Presentation by Tom Barrett May 30, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in AGQTP/AISV, Class Activities, Google Earth, PhotoStory, Tom Barrett, blogs, classroom, k12online06.2 comments
Several months ago, I got in touch with Tom Barrett after we had both started blogging about Google Earth in the classroom. Tom is a Primary teacher in Grade 6 and he has a fantastic blog and his classes are using blogs as well.
I liked what Tom was doing in the classroom and I used his work in my presentation to the k12online conference last year. Then I asked Tom to do a presentation for our Primary teachers as part of the Australian Government Quality Teachers Program. It was 10 months in the making as we couldn’t find a date that we could get all our Primary teachers together. In the end, we thought we’d do one campus at a time.
Tom presented from London last week to semi-rural Melbourne. It was 7:30 am here and 10:30 pm there. Many thanks must go to our Primary staff for actually turning up (in their dressing gowns), but more importantly, Karen Griffiths who supported me throughout this activity.
Most importantly, Tom talked about how he uses Google Earth, blogs, wikis, PhotoStory and Turning Point in his class. It was enthralling to watch and listen to him as well as his captivated audience. I’ve had several comments from our staff, who were quite impressed with his presentation and several have already asked about how they can do some of the same things.
Thanks Tom.
Blogtagged January 1, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Colleagues, General, Paul Harrington, Tom Barrett, blogs.3 comments
I’ve had a complete break from blogging after finishing work for the year. To my surprise, I’ve been blogtagged – twice! By Paul Harrington and Tom Barrett. Thanks!
OK – 5 things about me
- I “worked” as a volunteer for 7 years with an organization called Camp Challenge – later renamed Challenge Cancer Support Network many years ago. It was a support group for kids and their siblings with Cancer or hematological diseases. Lost many friends, but made one great friend. My wife Christine. We first met while she was a “camper” and then she returned a few years later as a leader. Many years later, we started going out and what do you know, we got married.
- We have 4 children – Jeremy 9, Claire 8, Olivia 4 and Zoe 2. Each is unique and I love them all very much.
- For Olivia’s birth, Christine went into a very quick labour. Realising we were not going to get to the hospital in time, I called the ambulance. While on the phone, Christine’s waters broke and I ended up “catching” Olivia in the bathroom. We have a recording of the phone conversation of Olivia’s birth which I’ll play at her 21st Birthday.
- I am highly allergic to Nuts and Sesame Seeds. My allergies started with walnuts and Sesame Seeds when I was about 8 years old and as I got older, I became allergic to other nuts. Of course, back then, no-one had any idea and so I continued to eat nuts that I wasn’t allergic to. But then I became allergic to them. Most people allergic to nuts are allergic to peanuts, but I’m not. But to be on the safe side, I’ve been told not to eat them anymore. Oh, how I long to eat Crunchy Nut Breakfast cereal again (remember me Tom next time you indulge!) I now carry an epipen (adrenaline) in case of accidental ingestation – my throat may swell, causing my airway to block – don’t really want to think about it at all.
- I love painting walls. Give me a room to paint during the holidays and I’m happy. I actually find it therapeutic – a chance to slow down, a chance to think, time to reflect on life, listen to the radio, etc. The satisfaciton when the job is done is great. And these holidays (we have our 6 weeks off now), I hope to get as much of our renovations done as possible on our newly acquired home.
5 people to tag -
- Mario Papaleo (my brother who is new to blogging, so it will give him some time to practice.
- Gary Chapman (Work colleague)
- Paul Kelly (Work colleague)
- Rosa Ochoa (I just discovered her blog – an Australian teacher)
- SoulCradler (I just discovered her blog – a new Australian teacher)
“The Open Clasroom” Presentation November 29, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in AGQTP/AISV, Ed Blogger, Video Conference, Web2.0, Will Richardson, blogs, classroom.2 comments
Yesterday afternoon, we had our presentation on blogs and what they are. What a success!! Only 20 or so staff attended the session out of 150 teachers at our school (although only 35 were invited, so not a bad rate in my opinion). But the staff that attended included the Head of School (his introdcution and conclusion were fantastic and I’m not sucking up!!), Head of Campus, Head of Secondary, Director of Curriculum, Assistants to the Director of Curriculum, Head of IT Projects, as well as other interested staff. The staff were inspired by James, Jane and Jo (see previous posts for more details), who as educators and blog experts were all very different to each other, yet they showed that blogs were a teaching and learning tool and how they can be used inside and outside our classrooms – making them truly “open”.
