workshop

Horizon International Bilingual School – Vietnam

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I’m really looking forward to a long-term relationship with the Horizon International Bilingual School in Vietnam.  On Monday, 1 August we will work together withe staff from both the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh campuses.

This Web page will provide links to some of the activities and resources we will be using.

Morning Session

Activity #1 – What does great learning feel like?

Lunch Break

Activity #2 – Demonstration – Curriculum Design and Mapping in Edumate

  • I will move through how the Curriculum Design Module works to support what matters most to HIBS
  • Then relate this to the Learning Alignment System and review Scope & Sequence and Curriculum Portet

Refreshment Break

Activity #3 – Presentation and Review Teams

Activity #4 – an Overview of Edumate

  • Quick Tour:
    • Dashboard & Portal
    • Attendance and Learning Observations
    • Learning Tasks and Markbook
    • Academic Reports
    • Student and Parent Portals
  • “Closing the Loop” for continuous Improvement
  • Staying focused on the journey

School Library Conference WA

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SLCWA-In_your_Dreams

Links for the sessions:

 

I’m excited to be participating in the The School Library Conference (SLC) on 3-4 June at Wesley College in South Perth.  The conference is presented by the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia (AISWA) Libraries and the Western Australian School Library Association (WASLA).

Because of my long association and friendships with teacher librarians in Western Australia – and their great conference theme — I’m using this as an opportunity to reflect on my dreams as a young educator and the decades-long journey into the current reality.  As I described the keynote for the programme:

What Happens to a Dream Achieved?

In a time of change and turmoil, poet Langston Hughes asked his provocative question, “What happens to a dream deferred?” As we continue to tick along into the 21st Century surrounded by more gadgets, richer media and smarter algorithms, we might want to ask, “What happens to a dream achieved?” Unravelling both questions allows Tom March to explore the recent past and current situation with the goal of daring to dream a desirable future. Inspired by the conference theme and his many years in education meeting with teacher librarians in Perth, Tom uses this keynote as an opportunity to venture into the world of “In Your Dreams.” Weaving together an illustrated story of personal anecdotes and professional aspirations, Tom hopes to both inspire and challenge his fellow curriculum leaders currently working in WA school libraries. The presentation uses the personal to appeal to the universal. It blends a young educator’s goals and the professional journey that has followed through reflective story telling. Tom ventures into the worlds of great literature and literature review; former students and future world leaders; old models and new paradigms – all with the intent of engaging the audience in a significant shared experience that leaves us all with a dream in all our hearts and a direction in our steps.

I will also lead concurrent session offered twice in the day:

Unpacking your next era of education
All schools have made progress with student access to rich media, one-to-one devices and smart software. Many have jumped in with both feet and a handful of initiatives. Does the right hand know where the left foot is going? In other words, when left to their own devices, are students flourishing like never before or is technology more disruptor than accelerator of learning? Perhaps something was missed when the digital initiatives were designed? This session unpacks Tom’s Next Era Ed model and empowers teacher librarians to contribute to their school’s wisely-guided systemic change.

During the sessions I will share some of the latest features in Hobsons’ constantly-developing curriculum Design and Delivery platform.

This will be a great couple of days so if you are in the Perth area, I encourage you to come along.

Free Workshops – Looking for Your Interests

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I’m using this poll to gather input on a series of free workshops to be held in the eastern states of Australia. I will also create videos / webinars to share online for the 3 most popular, so vote away!
Also, use the comments link to share other topics you’re interested in.

Northside Christian in December

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Hello Again!

Thanks to Stephen, Chris, the Teaching and Learning Committee and the ISV for giving us another day to work together.  Below is the agenda and related activities, but overall the main objective is to take your great Vision and begin to build a curriculum that can make it a reality.

Today’s Agenda:
  • Revisit your Vision: “Our Job” & “Successful Learners”
  • Tame the (Australian) Curriculum
  • The Edge-ucators Way – a model for Authentic Learning

Revisit your Vision

  • “Our Job” & “Successful Learners” – On Google Docs
  • Take the Poll

Tame the (Australian) Curriculum

The Edge-ucators Way – a model for Authentic Learning

How Real, Rich and Relevant Learning supports your goals:

ISV Showcase and Wrap-up

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Hello one and all!

It’s been along time since we’ve seen one another, but this is a great day when we get to do two main things:

  1. Share our experiments integrating ICTs and authentic learning
  2. Look toward 2014 and discuss strategies to support successful change.

Update

Because it’s been a while since our last session, please update everyone on some of the things you’ve been up to in the interim.  Use the Comments feature of this post to do this, so then later people can reply to you to leave their feedback when we get into “Sharing” next.

Sharing

Below are links to things workshop participants have used or developed this year.  Please take time to look through each and then Leave a comment for the author.

