'You can Code your own way'

'You can Code your own way' - what Fleetwood Mac may have written if they started out today (try unhearing the word 'code' now when you hear that track...). How we let staff have a go at coding/robotics, do it their own way, and the success of that.

Our final e-learning PLD session this year we used as a taster, to setup thinking for next year. Some of us have been exploring the use of coding in our Options program, and I have recently started using Edison Bots within maths. While we have talked about these things at staff meetings, we have had little uptake...so this session was designed to let people explore.

As a lead-in we set some 'pre-readings' to get people thinking. We included some Maker Movement stuff from Core Ed, to set the scene in terms of children 'creating', 'building', and 'playing' as a part of their learning. Also, dropped in an Hour of Code promo clip...

Those videos were good, but what this Herald article was a definite winner...1) because it showed NZ kids and teachers using coding and robotics as a part of learning, and 2) because it was 'old' if that was 2 years ago, then we needed to get cracking.

The session started with a massive win...we asked the staff to discuss what learning could come from these technologies, and we heard back from then about developing:
- creativity
- problem solving
- communication
- agency
- collaboration
All things that we have been unpacking and working on as a school, coding etc was seen as a vehicle to teach and develop those attributes.

For the 'playing' part of the session we took the learning approach of...describe the instructions for use with minimal detail, and give them the seed of an activity/idea to follow. We hoped that this would promote discussions between the people working together (trying to figure out how to use the tech), and would lead to creative application...as we didn't prescribe the end result.

In the leadup we were nervous about how staff were going to approach the session, but it was fantastic. people really got into it, and the discussions were great. The outcomes of some of the stations were far more creative than what we had suggested...reinforcing to me that having a prescribed outcome is ot always best.

The slides are embedded below, and include links to useful websites with further ideas.


We ended up showing this clip about iLuminate, the dance crew. I wanted to end by showing that coding really has nothing to do with computers, it is just another tool to develop creativity. The video is amazing, and the amount of probem-solving and collaboration that must go into her works, wow. The video served its purpose, and broke down the barrier for some people...they could see then that coding had application in the arts, in farming, in whatever field of choice...it is just another tool to arm children with.

It's not about the Coding, it's about the Thinking

At Mind Lab last week a Steve Jobs quote was shared "Everyone should learn to program a computer, because it it teaches you to think". A few people disagreed with the quote, pointing out that thinking and learning were much broader than 'coding'.

At this point Rochelle introduced the term 'computational thinking'. At first glance I took it to mean coding, and related it back to Jobs' quote...but after a short discussion it turns out that computational thinking IS what we want from our students, and the skills it brings with it are at the core of 21st C learning.

Computational thinking is a way of solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior that draws on concepts fundamental to computer science. To flourish in today's world, computational thinking has to be a fundamental part of the way people think and understand the world.

Being able to problem solve, communicate, translate ideas into action, innovate and create...these skillsets are important to develop, and are a core part of computational thinking. It is much, much more than just being able to code a machine.

Google has an online course for Computational Thinking, and it describes 4 elements:
- Decomposition: Breaking down data, processes, or problems into smaller, manageable parts
- Pattern Recognition: Observing patterns, trends, and regularities in data
- Abstraction: Identifying the general principles that generate these patterns
- Algorithm Design: Developing the step by step instructions for solving this and similar problems

Again at first glance they seem to be computer related, but I love the ideas they also post to break this misunderstanding...they are mainly secondary-based, but illustrate well the CT concept inside a traditional application of learning

I think having this in mind when planning some work...how can I take these 4 elements of computational thinking, and allow students to apply to their learning...would be a great start. It's not about the coding, it's about the thinking.

How leading a research team might be similar to / different from leading a teaching team

During last week's Mind Lab session we had a look at research into how to lead a research team effectively.

The key points were around:

- Setting aside time for leadership

- Promoting inclusiveness, do all members feel valued?

- Motivating staff by:

• knowing members strengths
• respecting their backgrounds
• delegation
• coaching of individuals
• providing feedback and recognition

Obviously the parallels can be drawn with leading a team at school, or leading a group to effect change. 

This reminds me of some reading I had done a couple of years ago into effective workplace's. The Gallup Organisation identified 12 traits of productive workplaces, and most of them (like the ones above) revolve around treating your colleagues as people, and being very humanistic in your approach. The one that always struck me was everyone should 'have a friend' at work. 

