Word Work Bingo

Via Twitter PrimaryPete was asking about activities and games to support spelling.  Word Work Bingo is a not a new concept, if you have a look around Pinterest there are lots of versions of this.  For this one I have rearranged other versions with some of my students favourite spelling tasks like Pyramid Writing, Rainbow Writing, Sign Language Words and the Word Search.

But the form of Word Work Bingo, is a new(ish) format in my class and my students seem to really be enjoying using it.  They work through the tasks and colour in an activity as they go.  Over and above this we also use buddy time and spellingcity to work on words (words and meanings to be able to use the words properly!)  

These form the basis of Working With Words as 1 part of the Daily 5 activities we use.

Click here to download a version of this Word Work Bingo

Click here to download the Code

Click here to download the Word Search Template

With SpellingCity I create a Google Docs spreadsheet that has each groups words for the term.  I can add to them each week but students can view their words from home, school or wherever.  At the bottom you'll see a Spellingcity link.  This links to their individual list where they can click on it and head off to SpellingCity to complete activities based on their words.  It also allows any extra games or activities I come across to be placed at the bottom for kids to come back to.

Using the Google spreadsheet acts as a nice way to collate all the information for each access both by my students and I.

QR Codes

I've been talking a lot to one of our fantastic school librarians about utilising QR Codes in the school library.  We decided that my class would have a go at creating QR Code reviews for our junior students.  As each class has 2 iPad 2's in their class, we thought that they could bring them to the library and use them to listen to reviews and recommendations about books.

After a bit of research and the amazing twitterverse I came across a site called QR Voice - which allows you to create voice QR Codes from text.  The only drawback is that it only allows 100 characters! Eek! But this worked out to be quite a fun element to creating our QR Code recommendations.

The following is the step through of the session for developing these in your class.

Developing Voice QR Codes using QRVoice.net

Prior to the creating the QR Codes:

Session 1:
Spend some time together talking about QR Codes - have the students seen them before? Most of my students had seen them out and about but only 1-2 had knowledge of what they were for.  We talked about where we had seen them and then I showed the kids an example of what we were going to do.  This had them hooked in as they loved the QR Code scanning process.

Session 2:
The students self selected a text from our school library that they thought would be a great read for a Year 1/2 student.  This was done a week before the session.  This gave them time to read it in class and to a year 2/3 buddy throughout the week.  It helped them to be more familiar with the text - which is important.

Creating the QR Codes:

We came together around the data projector and went over what we know about QR Codes.  The kids were buddied up in pairs, selected by the teacher for a range of abilities.  Each part was broken up to allow the students to work through each element.  As groups of kids finished I ran quick workshops sharing the next stage.  This worked really well as it allowed us a group of finishers who became experts helping out other students etc.

Step 1 - Creating the recommendation/review

To create the review we encouraged kids to come up with 2-3 keywords from the story that explains the story and would make people want to read that story.  We talked a bit about who our audience was - 5/6 year olds and what would interest them.  We discussed genres and how that would help someone decide if it was a good book for them or not.  The key here is to also remember that QRVoice.net will only allow 100 characters to be used for the QR Code it creates.

An example is the book Boy by Roald Dahl
(This was the class example I used with my year 5/6 students.  My students all used picture books aimed at year 1 and 2 students)

Keywords were:
Funny - funny stories
Tricks - Roald Dahl played a lot of tricks
Autobiography - Roald Dahl as a kid

The next step was to then use these keywords to create 2 sentences that landed under 100 characters.  They would form at least 2 sentences that used the keywords and recommended the book.

Example:

This autobiography is a great read for those that like funny stories and great tricks.

A great read for those people who like funny books, tricks, practical jokes and more in this great read.

An autobiography that shares Roald Dahls funny childhood. Tricks, practical jokes and more.  It's a must read!

From here they then used the 100 characters template to see if it would fit in 100 characters or less.

Step 2: Creating the QR Code

I created a folder on our server that contained everything the students needed for this session.  This included:

- A html link to the QRVoice.net website
(To create this just click on the website address and drag it down to the desktop - it will give you an icon you can quickly click on to link to that website.)
- The 100 hundred characters template
- 100 hundred characters example
- QR Code Template
- Folder for finished QR Codes to go into

You could easily do all of this through google docs but for this session we used Pages as the placeholder for the QR codes.  It was easier to collate them all again at the end and print them.

Students went to QR Voice and typed in their recommendation.

When they were complete they clicked on the blue button to the side and their QR Code was created.

The students then took a screen shot of the QR Code ready for the next step.

