Category Archives: Other

2012: A Year of Exploring Possibilities

“Bather’s Beach” – By Michael Graffin (2012)

My blog is very much a reflection of my teaching journey over the past few years …

2010 was very much a year of experimentation, of learning, and finding my feet – as a relief teacher & a connected on-line educator.

2011 was a “Year of Change“, but with the benefit of hindsight, the lessons & outcomes of that painful, tumultuous year have more than compensated for the agony I went through.

So, what were my experiences of 2012?

 

2012 was “A Year of Exploring Possibilities” 

Mr Davo Devil checking out the #globalclassroom scrapbook

This has been an interesting year. I’ve had my ups and downs, but overall it was a positive, meaningful year.

Some significant moments include:

This was a year where my skills and expertise were recognised and appreciated locally, as well as internationally. Working with Jenny on the TIPS2012 project was a rich learning experience, and my involvement with iEARN Australia has thrown up some wonderful opportunities for 2013.

A huge thank you also goes to Nigel Mitchell (my ACEC 2012 co-presenter), Kathryn Edwards of Peach Media, Kesha Busing of RIC Publications, and Mal Lee. You’ve helped shape an amazing year, and I hope we have the opportunity to work with each other in the years to come.

 

My favourite posts of 2012

This year, I haven’t blogged as often as I’d have liked; however, there are a few posts of which I’m particularly proud.

Thank You Mr P.

Perhaps my most heart-felt, emotional post of the year, which came as a bit of a shock for Mr P. 

Life, Language, Laughter, Skype

The Hello Little World Skypers and Global Classroom Skype groups have had a profound impact on my personal and professional life. I treasure the relationships and friendships I’ve formed through these groups, and hope to start meeting some of the members f2f over the years to come.  

Teacherpreneurs – Connect, Create & Collaborate

Part of my series of posts from the Flat Classroom Book Club earlier this year, this post was an ‘ah-ha’ moment. My engagement in the book club marked the start of an emerging, and extremely important relationship with Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay of The Flat Classroom Project.

 

Publications / Articles / Podcasts

2012 has been a busy year, marking the first time I’ve had my name in print.

Contributions 

Collaboration in learning: transcending the classroom walls by Mal Lee and Lorraine Ward

I was lucky enough to contribute to the research underpinning this book, and I look forward to its’ release in early 2013. For some detail on the research, and the findings, please have a read of Mal and Lorraine’s research paper.

The Global Classroom Project –  Classroom 2.0 Book Submission

Things have gone quiet about this project; however, the more reads we receive, the more likely we are to be published in the print edition of the Classroom 2.0 Book. Your assistance has been greatly appreciated!

Articles

Teacher Feature 

Education Matters – Primary & Secondary Magazine 2012/13

Education Matters Magazine      Teacher Feature (2012) (PDF)


 

Learning, sharing and collaborating globally in the early years: Stories from the Global Classroom Project

Class Ideas K-3 Magazine (Early 2013 Release)

With contributions from #globalclassroom teachers in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, United Kingdom, and Lebanon, this was the first magazine article I’ve ever written, and I can’t wait to see it in print next year. I’ll post a link to the online version when it becomes available.

 

Podcasts

A World of Difference -The Virtual Staffroom Podcast

This interview with Chris Betcher, Theresa Allen, and Lisa Parisi was a huge confidence booster, and a great way to start the year. I forgot to link to it from my blog at the time; however, I’d highly recommend having a listen. You can find it via the link above, or find it on iTunes. Thanks Chris :)

 

Looking Forward to 2013

2013 is going to be an exciting year!

Flickr CC-NC-SA by Lυвαιв

I’ll be presenting at the Science Teachers of Western Australia Conference in May, and travelling to Doha, Qatar for iEARN 2013.

I’m hoping the Qatar trip will be the first of many, as I’d like to do a little travelling & meet a few international friends over the next few years. If that means I relief teach for a few more years, then so be it. It will be worth it.

Let’s see how we go.

