Learning Through Publishing

The act of publishing materiel could be considered to be one of the most rewarding experiences as a learner. It allows students to apply their learning by creating a product that expresses their skills in a multitude of facets.

When considering Bloom's Taxonomy, the act of evaluating is the top of the stack with regards to higher order thinking skills. The revised taxonomy places creating in this position.

http://apps4stages.wikispaces.com/

This is due to the fact that when a learner creates their own material they must move through the lower, mid and higher order thinking skills in order to create their product.

The digital technology available today means that publishing of material has never been easier, whether that be videos, music, websites, eBooks, games, apps. The availability of such resources means that teachers have a great opportunity to allow pupils to display their learning in a dynamic way.

During November, I had the opportunity to work with maths department staff and students in order to allow a group of students to express their learning by creating a product as part of a project.

Students were presented with a mathematical problem to solve, they then had to develop a creative way of using technology in order to explain to others how they solved the problem.

By itself the problem solving exercise, although challenging, would have made it to the midpoint of 'applying' in the revised taxonomy. The creative part of the project then allowed students to display their higher order thinking skills by producing a tutorial video.

The obvious additional skills displayed would be ICT (recording audio, creating graphics, editing video), but it was the act of planning the creation that was most powerful.

Students were forced to consider how and why they performed tasks in a certain way. Whether they could have, or should have, completed tasks differently. They were forced to justify decisions made. Then create a narrative that succinctly explained the process to others who had no understanding of the problem.

The act of editing the recorded materiel, audio and video, meant that students listened to their explanations many, many times. This act solidified the learning.

The end product was produced to a high level, but the same outcome could be achieved using basic screencast software such as Quicktime, which is available free on macbooks, or by using a mobile phone, a piece of paper and a pen!

Please enjoy the end product AND please leave a COMMENT.

How to screencast with Quicktime Player

Turning Weaknesses Into Strengths

Ten years ago I was a PE teacher at a Sports Specialist College in the UK. I had completed my teacher training and had two years of teaching experience under my belt. At this point in my career I had very little experience of using ICT in my teaching at all. Nothing that really went beyond writing up my lesson plans using my school laptop and using PowerPoint in lessons.

Outside of education my knowledge of using ICT didn’t really go beyond playing Xbox.

My mobile looked like this:

My home computer looked like this:

I had been saving my work on these:

And my interactive theory activities took place using laminates and an overhead projector:

ICT in education was not my strength and looking back, it was something that I hadn’t really even considered too much. In a practical subject such as PE, it was something that hadn’t really been exposed to me as an area for development.

Then one day I took the first step into turning this weakness into strength, purely accidentally.

I wanted to create a PowerPoint that taught the anatomy of the Human skeleton. I had a very clear image in my head of how I wanted it to be. I wanted the bones to be presented, in place, one at a time, with their titles, in order to gradually build up the skeleton.

I searched and searched on what was then, still a relatively emerging internet, probably using ‘Ask Jeeves’ for images of the skeleton that I could use to develop my PowerPoint, but they didn’t seem to exist. A feeling that I imagine we have all experienced.

At this point it became clear that if I was to create my PowerPoint then I would have to draw the images myself. The only programs that I had any real knowledge of was Word and PowerPoint and the draw tools on these two applications do not offer the ability to draw anything that would even closely resemble a simple human bone, let alone a skull or pelvis.

I approached the only person I knew that had experience of computers, my Dad. He told me to install an application called Adobe Illustrator CS2 (now up to its 7^th generation), a specialist drawing software. This is an industry standard piece of software and if you only have experience of computer art through Word and PowerPoint then it is not especially intuitive or obvious how to use.

My dad drew the first simple bone for me in about 5 minutes, just to show me the basics of how to use the tools. Then it was up to me.

The Pen tool in Illustrator does not operate the same as using a pen and paper. You can’t just draw a line and have it appear on screen, as you would initially expect. The Pen tool operates more like a pin and thread scenario where you have to plant a pin and then join it to another pin using a thread.

I hated this! I could not get my head around it. It was not easy for me; it was a source of great frustration, as every click I made seemed to lead to a mistake. Drawing an image that I could have drawn by hand in a matter of seconds was taking hours.

No matter how many times I asked my dad to come and draw the images for me, as it would take him a fraction of the time, he refused. As if he did it for me then I would never learn.

At that point I had a decision to make. Invest the time, keep on and attempt to complete my images (there are a lot of bones in the Human body) or give up and stick with the old presentation.

