Enews 10th October Vol 3 No 11
Edited by Keith Redman
Topics covered in this edition include:
Lynda reports that during these sessions the participants learned how to program their own Bee Bots, which some found challenging as well as rewarding. They spent some of the day choreographing routines for their Bee Bots (above centre), designing and making racing tracks for their Bee Bots (above right) and then coming up with some of their own ideas of how to use their Bee Bots in their own classrooms. These creative teachers developed resources to take back and use the next day with their children and their Bee Bots. These included ideas encompassing literacy, numeracy and integrated studies.
These days were fun and very hands-on. One teacher was overheard telling her principal that this workshop was “just what the doctor ordered”. If you are interested in a fun, practical introduction to Early Years robotics, come to the next Bee Bots workshop in your local area.
Three Bee Bots workshops are coming up before the end of the year, in Queensland and Victoria:
Friday 17 October, Oonoonba Primary, Fairfield Waters Drive, Idalia 4811, Townsville, Queensland
Friday 7 November, Osborne Primary, Craigie Road, Mt Martha 3934, Victoria
Friday 21 November, Dream World, Coomera 4209, Queensland.
To register for one of these workshops, click here
For more information about Bee Bot workshops, or to register interest in attending one in the future, email Hanan Harrison at hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au or phone her mobile on 0407 464 472.
Sarah Prestridge, who presented the most recent CCC workshop, reports that feedback included the following:
The conference theme was Changing the world from the ground up. With this in mind, Hanan presented 2 workshops, entitled Changing Worlds, Changing Classrooms. The workshops focused on getting early childhood educators thinking about the changes that have already occurred in our lives in relation to technology and how they are already shaping and impacting the learners of today. Teachers were challenged to think about how their classrooms have changed or not changed and to identify some easy and practical was of integrating technology into a play based learning environment – which not only engages young children but also provides opportunity for intellectual rigour and authentic learning opportunities. Feedback from the session included the following.
One of the overall aims for the ANSN is for teachers to share their stories, which are written by teachers for teachers. What distinguishes our professional development from many other organisations is how we interweave content and skills around bigger outcomes, of teachers becoming researchers of their own practice. This is achieved by participants developing reflective and analytical capacity. Hub members continually share ideas and making generalisations and conclusions about their own learning, and that of their students, as well as projecting and refining future goals.
If you school is interested in participating in any of the ANSN hubs for 2009 feel free to contact the Networker linked to the project. If you do not know your local Networker, click here Advertising for 2009 hub membership will start in the next few weeks.
The following are samples of questions or focuses that schools investigated throughout 2008. These will be placed on our website shortly, for downloading and viewing:
 
 
One of the creative ideas for an interactive e-book came from the Marsden SS teachers, who chose to address a key component of their school – cultural diversity. They decided to design their own version of the popular children's book My nose, your nose by Melanie Walsh. Students were already familiar with the book, and since the hub day was hosted at Marsden school, the teachers were able to go there quickly, interview their students and get some images for their creation. The teachers paired up a few students and asked them to identify ways in which they were different and ways that they were the same (either physically or in terms of what they liked, families, where they lived etc). From their list each pair then selected one similarity and one difference. Digital images were then taken to demonstrate the student’s similarities and differences. As a pair, the students then developed their sentence which was included in their pages of My nose, your nose. Students also had to think up visual and verbal clues to help other students read their sentences.
The following are some sample pages from the prep class book:
The purpose of the e-book was not only to get students to start investigating diversity but to encourage literacy skills for emergent readers, especially for the young students who did not have a strong grasp of the English language.
The main difference between an e-book and a class big book is the interactive components. Icons were to prompt the students to click to hear or see certain clues. Students were encouraged to read the text first; if they were having difficulty they would click on the icons on the bottom 
or 
to
give them either visual clues or verbal clues. These icons hyper
linked to other pages that had the clues.
Students would check their reading accuracy by clicking on the 
icon, to have the sentence read to them.
These e-books when completed, were going to be placed on the teacher’s
project room through Education Queensland Curriculum Exchange, which
would link to a virtual classroom that students could access either at
school or from home with their parents, siblings or friends.
For further details of the Digi Kids Hubs, and to find out about opportunities to participate in your area during 2009, email Hanan Harrison at hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au or phone her mobile on 0407 464 472.
