Catch the Wave

Here are some photos I took on the way from my motel to the main conference venue. (See post below.) It was the last morning (after the conference dinner the night before!!) and I was on my way to my first ‘unconference’. I had been asked to contribute to a session on ‘effective cluster/school management of the ICT contract’. Four of us attended (all facilitators) and although we swapped a few ideas the session didn’t turn out as I had imagined it would … there was no-one who was really there to learn. Perhaps everybody knows the answers already (or think they do!) Another possibility is that because there were so many unconference sessions there was no-one left to come to ours. The other possibility is that many delegates were sleeping in after socialising the night before. So I’ve yet to find out what a successful unconference session is like.

Today is the final day of the Learning@School Conference. Everything has been great! Rotorua has to be one of the prettiest cities in New Zealand. The town centre and the Government Gardens (where the main venue is) both have beautiful trees and gardens. I’ll post some photos later today. My motel unit is close to the city centre, the gardens and Lake Rotorua (no view though) , and it has the dubious honour of having the most ferocious shower I’ve ever encountered! … in Rotorua even showering is an extreme sport!

At L@S, it’s always exciting to catch up with the friends I’ve made in the ICT PD programme over the eight years I’ve been involved. During this conference, I’ve noticed that teachers’ ‘learner behaviour’ is changing. Teachers are taking a more active part by questioning, discussing and collaborating. Many will no longer just sit and listen. I believe this confidence and interactivity comes from the professional development they’re receiving and the learning communities (both real and virtual) that they belong to. And its a good thing!

The keynote speakers and workshops I’ve attended have all been interesting in their own way and I’m looking forward to my first ‘unconference’ experience this morning. Go to this Wikipedia page to find out about an unconference
Here is a list of the L@S unconference topics. I’ll let you know what happens!

Web 2.0 tools are fantastic, however on one of my pen drives I have a folder called ‘Software’ which contains the setup files of the PC freeware I think a teacher needs on his/her laptop and might not have. The list is pretty basic, but I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve used it. In the folder are:

Audacity An easy to use sound recorder which is so useful in the classroom.
Lame 3.97 Enables the export as MP3 function in Audacity. (Without Lame you can only export as a .wav)
uLead Gif Animator Makes a series of graphic files into one .Gif file. This version dates back to when it was freeware.
Image Resizer Powertoy A useful Windows add-on.
JPG4 Email This resizes photos in bulk. Great for adding photos to your blog.
Photo Filtre The free version. You can create some neat effects using the filters.
Umajin Creative You can blue screen and save as a .jpg using the trial version.
Picasa3 Try out the collage function.
Photo Story 3 A freebie and a goodie.
Switch Converts sound files in bulk e.g. wma to MP3.
Tux Paint A neat little drawing program for junior students.

Some of these are available on my website - the others you’ll track down easily on the Internet using Google.

The L@S Conference is on in Rotorua from 24 – 26 February. It is attended by teachers from schools who are, or have been involved in ICT professional development clusters. This is nearly every school in New Zealand. I’ve been going to this conference every year since 2002 and I always really enjoy it. The number of delegates has increased each year and will be 1200 this year. One of the reasons I enjoy it is because I feel a real sense of belonging. It’s nice to be together with people who do a similar job. And of course the keynote speakers and the choice of workshops are excellent.

There are 7 breakouts. I’m presenting 2 workshops ‘A Key to Brain Power – Developing Habits of Mind in the Classroom’ (Breakout 2) and ‘Developing a Thinking Toolbox’ (Breakout 4)

The workshops I’m attending are:
Breakout 1:Getting Tricky with Wikis (Lenva Shearing)
Breakout 3: Digital Pedagogies (Tony Ryan)
Breakout 5: Learning to Question to Wonder to Learn (Jamie McKenzie)
Breakout 6: Inspiring creative, energetic and enterprising students (Gina Revill & Anne-Marie Kite)
Breakout 7: Umajin in the Classroom (Nat Free & Russell Brebner)

Learning@School Conference website

Elements of good photography

• Varying the angle – taking photos from up high, down low, through something

• Having elements of people, line, colour and light
• The thirds rule. The viewers eyes are drawn to where lines intersect, so the main subject(s) of the photo should be on one of these spots – (not in the middle!)

• Using the Macro Function for close-up focus

Student Activity

Take photos which show elements of:

• Line

• Colour

• People

• Light

• Looking up

• Looking down

• Looking through (frame the shot)

• Macro function (close up of something)

• Make a folder in My Pictures

• Download your photos

• Share with the class as a slide show explaining the elements in your photos

• Using your new photography skills, take photos to support learning or to record class events

Make a PowerPoint or Photo Story compilation of your students’ best photos and share it at school assembly