Sunday 31 January 2016

Student Blogs

Over the past week Year 6 has been frantically putting together their student blogs. Today they were able to work on their own creative pieces of work inspired by either of the following two images.



Please take the time to view and comment on their blogs. They can be found in the student learning blog tabs. Parents who leave comments are asked not to identify themselves as any of the students parents eg Georgia - Liam's Mum.


Wet Weather Fun

Year 6 will never let wet weather hold them back. With Friday's disastrous lunchtime weather they were able to explore some of the many facets of our schools makerspace. Coding, building, engineering and creating many new and interesting creations. It was common to hear "I didn't expect that!" as they discovered the possible outcomes of their challenge or task.





Wednesday 27 January 2016

Tech Bootcamp for Stage 3










We've been working in intensive "Bootcamp" style lessons with Stage 3 students. Our aims are to get everyone connected to the Internet and to ensure students have the skills to use their technology effectively.

Today we paired year 5 and year 6 students so they could support each other to complete a range of technology challenge tasks. Students are learning how to send emails, how to take screen shots, how to create and share a Google doc and to set up student learning blogs.

It's exciting to see students focused on their learning and collaborating to help each other succeed. Thanks to Mr Host for setting up the challenge tasks and running the Bootcamp!

Day 1

This morning we welcomed the new cohort of Year 6 students. As they entered they were faced with a room full of intrigue. Many of the students who were nervous found these feelings quickly fell away and realised that what they were apprehensive about was a shared experience. We used a compass point strategy to look at what they Needed to know about Year 6, what Stance or belief they had about what they would learn and experience in Year 6, what Excites them about being in Year 6 and what were some of the Worries they had. The students were incredibly engaged and willing to openly share their thoughts. 

Later in the day 6T experienced a problem solving task where they needed to work as a team to Breakout of the treasure box our class mascot Mojo and a bounty of prizes. Breakouts create an ultra-engaging learning environment that empowers teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking and troubleshooting by presenting students with challenges that ignite their natural drive to problem solve. 


We learnt that we are "Perfectly Imperfect" and as learners it is essential for us to make mistakes and keep on trying. FAIL just means First Attempt In Learning. We took a look at people such as Thomas Eddison, Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Michael Jordan, Henry Ford, Colonel Sanders, Walt Disney, Sir James Dyson. Suddenly the students realised success never came to them first up, they needed to work through the challenge, prototype, reflect and then grow.


Over the coming days we will continue our TechKNOW Bootcamp focusing on skills that students will need to enhance their learning. Skills include applications of google classroom, google drive, google docs, email, blogs, presentations, video creation and publishing.