Overdrive - eBooks

A not so recent discovery that has been a fantastic find is the app 'Overdrive' which is a eBook reader for the NZ and worldwide libraries.  I was led to this app through the Auckland City Council and my love of books.  It's a great app for adults and even better for students with devices and it's simple and free to access and use.

I'm going to share from the perspective of Auckland City Library - as this is the library I use. However, a quick google, led me to an article saying around 40 NZ libraries had signed up to using Overdrive as one of their core apps (there are several others) to deliver eBooks through.  All you need is to be a member of the particular library in order to issue books.

To use Overdrive, you simply need to download the app which is available on apple and android, as well as a web version.  From here you need to add a library through the side bar, log in using your library card number and you are away.  The app is simple to navigate and move through.  The tool bar on the left hand side gives you access to your library, bookshelf and more.

When searching for books a small symbol on the top right hand corner tells you automatically if they are in (black book) or currently issued (grey book).

 By tapping on the book cover, it takes you to more in-depth information about the book where you can download a small sample of the book, read a blurb, see how many copies are available and how many 'holds' there may currently be on a title.

If the book is currently issued you are able to reserve a book by using the 'Borrow' function. You are able to change options easily and see how many people are ahead of you in the queue before you can get your hands on the book.  The brilliance of this 'holds' area is that you can set up an email alert to let you know when the book has become available for you.  You can set the book to automatically be added to your shelf when it is yours to read. Very handy!

A simple layout of the 'Wish List' - which are the books you would like to come back to at another time.

The account area gives you a quick glance to where you are for issues, holds and how many books are currently available from your wish list too.

I know I have enjoyed watching the range grow and develop.  Overdrive is also involved in the library Big Read - a global event which happens once a year, where 2 books for children/teens are available to read.  People are also invited to take part in the discussion through twitter and blogs.  

Just a quick overview of the Overdrive app - my students have enjoyed beginning to use it and the luxury of having free eBooks at their fingertips.  Happy reading!

Fotobabble

This year I've begun to look at student voice in the classroom and how students can use voice tools in their learning to more effect.  Fotobabble is one app/website that can be used in such a variety of ways and students enjoy using it.  Fotobabble is one of our 'go to' apps and websites because of it's simplicity.

The idea of Fotobabble is simple.  Take a photo, drawing or image of any kind and upload it to Fotobabble   From here all you need to do is press 'record' to record your voice talking about the image.  Press 'stop' to stop recording then 'play' to listen to it. Simple? Indeed!  From here you are able to name it and save it ready to upload to websites, intranets or link to from tweets and more.

If you have an ipod touch, iphone or ipad this process is even simpler by taking a photo from right in the app. Pressing the 'record' button to record your voice and press it again to stop.  From here you can listen to it then get it ready to send to the Fotobabble site or embed into a blog or wiki etc

The simplicity of the website and the app is what makes it so beneficial to a range of learners - young to old.  Here are a few examples of Fotobabble in the classroom - we used it to share our learning and understanding about different aspects of ANZAC Day: https://sites.google.com/site/2012sps8/anzac-day/anzac-work

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.

Independent Planner Reflection

We have a range of learning spaces in our class which provide the students with a chance to decide where they learn. Tall tables to keep an eye on the class, bean bags to slouch in, individual tables/spaces to work solo through to group tables that allow small to larger groups to work and learn together.  It's been great to have the opportunity to watch students learn about what best works for them. Some subjects students prefer the hustle and bustle of group learning spaces and then other subjects they prefer to work on their own.  If students know they have a lot of work to complete they often move themselves to the right space for them.  It's been a great learning curve for myself and students.

Over the last term and a bit I have been working with my class of Year 5/6 students to plan their learning at the beginning of the day.  Thus giving them a chance to decide when in the day their best learning happens.

A natural progression for the learners was to move into independent timetables.  Though these are still a transition point.  Everyday we discover a new way of doing these or small changes that help make this work.  At the moment we plan on paper - day by day for the week to allow for changes each day.  We have learnt to be increasingly flexible and work with what each day throws at us!