The QR Code template was then opened up in Pages.  Students deleted the example QR Code and dropped their new QR Code in it's place.  They then updated the title of the book and reviewer.  Once this was complete the students used 'File' and 'Save As' to create their own saved QR Code into the finished folder.

To help step through this process I included the instructions again on the bottom of the QR Code template - this allowed the students another place to refer to when creating their codes.

An example of the template is below:

The kids then stuck them to the front of their books.  We have been using the class iPod and student devices to access the codes using QR Reader or i-nigma.  The kids have loved sharing their learning with each other and seeing the end product.

QRVoice is a great wee tool - the voice is a bit robotic but it's a bit of fun.  Our next step is to continue using them with our fotobabble book sells and book reviews on our class blogs and websites to share more reviews with our school.  I'm really keen to keep utilising voice and video with the QR Codes to allow access for a range of students across the school.

If you have any other questions please leave a comment and I will get back to you.

You are also able to download the 100 characters template here.

Numbers Game

League Tables... boiling students and schools down to 'comparable' numbers.  Really? Is this what our world class New Zealand education is going to do to our kids? For our parents?

It boils our schooling down to a system that worries too much about numbers and not enough about the kids those numbers represent.

Just over a month prior to todays release you were saying National Standards data wouldn't be shared this year as it was "ropey" (NZ Herald, 3rd July). Then why, oh why would you share data today that you, yourself as the Minister of Education, still deems as "variable" (NZ Herald Article, 8th August).  That's a pretty short attention span, dear Minister.

I get frustrated every time I hear Hekia Parata talk about 1 in 5 kids that are failing.  But yet a student in my class who still needs support and has 'exhausted his timing' with a Resource Teacher, so he is no longer eligible for the support he needs.   I could count on numerous hands the number of kids I've taught over 10 years where they are not 'low enough' to receive the additional support that they need or they have 'exhausted their hours of support' or are on waiting lists months long, that's if they are actually 'low enough' for me to submit the pages of paperwork to get them on the waiting list.  

I have been lucky to work with one of the most amazing RT Lits I have encountered.  Who has a heart of gold for the kids she works with and a talent at supporting kids to get them back on track.  I know it frustrates her having to drop kids off and look at the long line of students waiting for her golden support.  But none of this is being addressed. Why?

This opinion piece from the Manawatu Times entitled 'When Schoolings Not So Simple' caught my eye today.  The author talks about some of the ownership coming not just solely on the schools but also onto the parents.  Also about "politicians scoring points by messing with our schools".  To me, this sums it up.  I don't see a huge want from the government to make a difference to this famed 1 out of 5 children who are failing.  If they did, they would be coming into our classrooms and asking us what we really need to help these kids succeed.  But I see a group of people who have no real understanding of what is happening in our schools and what needs to be done.  It's easy to blame teachers and schools for what is happening as a government can manage that.  When will we see a government turn around to their voters and ask them to 'adult up' and become the parents we want for our New Zealand kids?

The fact is... schooling isn't that simple.  It can't be boiled down to a set of numbers and nor should it.  There are so many human factors that also influence our students achieving. Disabilities, families, relationships, prior school experience are just some factors that need to be considered.  But they aren't being discussed.  Paul Callister (Callister & Associates) dug deeper into the 'White Flight' debate that mainstream media took up a few months ago.  They dug into the trends and analysed the actual data to come up with an entirely different view of what was happening with low decile schools.  They talk about that fact that "there are significant inequalities in New Zealand society, including schooling.  There are also major demographic, economic and social changes taking place in schools and wider society.  The inequalities and changes need analysis and debate."  There is no debate into these issues.  The mainstream media picks it up when it's a slow news day and then we are lulled back into a false sense that's everything is ok.  Because it's not on the nightly news.  But teachers are just one of the groups who face this reality everyday while trying to make educational shifts for students.

The Government wants National Standards numbers so badly from all the schools yet brand spanking new charter schools won't have to comply to them.  Start something 'new and exciting' that is going to "target those pupils who leave school without any qualifications..." (Hekia Parata, NZ Herald, 3rd August).  You want public schools to focus on breaking this statistic through National Standards but yet charter schools don't need to be part of the National Standards comparisons.  Interesting...

I am surrounded by the most amazing teachers in my school.  Who support, encourage and deliver an amazing curriculum.  We collaborate, co-operate and share resources and ideas without even thinking.  In our school we have teachers who teach amazing drama and dance... we have an artist who fosters a passion for the Visual Arts in her students... we have gymnastic coaches who are patient and supportive in developing gymnasts and that's just to name a few.  There are teachers who look for all the talents that a student brings to the classroom, not just as another number in their class.