Happy New Year.

 

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Life is full of surprises

Over the course of this year, I’ve made some amazing connections through this blog, including some unexpected connections with local Western Australian relief (substitute) teachers.

Relief teaching can be a lonely profession. To the best of my knowledge, there are only a handful of relief / substitute teacher bloggers, yet I’ve discovered that there are quite a few reading my blog.

Flickr CC-NC-SA Image by Todd Berman

 

I know my content has evolved significantly over the past (nearly two) years,, a reflection perhaps of the “Journey” mentioned in the title, yet my musings on relief teaching and classroom management continue to drive most of my blog traffic.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I was contacted by several relief teachers, and one recently graduated teacher, working right here in Western Australia. We’ve corresponded via email and Twitter; swapping ideas, sharing experiences, and supporting each-other behind the scenes.

It’s a beginning

We may work in a lonely profession, but there is a wonderful opportunity for us relief and substitute teachers to share, connect, and collaborate virtually, and maybe later, face-to-face. We all have a story to tell, and it is time we started sharing them.

It has taken several years for my work to start attracting attention here in Western Australia, and while my work is well known internationally, these local connections are something I particularly treasure. I know I’m not alone, and I look forward to becoming further involved in the growth of my local education networks.

We live in interesting times.

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Edublog Awards 2012 Nominations

This year, I almost missed the Edublog Awards entirely …. but based on the feedback and experience of last year, I’ve decided to nominate a few organisations which have made an incredible impact on me over the past year.

Best free web tool

Wikispaces – A tool which underpins so much of my work in #globalclassroom.

 

Best Educational Use of a Social Network

Hello Little World Skypers – Although I fear HLW won’t make the final list, this little Skype Community has been simply the BEST professional learning group I am involved in. For the connections, the learning, and the cultural exchanges – which happen 24/7 – 365 days a year.

 

Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast

The EdTech Crew. The most influential podcast I listened to in 2012.

 

Best open PD / unconference / webinar series

The Global Education Conference 2012. Simply the best online PD for global educators like myself.

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The Next Step: Presenting @ ACEC2012

Cross Posted at The Global Classroom Project

In several hours time, on October 3, at 10.15AM local time, I will be presenting (with Nigel Mitchell) on ‘Working in the Global Classroom‘ at the Australian Computers in Education Conference in Perth, Western Australia.

This is late evening of October 2 for teachers in the Americas, morning of October 3 for teachers in Asia. Please click here to find out when this is in your time-zone.

Featuring a skype link-up with Julie Lindsay, from Flat Classroom Projects, the broad goals of the session are to: 

  • Present our rationale for integrating global perspectives across the curriculum
  • Showcase our stories and reflections as connected “global educators”
  • Interact with global educators in real time to discuss the possibilities, challenges, and learning opportunities afforded by global interactions.

You can read the full outline here.

How can you get involved?

A key goal of this presentation is to involve our national and international audience through streaming the session LIVE via UStream & inviting global educators around the world to help us write our presentation notes.

Tweet

Please feel free to comment using the #globalclassroom hashtag, and chat with our session participants. This will be our official backchannel to the live / UStream presentation.

Watch

If all goes to plan, you can follow us LIVE on UStream here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-mgraffin-channel#events

Please click here to check when this is in your time-zone.

Share

We’d also sincerely appreciate it if you’d take some time to share your advice, resources, links, and suggestions for teachers new to connecting and collaborating globally.

We are crowd-sourcing our presentation notes in Google Docs, seeking to showcase the power of international collaboration in action.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1STb-xPK29WEGLBgegzxHZIOraQjlMrm2yetajXTgpec/edit#heading=h.727hoxhx6f7c

Please tweet this widely – we’d like to make this a truly global resource.

Anyone recognise these little characters?

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Helping Build “The Global One-Room School House”

Logging into Twitter this evening, I came across a fascinating, thought-provoking video entitled “The Global One Room School House“.

