Embracing Vulnerability

Putting oneself out there is terrifying.  It opens ourselves up to vulnerability. Failure. Rejection. Looking foolish.  All very real possibilities when making oneself vulnerable.   I try to avoid these things, we all do. Yet, I am learning that unless I actually put myself in these (potentially) horribly awkward scenarios on a somewhat regular basis, I am not very happy.  I am comfortable, certainly.  Maybe even content.  But not happy.  Not proud, not energised, not inspired.

Circle of Comfort = Circle of Fear

The circle of...
Photo by Zachary Spears on Unsplash

Thank you Valerie Koch, for putting yourself out there, and for sharing your own thoughts on the subject (and for the timely reminder of our #EagleEd Blogging Challenge).

Like you, I was also inspired by Stephenie Zamora's article, The Art of Putting Yourself Out There. I loved your honest reflections about the effectiveness of motivational posters in your room. (To this day I can visualise one particular poster hanging in my high school English classroom, which I must have re-read dozens of times.  Unfortunately, "The Little Giant" poster was illustrating a rhetorical device, that of the oxymoron, and not something a bit more profound...)

I also like how you mention you are intentional about letting students know you are trying something for the first time, and that you are also learning.  I think for many teachers, letting on that we don't know something is terrifying, as it opens us up a vulnerability that we have been trained to think is not desirable.  We are the 'teachers'--we should know more than the 'students' (or at least this has historically been the expectation).

It is really uncomfortable standing if front of a group of students (or your peers) and saying, 'I don't know.' And I don't mean 'I don't know' about something unknowable (meaning of life type questions). I mean not knowing about things that one might (rightly) expect us to know, due to our job title or age.

Coding Club

I experienced this discomfort when I ran a Coding Club for upper primary students earlier this year.  For many of them, coding and video game playing is their primary interest and past time.  They have logged thousands of hours and their social lives revolve around this interest. As a busy mother of young children and full time Lower Primary Tech Integrator, Coding and Gaming were not on the top of my list of previous experiences.  Going into my first club I had played few video games beyond Tetris, and had only experimented with a few coding apps and websites during Hour of Code.

I learned quite a bit, by asking questions of the 'experts' in the group, by working right alongside students, by running through problem solving strategies when they/we got stuck. In this regard, everyone in the club learned something. I also underestimated how big the gap was in my students' prior knowledge and self motivation. I had challenged students to create their own game or simple program in Scratch, but with the added complexity of combining certain key strokes with Makey Makey kits. It was perhaps too open and not scaffolded enough for all students to succeed at the task; although many did--even those who had never used Scratch beyond playing others' games.

First Drafts

Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash

Austin Kleon's blogpost on the necessity of First Drafts allowed me to think about my first attempt at Coding Club as my own version of a first draft, and that initial attempts not being stellar are okay, as long as there is a will to improve. I will do my best to follow Austin's own advice to himself:

“It doesn’t matter if it’s good right now, it just needs to exist.”

New Medias, New Literacies: New Learnings at Learning 2

The Learning 2 conference never ceases to inspire.   It is high praise that many of our ISZL talented Educators return year after year.  This year (my 3rd visit!) I had the privilege of attending the Pre-Conference session: Society Has Changed, Can Education Change With it? Embracing the Visual, Video and Digital Literacies in Schools led by one of my Edu-tech-heroes, Sean Walmsley, a fellow Coetailer  and awesome 'iLearning Coach.'

IMG_9796 flickr photo by learning2.asia shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license

 

What is iLearning?

Screen shot, taken directly from Sean's Fantastic Presentation (see below for embed)

Sean kicks off the session with a Twitter Challenge, getting our collective noggins working:

Youtube, Snapchat, music.ly, vlogging and the participatory culture that supports trending topics and viral phenomenon are the new normal! Reply to this tweet with a GIF explaining how you are feeling about it and add the hashtag #L2europe

— Sean Walmsley (@mrseanwalmsley) March 22, 2018

He then describes how he and his students 'rethink literacy' through digital and new media in various school projects.  The projects he and his students create are quite innovative.   Sean's final Coetail project, 'This is My School,' a whole school, collaborative undertaking...all completed in one shot! was what inspired me to sign up for the session in the first place. 


Take a look:





For our session's ice breaker, Sean had us all learn one another's names (providing a peek into our personalities) by doing emoji 😙 impersonations, inspired by this 'New Media Youtuber'.


As I have been interested in the momentum emojis have gained as a form of expression and communication, the activity had me stoked to get started with the session.


