Applied Practice - Week 30 - Using social online networks in teaching and/or professional development - (Activity 6)

Really interesting discussion tonight... and not only just because I began talking about how Tinder wasn't on the slides as a form of social media... or how I've used it bahahaha. Love it. Thanks Dave for asking about how I've used it and the issues I've found around the digital citizenship for the people in my age group who are absolutely inappropriate.

Really loving this discussion tonight around the use of social media for professional development and how we could use it for teaching in class.

I've been thinking about how I use social media and the purpose. The WHY is absolutely critical. We need to think about HOW we use it and WHY we'd use social media too.

Some key features of social media that are beneficial for teaching and learning:

• connect with people outside of your immediate colleagues at school
• connect with people who are like-minded and are interested in collaborating
• develop more indepth perspectives around issues that you're interested in
• make connections throughout the world 

Potential challenges that teachers need to be aware of when integrating social networking platforms into teaching activities:

• digital citizenship issues
• issues around effective use and the WHY 
• being more inclusive about the way we connect 

The main issue I suppose is how we use social media to more effectively teach digital citizenship skills, actively and in participation and collaboration with our students and the world around us. Using social media tools to share learning and perspectives is incredibly important as students need to learn from someone they trust and can approach with questions about using social media. If students don't learn digital citizenship skills at school, and don't get help from whanau at home, then where do they learn to be appropriate while online? 

More importantly, students need to identify more effective ways to resolve issues other than believing the negative things people say while using social media. They often get in too deep with cyber bullying and get so inundated with messages and lost in their online worlds. 

The best thing though about being able to use social media in class is teaching students what is acceptable and what could be done about creating more safer online environments, and how they have a place in creating those environments. 

What social media platform best supports engagement with your professional development?

• TWITTER!!!!! PINTEREST!!!! 

How do I use social media to enhance my professional development?

I feel as if I've explained this plenty plenty plenty of times previously at different workshops, conferences, discussions on PLD etc BUT.... I'll discuss the main reasons again here:

I use social media, specifically Twitter, to enhance my PLD so that I don't feel lonely anymore. That sounds really stupid - but when I first started using it I was a first year teacher and didn't feel like I could ask those 'stupid' questions from those in my department. At the time I felt alone and isolated, partly because I was too scared to speak up and ask the more experienced teachers and also because I had such a massive thirst for learning and I wasn't getting enough from the PLD run at school around the areas that I was most interested in. 

Now as a fifth year teacher, I still use Twitter to get ideas, inspiration, advice and perspectives from teachers around the country and around the world. I love that you get instantaneous feedback and that there is no hierarchy when using Twitter - it is a flat landscape in terms of connecting to people around the world by sending a simple tweet. I love that you can send a tweet to someone you have admired for years, like Sarah Kay or even Sir Ken Robinson and maybe you don't get a response back or maybe you do - the point is that you can connect with someone directly. And that is the beauty of Twitter. 

I've connected with English teachers across the country, teachers using Class Dojo around the world, teachers I admire and teachers I've had debates with. I've used Twitter to ask questions on the behalf of my students to world leaders. This in itself builds openness, collaboration, understanding and the ability to relate to others. All important aspects within education and future focussed learning. 

Using Social Media in the Classroom

Really interesting video - I liked how she used it to show her student's learning progressions - how she got students to write their blog posts - even though they couldn't write well, she wrote what they meant in brackets and they could get some pictures of videos to show their learning too. 

Benefits: students connect with outside world! 

Challenges: issues around student use of photos - policies might be used in her school - surely needed a disclaimer or something??


Research:
The PPTA have some INCREDIBLY good guidelines around the use of social media - found here and here.

NZCER likewise - found here and here and here.

Interested in using Twitter as a teacher and professional? Check out my Twitter cheat sheet here.

The workshop slides and notes that Nathaniel Louwrens and I created from our workshop at ULearn last year.

The #EdBlogNZ list of NZ teachers' blogs - found here.

Class Notes

Resources to look into:

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han...

Seaman, J., & Tinti-Kane, H. (2013). Social media for teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/assets/downloads/reports/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-2013-report.pdf#view=FitH,0

Silius, K., Miilumäki, T., Huhtamäki, J., Tebest, T., Meriläinen, J. & Pohjolainen, S.(2010). Students’ motivations for social media enhanced studying and learning. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 2(1), 54-67. Retrieved from http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/article/view/55/39

Why I love Twitter...

The title is all cheese but I'm incredibly sincere when I say it.

I think I've mentioned this transition before but think it's worthy again of mentioning.

Was just having a conversation with a colleague, from another school, another region, same subject.. about Twitter and people's reactions towards it.

It doesn't shock me now when I hear someone moan and say how much they hate Twitter or how they just don't "do" social media. It used to shock me. But I think that's mainly because of my naivety as well as my complete love for all things social and most things media.

What shocks me now is that I hear people say they hate PLD or professional development.

Mostly because I have been completely blessed over the last three years to find my real niche in learning and development. Interestingly enough it came from both being social and connecting with others through varying degrees of media.

Yes we've all had that shocking PLD that leaves out most of the learning and feels more like home d than anything else.

But as I've said before - if you are feeling lost in the crowd, isolated, burnt out or just merely apathetic - surely there is an alternative to the usual PLD sessions that are run through schools or ones that you're sent to and forced to sit through.

There is. And it's Twitter.

Like I said not everyone likes the idea of Twitter - but the thing about it is the fact that you can tailor make your own PLD about areas in which you personally are interested in. More importantly - it's a fantastic opportunity to network with others and a chance to create that positive digital footprint that we should be modelling to our students.

When I was doing my GradDipT at Waikato Uni - I was told by a tech teacher about how awesome Twitter was. I couldn't get it. Refused to because of the constrictions of the characters. Quite plainly - I'm glad I hated it back then because otherwise my account would have been full of obscene tweets about next to nothing with overt exclamation marks and capitalised words.

