rules of our blog

rules of our blog need to be discussed in class and agreed upon together. we must commit ourselves to sensible worthwhile blogging behaviour. it is for fun and learning but not for silly behaviour or attention seeking. we will need to use correct english, show respect to other bloggers and set a fine example fo rothers to be inspired by.
i am proud to be your new teacher - i hope we will enjoy our online learning adventure together.
:-)
please post ideas for blog rules and cybersafety ...

ideas for ICT integration please

Hey educators, parents, Room5ians, kids from other schools - how can we use mobile phones, pda's, digital and video cameras, interwritepads, and so forth, meaningfully in class? how do we deal with the costs? does anyone use p.d.a. phones or use mobiles for remote learning, sending info to a class blog or anything? i'm imagining using a powerful mobile phone to video something off site, like at an art gallery or museum, add narration and send it to this blog for class use. how do we do that?

ideas please.

Does anyone want to do joint class projects with us?

[Are you still out there Pitt Island school???]

blue, brown, what about green?

brown... green? hazel. . .blue
what colour are your eyes and are you related to "everyone"?

http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/Blueeyedpeoplelikelydescendedfromoneperson/tabid/209/articleID/45684/Default.aspx?ArticleID=45684

a warm welcome to the brand new shiny Room5ians!!!???

My sincere welcome, new Peachgrove Students. Last year a wonderful thing occurred - a class full of vivacious, innovative, passionate, kind, thoughtful, creative, wonderful young people came together to become something special - Room5ians.
It is my hope that you new yr 7's will strive towards the goal of filling their shoes. I hope you can prove to be even more inclusive, creative, hardworking and amazing than your predecessors.
Listen carefully to my message on your first day at school, as it will hold the key to a year of HAPPINESS and exciting LEARNING and LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES.

:-)

Sincerely yours,

Mr Woodcock Sir

cultural perceptions

With one of our most important days of th eyear comign up - WAITANGI DAY - I find myself reflecting upon the nature of Maoridom, the state of our nation, our cultural values and so forth.

What do you think about Waitangi Day? What does it mean to you?

What do you picture in your head when someone brings up Maaori [two a's to show the long vowel sound] culture?

No doubt there will be many haka, wero, etc on show at various events around the country this week, but is that the only important expression of Maori culture we could be experiencing?

Read this article for some interesting opinions.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10490483

Theologian Dr Jenny Te Paa has been critical of what she sees as male aggression - "staunchness" - becoming celebrated in Maori culture, as evidenced by the haka.
Other features such as kindness, gentleness, hospitality and integrity did not get nearly the same attention as the haka or taki, she said.
"The question is, how do we want to be for ourselves first and foremost? Dr Te Paa said.
"We're not alone in this world and I think it does matter how we behave and how we perceive ourselves and therefore how other people will see us."

I would like us to think about this significant day. No doubt some of you have been bored by studying it year in, year out. Some of you may have extreme opinions based on what you have heard adults saying. Some of you may simply not care and resist engaging in a discussion about our history. I believe it is important and would like to find a way to bring the subject alive for you without making it tedious.

Any ideas?

Here are some facts...

The signing of the Treaty
The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed at Waitangi on 6 February 1840. It represented an agreement between the British Crown and over 500 Māori chiefs of New Zealand.
There are a number of reasons why a treaty was seen to be needed. These included the increasing lawlessness of traders and settlers necessitating some form of governance, and the interest of other countries such as France and America in colonising New Zealand. The Crown recognised New Zealand as an independent nation after the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1835); consequently, any issues regarding governance needed the formal agreement of Māori.
This agreement took the form of the Treaty.

http://www.tki.org.nz/r/hot_topics/waitangi_e.php

More info about our history here:

http://www.enzed.com/hist.html

digital story telling

as a means of self expression, summarising, presenting outcomes, evaluation, reflection, etc, digital story telling* is a potentially powerful tool for learning and one that teaches technical and thinking skills, covers many key competencies and engages 21st century learners...

"Children see things in very unique ways. Capture that special view by allowing them to tell the story. Give them the chance to use photographs, videos, and audio recordings to create projects that will combine art and history, as well as reinforce reading, language arts, and research and technology skills."
- Christine Paradise, a 3rd grade teacher at Steed Elementary school

[found in...]
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/


* digital story telling uses digital cameras, still images, sound recording, narration, basic editing to make a concise anecdotal summary of an experience.

social, collaborative learning online

Sounds great - obviously with issues to be considered?
It's tempting for me to gloss over the potential negatives, but in responsibly educating our students, we must consider and discuss them - but with an open mind!

see these links to other blog discussions and an online documentary:

http://tinyurl.com/3cpge5

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

please add to the discussion adn have a look at these interesting blogs for educators:

http://beyond-school.org/

http://123elearning.blogspot.com/index.html

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/

http://www.nextgenteachers.com/