Full details of the conferences can be downloaded from the ANSN web site. Click here.
Andrea reports that that the ANSN has forged a partnership with Lambourne Consulting, who will supply and install Promethean boards for the 2009 project. Kate Cooper, who will already be familiar to E-News readers, is the Lambourne contact.
Her email address is kate@lambourneconsulting.com.au and mobile phone number is 0402 848 364.
To register for 2009, click here If you have any further queries please contact Andrea Federico by email on andrea.federico@ansn.edu.au or by phone on (03) 9366 1356 or 0414 472 189.
http://www.schoolchange.org/videos/the_global_achievement_gap_interview.html
Topics covered in this edition include:
- Bee Bots – a workshop report
- Communicate, Collaborate & Create: Using online tools for learning 2-day workshop – BOOK NOW!!!
- Hanan Harrison presents at IEU Conference
- Action Research Hubs
- Digi Kids Hub – Melbourne West, Day 5
- Digi Kids Brisbane
- Reminder of major Habits of Mind event #2: Next Steps 1-day Conferences in Brisbane on 5 November and in Sydney on 6 November
- Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) Hubs – Register for 2009
- Some interesting listening – a link to Habits of Mind
- Some interesting reading – Literacy, Numeracy and school performance
- An external conference
- Reminders of ANSN activities
Bee Bots – a workshop report
Regular readers of E-News will remember the ANSN Snapshot, Integrating Technology in the Early Years Classroom (Digi Kids), written earlier this year by Lynda Page, a primary teacher from Queensland (below left). If you haven’t read or downloaded her Snapshot yet, click here Now working part-time, Lynda recently presented two ANSN ‘Play, Make and Take’ Bee Bots workshops, at St Albans Heights PS and Williamstown PS in Melbourne.Lynda reports that during these sessions the participants learned how to program their own Bee Bots, which some found challenging as well as rewarding. They spent some of the day choreographing routines for their Bee Bots (above centre), designing and making racing tracks for their Bee Bots (above right) and then coming up with some of their own ideas of how to use their Bee Bots in their own classrooms. These creative teachers developed resources to take back and use the next day with their children and their Bee Bots. These included ideas encompassing literacy, numeracy and integrated studies.
These days were fun and very hands-on. One teacher was overheard telling her principal that this workshop was “just what the doctor ordered”. If you are interested in a fun, practical introduction to Early Years robotics, come to the next Bee Bots workshop in your local area.
Three Bee Bots workshops are coming up before the end of the year, in Queensland and Victoria:
Friday 17 October, Oonoonba Primary, Fairfield Waters Drive, Idalia 4811, Townsville, Queensland
Friday 7 November, Osborne Primary, Craigie Road, Mt Martha 3934, Victoria
Friday 21 November, Dream World, Coomera 4209, Queensland.
To register for one of these workshops, click here
For more information about Bee Bot workshops, or to register interest in attending one in the future, email Hanan Harrison at hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au or phone her mobile on 0407 464 472.
Communicate, Collaborate & Create: Using online tools for learning
Two-day workshop – BOOK NOW!!!
If you’re very quick, you just might be able to register for a 2-day workshop on using online tools for learning. Designed for teachers of students P-12, Communicate, Collaborate & Create will help teachers create learning environments and activities that enable a ‘seamless’ blend of ‘inside/outside’ classroom learning, to engage our students in communicating, collaborating and creating within the online world. Participants will explore the capacities of online tools such as (but not limited to) blogs, wikis and podcasts, within an educational context.Sarah Prestridge, who presented the most recent CCC workshop, reports that feedback included the following:
I enjoyed blogging and have been able to get students to create their own using edu blogs. It was a great piece of information that blogs and web pages are similar aside from the intent of the page. I have used this info to get the kids ... creating their own. ... blogging has just become VERY important to my class ... smile.The next workshop will be held on 13 and 14 October at Williamstown Primary School. For more information about the workshop, or to register, click here
(From a secondary teacher) ... I got a lot out of the sharing of our podcasts ... I was particularly impressed with the ones done by the primary school teachers ...
I loved the hands on stuff and working collaboratively with someone I might have been unlikely to work with at other times. ... I was nervous when I arrived, but your calm, relaxed and fun attitude made that a distant memory fairly quickly. Thanks for the great resources.