Professor Thrupp from Waikato University spent 6 years investigating education markets and accountability in schools in Britain.  He talks about how in schools "There becomes a national standards economy - a way of thinking where they narrow their teaching focus to just reaching those targets." (NZ Herald, League Tables for 'Sport', not schools).  What's to stop this from happening? Nothing at the moment.  Schools are scared of what National Standards mean for them.  Not scared of sharing the data, but scared about what people's perception of this data means for their schools and their students.

What happens next? The data is collected and you have your below, at and above standards.  What are you going to do next to help me support my students who are deemed below this standard line?

The Government has followed the National Standards path with determination
bullying and threats to close schools amongst some of them.  How can you trust a Government who uses this as the way to get their education system to comply to something they so honestly see as disruptive and useless.
For example, the 208+ principals who signed the 'Open Letter to the Minister' this month declaring their mistrust in National Standards. How can you argue against such a strong group of educational leaders? I'm proud to say that my principal is represented amongst that list.  I don't believe there are any benefits to our students from what is happening with the Government's tactics.

I choose to teach.  I love teaching and I wouldn't be doing anything else. My day does not consist solely of Writing, Reading and Maths.  I know these areas are important but what about innovation, creativity and problem solving?  What about the other subjects I teach each week... term... year? Maori, Art, Written Language, Oral Language, Art, Drama, Dance, Spelling, Grammar, PE, Health, Life Skills... I could continue.  Where is the acknowledgement in the array of skills that our teachers and schools are offering and fostering in our kiwi kids?

But all you want to know about... are the numbers.

Image used under Creative Commons from: e y e / s e e

Conversations and Collaborations

Educamps.
A fairly common word now in New Zealand education, but one that doesn't lose any of it's stamina as the years go by.  This year saw my 5th year of attending Educamps and I love them.  It's such an awesome chance to catch up with amazing tweeps, bloggers and educators from around New Zealand.

Christchurch - Burnside High
This year I travelled to Christchurch for their first educamp run by Pauline and Anne.  It was great to be surrounded by a new set of faces and people.  They are such strong educators who have been pushing through some pretty hard times.  It was hard to be in the centre of town and see the devastation that has occurred in Christchurch.  Being there was so much more than seeing it on the nightly news.  But the educators that were in the room were passionate, keen and had a great sense of humour.  The conversations that went on ranged from BYOD, Daily 5 through to iPads and mobile technologies.  It was great to finally get to meet awesome edutweeps like Judykmck who has helped me a lot with Daily 5/CAFE understanding and ideas through her sharing.  Paulinehendog and many others!  I had the chance to take along a educamp newbie from Christchurch Aimee and converted her to the educamp way.  She's already looked to sign up her husband and a few others for padcamp in a few weeks time!  Find out more and see some more pics about eduCamp Chch here in a post from Anne.


Auckland - Stonefields School
I arrived a bit late and educamp was in full swing.  A packed room, in fact so packed that the participants were listening from the outside of the room.  It started with a full on smackdown with a list of people to share that got bigger as people were standing up to present.  From here we broke off into each of the different areas.  It was nice to have a chance to have a look around Stonefields and see a new school.  Some nice spaces and areas and a fabulous play area for the kids.  We had a great bounce on the bouncey floor in the playground at the end of the day (who said they were made for kids!)

There was another huge array of conversations of offer in Auckland.  BYOD, iPads, Daily 5, Minecraft... just to name a small array of topics.  For more information check out the shared Google Doc that gets created at each eduCamp to help capture the day.

I had the chance to be involved in another great round of discussion about Daily 5 and CAFE with a bunch of teachers who are already using it and those that are keen to use it.  It was great to talk to some other teachers who had been implementing it in their class and look at how they adapt and change elements to work for them.  This year Daily 5 has unfolded into different parts in my class and the CAFE element has as well.  I've been able to pick the best of the best from last year and am using it to suit the students I have in front of me.  One of the great things I love about the management and set up of Daily 5.

The day was another great chance to network and catch up with another round of fabulous bloggers and edutweeps.  I had a chance to meet some new ones too and form some new twitter connections.  One of the best things about this day is the people.  There is something powerful about being in a room full of passionate and keen educators and being a part of those conversations.  So, if you are interested... or just curious... check out the educamp wiki to see when the next one near you is happening!

Long live Educamps!

Just a couple of the reasons I go to eduCamp - amazing educators!

Anne K, Fiona Grant and I