It was our Inquiry learning time! I had just finished showing the beautiful kids in my class our class blog on a projector. I was giving them instructions of how to leave comments on their friend’s posts if they wish t do so. We went over the rules of how to be cyber-smart and the fact that giving positive comments encourages good learning and happiness to other students. We had twenty minutes left before the end of the day. I let the class choose an activity of their own choice so that I can record stories for our class movies.
Guess what happened next within a second! I could hear little Tatiana shouting from behind…” Miss She! You have been snapped! “. She has taken a photo of me recording Amelia reading to me! My immediate reaction was: “ Show me! “. I looked at the photo and saw that it was a very beautiful shot! I told her it was an amazing photo and told her that she was a very clever photographer.
The moral of the story is “ I have given the student guidance but Tatiana has gone out of her own way to create her own show! And the fact that I was out of her sight indicates she was creating a new task of her own. I never told her to take my photo.” In this case, Tatiana was able to use the knowledge that she has gained to create something of her own. I call that “ intelligent learning or even porous learning! “.
As a teacher, I have also learned that: “ You never know who is snapping or watching ?. “ This made me recalled of a Year 1 kid-- back in the year 2003 had recorded my whole Maths lesson. Prior to that , I had taught that boy how to record voices over his kid pix picture. And the funny thing is that he played back the recording to me. I was actually quite shocked...LOL...lucky for me...the lesson was beautifully done!
Once again, thank you for coming by, my courteous readers!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
You Got Snapped!
Yes! I got snapped! And this is how it happened
It was our Inquiry learning time! I had just finished showing the beautiful kids in my class our class blog on a projector. I was giving them instructions of how to leave comments on their friend’s posts if they wish t do so. We went over the rules of how to be cyber-smart and the fact that giving positive comments encourages good learning and happiness to other students. We had twenty minutes left before the end of the day. I let the class choose an activity of their own choice so that I can record stories for our class movies.
Guess what happened next within a second! I could hear little Tatiana shouting from behind…” Miss She! You have been snapped! “. She has taken a photo of me recording Amelia reading to me! My immediate reaction was: “ Show me! “. I looked at the photo and saw that it was a very beautiful shot! I told her it was an amazing photo and told her that she was a very clever photographer.
The moral of the story is “ I have given the student guidance but Tatiana has gone out of her own way to create her own show! And the fact that I was out of her sight indicates she was creating a new task of her own. I never told her to take my photo.” In this case, Tatiana was able to use the knowledge that she has gained to create something of her own. I call that “ intelligent learning or even porous learning! “.
As a teacher, I have also learned that: “ You never know who is snapping or watching ?. “ This made me recalled of a Year 1 kid-- back in the year 2003 had recorded my whole Maths lesson. Prior to that , I had taught that boy how to record voices over his kid pix picture. And the funny thing is that he played back the recording to me. I was actually quite shocked...LOL...lucky for me...the lesson was beautifully done!
Once again, thank you for coming by, my courteous readers!
It was our Inquiry learning time! I had just finished showing the beautiful kids in my class our class blog on a projector. I was giving them instructions of how to leave comments on their friend’s posts if they wish t do so. We went over the rules of how to be cyber-smart and the fact that giving positive comments encourages good learning and happiness to other students. We had twenty minutes left before the end of the day. I let the class choose an activity of their own choice so that I can record stories for our class movies.
Guess what happened next within a second! I could hear little Tatiana shouting from behind…” Miss She! You have been snapped! “. She has taken a photo of me recording Amelia reading to me! My immediate reaction was: “ Show me! “. I looked at the photo and saw that it was a very beautiful shot! I told her it was an amazing photo and told her that she was a very clever photographer.
The moral of the story is “ I have given the student guidance but Tatiana has gone out of her own way to create her own show! And the fact that I was out of her sight indicates she was creating a new task of her own. I never told her to take my photo.” In this case, Tatiana was able to use the knowledge that she has gained to create something of her own. I call that “ intelligent learning or even porous learning! “.