James relaxed introduction surprised a few staff, but it suddenly turned serious when he started to talk about pedagogies and constructivism and how blogs can be used in classes as a teaching and learning tool (alongside other teaching and learning tools). Jane was quietly spoken, but delivered so eloquently and showed how her ESL classes have used blogs over time, even though she had some issues with her slideshow at times. Her academic background came through and showed the staff that blogs were not a “gimmick”. Jo spoke passionately about her Year 8 class and the way the students used the class blog. Students at a small school in Canada found her class blog and their is now correspondence between the two school groups. She showed how the students use of English improved as people outside the class discovered the blog and lastly, how she plans to use a form of blogging (podcasting) as a Year 12 revision tool. (I wish I thought of that 
). Lastly, James wrapped up and showed how easy it was to create an edublog site and made a BIG announcement – but I’ll leave that to him to announce it to everyone else.
At the end of the session, it was clear that these presenters had hit the mark as there was lots of serious discussion. Today at work, staff were talking about it and wanting to get their classes to start blogging. I heard that at a Teaching and Learning committee meeting this morning, they kept coming back to last night’s meeting and the potential of blogging and other new technologies.
Sometimes, you don’t lead by getting up there and doing a big song and dance about what you are passionate about, but rather by sitting back and organising some great sessions and allowing others to see what it is you want them to see. It may take months, but it is worth it. So thanks Will Richardson, who started the inspiration with a wonderful presentation a few months via SkypeVideo, thanks to Reef Ed and the National Space Centre for videoconferencing with us, thanks to James Farmer, Jane Westworth and Jo McLeay for giving a great presentation yesterday. Two more sessions are planned for early next year – one on podcasting led by David Kelly, a friend and great IT teacher, the other on how a Primary teacher, Tom Barrett uses ICT in his classroom. Looking forward to them!
Fantastic!!
The Open Classroom November 23, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in AGQTP/AISV, Ed Blogger, Web2.0, blogs, classroom, podcasts.add a comment
I’ve organized an afternoon “chat” called “The Open Classroom” for some of our staff next week as part of our AGQTP/AISV New Technologies program. I call it a “chat” as it isn’t PD, nor is it a lecture, nor a workshop. More of a “what is this blogging stuff and where can it take us?“. There will be no compulsion for staff to set up a blog afterwards, but I hope that some start to see the possibilities of creating Open Classrooms in the future. Our school has links with other schools around the world, in particular the Round Square organization, whereby, students participate in yearly conferences, International projects and exchange programs.
So enter three very qualified speakers or presenters from Melbourne – Jane Westworth, Jo McLeay, James Farmer. All are educational bloggers and have been doing so for quite some time. I have deliberately asked these three people because their backgrounds are so different to my own. At times, I feel as though I don’t get across to some of our administrators as they may see me as some type of techno-wizard (hopefully not a geek). As many of our administrators are of a Humanities background and I have a Mathematical / Science / IT background, we sometimes see things differently.
Jane is an English /ESL / Drama teacher – Lecturer / Researcher and a member of the Advocacy group at VATE. Jane is currently teaching at RMIT and working on a PhD at Monash. She is proud of the fact that she is not IT savvy. Yet, Jane has been using blogs since 2002 when they were first established. She has used them for her research and taught using various types of blogs for 4 years (a long time in blogging circles). She has achieved great success with ESL learners and students returning to study and her work has interesting parallels with our ELICOS center, English, Primary, LOTE classes and our Round Square community and Open Classrooms.