Our main challenge for the day's session was for each group to create our own New Media Project based on different prompts (emergent curriculum, phenomenon based learning, participatory culture, new media and new literacies).  Our different projects would then be combined into one final project to form a cohesive take away from the day's new learning. Sean provided us with many resources to get us started.


Our group's topic was New Literacies and New Medias (and my 💗 began to sing a little, as this topic is quite closely connected to my PLC topic, 'multimodal literacy') and we began to discuss our ideas and understandings of new medias and literacies, their purposes and impact.  My small group's discussion was lively and animated, as our four members brought in a variety of perspectives. (Another fantastic thing about the conference are those (divergent) conversations that take place throughout, as International Educators bring such a wealth of experience.)


After scribbling down our ideas on paper (one might argue an 'old' literacy), we got started on filming right away. Sean had installed a green screen (conveniently, right by our table) so we jumped in, using our visual and digital literacy skills to choose appropriate and as much as possible, CC background images that represented the ideas that had come out of our discussion.




IMG_0198 flickr photo by learning2.asia shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license




IMG_0219 flickr photo by learning2.asia shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license

In creating our segment of the video, our group expanded upon our existing interests, used our imaginations, innovated by trying out new tools (the app Touch Cast Studio allows you to add a link to a Youtube video as a background when Green Screening. Thanks for the tip, Sean!!) and pursued our individual and independent learning journeys. We also laughed.  A lot.

I think we are officially iLearners! 

Without further ado, here is the final video product from our session:






Back from Learning 2, Kim and I are busy implementing some of the take aways with our Stop Motion Animation Club, with plans for more New Media projects in future.  Stay tuned for our students' New Media projects.

Thank you Sean for the on-going sharing and learning!!!

Digital Citizenship TECH TIP:  All Flickr attributions were generated with the Flickr Attribution Helper

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash

“Seeing the world again through a child’s eyes is full of paradoxical moments of “painful joy.” I wanted this short film to capture that feeling.” -Kelly O’brien, film creature/producer of How does Life Live? From the New York Times, Opinion

In the short and provocative film, O’brien, creating a short documentary film based on her children’s questions, prompts her young children to repeat questions that they have asked over the years. I am sure that among the thousands of questions her children have asked, many of them are mundane, inconsequential. But not these questions. 

They reflect the random thoughts we all have about why things are the way they are (‘Why do trees just stand there?), about how the world works (What does extinct mean?), and about what makes us human (‘Why do you like beautiful things so much?)

These children ask the toughest questions: the ones we don’t have easy answers to. 

What is kind? 

Why do we eat animals? 

They ask questions we can’t google.

Why are some things special?

Why doesn’t everybody know me?

They ask questions that the next generation will have to answer and point out problems they may have the power in future to solve:

Why is the world so messy?

What is power?

Why are we going to die?

They ask the questions that we busy adults sometimes forget are the most important:

What is fragile?

Why are we human?

Of course young children are concerned with the mundane, but more often than not, they are grappling with their developing understandings and constructing theories about how the world works.
As an educator of young children, and as a mother to young children, I need to remember these things when I am overburdened with the (seemingly) mundane: 

Why do I have to eat my dinner? 

Why do I have to go to school? 

Why do I have to go to bed?

I often struggle to answer these questions, as my interpretation of the question often doesn’t seem to satisfy.

“Because you need food to grow.”

“Because you need to learn.”

“Because you need sleep to grow.” 

My not-quite-getting-to-the-point answers are usually met with a blank stare and one-upped with, “yeah, but why?”

There is a steady stream of quotes on the importance of valuing questions over answers on my Twitter Feed...but as a teacher, and particularly as a parent, I am constantly asking myself, how does one answer such questions?

Let's Make it Happen: Learning 2

It's been a week since I have returned from Learning 2 and I am still buzzing with excitement over

-connecting with and learning from other amazing international educators

-forming deeper relationships with current colleagues

-developing stronger leadership skills through sharing and risk taking

Making Connections.  Photo by Randall Bruder on Unsplash

FYI- I am in love with the electrical circuitry element to the photo at left. One of the things I shared with others at Learning2 was how I introduced and used Squishy Circuits with Early Years students.
My retelling of the process orally made me realise the power of visuals (I wished I'd had more at the ready to share!) but also that I had been meaning to document my own learning of the process in more depth so that others can benefit.



*Check out my Tech in the Early Years Padlet containing an ongoing sampling of Tech Integration ideas for our youngest learners.


So... what is Learning2 about?

