drink?
With Information and Communication Technology (ICT) becoming more prominent in classrooms since I was in school (and most parents of our students these days) the physical layout has had to change somewhat to accommodate computers. In my experience I have seen a variety of ways that teachers and administrators have decided to arrange the technology in the classroom.
When I returned to teaching in 2000, computers were neatly positioned at the side of the classroom and students would sit facing the wall to do their work independently as part of rotations.
Then as a school we moved to positioning the computers at each table cluster. There was normally 4 table clusters in a room. This meant the students would have a computer at their table without having to leave. They often worked in pairs or in groups.
In my last classroom in this school I was lucky enough to be part of the pilot for laptops in a classroom. We had four laptops in my room and they no longer needed to be neatly set up against a wall or positioned at a table. They were free to roam around for learning to take place anytime anywhere! And boy did it!
I would have to say that when we moved from computers fixed to walls to becoming mobile units that could be used anywhere in the room to anywhere in the yard, then this was the time learning took off in my classroom. My Grade 5 students would pick up a laptop just like they would pick up a pen or a book. If they needed to research, look up a word, publish or even create a music piece the laptop joined them wherever they were.
It was the first day of school and my classroom was a buzzing hype of excitement and awe. Small groups were forming, chatting pointing and smiling about the way the room was arranged.
“A couch! Cool. Looks like a lounge room” says a wide-eyed newbie to the room.
“Check out all the cute stuffed toys,” says her friend.
“My classroom never looked like this,” joins in Sam.
And these were just a sample of comments coming from the parents!!
You can imagine the pleasure I felt when I could hear these positive comments, and the affirmation that this may have been the beginning a great learning environment. Hesitantly the parents left their children’s classroom and my year began with a new group of students.
I have to thank the forward thinking leadership in one of my schools for supporting teachers in their quest for creating learning spaces that were appealing and inviting to students. As teachers we were given a small budget at the beginning of the year that was purposefully for establishing a learning environment. This supplemented what we as teachers often spend ourselves creating the classroom we would want to spend time in if we were students.
What can I buy this year? Hmm lets see –
• Floor cushions
• Dr Seuss stuffed toys
• Oils and a new oil burner
• Stable tables for floor work
• Colourful table covers
Now what have I got from home that I can use –
• An old but comfy couch and recliner
• More stuffed toys my kids no longer want
• Floor rug
• A pink CD player
• Bean bag and scatter cushions
“Now kids, what can we do to make this our room?” I ask.
“Can we paint the tables like Mrs M’s room?” ask the kids.
So we set off on our first inquiry of the year…
How do we create a great place to learn? How should we paint the tables? What colours should we use? What sort of designs would promote thinking and learning? How do we decide the groups we work in?