As a teacher, I have also learned that: “ You never know who is snapping or watching ?. “ This made me recalled of a Year 1 kid-- back in the year 2003 had recorded my whole Maths lesson. Prior to that , I had taught that boy how to record voices over his kid pix picture. And the funny thing is that he played back the recording to me. I was actually quite shocked...LOL...lucky for me...the lesson was beautifully done!
Once again, thank you for coming by, my courteous readers!
Monday, June 25, 2012
IPads in My Classroom!
Recently my class have started to use ipad as a learning tool. Here are some of my thoughts on it!
Yay! One more activity to be added to my reading task-board--ipads! That was my initial reaction when I was told that my class was one of the few classes chosen to experiment with the use of ipads. Delighted as I was, I know that not only it can provide an extra activity that can keep the students busy but one that has activities that are meaningful for the students. I was thinking of the easy use of the applications that were sitting on the ipad and all the kids need to do is to tap the one that they are assigned to engage on and away they go. Life is so easy and simple because of this….even a three years old can do this easily.
I have downloaded apps that are entirely literacy oriented, maths oriented plus a few games to reward the students who have been doing all the right things. At literacy time--when I take my micro groups, the children are able to listen to stories using the READ ME app, or play the words bingo game and even learn to form the letters correctly using the writing app. And when it comes to maths time, they can learn to add and subtract in a fun and interactive way. They even have the opportunity to learn to read and say the time on the clock. All these activities are parts of the rotation activities that are listed on the Reading and Maths task boards. The Children know what activity to go to by looking at the task boards which are posted on my classroom wall.
As a smart teacher, I have also used it as a behaviour management tool in the classroom. This may sound a bit odd for a modern teacher but it comes in very handy when dealing with difficult students who are challenging in normal circumstances. I almost burst out laughing one morning when this child said to me: “ Miss, I have been really good today, can I go on the ipad twice ? “.
This is of course only the beginning of a long journey and we are just experimenting and I am very aware there are a lot more we can do with this awesome tool called ipad. So my courteous readers, thank you for taking time to read this and may be you can help us develop a better system.
Yay! One more activity to be added to my reading task-board--ipads! That was my initial reaction when I was told that my class was one of the few classes chosen to experiment with the use of ipads. Delighted as I was, I know that not only it can provide an extra activity that can keep the students busy but one that has activities that are meaningful for the students. I was thinking of the easy use of the applications that were sitting on the ipad and all the kids need to do is to tap the one that they are assigned to engage on and away they go. Life is so easy and simple because of this….even a three years old can do this easily.
I have downloaded apps that are entirely literacy oriented, maths oriented plus a few games to reward the students who have been doing all the right things. At literacy time--when I take my micro groups, the children are able to listen to stories using the READ ME app, or play the words bingo game and even learn to form the letters correctly using the writing app. And when it comes to maths time, they can learn to add and subtract in a fun and interactive way. They even have the opportunity to learn to read and say the time on the clock. All these activities are parts of the rotation activities that are listed on the Reading and Maths task boards. The Children know what activity to go to by looking at the task boards which are posted on my classroom wall.
As a smart teacher, I have also used it as a behaviour management tool in the classroom. This may sound a bit odd for a modern teacher but it comes in very handy when dealing with difficult students who are challenging in normal circumstances. I almost burst out laughing one morning when this child said to me: “ Miss, I have been really good today, can I go on the ipad twice ? “.
This is of course only the beginning of a long journey and we are just experimenting and I am very aware there are a lot more we can do with this awesome tool called ipad. So my courteous readers, thank you for taking time to read this and may be you can help us develop a better system.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Having a Go at Photography!
I was reading a blog post written by a Facebook friend and was really inspired by his work on photography. He is a young man who is always full of energy and original ideas. He does not have the best camera but he makes use of what is available to him. He once told me as a student, he can’t expect his father to buy him the most expensive camera.
This young man just clicks away with his phone camera and his photos are still amazing to me. The moral of the story is “ The happiest people don’t have everything, they just make the best of everything.”. Wow! This is so true! So I said to myself– if this young man can do it, I can do it too. Yesterday when I was out for a walk, I decided that I would start taking photos with my iphone. I took random flower shots and here are some of the shots.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Would Google Plus be useful in the Classroom ?