Learning 2 is About Connecting With and Learning from Other International Educators

Enjoying a high quality of life in Switzerland & low staff turn over can mean we get used to things remaining unchanged: 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.   Listening to how another educator/school is tackling the same challenges, but much more successfully/creatively can be mind-bending.

Throughout the conference, Learning 2 Leaders deliver short "Ted-Style Talks' on a range of inspiring topics.  One such talk has Sam Sherratt describing Studio5, a fascinating project on how a school is breaking traditional moulds and empowering students to all but eliminate the challenges of timetables, subjects and even teachers! (Well, almost.)  His vision is startlingly similar to what ISZL's Early Years program looks like and makes me want to share more of what we are doing.  To encourage others to share what they are doing.

Learning 2 is About Forming Deeper Relationships with Colleagues

Learning is a social act: Long periods of uninterrupted time to learn and to socialise with one another is key to developing and deepening work relationships.  Additional time spent together travelling, eating meals, etc. is additional time together spent discussing teaching and learning, additional time spent solving a problem, additional time spent learning to trust one another.  Trust is a crucial element in learning and innovation.

Teamwork Takes Time. Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

Learning 2 is (can be) About Developing Stronger Leadership Skills through Sharing and Risk Taking

My first Learning2 was so overwhelming--so much to learn in a short time.  Tweeting was still new to me, and I was learning so much at workshops that I didn't think I could take on any more than that.  My Ed Tech Coach at the time, Jocelyn Sutherland pushed me further (as she always did) by encouraging me to 'lead' an unconference--a grass roots style meeting of like minds about tech in the early years--which I did and got much out of it. 

Last year, excellent colleague Kim Lelek and I upped our game by giving teacher workshops, (much more carefully planned professional development).

This year, we both delivered workshops, and in addition we co-facilitated our peer group of Tech Leaders for an hour at the end of each day at the conference. Interestingly, with each additional responsibility, I only felt more energised and ended up investing more of myself in other learning sessions I attended. (The old saying, the more you put into something, the more you get out of it couldn't be more true.)

*Check out our 2min PD Padlet --little golden nuggets shared by our Tech Leaders cohort.

Leaning in to the PreConference Session, New Medias and New Literacies

IMG_0198 flickr photo by learning2.asia shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

Learning2 is a great catalyst for change.


Learning2 has changed my practice, perspective & relationships.  The larger the school cohort attending, the larger the potential impact back home.  Learning2 is still looking for a host school for 2019 and 2020.  Could ISZL be that school?

Luxembourg's (this year's host city) motto is 'Let's make it happen.' I am echoing that sentiment.

Challenging Myself and Others: Engaging with my Online PLN

Twitter as a source of inspiration, challenge and enjoyment:

Day 1 of #MediaMentorMonth: Rather than share her favourite Youtube video (She loves videos of other people playing with toys) my 4 year old wanted to make her own and 'share with all the kids'. #MediaLiteracy #Digitlcitizenship https://t.co/CpaZH14VrS pic.twitter.com/PwMWfbaYIQ

— Holly Fraser (@horofraser) March 1, 2018

Mid Year Check In: Multi Modal Literacies

Symbolic Imagery & Coding as 

Emerging (Digital) Literacies 

Over the last few months I have been looking at how children develop their understanding of symbolic imagery.  

I was initially interested in developing children's digital literacy and independence when identifying common icons and functions on the iPad and Seesaw (and other apps), so that students could post more easily and work more independently and ultimately take more ownership of their learning.

 "What do I click next?"

When trying something new, many of the youngest students ask for prompts at every click.  This can be incredibly challenging when trying to complete a 10 click process (making a portfolio post to Seesaw) with more than a few students at a time and I wondered at how to increase a student's independence when using the iPad and creating digital content.

Initially I worked to ensure EY2-G1 students had a more explicit and clear understanding of what each Symbol in Seesaw meant. I found an amazing blog post by the talented Early Years Ed Tech Coach, Pana Asavavatana.  In her post she explores the concept of using Icons as visual scaffolds to assist with student thinking when making Seesaw posts.

