Build with Chrome: Google Maps + Lego = Awesome

I love Lego. My kids love Lego. You just can’t go wrong with Lego!  🙂

A few months ago Build with Chrome was launched and it was an instant hit.  It’s easy to use and it’s fun.

If you’re interested in the creation of it check out this blog post by North Kingdom, a digital creative agency in Sweden.

Lego in teaching has been used for years to enhance learning in many things such as Math, Science and even in early English reading skills.  Now imagine the added benefit of integrating Build with Chrome in lessons…oh my, the ideas are endless!  🙂

My 9-year old son is also enjoying Build with Chrome.  Here is one of his creations and he is the “owner” of the 9 “blocks” surrounding this creation.  (you’ll need to install Chrome to view though…there’s always a catch!)

a screen-shot of a few of my son’s first Build with Chrome creations

 

Google: World Wonders Project

I can’t imagine life without Google Maps and Google Earth! This is the kind of stuff I stumble-on while I’m procrastinating and simply learning on the Web.  If I was teaching History or Geography I would definitely be using the World Wonders Project website.  I think back (+20 years) to when I first learned about Stonehenge and then wonder at how those lessons could have been improved if we had access to this.  Wow!  If you haven’t already seen this, I urge you to check it out and show your kids too.

…and they’ve also recently included Ocean views using their Street-View technology, AWESOME!

Not A Runner

“It was in that school that I accomplished some of my most meaningful teaching. It was, in a strange way, kind of intoxicating. I was making a difference.” Very inspirational, thanks for sharing. I’ll have to add this book to my Summer reading list. 🙂

DaunaEasley

I’m not a runner, so using running analogies in my writing is a dangerous proposition for me.  But a few parallels between teaching and running strike me.  The National Education Association has been collecting data on teachers for years.  What they reveal is that 50% of teachers quit within their first five years of the profession.  And they never teach again.  That means half of the people who enter the profession spend less time IN the profession than they did preparing for the profession.

Those are staggering and disappointing numbers, but I’d have to also confess, that they don’t surprise me.  I threw so much of myself into my job that I became sick in only my second year of teaching.  I had never been sick before.  My illness baffled and scared me. The doctors couldn’t explain it to satisfy me.  I was desperate to get better and considered quitting the profession at that time.  But I hung…

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Australian Indigenous Rights Protests – an essay

An essay I wrote regarding three significant Australian Aboriginal Rights Protests: The Day of Mourning, The Freedom Ride and The Aboriginal (Tent) Embassy. This might be a good starting point for further research for people who are interested in Australian Indigenous history.

“children would be better off reading a book”

C’est vrai: French president promises to ban homework
French call for boycott of homework

I believe homework is evil in the primary years, especially for students that are NOT struggling with the fundamentals.  The quality of homework that my son has been coming home with has been decreasing and becoming less imaginative and non creative (currently Grade 3).  It does nothing for him except make him HATE school.  It’s boring!  He gets little reading books that are on topics that do NOT interest him.  I’d rather see him totally engrossed in a good book (like Harry Potter, Wimpy kid or The Hobbit) than see him unhappy doing his homework….which by the way he feels he must do so that 1) his teachers are “happy” & he doesn’t get in trouble and 2) so he can get the “fake dollars” to buy stuff!

Differentiation – I would be less anti-homework if there were more teachers out there that took the time to differentiate and give appropriate-level homework to individual students.  Some kids need extra help in spelling, some in Math and some should probably be left alone with a good book or an educational on-line game!

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I had to reblog this post by Catherine Cronin…lots of great ideas and resources. I like her use of a course Blog, especially for later reflection. I have used a similar commenting/reply (inquiry) WordPress “class website” in previous teaching; I think separating it to an individual Blog is a good idea. Also great for students that miss a class.

catherinecronin

In previous posts, I have shared some of the resources I use for exploring digital identity and digital literacies with students (e.g. Resources for exploring digital identity, privacy and authenticity and Learning and teaching digital literacies). All of these resources and approaches have been developed through my work with 2nd year Computer Science and IT students as part of a Professional Skills module.

This year we are using an open course blog to share our work. Instead of preparing and posting static presentations as class notes, I prepare a blog post after class each week, summarizing what we explored and discussed. Students and others are free to comment and engage in discussion on the blog. Later this term, the course blog also will link to student blogs, as these are developed. We also have a course Twitter account @CT231 which you are invited to follow — or simply check…

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Rewarding our children for learning!

