I’m a TwitPic Poet

I didn’t mean to write a poem today. When I fired up Twitter this morning I noticed that Leon Cych had already been out and about taking photos in the snow. Somewhat intrigued, I took a look at his photos and left a quick comment.  They would have made good material for writing a topical poem about snow with my students. When Leon fired me a tweet with a link to a poem, ‘Handwriting Exercise’,  he had written about the snow 30 years ago, the material and surrounding backstory became excellent inspiration for writing a poem. If one of my schools had been open and visiting Silverstone then I would have written with them. Shame they weren’t really!

It was then that I remembered that Leon is a ‘proper’ poet and his excellent writing reflects that but he is also a good guy so will be suitably pleasant when he reads my limited poetic response, ‘Snowscape Escape’.

What struck me about this whole process was that it was very easy with a low entry threshold. It  reminded me both of the spontaneity that seemed possible when I was a pupil at primary school and of some of the ‘off the cuff’ adventures I had with my classes as a teacher years ago. For example, I read a poem online by Laura Sheffler from UC Berkeley and next morning was opening it up to my class for their own responses, opening up authentic collaboration with the poet in the process.

Gareth’s writing offers me some insight in why it was such a buzz for me as a teacher using technology to create today.

It’s grasping the nostalgia of how learning takes place: constructionism, experimentation, trial and error etc, and relating a technology to these forces that makes it powerful and relevant.

What I’ve experienced today is the nostalgia for how some of my my most memorable  learning took place in the past and how technology can make it relevant as a means for learning in the future.  I’ve always been a TwitPic poet baby – you better believe it!

YouTube Investigation

I’m going to undertake a full evaluation and investigation of YouTube with my children and students to canvass their ideas and views.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/hMLX68MHVtw" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

This short video was uploaded directly from my mobile phone. What fantastic opportunities… and I managed to do it without happy-slapping anyone!

Inset Kids

Will Richardson has been on the road this year and wonders:

…. why we aren’t inviting kids to these conferences or workshops as a way to keep the presenters (myself included) honest, number one, but also to help teachers understand the realities of their worlds.

I think this is an important issue for conference and training organisers to at least consider. Students and teachers learning together and from each other – there’s a novel idea. Surely, it must be possible to come up with a construction that could work… Communicate06 gave a glimpse of the potential of engaging students at a training event.

Adding a few 7 year-olds to conference proceedings would soon make the presenters engage with reality and the ‘unconference’ format;-)

Social Software – Ban don’t think!

What dynamic is at work when schools or LEA’s take unilateral decisions to ban sites like YouTube without even consulting students (or teachers for that matter)?

Toss out a few negative soundbytes based on unbalanced media coverage and harp on about ‘duty of care’ and the decision is soon justified. Often though, there is not even a decision that anyone, in this era of transparency, can challenge or track. Where are the lists of sites published that are banned so that they can become an agenda item on the school council or at a staff meeting? Evaluating real websites for their suitability for task would be a purposeful learning activity for both teachers and students. Identifying, weighing up and avoiding potential risks while enjoying the benefits of a website is a creative challenge that faces everyone. Going through this process as a school community offers ownership of internet use decisions, something that is sadly lacking in many schools.

And what do students thinks about this state of affairs? Nothing! They do not care because it simply confirms to them the increasing irrelevance of their formal education to their everyday life. Whatever!

Pivot Animation

I was browsing Alison Mitchell’s Mulhall’s British School of Amsterdam Senior School ICT blog and came across Pivot, a simple but very effective stick animation software. Sometimes the most simple software is the most fun. Loads of creative fun to be had with this. I think I am going to organise a Pivot Animation Competition. It would be cool to see what everyone else created. Click on the thumbnail to see my efforts.

Waking up sentences! -2

The teacher ate a sandwich.

• Throw in some words – adjectives, adverbs etc

The demented teacher calmly ate a stale sandwich.

• Change some words to suit your own taste.

The professor devoured the ciabatta.

• A dash of simile or metaphor adds a certain flavour.

The teacher, like a ravenous predator, clamped his jaw on the ciabatta.

• Awesome alliteration is an optional extra.

The perfidious professor pilfered my choice ciabatta.

• Add extra ingredients to the end of your sentence.

The teacher ate a sandwich because the local chip shop was shut.

• Add extra ingredients to the start of your sentence

While the children were working, the teacher ate the sandwich.