Technical Difficulties

We sent our first test pictures to Ian and there seems to be a problem with the resizing. It was disappointing to receive this news, but not the end of the world. Clearly there was something we needed to learn that we missed. This was an excellent time to discuss problem solving, going back to the drawing board, how projects can become bogged down and how to take things in stride, which I am proud to say, Class 62 did.  They were curious more than anything else about where we had gone wrong.  The desire to self-correct was strong. Because this project is real and going out into the public their attitude was, "Well, we'll just have to fix them."

Keeping things in perspective is important. This is a technical problem that needs to be resolved. That is all. Given the terrible tragedies that have taken place this week - from the tornadoes in the mid-west, to the death of grade 12 student, Eric Leighton,  in a shop class accident in Ottawa yesterday, this problem is very minor indeed.

Skyping with Ian

We had reached a point in the project where we needed to talk with Ian, so a Skype session was scheduled for yesterday.    Some of my students were away at the City Track Meet and were sorry to have missed the opportunity, but we will definitely schedule a second one.

Aside from discussing kangaroos (they can't really box) and wombats (they can be larger than a grade 6 student) Ian had great advice for the kids.  We've been struggling a little bit with competing ideas about the overall design. Ian pointed out that there are many tourism apps available that are slick and sophisticated, but none that have been created by children.  Our app will stand out if it looks like it has been created by kids and is written from children's points of view.  This insight was extremely useful.  My students now have a clearer understanding of how to move ahead.   The voice of experience is an important consideration in collaborative projects.  This morning when we went into the lab, the students set to work industriously and a great deal was accomplished in a short period of time and then ....

                                                                                              our lab was shut down.

 EQAO, Ontario's version of standardized testing, begins on Monday. We have a number of students in grades 3 and 6 who will be using assistive technology during the test and the lab needs to be set up.  All the computers are being reimaged and loaded with the test. The lab will remain closed for 8 school days. Sigh.  I am left with 1 networked computer in my classroom where students can access their work.  This will slow us down a bit.  As a result, we've decided to leave the design of the button page until after the test and will work to get the writing finalized.

This is just one of many interruptions of the project due to school events, assemblies, outings, the track meet, the school play, Jump Rope for Heart, and practising for the test.  This is a busy time of year in schools and all teachers struggle with competing interests in the race to the finish line!

Ian has asked that we post our design ideas for the button page on the wiki for feedback and to send completed pictures and writing to Australia for a test run. We will do that.

When a Country Gets it Right: Finland

I having been following tweets, videos and articles on Finnish education. For those not in the know, Finland ranks number one in the world on test scores and yet standardized testing and curriculum are not part of their practice.  Instead, extremely well-trained teachers who are given autonomy to carry out a well-thought curriculum are the foundation of Finnish education. In Finland, it is harder to become a teacher than it is to become a doctor! Schools are also autonomous, prep time is vast, administration is flattened and teachers plan how the schools run. Each school is underpinned by a very sophisticated approach to curriculum design.I have finally been able to get a hold of a curriculum document from Finland. Thanks, Esa, for the translation - I hope more are to follow.

http://ianchia.com/2011/04/25/finlands-visual-arts-curriculum-for-schools-architecture-visual-arts-and-craft/

Kyle

One of my student's father is an amateur photographer.  I didn't know this until Kyle brought in his pictures for the app. They are beautifully framed with interesting angles ... I was wowed.  I wish I had known this before I had given the kids a lesson on taking pictures based on the information Ian had sent me about how to frame a shot.  My students would have learned so much more.

It reminds me once again of how important it is to teach my students how to connect to experts.  I could have invited Kyle's dad into the class and they would have had a wonderful lesson on photography. Kyle and I both laughed at the ridiculousness of me teaching them how to frame a shot when someone like his dad was in the community.  On a more serious note, why am I wasting their time?  It hit home that central to my role as a 21st century teacher is to anticipate where expertise is required and to seek it out on behalf of my students so they're not stuck in wasteful moments.

