LWICT at GSC

Today I presented an afterschool session on using the IWB and some specialised maths programs to engage maths students.

First we looked at how the IWB works briefly.

Then we looked at using GridPic with images.  GridPic has several equations built into it.  A picture of a shade cloth was chosen and the group worked together to solve the exponential equation to fit a line to the curve of the shade cloth.  A second quadratic equation was solved to fit another curve of the shade cloth.  Olaf pointed out that students could then calculate the area of the shade cloth based on these curves.

We then looked at how Geogebra can be used with images.  It also can be used to graph lines, curves, polygons, angles  It is dynamic so values can be changed.

The teachers collaborated to solve the problems much as students would.  We discussed impacts of classes and uses of the IWB room.

Follow-up Required:

• Help teachers install IWB software and Maths software on their computers
• Plan use for classes

Alana is doing an awesome job with the careers classes.  She has arranged some team teaching with Claire and Cherie.  They are now fired up to use the IWB.

Follow-up Required:
Meet with Cherie re:  Year 11 English Exam prep Week 4 Thurs Block 3/4
Meet with Claire re:  creating a Year 10 program for the last two weeks of school

Mike and I worked on creating his blog for Craft.  Mike is going to create a post that identifies the marking criteria for each of the Arts Outcomes.

I am pursuing a QTP Grant for professional learning in ICT for Geraldton.  My initial thoughts include

• A mini-conference in Geraldton
• Action learning based on conference exposure led by LWICT coordinators in schools
• An ICT expo showcasing student work in Geraldton

Interested Schools include:

• JWC – Carla
• Rangeway – Michelle
• WPS – Michael
• GPS – Richard
• Mt Tarcoola – Judy

ECAWA has also said that they will partner with us in QTP application.  I am not sure what form that might take.  District Office has said they will support me as well.

Jan from Central has also volunteered to help out.Possible Presenters:
Finn Craig – They are happy to come and present if they have time available.
Brad Hicks – Intersested – possibly blogging or other Web 2.0
Byron (Apple) – Interested – need dates to confirm.
Ritemath – http://extranet.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/DSME/RITEMATHS/general_access/project_home/Team.shtml

I have set up another set of blogs for the second highest English class taught by Marie.  I have also set up a bloglines account for Marie to easily check student work and comment on it.  Tomorrow I will meet with Marie to discuss how and when we will use the blogs.  They seem to be a very good tool for the English area.

Alana has used the IWB to show her Careers Video about motivational individuals – such as Layne Beachley shown here. They then used the IWB to note interesting facts from the video. Students were able to write directly on the IWB using the IWB software. Alana used a flip chart that I created as a basis for the students to do their brainstorming. She added a few flip chart pages of her own.  Click on the image to see  if you would like to see a  larger image.

I set up blog accounts for Jeff’s Year 10 English class. We booked the class into a lab last Friday whenthey logged in to their blogs.   Initially we reviewed the blogging rules and then they started recording their movie reviews in the blogs.

Unfortunately, there were problems with some of the student accounts. It was the learner blog accounts again. I will steer clear of them in the future. I was able to create accounts quickly while those students used MS Word to start their reviews. They then cut and pasted them into their blogs.

The larger problem was when I discovered that wordpress.com was blocked.  Some students were unable to login half-way through the class.  Fortunately there was a work around we could use as I couldn’t contact Kevin to update the Dan’s Guardian filters.  (They have since been updated)

Jeff was very happy with the amount of work produced in the class. This week we had a quick review on using Bloglines and how to add comments so he is off and running. The class is booked in again this week.  Their motivation and engagement was evident when they asked Jeff when they could return to do more work.

I have set up Jeff’s class blogs and a bloglines account for him.  We did a little lesson on how he can put resources on the English Blog sites.  Tomorrow we will try to get the Year 10 students on their blog sites and writing about Of Mice and Men.

Look at the following web sites and answer the questions about them.

Go for 2 Fruit and 5 Veg

• Who is the character in this short movie?
• What message is the movie trying to get across to people?
• Who do you think the target market is? (Age, Gender, Lifestyle)
• Why do you think the movie is effective or ineffective?

Life. Be in it

• Who is the character in this short movie?
• What message is the movie trying to get across to people?
• Who do you think the target market is? (Age, Gender, Lifestyle)
• Why do you think the movie is effective or ineffective?

Constable Care

• Who is Constable Care a mascot for?
• What message is he trying to get across to people?
• Who do you think the target market is? (Age, Gender, Lifestyle)
• Do you think he is effective?

One More Character

• Who is this character?
• When do you see him?
• What is his usual message?
• Why do you think the character is effective or ineffective?

Can you think of any other characters used to get across a message or sell a product on TV or Radio? Name (or describe them)

Installed IWB software on Alana’s computer.  (Problem connecting IWB to computer – Kevin discovered that IWB must be switched off before connecting to USB, connect USB and then power on the IWB)

Alana saw heaps of potential and is going to have a play with the software over the holidays.  I will continue to try to get the locks put on the library room to be able to use the IWB at some future date.

Richard seemed really interested in IWB.  Maybe there is some application for STEP.  Maybe Allen can investigate for the future.