These points are things that I need to continually remind myself of, and it has prompted me to re-surface the Gallup work for our Leaders team next year

Augmented or Virtual reality in the Classroom

Our Week 3 Mind Lab session had a section looking at disruptive technologies. These technologies force or accelerate change, and lead to new innovations. Think Netflix, and what it has done to renting DVD's...

Some of these emerging technologies involve virtual, or augmented realities. Virtual worlds we can inhabit/create, or ways in which the physical and digital worlds can interact (Pokemon Go).

I've used Minecraft quite a bit now in learning...starting as a context to drive my writing program, through to children creating inside Minecraft (settings of stories, or just 'things' they want to make). The tool is a powerful one because it is open ended, it isn't a linear story to follow. The blocks, tools and the way these things can interact (via crafting table etc) means that the children are forced to build and create, rather than consume. The ability to communicate within the world, and interact with others adds more layers of awesomeness.

I haven't really tried VR aside from a little go at using it as a writing prompt. Using Google Expeditions this afternoon has re-shown me the potential for this as a tool...especially to help give children experiences that they might not have otherwise (even simple things like visiting a zoo).

Augmented reality, I've not had a go at. At first it seemed a bit gimmicky during the session, but super engaging. Towards the end when we made a trigger image and overlay in Aurasma, I could start to see some uses. I'm especially interested in how it could be used to bring concepts/content teaching to the children. Have some trigger images to do with surface features in writing (picture of speech marks), create the overlay, then then children can seek out learning using the app... up comes a video tutorial you can use to develop these skills before a writing session.

21st Century Learning Design

A quick video reflection as part of my Mind Lab studies...how well does a learning activity I have taught meet the criteria of the ITL 21st Century Learning Design rubric?

WALT? WILF? WTF - The Difficulty with Learning Intentions

I've been internalising a very complicated situation in my head...how I use Learning Intentions with my students.

Learning Intention...I intend for you to learn something? Teacher in control
Success Criteria...to be successful you have to complete the learning in this set way? Teacher in control
We are Learning To...are we? Or am I telling you...
What I'm Looking For...Am I the only one who can judge success?

Don't get me wrong...students being clear about what it is they are doing, and clear about what it is meant to be like is super important. It's the way that these things are framed to the learners that I've been struggling with. Is using those acronyms, and breaking down the learning into tiny, tiny parcels of learning, really making things clearer for them?

A maths advisor we worked with once said the content of the purple Numeracy books is gold, but the way it was written was garbage. The Learning Intentions inside those texts...they are so narrow, so precise...how do you write success criteria for them? Are they really what we wanted children to learn, or were they a part of a bigger whole?

Absolum's Clarity in the Classroom (awesome text) promotes having Global Learning Intentions, big picture stuff that smaller learning intentions/criteria can come from. Our Assessment for Learning PLD taught us that having these clear in the minds of the students first, before bombarding them with the miniature ones, is key. Co-construction of criteria is another important part of helping learners get 'inside' their learning, letting them have agency enough to describe what good learning looks like. All fantastic stuff, but still I persisted with the WALT/WILF labels, and I feel these limited my thinking, and that of the kids.

We, like may schools, also have progressions...for reading, writing and maths. These form the basis of consistently assessing learners across the school, and help identify gaps and next steps in learning. Nothing wrong with that, except it has meant that learning in literacy has become as detailed/splintered and fragmented as that in Numeracy. Do we really want to work on the fine detail in isolation...is the learning really to "Use most grammatical conventions correctly eg. Correct form of simple, compound and complex sentences and use of pro-nouns and prepositions" Is that what quality writing really is? Do that by itself, learn that in isolation, and you are a better writer?

We identified an issue with our Boys and their writing this year (like many other no doubt). Across Terms 2 and 3 I worked with a boys-only group, mixed ability, but mainly those at-risk-of-not-meeting-the-damn-standard boys. It has been primo, and we managed (together) to create a culture within the group that writing is awesome, and that we are all authors. Writing chapter books for fun, and taking pleasure from using great language...but, all the while I was persisting with the 'normal' LI/SC/WALT/WILF way of framing learning.

