WEEK FIVE

Well its been a while since my last post but that doesn't mean I haven't been working hard! After five fun packed weeks out on placement, I'm glad to be back at university to finish off the last two weeks of my course. One thing I can say after being out on placement though is that I'm glad I made the decision to be a teacher because I love it!

In this weeks lecture and workshop we covered the use of animation in primary schools. More specifically, how we can incorporate animation into all subjects across the curriculum. I found this to be very interesting and have learnt a number of different techniques that could be used to make learning in the classroom more fun.

The imaginative work of animation has the ability to keep a room full of people spell bound. Animation forms a significant part of movies, tv, cartoons, video games and even office presentations. Therefore, it is a fantastic idea to give students the chance to experiment with different types of animation whilst they are at school.

Throughout the workshop, Greg stressed the importance of exposing students to a wide variety of animation mediums, including paper, clay, plasticine, toys and even people.

The first thing that Greg had us do was visit the website http://www.dfilm.com/live/mm.html. We were required to use this website to incorporate a short animated film into our blogs. I personally found this process really fun and quite simple to set up. Whilst Greg stated that this may not be an appropriate website to use with students (due to some of the characters), it is easy to see how a similar website or program could be used by students. Something like this could be incorporated into websites, blogs or portfolios being designed and worked on by students in the classroom. Please find below a copy of my video entitled 'Christmas Eve'.

After this activity we moved onto http://www.buildyourwildself.com/. The activities on this website reminded me of the flip books I used to look at as a child, where you were able to change the head, body and legs of the monster. This would be a great website to be used in conjunction with a book like 'Where the Wild Things Are'.

It gives students a great opportunity to work with their own creative flair in which everyone can have a go without feeling as though they have completed the task incorrectly. To the right you can see what my picture looked like. Students then could incorporate these pictures into an art or creative writing activity. The possibilities are endless!

In our workshop, we also had the opportunity to use the following website http://www.sketchswap.com/. This is a website in which students are given the opportunity to sketch whatever they like. Once students have completed their sketch, they are required to select the 'submit drawing' button. Once this button has been pushed it swaps the students sketch for one drawn by someone else. Please find below the sketch I received.

Whilst this is all good and fun to do, I am a little concerned by the fact that you never know what picture you are going to receive (Is the picture going to be appropriate?). Therefore, I would probably not use this website in one of my classes.

Another website that Greg introduced us to was http://www.reasonablyclever.com/. This website had a child friendly section where students would be able to create their own Lego men or women! Once again, linking in with the concept of animation. Students could possibly create characters that could be used in a story they were writing and then print and cut out the characters to be used in the pictures. A picture of one of the characters I created can be found below.

Greg next had us all concentrating very hard as he tested our spelling and typing skills with a dictation activity. We were all required to turn off the monitors on our computers and type the passage Greg read to us. This was a clever task that got you thinking about the words you were writing. It also promotes skills other than using the 'spell check' function on a computer (e.g. sounding out, listening, thinking - does the word I'm writing make sense in this sentence? etc.). The passage that Greg used was entitled 'An Ode to a Spell Checker' and can be found at the following website http://everything2.com/title/

Ode+to+a+Spellchecker.

There were so many things covered in this workshop that it is not possible to include them all in this blog. What I will say, is that everything that we were shown was worth having a look at, even if you don't think you would use them in one of your lessons, they may spark other clever ideas.

Here is a list of some other useful websites you may wish to utilise:

• www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/rollermache
• http://www.storygames.com/
• http://www.toondoo.com/
• http://www.zimmertwins.com/
• http://www.ziptales.com.au/

Well this is my final post for this subject. It has been an interesting journey but I can honestly say that I have learnt a lot. I look forward to going out into a classroom next year and implementing a fun and exciting curriculum that incorporates many of the benefits found in ICT.

WEEK FOUR

Today's lecture was about educational soundness in the digital age and covered a number of ways in which the digital revolution has provided clever opportunities for learning within our schools. It is important that we take this on board. With the ability for technology to change and advance so rapidly we need to ensure that our students are kept up to date, in order to ensure that they are not left behind.

Today's workshop focused on indigenous culture and the re-telling of stories. Greg introduced us to the Dust Echoes website, which can be found at the following website http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/. This is an interactive website that explores indigenous culture in a way that makes it fun and interesting. The website has a collection of twelve Aboriginal dreamtime stories which have been composed into short animated movies aimed at providing people with an understanding of indigenous culture.

These animated movies could form the foundation of a number of different lesson plans and activities (e.g. concept maps, creative writing, re-telling, various art activities, history etc.) aimed at giving students a more well rounded understanding of indigenous life and culture.