It wasn't until I was into my fifth or so month of teaching full time when I turned to Aunty Google and started searching for somewhere that I could gain support and ideas from about teaching. Lo and behold - one of the first links that popped up was #edchat as well as #nt2twitter created by Lisa Dabbs.

I soaked up these tweets and created an account. I tried my hardest to join into these chats but they were in the American timezone and I just couldn't participate as well as I would have liked. I asked for and gained a mentor but it just wasn't as effective as I needed at the time. About then I think I was dealing with my first highly difficult class and learning coping strategies and quickly building behaviour management techniques and philosophies from my experiences. At the time I needed all the love and support I could muster.

Somehow I made it through and although those Twitter chats were a mere blip on the radar now - I truly am glad I found them.

Fastforward a couple of years to last year at Issues and Organising - a PPTA run conference - where I had the pleasure of sitting in on Steve Mouldey's presentation about Hobsonville School and his experiences. What caught me though was the frequency in which he was discussing Twitter. Something I was still debating around the use and efficiency of.

About then is when I got full blown caught up in the turbulent winds of the revolution of the education and PLD movement in NZ.

Finally I had found my people. Those who LOVED learning and enjoyed sharing their experiences and thoughts. Those who were willing to step outside of their comfort zones and try something new. Those who supported and needed support too. True ako in action.

Fast forward to now and well - I've recently hit the 20k tweet mark. My students ask me what I tweet about and I say that I tweet about them and what I'm learning. Most of the time I'm learning from others and soaking up ideas and ferreting them away for a time when I can pull them back out and use them. I favourite and retweet colleagues posts and develop new initiatives with new friends.

I've presented over Google Hangout a couple of times now and shared more than I can actually count. I've learnt from the best and continue to do so. I've participated in an amazing amount of Twitter chats from the likes of Danielle Myburgh's #edchatnz, Matty Nicoll and ibpossums #SciChatNZ as well as created our own little #EngChatNZ chat for NZ English teachers.

I've been sent to Brisbane for a conference on New Educators and hope to travel again soon to another big conference in the States. I'm presenting at this year's ULearn with Nathaniel Louwrens on Blogging for Beginners after my undoubtedly brave yet triumphant moment as the orphan of ULearn last year when my Twitter colleagues donated to my (2338) PledgeMe account to get me there!

I've presented at countless smackdowns around the country for different Educamps and loved each moment. I've been luckily given the opportunity to volunteer for Class Dojo as one of the Community Leads for our country and have learnt so so much from the other CD educators in NZ and around the world.

I've taken part in a tonne of different blogging challenges and learnt heaps from educators everywhere. I'm currently working with Nathaniel and Sonya Van Schaijik with developing #edblognz where eductors blogs are curated via RSS feeds in one stunning place.

I'm still developing my writing voice and think that it will continue getting better over time. The best part about it though is seeing my transformation and evolution as a teacher.

I blog... a lot. I tweet... a lot more. And to be honest - I get back what I put in.

There are moments when you just need time alone with your own thoughts of course and that balance is still something I'm learning (oh to have a work/life balance...) but it's just so fabulous being able to get inspiration and perspective at the opening of an app like Twitter.

I have big hopes and dreams and I'm lucky to have such a supportive PLN (professional learning network) that support and value me and my ideas.

I'm hoping to go to ISTE in Denver next year and if I save enough I'll be able to do it.

After my experiences with breaking into this beautiful social and media filled world - I really don't think I can go back to having my head in the ground and not knowing what's going on in education and the world. I'm so so lucky that I have found the area in which I can not only give back but can develop and grow as an educator too because of the wealth of support I have from those not only in my own school staffroom but that of our global Twitter staffroom.

So if you've read this far and know someone who isn't on Twitter (yet!) please pass this post on to them. They don't have to like Twitter - they don't even have to use it 'properly' to get something out of it. They just need to open their minds up to what's going on in education and try to be aware of how they too can contribute and learn from others too.

If you or they need help I've got a few resources - one that I'd still like to redo as I'm constantly evolving it. I'd like to keep it at 2 pages but there is just a lot of info that people ask for and need help with so we'll see how that goes. For now - here's the latest resources I have:

https://drive.google.com/a/whhs.school.nz/file/d/0B4H1mQcM7JEHenNycS1SRDFFSFk/view?usp=docslist_api

https://docs.google.com/a/whhs.school.nz/presentation/d/1uTpcEroFZ2YSA8ZM672Nog48Bb0K4EK6RcnzJjwY-qg/edit?usp=docslist_api

:)

EdCampGlobal Opportunity

Am incredibly stoked to have been asked to be part of this GHO session with Brian Host and the rest of our whanau - Beverley Ladd, Brett Salakas, Jena Ball and Marty Keltz from the Not Perfect Hat Club, Viv Hall and Dan Haesel.

Looking forward to sharing some of the stuff I've been doing with connecting globally with other teachers and sharing my journey over the last year and a half.

A little bit nervous about not having a script and knowing that I'm really really talented at saying 'Um' multiple times in unscripted GHO sessions for presenting... haha. Hopefully the passion and excitement will show through regardless!

Here are a couple of recent Twitter resources that could help you on your own journey to building a PLN:

Slides: https://goo.gl/KFHXUZ

Twitter Cheat Sheet: https://goo.gl/LbXOg6

A post about catch-up posts needed...

I keep meaning to blog about all of the awesome stuff my students and I have been up to.