Towards the end of Term 3 I'd gathered my thoughts enough to make a change...I wanted the lads to opt into workshops based on what they wanted to learn as a writer. To do this I couldn't have the LI's come from our writing progressions, I had to group bundles of them together and try it a different way. I now use titles for workshops (currently my co-teacher and I are running a Star Wars themed literacy class)...so titles like 'I've got a bad feeling about this', or 'Metaphors (may the force) be with you'. These serve to capture their attention. Going with that is 'We will'...what will we actually do...not what I intend for them to do. 'We will': "make sure that our readers knows what Han is feeling, trying not to just say ‘he is scared’". Then the 'How'...how will you actually do that: Decide on the feeling or emotion. Describe how you would feel, without using the word (what would you be doing, what would your body be doing, what would you say?). Lastly, we have an example: "Han looked ahead, the walls of the canyon were getting tighter and tighter. His hands on the throttle were white knuckled as he flipped his ship on its side. He closed his eyes tightly, and wished for the best. A second later he opened them... he couldn’t believe his luck! "Wahoo" he screamed into the headset"

It's not radically different, but now the children are clearer about what they are going to do, how they will do it, and what it will look like in the end. The little examples are great...they can look at them and decide if they need that skill, if they are able to write in that way or not. The learning isn't one little piece anymore, often several skills bundled together. I want the How (the SC) to be very actions based...what are they actually going to do and see...this makes self/peer feedback so much easier.

My co-teacher and I run a series of these workshops each day, in parallel, based on the same piece of writing. The next step I can see is for us to make it clear how each of these workshops (each of these examples of writing) adds up to being a quality writer.

Cultural Connections

Engaging with Parents...a task we have always found difficult, especially with our Māori community.

DPS Whanau Hui October 2016

We have tried a few things in the past from meetings in the staffroom, shoulder-tapping at the school picnic, surveys being sent home, and cornering parents as they are leaving their childs learning conference. None of these have been particularly successful...at either meeting the needs of the tickboxes, or gaining more parent helpers/allies for the school.

I have often felt that the school wants what some other local schools have, but we have tried to force it to happen...rather than allowing a relationship to develop and grow by itself. Perhaps our 'why' is muddled...why are we doing this? If we aren't clear, the mixed messages will be a pretty strong deterrent.

This year is the last of the schools 3 year Strategic Plan, so we were seeking voice from the community about what they wanted next for their learners. A part of that was having a hui to hear from the parents of our Māori community. After much talk, the team decided to make use of the marae across the road, and to follow Māori meeting protocol, and just allow everyone to speak their minds. Brett, our BoT chair, ended up running the hui...and did an amazing job. The voices were slow at first, many parents had come to just 'see' what this was going to be about, but soon a common message started to come through.

Respect and celebrate the culture, but give it some prominence. Many were unaware of what the school does to promote Tikanga and Te Reo (outside of kapahaka) but they felt that their children were the same, unsure as to what the school is doing. We can work on that, a great next step.

The group was also keen to carry on the dialogue...but not to make heavy, 'lets look at the data' type meetings...but to have fun, and upskill as a group. One parent has written some local stories in Te Reo that he is keen to share, and another is able to teach us some waiata and games. Amazing, we would never have gotten to this point by forcing the issue. It was very affirming as well, coming hard on the heels of another consultation evening that only 2 non-BoT/Staff parents attended.

Overall I think we have reached that point where interest can now start to gather momentum. BoT chair can push on, and use these keen whanau as experts, and the basis of starting a larger group. At some stage I'm sure the discussion will turn to the academic side of school life, but it will be coming from the parents, not from a tickbox the school needs ticked.

Creativity Thrives with Time and Space

This article was on stuff.co.nz this morning, and Andy Griffiths words fit perfectly with my earlier posts around creativity.

He has several messages about parenting, that can easily be related to education.

- Taking risks can pay off. "Sometimes falling from the monkey bars teaches you something". We need to create conditions in our classes where 'learning' risks are always taken. and the learning that comes from that is celebrated. For some, taking the safe/easy path is their default, taking risks can mean failing...and that can be scary.

- We don't need to always 'entertain' the children. "The value of free-form play is very important, both mentally and physically". Not filling the children's day up, giving them time to make choices, allowing them the space to be creative...important. AT our school we have had discussions around lunchtime activities...some of our students were becoming so busy that they didn't have the chance to be kids and play at lunch. They need time to 'play'.

