Learn Code Teach Code

This week I have been teaching myself coding. Well, studio.code.org has been teaching me coding. I began with Course 2 aimed for children who can read and suitable for ages 6 - 18 years. This course took me through coding using visual blocks learning everything from the basics of simple commands, to loops, 'if' statements, loops within loops and allowed me to practice these skills to create simple images, solve puzzles, and even create games using rules and logic. 

Throughout the course were several 'unplugged' activities and teacher lesson plans which described how to teach some of the principles of coding, without computers, great for classes with limited resources, and for getting to understand the purpose and function of different code capabilities without the distraction of the computers bells and whistles. 

One of the things I liked the most about this 'code' business is the practical side I can see to, how purposeful it can be to develop a child's problem solving capability, logic, reasoning, creativity, and open up a world of future pathways. A lot of the activities included tasks which required understanding patterns, angles, symbols < > =, 'if' and 'when' clauses which link perfectly with geometry, algebra and other mathematical applications. 

The best part however, was that it was actually quite fun. I was learning while having fun. Ideal. Check out some of my learning examples below. Click the image to be directed to the activity and code behind it. 

At the completion of Course 2 I also received my Certificate of Completion - Well done me. I think I'll enjoy incorporating this learning in my class this year. 

Getting Google Educator Certified

For the past two years I have been using google tools in the classroom. Everything from building class sites, google doc, sheets, forms, drawings, slides, my maps, blogger, gmail youtube - you name it. Google makes everything easy in one place, and accessible from anywhere, on multiple devices. 
When I saw the online Google Educator Certification Fundamentals course I knew that it wasn't something I needed to do skill wise, but decided it would be worthwhile anyway. In case you've been wondering whether or not to give it a go, here's my feedback on the course. 

Content 
Majority of the things on the course were targeted for people new to using google products, however, I did still learn a few valuable things including: 

• Google Keep 
• Google Groups
• 'Add to tasks' 
• Google Classroom 

It's one of those, you don't know what you don't know scenario's.

The Level 1 course covers 13 units which cover everything on using the various products, to how they might be applicable in the classroom, and tips on being cybersmart and how to use search engines more efficiently.

Time
Without prior experience using google, the suggested time to complete each unit was probably accurate. As I was already familiar with most of the products I was able to do each unit in a fraction of the time. Completing all 13 within a day. 
After registering for the exam you need to wait for it to become active - up to 24 hours, then you need to sit the exam within 7 days. 
You're given 3 hours to complete the exam. The first section is multi-choice which takes about 10 - 20 minutes. The second section is more practical, where you are supplied a google drive to carry out set activities to show competency using the tools. This bit takes a bit longer due to the requirements, but the three hour time limit is more than sufficient. 

Cost
The 13 units in the Level 1 certification are FREE, however you need to register for the online exam - there is a US$10 fee for this, but I figured the 'certification' was worth it. 

Quality
Though I was already confident using most of these products I found the process and reinforcement worthwhile. The units however were quite targeted to people new to google products, so in terms of the SAMR model, suggestions and 'tips' often sat within the Substitution or Augmentation levels of learning with digital technologies. In saying that it's just a foundation point - we all have to start somewhere right? 

Now that I have completed the Level 1 Fundamentals Training I'm looking forward to moving onto the Advanced Training - which I hope includes more innovation and creativity to allow for Modification and Redefinition of the learning process. 

BEHIND THE SCENES: The making of "They're Coming"

Following the plethora of questions on my Film Club's film They're Coming, I decided to make a short screencast of just how we ran the film club and did the special effects. 
This is a great resource if you are creating a film with a whole class, of any age range. Even the younger children in the club were able to be involved in the decision making every step of the way, while the older tamariki did more of the driving of finding sound effects, special effects and actually using the iMovie programme. 

This screencast includes: 

• Applying special effects
• Applying layers of sound effects 
• Using green/blue screen
• and making people 'disappear' 

If you have any other questions - please be sure to leave a comment. 

Also, if you want to see the film on the big screen again, it is being played during the 2016 Movies in Parks summer season. The film will be shown along with two others from the Manaiakalani Film Festival on Friday March 18th at Point England Reserve - a fantastic whānau evening. 

If you want more info on Storyboarding check my other blogposts. 

Storyboarding

Storyboarding your film festival film.

Last week I ran this toolkit on storyboarding to help other teachers in my cluster get started on their film making journey.  

So, you have an idea of what you want your film to be, but want help to plan what scenes to shoot, scripting, learn about camera angles and making your film look good on the big screen. 

Here are tips you can share with learners to empower them in the movie making process.

I really do hope you find the following links, tips and examples helpful in planning your class film.

Here is a basic storyboarding template I created to guide the planning process. In each box sketch the scene, where, who, angle, props etc.

Feel free to share it with your tamariki if you like. 

You'll also need these camera angles​ to get them thinking about the planning process. What and how to actually film what they want to film.

A great warm up activity is to watch some of ​2014 film festival's films and in groups get tamariki to discuss what camera angles were used, what was effective, and what was not so effective.

The following links are an index to my previous blogposts with tips for different types of filming and animation.

• Film making 101 tips
• ​Pukeko Animation - made using presentation - think 'flipbook'
• Make a song mashup - can use drawings or kids enacting lyrics also.
• Stop-Motion animation - lego, playdoh, drawings, figurines  

 

For stop-motion set up a tripod and get snapping. Import to iMovie, remove the 'ken burns' on images, change the time to .5 of a second (or less), add music, voiceovers and hey presto.