I am pleased to say that I made the right choice, and I stuck at it. This gave me the realization that it was possible for me to develop the resources that I require using ICT if I could not find what I needed readily available.

The fact that I do not have a built in knowledge of technology and that nearly everything I have learned I have learned from scratch, I believe, makes me a better teacher of how to teach and use the technology. I am very familiar with the pitfalls and frustrations that occur because it happened to me in the very recent past and continues to happen to me as technology evolves.

So, what’s the point of this reflection?

Looking back, the situation that I found myself in back then may well be and probably will be, a situation that many students find themselves in on a daily basis.

Presented with a situation where learning something new is frustrating, time consuming, painful, confusing….

And as Teachers we constantly encourage pupils to persist, don’t give up after the first attempt, learn from your failures, embrace making mistakes.

The likelihood is that students will only learn to accept this encouragement from their mentors if they can see it being modeled in a very real way.

Is it evident to students that we as teachers are continual learners who embrace making mistakes, learn from our failures and persist in the face of frustration?

When it comes to the use of technology do we persist and learn something new that may further develop our teaching or do we quit after the first frustration or technical issue.

Do we embrace the mistakes and frustrations that are part and parcel of integrating technology, modeling to students that learning is lifelong… or do we model to pupils to stick to what you know, if something goes wrong the first time then never use it again, if you find something frustrating then just forget about it.

My first steps into using technology: A skeleton PowerPoint

Pigeon Steps into the Twittersphere and Google Sites

Last week I had the opportunity to work with a number of members of staff for a whole day on some technology based professional development.

The development day aimed to kill two birds with one stone; assisting New Scheme Teachers in gathering vital accreditation evidence as well as developing whole school resources for the schools Google Site VLE.

This led to killing four birds with two stones; as I found this the ideal opportunity to not only aid colleagues in developing their Google CloudShare skills and resources, but also set about promoting the use of Twitter as a collaborative, reflective professional development tool.

The hope is that this one day spent with 5 colleagues helps to kills a whole flock of birds with the use of just a few stones. As the experience and knowledge gained will be passed on to staff and students by the members of staff involved.

Below is the story of the day created using the Tweets and pages developed.

A Step In The Right Direction

Am I a better teacher now than I have been at any other point in my career?

Have I let go of any teaching practices that I should have maintained, either through lack of time or over confidence?

Am I continuing to develop as a teacher and a learner or have I reached a plateau?


These are questions that I have been mulling over since my last blog post. By striving to become more reflective I have naturally been considering my learning path to date. Along the journey I have gained vital experience in teaching and learning, but when I look back, I can't help but think about the period of time where my own professional development as a teacher was at its steepest incline. This would be during my PGCE (teacher training ) in the UK and during my NQT year (first year out).

At this point in time, between the period of 2002-2004, I was in the strange position of being both a learner and a teacher at the same time. The growth in this period was vast. The hours of planning lessons meticulously, making resources, watching other teachers, trying to pick up techniques, evaluating every single lesson, discussing my evaluations on a weekly basis with mentors, then peers, then seminar leaders.

Im glad to say that my meticulous planning is something that I have maintained over the years. I also, still constantly make resources that are developed with the focus on specific learning outcomes, classes, groups or individuals. These are of a much better quality now, due to a developing confidence using ICT and the invaluable resource that is YouTube.

I cannot recall the last time I took the opportunity to sit and watch an experienced teacher in their element. I also, cannot recall the last time I sat down and physically wrote a detailed evaluation of every lesson that I taught in that day.

Informally I observe staff members around the school. I may catch some glimpses of teaching practice as I wander from room to room focusing on my own tasks, but this is coincidental.

Most teachers will express that they engage in reflective practice after lessons, what went right, what went wrong, what would I change and why, I know I do. The practice of getting this down on paper (or virtual paper) and discussing these with others seems to have drifted away though.

Looking back at my initial steps into teaching, one of the main reasons for my rapid growth as a teacher was the observation of my mentor, evaluating every single lesson I taught and then discussing it with those with experience and those who are on the same journey. I did not value the act of writing my evaluations at the time, picking over the bones and getting it down on paper seemed superfluous, but in hindsight it was vital.

Writing down my lesson evaluations at the end of each day allowed me to analyse everything that had occurred, make connections, consider how I could use this experience in the future. 

Knowing that each evaluation was for an audience made me consider them a lot deeper.

Regularly and formally discussing my reflections with others allowed me to gain different points of view, advice on possible solutions or improvements, confidence in my own abilities.