I’ve written about this topic and my love for Alfie Kohn before.  Rewards are used a LOT in our schools, at work, at home and in our community in general.  I have mixed feelings about rewards (and punishment).  Generally I hate the idea of rewards at school BUT I’ve talked to enough teachers to know that many of them think they need them to control (manipulate!) behaviour and to motivate learning.

My children LOVE to learn.  I am aware however that they were fortunate enough to be brought up in a home that encouraged & nurtured learning (bed time stories, outdoor adventures etc) and that not all children start school with this foundation.  I know to tackle this difference in early learning and also the difference in learning styles, behaviours etc schools/teachers often implement a reward system; such as, behaviour diamonds that students move up & down on, fake dollars that when collected will buy a toy, sticker charts etc.  It’s been done for so long (Thanks B. F. Skinner!) and so embedded in our culture that it’s hard to stop even though there have been studies that show how this type of behaviour control can result in negative effects in learning desire.

Do rewards really motivate children to learn?  Or do they simply motivate them to want rewards?  My children are motivated to learn when they are engaged, interested and the learning means something to them.  They don’t need rewards for learning.  I hope my children will never be one of those people who ask “What’s in it for me?” when a teacher asks them to explore a new idea or solve an interesting problem.

This is one of those things that I think about a lot and yet also try to forget too.  I have personally struggled with my 4-year-old who is a loving and very determined/head-strong child that often believes her way is the ONLY way!  Reasoning with her simply doesn’t work like it did when my son was her age, and believe me I have tried so many different ways to talk through an issue with her.  Sometimes it’s just easier to throw out a reward so that we can get on with life.  I still try to avoid extrinsic rewards but it’s not always easy.  So I get it, I understand how for many teachers it’s simply easier.  But just because it’s easier does that make it right for ALL the time?  No!  So yes, I can see why teachers resort to rewards for behaviour management BUT to motivate learning just seems like the wrong way.

An Educator that I believe is a great role-model and someone who inspires me is Joe Bower.  A lot of what he writes about is very close to my own views and philosophy of teaching and parenting.  He wrote a personal post recently about his daughter & her rewards for reading that I found sad and yet not surprising.  I believe educators and parents should read his Blog.

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Girls' Globe

If October 1st and 2nd’s premiere of ‘Half the Sky’ pumped you up about all things women and girls you’re in luck, the celebration isn’t

over. October 11th is the very 1st ever United Nations International Day of the Girl. This day is intended to raise awareness, educate and generate discussion and action about advancing the lives of girls and highlighting opportunities.

The idea behind having an international day devoted to girls started at the 2011 UN General Assembly where the UN General Assembly Resolution on the International Day of the Girl Child was created. Since this resolution passed, organizations around the world focused on Organizations around the world, like School Girls Unite (an organization of young female students and leaders with a mind towards advancing the MDG) and Plan International (an organization focused on children’s development who’s ‘Because I am a Girl’ initiative inspired the UN resolution), have rallied…

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Sexism & Australian politics

A rant that has been sorely missing from public dialogue….good on you Julia!

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interesting read….ooooh the scary computer and its impact on our brains! 🙂 Totally agree with Jack’s main points here, I especially like the “…promotes greater social interaction…” point, it’s amazing how many people I talk to still view computers in the classroom as an independent/lonely activity.

Standing Up for Teachers is an International Endeavor

Standing Up for Teachers is an International Endeavor.

“No Excuses” – High expectations for ALL students

I just finished reading Noel Pearson’s “Radical Hope: education & equality in Australia”.  An interesting book that seriously challenges the way that we’re taught to teach (via University, Govt. policy etc) and doesn’t personally fit well with my personal philosophy/view of teaching.  I was open to considering his views and while reading his book I questioned a lot of the assumptions that I had regarding teaching but then he lost me with his negativity towards Paulo Freire.  I also found his views to be a one-way ONLY approach, specifically that Direct/Explicit Instruction WILL help ALL student learn, and I don’t understand why anyone would want to limit the education of students like this.  Surely there is enough research out there to show that people vary greatly and the way they learn varies greatly too.  My teaching areas are directed at High School, specifically senior schooling, so I can’t comment professionally on how to teach children to read but it seems crazy to say that ONLY phonics will help Indigenous children to learn to read.  I agree with Jane Caro’s response (included in the book) where she points out that encouraging both a whole-language approach and phonics is best.

