The new New Zealand Curriculum

The new curriculum was launched on 6 November following one of the most comprehensive consultation processes undertaken by the Ministry of Education. Visit the link below to check out the latest information and to view some schools journey to implement the new curriculum.

The challenge now is to build on this framework, offering our young people the most effective and engaging teaching possible and supporting them to achieve to the highest of standards.

There are links to resources to assist schools to implement their own journey.

http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz

Ewan McIntosh's presentation at U Learn 07

This a link to a great keynote address from Ewan McIntosh who's a world authority on using ICT and the internet, in particular for teaching and learning. He has a drole Scottish sense of humour, a gently challenging manner, and best of all, he's not a geek - he's an ex French teacher!
His blog regularly gets over 300,000 readers, so lots of teachers think he has something to say. Here's a link you might want to make a favourite
http://edu.blogs.com/

What Can We Do With Flickr? Click on this image to visit the tutorials.

This is a wonderful programme and has many facets. Go and visit
the site and work your way through the tutorials.
What Can We Do With Flickr?
Originally uploaded by cogdogblog

Inquiry learning and i web at The Gardens School

Senior students at The Gardens school have been using Apples i Web for their Inquiry learning to present their work. It is such an easy piece of software to use and works seamlessly with Apples other applications such as i Photos and i Movie. These web sites are going to be uploaded onto the school website so that parents can access them. View one of them on the link below.

http://web.mac.com/bentleyjudy.mac.com/Organic_gardening/Organic_gardening.html

Is this happening in your class?

Fostering online Inquiry learning using Moodle

Greenmeadows Intermediate school have been using Moodle this year to deliver their Inquiry Learning. They have worked closely with Paul Stuart from Kiwischools and used Discovery Zone who host the site for them. Paul has provided PD to get the site up and running and then ongoing support. All the material, resources and planning is online and this enables the teachers and the students to have access to their Inquiry Learning anywhere and anytime. The students are enjoying the availability of chat rooms and forums. The use of Google has dramatically dropped as a result of using Moodle. The students research is now more focussed and tailored. On the Paenui wiki you will find presentations that were delivered at a U Learn workshop by myself and Brian Nicholls the DP at Greenmeadows Intermediate.
Visit the website as a guest.

http://greenmeadows.discoveryzone.co.nz/

Your super alter ego- have a bit of fun with this software.

Visit this website to create your own alter ego 'Be a Super hero"
Thanks Jane for the fun

Papakura Normal School

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The Intermediate classes have concentrated on Digital storytelling this term. The Learning Outcome was to create material for the reading programmes in the Junior school. An area is being created on the server to host these resources. The students worked in groups, planned their stories then storyboarded these. Each student had a role assigned to them, photographer, director, props manager etc. The groups had to work cooperatively and collaboratively to produce their movies. This project has produced some work of a very high standard considering this was their first attempt. The Junior school will thoroughly enjoy these resources. Another class choose their favourite Junior reader, took photos of the book and created digital readers to be shared. This was a very successful exercise.

Greenmeadows Intermediate

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Greenmeadows Intermediate School have recently celebrated their 40th Birthday. This event showcased the incredible talent of many of the students. The Kapa Haka group were outstanding as were the Cook Island group. The Bollywood girls certainly showed their skills. The choir performed to a very high standard. The highlight however, was the Wearable Arts show. This was the work of a group of students lead by Dianne MacDonald. The standard was of the highest level with the four elements being the theme. The school has participated in the Trash to Fashion event held in Henderson in the past. The theme carried a sustainability approach with the students using nothing but recycled materials. With the assistance of a hairdresser and makeup artists the girls certainly stole the show. It was obvious however, that these groups have been working together all year and that it was not a one off performance.

The Gardens School

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Visual language at The Gardens School, has been a major focus throughout the school. In the Senior school the students used Kidpix to create a typical NZ scene. We used the internet to research local artists for inspiration. These designs were then used to paint (using real paint) their scenes. After viewing these a vote as taken and three artists were chosen to transpose these paintings onto rectangular pieces of corrugated iron. These are featured in the Bubbleshare photos. These pieces of art are now part of our outdoor art collection. Photography has also been a major focus throughout the school. A pdf of the planning is on the wiki.