• Year 10 English - Currently working on their Poetry Wero (challenge). They have to find five poems and use MAPIT to analyse them. Then they also need to write five of their own poems - no analysis needed. Hopefully they will choose the right medium to do their selection. Some have chosen Minecraft, PPT, booklets etc
• Year 10 Social Studies - Been working on the Holocaust this term. I think our focus will turn into Human Rights throughout the year actually because the other topics and units will merge into the same kind of perspective... human rights and sustainability... human rights and migration... human rights and etc :) They're currently working on their individual inquiries. They did a pretty cool big brainstorming session last week. Hopefully they appreciate seeing their work on the wall today. Need to also talk about my SOLO work with them too...
• Year 11 English - Finished their drafts of Creative Writing - Now and Then... and now reading their selected novels. We're doing literature circles. Need to figure out how to make this manageable and also worth mine and their time. Worksheets are all well and good but I feel I will end up flipping my class sooner than later as I need to talk individually to the students and having re-watchable videos will hopefully help. 
• Year 12 English (Pink) - Have finished their EAP assessment on hunting and are working on their Party in the Car assessment at the moment. I gave them their choice of novel last Friday too - All John Green novels - 'Papertowns', 'Fault in our Stars' and 'Looking for Alaska'. Same thing - lit circles and also needed a range as we originally had a class of 39/40+ but since class has been split... best to still give range as students have read the novels or watched the Fault in Our Stars film... Have really enjoyed seeing their analysis begin to come together. Though I think we did the Party in the Car assessment better last year - mainly because we'd done it after our Film analysis so there wasn't a need to do so much scaffolding to be able to do the assessment. Also - there is a range of abilities within the class in regards to the film techniques and analysis. And... the lack of curtains and reliable projector has made the teacher scaffolding and analysis side more difficult. I've tended to work individually with each group and help analyse by picking out a couple of things as they've been choosing their videos and discuss certain techniques in relation to impact on audience. 
• Year 12 English (Yellow) - This class has also finished their EAP's.. though they may need to fully complete/fix up a few more bits and pieces within their assessment. There is also a range of Year 13 students in this class who are fixing up their literacy requirements from last year. Differentiated learning is basically the only way I teach this class. We are currently working on the two short stories - 'His First Ball' by Witi Ihimaera and 'Her First Ball' by Katherine Mansfield. 
• I've also got to catch up on posts on getting #EngChatNZ back up and running, my latest PLD session with NZTA which I'm travelling via airplane through Cyclone Pam today to Wellington... and also on my plans with Class Dojo this year and #DojoChatANZ, and the journey we're currently having at Heights with GAFE and the PLD I've been doing to upskill to help my school move forward. 

Social Media Organising Workshop: PPTA Issues and Organising Conference 2015

Such an awesome opportunity today. Thanks to Derek Morris for putting us in the programme, to Adele Towgood who suggested I do a workshop on Twitter and most of all to Jason and Georgie who let me tag along in their workshop :) Nga mihi nunui ki a koutou :)

Will do a reflection later on - but here's the Storify collation of the Tweets :)

Connected Rotorua - Cross-Curricular Collaboration

This Friday we are embarking on a massive collaborative approach in terms of creating a discussion around cross-curricular collaboration.

For those of you who already come to Connected Rotorua - this type of collaboration is old hat. For the new teachers and those we have been working on bringing to join our roopu - collaboration can sometimes be a scary thing.

The idea for Connected Rotorua this time around - to have a Twitter chat - run by me in where we copy our number one It Girl's Face2Face Twitter chat model from the #edchatnz conference.

I don't think I sold it very well at school - but I'm hoping a few people will come along.

My questions so far:

1) Name, school, reason for coming to Connected Rotorua this arvo.
2) What does collaboration look like?
3) How can we create collaboration throughout a school setting - often when we are in our own small areas?
4) What would cross-curricular collaboration look like?
5) How have you collaborated with someone or a different department / age group in the school?
6) How does cross curricular collaboration benefit our students?
7) What other ways could you see cross-curricular collaboration working throughout the school?
8) What do we need to do to ensure we are making constructive progress with collaborating with our colleagues in our schools, nationally and globally?
Final Question: How have you taken part in Connected Educator Month?

In the primary and intermediate school sectors - there is a tonne of cross-curricular collaboration - however the  same issues around sharing resources and being connected seem to permeate - as it does in the high school sector.

It's unfortunate that there are a tonne of kids falling through the system because the dramatic change in teaching style and schooling style changes as they grow up. Perhaps having a more inter-related and cross-curricular perspective when it comes to their studies and their new learning could help aide this growing issue.

For teachers - being collaborative should come second nature - however we are time poor. We don't have the time to create amazing resources or be up to date with best practice all the time. But what we do need to invest time in - is collaborating with others to enable closer connections, positive sharing and giving and taking, building trust and friendship, hopefully further ensuring a wider knowledge base from which to teach our students.

For students - collaboration is what they do best. They love working in groups. They share and feel comfortable pushing out their ideas with those closest to them.

Why do we as adults move away from that? We become scared of being told our ideas are stupid or that they would take too much effort. We feel as if there just isn't enough time, yet try and invent the wheel again anyway. Those of us more seasoned teachers feel that we know a substantial amount of knowledge already and know that what works for us - is already working.

The problem is - our world is changing dramatically - and we need to create learners who love learning, who strive to solve problems, who work in teams to pursue an issue and challenge each other to find the best possible outcome in a difficult situation. We need learners who will not be scared of creating change and learners that will fight for their ideas to succeed because they have overwhelming growth mindsets and believe anything is possible if they just keep trying.

It may sound silly - but I think collaboration is the way to do it. Cross-curricularly as well. Let's break down those silos, those walls to our classrooms. Let's make use of the tuakana/teina relationships we have in our classroom, school, staffroom. Let's share the power - give and take ideas and all be listened to.

Want to come to Connected Rotorua now? This Friday night from 4.30 at Western Heights High School. Nibbles and drinks provided :) Just bring your thoughts and enthusiasm :)

ULearn14 - Thoughts and Reflections - Storify Style

Since ULearn14 finished, I have had one massive nap and an even more massive sleep. I think I'm nearly ready to write about it.

