Big Ideas - Year 7 Teacher Talk

This term in Big Ideas, the Year 7s have been getting to grips with the technology that they will come to use on a daily basis at Holy Cross College. We presented them with the big question, ‘Is I.T. a friend or foe?’ Over the nine week term, the students will be investigating how I.T. and technology can help them, but also how it may cause issues or problems for them. This is in connection with a whole school transition programme and a digital citizenship imperative.

To start the term, students were asked to invite their grandparents in. We had a good response with several grandparents, aunts, uncles and even a few parents coming in to talk to the year group. Students had spent some time devising questions to ask the visitors. The aim was to find out what older generations thought of technology. Some of the students were quite shocked and surprised by some of the things they found out.

We used the feedback from out visitors to identify what older generations thought to be the main issues around technology. These were:

- Younger generations aren’t as fit and healthy as we used to be, because they don’t play outside as much.

- Technology and the internet can be unsafe, in terms of people hacking information and keeping passwords safe.

- There is lots of information available on the Internet, how do you know what to trust?

With this feedback in mind, we spent the next three weeks investigating each of these issues, with a different teacher leading the weekly sessions. The big question, ‘Is I.T. a friend or foe?’ was broken down into smaller questions that would be easier to answer. Keep in mind that we are working with a new cohort of sevens, who are not used the Big Ideas model so we are also stepping into the model slowly with them.

In the first week, we asked the students: How can I.T. be a friend or foe when I am researching and doing my homework? Students were given a list of tasks to do, those which must be done, those which should be done, and those which could be done. We know this as 'Must, Should, Could'. These tasks increased in difficulty. Students completed these tasks at their own pace, by scanning QR codes to access the different tasks they needed to complete. This work progressed alongside a Humanities assessment, in which students were being asked to analyse the reliability of the sources they found online. The Humanities assessment asked them to answer a question about why the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb was so important.  This work was submitted electronically, using Edmodo.

In the second week, we asked the students: How can I.T. help me to make friends or foes? The focus of this week was staying safe online and safe social networking. Once again, the students completed self-paced work, as the must, should, could activities were set up within an iTunesU course. Students brought their work for checking to the teachers, and were able to move their faces up a progress board so we could see who was at each stage of the task.

This week we will be asking: How can I.T. affect my health and fitness? Students will be asked to complete activities on their iPad, such as reading an iBook, playing an electronic game and they will be asked to complete activities without the use of technology, such as skipping and reading a book. They will review how the activities make them feel through a video diary, which will be used to create an iMovie.

The students will be asked to review all of the work carried out over the weeks for their final assessment, which will be marked for English. For their final assessment, students will be asked to evaluate how I.T. can be their friend or their foe, by creating a persuasive piece of writing to be presented either as an iMovie or a keynote. There will be differentiation in terms of using language such as 'evaluate'. But at the end, we hope all students will have some relevant reflection on the question friend or foe.

At this point, we have begun to scope and sequence the skills we would like our students to have by the end of Middle School. In Year 7, we want to focus on helping them understand the inquiry model. Another focus is on the time spent teaching year seven to work as a part of a team alongside critical skills in learning how to pace themselves in terms of their own accountability to their class mates and to the task. A lot of work has to go into maintaining some structure in the first term of Year 7, as they get to learn slowly how Middle School works. 

Miss Laura Wallace

Year 7 Innovator 

A way to Explain Everything!

Teachers will select the Explain Everything app when they intend for students to demonstrate their learning through the aid of multi-modal media. Prior to students presenting their information it is important for the students to be familiar with the functions and tools within the app. Students are able to upload photos, insert web pages and links, add voice recordings, and record annotations whilst explaining their thinking and/or strategies being used. The option to add multiple pages allows for further in-depth explanations and justifications of the student's understandings. 

Pic Collage - a snapshot of learning

Pic Collage is a creative app that allows students to upload visual representations of their learning. They can annotate images using a variety of text fonts and colours to explore their creative styles. The students are able to select a background wallpaper, template for the number of images and edit throughout the process. The final product can be exported and used for display purposes, assessment, and record of learning. 

