SOLE + ICT = STEM

A few years ago now, I remember watching a TEDtalk about man who put computers into slum walls in India. The children within the slums learned how to operate the computers within a short amount of time. Children who couldn't read and write. However, they worked together and problem solved to figure the computer (which they hadn't previously seen) out. They were playing games, searching the web and watching YouTube clips.

At the time of watching this video, I was blown away at how much children could teach themselves outside of the four-walls of the classroom and without a teacher. So I was pleased to hear that more came from this and that the SOLE Project was born. SOLE stands for Student Organised Learning Environment.

You can also find out more information about the Hole In The Wall Project by clicking HERE.

Last year my school was introduced to this whole concept of 'SOLE' and from that four amazing projects were developed. The classes researched and created an action project around Recycling, Nutrition, our Schools History (as we are about to have our 150th birthday) and Cyber Bulling.

This year I was accepted into the SOLE project, however, we have moved away from the name SOLE and towards STEM (this term has been adopted by the Department of Education). For those who are not familiar with the term STEM, the letters stand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. You can learn more about what NESA states about STEM HERE.

I am working with three other teachers on this STEM Project. We all have various experiences with technology and STEM activities, and enjoy project-based learning. So far, we have had some professional learning around STEM. We've had an opportunity to pick topics that we want out classes to research (my class will be looking into Water Safety) and we've done some backwards mapping.

Professional Learning with the STEM Team

Backwards Mapping

Since this professional learning, my students have had the opportunity to explore some BIG QUESTIONS. By doing so, my students have been practicing the skills that will be needed once we start looking into our Water Safety topic.

We've looked at the following questions:

1. When is something worth celebrating? (linking in with History Stage 2 unit)
2. Why is National Reconciliation Week important? (linking in with National Celebration)

I have popped a few pictures from these lessons below, starting with resources that I have out and available. Students have access to the internet via desktop computers and iPads. They also can use whiteboards and markers, dictionaries, thesauruses and subject-specific books to find their information. Conversations between peers is encouraged.

Resources were out and available for students to use.

In the photos above, I taught students how to properly research as I found they were just typing the question directly into google. We looked at typing in keywords and skimming/scanning texts to quickly find the information that we need.

Students researching on the computers.

Students presenting their information in their own chosen way.

For the remainder of this year my class will be looking into Water Safety, particularly focussing on open-waters as our school is near a loch and a large river. Where we end up and how we approach this issue is completely unknown. My aim is to enable my students to dictate where we go and what we do with the information gained along the way. I would love to see my students create an awareness campaign that can be used in our community, with easy to follow steps that ensure everyone is safe around open-water. I would also love to see them complete resuscitation training as I feel everyone should have this knowledge.

Over the next few months I will keep you updated with how this project is progressing. So don't forget to follow my blog to receive updates about these upcoming posts as they're created.

Returning to Teaching from Maternity Leave

I haven't been writing much lately and that's because in October 2014, I found out that I was pregnant after two years of "trying". Earlier that year I was diagnosed with PCOS and so through diet, exercise and metformin, I was able to successfully fall pregnant.

I took an entire year off from work once I had my bub, but I have now returned in a part-time capacity. I'm only working two days… and I've come to realise that two days is really tricky. Two days away from my little boy seems like FOREVER, and yet when I'm at work, two days is far too short to get everything done. It's also hard because while you're part-time, you're sometimes expected to program and do work like that of someone working a full load.

Anyway, my first day back was horrendous. I had to firstly find something that fit my new, squishy body. I then had to find my handbag, a USB and a pen to write with. On my way to work I had to fight back the tears because I knew once I got started, I'd never stop. When I finally arrived it was a Staff Development Day… WHICH WAS AWESOME because I thought I could acclimatise to everything. But then I was hit with "pedagogy" and "theories" and "PDPs" and all of these new acronyms I had never heard of before.

Image taken from BuzzFeed.com

I felt out of my depth.

I've been back to work for seven weeks now and I'm happy to say that my brain is starting to work again. Terms are coming back to me and so is my confidence (although it's still got a little while to go). Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to update my THRASS and spelling resources. I will share my ideas here with you all -- so watch this space.

I will also be sharing a stack of ATSI websites/ resources and interactives that I have found whilst on Mat Leave just in time for NAIDOC week.

And finally I will be sharing my TOP EIGHT TIPS for heading back to teaching from Maternity Leave.

So keep an eye out for my new posts and feel free to comment below with you 'back to work from maternity leave' story. Surely I'm not the only one who found it difficult???

What to eat?

The question most of us ask ourselves each morning is 'what will I take for lunch today?' 