- Let them be bored. "Creativity thrives when we have lots of time and space to do it. If things get tight, and we get busy, and deadlines are too close thats when we get uncreative". In our programmes, do the children have the time to be creative...or are they so bogged down in Must Do's/Can Do's/Independent tasks/assignments that we have taken this time/space away?

- Triggering a love for writing. " I made a get well soon card for my Dad which said "Get well soon or you are doomed". Our literacy programmes need to allow for boys humour, and allowing them some freedom to be creative. Descriptive writing about Autumn leaves may well be very nice, but stories about the Zombie Apocalypse are awesome! How are we developing this love for writing in our students.

All in all I thought his messages were fantastic, very timely heading into the new term.

AP/DP Cluster Trip to Hawkes Bay

As part of our cluster work with Carol from edLead we combined our two Term 3 sessions into one trip away. The focus from Carol for the trip was to have a look at Leading Change at one school, and the development of Professional Learning Communities at the other. I was looking forward to the first school as the principal had been a 'critical friend' for Douglas Park, and my own appraiser for several years. He was always very challenging to work with...in a good way. He often made me question my beliefs about teaching and learning, the choices I had made, or pathways I was heading down. He often asked...is this good for the teacher, or good for the learners?

He shared his recent leadership journey with us, he has been at the school for 18 months now. He was typically challenging and hard-nosed, had made some tough calls to get things moving in the school. He talked about:

- Really reflecting his school community. His parents can see their kids in the school, but can they see the culture. He mentioned hiring Indian TA's as he has a large Indian community, promoting the Pacific Island Language weeks, Diwali, and making the cultures visible...little things like Cook Island posters in his office window, or using Indian, Pasifica and Maori designs in his new uniform logo.

- Satisfactory Teachers aren't good enough anymore...a classic statement. Good is the enemy of great is something else mentioned. He wants big things for his learners, and they are challenging...so 'good' won't cut it. He has moved all his 'resistor' teachers into one Learning Community...he would 'rather they piss each other off, than piss off the others'. You are paid 70K a year, 'get over yourselves'.

- He believes student leadership shouldn't be exclusive. All his Year 6's and some Year 5's have roles...librarians, patrollers, councillors, peer mediators...all of them. Everyone is a leader. Any change to the school goes to the student council at the same time it goes to staff for input...powerful.

- The school has developed trading cards to reward behaviour...collect all 6 and get a gold card! Gold card means you go to the principal, and he can discuss the ways you have been meeting the school values

- No normal CRT for teachers...they get 6 chunks a term, and their class goes to Robotics and Coding. Massive engagement, and teachers now plan use of CRT better. Will carry on next year, but expectation that teachers learn from afterschool workshops about coding so that the following year it can be seen in normal learning programmes.

- Self-Directed teachers...some staff PLD is compulsory, but the weekly sessions are mainly optional. 3 sessions are run on a Tuesday. You earn points by attending, more for running a session. He gave out a minimum expectation of points...but doesn't track it. Him and his DP get out to classes, and if they see something awesome they shoulder-tap that teacher to run a workshop.


The second school was a small rural school, with a first time principal (4 years in). She spoke to us briefly around the development of Professional Learning Communities at her school. They have two teaching teams, and they get release from 11-3pm fortnightly to meet as a PLC. The have a process to follow, based on the work of Alma Harris. The leadership team meet weekly from 9-11am. The aim of all this is to develop leadership within the school, and to give time and resource to those meaty discussions that we need to have as teachers. That had 'monitoring' meetings in the past to discuss target children, but these were 'once over lightly', with no real depth. She has given us some further information to go and look at.

She also talked about Writing PLD...and how they actually focussed on Reading. Got their reading programmes improved, which exposes the kids to better language and model, which then transfers to their writing. An interesting approach.

She also spoke about PLD...its no good having one-off sessions. The best PLD is when the team pulls apart the data to find the needs, they research what best practice is, experts can be brought in, and they must have followup...observation, evaluation and reflection. She didn't go deeper...but that has given me plenty to think about.