Concurrent Activity: 2014 and Beyond: Making Personal Learning a Reality

Andrew
Ben
Gjulsime
Ian
Jasmine
Jo
Narelle
Penny
Sadia
Sonia
Taya

2014

Schoolwide
Personal

Resources

Here are some other resources people have found useful that they wanted to share.

Web 2.0
Apps

Review & Farewell

  • Debrief 2014
  • Reviewing Next Era Ed

A Day with Stella Maris

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 Welcome!

stella1Today is a full day of professional learning with the whole staff of Stella Maris College.  As the starting point for everything, we’ll see what people see as the Challenges they face.

Agenda

Here’s a list of the main points we’ll focus on for today:

  • Understanding the challenges we face
  • Defining how we see our job
  • Setting a clear, indisputable and shared vision of our goals for students.
  • Using technology to facilitate authentic, engaging and personalised learning
  • Considering what’s needed to revise the curriculum to support 1:1 Digital Learning

Activity #1: Your Greatest Challenges

Brainstorm (anonymously?) the greatest challenges of your job

stella-wordle

Activity #2: What is your Job?

  1. Work in your small groups to discuss this question.
  2. As a small group, compose one sentence that best captures your group’s thinking?
  3. One at a time each group will modify a compilation description:

What is your Job? One Sentence Essence

When you are not the “modifying group,” you will engage in Activity #3 below.

Activity #3 – Explore “Look to Learns”

While your colleagues are modifying the “One Sentence Essence” of your job, please explore the links below. After this “discover immersion” session, You will be asked the following questions:

  1. What are the key components of the activity format?
  2. What do you think the purpose of these activities are?
  3. What would be the educational value of such activities?
  • Also – Explore the latest Look to Learn’s in the Stream or Archive

Morning Tea

Activity 4 – Review & De-brief

Challenges

  • Challenges: Logistics or Learning?: Word Doc
  • Review – 20th vs 21st Century Schooling?
  • Presentation on Learning?

Our Job

  • Review the One Sentence Essence & its evolution.
  • Our Job: Teaching or developing successful Learners?

Activity 5: Our Mandated Job – Learning in the 21st Century

Presentation – How 1:1 Changes “School”

Melbourne Declaration

“The development of the Australian Curriculum will occur over three broad timeframes and is guided by two key documents: the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (pdf) and the Shape of the Australian Curriculum (pdf).”

from the opening paragraph on the Curriculum page of the ACARA Web site.

Validation from the Shape of the Australian Curriculum:

The curriculum development work of ACARA is guided by the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, adopted by the Ministerial Council in December 2008. The Melbourne Declaration emphasises the importance of knowledge, skills and understanding of learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities as the basis for a curriculum designed to support 21st century learning.

The Melbourne Declaration’s vision of “successful learners” (what would you add?)

Where’s the Teaching?

Activity 6 – Look to Learn

Resources

Look to Learn

Edge-ucators Way

  C E Q • A LL / Seek all!

Self-managed Learning Framework for students

Working with Northside Christian College

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 Hello!

ncc2Now that I’m back from the US, I look forward to working with staff at Northside Christian College for 2 days of professional learning.

Agenda

Here’s an evolving list of the main points we’ll focus on for the two days:

  • Setting a clear, indisputable and shared vision of our goals for students.
  • Using technology to facilitate differentiated, personalised learning outcomes
  • Using formative analysis of student work to refine learning activities
  • Revising the curriculum to support 1:1 Digital Learning

Activity #1: Your Greatest Challenges

Activity #2: What is your Job?

Explore

While your colleagues are modifying the “One Sentence Essence” of your job, please explore the links below. You will be asked the following questions:

  1. What do you think the purpose of these activities are?
  2. What would be the educational value of such activities?
  3. What are the key components of the activity format?

Review the One Sentence Essence & its evolution.

Activity 3: Presentation – Learning in THIS era.

  • Challenges: Logistics or Learning?
  • Job – Teaching or developing Learners?

Activity 4: Owning the Vision

Melbourne Declaration

“The development of the Australian Curriculum will occur over three broad timeframes and is guided by two key documents: the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (pdf) and the Shape of the Australian Curriculum (pdf).”

from the opening paragraph on the Curriculum page of the ACARA Web site.

Validation from the Shape of the Australian Curriculum:

The curriculum development work of ACARA is guided by the Melbourne Declaration
on Educational Goals for Young Australians, adopted by the Ministerial Council in
December 2008. The Melbourne Declaration emphasises the importance of knowledge,
skills and understanding of learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum
priorities as the basis for a curriculum designed to support 21st century learning.

The Melbourne Declaration’s vision of “successful learners” (what would you add?)

Activity 5 – Look to Learn

Resources

Blogging – WordPress

 

C E Q • A LL / Seek all!

Self-managed Learning Framework for students

 

ISV 2 Day Workshop

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 Welcome Cutting Edge-ucators!