Firstly though - here are a heap of amazing Storify's which collated the even more amazing time we had at Ulearn14:

https://storify.com/kasseylee11/ulearn14-day-1
https://storify.com/kasseylee11/ulearn14-day-2
https://storify.com/kasseylee11/ulearn14-day-3
https://storify.com/VanessaJC83/ulearn14-reflections
https://storify.com/Keamac/friday-ulearn14-tweets
https://storify.com/1MvdS/presentation-ulearn14-9-october-2014
https://storify.com/leighhynes/tom-barrett-s-workshop-at-ulearn-mobile
https://storify.com/Tameey/ulearn14-tameey-twitter-feed-day-1
https://storify.com/Tameey/ulearn-tweets
https://storify.com/1MvdS/wall-ulearn14-8-10-october-2014

Here is the link for mine too:
https://storify.com/ariaporo22/ulearn14-it-truly-was-the-mother-of-all-e-learning

And below - a quick look through the amazingness... :)

Power of the PLN and CrowdFunding

Listening to Amanda Palmer and Justine Driver made me believe that Crowd Funding really was possible. I never believed it could happen. I put it out there... hopeful that it might. Kind of bracing myself for the eventual probability that I wouldn't be able to go to ULearn. Then I woke up this morning to a handful of tweets sharing my Pledge Me account once more, and again some more pledges... I seriously cannot believe that you all believe in me this much. 

This morning before I left for school the pledges sat at $680. I was incredibly stoked. Proud of myself for asking for help - but more so proud of my amazing PLN. It is absolutely crazy that something like this could happen. 

Nathaniel Louwrens was tweeting with me this morning about there only being $70 to go to reach the target. As I walked out the door I was filled with a huge sense of pride and honour. Completely humble and appreciative that my PLN would do this for me. 

This connectivity has the power to enhance and multiply any professional development I could ever go to because the simple fact that you believe in me and my vision is more than enough - wow. Seriously. Thank you. 

There will never be enough ways to say thank you. Ever. Because partly I am in shock right now.. I am also completely stunned that there are people out there who would be willing to help some young teacher in some part of the country to get to a professional development conference.

In sharing my PledgeMe with a Deputy Principal I was just trying to share my pride and excitement that I was that close... $680! I searched my PledgeMe account again to show her - and moved the page to the pledges... wow. You guys hit the target... and then some. 

It's now sitting at $770. The target was $750. 

I am in disbelief that the target has been reached. With ten days to go. 

I keep staring at the page. No need to refresh it any more. But I do so anyway. Because I still can't believe it.

There truly is power in a strong professional learning network. 

Thank you all SO much. 

Crowd Funding works. 

Nga mihi nunui ki a koutou katoa. 

Ehara taku toa, he takitahi, he toa takitini

My success should not be bestowed onto me alone, 

as it was not individual success but success of a collective

The Twitter Journey - Paper Tweets with Year Nines

So today we begun some more writing challenges - with a focus on reading mileage and a beginning session on using Twitter in a live chat.

1) Promoting and developing a Reading Community - one that chooses to read rather than one forced to read...
2) Encouraging more positive behaviours through collaborative group and class work
3) Encouraging oral/aural listening skills through verbal questions and written answers on paper

We started the lesson with students writing down as many books that they could remember reading - for some I added the "since the beginning of time" suggestion. I asked them to choose their favourite ones and write down what each one was about and also why they enjoyed them the most.

It was surprising seeing the reading mileage by a few particular students - they're not particularly 'strong' readers and one student said today that she was "forced" to read that many. Surely though.. even if she did just have a good memory - could this be a simple cry for help? She remembered at least 20 books in under 2 minutes. When in the reading room in our set reading timetabled period - she sits there reading - but doesn't seem to enjoy it. I really want to help her love reading.

To do this - I was talking to Bridget Compton-Moen (@BridgetLCM) about the 40 Book Challenge from Donalyn Miller's 'The Book Whisperer'. I want to start a ridiculously enjoyable experience of reading in my English classes - particularly with my Y9's. Up until now we've had quite a few disruptive terms - with students leaving to go to alternative education and then coming back and then going again - the class dynamic has changed at least 3 or 4 times and we're finally at a good point in the dynamics where the majority of the kids wanting to learn outweigh the kids who don't really care. The reading mileage has been good, but I still want to measure it - with a few dyslexic students, others with other learning issues and behaviour management issues - it's been difficult measuring their reading - other than through verbal conferencing between myself and students individually.

For this lesson though - the focus was getting some quick feedback halfway through the year in how they're doing and what they're enjoying, struggling with and what they would like to do more of in English.

Before we began with the rules of the game - I asked them to group themselves with two others (groups of 3) with one person who reads a lot, someone who reads a bit, and another who doesn't read much at all.

In their groups they needed to then create handles individually which they wrote in their spelling books. Half will now be used for spelling and half for Twitter practice.

The Rules: Like any Good Twitter Chat :)

1) Every tweet they write needs to have the hashtag - #Y9English
2) They can only say up to 10 words (to fit into the 140 character limit)
3) They need to answer the questions - A1. (response) #Y9English, A2 and so on..

The questions we used:

Q1. What's your name and where are you from?
Q2. What have you enjoyed so far about English this year?
Q3. What subjects do you not enjoy/struggle with at school?
Q4. What makes these subjects not as enjoyable?
Q5. What are three things you have learnt so far this year in English?
Q6. What do you get frustrated with in English?
Q7. What does Miss L do to help you in English?
Q8. What would you like to learn more about in English?
Final Q. What do you think Miss L needs to do better/differently in class?

These questions were chosen to assess their learning, my teaching and also what else I need to do to help my students achieve to the best of their abilities.