Note to self:  next year survey all parents to find out what their skill sets are. 

Down to the Nitty Gritty

We're down to the nitty gritty decision making: appearance, names of buttons, style of buttons, iconic image of Dundas for the download button, splash page ...

I wish everyone could have heard the discussion today.  Ideas were thrown out, mulled over, considered, debated, and challenged.  Implicatons of choices were carefully considered.  When some suggestions were made, several students reminded the class of  Cynthia's advice: simplicity is important.

The class has agreed that the iconic image of Dundas are the waterfalls, although there was one or two holdouts for Hockeyville.   http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/penguinsmarch/22624/   They've come up with a very creative visual idea for the splash page as well as for the main page. I won't give anything away here though!

Publish Post

My Students Have Come to a Realization

There's been interesting chat going on in my classroom this week, among some of my students.  They realize that the school year is coming to an end and that they've only had a taste of the possibilities that a 21st century classroom allows.

Several of them recognize that this was an introductory year, that all we've really done is learn how to use Web 20 tools. , that we've really only begun to explore the possibilities.

They have entered into the independent learning phase and are setting their own next steps.  They know what they want to work on and would like the opportunity to pursue their interests. They want to take their skills and enter into truly creative work, and in the process, deepen their understanding of how these tools can be used.  I suspect that at this point, if I left them alone, they would continue to work and would create something exceptional.  In many ways, I've made myself redundant, particularly as the majority of them understand how to seek out expertise.

 "Imagine what our app would be like, now that we understand how to do this?"

"If we had to take our pictures again, it would be so fun to make our app into ..."
"What if we could ..."

"Now that we know how to put shows together, Hub21 TV could be amazing."

Ideas are flowing. They understand that these tools are powerful, offer infinite possibilities and they really wish they could have a second shot at them. 

Skyping With Cynthia Jabar

Class 62 had two opportunities in the past 10 days to Skype with children's book illustrator and digital media artist Cynthia Jabar. http://cynthiajabar.blogspot.com/    It was very exciting. The students had great questions that covered a wide range of topics.   Ryan M. wanted to know what it was like to live in New York City.  Rebecca was curious as to how Cynthia had become interested in our project.  Nicole wanted to know how she became an illustrator.    Avery wanted to know Cynthia's favourite baseball team.  One student, Tay, was happy to show Cynthia that one of her books was in our school library. Tay also had very good questions about the process of illustration.   Hope and Bianca wanted to know how difficult it is to  publish an ebook. Justin C. wanted to know what programs Cynthia used.  Emily was curious about what Cynthia's work day is like.

All the students were very interested in how Cynthia had become a children's book illustrator.  Cynthia has a science background, but has been illustrating since her university days.  Usually a book is written first and then the publisher seeks an illustrator for the book.

Cynthia had great design advice for class 62.  Simplicity is best.  If the app looks too busy, people will be confused and won't want to use it.  She also told us that colour choice is important.  It should attract interest, but also reflect the town of Dundas.  Our town is not a modern place.  This should be suggested by colour.

The students had a good discussion about this.  Ryan G. thought that perhaps our app should have an antique look with black and white aged photos to reflect its historical nature.  Others thought blue for the waterfalls is appropriate, and then green and yellow because they are our school colours.  It seems we will be going with blue and yellow as the main colours. 

Thanks Cynthia for taking the time to help our class out and to Sydney who grabbed the camera and began taking pictures. 

Getting Ready to Skype With Cynthia

When Cynthia comes on line, the students rush to line up and ask questions.

Lining up to ask questions.

Cynthia's book is in our school library.

Cynthia has kindly posted advice on her blog for class 62. We'll be responding shortly. :)

Ian Has Created a Wiki for This Project

Ian has created a wiki for our app project in order to give more detailed information than is possible on this blog.  Thank you Ian.