Jo is also an English teacher, member of VATE and she is completing a Masters of Education. She uses blogs in her classrooms and uses them for assessment purposes, an area that seems to get neglected as I read through other teachers blg entries (or perhaps I’m not looking hard enough yet). I enjoy reading her blog as she has used technology in ways that some of our staff may consider “gimmicky“, but in my opinion, she is using the technology to enrich student learning. Isn’t that our job? Jo’s blog is called “The Open Classroom” and I have borrowed this name for the presentation.
James has his own section in my last post.
Dinner with James Farmer – creator of “edublogs.org” November 22, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in AGQTP/AISV, Ed Blogger, Personal, blogs.add a comment
I have only been blogging for a few months (first heard about blogs and wikis in 2003, did lots of research, but never took the plunge to get involved). Within my first week, I tested a couple of blog sites and settled on edublogs.
In my first few weeks as an edublogger, I discovered that the creator of edublogs, James Farmer, did a seminar in Australia. This was very exciting as I had assumed he must have travelled all the way from the US or UK to do this seminar. I had a look at his blog and read that he would be getting up very early to watch his new country, Australia, play in the soccer World Cup. “Wow! He’s Australian!!” I thought to myself.
I kept reading his blog and discovered that he worked at one of the biggest newspapers in Melbourne, my home city. Wow!!
I contacted James and it turns out that he actually lives 5 minutes away from the home that I had just purchased. Talk about a small world.
James has agreed to do a talk at my workplace next week (as part of the AGQTP/AISV project I am leading) and so we met face to face and had dinner to chat about it and other blog stuff. I must admit that I was quite nervous and tired as I’ve just finished reports and preparing this presentation at the same time.
Sitting and chatting with James was invigorating. To hear about:
- his journey into blogging and creating edublogs and his future plans were quite exciting (and it is not for me to tell, you’ll just have to wait!!).
- how he hosted the recent k12onlineconference and other people’s sites.
- how there are 30,000 teachers using his edublogs site and it is doubling every 6 months.
- how looking after edublogs is both rewarding and despicable (the people who bag him for problems should have a good look at themselves – it is a free service he is providing after all)
James has a background in philosophy and as an ESL teacher at various universities, hence his interest in creating blogs for ESL students and unistudents and teachers. His philosophical background shone through last night as he made me think about a range of issues (man, I was too tired to think through some of his phiolosophical thoughts last night).
One thing is for certain. I’ve hired the right person to challenge some of our policy setters at our school to look at the way we may deliver education in the future. I’d love to know what they will say to each after the presentation
Thanks James.
Maths in Google Earth October 1, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Google Earth, Paul Harrington, Tom Barrett, blogs, mathematics.comments closed
I just came across Tom Barrett’s blog via Paul Harrington. He is a Primary teacher in the UK and his blog is all about using IT in his classroom. Looking through it, I discovered a great project he has developed for Maths.
It got me thinking about a project I’m planning for my Year 9 Maths classes. I have been nutting my brain out for the last few weeks, trying to put together a real life project for simultaneous equations. And the solution appeared as I looked at Tom’s site.
The project idea goes something like this – and any mathematicians out there, I know the earth is round and the soltuions won’t be exact, but they’ll be close enough for this task.
- In our neighbourhood, there is a planned train line extension.
- Assuming the extension will be a straight line, find its’ equation using latitude and longitude.
- At some point it will intersect with a road. Find the equation of the road
- Surveyors need to visit the site of the intersection. They need the latitude and longitude of the intersection to visit it.
- Find the intersecting point of the train line and road by using their knowledge of simultaneous equations
Bingo, a real life problem solving activity using Simultaneous Equations and Google Earth at the same time. And who said Maths is boring??
I’ll post the actual assignment to this blog and other places for other teachers to use in the near future.
podOmatic = podmail September 27, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General, Paul Harrington, Screencast, Web2.0, blogs, mathematics, podcasts.comments closed
With thanks to Paul Harrington and Judy O’Connell, I have just stumbled on podOmatic. This site is similar to Odeo (but in my opinion, it is “safer” – read the end comment) and allows users to create podcasts and store them on their server for access by anyone else. But, the most exciting thing for me is it is now possible to have a podmail account.
