Good afternoon internet,
Into the second week of COETAIL and I would like to say that I am getting into a routine, reading my RSS reader regularly and getting on twitter but unfortunately this week has been one of those weeks in school where every finished job is replaced by 3 more! More on top of things now and long weekend coming up so it will be a good chance to get on top of things. So my campaign to unblock twitter has been put on hold but set to start a fresh next week 
Retrieved from :http://www.workerspower.co.uk/2012/02/twitter-has-different-ideas-about-freedom-of-expression/
Collectivism has been on my mind this week as our school is starting our third year of using Edmodo in all classrooms across the school. If you haven’t used or heard of Edmodo check it out. It is basically a “Facebook” for schools. You can set up your own classroom and then the children are given a code so they can access your classroom but it remains private to everyone else. Parents can also be added to the group so they can view what is happening in the classroom. You can also use the programme to set assignments and tasks and provide useful web links etc. It also gives the option of moderating all posts so you can see if they are appropriate and gives the children an option of direct messaging their teacher if they have anything they want to ask but don’t want to do it in a public forum. It is useful for me that it is been used school wide as the children are familiar with it and also use it in lessons with their specialist teachers such as ICT. You can also add apps to the programme including one for Actively Learn an interesting online reading programme that I stumbled across this week and might be worth exploring.
I have been reflecting on my use of this programme over the past two years and how i want to change my approach this year. The first year we used it, I used it exactly twice so not very engaged at all. Last year, I was certainly much better at using it and found it a useful way to communicate with students but I certainly did not use it to foster a connected learning group for the students and it was more just another way for me to send them a message. This is what I hope to change this year. I want to use this programme to create a Social Network FOR Our Class. The Langwitches blog post on Social Networking lists the 5 reasons why people share. While looking at these I couldn’t help but think what students don’t want to… feel connected, define themselves and build and cement relationships (a lot of them enjoy entertaining too!). I realize that if I can foster and encourage a connected learning group for them and thankfully my school has provided me a platform to do that, I can give them the opportunity to help each other, be creative and have that feeling that they are all on a learning journey together. I am sure if I can get this going and encourage frequent posting and commenting it will also improve the atmosphere within the classroom during school time. So tomorrow, our Edmodo journey with begin and I am hoping to start by encouraging them to live blog during lessons and discuss what they understand or don’t or how they feel about what we are learning.
I also looked at David Truss’ blog post discussing Ross Greene’s If they can philosophy.
Click here to view the embedded video.
In the video, Ross points out that once you suscribe to and “If they Can” philosphy then your job as a teacher becomes finding the obstacle that is stopping them from learning and show them how to get over the obstacle. I think it is a great way to look at the job and also helps set a little goal for a teacher each day- Today I am going to focus on removing some of John’s obstacles to learning English. Technology can be a great tool in giving children the ability and access so they CAN learn. A lack of understanding and confidence can be an obstacle for some children and I am hoping that a consistent use of Edmodo will give them a support network to remove some of these obstacles. I will be sharing this message with my children and encourage them to help each other (both online and in the classroom) so everyone CAN learn to their best ability.
Finally I would like to leave you with a great picture from my class this week. I think this just shows that you never know what a child will do with the tools you give them and I hope that they will show this level of inventiveness on Edmodo for the year to come!
Who needs a table?
Sure why doesn’t the whole group come down!
Eid mubarak to those celebrating!
Paul