Useful how-to information can be found there as well as detailed answers to our questions.
Here's the link. :https://sites.google.com/a/flexapplications.com/where-i-live---a-diy-app/home

At this point I need to clarify in my mind where the students need to go next.  This week we are busy cropping our photos to size and determining their exact longitude and latitude for the augmented reality part of the app. We are also playing catch up as we lost an entire week to school events that took us out of the classroom.  Weather continues to be uncooperative for my photographers. It rained most of the weekend and will continue to rain until Thursday. By the end of the upcoming weekend, photos must be in.

Rather than writing questions, I thought it might be useful to create a video outlining the next stage of the project along with some questions about layout for the buttons and text. I will also post our questions for this next step in the project on the wiki.

More Questions For Ian

Hi Ian,
As we begin the process of cropping and resizing our pictures how would you like them organized?  Should we create one file folder for each student and just store them for now?

We will send a set of test photos to ensure that we're photo shopping correctly.

Struggles of a Writer

I am considering writing an article for Mary Ann Reilly’s new journal.  http://maryannreilly.blogspot.com/2011/04/update-about-new-journal-remix.html

Issue #1 will centre on uncertainty in relation to the artful practice of teaching.  And, I have to say,  I am uncertain how to proceed.  It is so much more difficult to be given a topic to write about than to stumble through experiences in my daily teaching practice and to record the insights gained from those experiences in my blog.  Because I am living deeply with the ideas I write about,  when it is time to write words simply flow.  This is not the experience I am having now.  I am struggling to find an entry point into this topic, which is odd, since uncertainty is not a source of stress in my life.  I like the unpredictable, chaotic moments.  I am quite comfortable not knowing what comes next.   I am not the kind of teacher who has a detailed daybook with each moment in the classroom carefully planned out.

Once again, I think of my students. What is it like for them to be given a topic out of the blue, a topic that they haven’t really been thinking about?  How can I possibly even consider asking them to work in this way?  And yet, I do.  And my students rise to the occasion.  Are they doing their best work, however,  when writing for me, rather than for themselves?  It's an uncomfortable thought, but worth exploring.  What if our students were free to pursue their own interests in writing?  What would happen if we didn't "teach" writing?  What would be gained?  What would be lost?  I'm not certain of the answer.

Hannah to the Rescue

My teen-aged daughters have been listening to discussions about Class 62's project with varying levels of interest, particularly Hannah. (The app would have to be about a horse in order to attract the full interest of my eldest!)

When I first began talking about designing an app with my class, I received the ultimate teen feedback, "That's cool".   Both girls find the idea of accessing experts to advance learning and global collaboration exciting.

In listening to my discussions with my husband about the photo shop issue Hannah, who is fifteen,  has stepped forward and offered to help. It turns out the teacher my class needs next is living in my home.  She did say, "Mom, why don't you just google it and watch a YouTube video? It's all there!"  which just confirms that this is not a generation who will wait to be taught. When they want to learn something, they are becoming increasingly skilled at seeking out the information they need.

Hannah will come in next week to work with my class and will teach us how to crop and pixel size our pictures.  Our older students need to be given the opportunity to do more of this.  Just think of the incredible range of skills that must be sitting in our high schools. How can we tap into their knowledge? How can they become part of our students' and our own PLNs?

On a side note, Hannah was also the one who during the recent election said, "What? You have to go there and vote? That's silly. What if people can't make it? Why can't you just vote online?"  It will be interesting to watch  this generation of digitally literate citizens move into the workplace and become the decision makers.

Bumps on the Road

We experienced a few technical difficulties which delayed the start to our Skype session with Cynthia and only had about 15 minutes to chat before my class had to leave for a field trip.  That being said, when Cynthia came onto the screen, students leaped to the laptop and lined up to ask questions. Talk about engagement!   Students were excited to find one of her books in our library and are looking forward to a second session on Monday.

Students are also eagerly awaiting a Skype session with Ian.