Book Creator as a form of assessment

Teachers have used the Book Creator app to offer students a platform to record their learning. The multi-modal app allows students to include photos, text, audio and video footage to support the demonstration of their understanding of a concept. Final products can be exported and used as a part of students' digital portfolios.

Flipped Classrooms

Flipped classrooms allows flexibility within a learning programme both for the student and the teacher. 

Students are able to take control of the pace of their learning. Teachers are able to create courses, units of work, or lessons in a way that redefines the learning process. The teacher is more available to move between students to support them at their point of need.

The video provides examples of how flipped learning can be utilised in an early learning setting. 

Storytelling Redefined

Students in Kindergarten to Year Two were challenged to write and publish or retell Dreamtime stories as part of their Big Ideas project investigating different cultures in their local area. Students worked collaboratively to decide on the topic of their story, write the story, design the artwork and illustrations before selecting the digital medium to publish their work.

Teachers assisted students to discern between apps to redefine the story telling process. Students used apps on their iPad such as iPhoto, Keynote, Green Screen and iMovie to tell their stories and demonstrate their understanding of curriculum outcomes. 

The video provides an example of student work: Tiddalick the Frog by Robert Roennfeldt retold by Kindergarten students and an original story by Year One students. 

Future Problem Solving in Year 9 Big Ideas

Year 9 Big Ideas in Winter Term focused on deepening students’ awareness of Perth - their capital city. The term-long project engaged students in real-world future problem solving as they explored the big question: “Is Perth ready for the future?”  The project was structured around the geographical inquiry process. We began by developing students’ knowledge of significant landmarks in the city through an engaging activity where students worked in pairs to produce a three dimensional model and plaque of information about a landmark in the city. The models then served as three dimensional symbols on a large map of Perth, of which students used their iPads to take “aerial photographs” and record geographical observations.

With an overall sense of the geography of Perth, students began to engage with the inquiry process. Students were allocated to research groups in order to focus their inquiry into the big question. The groups were: Tourism; City Living and Retail; Heritage; Transport; Culture, Arts and Communication and Sustainability. Within these groups, students conducted initial research, formulated smaller inquiry questions and built itineraries for Curriculum Enrichment Week. They also participated in small interactive workshops to develop the information gathering skills such as conducting surveys, interviews, note-taking and photography, that they would need to undertake their inquiry during their week in the city.

Curriculum Enrichment Week served as an opportunity for students to deeply engage with their research topic, considering the current climate of Perth and suggesting possible problems and potential solutions as the city grows in the future.  They were given opportunities to connect with a wide range of people in the Perth community - from an audience with the Right Honorable, The Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi to a presentation by town planners and surveying members of the general public to gain a sense of interests, concerns and ideas for the future of the city.

Students were also given a sense of the people and places most connected to their research topics within the City of Perth. For example, the Sustainability group visited City Farm and conducted a site survey of the Swan River at Point Fraser facilitated by an education officer from the Swan River Trust. The Heritage group visited the Perth Mint and the Museum of Western Australia to evaluate how these places are working to retain public engagement with Perth’s heritage. The tourism group visited the Bell Tower and many locations around King’s Park to establish a tourist’s view of Perth and how tourism could be better promoted and sustained in the future.

In the weeks after Curriculum Enrichment Week, the students have been synthesising their geographical data to answer their inquiry questions. They have produced extensive geographical research folios showcasing the process of their inquiry and their engagement with and use of primary and secondary sources, such as surveys, photographs, notes and graphs. The task has also incorporated an opportunity to demonstrate parts of the English Achievement Standard through the creation of a Photographic Montage through which the students have thoughtfully told the story of Perth, in relation to their research topic, through combining words with their own photographs taken during Curriculum Enrichment Week. The students have been challenged to evaluate their data to identify potential problems facing the City of Perth in the future and formulate possible solutions which they will showcase in “Perth 2043” - a multi-modal presentation in which students will present their solution - a vision for Perth thirty years into the future.

Ms Karen Taylor
Year 9 Big Ideas