SOLO structured thinking charts

Here are thinking charts that are made on Google Drawings that are structured around SOLO taxonomy.

LINK to folder here

They are colour coded to match the SOLO levels on the poster ...

Presentation about Blogging

In our staff PD session this afternoon, I presented to staff about how to start their own blog. We have been working with students on their blogs but this is totally different to setting one up of your own.
These blogs for staff are geared towards being able to use them for professional blogging and inquiries.
So we started right at the start and I had half an hour to get through making a blog, using labels, putting in pictures and embedding videos. I made a presentation with the steps in, mainly so staff could be looking at that and their own screens rather than me!!. This was my first whole presenation ... phew...
But...job done. We all have blogs.
Next steps...adding widgets and automatic functionality.

Here is today's presentation - the basics...

Manaiakalani Google Class On Air - Lesson 1

Today was my first recording for Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir.

It was quite an experience and can be summed up with this image ...

Check out the whole group of us doing Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir here

Direct Instruction

Students will be instructed as they come into the room to log straight onto their portfolio sites where there is an embedded calendar.

Notes on this calendar will give tasks and links for both groups to understand what they have to do for the lesson straight away without continuous contact with the teacher.

The teacher will then have the chance to give direct instruction, guidance and discussion with the individual Level 2 and Level 3 student groups.

Level 2 students are working on AS91354 - an internal Technology standard.
Level 2 students are working on AS91627 - an external DVC standard.

Lesson Plan

Lesson Topic :- Routines and getting lesson instructions from the online tools. Level 2 - Stakeholders opinions and product description - AS91354 Level 3 - Sketches from starting points - AS91627
Year Group :- Year 12 and Year 13
Learning Outcome	Year 12 To understand the importance of input from wider stakeholders to their design brief To be able to describe their required product in terms of evidence, opinions and attributes. Year 13 To be able to use a variety of media to draw from observation. To know that using different media helps them to understand the form and texture of their chosen starting points.
Success Criteria Using SOLO	Uni structural Multi structural Relational Extended abstract Individual ideas. Description of the product. Everyone’s ideas together. Choosing which ideas are the best ones to use in the questionnaire. Description of the product. Knowing who the customers of the cafe are and asking appropriate questions. Understanding why the product is needed. Understanding the client's opinions. Being able to use the findings of the questionnaire and apply it to the design brief. Using the collected information to produce a relevant list of attributes. Individual drawing skills - using one type of media A variety of drawing skills - use a range of media Using and combining appropriate skills and media to produce a desired effect. Understanding the form of their starting points in order to model in 3D. Creation of 2D and 3D simplification work in response to their starting points.
Links with the New Zealand Curriculum	Level 2 Curriculum Level: 7 Learning Area: Technology Strand: Generic Technology Achievement Objective: Brief development - Justify the nature of an intended outcome in relation to the issue to be resolved and justify specifications in terms of key stakeholder feedback and wider community considerations. Achievement Standard: AS91354 Level 3 Curriculum Level: 8 Learning Area: Technology Strand: Design and Visual communication Achievement Objective: Outcome development and evaluation - Undertake a critical evaluation that is informed by ongoing experimentation and functional modelling, stakeholder feedback, trialling in the physical and social environments, and an understanding of the issue as it relates to the wider context. Use the information gained to select, justify, and develop an outcome. Achievement Standard: AS91627 (external)
Key Competencies	Thinking. Using language, symbols and texts. Managing self.
Prior knowledge	Level 2 - All the tasks on this project up to date. How to produce a Google form and share it. Working together on a Google Drawing (sharing etc) Level 3 - Drawings up to date. Using a variety of media.
Lesson Sequence	Session 1 Student Activity - all Teacher Activity Students welcomed into the room. Students reminded to check the calendar embedded on their portfolio sites for lesson details. Both groups to read details and move on to appropriate links and help that has been set up. Use the class site and the calendar for instructions and examples. Making sure all students are online. Reminding students where the instructions are. Session 2 Student Activity - Level 2 Teacher Activity Sit together at the front table, to discuss as a team about why we are asking questions of the wider stakeholders and where it fits in the standard. Students to open the link to the shared drawing and work together on ideas. Students then to take those ideas and produce their own questionnaire using Google Forms. Students to sit together at the front table again to discuss the product description and attributes activity. Students need to make a copy of this Google Drawing individually and fill it in. Sit with students at the front table to chair the whole group discussions. Individual help where needed on general activities like making docs public, sharing etc. Individual help in regards to discussion of ideas and the filling in of activities. Session 3 Student Activity - Level 3 Teacher Activity Group to sit together to be given instruction and tips on using a selection of media to create 3D sketches. Students to use media to produce 3D sketches from their starting points. Get photographs at each stage. Give group instruction. Give one to one help where needed. Take photographs as the students worked, of their models. Upload photographs to the Level 3 Google Plus community for the students to access.
Resources	Level 2 - calendar Level 2 - standard breakdown Level 2 - stakeholders activity Level 2 - product description activity Level 2 - Level 2 Google Plus Community Level 3 - calendar Level 3 - initiate design ideas Level 3 - Level 3 Google Plus Community Level 3 - YouTube playlist White card Scissors Glue
Next Steps	Level 2 - they will move onto writing their design brief and specification. Their deadline for this is the end of next week where they will be assessed for 4 internal credits. Level 3 - this activity will help them move into the simplification tasks that will be next.
Reflection and Analysis
	What went well ? The set up and organising of the lesson went well in respect to the students having enough to do, knowing what to do and it giving them access to the depth that they need. I was able to give group support one to one help where needed as the others in the class were able to get on with what they were doing. This was true with both of the year groups. They know why they are doing the tasks in relation to the levels in the standard they are working on. Team / group work was done (eventually) that helped them move onto the individual task with more confidence. Level 3 students have examples to look at that I have made so they are confident in what they are asked to do. What did not go so well? The Year 12 boys came into the class at the start of the session already in the middle of an argument. We stopped filming and had a chat to see if they wanted to continue today or if they wanted to postpone. We agreed to continue but the group sessions were still far too quiet and far too much talking from the teacher. The Year 13 students were really shy as this was the first time on the camera so again FAR TOO MUCH talking from the teacher. I should have prompted them to refer to their chromebooks and the work we have already covered. This could have given them a starting point when they were lacking confidence today. As you can see from the video of the ongoing lesson, it did get a little better but it was not the normal atmosphere in the room today.