A few students plan on their iPod touch using the calendar feature and this works well for them.  The planning at the start of the day allows the students to locate other students they would like to work with and to decide when their best learning happens and how.  For some, this means getting the task they like the most completed first while for others it allows them to plan in more time for a task they know takes them a bit longer than what I would be able to allow them in a more structured setting.

Students work on a 'Must Do' and 'Can Do' system - where Must Do tasks are listed for their group - Maths, Reading and sometimes Writing.  The 'Must Do' tasks MUST be completed by the end of the day and the 'Can Do' tasks allow for early finishers, other learning focuses or tasks that need to be completed.  This means that at one time in the class students could be working on Xtramath, Brain Box sheets, reading to self, writing, completing reading tasks, filming, working with the teacher or any other variety of learning tasks.

At the start of the day the workshops are listed on the class planner.  At the moment workshops are offered by groups moving soon in to needs as well.  Each morning the student looks at the class planner to see what is on and when during the day will be independent planning time.  They also need to check here to see when their teaching workshop is.  They then check their group 'Must Do's' and 'Can Do's' and plan in their activities from here.

For some the planning of their learning came easily - it worked well for them.  For other students they have required lots of checking in, reflection and conversations to help guide them on their way.  It has required a lot of time and discussion as a class about what behaviours and attitudes we need to show and have to make it work in a respectful way for each other.  It's a huge ask - but they are doing it and on asking my students what they would prefer.... hands down, independent planners are their choice.

One of the hardest things with the planners were students perception of time and time it would take to complete a task.  Many would plan in unrealistic time frames - either too small or too big to complete tasks.  This has been one of the hardest elements to develop in planning.  We are moving towards more of a 'To Do List' type planning.  Where the students list what they need to do and then add it to their planner when they have completed it.  Knowing what they need to do and their timeframe could be a better way to plan the day for them.  As adults this is generally the way we would go around planning our own learning - so it could be a more natural way of working through this.  Especially for those students that find the time management harder to keep?

This has required a lot of big picture thinking combined with a lot of finer detail thinking and planning. The students enjoy it and it's great seeing learning conversations happen in the morning where students plan to meet up and complete tasks together - knowing that they work well in pairs or groups. There is still a long way to go but the changes and ideas that have formed from this have been great. I've been exceptionally lucky to share an office and a learning space with a very passionate teacher who is on a similar journey of independent learning with her students.  We have had some amazing conversations about the challenges and the successes of this style of classroom.  Without these conversations and a great thinker to learn alongside the process would have been more challenging. So, I'm very thankful for that opportunity.

Below I have attached links to free downloads for our planners that the students use.  These have been refined and developed as we have gone along.  They refinement and changes have come from the students.  Some like the space to plan while other find knowing 20 minute blocks more manageable to plan within.

20 Minute Planner

Open Spaces Planner

Ten minutes before lunch we get together and reflect on our learning - plan in for the next day any learning that we haven't completed.  The students can also plan with other students if they know they need some help or to work on something together.

We have a long way to go - but I'm proud of how far the students have come.  I'm really happy with the journey we've made

Educating Boys

Around 6 months ago a friend recommended a book called 'Educating Boys' by Michael Irwin to me.  I started it and then, like most books in term time, it got put to the side. Even thought I've been desperate to read it!  These holidays have meant that I have picked it up again and continued to read it.  It's a worthwhile read for anyone who are working with boys in education or who have boys at home.

Not a lot of the ideas and concepts are all that new to me e.g. boys need more movement, action learning and hands on approaches. But so far it has reinforced a lot of key teaching and learning concepts and approaches as well as ones that I have changed or don't use as much as I have previously.