Using the Dust Echos website, we were then required to watch one of the dreamtime animated movies. Once we had watched the animated movie we were required to use our knowledge of the software Inspiration 8.0 (a program that we were introduced to in week one) to make a concept map. The purpose of this concept map was to summarise and highlight the key aspects of the animated movie that we had watched.

The animated movie that I selected was titled 'Brolga'. Please find above a picture of my concept map. The concept of re-telling a story can be enhanced by utilising a program such as Inspiration 8.0. Personally, I believe students would enjoy the opportunity to be creative and summarise the story using both writing and pictures whilst making use of the computers. I also thought the idea of utilising screen caps from the animated movie and using them within the concept map was a great idea.

Overall I found this to be an extremely worthwhile activity and I would definitely consider using it within my own classroom.

The second activity that we had to undertake in our workshop required us to count and sort the number and colours of a packet of M & M's (Thanks to Lindy for supplying the packet of M & M's!).

As you can see by both the data table and the graph, our packet contained more blue M & M's then any other colour.

There are so many different ways to utilise a program such as Microsoft Excel. I know personally that I always loved having the opportunity to create different types of graphs on Microsoft Excel whilst I was a school.

I have also had the opportunity to have students use Microsoft Excel whilst out on placement. In my case, students surveyed the nationalities of students at their school, in order to determine the diversity of culture within their school. Students were required to collect and collate data before tabling and graphing the results.

Here is a handy link on the various types of graphs that students can work with on Microsoft Excel http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/available-chart-types-HA010342187.aspx. You may want to consider the different ways students may be able to display their information prior to planning a lesson using Microsoft Excel.

Well that's about all for week four!

WEEK THREE

Today's lecture was based on the protection of students online. In particular, the legal issues and concerns with respect to the use of technology within the classroom. The internet provides the potential for enormous benefits and exciting learning opportunities within the classroom, however, it does involve some risks and both students and teachers must be careful.

It is important that schools and teachers have in place appropriate measures and codes of conduct when using technology within the classroom. However, I do not believe that it is the sole responsibility of schools and teachers. Students MUST be taught to take responsibility for their actions and MUST be willing to accept a certain level of responsibility. Therefore, I believe it is important for teachers to carefully explain any codes of conduct in respect to using technology within the classroom in detail with students at the beginning of the year. Teachers should also carefully express the consequences of the code of conduct not being upheld. A great idea may be to get students to sign the code of conduct after it has been carefully explained. This would demonstrate that they understand the responsibilities of having access to certain types of technology within the classroom.

One of the key points from today's workshop was that technology is not just about computers. This is something that I believe tends to be forgotten. To often when the term technology is used people immediately assume COMPUTERS! Technology is so much broader than just computers and encompasses the arts, crafts, applied sciences and other skills.

In today's workshop we had to design a "Jumping Frog". We were given a lot of freedom when designing our jumping frog. The only instructions were that the following materials were required to be utilised:

• Frog picture
• Piece of cardboard
• Rubber band
• Sticky tape

This is a picture of Matt and our frog pre-jump:

We based our design on a catapult. We placed the frog at one end of the cardboard. We then had to pull up the opposite end of the cardboard using a rubber band before releasing the tension by letting go. This resulted in the frog being catapulted up into the air, effectively making the frog jump.

This is a picture of our frog jumping:

This was a fun activity that would encourage students to think outside the box and be creative. What I loved about this activity was that there were a number of different possibilities and pretty much everyone could come up with a different design/method making the frog jump.

The second part of today's workshop was spent on the website www.quia.com/web. The first activity that we had to do required us to make a test/questionnaire using the 'quizzes' application. As an avid Harry Potter fan, I decided that my questionnaire was going to be all about Harry Potter! A picture of my Harry Potter quiz can be found below. Alternatively, please click on the following website link to have the opportunity to take the questionnaire yourself http://www.quia.com/quiz/2511748.html.

The 'quizzes' function was great and could be easily utilised in a school environment by both teachers and students. It is definitely something that I would consider using on my next teaching placement.

The second activity also required us to use the website www.quia.com/web. However, this time we were required to use the 'activities' application in order to make a game of our choice.

I decided to make a game of hangman based on African animals. I have not included any clues in my hangman game, however, there is the option to do so when creating the activity. A picture of my hangman game can be found below. Alternatively please click on the following website link to have the opportunity to play my hangman game yourself http://www.quia.com/hm/667573.html.

Once again this would be a great activity that I believe students would find engaging. It would be quite possible to have students make an activity or game based on a special topic that you are currently covering in class. This activity or game would then be available for other students to complete.

I believe that we need to ensure if nothing else, that we get students building, thinking and creating within the classroom.

This is something that I aim to do and will work very hard to achieve within my classroom.

Well that's about it for week three!

WEEK TWO

Well it's been a week since my last post which means I've just had another EDU4PLT lecture and workshop.