The idea of “No Excuses” is at first glance really great and I believe that we should have high expectations for ALL students.  Educators, parents and the community should have high expectations of EVERY child.  The reality is that there are still a lot of negative stereotypes out there that continue to prescribe low expectations for Indigenous Australian children.  Through Pearson’s book and also via some current Uni subject material I have stumbled on Dr. Chris Sarra and from a Google search I found the Stronger Smarter Institute.  This is positive stuff and I look forward to taking some time to learn more about this.  I wonder why this has not been discussed during my 3 years at USQ, is it because it is partnered with QUT or just not something that is promoted during pre-service training?  Anyway, the idea of No Excuses to learn is important BUT it can not be the excuse for Australian citizens to disregard the major disadvantages that are experienced by Indigenous Australians.  Giving No Excuses could, and I argue has in some cases, led to “…encouraging a mean-spirited public to suppose that it need do nothing about poverty and its attendant ills – lack of decent housing, medical insurance, safe streets, financial security, adequate diet, and adequate time for a rich family life” (Noddings, 2006, p. 2).  I think this is something to be wary of and it all really depends on how you frame the “No Excuses” argument.

Noddings, N. (2006). Critical Lessons: what our schools should teach. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press

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Change the stereotype now!

Dr Chris Sarra

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Wonderment & learning: a family holiday

Experiencing Life is Learning

We took the kiddies to Hamilton Island for a 6-day family holiday recently.  I expected that we would have lots of fun and create lovely family memories – we did all of that AND more!  My kids have been fortunate to learn & live in Canada, USA & Australia over the past 9 years.  So they are ‘naturally’ curious about the world, the seasons, different people, time-zones etc.  Of course like most children the idea of a holiday simply represented fun and a break from the routine of school to my kids, I don’t think they realised how much learning they would do on this holiday.

The view of islands from the plane

enjoying a quiet moment on a beautiful island

pure happiness!

Wonderment is an AWE-some moment/feeling that opens your mind to new possibilities

The best thing that we did on our holiday was to snorkel a section of the Great Barrier Reef.  Snorkeling at the reef was absolutely wonderful and I think one of those special moments of my life that I will never forget.  The coral and the fish were spectacular!  Yet, it wasn’t the reef itself that was so wonderful for me instead it was watching my children completely awestruck by their own experience of the reef.  For four hours my children were totally engrossed in this experience, they were excited and giddy with happiness.  Our 9-year old son passionately announced to us that “This is the BEST day EVER!”.  My children experienced pure wonderment that day and have commented on the experience many times since.  I wish I could bottle this combination of awe, surprise, happiness & learning!  🙂

simply loving it!

amazingly beautiful and yet so alien-looking too

simply wonderful!

Imagine seeing this beauty all around you and it feels like it goes on forever

and more beauty…Wow!

Fun teacher stuff

This guy rocks!  I’m going to have to try this in a lesson one day.

Here’s the How-to video…

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Love it, love it! Lots of great teaching, learning & integrated ICT stuff in this wonderful post. Very inspiring and I hope my children have teachers that are this passionate.

soul strikers

Monday was my first experience Skyping my class around the world!  This past summer at Building Learning Communities, word spread fast of an idea that students around the world could read and share the impact of a common book: The Dot, by Peter H. 

Reynolds. It took no convincing for me to plan this for my students, realizing the impact it could have on their world perspectives. It is so challenging for students to grasp this immense planet and consider that they might “make a mark” on it!

The story, if you are not familiar, is of a girl named Vashti who believes she cannot draw.  After being instructed to simply make a mark on the paper and sign it, she discovers that her teacher truly values that mark and Vashti challenges herself to create even more kinds of dots.

On the Morning Message I told them…

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Cycle Queensland 2012: a break for Mum

9-days away from the everyday, 540 km of bike riding and a break-day in beautiful Hervey Bay ~ Oh yeah, I had to do this!