Issues during the Mock-Twitter Chat

Some students were initially not wanting to get involved for a few reasons:
1) Felt that they weren't allowed to do Twitter at home so did not want to try on paper in class
2) Said that they had been blocked for some reason from Twitter
3) Didn't understand the task

Out of 23 students - I had 6 students who were being rude, disengaged and unfocussed - they were onto it at different points of the chat but I held them back during interval to discuss their behaviour and how disrepectful it had become.

I hardly ever yell. With one particular student he says I'm "too soft" - that phrase again. I understand why he says that from his point of view and he may very well be correct in saying that I'm not hard enough with him as a result.

Issues in Using Twitter in Class

I have not asked parents yet about using Twitter in class - mostly because we're not actually using it as Twitter yet - but we are using twitter terms like hashtags, questioning and answering structures and handles.

Visibility in Going Forward
I want to make everything I'm doing incredibly visible - transparent even - so that everyone knows what I'm doing in my class - and so that the students can be proud of the work they have done.

In order to do that properly I need to do a few different things:

1) Talk to Principal
2) Talk to BOT and Deputy Principal in charge of IT
3) Double check policies on Cybersafety that students have already signed with their enrolment forms
4) Create a class policy on Digital Citizenship
5) Talk to parents and whanau and ask them about their concerns and issues with students doing this
6) Talk with students about using Twitter appropriately - even if we only begin with a Class Twitter account for starters
7) Set up a Class Twitter account '@EvolvingatHeightsand' maybe and a Class Blog - 'Evolving at Heights' to further showcase student's learning :)
8) Talk with those running @kidsedchatnz and @NZWaikato about blogging and twitter
9) Use this evidence as a base to make sure everything is on board.


I would like to do another Twitter chat in class - perhaps this time on small sheets of paper with the students' handles on it and put them up on the whiteboard or windows to share students' thinking.

If I get the students' permission about sharing their tweets - I will take some pics and put them up here :)

To-Do List after #edchatnz

Thanks to @boonman himself for this awesome blog post! 

My To-Do List after the #edchatnz conf to continue the revolution -

1) Create a sign up sheet for my colleagues to learn more about Twitter this Thursday afternoon. Some have already said that they want to get started. Just need to know how and why.

2) I will ask my students what they want our classroom to look like in their learning environment. They will have complete ownership. I miss my class being really decorative and colourful and above all else, effective. I will exert a growth mindset in regards to the exams and having to take it all down to put it back up next year with the new student's ideas.

3) I will create a class blog to share what my students are up to in my class. They need to summarise the lesson. A five minute summary with videos like how @mattynicoll does it.

4) I will promote my Ulearn14 PledgeMe project and go to the bank this week to ask for help.

UPDATE: Day One after #edchatNZ - have posted it via Twitter and Facebook. 

UPDATE: Day One at School after #edchatNZ - My fabulous Twitter PLN have ReTweeted it for me and I already have a couple of pledges. Thankyou! :) 

5) I am going to help with #connectedrotorua and get more Heights staff along for Connected Educator's month.

6) I am going to find a balance between learning, work and volunteering priorities, family and friends.

7) There are still tonnes of eggs to lay and hatch.

UPDATE: Day One at School after #edchatnz - found another lone nut! Just need to hook her in and get her onto Twitter so she can dance with us :)

The Inaugural #EngChatNZ Live-Chat on Twitter

Wow. Can't believe I did it.

Huge thank you goes out to Joanne, Ros, Alyx, Sian, Annemarie, Matty and of course Danielle :)

Thank you to all of you who came along. I was really worried that no-one would come! But you did! And had such great responses.

Here is a Storify I made up - with Tweets from earlier on in the week as well. Thanks to Alyx who made up a Storify straight away from the chat. It's awesome :)

https://storify.com/ariaporo22/the-inaugural-engchatnz-twitter-chat

I really appreciate everything that you ladies and Matt have done for me and helping us get #scichatnz and #engchatnz up and running. Such an awesome experience.

Am super tired now though. Time for bed.

Had parent/teacher interviews - and then the first ever #EngChatNZ.

I managed to hook my mate Laura into using Twitter yesterday so hopefully Natasha can get her PEChatNZ off of the ground too. Would be awesome to see more subject ones begin too.

Again - we wouldn't have this without Danielle's work with #edchatnz. She truly is the tohunga in connecting us up over Twitter in NZ. Love it.

Nga mihi nunui ki a koutou katoa. Nga mihi mo nga tautoko, nga aroha, nga wairua me manawanui. Naku te rourou, nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi.

- Alex

Casting my net wide...

Today I followed a heap of new people on Twitter.

Nga tangata i te ao Maori i te Aotearoa...

People from museums...

People from publishing companies...

People who were new to me as educators...

People from the three Live chats I jumped into - #21stedchat #blogchat #iaedchat

Stoked by the @tweachme app. But it still needs work on its' schedule because I was one hour late to all the chats...

And then...had a thought to start a class blog... this was the result:
https://twitter.com/v_lees/status/488587301539168259

A Twitter and English teaching colleague asked if NZ English teachers had a Twitter spreadsheet... We didn't as far as I was aware.. so created one... Thanks @catrionapene!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IU3kcREAqzanqynVCkav0ukqu8KiyuVzv3ZEzxyiRBE/edit#gid=0

And.... I want to create an English teachers live chat... or one for New Teachers in NZ... #ntnzchat maybe? or my original idea from ages ago was #ntchatnz - but am thinking it's best just to stick with #edchatnz because there is enough of a following for that as it is and we can bring the newbies into that instead. Just making it more public I suppose and letting newbies know about it...

Have also thought about how I'm going to make my #techthursday revolution a little bigger... but it's also scary for obvious reasons to me.