Most students have finished taking their pictures and this week will photoshop them to the correct size. This has been the head-achy part of the process so far.  Students' skills are not as advanced as I thought. Mine are also very limited.  This is the point where students experience that projects can become bogged down, that frustration and boredom are part of the process and that persistence is the key to success.  It will be interesting to see which students emerge as the drivers of the project; who will keep the class on track?

Another issue that has arisen is that several students do not have access to digital cameras at home.  Lending them a school camera is risky.  I've lent the camera to one very reliable student so far, Hunter, and it came back the next day photos completed.  I don't know what I would do, however, if the camera was lost.  I'm still thinking about how to proceed for the others.

Students realize that the end of June is looming fast.  Once the app is finished, it will take 3-4 weeks to get it into the app store.  We had a discussion about whether to rush the project to have it launched by the end of June or to wait until the fall.  The entire class agreed that rushing it would be a mistake; they would prefer to take more time and do things well.  We will have a launch party in the fall!

Collaborating With Cynthia Jabar

I can't emphasize this enough - with the tools available to teachers and students today, the world is our classroom. We can connect with skilled, knowledgeable people to advance our learning. Skype, twitter, facebook ... do what can to connect your students to the world!

Today class 62 will be skyping with digital media artist Cynthia Jabar. 

 http://cynthiajabar.blogspot.com/

Ouch!

My husband Jeremy's assessment of thinking you need to plan everything your student is going to learn, then creating the charts and worksheets and final tasks, rather than allowing the students to plan their own learning:

You're like a drug dealer, spoon feeding them everything until they're completely dependent on you and unable to decide what to do next. Ouch!

The Art of Teaching Lies in Simplicity

I haven't mentioned this in quite a few blogs, but I also teach French. I used to spend a great deal of time crafting grammar lessons. If I've learned anything this year it is that traditional lesson planning is generally a waste of learning time.

Today I wanted students to understand adjective agreements.

Traditional Lesson                                                                        
1. Spend time creating charts and rehearsing explanation of  rules, give several examples, demonstrate noun-adjective agreement, have students come up to the board and demonstrate, create a worksheet, practise ... blah, blah, blah ...


Problem-Based Lesson
 Create 1 chart with the following

                        Adjectives     
              
1.  patient     patiente     patients     patientes
2.  sportif     sportive     sportifs     sportives
3.  curieux   curieuse     curieux     curieuses
4. sociable   sociable    sociables   sociables

Discuss how adjectives are used in the English language.
Put students into collaborative groups of 3-4.
Give each group 1 paper and 1 marker.
Tell them to figure out why the spellings change (or don't change).

They all got it:
Adjectives in French are spelled differently depending on whether the noun they are modifying is masculine, feminine or plural.

I then gave them adjectives and they had to figure out the 3 other spellings.
ex: aventureux - how else can it be spelled?
     creatif (yes accent is missing) - what are the other spellings?

They were able to determine the spellings based on the patterns.

Near the end of class, I asked students to summarize their learning which we did orally. I clarified any misunderstandings and elaborated on a few points.  I then put up a chart with the rules. Students were free to copy it down or create their own version - whatever would help them remember.

At then end of class I did a quick survey asking their opinions of  the approach.  All of them preferred it to the traditional method.  When I probed further, some were at the beginning stages of comprehension and knew more practise was needed.  Students made suggestions as to what would help them solidify concepts.

The class thought the best way to practise would be to play games with the spellings.  Several students suggested possibilities and the class left knowing what would be happening on Monday.

Very little planning was required on my part. The skill lies in structuring the lesson so that students solve a problem and then in determining weakness and next steps. That's it. So simple.

It Pays to Have a Real Audience

It has been a very rainy spring in Dundas and students are finding it difficult to get out and take their pictures. Next week it is supposed to be sunny. Let's cross our fingers.  In the mean time, we have begun thinking about text and content.

