Confident Communicators Project Is Go!

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I’m just recovering from an amazing day at Bath University where we launched our collaborative schools’ research project. I work with a wonderful, dedicated team who are making all of this innovative learning a reality.

The ‘Confident Comminicators’ project is designed to work on several levels:

1. Develop learners’ self confidence through their communication and collaboration skills.

2. Provide a learner-led research project which will run over the next five months.

3. Create opportunities for teachers to adopt the role of facilitator and observer of learning, using strategies adapted from EYFS practice.

4. Allow learners to work in teams to ‘research the future’.

5. Raise aspirations of learners & teachers.

6. Use podcasting to develop ‘quality learning conversations’.

What a day! A special word of thanks (tinged with buckets of awe) for the ‘glue’ of the day, Mr Jeremy Stockwell (follow on Twitter @jeremystockwell). He absolutely pinned down the essence of the day in what, how and why he said & did what he did.

Suffice to say, I now know how to breathe and, as one teacher reflected on how tired she was at the end of the day (the students were similarly exhausted!), “…it’s great to be tired in a different way.”

Indeed it is. More on the project as it develops.

Twitter does it again! The Most valuable professional Development

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I posted a comment on Miriam Tanti’s blog months ago, suggesting that she try out Twitter and here’s the result…

How about we give @miriamtanti a follow to let her see the REAL power of Twitter for educators now she with us?!

Thanks, Miriam, for the mention! Check out Miriam’s blog at www.miriamtanti.com


The Most Valuable Professional Development … Twitter

February16

I’d like to thank Zoe (@fullonlearning) and my colleague Joyce for getting me onto Twitter. I have to say that I was quite skeptical with the whole concept of twittering: Did I really care to be informed of the latest movements of a group of people, many of whom I have never met? I mistakenly made the direct connection between the Tweet and the Facebook status … regular updates of what people are having for dinner, the documentation of their attendance to their child’s athletics carnival, their wishes to leave work and go to the beach … I’m sure you get the idea. All bits of information that really have no impact on my life, and honestly could do without. But I was pleasantly surprised!

Several weeks ago I created a Twitter profile @miriamtanti and whilst I have not yet made any significant tweets I have managed to locate key stakeholders and ICT educators and read about their latest endeavors. In such a short time the global network I have joined on Twitter has allowed me to access a wide variety of the latest resources, literature and research that each of my global counterparts are pursuing. The hours that they have saved me from trying to locate such information on my own via search engines and online databases, and the new insights and perspectives they have exposed me to – my teaching and research is all the richer for it.

In terms of global collaboration, networking and professional development there is no ICT tool that has made a greater impact than Twitter, every educator should get an account!

Teacher Voice

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I’m just returning from an excellent day with two secondary schools and their feeder primaries exploring ‘Gifted & Talented’ together for a whole day. This resulted in over 200 teachers coming together to think, discuss, share and plan for the last day of an exhausting, snow affected term. My role was to deliver the keynote and then I had the privilege of working with the teachers throughout the day as an on-site consultant. In truth, this role was simple…watch, listen, observe, answer questions (usually with further questions, such is my way) and then listen again as they developed their concrete plans for provision. The departments from the two schools either worked together for the whole day or worked for concentrated sessions on their own and then joined each other to compare and share their planning.

Doing this kind of work around the country reaffirms my firm conviction that commitment, passion and enthusiasm is very much alive and well in teaching. I wish the media would spend some time listening to this. I wish politicians would spend some time seeking it out and watching it.

We rightly develop strategies to ensure that learner voice is amplified in our schools and that young people have an authentic say in how they learn. I wonder whether, particularly at this time in the political calendar in the UK, it is time for us to develop similar strategies for teacher voice? We need to invest in the creation of a culture of reflection and learning conversations between teachers. There needs to be deliberately constructed, systemic collaborative learning opportunities for schools to come together in their entirety to share their values and develop their practice.

The day ended with everybody back in the main hall. Action plans for every department had been completed and evaluations submitted. 

An inspirational day. And, as ever, much more to think about for me.

Happy Term Break!

Future learners, present learning…Generation M2

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I’ll be using this video in my work with teachers over the next couple of months and with the students who are part of our Confident Communicators’ Project which launches in February. They’re researching and developing their own future scenarios in response to the question… “What will life be like for an average 15 year old in 2025?”. I’ll be posting information about the project over the forthcoming months – I may start up a separate posterous blog to capture it all.

Anyway, the creators of this video and the report associated with it, The Kaiser Family Health Foundation, says, “…this video explores the powerful force that media can be in the lives of teens and tweens. The three young people who are profiled explain what types of media they use—such as smart phones, computers, TV, video games—how much time they spend with media and what impact it has on their lives.”

Simple, concise and insightful – it raises some interesting questions about future learners,  present learning.

Twitter Educators LOVE collaboration!

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I’ve just taken a screen break, which in truth means a task-switch…and found this great feedback on Twitter! Not only does it prove that Twitter is the most powerful professional development tool around but it reaffirms my belief in teachers-as-learners-as-sources-of-quality-feedback.