There are Mums everywhere that love parenting but dream of getting away for a week, you know, just to take a break from the everyday routine.  I’ve been busy trying to be a great Mum (+9 years) and I’ve also been studying on-line so that I can teach ICT/Business in Australian High Schools.  I needed a break!  Cycling wasn’t my first choice….if my best-friend in Canada could have managed it I would have met her in Hawaii for a week in a resort, but it just didn’t work out for us this year.  So if I was going to do something it would have to be alone.  I love bike riding so I thought the Cycle Queensland 2012 would be a fun thing to do.  🙂

Day 1: Gayndah (56km loop)

Excitedly, I woke up at 4am on September 8 and got ready for my cycling adventure.  My wonderful husband and great kids (9-year old son & 4-year old daughter) dropped me off in Brisbane to catch the 5:30am bus to Gayndah.  By 10:15am I was in Gayndah getting a lovely elderly gentleman to put my bike back together.  I put my tent up.  At noon all the riders (over 800 cyclists) lined up at the start.  The atmosphere was happy, buzzing with excited people who were all about to start this fun 9-day event.  I had mixed emotions!  I looked around this massive crowd and immediately felt lonely; I missed my kids already!  What?  I cried a little too.  I was so happy when we finally got started and I got into the bike ride.  But then this massively long and steep hill appeared and I wondered why I had decided to do this thing…”are you nuts? you paid for THIS?  Just get up this mountain Elke!!  Go!  Go!”  Fortunately, the downhill afterwards was lovely and during this ride I also met a new friend.

The start! Feeling lonely in a crowd….a strange feeling.

Ahhhh, the hill that nearly broke me! 🙂

ouch, ouch, ouch!

Day 2: Gayndah to Biggenden (65km)

Thank goodness for this lovely ride!  I had my doubts after day 1 but then I zoomed through beautiful country on flat roads to Biggenden.  The sun was warm on my legs at 7am and I saw lots of kangaroos in the distant fields while riding.  I bought a Biggenden magnet at the Biggenden chemist (pharmacy), put my tent up next to my new friend’s tent and then sat back and enjoyed the view.

lovely, calming scenery between Gayndah and Biggenden…..and no big hills to climb

cycling away from the everyday…..a beautiful ride

My tent at the Biggenden campsite

Day 3: Biggenden to Maryborough (84km)

Hills, hills, hills!  My body felt good this day but the hills just kept coming on this ride.  At least all these hills kept my mind off the fact that I was missing my kids & husband big time!  The best part about this day was the great band that played after dinner….I got up to dance with some new friends that night and had a blast!  🙂

a great band that evening

Day 4: Maryborough to Hervey Bay (83km)

I felt strong on this ride.  I did this in under 4 hours, including 2 lovely stops along the way.  I am used to cycling on busy roads so that was an advantage for me during this ride.  I put up my tent, did the laundry at the caravan park, had a lovely coffee and then walked along the shoreline with a friend.

getting into Hervey Bay

pretty

Day 5: Hervey Bay (a break day)

I didn’t touch my bike today!  🙂  I enjoyed a lovely day of whale watching and walking around Hervey Bay with a new cycling friend.

Here I am on the 1107m long Urangan Pier

baby whale tail

always amazing to see whales

Day 6: Hervey Bay to Tiaro (79km)

Back on the bike!  This was one of my favourite rides; I felt strong and fast.  Tiaro was my favourite camp spot; very pretty and the food stalls run by the community were excellent.  Great live band again that night.

lovely spot just before we rode into Tiaro

A view of the mountains around Tiaro. We had 2 shower trucks, 2 toilet trucks, on the right you can see the catered food tent and dining tents.

Day 7: Tiaro to Gympie (102km)

This was the big one!  A very long, windy and hilly ride but I got through it and I felt great (yet also exhausted & sweaty!) once I accomplished it.  The best part of this ride was the Dickabram Bridge.  This bridge is the oldest remaining large steel truss bridge in Queensland. It was built in 1886 and spans the Mary River.  I was still missing my family on this day but by then I had a nice routine of meeting fun friends at breaks and dinner time.

Dickabram Bridge, Miva

There were approx. 140 volunteers to help organize, set-up and run this massive adventure. The volunteers were great. Here is one volunteer entertaining us with lovely music while we crossed the Dickabram bridge

Here I am with the Dickabram Bridge in the background. This was a great break spot to chat with friends and enjoy some homemade cake slices provided by the local community groups

Day 8: Gympie to Cooroy (59km)

More hills in absolutely gorgeous country.  I was looking forward to the end of this ride because my husband would be picking me up from Cooroy.