What is podMail?
podMail is just like regular email, only different. With podMail, you now have the power to create your own audio or upload existing audio from your computer and podMail it right into your friend’s iPod!What kinds of messages can I receive at my podomatic.com e-mail address?
Although you can send anything to anyone using podMail, we restrict what kinds of messages get to you from the e-mail world. This is to prevent spam from going into your account. So if you’re using podMail, send whatever you want! If you’re using an e-mail client, or you are asking your friends to send you e-mail @podomatic.com, remember that e-mail from the outside world must include an mp3 attachment to be delivered to you @podomatic.com.Where does podMail go?
podMail goes from podOmatic into your iPod. We transfer it from our servers through podAmigo into your daycast, where you can hear it at your leisure.Who can hear my podMail?
Only you. It has the same privacy characteristics as email.
k – 12 Online Conference “Unleasing the Potential” September 25, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Screencast, Skype, Video Conference, Web2.0, blogs, podcasts.comments closed
Announcing the first annual “K12 Online 2006″ convention for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30- Nov. 3 with the theme “Unleashing the Potential.” The K12 Online 2006 blog has just gone live.
On the conference blog you will also find the web form we will be using for the submission of proposals. Everyone is encouraged to submit a proposal. More details are on the conference blog: www.k12onlineconference.org. The blog will be updated regularly with everything you need to know about the conference.
This is such an exciting concept. Having people from around the world share ideas and resources. Many of these people are experts in the use of Web 2.0 technology in education, so why wouldn’t you participate in such a great idea?
And if you are in Australia like me, there is no reason to miss out as presentations will be made available for download.
Well done to the organisers.
ScreenCasts September 14, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Ewan McIntosh, Screencast, Web2.0, blogs, podcasts.comments closed
I just listened to and watched Ewan McIntosh’s screencast on Web 2.0 technology. His ideas are great and it is something I’ll have to re-watch. His discussion on blogs and podcasts is quite stimulating.
So how will screencasts help us teachers? I recently had a student who was going to miss a term of school to go on a family holiday back to his parent’s homeland. Most of his holiday was going to be spent in and around the family home, so he wasn’t travelling around much. We were about to start Algebra in our Maths class and he didn’t want to fall behind. He had access to the internet and e-mail, so we discussed the possibility of me sending him the class notes that I was using my Tablet PC and Projector or Interactive WhiteBoard (IWB) to generate. I also wanted to send him a podcast to go with the notes, but he said that he wouldn’t require them as he would get help from his older cousins and relatives if he got stuck. I missed out on this educational journey, but perhaps it would have been so much easier to create a Screencast.
I’ll be producing a ScreenCast in the near future (after I’ve played with some software). In the meantime, if you are interested in looking into it further yourself, take a look at the Mathcast site. A great introduction to Screencasting and Mathematics.
Thanks to Will Richardson September 14, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Personal, Skype, Web2.0, Will Richardson, blogs, podcasts.comments closed
Before getting into this blog proper, I must say thanks to Will Richardson. I stumbled upon his blog some time in 2005 and started to follow it religiously. At that stage, I didn’t know how to use RSS, so I set up my Mozilla browser to access his page every time I accessed the Internet. His blog entries have helped me get a better understanding of how I can use this technology in my classes and at work.
I’ve been working on a project to introduce interested staff at my school to Web 2.0 technology. Part of my project was to show how Video Conferencing could be used for PD or in class. What better way to do it than to ask Will to speak at our seminar, speaking from his home in the States to our school in Melbourne, Australia. Time zones were sorted out and technical issues resolved. Unfortunalty, there were a few technical issues on the day, but we managed to have a Skype Video call (we could see Will, he couldn’t see us!) and we were also able to see his presentation on our projector as he controlled it (thanks must go to Chris Ross and Winston Mattson).
So Will, thanks heaps. Now all I need to do is get you here one day.