I'm still stoked about last week. Still haven't posted why I'm stoked. And... I think I might just have a nap instead.

Twitter - Speech and Ideas for Workshop

Aims:

• Educate colleagues and share my experiences with using Twitter as a teacher
• Be aware that of course not everyone will get on the bandwagon
• Use knowledge from the room to help push others to thinking it's a good idea? Or at the very least gauge audiences experiences with Twitter - whether they've ever used it or whether they've been asked to join - possibly reasons why they don't want to get involved...?
• Explain the benefits of using Twitter and how powerful it is as a professional learning tool
• Talk about upcoming #edchatnz conference
• Suggest people they can follow
• Suggest reasons I was initially not keen on Twitter
• Entice them enough to have a go themselves

Why is Twitter Fantastic?

1. Great source of professional development
2. Connect with awesome educators within NZ and around the world
3. Breaks down hierarchical barriers usually precedent in school settings
4. Your voice is valued and listened to (particularly good for new teachers feeling isolated)
5. Questions and help is answered and found very quickly
6. Advice and Support is freely given - no strings attached
7. 
   

Activities:

• Professional Learning Network (PLN) Empowerment (created by me)
• Draw yourself as a stick figure - put your name at the top. 
• Now draw a circle around you - and inside the circle, write all the names of the people you can think of that you talk to on a given day about teaching, reflecting, issues you have with kids - These names will be the ones that give you the most support and keep you going
• Do the same again - this time write down all the names of the people you wished gave you more support in school and possibly at home- This circle will most likely be fuller than the previous one. 
• The next circle - write down the names of those who you don't talk to often, but you know they do support you, give advice when needed and overall have your back in some way - this circle will most likely be filled with family members, best friends/close friends, old teaching colleagues, old students etc
• Imagine if all of these people were multiplied by at least ten. Preferably the first circle. Imagine that you had them around you 24/7 and they pepped you up and gave you support and advice, answered your questions whenever you needed, appreciated your sharing and collaborative nature and respected you for your thoughts and ideas
• You will always have that second circle that won't be there as much as they should be - and the third circle you can count on as your support crew to always be there. 
• This first circle can be increased as much as you wish it to be - it's up to you to start the discussion and open your mind to the possibility of having a PLN that works for you.
• Paper Tweet
• Write a tweet using 140 characters or less about today's topic
• Dr Seuss as Twitter 
A Dr. Seuss-Inspired Guide to Twitter from Hootsuite


• Have one or more attendees create a Twitter account
• Do a few paper tweets
• Have attendees who have a twitter account give their own experiences
• Set up a hashtag for the event? Though I'd assume that most would be using #MythandMagic14
• Have attendees discuss what they would like from their PLN when they create it: interests, like-minded individuals, areas where they'd like support or advice on, areas in which they want to learn more about
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Twitter
• How to use it in class
• How to use it to locate relevant PERSONAL professional learning development
• How to use it to create a PLN that works for you

Videos:

• Twitter in 60 Seconds








Still in progress. More ideas to come.... Got any? Send them my way :)

Using Twitter as Teachers - Preparation for #NZATE Conference Workshop

Since I'm probably one of the biggest procrastinators out there... I thought it would be a good idea to get these presentations sorted... WELL before the due date. I want to test out this Twitter one to my fellow English dept and possibly my school staff as well - for anyone that is interested.

The #NZATE (New Zealand Association of Teachers of English) conference is from the 9th-11th of July 2014. My workshop is on using Twitter as a Teacher and the uses of having your personal Twittersphere and developing your PLN.

I'm not one to synthesise before I'm ready to present - so I will have a series of bits and pieces here for notes and information that I might end up using/not using or just use as a basis for what I need to say. Basically this will be my research notes post - so read on if you like :)

The workshop itself will hopefully be tweeted on the day and I will add up my slides prior/after the workshop as well.

When I originally planned on making this post as a resource for myself (and possibly all of you) this morning, I didn't factor in the sheer amount of information, infographics, posts etc that I would find. I was going to leave it as a basic crazy mess of research... even though I did all the links as I went and added in pics - I think it's quite a bit chaotic still. In fact - too chaotic for even me to sift through.

So... Below is a much more organised selection. From the stuff I will probably use in my workshop and/or want to show first as being more important (from NZ or relevant to this kaupapa) and the less relevant at the moment. However - everything I've got here is relevant to me and someone at some point - which is why it's still on the page.

Oh... and to find all this stuff I searched far and wide on Twitter - and then created a Storify: 

The Wonderful World of Twitter as a Teacher

Enjoy!

- A

Why I agreed to do a workshop on Twitter at #NZATE...

Twitter is probably the best way to connect with other teachers.

It has revolutionised aspects of my own teaching style.

I have met other passionate teachers and have even met some face to face.

Now of course, this isn't to say that my real life colleagues haven't made an impact. Because they have. And on a daily basis. I'm so greatful for the people I have in my life and the colleagues I work with are absolutely fantastic.

What Im getting at is that Twitter is powerful. It crosses boundaries like water and countries and cities and school boundary zones.... even school departments.

If you're already a bit of a social butterfly, like myself, Twitter becomes an extension of what you already do.

For me, Twitter has taught me lots of new things and Im so thankful to the people in my Professional Learning Network to continue to allow this to happen.

Sometimes... scratch that... as teachers we are nearly always too busy to add something else extra onto our already full plates/bags/boxes of things to do.

Twitter is that little oomph I need at the end of a stressful day. With other passionate teachers to remind you to pick your load up and continue flying.

A few months ago I redecorated my house... sure it wasn't anything crazy like painting.. it was merely blu tacking pictures, inspirational quotes etc around my house. Some pics of these are on the #whoiamwhatido post. In particular is this one:

Every day when I get a drink of water, wash the dishes, fill the dog's water bowl, refill the hot water bottle... I read this again. Maybe only a small section but it reminds me to fly in formation.