A concept I linked into with learning is the idea of 'Play' as a basis for learning.  A place to hook old learning into new learning and to make discoveries.  Last year as part of our Daily5 reading work the students did 'Work with Words' which is basically spelling/grammar work.  As part of this I gave my year 4 students purple sand to draw words into and wikki stix to make letters with, amongst other tasks.  Initially I thought perhaps they wouldn't use them as they might deem them as 'babyish'.  Interestingly enough these were the items that were first taken by the students working in this area over and over again.  There was also a student developed system for letting people know you wanted to use them next.  Both of these were play items and I will use them with my Year 5/6 students this year again!  I also really liked the idea of having 'explorer' areas where there are things for the students (not just the boys!) to create or dismantle.  But also it's made me think about how I can create more areas for play in curriculum areas to diversify the teaching and learning process.

Exercise and Physical Education as a catalyst for more focussed work.  I know this and do a lot of this already as I see a huge difference in the students when there is more activity in the day.  But it's made me interested to look at starting each day or the breaking the middle block with a burst of focussed physical activity.  I've done this previously with 'Brain Breaks' and it's made a huge difference but it was something this year that I didn't use.
Also how I'm teaching Physical Education and the importance of making time for it.  Our school is well set up with our syndicates taking part in syndicate wide sports each term for at least 1 hour and also whole school Jump Jam each week.  This is a great base for our students and I know that my boys are always the first ones to be asking what sports they will be undertaking during this time and the first to complain if the weather is bad on sports afternoons!

It was interesting to read about the students who are coming into schools and the importance of teaching them to read and write from the first day and as early as 5.  Irwin talks about the fact that a lot of the teaching and learning for literacy has moved away from play based, making and creating into more 'talk and write' examples.  He stresses the importance of linking back to the play concepts and developmental play in the early years.  There has been a lot of talk about the Finish education system lately and how they excel with teaching and learning in worldwide comparisons.  Irwin interestingly points out the fact that students don't start school in Finland until they are 7 giving students more time to be involved in play.  Such a focus on literacy which in turn pushes out areas such as The Arts, Physical Education and Science out of the daily curriculum.  All areas that boys tend to excel in but don't get the opportunity to be as involved in.

So, I will continue to read, reflect and make links to my teaching practice and challenge ideas I have or have had and why I may not do them anymore.  I think it is a worthwhile read and while the focus is on educating boys, I do believe many of the concepts and ideas can equally be forwarded to girls and their learning needs.

Daily 5

Daily 5 is simply...

Work on Words

Read to Self

Read to Someone

Listen to Reading

Work on Writing

I'll explain more about the key areas in the blog post but first I want to explain about the process that got me interested in and using the Daily 5 model in my class.  I've found over many years that I've not been entirely happy with my Reading programme and the things that were happening as part of it.  I've had some definite successes throughout the years but nothing that has sit in that 'good place' alongside my philosophy for what I want.  This year I felt really unhappy with the written content of my "Reading" programme and that this was becoming the main way they would respond to books.  I can't think of the last time I sat down and wrote a bunch of information or answered questions after I read a book. But I CAN think of many times where I will talk about the book - retell it, share events, get excited and talk about all the aspects of the book with other people.  I was seeing students who were not that keen on reading as it meant written tasks afterwards.  I don't ever want to discourage a student from the joys of reading just because of the written tasks.  So along came several days, hours and minutes rigorously searching the internet and talking to people via twitter about what they were doing and why?  Some great conversations and I thank all those that answered questions and sent through examples of Reading setups and planning!

Daily 5 kept coming through on several searches and when it was combined with the idea of the CAFE model, this is when I saw that it was something that would fit in with my classroom and the kids I had in front of me this year.  So I spent many more hours searching through a range of websites and blog posts before I jumped onto Book Depository and ordered the books; 

The Daily Five and The CAFE Book.

The books are fantastic, practical and easy to read.  They explain where/how the programme was developed from, how to implement it and also how flexible and adaptable it can be.  This is one of the main things I love about the programme - it's structured but flexible in allowing you to change and alter what you want. There are people who are using the programme across the world from NE classes through to Year 7/8 - for more information check out the weekly Daily 5 chat (#d5chat on twitter).