Today's lecture and workshop were on information in respect to e-portfolios, for both teachers and students. For those who have never heard of an e-portfolio before, they are a digital or electronic portfolio used to collate work or display information that demonstrates a person's skill level, progress and achievements in one or more areas of discipline over a period of time.

Whilst on my semester one placement I had the opportunity to see how students go about using their own e-portfolio within the classroom. It was a great process which I thought cut down on a lot of unnecessary paperwork. Students were set a number of different tasks which they were then required to save within their own e-portfolio to be viewed and assessed by the teacher at a later stage.

Greg also spent a bit of time talking about the benefits of using an e-portfolio in the process of applying for jobs. Given that it is getting to the time of year in which we need to start looking at applying for jobs, this was extremely useful and greatly appreciated! The e-portfiolio that we were shown in our workshop was extremely impressive. It had a wide range of information which highlighted the strengths and experience of the candidate.

In the past when applying for previous jobs in the accounting industry, I have only provided a hard copy of my resume, along with any additional written responses to selection criteria and references. However, based on what I have seen today I can see the benefit of providing an e-portfolio when applying for a job. Not only is it a clear and professional way of displaying your information but it also demonstrates your computer skills.

I would look at setting up my e-portfolio as follows:

• Introduction
• Resume
• Philosophy of Education
• Awards and Achievements
• Volunteer Work
• Referees

I would hope that these details would give potential employers a good idea of the sort of employee I would be.

Once we had finished talking about e-portfolio's, we talked about Microsoft Publisher and the ways in which it can be used in the classroom. We used Microsoft Publisher to create a brochure on one of our favourite destinations. For me that place was Chicago, which was the first holiday destination I had ever been to outside of Australia. A picture of my brochure can be found below:

Once again, I can see the interest that students would have in participating in such an activity. The opportunity to use a computer appeals to a number of students.

I can see myself using such an activity when covering topics such as countries around the world or travel.

Once we had completed our brochures we moved on to creating websites. This could be a useful way to present our e-portfolios. We used Microsoft Publisher to come up with a concept and format for our website. This process was quite straight forward and I believe students would have no trouble utilising such a program one they had been introduced to it.

Well that's about it for week two! I look forward to learning further potential lesson activities throughout the semester.

WEEK ONE

Never in my life did I think that I would create a blog. I have never been someone who is interested in social networking on the internet or sharing my thoughts with the world. Email and a recent introduction to Facebook were pretty much as exciting as it got. Then I found out that one of the requirements for my subject EDU4PLT was to create an online blog, so here I am! During the semester I will be writing a number of blog's updating you on what I am doing in my classes. With any luck it will not just be me learning something new, you might learn something too!

ICT is becoming an increasingly important aspect in the education of today's students. Technology surrounds the students of today's world and this creates a strong thirst for students to learn more about it. With the reliability on and ever changing nature of technology within the community, it is important that teachers provide students with as many opportunities as possible to experiment with different types of technology.

Students are increasingly becoming visual learners, therefore the ability of teachers to incorporate ICT within their curriculum has become even more vital. It provides teachers with the chance to inspire a student who struggles in English to try harder, it can flick a switch in the mind of a student who struggles with Mathematics, whilst also providing an outlet for students who struggle with a pencil and paper to show their true potential.

Today I was introduced to a software program called Inspiration. Continuing what I think may be a theme, this is a program I have never used before. The first task we were given was to make a concept map utilising the diagram function on the Inspiration software. The concept I used for my map was 'Me and My Music'. After I had established my concept the rest was a matter of formatting and a little bit of trial and error. I had to add pictures to my concept map as well as adding comments to these pictures explaining how the various images were related to the concept.

After we had completed our concept maps we were given the opportunity to walk around the classroom and view everyone's concept maps. It was very interesting to see the different tangents and ideas people utilised when creating their concept maps. This gave me the opportunity to take a number of different ideas on board that I could possibly use in the future.

After finishing our concept maps the next challenge was to create a mind map. The topic I used was 'Places I've Been and Things I Did'.

I can honestly say that I have learnt a lot from my work in the computer lab today. The possibilities when using a program such as Inspiration are endless. With appropriate computer resources in the classroom there is no reason why students could not create their own concept or mind maps on the computer rather then using pencils and paper. Students could use concept maps to demonstrate their understanding in respect to a particular learning area, using both text and pictures etc. whilst using mind maps to display information such as family trees, planning essays, tree diagrams etc.

For those who are interested, this is a link to the Inspiration Software Inc website http://www.inspiration.com/. It gives you a range of details on the different software they have available and also provides you with the opportunity to download a free trial of their software.

I am eager to continue to learn more throughout the semester as this is a subject that I can see being extremely useful in the classroom. I look forward to getting into the classroom next year and implementing activities that engage students whilst also providing them with the opportunity to use techology and improve their technological skills.