Thursday 24 April 2014

The Amazingness of Year 0

15 5yr olds + 2 teachers + 1:1 iPads + 1 App = Amazing learning (for all)

As a part of my MIT Inquiry for this year, I spent a day hanging with the amazingness that are Michelle George and Karen Belt.

Their 5yr olds had spent only 6 weeks at school by the time I got to visit them. 6 weeks to learn routines, habits and skills to set them up for a life time of learning.

Karen and Michelle have these kids so engaged with learning how to be a learner - and at the same time teaching those valuable skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.

These first two movies are examples of "writing time". In this Year 0 class the students co-construct their writing through song. The rhythm and beat make the language and structure much simpler to recall.



Students then record each other "singing" their story back again, These recordings are shared via the class Apple TV - The 5yr olds have no problem waiting for their turn and then Air Playing their device independently.  The kids even figured out early on, that they needed to film each other using the other person's iPad - keeping that record of rewindable learning on each student's own device.


Reading is still conducted in a guided sense with the teacher and small groups of 3.
The iPad comes in as the teachers utilise Explain Everything for the students to complete "Follow-Up" activities, These may involve arranging sentences, drawing a picture or practicing words. The power is that each student records their learning while they undertake the activity.
No longer is the teacher left out of the independent learning. A quick rewind and you are there with the student as they complete the task. You can truly hear them think.



Major things are happening for our smallest students and as their teachers we need to ensure that this learning develops as they move through the school.
I can see great connections with my learners and the way thinking, self management and contributing are central to their day to day tasks.
Such an honour to share a day with these ladies and children as they explore such engaging ways to encourage great learning in their classroom.


2 comments:

  1. Ditto to that Ms King - so much amazingness!! Our little ones are so lucky!! Karen and Michelle are doing an amazing job almost makes me want to go back and teach our babies...

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  2. Hi, I would love to read when you write a new post. Would you please be able to add the 'follow by email' gadget to your blog so that I can be notified when you post something new? Thanks. I love what you're doing with eLearning and would love to learn from your journey. I am the eLearning leader at Cockle Bay School and this is my first year in the role. Our school is embracing GAFE and it's such an exciting time! I'd love to come by to visit your classroom sometime too, if it suits you. Thanks :D

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