I decided to end my cycling adventure on this day.  It wasn’t a difficult decision for me….another night in a tent and an easy 30km ride to the finish line OR a wonderful afternoon with my husband and enjoying a luxurious evening in a resort hotel at Noosa.  It was a wonderful way to end my week long cycling adventure.  🙂

early morning ride in the country around Gympie

awesome scenery while riding through Pomona

A great afternoon at Noosa beach with my husband

Here I am relaxing in the Noosa resort pool. I’m probably thinking about the 510 kms that I had cycled in the past week and all the great people that I had met.

Day 9: my kids

My husband and I drove back to our home in south Brisbane.  I unpacked my bags and did 3 loads of washing.  I then drove another 2 hours down the coast to the Byron Bay, New South Wales region to pick up my kids from my Mum’s place.  The drive down the coast gave me time to think about all of the experiences that I had during the last week.  I had met many wonderful people of all different ages and fitness levels.  I cycled 510 kms and enjoyed most of it (I could have done without that mountain in Gayndah!).  I got to have a break from my daily routine and I was surprised at how quickly I had missed my children.  I did not miss the study!  Oh and how great are my Mum and Dad for taking great care of my children for 9 days?!!!  Thanks to Mum & Jim.  🙂

My awesome kids at Wategos beach, Byron Bay

Indigenous Literacy Day

Today is Indigenous Literacy Day in Australia.  Who knew?  My son didn’t hear anything about this at school today….hmmm!

I think it’s a great initiative.  I wish my son and I had been in Riverview today to celebrate it and to meet Andy Griffiths.

I love the idea of the Great Book Swap

The Booker Award

Ivon Prefontaine from the Teacher as Transformer blog has nominated me for The Booker Award.  Ivon shares wonderful poetry and lots of great pictures that makes me want to get out and travel more.  I sincerely want to thank Ivon for this honour and also for the encouragement to get back to posting on here!  (btw, I’ll be on a 9-day cycling trip soon so won’t be posting for a while again)

First, I am required to choose my top 5 books.  Well, that really is an impossible task….so here’s an interesting mix!

1. ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding – I first read this book in High School and I loved it. This book includes gore, tragedy, emotion, community, bullying and hope.
2. ‘Punished by Rewards’ by Alfie Kohn – I read this when my son was young and I believe that Alfie’s idea of parenting would probably save the planet, if only we’d listen!  Now as a teacher and a parent I see how rewards/punishment can really screw up kids, their relationships with parents & teachers and their view of community.
3. ‘Sailing Promise’ by Alayne Main – my husband and I used to own a 25′ Catalina sailing boat when we lived near Lake Ontario.  During our boating years I read a lot of sailing books.  This book made me dream about different life possibilities and also was an interesting insight into the early years of a relationship.
4. ‘Happiness and Education’ by Nel Noddings – well, if you’ve been reading my posts you might have noticed that I refer to Noddings often.  Three years ago I read her philosophy of an “ethics of care” and it instantly clicked with me, it’s the way that I believe I taught and lived my life after my first child was born….it wasn’t just about me anymore, I was interested and cared about what other people thought/felt etc.
5. ‘Game of Thrones’ by George R. R. Martin – oh yeah, men with swords!  🙂

The following are some blogs that I follow that are interesting, fun and sometimes inspiring.  Check them out!

The Zebra Clan

Catherine Cronin

Bianca Hewes

My Island View

Jenny Connected

Katie is a Teacher

User Generated Education

Matt Britland

Alice Leung’s Blog

Gardening with Children

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this is good reading…I hope everyone has had at least had one great teacher in their lives

Memos from the Middle

Class was over, but the bell had not yet rung. She pulled her reddish lipstick out of her purse and applied it expertly to her lips.

“How do you do that without a mirror?” I asked.

“I’ve had these lips my whole life,” she said. “When you’re my age, you’ll be able to do that too.” This solidified the “cool” tag I’d already given her.

But it wasn’t just the lipstick application that made her cool. It was also the way she could totally dismiss the “dumb questions” teachers always say don’t really exist with a quick, “Are you kidding?” in one breath and embrace them with the nurturing “Come see me tomorrow at lunch,” in the next. It was the way she could command the attention and respect from a bunch of rambunctious junior high kids by just walking into the room. It was the way the crowd in…

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