Hanan Harrison presents at IEU Conference
On 13 September, Hanan Harrison, ANSN Queensland Networker, presented at the Early Childhood Independent Education Union annual conference in Sydney. Over 150 early childhood teachers travelled from all sections of the ACT and NSW to attend this annual event, giving up their Saturday to find out ways of improving learning for young children.The conference theme was Changing the world from the ground up. With this in mind, Hanan presented 2 workshops, entitled Changing Worlds, Changing Classrooms. The workshops focused on getting early childhood educators thinking about the changes that have already occurred in our lives in relation to technology and how they are already shaping and impacting the learners of today. Teachers were challenged to think about how their classrooms have changed or not changed and to identify some easy and practical was of integrating technology into a play based learning environment – which not only engages young children but also provides opportunity for intellectual rigour and authentic learning opportunities. Feedback from the session included the following.
I found the interactive approach of the presentation was fantastic! It really consolidated the information; and provided some opportunities to share ideas and meet/talk with other teachers about what they were currently doing around technology integration.
This workshop session opened my eyes up to the world of technology in a practical way and I can see a huge potential in integrating technology with my young learners. I especially liked the Bee Bots and could see them fitting into our early childhood programs. I was so impressed we have actually bought 4 today.
Encouraged me to stop thinking I can’t embrace and use technology, and that maybe I can do it.Hanan suggests to E-News readers that if your school or District has an up coming conference or student free day, you might like to investigate whether she or another of our ANSN Networkers can come to present a session. Click here to check our website to see what is available and who your nearest Networker is. Some of the varied topics include: Technology integration for early childhood, utilising on-line tools for all classrooms, Dimensions of Learning, Habits of Mind, Interactive Whiteboards, Protocols (professional dialogue tools for examining our pedagogy), and Curriculum Planning.
Action Research Hubs
We are getting to the stage of the year that typically marks the end of many of the ANSN action learning hubs. The Digi Kids and the DoL Hubs are both 5-day professional development programs, which focus on the participants not only developing new skills around technology integration or curriculum instruction, but also reflecting on their own practice and learning journey.One of the overall aims for the ANSN is for teachers to share their stories, which are written by teachers for teachers. What distinguishes our professional development from many other organisations is how we interweave content and skills around bigger outcomes, of teachers becoming researchers of their own practice. This is achieved by participants developing reflective and analytical capacity. Hub members continually share ideas and making generalisations and conclusions about their own learning, and that of their students, as well as projecting and refining future goals.
If you school is interested in participating in any of the ANSN hubs for 2009 feel free to contact the Networker linked to the project. If you do not know your local Networker, click here Advertising for 2009 hub membership will start in the next few weeks.
Digi Kids Hub – Melbourne West, Day 5
Day 5 of a five-day Hub program becomes a day of celebrating and recognising the Hub’s achievements and overall learning – for individuals and collectively as a learning community. On 17 September, the Melbourne West Digi Kids hub met for the last time. All the groups presented their personal learning journeys, which they documented throughout the year by focusing on a specific need or question concerning technology integration:The following are samples of questions or focuses that schools investigated throughout 2008. These will be placed on our website shortly, for downloading and viewing:
- How can technology integration assist with improving reading and comprehension for students who have been identified as being below expected levels?
- How can we use peer learning as a tool to increase technology skills with students?
- How can we integrate multi-literacies in an effective and meaningful way into our classrooms?
- How can we as teachers (all digital migrants) develop engaging and powerful learning by integrating technology into our curriculum?
 
Digi Kids Brisbane
Brisbane Digi Kids Hub members have just completed Day 3 and 4 of their 5-day project. These 2 days were hands-on and productive, with the focus on developing interactive e-books – using an Interactive whiteboard (IWB) or a stand-alone computer, using Powerpoint and claymations (see below left developing storytelling strategies and right scripting claymations). 
One of the creative ideas for an interactive e-book came from the Marsden SS teachers, who chose to address a key component of their school – cultural diversity. They decided to design their own version of the popular children's book My nose, your nose by Melanie Walsh. Students were already familiar with the book, and since the hub day was hosted at Marsden school, the teachers were able to go there quickly, interview their students and get some images for their creation. The teachers paired up a few students and asked them to identify ways in which they were different and ways that they were the same (either physically or in terms of what they liked, families, where they lived etc). From their list each pair then selected one similarity and one difference. Digital images were then taken to demonstrate the student’s similarities and differences. As a pair, the students then developed their sentence which was included in their pages of My nose, your nose. Students also had to think up visual and verbal clues to help other students read their sentences.