The reflective practice I engaged in during this period shaped me as a teacher. It also gave me a strong connection to the students that I was teaching. I was very much a learner, although the exact nature of what I was going to learn each day was uncertain.

Whenever I discuss my PGCE with others I always say that I was very lucky to have had the amazing mentor that I did, Mr Ian Fortune. He was a great teacher to observe and we engaged in valuable discussions about my reflections in order to make me a better teacher and a learner. Having completed my 'introduction to teaching' years the first few things that slipped out of my practice were arguably the two things that were most vital to my development; formal reflection and observation.

So..... having considered my three questions that started this post I feel that I do need to reintroduce some of those vital teaching practices into my daily routine. I am making a commitment to myself to formally reflect on my learning and lessons, actively seek discussion about my reflections and my lesson planning/delivery and also observe my peers regularly for my own development.

This will only make me a better teacher, a better learner and a better mentor to my students who I encourage to engage in reflective practice of their own.

Jumping In

On 19th August I was fortunate enough to be able to attend an eLearning professional development session organised by Sydney CEO. The guest speaker was George Couros; the Division Principal for Parkland School Division, Canada, and 'Teaching, Learning, and Leadership consultant'. 

Yes, the session included technology, but the focus of the day was not on the technology, but implementing high impact, innovative teaching and learning strategies in order to build relationships between learners and the community, develop reflection and metacognition skills of learners and overall promote a lifetime of learning.

An intentional omission from this purpose was the use of the term 'student', as this would imply that the learning experience does not apply to teachers. Effective teachers share a love of learning, that is why teachers become teachers... therefore teachers should be involved in the whole learning philosophy that is promoted within the culture of the school. 

This is not a new concept and is generally one that is agreed upon by most staff within a schools community. The question arises though, am I, as a teacher, sharing my learning experiences, my learning reflections, the skills that I use and continue to strive to develop, my vulnerability in learning new things, with my learning community in the same way that I would expect, strive for, or attempt to promote with the students that I teach? 

Surely if I aim to foster these skills to learners then I should make my own use of these skills evident, to show that learning is a lifelong experience and that I am not just a teacher, but also a learner...


I have pondered this question before and how my use of technology can help forge relationships with others and develop a culture of collaboration and communication. 

One of the solutions for promoting this culture, presented by George, was to narrow the focus of the technology use, in order for all learners, staff and students, to become confident in using a few methods. These were the use of:

• Blogs
• Twitter
• Google CloudShare

George, as the Division Principal for Parkland School Division, Canada, attributes the development of a learning culture within his school division, to the promotion of a blogging culture and the use of Twitter to compliment this. Google CloudShare also further promotes the culture of collaboration and communication. The use of these tools was an expectation for all within the community. Staff and students. It was not an opt in or opt out scenario, everybody actively participates.

To be honest, I have always been stand-offish towards Twitter. In fact, I only set up an account a few months ago in order to set up the #BethlehemCPD feed. Having attended this professional development and experienced the potential of Twitter as a tool for promoting reflective practice and collaboration I am now a convert!

By 'Twittering' during the day a constant stream of thought and learning was documented, which aided reflection at a later time. Including a collaborative hashtag also then aided in developing discussion. These two elements alone showed me the power 147 characters can harness.

Imagine using this in a classroom... Setting up a class hashtag such as #mrsummersIPT gives everyone in the class the opportunity to contribute and develop understanding, whilst opening further discussion. These Tweets can the be looked back on, in order to create a learning blog portfolio that shows deep reflective practice.... We could encourage students to create a Twitter account, encourage them to have their phones out in lessons, encourage them to continuously use them during the learning, then look back on them during a plenary...

I have used my Tweets and the Tweets of others to reflect back on my learnings in order to develop this very Blog post.

I have taken the opportunity to practice what I preach and that is why this blog has been redeveloped.

I am exposing my learning experiences, my reflective practice, my skills, my areas for development. Not only to myself or my colleagues, but also to the rest of my learning community, locally and globally.

My aim is to narrow my focus...

To increase collaboration and communication...

To show that I am a learner as well as a teacher....

2014 Term 3 Week 3

eLearning Availability

I will be available during the following periods to support staff with their eLearning requirements.  If you or your department would like to discuss, develop or learn something new then I am available either formally or informally.

My availability is now classed as a resource on Sentral. 

If you would like to book me as a resource for professional discussion, professional training or department resource development then just go to the resources page on Sentral. Book as you would any other resource and James and I will both receive email notification to block off that period.