So, onto the basics.  Daily 5 is an independent management system where the students take part in 5 daily activities.  In our class we do 3 of the activities a day - this is based on the time that we have.  The 3 activities are based around spelling, reading, listening to reading and writing.  Students have anchor charts that help to remind them what they are expected to be doing during each activity.  This is created with the kids and is what I come back to when the kids are off task.

The students come in at the start of the day and set about self selecting the tasks that they want to complete.  They each have 3 names in 3 different colours (1 colour for each rotation).  There are 3 rotations and they must select a different task for each one.  There is a number next to each activity which lets them know how many students can be on that activity in each rotation.

At the end of the session the kids complete a checklist that helps them keep track of what they have completed for the day/week and what they need to do.  It helps me identify those kids that will avoid certain activities and give them ideas/feedback and to spend some time with them to help them get under way!

A quick overview of each activity:

Read to Self

This is about independent reading.  

Finding a quiet space to read to themselves aloud or in their head.  

Read to Someone

This is about reading in a pair or three. 

Finding a quiet space to read to their group and talk about their book.

Listen to Reading

This is about listening to good models of reading.

Most students do this on their iPods or the laptops.  My aim was to have the students recording stories for each other, but unfortunately we haven't gotten there yet.  It's on my list for next year for sure!

Work on Writing

Developing a love of writing - comics, newspapers, poems and more.  All the free writing that the students don't get to do in the dedicated writing sessions during the week.  This is about writing for enjoyment and fun - self selected topics and styles.

Work on Words

Spelling or Grammar. This is about teaching spelling rules and grammar.  We have worked on spelling sounds through to words like homophones/homonyms.  I select these based on needs in the classroom and set up weekly/fortnightly word lists from there.

So, this is the basic information behind Daily 5.  There are an amazing amount of websites, links and places you can go to for more in-depth information.  This is really a quick overview and I would recommend getting your hands on the books to read if you are keen on looking at implementing Daily 5 in your classroom.  Some of my favourite sites are:

The 2 Sisters

Mrs Maiolo

Delightful Daily5

Open the door to B4

Integrating Technology In The Primary Classroom

Next post will focus on what I am doing while the kids are working on the Daily 5 tasks 

- the CAFE model!

Goodbye Delicious - Hello Symbaloo!

With the change over of delicious and all the problems that have gone alongside it, it has seen me seek out new ways to share and display learning links for my students.  With the change over the kids were quick to point out that tags were missing and it was hard to find links that they knew where to find previously.

So this sent me on hours (yes, hours) long search to find something that would allow me to create several pages but also allow the students to have visuals of the links they are wanting to use.  I really wanted to switch to a more visual form of bookmarking rather than word tags after myself enjoying Pinterest - a visual bookmarking tool due to the ease of use and visual way of organising links.

I had a play around with the delicious stacks - which at first seemed very promising.  Apart from when I kept getting 500 gateway errors from them.  When stacks did work it would only allow me to stack together my first page of links but not access the other pages.  Fiddly and unfun. So, I gave up.  I moved on to trialling websites like favoritus, portaportal, sitemarks and more - all visual bookmarking sites that looked extremely good.  All of them had the same problem for me.  The lack in ability to be able to create a standalone web page that had seperate pages for my links. Painful.

Then I remembered a site that I had previously played with and put into my 'could be helpful' pile of links. Symbaloo.  It's a simple idea - you create webmixes or pages of links.  Each link is a little coloured icon that you can arrange across your webmix.  The webmix can be shared via email, kept private, shared with the world or embedded into webpages.  So this is the angle I have taken.  I am creating seperate pages for each subject and colour coding links with visuals also.  The students used it in the last 2 days of term and the votes were pretty clear - all but 4 students loved the new Symbaloo system because of the colours, images and how easy it was to find links.  The 4 students who didn't like it said that it was because they were used to delicious.  Though 1 student did say he might like Symbaloo more once 'he got used to it' - awesome!

The image from above is from my Daily 5 wiki for the students.  This is one area I have created Symbaloo link pages and it has now become the portal that they will use for links.  They can either go straight to the page or jump to it via the class blog.  You can view the website here.