It’s always nice to start another year of seminars at Independent Schools Victoria. Please go to the special Workshop Page to get into the activities and resources.  This session is Called “Cutting Edge-ucators – Leverage Learning Theory with Powerful ICTs”.

King’s College

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Ice-Breaker / Warm-up!

Before formally beginning today, please add any Questions or Comments by using the comments feature of this post.

Welcome to 2013!

Just as we began last year, 2013 starts off with sessions at King’s College in Warrnambool, Victoria. This follows on with the commitment of a King’s College team who participated in a 5 Day workshop series at Independent Schools Victoria and continued focus on teaching and learning.

Like many schools, King’s is running an iPad program for Year 7 & 8 students.  However, unlike most other schools, the Head of King’s College is himself an Apple Distinguished Educator.  We will also capitalise on a Triple T (Try This Tomorrow) culture using Look to Learn activities to promote Visible Thinking.

Let’s Get Started!

Activity 1

Activity 2

Look to Learn – Making Thinking Visible

Activity 3

Activity 4 – CEQ•ALL

  • Review the Rubric (pdf) – How could you use this for a group or research project?
  • Think-Pair-Share

Break-out Sessions

  • Junior – Look to Learn and CEQ•ALL
  • Middle & Senior – Look to Learn, ClassPortals, WebQuests and CEQ•ALL

  

Resources for Breakout Sessions

WordPress? – Creating your Online Platform

Look to Learn

Weekly – Participation in Blogs

RSS Feeds

Other Media

Social Bookmarking

The ClassPortal Twist

References:

C E Q • A LL / Seek all!

Self-managed Learning Framework for students

The Pedagogy

Pedagogy Review

Of course my focus will be on pedagogy and powerful frameworks so that the individual good work of teachers contributes to a whole-school impact on authentic and engaged learning for students. Those I find most powerful for 1:1 personal learning are Self-Determination Theory, Cultures of Thinking, Habits of Mind, Flow Theory, Grit and Authentic Happiness.

Extension: WebQuests – Transforming Information to New Understanding

The WebQuest Designer’s Checklist – especially “Transformative Thinking”

Ah-ha. That’s what we’re after. Yes students can learn a lot of information from the Web, but it offers so much more. When you think you’ve got your WebQuest shaping up, really look hard and long at what you’re asking students to do. Look at their cognition, not their outputs here. What’s going on in the learners’ brains? The usual place in a WebQuest to engage learners in higher order thinking is during that phase when they come back together from developing expertise in their separate roles. The right way to do this is to give the groups a task that requires them to make new meaning, not just to assemble the separate pieces they have learned about. This is the tough part, but it’s the critical piece. Good luck.

Transformations Sampler

Help pages from Web-and-Flow

Current Examples

The Edge-ucators Way Strategies

 

 

Whole Staff Re-Cap

Slides on Change 

EtherPad on “What I want to make routine in 2013”

Review of 2012

  • Presentation 2012: Core ideas, implications & how to initiate and sustain?
  • Reflecting on Change: Why do we want to?  Why do we have to? 

So How do We Change?

  • Daily – micro lesson level
  • Weekly – participation in Blogs
  • Unit Level – CEQ•ALL for Inquiry units / Research
  • School-wide – Change management, Making Thinking Visible 

Studies of Asia – October Workshop

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Welcome

Please begin by using the comments link on this post to share your personal learning goals for this workshop.

I have the pleasure of facilitating another 2 Day workshop for the Studies of Asia group at the Victorian department of education. Lindy Stirling, State Advisor, Studies of Asia (see the Studies of Asia Wiki) has organised this session at the Clifton’s in Melbourne’s beautiful CBD.

After adding your comment, you might like to download the handouts for this 2 Day Workshop

Studies of Asia Links

Participants’ Blogs

Activity 1: Great examples from previous Studies of Asia Workshops

To get a sense of what we will be creating over the next two days, please explore the work created by participants in previous sessions.  Try to notice the features, strategies and benefits gained from such a learning platform.

Brainstorm what you noticed using a shared Stixy board

Activity 2: Creating your Online Platform

Fine-tuning your Blog

Resources

Interesting Videos (all on YouTube)

Images for your blog (Creative Commons-licensed content)

Podcasts

Links

Added Bonus?:Web 2 Tools

Presentation Interludes

Activity 3: Look to Learn

“Asian” Tumblr Look to Learns

Work Period

Task: Create 2 – 4 5 – 10 Look to Learn Activities for your students

Activity 3: Enrich your site with content and rich media

RSS Feeds

Other Media

Activity 4: Manage your Rich Media Links

Activity 5: The ClassPortal Twist

References:

For Ideas & Inspiration

C E Q • A LL / Seek all!

Self-managed Learning Framework for students

Feedback – links!