I have been reading with interest the edublogs of particpants and it has occured to me what a fantastic oppoprtunity blogging is for strengthening AfL. This relatively inexpensive and completely accessible mechanism offers learners the opportunity to reflect on what they have learnt, how they have learnt, challenges to learning and how they have overcome them. It offers particpants the opportunity to self assess and peer commentary. In this respect it is a forum for structured and managed learning talk. It offers the teacher the opportunity to set self assessment opportunites and respond any time any place anywhere to pupil outcomes. It empowers learners to take control of their learning and their journey of discovery. It requires in this respect critrical and analytical thought processes. I think it would be a great case study to explore how the use of edublogs can strengthen AfL for our pupils. The interesting thing is it would no doubt raise interesting debate about our approaches to asssessment and the very existence of testing and, …oh yes… league tables as a way of measuring pupil progress!!! But for those very reasons I think it would be a right and educationally purposeful case study to pursue. What do you think?
Climb Every Mountain
Just experimenting with uploading/downloading from Flickr
A week in the life of…
Whew! What a week. I have done the road show of presentations of this transformation teachers’ programme to 5 different audiences, presented at the breifing launch, supported the KIT sign up and co-led the first full training day. Today to round it all up we were asked to speak to representatives from the DfES, INTEL and Partnerships for Schools (Gov body with lots of authority) at their Westminster office – not much pressure really!!
If someone had said 3 weeks ago that we owuld have written, launched and part delivered a masters level CPD programme I would have said ’impossible’. But here we are and thanks to all of you who have agreed to participate and make it the truly dynamic programme it is proving to be.
Like many of you I came home on Friday my head feeling like it was mashed and in overload. But in common also with many of you I was also still really excited by it all and find it difficult to stop now. Good example is that I am writing this blog while the trial of Tracy Barlow is coming to its very sticky end in Coronation Street. My favorite sopa of all time but I am more interetsed to continue with this online conversation. It makes me really understand how young people’s interest and engagement can be captured by the world of media and technology and what a powerful tool it is. But like all tools it can be very dangerous or a force for much good depending on who has control of it. Consequently it has made me more convinced than ever before of the need to engage with it as a profession. It is the world our young people inhabit and far better to be apart of it and underestand how to use it for moral purpose and learning outcomes than it be in the control of those who have different purpose in mind. When I asked my son Oliver who is 13 years old whether teachers should be using such resources in classrooms he just looked at me with complete bewilderment and answered ‘yes of course what do you think?!
The other thing that has convinced me of its importance is watching my son Jack test running some of the soft and hard ware this weekend. Jack is in year 6 and presents very much as a 6 year old rather than the 11 years old that he is. He is statemented and currently operates at the higher end of the P scales in all aspects. He has always remained in mainstream but has always struggled to function as his peers do. Recently as part of his statement provision the LA brought him a lap top for in classwork. He no longer had to struggle with his writing due to his weak muscles but could construct texts now without barriers or pain. Suddenly he was able to access a whole new world of learning via web presences and digital media. For the first time the world of learning was no longer an exclusive or elitist domain inaccessible to him but one in which he could participate. This weekend he had tried the use of the digi board, comic view, photography and downloading from you tube. He has been working non – stop at one time for a period of 2.5 hours without a break. That for me is what it is all about. It is completely the inclusion and every child matters agenda. I will ask Jack to continue to help me test run this programme because if we can find through it ways to unlock the potential of pupils like Jack everyone reaps the benefits.
Dancing on the quick sand!
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It seems difficult to know excatly where to start. As a programme facilitator and programme particpant it feels sometimes as if I am dancing on quick sand and desperately trying to keep my neck above the line! ‘Drowning not waving’ is another saying which springs to mind at times also. How did I get here? A question I find my self frequently asking at the moment.
Back in July 2006 I found myself reading a long and very heavy public document about BSF which had been circulated. As I flicked over the 20th page my name suddenly sprung out at me. Now as you all know well my name is unmistakeable – the family name that is not my first name. I read on and low and behold I was now the named lead officer on the development of an ICT teachers transformastion programme of professional development for the London Borough of Haringey. It was the ICT bit which was the scary part of the document. What on earth did I know about ICT? Would have been a good idea to have been consulted before the publication and release of this document to schools I think! But had I been consulted I would probably have protested and said I could not do it. So there I was – stuck with this responsibility. Where next?
Well, when in doubt start talking – its good to talk and good to share. So I gathered around me a group of much more expert people in the field of ICT and started working up a pilot programme which we could prsent to schools and other stake holders and…the rest is history. The interesting thing is that I did have a lot to offer the development group. Yes they were much more experienced in the field of ICT but my background in teaching and learning, reserach and teacher training ensured that the programme remained grounded at classroom level and most importantly about impact and outcomes for children. And that will remain so as long as I am involved in the programme.
I have learnt so much in the last few months and for me the learning continues at an alarming rate. And…it is exciting. The most positive and important thing is that we are all learners and learning from each other on this programme. We all have something to give and something to learn even if we didn’t at first realise it. It simply takes a little courage and acceptance of the vulnerability of being a learner again. I really beileve that’s how progress is made.
I have used the camera, taken photos and used the video. I have used the equipment with my children who are very adept and keen to use digital media and who teach me new ways of seeing the world. They are not afraid to take risks and expose their vulnerablity as learners and consequently they achieve because they do not see the barriers whether it is getting the camera to work for them or uploading their files. They see it simply as new learning.
The value of this programme I am convinced is that we will again experience what it means to be both learners and teachers which will hopefully transform the way in which we see the world and how we are as professionals within it.
Perhaps on reflection dancing on the quick sand is an important place to be at times as it tests your determination, resiliance, flexibility and active thinking skills.