The colour coding system is quite handy also.  I have a student who is new to my class from overseas and has minimal english.  The links in orange are specifically set up for her - the students were great at showing her that they were for her and the second time on the computer she seemed to understand that this was a great area for her to start.

The other thing about Symbaloo that was a bonus is that the interface works on iPads and iPod touches.  One of my students became a fantastic tester and tried it out.  Unfortunately only 2 of the above links would run on an iPod - this has meant that I've created other Symbaloo's that will contain mobile device friendly links!

The biggest drawback is the time that this takes compared to setting up links in delicious - with the delicious bookmarking paglets it is extremely easy to link and tag websites.  While Symbaloo isn't as easy to tag websites at the moment the visual elements and arrangements for the students makes it far outweigh the time it takes me to add links in!

Digital Storytelling: Music & Visualisation

Pam Thompson posted this link up on twitter today and from the moment I saw the post I fell in love with the concept. Basically the concept is a simple one. Take a piece of music and create the images to work with the lyrics - take still shots and turn it into a music video... ta da!

I have a class that loves drawing. One boy in particular has a real passion for it and it's something I can use as a hook for getting him to complete a range of tasks. His favourite reading strategy is visualisation - creating an image in your head based on what you read. It's a great strategy as you get to see all sorts of amazing things come out when the students draw what is happening in the text as they read.

A fabulous idea and one that I would like to transfer into Reading towards the end of the term (if there's time!) In class the students have been looking at the poem Jabberwocky. It would be great to get a group of students to record themselves reading the poem, draw their visualisations of it and turn it into a movie of the poem. There is one group in particular I can see this working really well with as it would work towards their goals of visualisation and expression in their reading. Fingerscrossed there is time to make this happen!

In the meantime watch these examples:

Booktalk - Creating Success Criteria

We started the process by utilising their prior knowledge of the genre of reviews. We discussed all the elements that make a good review, what would they want to read or know in a review?

The important elements included:
* Setting of the book
* It's interesting - makes you want more!
* Makes sense
* Author/Title
* Characters
* Plot
* Catchy introduction
* A rating system

We then used these elements to create a review plan that was a checklist for all the things we would expect to see in a book review. This was then created in Kidspiration (mind mapping software) so that it could be saved for students to use when planning their reviews.


















Success criteria for our reviews was then developed with the students. As a group they discussed all the things they would expect to see in a good review. They also took into consideration that the 2 digital tools we are planning to use (glogster and garagband podcast) for our first round are different due to the written and oral presentation styles and factored this into the success criteria:


















The next step was creating their rating system.

Book Talk - The Beginning

Last year I was involved in the Classroom Booktalk project with a few of my students. The project involved reading books and reviewing them through a digital format to post on the project wiki. We used tools such as glogster and xtranormal to present their reviews.

This year I am undertaking the project again but on a class level, with students producing reviews for their class to place on our blog. Last year the classroom booktalk was also a great motivator for getting students to read and this year I also have several students who need a hook for reading, which is another factor is taking part in 2009. Also 2 key areas of development for my students this year are reading comprehension and oral language skills, which have been factored in to the planning of the project for this year.

Developing this further than the 2008 process came through involvement with the Beyond IT conference that took place earlier in the year. Beyond IT involved a group of 14 facilitators, teachers, e-Learning specialists etc in a 3 day conference that looked at a range of ICT issues, ideas and thinking. As part of this I had the pleasure of working with Dorothy Burt and Glen Storey. Our big area of thinking was around getting teachers to move past the 'flash stuff, the cool tools and gimmicks' onto using ICT to develop and strengthen the learning - a real tool that benefits the learning.

We looked at the Literacy Cycle model that was developed at Pt England School. Glen and I then looked at developing the Literacy Cycle to take back into our own classes. This model shows where each area of Literacy (Listening, Reading, Writing, Viewing and Speaking along with the key competency of Thinking) is being developed during the Classroom booktalk project.

A few weeks ago I started my first group on the cycle. Over the next few posts I am going to share the process that we are going through to begin and work through this cycle.