Often in teaching we feel that we're isolated.

I know for certain as a new teacher I felt this way. So much so I chose to stay in my isolated prefab room to ensure others wouldn't mock my teaching or tell me I was doing x wrong. My thought processes hadnt moved far yet from a victimized psychology and I was constantly worried that what I was doing was wrong and felt that I didnt know what I was doing.

Part of this is of course the falsities I created as truths while growing up, and some events that stuck in my head while going through teachers college and doing practicums... at that time still very fresh in my memory.

Interestedly enough I never felt isolated while studying my BA in history and english... perhaps because there was a stronger sense of collaboration in those faculties.

But surely... we as teachers should be even more collaboarative. We should be encouraging others because thats what we do with our students.

Why then do so many student teachers come out of teaching college feeling incapable? Is it the weight of having all tjose futures in your hands? Surely part of it...

From personal experience.. I think it has a lot to do with teaching student teachers about the fact that they're on their own. Like my first mentor H said, "It's the only job in the world where they leave you in a room and let you 'get on with it'."

Why is this?

In a day and age where we have information at the tips of our fingers we were taught by past teachers who hadn't been in the classroom for over 10 years. We learnt the value of curriculum and what pedagogy was... we even had a few token sessions on Te Kotahitanga. Now I love my university that I went to. I rave about it to whoever asks. But I learnt more about teaching on practicum than I ever did while at teachers college.

I learnt that there were a huge structure of school politics bubbling behind the face of a school, and that to lead change - you had to be prepared for the firing squad... sometimes literally.. and of course metaphorically.  I learnt that not every teacher had good practice nor 'best practice'. What's more is that I found it increasingly difficult to be given an associate teacher I got along with. I'm not too horrible a person... but in teaching, especially as a student teacher (IMO) alot of the success and failure you recieve comes down to how well you get on with the Associate Teacher you are paired up with.

Teaching is a personable sport. You have to get along with others to make it work. If you don't have that personality style then you better have fantastic classroom management.

Those are things I learnt while on practicum. And thats just from the teachers. I of course learnt much more from the students.

While on practicum.. I can count on two hands the teachers who made a positive impact on me. They had a relaxed and calm manner with their students and they related to them. They made everything they were doing somehow new and interesting.

What teachers forget is that they dont need to be isolated. They shouldn't fear being observed by others. They shouldn't fear getting criticised or giving students the power in their lessons. Above all else... teachers shouldn't fear collaboration.

Because teachers are so busy.. they forget what it was like to be a new teacher.. that for a new teacher every lesson is a mindfield.. and as you get better you learn how to set up routines and how to improve behaviours and set expectations etc. Because teachers are so busy they forget that they can ask others for help. That an answer is at the end of the hallway or at a response of an email.

Because teachers are so busy they forget to keep up with the latest in teaching pedagogies and curriculum. Teachers get stuck in the way they were taught and how they've been teaching for x number of years. Because teachers are so busy they forget that they dont need to isolate themselves from others.

That's why Twitter is awesome.

Create an account. Search some famous people and follow them. Then what? Perhaps I'll search new teachers... Ooh, I found #ntchat. New Teacher Chat.. but the time differences will make it hard for me to get to view and add to the discussion.. 

Go back to teaching. Forget about Twitter.. wonder why there isn't a NT chat for NZ teachers. Attempt to make a hashtag. Fail. Go back to teaching. Wonder if there are other communities for teaching. Find some radio broadcasts by the Teachers Lounge. Get an oomph.

Go back to teaching. Find out about TED talks. Wow. Find out about spoken word poetry. WOW. Find out about Freedom Writers blog online. Find out about #edchat. Find out about issues that relate to my students. Find out about #edchatnz. WOW!!! So busy though...

Change school. Start fresh. Focus on teaching. Make new friends. Go back to teaching. Focus. Extra - curricular activities.

New year. YES YEAR. Nominated for PPTA.  Go to Wellington. Meet other passionate teachers. Re-introduced to Twitter. #edchatnz #edtech #educamp #eduignite #techrev BYOD. PB4L. Busy. Teaching and collaborating. Learning. Teaching and learning. Sharing. Learning. Focus. Passion. Fresh. Be asked to do a workshop on Twitter. Know that you don't know everything. But going to do it anyway.

Create a google form. Ask others to tell you why they like Twitter as an educator. Write blog posts... alot of blog posts. Think about why you like Twitter.

And now I'm here. Join the Twitterverse. The Twitter Staffroom.

Get relevant PD. For you.

When you want it.

Try. Fail.

Try again. Succeed. :)

HUGE Opportunities - Presenting at the CLESOL and NZATE conferences.... Help Needed!

Wow. I got an email this morning asking if I would be interested in presenting a workshop at the NZATE (New Zealand Association of Teachers of English) in the Term 2 Holidays. About using Twitter.

Imagine my sheer excitement and horror. And the fact that I saw the title and a bit of the text from the email when I logged into my school email account just after my Y13's came into class and were all settled... There may have been a little bit of squealing with excitement... and me putting my head on my desk to breathe. Luckily the class is well accustomed to their nutty teacher.

I told them what I'd just read and they were happy for me - and told me to do it. I had and still have my reservations. HUGE opportunity. But surely there'd be someone better than me to do this?

Originally I asked the teachers organising the conference if they needed any help I'd be keen to help them. And then I got that email.

Stoked.

So - in the process of figuring out what I'm going to focus my workshop on - keeping in mind this is my first ever NZATE conference... as well... please fill in and pass on this form to as many twitter users as possible!







Also - have been asked to present at the CLESOL conference... though that one is only via Google Hangout.. but is one I was initially hugely freaking out about. Partly because of what I am planning on discussing. And also because I wouldn't be able to see who my audience is.. harder to gauge the feelings of the audience when you can't see them properly.

