Monday, 12 March 2007
Purchasing the Technology
We are all getting at least one Mimio and some schools are purchasing Smart Boards as well. These will be valuable tools in our classrooms and we look forward to the installation (and frequent use!) of these teaching tools.
Monday, 5 March 2007
The First Meeting
The first meeting of the Paerangi cluster was hosted at Turakina Maori Girls College today with representatives from Hato Petera, Hukarere, Te Aute, Hato Paora and of course, Turakina! Various guest speakers were on hand to demonstrate Smart boards, Mimio, LearnNow, The Virtual Learning Network and Aiscorp.
While some teachers appeared to suffer a little from information overload, the enthusiasm soon began to sink in as "real world" situations were demonstrated.
We also heard from the Lead Teachers that attended the Rotorua Conference (Terri never fails to bring a smile to our dial!) and the general message that came out was that our kids have the technology - but where is it going?
We heard that even our year 13 students don't know some of what the year 9 ones do. So it is up to us to embrace the technology and do the best we can.
Our learning management system, MindSpring, was demonstrated by cluster facilitator Angela and I'm sure everyone could instantly see what a huge benefit this will be. While we ran out of time to see the full benefits, most are encouraged and excited by the thought of using this for the first time.
Information Overload?
Don't panic! Keep in touch with your colleagues and never be afraid to ask!
If there is anything you are unsure about, you can bet someone else is feeling the same way!
All in all, the hui was a success and no doubt, everyone has gone home with a new vigour and mindset of the challenges to come....
Kia kaha!
While some teachers appeared to suffer a little from information overload, the enthusiasm soon began to sink in as "real world" situations were demonstrated.
We also heard from the Lead Teachers that attended the Rotorua Conference (Terri never fails to bring a smile to our dial!) and the general message that came out was that our kids have the technology - but where is it going?
We heard that even our year 13 students don't know some of what the year 9 ones do. So it is up to us to embrace the technology and do the best we can.
Our learning management system, MindSpring, was demonstrated by cluster facilitator Angela and I'm sure everyone could instantly see what a huge benefit this will be. While we ran out of time to see the full benefits, most are encouraged and excited by the thought of using this for the first time.
Information Overload?
Don't panic! Keep in touch with your colleagues and never be afraid to ask!
If there is anything you are unsure about, you can bet someone else is feeling the same way!
All in all, the hui was a success and no doubt, everyone has gone home with a new vigour and mindset of the challenges to come....
Kia kaha!
Sunday, 4 March 2007
In the beginning...
I never thought it would come to this - the kids I teach are teaching me.
After attending a conference entitled "Learning@School" in Rotorua, NZ - I have come to accept that the sites I am trying to keep the kids away from during class, are in fact the type of sites I am now going to embrace to encourage the students to enteract and learn...
Sites like bebo.com have in the past been a real problem in the classroom - kids constantly trying to enteract with their peers and not doing their class work. So now my school, and other sister schools have joined the masses and created a cluster aimed at utilising these tools to encourage the kids to contribute, and more importantly - learn.
This blog is to keep a record of the process I am about to start tomorrow morning while attending our first cluster meeting with 5 other schools. I am taking four of my colleagues with me to share the adventure!
After attending a conference entitled "Learning@School" in Rotorua, NZ - I have come to accept that the sites I am trying to keep the kids away from during class, are in fact the type of sites I am now going to embrace to encourage the students to enteract and learn...
Sites like bebo.com have in the past been a real problem in the classroom - kids constantly trying to enteract with their peers and not doing their class work. So now my school, and other sister schools have joined the masses and created a cluster aimed at utilising these tools to encourage the kids to contribute, and more importantly - learn.
This blog is to keep a record of the process I am about to start tomorrow morning while attending our first cluster meeting with 5 other schools. I am taking four of my colleagues with me to share the adventure!
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