Recorded Lesson Sequences


Reflection and Analysis

What went well ?

The set up and organising of the lesson went well in respect to the students having enough to do, knowing what to do and it giving them access to the depth that they need.

I was able to give group support one to one help where needed as the others in the class were able to get on with what they were doing. This was true with both of the year groups.

They know why they are doing the tasks in relation to the levels in the standard they are working on.

Team / group work was done (eventually) that helped them move onto the individual task with more confidence.

Level 3 students have examples to look at that I have made so they are confident in what they are asked to do.

What did not go so well?

The Year 12 boys came into the class at the start of the session already in the middle of an argument. We stopped filming and had a chat to see if they wanted to continue today or if they wanted to postpone. We agreed to continue but the group sessions were still far too quiet and far too much talking from the teacher.

The Year 13 students were really shy as this was the first time on the camera so again FAR TOO MUCH talking from the teacher.

I should have prompted them to refer to their chromebooks and the work we have already covered. This could have given them a starting point when they were lacking confidence today.

As you can see from the video of the ongoing lesson, it did get a little better but it was not the normal atmosphere in the room today.

Student Voice

Learning Site Content

Here are the links that the students have been given or are working on :- Level 2 Brief Development - Standard Breakdown Stakeholders - group activity and Google Form Product Description and Attributes Level 2 Google Plus Community Level 2 DVC Site Template Level 2 Calendar Level 3 Initiate Design Ideas Level 3 Google Plus Community YouTube Playlist Level 3 DVC Site Template Level 3 Calendar

Student work shared on the Level 2 Google Plus Class Community

We will have links to individual student porfolio sites when they update them for the deadline at the end of the week.

Here are the Level 3 students on with their work...

Here is approx 40 minutes of general lesson, in between recording the targeted sessions.

Making up SOLO stories with Year 7 students

I have a new Year 7 intermediate class for Technology. Today we were using SOLO taxonomy to do product research.

Here is the worksheet we were working through together :-

As we were going through all the levels of SOLO and explaining what each of them meant, we were referring to this poster that is on the walls of every class room at Tamaki College. I was pointing to each of the diagrams and getting the students to describe them.  We were then coming up with answers to the research questions together. Part of what we did today was try to really understand what each of the levels MEAN. To help this, we came up with a story.....

• Unistructural is a lonely little yellow block in the playground. He is by himself.
• Multistructural is lots of little green blocks in the playground. The are wandering around alone, not talking to each other.
• Relational is lots of little blue blocks walking round the playground with their arms linked. They are talking and telling each other what they like to do, eat, watch on TV etc ... They start to move themselves into groups of blocks who like to do the same things so they can tell stories to each other.
• Extended Abstract is little purple blocks of bricks who all discover that they like ice cream and plan a trip next weekend to the Tiptop factory.

We had fun coming up with this story and two of my lovely students today made this for me when they got back to their own school after their Technology lesson.