The following are some sample pages from the prep class book:
The purpose of the e-book was not only to get students to start investigating diversity but to encourage literacy skills for emergent readers, especially for the young students who did not have a strong grasp of the English language.
The main difference between an e-book and a class big book is the interactive components. Icons were to prompt the students to click to hear or see certain clues. Students were encouraged to read the text first; if they were having difficulty they would click on the icons on the bottom 
or to
give them either visual clues or verbal clues. These icons hyper
linked to other pages that had the clues. Students would check their reading accuracy by clicking on the 
icon, to have the sentence read to them.
These e-books when completed, were going to be placed on the teacher’s
project room through Education Queensland Curriculum Exchange, which
would link to a virtual classroom that students could access either at
school or from home with their parents, siblings or friends.For further details of the Digi Kids Hubs, and to find out about opportunities to participate in your area during 2009, email Hanan Harrison at hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au or phone her mobile on 0407 464 472.
Reminder of major Habits of Mind event #2: Next Steps 1-day Conferences in
Brisbane on 5 November and in Sydney on 6 November
Art Costa will lead a day of professional learning that will both introduce the Habits of Mind and allow participants to develop an understanding of how Habits of Mind can be a powerful tool, for schools and other educational systems, to develop a culture and dispositions for learners to become independent thinkers for the 21st Century. Each of the 1-day conferences will focus on:- introducing and extending the Habits of Mind;
- explore how Habits of Mind has impacted on school’s culture and student learning;
- investigating how Habits of Mind can develop a climate of dispositions for learning and better thinking.
Full details of the conferences can be downloaded from the ANSN web site. Click here.
Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) Hubs – Register for 2009
Andrea Federico, ANSN Networker in Victoria, is currently writing to principals, inviting registrations of teams for next year’s IWB Hubs. The program has been expanded and emphasises the important balance between technical training requirements and pedagogical discussion.Andrea reports that that the ANSN has forged a partnership with Lambourne Consulting, who will supply and install Promethean boards for the 2009 project. Kate Cooper, who will already be familiar to E-News readers, is the Lambourne contact.
Her email address is kate@lambourneconsulting.com.au and mobile phone number is 0402 848 364.
To register for 2009, click here If you have any further queries please contact Andrea Federico by email on andrea.federico@ansn.edu.au or by phone on (03) 9366 1356 or 0414 472 189.
Some interesting listening – a link to Habits of Mind
James Anderson reports that Art Costa sent him an interesting link to an audio interview, about school change and the types of skills our students are going to need as adults. He comments that it is American in context, but still relevant to an Australian audience, especially those of us who are interested in Habits of Mind. The link ishttp://www.schoolchange.org/videos/the_global_achievement_gap_interview.html
Some interesting reading – Literacy, Numeracy and school performance
Andrew Leigh and Hector Thompson, from the Social Policy Division at the Australian Treasury, have written "How much of the variation in literacy and numeracy can be explained by school performance?", a review of related OECD/PISA international research. Published by Treasury, the review also presents new evidence based on school-level data from Western Australia. Combining test results with data on schools’ socioeconomic characteristics, the authors estimate the degree to which some schools outperform those with similar characteristics. On a ‘like schools’ basis, school differences are shown to be persistent across subjects, grades and years. To read or download the paper, go to http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1421/PDF/05_Variation_Literacy_Numeracy_explained_by_School_Performance.pdfAn external conference
The World Indigenous Peoples' Conference on Education will take place from 7 to 11 December, 2008, in Melbourne. For more details go to the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association website at http://www.wipce2008.com/Reminders of ANSN activities, covered in previous editions of E-News
Cognitive Coaching – Research Circle forms
As reported in previous editions of E-News, Gavin Grift has been busy founding the first Cognitive Coaching Research Circle, which will be presented by ANSN and The Center for Cognitive Coaching. The research circle has been designed to assist schools to build reflective communities, using action learning and cognitive coaching to support changes in teacher pedagogy. To read or download a flier, click here. For further details email, gavin.grift@ansn.edu.auHow to subscribe to E-News
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