Containing excerpts from John Seely Brown’s Keynote at the 2012 Digital Media and Learning conference in San Francisco, it explores the notion of teaching and learning within “a global one-room schoolhouse” based on networks of imagination. (Reference)

The Big Idea

Some of the key themes of this video include the idea that “Entrepreneurial Learners are fundamentally makers and tinkerers”, and that as networked learners, “we need to invent new institutions, new social practices, and new skills to enable us to use technology to enhance and inspire learning.

I believe that teaching and learning is not all about the technology.

As stated in the video, Learning the technology is the easy part. It is about building, and participating within the wider, networked community. The video describes this concept as “entrepreneurial learning”, and I’ve blogged about it before, under my musings on becoming a 21st Century “Teacherpreneur”.

In the video, Brown argues that “we are no longer isolated learners or creators … we are part of a networked community”. This means we are not creating (or teaching) skills and knowledge which are stable and unchanging, but knowledge and skills which are destined to evolve over time and across different social and learning contexts.

He concludes by arguing for the “need to build a global one-room school house”. A community where learners can connect, teach, and learn from each-other; and “play” with new tools and concepts in a supportive, safe learning environment.

Building Educational Change 

It is hard to believe that through my work in building and leading The Global Classroom Project, I am helping to make John Brown’s inspiring vision an educational reality.

We are, in effect, building educational change – by creating a network of interconnected learners, and endeavouring to engage and inspire them to participate in, and help us grow a community of 21st Century teaching and learning practice.

We live in exciting times. Who knows where they will take us in the years to come?

 

 

 

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2 Years As A Blogger

Well, it appears that I managed to miss an important anniversary. (Thankfully I’m not married!). I must confess I had other things on my mind at the time …

June 28, 2012 was a special day.

It marked my 2nd blogging anniversary.

cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by davidyuweb

 

Changing with the Times

This all started as a personal project; yet the connections, the learning, and the sharing that has gone on here, in this public archive of my thoughts, trials, and tribulations, have changed the direction of my teaching career.

I am no longer “voiceless”. I am no longer unknown. My thoughts, experience, and expertise have value; they mean something to other people. People I’ve generally never met.

Through this blog, I have made friends all over the world.

Through this blog, I have helped new, and experienced, teachers understand and confront the very real challenges faced by those entering this wonderful profession.

Through this blog, I have helped, in a very small way, make the world a better place.

Who would have thought?

Thank you.

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Exploring iPads in Education – The #ECUTips2012 Project

 

One of the many reasons why I haven’t blogged here much this year is because I’ve been busy blogging elsewhere!

Since February this year, I have been assisting Dr Jenny Lane with her TIPS 2012 iPad project, an exciting research project happening right here in Western Australia.

For me, it is a wonderful opportunity to blog, visit iPad schools, and learn a great deal about integrating iPads across the curriculum. This is really exciting stuff!

 

Are you an iPad Educator?

If you’re interested in iPads in education, I highly recommend exploring the TIPS 2012 blog.

There are a wealth of resources, links, stories, and quality education app reviews to be found there, and if you complete the Tips2012 iPad Research Survey before June 6, you could WIN a $50 iTunes voucher!

We are particularly keen to feature teachers’ iPad stories with our significant & growing international audience. So if you use iPads in education, or have a story to share, Dr Lane would love to hear from you. You can contact her via Twitter (follow @EduJen), or email: TipsProject2012@gmail.com.

And don’t forget to keep an eye on the blog for some exciting announcements coming soon!

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An Australian Teacher’s #GlobalEd Update

It is hard to believe that I am only a few months away from celebrating the second year of my first professional blog. As time has gone by, the topics have changed, and my readership has fluctuated, but I’m still here. I personally think that’s quite an achievement, considering all that has gone on behind the scenes …

In light of what has been a very busy to start to the year, I thought I’d share my first (occasional) Global Education Update …

 
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by woodleywonderworks

 

Global Classroom 2011-12 is coming to an end

Nine months after the official launch of the Global Classroom Project (2011-12), we are planning its conclusion. There are feedback surveys to prepare, a few VoiceThreads to create, a wiki showcase to work on, and the final webinar(s) to organise …

Yet, as I look back, I’m happy. This project, and the people I work with, have helped me through the ups and downs of the past year, and led to some amazing new opportunities and connections. It has been a wonderful experience, and I’m certainly looking forward to taking a few months break!

