A Global Voice

One of the most powerful attributes of the Learn - Create - Share pedagogical philosophy is the opportunity to have your voice, your opinions, and your understands heard. Not just within the four walls of the classroom but on a global scale. Creating posters, presenting facts, making booklets are all well and good. However, they only scratch the surface and their effects on long term understanding of the target concept/s, ideas are negligible at best. I told my class at the beginning of the year that these forms of reinforcement "are history". This year our goal was to 'immortalise' our learning by creating learning objects that will not only help the individual/collaborative group creating them reinforce their learning, but assist others with with similar needs globally. Was this outcome achieved every time? No, but we've made a start, taken some risks and learnt a lot along the way. 

Next year, our class will be working towards ensuring Learn - Create - Share is a seamless cycle of learning. Our goal is for students to be sharing their learning via their blogs on a more regular, cyclonic basis. Parent's emails will be entered into individual Blogger accounts so and they will be sent a notification email every time their child posts new learning objects. My goal is to run weekly tutorial sessions with our parent community to show them how to engage with their child's learning digitally. This will include sessions on how to respond constructively with strategic comments via student blogs. Yes, many parents do this instinctively on a daily basis by being convivial with their child. However, Blogging provides realtime interaction like never before. Imagine how cool it would be to receive notification of a post via work and being able to actively engage with your child in real time?

Enough from me. I think these recent reflections from students sum it up quite eloquently: 

Blogging this year has brought my learning to the next level. It gives me an opportunity to share my strengths and weaknesses with everyone, and get helpful feedback. It’s your very own personal learning zone, and a place where you can post all about your week, and what you learnt.

But how does it actually help your learning? Classmates, teachers, and principals can comment on your posts, and give you feedback. Also, you can comment on other people’s blogs, and give them feedback. It creates a ‘buddy help buddy’ learning environment, which I personally think is wonderful.

It’s the 21st century. Let’s embrace it.

Jacob.

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Blogging has really enhanced our learning. It’s been great for reflecting on our learning so we don’t forget what we have learnt about. Blogging is a great way to share what we have learnt and also reflect on how the week went. Before we had our chromebooks, the only places you could find my presentations was on the wall. We can not only just share our learning with our classmates but we can share it with the world.

Blogging has really changed my perspective to learning, It’s a great way to learn and reflect on our learning!

Caleb.
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Blogger has been really helpful with my learning, as it has given me a place to share my ideas, presentations, and stories across the world. It takes away the restriction of the classroom and immortalises my work. It gives instant feedback and also gives an idea of how to run a website.

Sean.
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Blogging this year has been really helpful for my learning, it has giving me the great opportunity to express my feelings, thoughts and reflections throughout writing. Blogging has been a great way to share what I have learnt and reflect from the heart (learn, create, share).

Blogging has really made me think about my feelings and thoughts a lot more. Blogging has made me be a better writer and has taught me to write from the heart.

Kate.

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Starting blogging this year has been really different for me this year because I would never have thought a class would blog weekly. I have found blogging quite fun but at the same time it has to be school based topics. Blogging has made writing a lot more free with my emotions ( Some classes never blog so this was a great genre of writing to work with ) Blogging was such a good genre to work with because students and teachers can see our Committee blogs and look at the latest blog posts/info. It has been great to post WPCA reflections on there for everybody to look how epic the trip was and also comment on. It was awesome to manage your own account without having the same layout ideas because there was so many tools to make your account your own.

I would never think about using blogger at a school at all so this was an awesome experience.

Ellie.

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Blogging for the year has helped to develop a reflective writing ability which I will carry through life.

This year our class has been focusing on ‘Learn, Create, Share’ and blogging has given us a great place to share our learning and what we have achieved in our Committees, and with Sports and activities that we have done with the school.

Being able to share our exciting experiences that we have had on our WPCA challenges has been great. Putting our thoughts, fears and expressions on the page and sharing it with a wide range of people.

Having the chance to run my own website on Blogger has opened a new window to improve my skills with the new and upcoming technology.

Claudia.

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Blogging this year has made me think about my learning differently, and it has brought me into confrontation about what the Toki Pounamu project is going to become. I like the fact that you can tell the world what you’re learning, as the world is changing into a very electronic society.When you are old and grey, you can go onto your blog and see all your bright and colourful primary years you once had. It is a different style of writing and I love how you can pour your heart onto the page, it’s also a great way to reflect on our daily lives.You can record your thoughts,feelings,events and memories onto the electronic diary keeping all your memories in one place, especially as all my friends are all splitting up and moving away.

Catarina.

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Blogging this year has taught me a lot, I have loved being able to blog every Friday.  I have learnt vital skills e.g how to post and how to write a great reflection on my week even as simple as giving feedback and commenting . I loved seeing other people's reflections to see what they have been doing  in their learning. One advantage is when we have mastered a concept we post it on our blog so if I need to know how to do a particular concept I can just look on someone's blog and look at their post on that particular concept . It’s great to know that when I am at of Paroa School I can see what I was up to, In my words it’s a  “digital memory box".

Emma.