 Pana likes the following definition of the new-to-her (and me) concept "transmediation"

"the act of translating meanings from one sign system to another” (Siegel, 1995, p.455)

"Digital information comes in multiple forms, and students must learn to tell stories not just with words and numbers but also through images, graphics, color, sound, music, and dance... Bombarded with a wide variety of images regularly, students need sharp visual-interpretation skills to interact with the media analytically. Each form of communication has its own rules and grammar and should be taught in ways that lead students to be more purposeful, specific, and concise in communicating." -Leonard Shlain

I also wanted students to notice patterns or similarities in symbols/icons across different apps.  For example the following are ubiquitous:



 


In one of the EY2 classes I very explicitly introduced the above icons found in Book Creator and we held a discussion as to what the icons could possibly mean and I recorded the students' ideas on posters.  As the students were interested in book making, over several weeks I invited students individually or in pairs to explore the app and click away at the the buttons.  I observed how quickly many began to 'read' the symbols after seeing what each does.  I must admit, this happened around Christmas when things got busy, Hour of Code took over and I didn't follow up with a timely, 'Now what do we know about these icons" lesson. 

Travelling Teddy Bear Project

ISZL Embraces the Travelling Teddy Bear Project

ISZL has been involved in the Travelling Teddy Bear Project for the last few years.  This year, we were lucky to receive Millie (again!) for an extended period of time.  Teddy bears start at a host school and travel the world throughout the year.  They promote Global and Cultural Understanding, provide opportunities for students to connect with other classrooms and are just plan fun.  Everyone loves the excitement of an impending package arrival, and students are no exception. This year the bears also come with specific UN Sustainable Development Goals to promote.  

I shared a Padlet  (embedded below) I created with the students and their teacher, used during the lead up to her stay with us, during her stay and again after her visit to summarise our activities together.

A highly coveted license for KG students

As Millie the bear loves coding and technology, we used this as an opportunity to really explore Beebots well beyond the Hour of Code during her stay. Students eagerly worked towards 'Beebot Driving Licences', earned only after completing a series of challenges of increasing difficulty.


We attempted to use the Padlet as well as a tool to communicate with the school involved just before ours, with limited success. Time differences and busy schedules don't always allow for authentic communication and collaboration.

The Skype call with the school after ours on the itinerary worked much better, and supported KG's current unit of Inquiry into artefacts and how they can represent our personal and collective stories.  Opportunities for continued contact with different schools are of course still available to us.

Participants in the Teddy Bear project must share the story of the visit on the Teddy Bear Blog.  Here is our post. And here is our video (sent along with the bear as a secret QR code, along with some Swiss chocolates!)



We've enjoyed the process so much that I will take on the role of 'Teddy Bear' Coordinator next school year.  This means we can tailor design a bear (or take on an existing bear) and have the bear begin and end the school year with us. Students will have greater investment and opportunities to connect with other schools, learn about the places the bear travels, and of course--unpack the bear with accompanying goodies picked up along the way at the end of the year.

For me, that means creating itineraries in Google Maps, Printing out passports, the UN Sustainable Goals booklets (we can pick our own goal to promote) ensuring participants keep to the schedule, track the bears and being ready with an emergency bear (just in case it gets accidentally sent to Swaziland, rather than Switzerland) ;)

I am looking forward to this next challenge and have already been planning with several teachers and teams about how this can best support students learning.

Please try this link if the Padlet is not viewing properly. 

From KGP Parent Communication

ISZL Travelling Tale

ISZL's First Annual Travelling Tales!

   

Inspired by the International Travelling Tales and Book Fortnight, Lower Primary created and shared 2 collaborative Travelling Tales at the Primary Assembly this morning.  

Story Boxes filled with small world characters travelled form class to class and students worked collaboratively using the app Adobe Spark video to tell 2 magical stories.

Feel free to enjoy/share with your classes/parents.

Perhaps next Book Fortnight we can get the whole PS involved! 

ISZL Travelling Tale #1   (https://spark.adobe.com/video/gGdDJBc5yU2V0)

(EY2T, G1W, KGA, KGW, G1H)

ISZL Travelling Tale #2    (https://spark.adobe.com/video/wIA8WGJ7M3hpA)

(EY2O, EY1, G1 EAL, G1B)

Thanks to Kerry Paron for organising!

 
(from email sent to staff)

Presenting an Introduction to Seesaw at Learning 2 Conference in Warsaw

Get over Presentation Jitters by talking about something you know well!

I shared my knowledge of Seesaw's strengths, and weaknesses, our school's journey using the platform and provided participating teachers a peek into the 'Student Seesaw experience'. 

Click here for a link to my presentation.  

12 Tech Tips of Christmas

On the First Day of Tech Tips, My Coaches Gave to me...

Working collaboratively with my colleague on a slow unveil of practical and fun tech tips just before the holidays was fun and informative.  We utilised many of the CARP design tips (Contrast, Alignment, Repetition, Proximity) we learned from our Coetail course. 

Click here to check them out: The 12 Tech Tips of Christmas

Tech Tip Co project by Kim Lelek and Holly Fraser