Overall the day was great, some interesting things to consider and be challenged by. I'm intrigued by the Year 6 leadership challenge, the trading cards and the optional PLD...but the PLD idea clashes with the good process advocated by the rural school. Lots to consider.

eLearning PLD. Addressing the Specific Needs of Learners

Our third session looking at learner need vs technology. We wanted to carry on with the theme that we are trying to change teacher mindsets away from 'I have this technology I want to use' to 'I have these learning needs, I wonder what technology can help enhance this learning'. It's easier said than done.

After discussing the reading (see blog post), we thought it was important to re-introduce the idea of the SAMR model. Its not new, but the message that we can be using the technology for more than just digital worksheets is an important one. We quickly took the staff through a learning activity (publishing writing) at each step of the SAMR model. Again, nothing earth-shattering, but it showed people that with a little thought a common learning activity can become much more collaborative, creative, and be more readily shared outside of the classroom. We used Explain Everything as the technology as it is something our staff are familiar with.

We had asked them to bring along some use of e-learning from their everyday practice. Not the fancy, awesome one-off thing that had been amazing...just something that they do often. In pairs we discussed these...the person had to share the learning need, and explain how the technology helped address that need. We then discussed against the SAMR model, where was the learning sitting. This was good, it made people think about what the actually did...and make some judgements around that.

We then shifted the conversation to be more future-focussed...how could we take the same learning, same use of the technology, and more it further up the SAMR Model. The example I had brought along was using Padlet for generating and brainstorming words, and ideas, in writing. We thought that as it was able to be accessed from anywhere, and that the kids had made sentence examples for each of the words that it was probably A on the model, augmentation. Better than paper, but not heaps.

The next steps for me are to try and use video/audio in the padlet to show how the words sounded, or to illustrate the words better. And to think about embedding the padlet in the boys blogs so a) they can access it readily, and b) their audience can see the types of words/ideas they should have been attempting to use.

Shared PLD with Hadlow School: Creativity in Core Learning

Term 3, Week 6. 3rd session for the year with Hadlow. This time Jane and I chose to focus on creativity. She has been reading some of Sir Ken Robinson's work, and we chose Creativity as one of our school's 4 Core Beliefs last year. We wanted to focus on the 'core learning areas', as we felt that it would otherwise be too easy to say the children have Art opportunities, music, singing, Options etc...but to me this is 'timetabled' creativity...you're only allowed to be creative at 1.30pm on Fridays.

Robinson's TED talks, and an article (see professional reading log) were the pre-reading,and gave staff something to discuss as we had afternoon tea. The videos worked well, enough content while being fairly entertaining. After the starter we ran a quick exercise...everyone was given a sheet of paper with a triangle on it. Half the staff had the instruction to 'complete the painting, you will earn points the closer you get to the correct answer', and half just had 'complete the painting'. The idea was meant to be that having a correct answer would limit thinking/creativity, whereas the more open/free task would encourage it. As an exercise it didn't quite work that way, but the message got across.

As with the last two sessions we split into discussion groups, and had a recording sheet to try and structure the discussion. Some good ideas discussed and debated, in particular...what do we mean by creativity. As always, not long enough for these discussions. Ended the session with a quick look at Creative Flow (see other blog post).

My takeaway from the session came as people were sharing what they do to promote/allow creativity...and all were describing either open/rich tasks, or setting conditions for the learning and then getting out of the way. Either way, it was releasing the responsibility back onto the learner and allowing them some freedom. After the sessions I've decided to have a 'blank' task that my literacy class have, they can choose what the task will be and how it will look.

Why Instructional Design Must Focus on Learning Outcomes

Our e-Learning focus for 2016 continues to be around Addressing the Specific Needs of Learners using technology. We have promoted this as a mindset change from "I have this technology, what is something cool I can do with it" to one of "I have this learning need, how the the technology help address this".

Click the image to go to the reading

Essentially, if we are to become effective at using technology, it has to be a purposeful change in the way we teach.

A reading we have used was a blog post on Ed Surge. The article is clear in its message...if technology is just used as a tool to engage our students, then the learning will not be successful. The learning activities need to be designed learning need first...technology second. The author has a great example of 2 possible txt conversations between home and student

It may be hard to see, but the left column...the conversation is all about the technology and how cool it was, the right column is all about the learning, and what the student gained from using the technology. By focussing on designing lessons to meet students needs, then think about possible uses of technology to enhance the learning...the 2nd teacher has created a wonderful learning focussed environment.