​Thanks, and comment below if you have any questions.

Regards

Stef

+Stephanie Parker

Engaging in maths with digital resources

Being in a digital classroom I often find it difficult to incorporate digital tools into maths learning. When I watched this video, I initially thought the children would find it 'boring' and not be engaged. But their intrinsic motivation to learn had them ALL engaged and motivated to listen actively and learn the new strategy. 

Today in maths we learned a new subtraction strategy using an analogy about a policeman and a robber. This strategy helps us to subtract numbers by making the number we are taking away into a tidy number. Then we also need to change the other number the same way... watch this great video to see what to do. Once you are finished try the problem below. 

There are 54 apples in the fruit box. 

We eat 27 at morning tea. 

How many are leftover? 

Even my stage 6, early 7 learners enjoyed using this strategy as a smarter one than the partitioning they had previously. I ran this lesson because I noticed it was a gap in their learning, and was overwhelmed with joy at how engaging it was for them all. 

The replay-ability of this tool was great. Some of the learners chose to come and work with me in a workshop going over the strategy again, while others just chose to re-watch the video to get the hang of it. 

Other digital tools I use in my class include XTRAmath.org which runs basic facts drills and IXLmath which has practice drills (free for 5 minutes per day). Let me know if you have other great digital math resources. 

9 reasons to use Connected+ digital resouces

As a teacher in a digital learning environment, I also need digital resources. 
By having resources available online it means that my learners can access the material anywhere anytime not just in the traditional 9 - 3pm class time. 

Listen to +Fiona Grant, +Juanita Garden and I talk about the Connected + digital series which are available free through the TKI: Literacy Online site. 

The main things I love about Connected+ are as follows 

1. Accessibility - Embed presentation in blogs or sites, learners can re-read any where any time
2. Audio versions included - great for our ESL and below standard readers to access content for their curriculum level
3. Includes video's to give further information on related topics 
4. Includes interactive diagrams 
5. Includes links to further learning - children's or teacher's independent research 
6. All text images and digital content downloadable - free educational re-use with attribution (Creative Commons licence)  
7. Available in PDF 
8. Teacher Support Material [TSM] available in word format - edit direct into your planning. 
9. Curriculum approved - relevant and multi-modal learning opportunities 

This blogpost relates to RTC 1.i; 4.ii; 5.i; 6.ii

BYOD: Making it Mobile 2015 Developing Digital

Big thanks to @learningnz who hosted the #BYOD2015 : Making it Mobile! conference today. 

Below is my presentation on Developing Digital Citizenship, with links to learning examples and tools which we use regularly. 

This presentation was designed around setting up learning in a digital learning environment where children are new to digital learning and tools. 

It was a stark contrast at the beginning of 2015 where majority of my class were completely new to digital learning, netbooks and in many cases the internet. 

Throughout 2014, I taught years 7 & 8, where most of my learners were in their 4th year of digital learning environment and in many ways knew more than I did, or at least thought they did. 

This year has allowed me to set up the classroom in a way that will teach the children to eventually interact the way that I want them to by the time they are in year 8. 

6 things to Kahoot about

Today I finally used Kahoot with my learners. I'd heard about it last year, but never given it a go until now and already I can see so much potential with this digital learning tool. 

This time used it to recap on what we had learned in the Life Education van last week. Learners were able to show their recall of information and those who didn't remember something had a way to engage with the information in a fun and exciting way.





There were several features of Kahoot which I really liked. 

1. No student logins. Just give them a Game Pin, a digital device (smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer) and they are ready to go!
2. It tells you if you the correct answer immediately 
3. It stops after each question, so you can do a quick bit of teaching for those who weren't correct (or to explain what the other options actually mean). 
4. It keeps a leaderboard telling each individual participant how close they are to the person ahead of them, great motivational feature. 
5. You get a spreadsheet of who answered for analysis, which can be saved straight to your Google Drive. 
6. The children love it!

Kahoot also offers a survey and discussion features which I yet to try out, but am looking forward to using. 

The only downside I have found so far is that it's only multi-choice, that aside, it's a great tool to motivate engage and learn through. 

If you're still not convinced try our Kahoot about body systems and the brain! 

Updated April 8th 2015

This term I also used Kahoot to give students time to practice using google to search for information on the internet. Previous experience shows me that learners don't know how to use keywords, merely typing their whole question or using keywords which are not related to what they want to find out. 
So I set up a current events Kahoot, that learners would need to search answers for. I prompted them to open Google search in another tab and gave 120 seconds per question to be answered. For the first few we paused and discussed who used what keywords to search, what was the most effective? 
As the quiz continued they got faster and faster at searching.  I will definitely repeat this lesson and maybe use it as a formative assessment for our next topic study. 



This blogpost relates to RTC 9.iii. Modify teaching approaches to address the needs of individuals and groups of ākonga. 

eduCanon for learning

This afternoon I spent some time exploring digital tools to aid learning.

I found a youtube clip and added questions using EduCanon.

Adding questions was really easy, though it did prompt me to subscribe to an annual fee to unlock extra question functions.

I can see this tool being really helpful to enhance videos that are shared in the class so that learners have to listen more actively and immediately apply information.  Though because of the questions it may stop them from replaying the video.

Have a look at my eduCanon Lesson created today, you'll need to enter an email address and responses will be sent to me. 
Let me know if you've used it before or other similar products which may be more user friendly.