Credit Totals and Termly Standard Protocol

We have an expectation to offer a minimum number of credits per term so the students have got the chance to achieve AT LEAST 16 at Level 1, 14 at Level 2 and 14 at Level 3 in each subject. In this way, they can collect enough between all the subjects to pass NCEA.
The termly standard protocol is so that students can achieve credits steadily over the year and not be trying to get them all at the end. This is also motivating for students if they see credits going in so early in the year. A course needs to be set up so that students are achieving a standard, at least, by the end of each term.

Here is how these protocols have been planned for in Design and Visual Communication in 2017
Link to the class site on the video here

Planning to include Kia Eke Panuku

All through last year, the whole staff had sessions all together where we focussed on Kia Eke Panuku. 
I have to admit, that I struggled all through this. I could not see what I was doing and how it fit in, or what I was not doing, so what I needed to focus on.

I began to see the light a little towards the end of the year when a fellow teacher and member of another team I am in told me what she thought I was good at. The light bulb wasn't fully on but it was beginning to glimmer.

This is how I decided to move forwards :-

In the spirit of Kotahitanga and Ako, and a focus on Level 2, as they were the topic of the Change Committee,  I got two of the current Level 2 students last year to help me design the course for this year. Blog post 1   Blog post 2.

The main way I am approaching it this year, is to include group work in NCEA. I had restructured the Level 2 course to include a couple of Technology standards as well as the DVC standards. This way, if I got the project structure correct, the students can pick up 2 standards worth of credits for one project.

While dong this restructure, I looked really carefully at where I could include group work instead of the students producing everything by them selves. We already did a little analysis work together in out Google Plus Communities and I have found this to be very beneficial as the students find the analysis to be the most difficult part of the work. Where, then, could I include group work to support them as they were producing project work? With NCEA having such an individually assessed structure, I had to be careful what I planned here so I don't stop the students from achieving the requirements of the standards.

The first standard we are doing at Level 2 is a Technology standard, AS91354.
The students are working in small groups interview their client, produce mood boards to show their client and to analyse what the physical and social aspects of the problem are. Link here to the tasks.
They will produce individual priority lists, specifications and design briefs, but we will still structure this work together.
It is the first time trying this, so I wanted to find out early what the students thought. If they are positive about it, then I can build group tasks into further projects.

I sent them a Google Form that was anonymous, so they could be honest with me.
Here are the questions I asked :-

• Did you choose to do Level 2 DVC this year or were you put into that option line?
• Did you do Level 1 DVC last year?
• How easy or difficult are you finding Level 2 DVC this year? Please tell me in your own words and give reasons if you can.
• This is the first year that I am trying to include some group / team work into some of the NCEA tasks. What do you think of this as you have been doing a little of this by now. You can talk about good and bad points here.
• Do you feel more comfortable moving into more individual work now that you have done activities together?
• Do you work together in teams in any other of your lessons?

Here are some of the answers I have received so far. It seems that I am going to be building more tasks like this into the following projects. (they are unedited)

It was good communicated with new people from overseas, other schools but also getting to know other pasifika children that has the same skin colour as me

I think that its a great idea being able to work and help each other because we all stay up to date.

I would rate from difficult 1 - 10 easy confident
= 10 easy confident because we all help each other as a team even when somebody falls back we always seem to catch up together.

Its alright because some of the topics we could work in groups which would make things easier for all of us

I would feel comfortable working individually but I still recommend that team work is the best! :)

Yes that would be brilliant because i love how partners communicate and help out another person because being as brothers is the best thing that you will ever have in your journey.

Preparing for Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir

In preparation for the first episode of Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir in the next week, we had a go of the camera in the lesson today. As I said to my classes, we need to get used to the camera and act like it is not there. I said WE as them and I need to do this!!
The two classes I am going to show for OnAir are my two NCEA Design and Visual Communication classes. One is a large mixed class of NCEA level 1, 2 and 3 and the other class is a smaller group of mixed Level 2 and 3. They were not all present today, but that is the reality in a classroom all the time anyway.
These two videos show most of the lessons today. One was a double period and the other a single period. They are not edited at all and is the first experience for both me and the students of having a camera film everything we do. There is the usual "playing" with the camera at times!!

Here is the link to the class site where the project instructions are for the students.
Level 1   Level 2   Level 3

Level 1 are working on a poster project (AS91069), and the current activity is using Google Drawings to make design layouts with the same elements for everyone. They are then putting these layouts in the class Google Plus Community and are making comments on each other's work, using Design Terms are the focus.

Level 2 are working on a Technology standard at the moment  - AS91354 - before getting into a DVC standard.  They are working in small teams to produce mood boards to show to their client about a variety of design eras. They are nearly at the end of this activity so are at various stages.

Level 3 are working on the external standard, AS91627. They are using drawing pencil and pens to draw from observation.


Double period - NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 Design and Visual Communication




Single period - NCEA Level 2 and 3 Design and Visual Communication