I've been guilty in the past of wanting to use particular tools just for the sake of it...Minecraft is often the example I use. I wanted to use it, so shoehorned it into lessons...focussing on using the game, rather than the learning needs of my students. It is much harder to reverse that process. 

The article ends with two great points..."Date the tech, but marry the ability" and "Student growth is the result of the practice, not the product". In other words...don't get hung up on the technology, concentrate more on what it can allow you do to with students, and don't think that the tech can be the saviour. We are the educators, we have to modify practice and focus on the learning needs of our learners if we want to see change.

To Encourage Creativity, You Must Understand What It Is - Sir Ken Robinson

As part of our Shared PLD with Hadlow School around creativity I asked teachers to read an article Sir Ken Robinson had written for the Guardian several years ago

Click the image to go to the reading

The article is his response to the Minister for Education in Britain, who had made some claims around creativity that Robinson disputes.

Robinson defines creativity as "a process of having original ideas that have value". The ideas don't have to be new to mankind, nor earth0shattering, but they have to be new to you/peer group, and have some kind of value. He argues that as it is a process it is both teachable, and assessable. It is about fresh thinking, and about being a critical thinker as well...is what I'm working on any good, have I created the message I wanted in my writing etc.

We need to allow curriculum space for the kids to be creative, not to focus entirely on skills, and to ensure our teachers have the freedom to try new things, that they aren't bound by the pressure of shifting students to 'At'. 

While his ideas about what creativity is are clear, he isn't giving out a programme for teachers to follow. There isn't a right path, a set way of teaching, certain units to follow...so as a profession we need to be questioning of each other, asking those critical friend questions...why did this happen, what was the impact? 

In my practice I am going to try giving the kids some independent learning space to focus on a creative project. I have a child that is keen to write a chapter book and has made a start. I need to provide his both the opportunity, and encouragement, to pursue this creative task.

Creative Flow - Or, why we must let our kids get bored

I've been curious about this for awhile now...several years ago I saw some photos appear, twitter perhaps, of Amesbury School students working with signs next to them saying "Please do not disturb, I'm in Flow".

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a day with Mark Treadwell, a post will be coming about that, and he spoke of this 'flow'. He was discussing creativity, and how our brains cannot do 2 conscious things at once...so to be creative, people need the cognitive space to be so...to get into that zone, the creative flow state. He challenged us to allow children to become 'bored', as it is only then that creativity and imagination are possible. Encourage day dreaming, and if children are 'in flow'...leave them to it, hence the Amesbury signs.

This challenges some of the ways I operate in the class, having a set of tasks for the children to work through when not with me...Must Do's, Can Do's. While great for allowing choice, and giving them the opportunity to timetable their learning day, it doesn't leave much space for boredom or day dreaming. Also, the calling of groups...come down for your reading group, now its time for your writing workshop...am I getting in the way of this flow state? Should I leave them to it?

Shots of Awe, Jason Silva, illustrates this concept will with this short video...he calls his videos 'philosophical expresso', an intense burst of cognitively challenging prompts, messages and visuals.

Something I might try is removing some of my tasks, and replace them with blank spaces...what learning do they want/need? And, if they are working on this things they can opt out of some of the learning workshops I may call them to. Give them the opportunity to get bored, to enter that state of flow, and to enjoy the rush of creativity when constraints of time/space have been removed from them (even if only briefly!).

Minecraft, Writing and Boys (or How the Ender Dragon can save us all)

Our school (like many other no doubt) has a issue with Boys and Writing. The new entrants who walk into our gates have less than a 50% chance of meeting standard by the time they leave us for Intermediate. This isn't good enough, we know it, and currently we are working at addressing this area of need.

One of my inquiries last year was looking at the effect of Minecraft as a context for writing. I knew nothing of the game, other than the boys would babble in a strange language at the mere mention of it...words like nether portal, obsidian, pickaxe, zombie, and endermen...it made no sense. Many educators, much more talented than I, have been down this path with great success...so it is no surprise that the boys a) enjoyed writing about minecraft, and b) they used language that they never would or could in the kinds of writing they were doing previously.