My Availability Week 4 

Thursday Pd 3

Friday Pd 1

Friday Pd 2

Science Booking eLearning Time

Science have taken up the opportunity of using my eLearning time during week 3, so that I can create training videos for staff and pupils explaining how to use an online app building software. These videos can then be used by the whole year group 24/7 to help them with their next assignment.

After an initial meeting in week 2 where we discussed the requirements of the software I then allocated my dedicated eLearning time during week 3 to create the resources requested.

If your interested in doing something similar with me then send me an email or book me on Sentral.

Maths and eLearning 2014 Project

I am extremely excited that Anne-Marie Allen, a select group of 

Year 7 pupils from Maths and I will be working together on an eLearning project funded by the CEO. Maths have taken the opportunity, offered during the CPD day, of offering a select group of students the opportunity to write their own assessment task to show their own learning when presented with an assessment outcome. 

I am very excited about 'letting go' of the assessment and seeing what the pupils can come up with. Watch this space!

Time, Time, Time....If Only I had Some...

Do you need assistance getting your class webpages up and running, but your free periods don't line up with mine?

If you have resources that you would like on your website, but either don't know how to do it or just need some support, then why don't we work on it together.

In an initial meeting we can discuss what needs to be uploaded and where and then we can collaborate together to build up your online presence! I can allocate some of my availability to working on your site pages and so can you...

Send me an email, grab me whenever Im near or visit my desk. 

Lets collaborate!

Learn About.... Accessing the School Website

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago...

The second best time is now....

(Chinese proverb)

2014 Term 2, Week 7

eLearning Availability

I will be available during the following periods to support staff with their eLearning requirements.  If you or your department would like to discuss, develop or learn something new then I am available either formally or informally.

If you want to book a time just email me and let me know in advance otherwise I'll be available at my desk for a drop in...

Week 7 

Thursday Pd 3

Friday Pd 1

Friday Pd 2

Week 8 

Monday Pd 5

Friday Pd 3

Friday Pd 4

I Want To, But I Need Help...

Do you need assistance getting your class webpages up and running, but your free periods don't line up with mine?

If you have resources that you would like on your website, but either don't know how to do it or just need some support, then why don't we work on it together.

In an initial meeting we can discuss what needs to be uploaded and where and then we can collaborate together to build up your online presence! I can allocate some of my availability to working on your site pages and so can you...

Send me an email, grab me whenever Im near or visit my desk. 

Lets collaborate!

Authentic Use Of Technology

One of the biggest challenges in using technology in teaching is knowing when to NOT use the technology! 

ICT skills are vital for 21st Century learning, but so are the social skills and problem solving skills. Using technology should not be the focus, and if it distracts from the learning then rethink its use. The use of the technology must be authentic and add to the learning experience.

This video, I feel, is an excellent example on a number of levels. The message of technology overuse is delivered beautifully, but underlying this is a message about the effective use of technology in a creative, authentic, powerful way. Afterall, the video would not have been envisaged, filmed, created, edited, shared and trended worldwide, if it wasn't for the use of these 21st Century skills.

Good On You Rosemary!

Below is an example of how Rosemary in Science has been using Google Drive to share resources with her Science classes.
The resources have been shared with students to allow them access 

24-7. It also allows a feedback conversations between staff and students 24-7.

The organisation of the Google Drive subject folders means that each pupil knows where their work is, can access it anytime and can build up an organised collection of work that can be opened on any device.

Students Google Doc with teacher/student comments

Learn About.... Creating Google Docs

If you build it, they will come...

(Field of Dreams, 1989)

2014 Term 2, Week 6

eLearning Availability

I will be available during the following periods to support staff with their eLearning requirements.  If you or your department would like to discuss, develop or learn something new then I am available either formally or informally.

If you want to book a time just email me and let me know in advance otherwise I'll be available at my desk for a drop in...

Week 6 

Friday Pd 3

Friday Pd 4

Week 7 

Thursday Pd 3

Friday Pd 1

Friday Pd 2

What Goes Where? Bethlehem electronic workflow...

There are so many different communication systems talked about at school that sometimes its confusing about what does what and what needs to go where!

Hopefully this may help....

There are currently four main online information systems used at school:

1. Sentral
2. School Portal
3. Google Drive
4. Teacher Dashboard

Sentral

Sentral is Bethlehem's main administration communication software. It allows rolls to be taken, reports to be written, markbooks to be completed, daily notices to be communicated, etc.