What a fantastic learning community I am part of. Need to stop now for fear of getting gushy about the whole thing!

  1. ededco 

RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitterhttp://post.ly/IxEyabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck

  • Folens Publishers UKFolens 

    A tiny glimpse at what twitter can do for the future of teaching… RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://post.ly/IxEyabout 6 hours ago from web

  • Audrey Naysandynay 

    RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://post.ly/IxEy what a gr8 idea could process be explained 4 others to try #NSWDETabout 6 hours ago from Posterous

  • Roberto Mazzonifratel 

    RT @vahva A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://… http://bit.ly/85vceGabout 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • Roberto Mazzonifratel 

    RT @vahva: This is brilliant! A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborat… http://bit.ly/6BCCkBabout 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • Humanities TeamHodderHumanity 

    RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://post.ly/IxEyabout 6 hours ago from Posterous

  • SeanGreatTwitTips 

    RT @vahva: This is brilliant! A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborat… http://bit.ly/63FGjfabout 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • SeanGreatTwitTips 

    RT @vahva A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://… http://bit.ly/6uGOIRabout 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • LJ CreateLJCreate 

    A book made from the Tweets of teachers in Twitterhttp://post.ly/IxEy (via @fullonlearning @hopkinsdavid & @vahvatter)about 7 hours ago from web

  • Twit ExpertTwit_Expert 

    RT @vahva A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://… http://bit.ly/6uGOIRabout 7 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • David Hopkinshopkinsdavid 

    RT @vahva A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitterhttp://post.ly/IxEyabout 7 hours ago from web

  • Bryony Taylorvahva 

    This is brilliant! A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitterhttp://post.ly/IxEyabout 7 hours ago from Posterous

    • Making learning sticky (inspired by ‘Made to Stick’ www.madetostick.com)

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    After reading Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Tipping Point’ a few years ago, a group of us started to talk about ‘making learning sticky’. It was around the time that Mick Waters, then Head of Curriculum at what is now QCDA, was talking about ‘Making Learning Irresistible’. Since then, we have used this concept as the focus for many discussions around learner motivation, pedagogy and use of new technologies and Web 2.0.

    Yesterday, I was following up a number of references to books from the world beyond education and ‘Made to Stick’ was one of them. The website is interesting, particularly the way in which the Heath brothers make links between communicating an effective an powerful marketing message in the commercial and business sectors and how the education sector constantly strives to engage students in their own learning.

    To be honest, this is right up my street, all this connectivity stuff. I think there needs to be a lot more cross-over between what we know in education about organisational change, motivation and learning and how business, industry and the public sector address these issues. Anyway, I really like this pdf and I’m now working on translating it into ‘education-speak’ for future work. The book ‘Made to Stick is available on Amazon. (Click in the centre of the box to read in full screen).

    Educators collaborate on Twitter

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    Having listened, once again, to yet another media commentator deriding Twitter as ‘pointless & banal’ I felt I had to post this. This fantastic collaborative piece of work is evidence of the quality of interactions that are shared every second of the day around the world by some of the most inspirational educators. 

    The document was put together by @dajbelshaw and @stuartridout (see their biographical information in the book). It came into existence after a collection of previously unconnected people joined forces and contributed to a Twitter Hashtag entitled, #movemeon. I have not met ANYBODY else who contributed to this document, other than by following some (not all) of them on Twitter. The people I follow share their thoughts and ideas about effective education , they provide links to resources, webpages, articles and events that they recommend. I use my Twitter account as a very specific, targeted search engine for everything about learning. For me, it’s the most valuable source of professional development in existence on the web. I hope you enjoy the publication.

     

    Keep on Learning…

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    This article was Tweeted by @DerrenBrown today. I selected it because of the emphasis it places on the need for everybody to continue learning. 

    HOW TO KEEP YOUR BRAIN SMART

    Posted in Amazing, Interesting Theories

    Posted by Abeo January 16, 2010 at 10:06 am

    “Until just a few years ago we doctors believed that the brain stopped making new neural connections ? meaning that your memory began to get irreversibly worse ? when the body stopped developing usually in your early 20s. And we knew that like any other body part neurons weaken as we age. Loss of brain function due to neural breakdown was assumed to be a normal unavoidable part of aging.

    It turns out we were wrong. In the past few years it has become clear that you can in fact make new neurons starting in your 20s and continuing well into old age. You can literally rewire the brain with new parts as the older parts wear out. How? Simple: Keep learning. Just as your body can pack on and condition new muscle your brain can rebuild used-up neurons.

    How strong is the evidence for this? Strong enough that a $200 million industry devoted to brain-boosting software ? products like Brain Age MindFit and Lumosity that supposedly improve your memory function ? has sprung up out of nowhere. The jury is still out on whether these programs actually sharpen the noggin as much as they claim to. But frankly you don’t need a fancy video game. All “mental fitness” means is keeping your memory intact ? everything from phone numbers to how to throw a football. 

    Mehmet Oz is a heart surgeon and the coauthor of You: Staying Young (Free Press $26).