12 months later, and a brief but awesome foray into writing about the zombie apocalype (also very engaging and full of greta vocab), I am back working with a group of lads writing about Minecraft. It is different now. no longer do we play the game, or build things in a world...we are using the world as a place for something to happen, for a narrative to play out. Mr Cubey has made an excellent series of videos called 'Life of a...' farmer/hunter/spartan/wizard/pirate...they have one central character, and a struggle they are dealing with. The worlds the narrative is played within are absolutely amazing, even showing 10 seconds is enough to generate massive discussion within the group.

The 29 boys and I will watch a section of the video repeatedly...using Padlet to record ideas, vocab, phrases, and ways they could structure their work. They then go about crafting a paragraph or two based on what we have watched, using the rich discussions recorded on the Padlet. I call down groups to work with me, using their current writing as the vehicle to develop and show their current learning intention (eg, using the speech from the video,cam we write and punctuate it correctly to add some impact?).

We have just completed a piece based on Life of a Builder...here is an example (largely unsupported). It's not perfect, but has some great elements to be worked on.

The current piece we are working on is Minecraft The Beginning...the video is a narrative showing a player play the game, developing from a shipwrecked man with nothing, to creating an amazing world and battling many foes. It has a twist ending also...not the best, but a good talking point. The boys use this group padlet to record their ideas, and use this to plan their writing each day. The boys are producing some magic stuff, and the language is amazing. At one stage in another video a character became 'dizzy' when put under a spell. The film described it as dizzy, but one of my lads said 'he is feeling nauseous'...wow!

I've now got disengaged writers who are writing their own narrative-type 'chapter-books' in their spare time...Wasteland of the Dead is a favourite...spelling? Punctuation? Grammar? Not so much, but enthusiasm and engagement? Yep, in spades!

Letting Boys write in a context they love helps, letting them work collaboratively helps, rich discussion about language helps, mixed-ability helps, and the fact the Minecraft has a rich language to it means yes, the Ender Dragon really can help save our boys writing.

What is Collaboration at school?

What is Collaboration at school? 

One of the school goals for this year is to define what we mean by collaboration, and what it looks like for us.

During our staff retreat in January we tackled Greg Carroll's post, Collaboration - More than parallel play and discussed what we thought of his definition, and how our practice fit into it. The response was what I wanted, a critical look at what we do...and how easy it is to throw the term around. The general consensus was that we co-operated more than we collaborated.

We also looked at Waitakiri Schools 7 Co-Teaching strategies, which are based on the work of Villa, Thousand and Nevin (this blog describes them well). They gave us a starting point for considering how we might operate this year. In 2015 there were pockets of 'collaboration' in the school, so staff needed some ideas.

In June the Leaders reviewed progress towards the Annual Plan goals and it was noted that we still haven't developed the idea of collaboration very much, and confusion still reigned. Collaboration still meant whatever people wanted it to mean, and a shared understanding hadn't been furthered. As the school works in 4 distinct teams, operating in different ways...some with open spaces, some without, some sharing children, some not, some meeting often, some less so...planning a staff PLD to meet these needs was going to be challenging. I decided to take the approach that Collaboration is more than just sharing...more than sharing a space, more than sharing ideas, more than sharing resources, and more than just sharing the students out.

Hattie's recent work 'The Politics of Collaborative Expertise' became the basis of the session. I wanted to look at teachers working together, to improve practice...and to become effective evaluators of the learning that happens in the shared spaces. He argues that unless teachers work together to agree on the learning needs of their children, what progress will like for them, how will they know they have been successful as practitioners, that teachers fall into the trap of doing what they know and shifting the 'blame' for lack of progress to other issues (class size, student background, behaviour etc).

In this way I was able to make the session applicable to all teams, as the actions of shared spaces/ideas/students became strategies of collaborative practice, and collaboration then is teachers working together to improve practice, and outcomes for learners. We looked more in depth at 2 of Hattie's 'tasks', those related to evaluation of teacher practice and learning. He gives broad detail, so talking about what that would look like for teachers day-to-day was interesting.

We used George Couros ideas around what todays classes could look like, and applied it to a collaborative pair...replacing student with teacher in the descriptions (image below).

The discussion was great, but more will be needed. 

So, we still don't have an answer to 'what is collaboration', but have taken a few more steps towards that.