School Portal

The school portal is available to staff and students. It is the main school location for learning resources. Staff should be locating resources for students, as with 'My Classes'. The resources can be of any file type (Office files, iWorks files, images, videos, audio, YouTube links, webpage links), they do not have to be Google Docs.

Every subject has its own page and every class has its own page. You have been given editing writes to your department pages, so go ahead and start uploading your teaching content. Make your classroom resources available to students 

24-7, by placing them onto your subjects class webpage.

The web address for staff is:  www.tinyurl.com/bcstaff

The web address for students is: www.tinyurl.com/bcstudents

Example school Portal Class Page

Google Drive

Google Drive is an online storage location similar to iCloud or Dropbox. It allows you to store all your documents, of any file type (Office files, iWorks files, images, videos, audio, etc), so that they are available to you wherever you are.

It also allows you to create Google CloudShare documents online (Documents, presentations, spreadsheets, etc) and share them with other people.

Teacher Dashboard

Teacher Dashboard offers the ability to quickly share any document within your Google Drive, of any file type, with students within your class. You can also do this using Google Drive, but its A LOT quicker using Teacher Dashboard. 

At the beginning of the school year every pupil had subject folders automatically made on their Google Drive account. Teacher Dashboard allows you to view all your classes Google Drive subject folders. Any document that you share with a pupil via Teacher Dashboard is automatically placed in the appropriate subject folder on their Google Drive. You can then see these all on one screen thats easier to use that searching through your Drive account.

Example Teacher Dashboard Class Page

Good On You English!

Below is an example of how English have begun to populate their Year 7 portal webpages.
The resources have been added to the website as attachments, pupils can download them when they are required. These resources were not converted into Google Docs prior to upload.

These resources are now available to students 24-7. 

Year 7 English Resources on the Student Portal

Learn about.... how to upload any document to Google Drive

Learn about.... how to upload any document to the school portal

To Infinity & Beyond...

(Buzz Lightyear)

2014 Term 2, Week 5

eLearning Availability

I will be available during the following periods to support staff with their eLearning requirements.  If you or your department would like to discuss, develop or learn something new then I am available either formally or informally.

If you want to book a time just email me and let me know in advance otherwise I'll be available at my desk for a drop in...

Week 5 

Thursday Pd 3

Week 6 

Thursday Pd 3

Friday Pd 1

Friday Pd 2

What is the School Portal?

The school portal is available to staff and students as the main school location for learning resources. It is the school website where staff should be locating resources for students, as with 'My Classes', and it is also the location where staff can find learning resources for their own CPD.

Every subject has its own page and every class has its own page. You have been given editing writes to your department pages, so go ahead and start uploading your teaching content. Make your classroom resources available to students 

24-7, by placing them onto your subjects class webpage.

The web address for staff is:  www.tinyurl.com/bcstaff

The web address for students is: www.tinyurl.com/bcstudents

Learn about.... how to find the school portal and what it is

Dan Meyer Is Awesome Part 2! 

Dan Meyer introduces some more ideas for introducing engaging, authentic learning into high school lessons using technology.

Stay Classy Bethlehem...

(Ron Burgundy)        

2014 Term 2, Week 4

eLearning Availability

I will be available during the following periods to support staff with their eLearning requirements.  If you or your department would like to discuss, develop or learn something new then I am available either formally or informally.

If you want to book a time just email me and let me know in advance otherwise I'll be available at my desk for a drop in...

Week 4 

Friday Pd 3
Friday Pd 4 

Week 5 

Thursday Pd 3
Friday Pd 1
Friday Pd 2

24 - 7 CPD

Bethlehem CPD is available 24-7 through the use of the school staff portal. Its also available 

24-7 for students using the student portal.

The Google Cloudshare tutorials page contains an ever growing library of short video and paper based tutorials for a variety of Google skills. If you are keen to learn how to do something using docs, sheets, sites, presentations, videos, Teacher Dashboard, ePortfolios, etc then check out the portal.

The ICT Help page, also available on the staff portal and the student portal, is a growing library of advice on how to use ICT in order to create GOOD presentations and videos along with student research skills.

Learn about.... quickly emailing classes using Teacher Dashboard

Dan Meyer Is Awesome! 

The first time a saw Dan Meyer I thought he was awesome and no matter how many times I watch the same talks that he gives, and I've watched them a lot, I feel the same.

His use a technology to complement his subject and his teaching is fantastic. He presents real world problems that require higher order thinking skills in order to engage his students. Every time I watch his videos it leaves me thinking about how I can incorporate some of his methods into my own lessons.

Take care of yourself..... and each other.

(Jerry Springer)