The Art of Progression

Welcome back to Term 4 and already almost a week down.

As requested, and promised, here is the presentation and ICT progressions themselves from ULearn 2012 in Auckland last week.



Apologies that some fonts didn't translate to internet as well as when presenting so I've replaced them with some more boring fonts. Stupid boring fonts. There really just isn't an excuse for them.

As for the video links, do follow them. In particular, I think ALL intermediate aged girls (and boys!) should be shown the Dove Evolution advert from the presentation. Unfortunately the version I used had the embedding option turned off but go here to check it out for yourself.

Video links:
Did You Know?
Dove Evolution - No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.
Can I be your friend? - What Facebook looks like in real life.

Here are the progressions themselves;
TBCS ICT Progressions 2012


These are a living document which we are ever updating. If you use these as a base for your own progressions, I encourage you modify and adapt them to your situation. Converse with the teachers in your school, and feeder schools, and with your community, to work out what you want your kids to know and learn about. Progressions have to work for you and your situation or they become another bit of paper gathering dust in the corner.

In terms of assessing. I spoke about these not being a tick list but a check point. I keep in mind where my kids should be at in the sequential rubric and assess anecdotally. If I notice a gap, I record and respond. With the Solo Taxonomy, I choose one or two areas which fit with my unit of teaching and focus on those. I would assess those areas but again, mostly, this would be assessed anecdotally.

I try to get an even coverage but it has to address the needs of my kids and the context in which they are learning these skills. I don't teach ICT as a subject, though I may teach an ICT focused lesson within the context of my unit.

For example, today in reading we learnt about research and the importance of checking your facts in multiple locations.

I used www.allaboutexplorers.com, a fabulous spoof website about real explorers, to show kids that they can't just believe everything they read. My focus was reading comprehension - finding information, making connections, thinking critically, and questioning - and alongside that, we were learning about "Research (reliability and accuracy)"

The key thing is to make it useful, functional and manageable for you... and above all, make ICT fun for the kids!


Hope you find all this useful. :)

ULearn 2012, Here We Come.

Wow, I can't believe the time has come already. I know I've been neglecting the blogoshpere, sorry for that. Things have been a little crazy round here.

It's been another busy term for everyone and, for me and 1500 odd others, ULearn conference has been looming ever closer.

You may remember that my darling principal had the bright idea that I should offer to present and with the carrot of attend ULearn and wide eye naivety thinking I wouldn't get chosen, I managed to drop myself right in it as usual.

Anyone who knows me, knows that this presentation has not been far from my mind for most of the year. It may seem small to some but the thought of presenting to a classroom of intelligent peers scares me rather more than a classroom of children. However, I'm also looking forward to sharing our school's journey and the knowledge I've gleaned along the way.

I've picked a topic that has also never been too far from my mind this year as we move ICT forward in our school. For the past 2 or so years, at TBCS we have been debating the need for ICT progressions. Should we have them at all? If so, what should the cover? What shouldn't they cover?

So enters... "The Art of Progression". Because it really is more of an art than a science.
Stay tuned for the presentation, cliff notes edition, here in the near future.

Meanwhile, preparing for this has reminded me of something I wanted to share with you all. I wanted to encourage you all to step outside your comfort zones and learn something new.

It's in presenting to peers that I feel what my students are feeling when they do their speeches. In fact, when I shared with them that I was presenting at ULearn, they felt much happier about attempting it themselves. They could see that;
1) There was a real context for this. They didn't have to become a politician or TV personality for it to have relevance in their future careers.
and;
2) I wasn't asking them to do something I wasn't prepared to do myself. We've all heard the  saying "Thems who can't do, teach." The fact may be, that it's totally false, (I'd like to see some of those who think they CAN do, teach!) But kids today have often heard that saying and believed it so it's important for them to see us "doing" as well as "teaching".

I find things like learning a language or reading my bible, help me to understand what it's like for them as they learn to read. I'm using all the strategies I want them to use, to help me to understand what I'm reading.

On occasion, I've photocopied a page with a word I don't know the meaning of and worked through the process of guessing and checking, with them. Doing it with a word I don't know shows them that I use the skills too. I'm not just being difficult and refusing to telling the the answer, which in their minds, and rightly so, would be so much simpler.

Awhile ago, at a teacher only day, our cluster turned the tables on ourselves. We had students come in and teach us things they were good at. Ripsticking, dancing, ICT programs, iPod games and the like. The kids loved being the experts and the teachers got a taste of their own medicine. I actually think that was a great thing to do. It gave the kids a peek into the struggles of teaching and teachers an insight into the world of their learners.

Now, I know I'm a learner strength. I love learning new things but even so, the challenge is to be aware of what it feels like when I'm learning and what I do to learn. For someone who doesn't have the learner strength, the value would probably be even be greater as you would see it from your struggling learner's perspective. I'm guessing though, most teachers probably do enjoy learning to some extent, so the challenge for you, is to take on something tough. Learn something that doesn't come naturally. Go to a Bunnings Warehouse workshop night, try out a craft, take a night class in something. Even a one night only class would be fine. Anything that would get you out of your comfort zone and learning some thing new. Then take a moment to notice how you are feeling, what strategies you are using to learn and what coping mechanisms and/or emotions come into play. Then you can remember back to your own experiences the next time you are struggling to get the point across and it might just help. And don't be afraid to share your experiences with your students. They love hearing about your life beyond the classroom walls. It makes you seem more human.

Happy Learning... 

ULearn 2012, HERE WE COME!!!