For the past month, many of us have heard people around the world, raving about Google Plus--unless of course if you live below sea level or under the rock. I have to admit that I joined Google Plus fairly early because I have friends who are very active in social networking. And ever since, my ride with Google Plus has been very pleasant. I love it totally. So far it has been just a social networking site where I interact with friends globally.
My views changed dramatically last Monday night when I over heard a family member having a "hang out" with her peers. This family member is in her final year of completing her degree in Optometry at Auckland University. There she was hanging out with her optometry classmates discussing about their assignments. They were eight of them in the "hang out" and I could hear them talking and discussing about their topics and I could also hear them laughing at times assuming that one had given the wrong answer. It reminded me of the tutorials that I used to attend when I was at university. To me, this is just awesome, now people do not have to meet in a room in any particular time to hold any meeting. The seemingly important "tutorials" can be held after hours outside the institutions. Imagine how much bus fare or petrol money these students can save over a long period of time. Needless to say there will no excuses like the bus never came or I have no money for the bus fare.
I came across an article while on Google Plus about the possible ways of using Google Plus in the classroom. This article gave many useful tips about the ways that educators can use Google Plus. I personally think that "Circles" and "hang out" would be of great value especially for the classroom. The "circles" can be used to group the students and the "hang out"can used as a teaching and learning tool. And of course, this is just the beginning of many good ideas to come!
My views changed dramatically last Monday night when I over heard a family member having a "hang out" with her peers. This family member is in her final year of completing her degree in Optometry at Auckland University. There she was hanging out with her optometry classmates discussing about their assignments. They were eight of them in the "hang out" and I could hear them talking and discussing about their topics and I could also hear them laughing at times assuming that one had given the wrong answer. It reminded me of the tutorials that I used to attend when I was at university. To me, this is just awesome, now people do not have to meet in a room in any particular time to hold any meeting. The seemingly important "tutorials" can be held after hours outside the institutions. Imagine how much bus fare or petrol money these students can save over a long period of time. Needless to say there will no excuses like the bus never came or I have no money for the bus fare.
I came across an article while on Google Plus about the possible ways of using Google Plus in the classroom. This article gave many useful tips about the ways that educators can use Google Plus. I personally think that "Circles" and "hang out" would be of great value especially for the classroom. The "circles" can be used to group the students and the "hang out"can used as a teaching and learning tool. And of course, this is just the beginning of many good ideas to come!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
My First Experience with Google Plus!
I have been wanting to write this post for a few days but got distracted by my busy life schedule as a teacher. Today seems a perfect day to do it.
I first heard about Google Plus from a Facebook friend by the name of Nicola D. who lives in Italy. He has a post on his wall about how Google was aiming at setting up a social net work site that is very similar to Facebook. I was totally intrigued by what he said and after that I did a bit of reading on the net about the whole thing and I left it at the point. The next day when I got up from bed, I found out that Google Plus was there for real and Nicola was sending out invites. I was too late as his invites were all gone! I felt a little disappointed because I want to be part of it. Two days later, I tried signing up on G+ without any invite and wah la--BINGO! I got in! What followed that was unbelievable! I played with it and circled all the friends that I know very well and of course, Nicola was one of them. It didn't look very user friendly at first but then I got the hang of it and after that, it was a journey of no return from here. I have to say Google Plus totally rocks! Awesome! Awesome!
The privacy feature of Google Plus is most impressive! Now I can add my family members without offending anyone. I can post stuff that I want to whatever circle that I prefer. I have a school circle which consists of only educators and a close friend circle that I can share all things about my life and they won't mind. And more, I have a crazy circle that consists of people whom I think are geeks and nerds that I can learn stuff from.
Inorder to pay forward, I have also send out invites to my good friends who want them and this make feel good because this is what social networking is about! Thank you for coming by, my courteous readers! If anyone need any invites, please leave a comment or follow me on G+.
The photo below shows the cup of coffee that I had on Friday at a cafe in Auckland. I requested Melissa who made the coffee to put the Google plus sign on it--just for fun. Melissa was thrilled to do it. She said in her 5 years of working there, nobody had ever made any personal requests before me.
