Moodle as a web page

This is great, I am definitely wanting to have a play with this

Wikiversity

Today I discovered Wikiversity and this cool film making resource - I am going to explore further and see what else I can find - why invent something else when it is already here!

Also here's a link to our TEK (the educated kiwi) moodle site which I am hoping to add some more resources and activities too - SOON!!!

Words of wisdom

Footnotes: As a teacher… from David Truss's blog

Thanks for sharing these thoughts David - I know I will be referring back to them regularly for reassurance when I am 'back in the classroom' next term. It is helpful to have like minded colleagues supporting this approach to teaching and learning, it is not always easy when you feel you are on your own with this one, and hard to imagine with the technology we now have at hand that so many continue to act as if they can continue to teach AND ASSESS in their time honoured traditional ways.

I guess you could say that at times I too have ‘acted my way into a new way of thinking’. My actions as a learner influenced my actions as a teacher, as these footnotes suggest.

¹ As a teacher, I don’t take any marks off for something coming in late. It is my job to make sure that students demonstrate their learning and meet the learning outcomes during the year. All time lines within the year are arbitrary (and usually teacher determined) and not a requirement worthy of penalty. Exceptions may be made where either Personal Planning or Goal Setting are part of the outcomes.

² As a teacher, I am very vocal about students needing to speak up and ask questions. “Don’t be a Marshmallow!” was a saying that I took from my Grade 10 English teacher Mr. La Point who used it to symbolize placid students sitting in his class and choosing not to speak up. At first being called Marshmallows in my class was funny, but soon students would catch on that they were not meeting expectations when they were being Marshmallows!

³ As a teacher my response to ‘how long does this assignment need to be?’ has always been, “It needs to be as long as it needs to be.” Students hate this answer, but after a while they get it. In a nutshell: I’ve read three brilliant sentences that have said more than three long-winded paragraphs.

The twitter blog

The twitter blog has some great ideas and thoughts about using twitter. Twitter for librarians blog is a useful one, and the twitter short short story writing competition is great. In the last few days while creating a few animoto presentations (that all need a bit of modification) and uploading them to youtube, I have been researching teacher mentoring as PD. It is interesting that one of Vicki Davis's recent blog posts on Cool Cat Teacher refers to this specifically regarding social networking.and calls it Viral Professional Development. This is a pretty exciting discussion and I am looking forward to taking part in it via Vicki's voicethread and panel discussion soon.

Teacher resources site

This site has links to a range of teaching resources. Meanwhile my easter weekend has been both productive in terms of taking some great pics of students for my poster, and relaxing in having a couple of fabulous times out sailing. We would have stayed out but my daughter from Wellington was here and we also wanted to make the most of our time with her before she headed back south. Caught up too with our friend and sailing buddy Kim who is off to teach in the Gibson Desert in Western Australia - best of luck there Pricey, it will be a big adventure and you will make the most of it.

Gracious Criticism

This is a great link from Andrew Churches, thanks for that. It is often difficult to come up with constructive approaches to texts and find ways of giving appropriate and adequte feedback. This is one that I know I will find very useful in critiquing the work of others.

Moodle meeting

Just attended an IT coaches meeting for moodling at Mt Maunganui College - there are so many opportunities for catering for a range of learning styles and offering students a variety of resources through this style of learning that I am amazed more teachers haven't adopted LMSs for their favoured approach to teaching. One of the most glaring advantages is that your activities and links are there for future use, better than any course book ever devised (as far as I know :) Another huge benefit is for students who might be absent for some reason or another - the LMS benefits the teacher and the student - no EXTRA preparation, and the student can access the class at any time that suits. This is just the basics - there are so many reasons for using an LMS that there is no way the benefits can be outweighed by any disadvantages.
I know there is a time factor in course creation and modification but hey, once it's been done the work to maintain it is minimal and the benefits optimum. Teachers need tools like this to help them keep up in such a fast paced environment as the one they are working in, if they are to continually strive to do the best for students.