My CLESOL talk will be about teaching bilingually - from a Maori perspective. Partly from what Tapu and Tapu 3 stemmed from.

Thoughts and ideas are much appreciated!

Nga mihi nui ki a koutou in advance :)

Alex

@ariaporo22

Digital Literacy - Digital Citizenship

Thanks to Mrs Orman there was a link to Tom Whitby's blog post on Endemic. 

Have recently been working on creating a student photo use agreement form so that I'm able to send photos to the Daily Post as a follow up from the Pasifika Competition.

We went through our enrolment forms yesterday to check that there wasn't that type of clause in there so will definitely have to get some signatures in order to release the photos.

Earlier yesterday on Twitter I asked whether others had used a similar form and found these links from Netsafe and their kit for schools:

Netsafe Kit for Schools

How to Use the Netsafe Kit - Including the Required Steps

Digital Citizenship in New Zealand Schools - A quick overview

Just got an email back from Netsafe with the form for using photography of students in schools - which I've saved into this Google Drive folder - Digital Citizenship. Will be updating it to work within our own school setting and think that it would be better having both parent and student signatures for permission rather than just the parents permission. 

Back to Tom's blog post though- really like the thinking around whether students being digital natives meant that they would instantly be seen as digitally aware or whether perhaps as a result were in essence unaware of the dangers and risks. 

Which is why teaching and becoming a digital citizenship is important.  

Found this blog on C21 Reading as well... Hoping to jump onto this bandwagon to help my students learn how to use formal language in a more 21st Century setting/focal point rather than the traditional way of teaching letters etc. Plus it will improve my students' reading if they are given deadlines for posting reviews on a chapter/book/author etc. Love that there are awesome initiatives already going that I can just get involved with :)

We talked last night on #edchatnz about teaching students how to problem-solve and also how to question our students. Was a great topic!! Check the hashtag out to see this conversation - unfortunately I had to leave the discussion by question six because my phone battery was dying out from taking too many pictures of the Rotaract Membership Drive at the same time. Knew I should have brought my charger!

Am hooking into the SOLO docs at the moment - they're awesome. 

Just trying to do everything at once but need a full week to get on top of everything or maybe longer. Would love to be all PLD'd up on how to use SOLO and PBL and how to incorporate digital citizenry into my classes but need to focus on one thing at a time. At the end of the day I need to remember my mantra - think smarter, not harder.

And... then of course I forgot I'd decided on heading with Rotorua teachers to go to Educamp in the Hawkes Bay back when I went to EduIgnite Rotovegas! So am now looking very much forward to the Educamp at Richmond School tomorrow :) Thanks to Annemarie Hyde for reminding me last night!

Love my #PLN. Love my school. Love that I'm starting to get my head around the increase to five classes I'm teaching and also that I'm starting to make way into making policies - or at the very beginning making a solid piece of agreement between the school and whanau in regards to using students photos in school and in media such as our local paper... and perhaps the Google Site I still need to find time to finish!

ALSO:

When I eventually get the courage to discuss the thoughts that have been circulating my head for a while about the need for a BYOD policy at our school with the board and,

When I finally make a policy in collaboration with the Board and Staff and SMT etc and,

When I finally get up the courage to speak in front of the staff with our team of highly effective and focussed members of staff who have been educated in digital citizenship with me

We will use this to help discuss with staff how we will teach digital citizenship:

Learn Guide Protect: Netsafe
Professional and Private Lives
Combat Cyberbullying
Playing and Staying Safe Online
Citizenship in Blogging

Google Apps for Education

Checking out and having a go and a bit of a tutu with GAFE. It's all pretty exciting really.

I eagerly watched and favourited many of the #GAFESummit tweets from those who were at the Google Apps for Education Summits recently in the holidays. I wish I had gone and that I had known earlier so I could have sorted out the fee for registration!

Luckily - our Twitter whanau/PLN is amazing. Sharing is a collaborative effort and what's more I've learnt to keep doing what I'm doing  - sharing with others and developing my thoughts. I've got a stronger appreciation for the people around me - my network on Twitter and FB as well as the one I've created at school and home.

So far.. I've learnt how to use a Google Site.. When it's finished - I will put a link up here.

I've tutu'd with Google Forms and know how Google docs works...but need to try out the other stuff.

If you have any examples in how you've used it so far - please let me know :)

http://nzteachnology.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/google-forms-as-collaborative.html

Who I am and What I do...

Who I am and what I Do…

This question is a difficult one to answer merely for the fact that it encapsulates who I am absolutely.

While sitting in my grandfather’s chair from his and Nana’s lounge suite it’s hard to not think about him. My post I was attempting to write just before was erased as if by magic. A blinking green light on my phone was all I had staring me in the face while I tried to make my phone respond. For that reason alone… I will write this post a bit differently to how I began the last one.

PLN: Twitter

I am particularly blessed with the people I've networked with on Twitter. They continue to uplift me and support my thinking towards the importance of 'blended learning' and the need for more relevant Professional Learning in our lives as teachers. My colleagues at school are amazing. They too inspire me and give me ways to think about things in which I hadn't been able to do so before. They provide me with strategies to console my thoughts and feelings towards solving problems in class and in life. I thank each and every one of you... whether you read my blog or not! :)

It doesn't matter whether your Professional Learning Network begins with someone across the hallway or whether it begins with meeting a fellow educator at a conference. What matters is the learning involved. If you're not learning... what's the point? Find better people to surround yourself with!

In fact - as I'm learning - I'm seeing the different ways other people learn and respond to each other. There are the people who are resistant - but are still hesitantly willing to have a go. Then there are the ones who are so full on and involved (or not as the case may be) that you feel your head may spin. I've been both of these people at certain times of my (very short) teaching career.