Great Graph!

Every 5 weeks we graph our learners reading levels to see their progression and what next steps we need to address. This year I have been amazed at how all the children have shown acceleration in reading, with majority of the class reading within the wedge, and only two just out... but still accelerating!

GEG NZ Hangout

Great night sharing with the Google+ education community. So much to tell about our great year. I hope enough was captured to help support those taking on a new adventure in a 1 to 1 environment!

Let's keep rewinding!

How can I move some writers who just can't seem to maintain their focus? They know lots of HFW, can find words around the room and can HR some sounds? In our micro groups today I had them record their stories as a sound bite on Explain Everything. They played it back and wrote the first word. After looking up at me and hearing me say "play your story back" they would play it back, write the next word and then re-read their story. This cycle went on and on until their stories were finished. Another wonderful thing about the rewindable nature of Explain Everything. Check out the before and after story of one of my students.

Term 3 and all is well!

Looking back over the two terms the progress made by both student and teacher has been phenomenal. Class 20 has gone from using the iPad to simply take a photo to now using it in all learning areas within the curriculum. The final area being 'Inquiry' where our wonderful Mrs Belt has designed a site the students access via a QR code. The site has been built to introduce the children to the countries involved in the Commonwealth Games and to the sports they are being represented in. Not only is the site wonderfully interactive it can also be continually updated depending on the sports and accomplishments of the day.

Peer Tutoring at 5!

From our recent testing we needed a focus on backward sequencing from both 10 and 20. We divided the class in two and worked on both manipulatives and EE. As an 'after activity' Karen chose a peer tutor to help support his friend in need. What developed was a magical moment in time.

Peer Teaching maths from Team 1 PES on Vimeo.

Scanning to locate

Throughout the year, the children have been given the responsibility to find their reading activity in 'Explain Everything' (EE). It's an easy search, usually on the first or second page of their EE. They've gone from having to notice what's in their reading book and searching for the appropriate illustration on their EE to having to now having to notice print. Life gets tough as you get higher up the reading levels!! It was interesting today watching the scanning that went on from reader to iPad screen in order to locate their reading activity!

Waffles and Integrated Learning

This past week we incorporated Explain Everything in to our 'Integrated Learning' which, this term is Science- looking at the Physical World using everyday technology to"Work Smarter, Not Harder." Class 20 looked at equipment used in the kitchen that has been designed to make our lives easier.  To support our understanding we made waffles in the classroom!  The first step was to describe and discuss the equipment to be used use. Language was developed, recycled and ideas shared. Labels were made and placed on the white board for further development. The learners then had to take photographs in Explain Everything adding in a new page for each new piece of equipment.  The labels were then placed on the equipment and the learners toured around class using their stylus to correctly label each photo.

During middle block we made some waffles using all the equipment and the special ingredients. We followed the recipe making sure that at each step we discussed the ingredients used. They were broken down into 'wet' and 'dry.'   Once again labels were made placed on each ingredient. The learners took turns using the measuring equipment and adding ingredients to the mixing bowls.  It was decided that an electric beater made it easier to mix the batter than a whisk.  As Arkar said "it was really hard to mix using the whisk."   Great outcome!


After all the excitement of eating waffles the students took photos of the ingredients and again wrote the words underneath each photo.  They then used Explain Everything to create a picture of themselves making the waffles and talked about their pictures.   The resulting creation was a their very own booklet with vocabulary and illustrations immediately available for them to use in their story writing.