I first heard about Google Plus from a Facebook friend by the name of Nicola D. who lives in Italy. He has a post on his wall about how Google was aiming at setting up a social net work site that is very similar to Facebook. I was totally intrigued by what he said and after that I did a bit of reading on the net about the whole thing and I left it at the point. The next day when I got up from bed, I found out that Google Plus was there for real and Nicola was sending out invites. I was too late as his invites were all gone! I felt a little disappointed because I want to be part of it. Two days later, I tried signing up on G+ without any invite and wah la--BINGO! I got in! What followed that was unbelievable! I played with it and circled all the friends that I know very well and of course, Nicola was one of them. It didn't look very user friendly at first but then I got the hang of it and after that, it was a journey of no return from here. I have to say Google Plus totally rocks! Awesome! Awesome!
The privacy feature of Google Plus is most impressive! Now I can add my family members without offending anyone. I can post stuff that I want to whatever circle that I prefer. I have a school circle which consists of only educators and a close friend circle that I can share all things about my life and they won't mind. And more, I have a crazy circle that consists of people whom I think are geeks and nerds that I can learn stuff from.
Inorder to pay forward, I have also send out invites to my good friends who want them and this make feel good because this is what social networking is about! Thank you for coming by, my courteous readers! If anyone need any invites, please leave a comment or follow me on G+.
The photo below shows the cup of coffee that I had on Friday at a cafe in Auckland. I requested Melissa who made the coffee to put the Google plus sign on it--just for fun. Melissa was thrilled to do it. She said in her 5 years of working there, nobody had ever made any personal requests before me.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Night When I was admitted to the Hospital.
It was on Monday night on the 2nd May 2011. I was feeling unwell after dinner and while brushing my teeth using my electric tooth brush, I vomited all the food I ate. I said to myself; Gosh! I had inserted my tooth brush too deep into my mouth.--at least that was what I thought was happening. I went to bed after the clean up. At 1 am, I had to rush to toilet and I visted the toliet at least 6 times within an hour. I thought I was suffering from food posioning. The turning point was at 2 am when I vomited a whole lot of blood and this was followed by instant passing of blood as well. I felt very sick and collasped into the couch! I was rushed to the Emergency department of the hospital immediately. Upon arrival, my blood prressure was taken and was given IV straight away. They also put needle on the other hand incase my bleeding wouldn't stop, they could give me blood transfusion. I was very weak but I was fully awake and knew that I was suffering from a bleeding stomach ulcer. They were pumping medicine into my system to stop the bleeding. I was then admitted into Ward 68 and was told that I had to stay there till the bleeding stopped. They also told me that at some point that night, they would give me an endoscopy. Meanwhile I was very tired but I couldn't and dare not sleep. I was afraid that If I slept, I would never wake up.
It was 5.30 am when the nurse came to check on me and I heard the patient sleeping across from me.--calling " Nurse, I lost my wedding ring, can you find it for me ? " The nurse replied ( while taking my blood pressure;) " Forget about your wedding ring and go to sleep! " Gosh! I said to myself; That wan't very nice of the nurse to say things like that. Anyway, I didn't say anything as the nurse was super nice to me and it was a funny time to look for a wedding ring. The next morning, that patient had a visitor and I overheard her asking her to keep her wedding ring for her. So at last, she never lost the ring. She also tod her grandaughter that the DARK nurse was rude to her! Gosh! How racist can one get? She was referring to the Indian nurse that was on duty and the one who had asked her to forget her wedding ring. I found out she was 93 years old. I wonder if she would have said that the YELLOW one was palying angry birds --if she had known what i was doing with my iphone! LOL!
And of course, throughout the night, all sorts of tremor were happening but none as amusing as the LOST WEDDING RING!
I am grateful that I am now well and in good shape and I owe that to GOD who has answered the prayers! Thank you all--for reading and listening and for being here! I am totally touched!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
My Dream Has Come True! I Have got my ipad2!
I have finally bought my ipad2. My dream has come true! The satisfaction is immense! Now I am searching for apps to use. I have bought imovie11 for $6.99 and have obtained garageband as well. I love the two cameras and the photobooth is awesome! The fact that I can tweet and facebook is extra bonuses!
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