We had an excellent discussion about the appropriate length of text for each location.  This is where having a real audience makes the teaching of writing so much easier.  Students understand who they are writing for and are able to discuss the needs of the reader.

With this in mind, we considered the following:   How many sentences will the app users read before they begin to lose interest?  How much information is necessary?  What exactly would entice the user to want to visit Dundas?  The students thought that 5-10 sentences would be the most a user would read. I thought that a few locations might include more information than this.

If this is the case, how then, do we narrow down the content? In a discussion with Emily and Bianca who are covering our school, Emily recognized that while the school closure issue (yes, our school was at risk of being closed down at one point) might be of interest to locals, it wouldn't be the most interesting detail for a tourist.  The fact that an extra-curricular activity that ran in our school at one point was a shooting club and that they practised in the basement, now THAT is interesting.   The work of the students is to keep their audience in mind as they complete their research and make content decisions.

Ideas are Percolating

Now that the project is well underway, original ideas are beginning to percolate. Bianca and Emily suggested that the app should begin with a tour guide introducing the town and project.  Several suggestions have been made for the Splash page. Ryan M thinks that it should be a waterfall filling a container - when the container is full, the app is loaded. We are the city of waterfalls after all. Another group thinks  the splash page should be a picture of the class having a water fight or of them standing on the front steps while buckets of water are dumped from the window above. When the water hits, the app is loaded.  Their ideas are becoming playful

 Learners need a great deal of time for ideas to flow.  This can't be rushed. It is really only this week that creative thinking has begun.  How often do we rush kids through a task and never allow time for true originality and creativity?  I'm realizing through this project just how much curriculum driven checklists rob learners of opportunities for creativity.

Design and Digital Media

Students learn how to use imaginary grid lines to frame their photos.

Assessment in the 21st Century: A Golden Opportunity

Collaboration is widening!  Our project has been spotted by Jim Pennington on Linked In and he has asked a very good question.  How will this project be assessed? I am posting our initial discussions and am tossing the question to everyone for input. Here is an opportunity to design valid, meaningful assessment. What should it look like?  How can we ensure that student self-assessment and personal growth is central to the entire assessment process?  Can we broaden who actually assesses the skill level and gives relevant feedback?  Jim has offered to help design a template for this. 



Heidi, I read your blog and am excited about this project. Thank you for documenting it. 
This is a type of learning that I think will become an important 1/3 of the learning styles. Unquestionably valuable to your class.
I am a Solutions Architect looking at designing a platform that includes support for building the plan, attaching artifacts such as your content and anything produced along the journey of discovery to final product.
My question is about assessment. Is there a model that you will use to formally define what each student did and achieved? I think that if this learning style is to become more of "the 21st century standard" then inevitably it will have to measured. Is there a template for doing so? Could there be?

ReplyHi Jim, 

Thanks for taking the time to comment and for your enthusiasm about this project. Great question. Development of Assessments clearly is key. In order to understand how to assess, I first need to determine how projects such as these evolve. Ability to use digital media, writing, collaboration, generating creative ideas, networking all need to be a part of this. Do you mind if I post your question on my blog? It's an important discussion at this point and I'd like to open it up to a broader audience. I don't know if there's a template already. I do know that ACT21S is a global project that is developing new models for assessment, but I haven't seen anything yet. Now that work is proceeding I am beginning to see strengths, weaknesses and next steps for my students. There definitely could be a template for this.
On 04/27/11 5:14 PM, Jim Pennington wrote: 




Thank you Heidi, and yes, please post it on your blog. I'll plan for a template. Sounds like the template would need some "dimensional" categories and then elements within those categories. I foresee that the elements within a general template for assessment could be refined (adapted) depending on the type of project and the journey. Elements of assessment could be checked on or off, and finalized at the end. The template elements would need to be formally defined and broadly used, probably why ACT21S exists. I'll see if I can find anything.
Weightings or bonus points may also come into play based upon difficulties encountered.