We are currently working on the final project, building a commerative wiki (http://globalclassroommementos.wikispaces.com), and sending several #globalclassroom scrapbooks around the world. It is time to celebrate our teachers’ & students’ achievements in Global Classroom 2011-12.

 

The May #globalclassroom Twitter chats start this weekend (in a few hours)

This month marks the first time our newly-formed chats team have organised the monthly #globalclassroom chats.

I’d like to thank Jennifer Fenton (@jennysfen), for organising this month’s chat, and to Andrew Thompson (@1AndrewT63), who bravely put his hand up to help out, and is on the list for next month :)

This month’s topic is: Getting a global project started … Where do you begin, and how do you make it meaningful and sustainable?, contributed by Laurie Renton (@RentonL).

I hope you will take a moment to explore (and bookmark) our new Global Classroom Twitter Chats wiki, which you will find at http://theglobalclassroomchats.wikispaces.com

The chats start today, Saturday, May 12, and run until Monday / Tuesday next week. Please see the wiki to find out when they run in your timezone. I hope to see you there!

 

Exploring new opportunities with iEARN Australia 

And finally, in what was one of the most satisfying moments of the year to date, I’ve joined the iEARN Australia management team, where I’ll help run the Australian branch of the world’s largest and longest established global collaboration community.

Drawing on my experience running Global Classroom, I am looking forward to helping grow the iEARN Australia network, raising awareness about the benefits of global education and collaboration within the wider Australian educational community. I’m determined to make the most of this very special opportunity, so stay tuned! :)

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Thankyou Mr P.

Dear Mr P.,

Last year, you took a young teacher, new to your school, under your care. He was shell-shocked and disorientated after being unexpectedly appointed to his first teaching position at 9AM on the first day of school.

Yes, as you know, that teacher was me.

To this day, I still don’t fully understand what you saw in me. Yet, you did your best to ensure I was treated fairly, and had the unshakable belief that I was capable of doing great things with ICT. I felt, for the first time, that someone believed in my abilities, and I sincerely appreciated your support and guidance through the tough times.

Later, just when I was preparing to leave, you asked me to take on Room 13. All I wanted to do was leave my memories behind; yet, with your encouragement, I took on that challenge, and I am truly glad I did.

In those four weeks, I proved to myself that I could teach. I felt like a teacher.

I am not sure how much you know about the Global Classroom project I did with those students, but it marked the very first time I collaborated with teachers around the world. I was learning how to flatten my classroom walls, and exploring ways to enable my students to connect, share, and learn with kids around the world.

And this was just the beginning …

Mr P., my teaching experience in Room 13 changed the course of my career.

After my departure, I went on to co-found and coordinate the development of The Global Classroom Project: 2011-12.

I know you believed I was good with ICT, but I had no idea that I would lead the creation of a global online learning community, which now connects hundreds of teachers and thousands of students around the world.

Yet, with all that happened last year, I was never able to properly thank you for everything you did for me.

Out of the trauma and painful decisions which defined the start of my 2011 school year came new friendships, wonderful opportunities, and the realization that I could use my ICT skills to create, and do something special. I rediscovered my love of teaching, and found my educational niche.

I’m not sure if we will meet again, so I’d like to take this opportunity to say something I wanted to say a long time ago …

“Thank-you Mr P. You made a real difference in the life and career of a young educator.”

 

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Address is Approximate (Video)

There are occasions where you come across something beautiful.

This is one of them, via my good friend @surreallyno.

“A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View.”

Composed by Tom Jenkins (details here)

Address Is Approximate from The Theory on Vimeo.

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