This is a live blog of this TeachMeetNZ discussion.

We have a special session for Connected Educators Month.

This year a collaborative calendar for October will connect thousands of educators who will be able to engage in free (and freely given) professional learning events, communities and resources.

Check out the TeachMeetNZ page for more info here.

Here’s the feed / recording.

Presenters:

(I’ll add details as they present and update post every 3 minutes)

Sam Hocking : @SamHocking1 : DP and Yr 7/8 Teacher in Hawke’s Bay
Topic: SOLE – Self Organised Learning Environment:
He uses it with his students and finds it engages them with rich questioning and student collaboration to find answers. Started in India, it’s now going worldwide. Uses Cloud services and focuses on students sharing devices and resources available. It also encourages problem-solving and demands that the teacher stands back and allows the students to explore. Sam shared some resources that you will see on the video above. Here’s a link to the TED resources:

Bridget Casse : @BridgetCasse : Assistant Principal at an Auckland primary school
Topic: Making Learning Visible in the Early Years:
Uses SOLO in the school. Learners know how to meet their goals by clarifying their learning vocabulary. SOLO enables the students to tackle their learning and face complex problems by understanding the journey. SOLO visualises the steps to deeper understanding of any topic. Conversations with students are deeper because they know why and how to learn. Learning to learn is a sustainable skill and Bridget says teachers must get to know SOLO, particularly from those who are already doing it. Sonya supported this theme with her positive experiences with SOLO.

Reubina Irshad : @Reubinai : Junior Teacher in Auckland
Topic: Mutukaroa Project:
Reubina teaches with Sonya. Mutukaroa is a partnership between home and school. It takes the learning into the home and parents are invited into talk about the learning goals that have been set. 2 specific goals involve literacy and numeracy. Reubina is the coordinator of Mutukaroa and is responsible for building strong relationships with the families. She has also found it positive for making connections between teachers and working more collaboratively. “We are together in this journey”

Tim Kong : @Timoslimo : Teacher in Wellington, NZ
Topic: The Future May or May not be Finnish:
Future focused education. Finland has a very successful education programme. It has small class sizes and teachers must have a Masters degree but they don’t use much technology, in fact they are one of the lowest users of tech in Europe. Critical thinking is often lost amongst the glossy talk of new tech and exciting gadgets. It is the way Finland pushes critical thinking and not their use of tech that makes them leaders in education. Bridget thanked Tim for challenging the audience to look at their own priorities. Karen pointed out that the focus on tech often only “tinkers around the edge” of what’s really important.

Lewis Bostock : @LewisBostock : Media Studies Teacher in Auckland
Topic: Safe and effective use of social media in the classroom:
Lewis is a passionate social media user and feels it is crucial for future focused education and learning. Lewis first used Facebook for questioning other adults and then had his students review the responses. He found engagement was immediate, particularly as the format being used was so familiar to the students. He also uses Twitter to connect with students and teachers. Lewis finds that social media will often Redefine (see SAMR) any traditional tasks and create authentic experiences. He encourages us to use the power of the crowd and judge on connections and people rather than likes and Retweets. Lewis suggested that teachers are DJs and social media is the music and our job is to create the best mix-tape! 

Kassey Downard : @kasseylee11 : Year 8 Digital Teacher at Mokoia Intermediate
Topic: What’s the big deal about Minecraft?
It is simplistic and appropriate for all ages. There is no end point and it acts as a huge sandbox that challenges students to be creative and work collaboratively. Students can manage their own timeframes. Creations can be published and shared between students. Committees of students plan how to construct things and leaders naturally become apparent in this process. Videos are created that allow students to reflect and showcase their work.  Kassey had her students create scenes from novels. This challenged the students to show their understanding of their reading and discuss the difference in their visions of how the descriptions worked or not. “Excellent stuff” said Sonya and Bridget highlighted that the students are keen for more teachers to use it.

Karen Melhuish Spencer : @virtuallykaren : Senior eLearning Consultant w/ @CoreEducation
Topic: Connected Educator Month:
This is a global initiative that’s live in New Zealand for the month of October. Here’s the link: http://connectededucator.org.nz/
Core are organising it and it’s aims are to organise new ways to collaborate and communicate what’s happening in education. It will offer free professional development opportunities online throughout the month. It invites people to suggest what they could offer others. Check the website out and get involved!!! The tags are #CE14 and #CENZ14 (for the New Zealand stuff).

Thanks Sonya for organising! (@vanschaijik)