I absolutely hate planning meals. I hate organising them of a morning but I especially hate eating garbage because I didn't make the time to organise my lunch. There's nothing worse than sitting down in the staff room to eat your packet food to then smell the beautiful aroma of someone else's lunch. Try adding being pregnant to that you've got yourself one crazy teacher.

Now I'm no expert at this… but I hoped that by doing a bit of research for someone else, that I would be able to find the motivation to get my butt into gear.

I've found a couple of great blogs/ posts from ladies across the world who have come up with inspiring lunch options. Not all of these ladies are teachers, or even pregnant, but their ideas are so usable… anyone can do it!

The first blog is titled Pregnant Girl Diet and it's written by a lady named Kari Burghardt. I particularly like how she pushed the need to drink water and introduced the idea of a 'Snack Pack' (see left). I'm going to give the water bottle idea a go… I like how she chopped up strawberries, limes and pears and put them in her water bottle. I only wonder how long the fruit will last?

The second is a post titled 50 Pregnancy Meal Ideas from the Fit to be Pregnant blog. This blog post gives numerous meal ideas and has a section dedicated to snacks. However, most of these meals require a significant amount of prepping. I may take a recipe or two from this blog… but not all.

The third and final post I'd like to mention is 5 Tips for Safe, Healthy Lunches while Pregnant which is from the Fox in Flats blog. This blog post does exactly what it says… it gives you great tips for safe, healthy lunches. The five tips are:

1. Make your own
2. Invest in some good quality lunch containers
3. Keep it chilled
4. Serve hot things HOT
5. Try and focus on what you CAN eat

Simple tips, however, absolutely necessary!

This term, I'm going to make my own lunches. Healthy, yet tasty meals that very rarely include sandwiches. I will post some of my favourite lunches over the next couple of weeks.

Oh and remember… good quality doesn't always mean expensive! 

Sometimes you'll just need to look around and maybe do some research before you buy. I was able to pick up these cheap BPA FREE containers and this 1.6L BPA FREE drink bottle from ALDI the other day. They were on special and I cannot wait to use them when I go back to work!

Simple ideas to make my job easier!

I am a massive fan of VISTA Print. Particularly when they're having a huge sale. Two years ago I decided to make some business cards which simply said 'A note from Mrs Sellen'. Simple idea right? Well I have used them almost every day of the past two years. On these cards I can send home simple reminders about notes that are due in to school, and I can also send home little notes to parents about how well their child has been doing in class. The kids love them. The parents love them. And they're so simple.

I originally got this idea off PINTEREST (where all good ideas come from) and I've modified it slightly to better suit my classroom.

Here is the original idea (click on the image to head straight to Pinterest):

Here is what my modified version looks like:

If you are lucky enough to get a really great deal from VISTA Print, you might get 250 of these for free. This time round I paid $9.99 for them. As I mentioned before, they've lasted me two years so it is definitely worth the investment.

This year as I'm going on Maternity Leave I decided to make a bunch of labels (in the same design) to stick to the things that belong to me that I will most probably leave behind. Teaching can be quite expensive and I don't really want to buy a lot of these resources again. So for $9.99 I bought 140 labels with my name on it, so that I can mark my belongings (I will be taking a lot of things home too). 

Here's what my labels look like:

It should take about 7 days for them to arrive as I just got standard shipping… but I can't wait! I want this transition into Maternity Leave to be as smooth as possible!

WOW where did the year go?

It seems to be that time of year again where I find myself freaking out about the year ahead and my list of "things to do" keeps growing. 

It has been almost a year since my last post. As you can imagine, the year fills up and you find yourself drowning in various commitments. 2014 was a HUGE year for me. I had a great time teaching Year 5 and I also had a great year personally. I found out in September that I will be expecting a bundle of joy in May 2015 and so my priorities around work and life have shifted dramatically.

I will be going back to work for 2015, however, this time I will only be working for one term. Over the next couple of weeks I will share how I've set up my classroom spending the least amount of money as possible and how I will hand-over my class to someone I haven't even met yet. I want to be kind to this next teacher, but I also don't want to do their whole job for them. It will be a balancing act. BUT I already have a plan and *fingers crossed* it works :)

Like any year it's important to start the year off with a diary. For me, this choice was far harder than usual as I will only be working for one term. I needed a diary that would suit me in my professional and personal life. So this year I decided to go with a kikki.K A4 Weekly Leather Diary. It's a weekly diary (which I love) and it has plenty of space to write down notes and anecdotal comments from the teaching day. There is also a significant amount of space for the weekends (the most important days of the week) and it has monthly planners. Click on the image of the diary to be redirected for the kikki.K website. If you buy from the store, they also throw in a free pen. I LOVE BARGAINS! 

That's it for now… I will be back shortly with MORE amazing Back to School ideas!