Wominjeka (Welcome) to Melbourne, the ancestral lands of the Boonerwrung and Wurundjeri people

Bunjilaka Centre, Melbourne Museum

I remember visiting regional Victoria as a teenager with my parents. We went to Ballarat and Bendigo to see the significant sights and stories of the 'Gold Rush' era and learn about the Eureka Stockade. As a teacher I have also taught the HSIE unit about the Gold Rush to my year 4/5 class, and felt fairly confident that I had addressed all the key components of this story - the taxes, the miners rebelling and how it was a 'pivotal' moment in the developing democracy of Australia. However, it turns out I unknowingly omitted stories from key stakeholders - the local Aboriginal people. There is a whole other side to this series of events, including the important role that the local Aboriginal people did in protecting the miner's wives and children while the Stockade was going down. I would not have learnt any of this without my visit to the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Melbourne and it has reminded me of two very important messages:

1. Local knowledge is everything.
2. There's the stuff you know, there's the stuff you know that you don't know, but then there's the stuff you didn't know that you didn't know.

The Bunjilaka Centre has three parts - an art gallery, an Aboriginal garden (with an eel pond!) and a large museum filled with local artifacts and interactive displays. The visit to the centre, was beneficial in two ways for me. Firstly, in reminding me how important identity and language is for all people, not just Aboriginal people. Who you are, who you family is and how you speak at home is such an important component of your sense of self. I took the following photos of some quotes that were displayed in the centre that I thought contained very powerful messages:

Bunjilaka Centre, Melbourne Museum

Bunjilaka Centre, Melbourne Museum 

The other reason why I enjoyed my visit to the Bunjilaka Centre so much was all their interactive displays that visitors (adults and children) could engage with. My favourite was the digital story books about children playing with traditional toys. They were very engaging even though they were visual stories (no words written or spoken). The stories were entertaining and easy to relate to as they covered universal themes about growing up - learning from your parents and getting up to mischief with your friends.

As I left the museum I took a quick detour to the Rocks and Minerals section to see if I could find myself a little piece of home...

Opal, Melbourne Museum

A day with Dr Kristy Goodwin

You know that excitement you get, the fluttering butterflies that make you smile even whilst you are sitting all alone in the car at a set of traffic lights? That excitement you feel when you realise the possibilities? I have that feeling right now! Working with Dr Kristy Goodwin has just opened my eyes to a fantastic new world of possibilities - so much more than I had ever imagined!

If you haven't heard of Dr Kristy Goodwin before, I suggest you look her up on Every Chance to Learn. She is an expert on how iPads can be used as an effective educational tool from her experiences as a classroom teacher and technology researcher.

An Intensive iPad Workshop with Dr Kristy Goodwin from Every Chance to Learn

One of the great perspectives Kristy has about iPads comes from her knowledge about neuroscience and technology, and the implications of this when it comes time to selecting Apps for iPad devices. With over a million Apps available, it is a crazy labyrinth of options that we need to carefully navigate to ensure that iPads are being used to "create content, not consume it" or "create a digital replica" of a pencil and paper activity.

One of the important things an App needs to be able to let students do is CREATE content, and to do this educators must select CONSTRUCTIVE Apps. Some research into this has shown that only a measly 2% of Apps found in the Education category of iTunes fit into the constructive category. The vast majority of Apps fit into an instructive category and are what we can affectionately call 'Tap Apps.' These take on more of a rote learning approach (e.g. tap the sight word, maths drills, tap the letter that makes the sound...), yes they have all the bells and whistles to get the students engaged - but we run a high risk that those visual delights will be the takeaway message, not the key learning concept.

Kristy suggests at the end of her workshops educators select three Apps to master (before going on to tackle another three) so here are the three I've decided to focus on mastering and why:

1. Tellagami - An App for creating Avatars. Students get to personalise their Avatar and can use the microphone function of the iPad to get their Avatar to 'talk'. I can see the potential this App has for students to be able to explain their learning, make presentations and even read for them in a non-confrontational manner.

2. Adobe Voice - A very easy App for youngsters to use, where they can choose from a bank of images or insert their own images (an artwork or a photo) and then use it to record their voice to explain or present. It then collates it all into a seamless animation to watch and listen back. Great for kids that need a bit more practise - it's so easy to delete and redo voice recordings!

3. Popplet - Allows you to make mind maps using text, pictures and videos created by the user. A great tool to develop learning maps and visually demonstrate learning connections.

School Visits Begin

With Principal, Mr Paul Taylor

My visit to Turramurra North Public School, was in essence, what this whole tour is about...  I've gained a wealth of new knowledge, networked and have been absolutely inspired.

Paul Taylor, coincidentally, has also been a recipient of not one but two NSW Premier's Teaching Scholarships. Through his tours, he has researched 21st Century Learning and how to best lead the pedagogical transformations that come with this. His knowledge of the SAMR and TPACK models has deepened my understanding of ICT pedagogy - here are some links if you want to know more:

SAMR - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBce25r8vto
TPACK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmRw_wARuMk

The most exciting part of this school is the 'Sebel Hub' a shared learning space for three classes (76 kids) in which three teachers work together in a 1:1 iPad environment.
Paul stated that the classroom environment had to change to suit the change in teaching and learning practice - the move from teacher-centred "talk and chalk" instruction to Project-Based Learning requires flexible and fluid spaces for students to engage in Creating, Collaborating, Communicating and Critical thinking (the 4 C's of 21st Century learning). How inspiring to see a school sprinkle 'a little caution to the wind' (only a little bit though because they researched carefully first) and come up with this phenomenal work space for their students. I've taken some amateur video of the space for you to see below (seriously, the kids of Turramurra North would scoff at how archaic my iPhone videoing skills are). See if you can spot the different zones of the room - Instructional, Collaboration, Communicating and Independent.

Check out what the students think about their learning space (and what good video editing looks like from their Stage 3 students) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaHVS_Y1thM

Besides gaining a wealth of knowledge, I have also established a budding network between myself and TNPS. Paul gave me his word that when I begin to implement programs he "will be there every step of the way". Turramurra North Public School and Lightning Ridge Central School... It doesn't get much further apart, or different than that. But that is the beauty of this whole adventure!

Heavy Traffic - The Journey to Sydney

My study tour has officially kicked off! As I left the periwinkle blue skies of Lightning Ridge and commenced my 10 hour drive on Monday, I had no idea what I was in for... Heavy traffic, directional challenges and of course, the never-ending torrential rains.

Heavy traffic on the Castlereagh Highway

The first stop was at the DEC office in Dubbo where I met with Rebbeca Hutchings. Rebecca supervises the Instructional Leaders in my area which are positions that are federally funded as part of the Early Action for Success initiative. 300 schools have these positions (Lightning Ridge is one of them) and are selected based on factors such as socio-economic status, isolation, NAPLAN results and the number of Aboriginal students.
Rebecca and I had a fantastic chat about the ways in which iPads can be utilised in learning centres in K-2 settings to support literacy programs such as L3 (Language, Learning and Literacy). This is a fabulous program that focuses on explicit teaching in targeted groupings and has been designed to support students that do not come from rich literacy backgrounds.
Another of the key focuses of our conversation revolved around Aboriginal English. Rebecca has completed a Masters degree studying this area and had some excellent information to share with me. One of the key messages I'll be taking home from this was her comment "you can't learn Standard Australian English until you understand your own language first". Meaning that our students can't possibly succeed at reading and writing in SAE until we teach them about their home language and transition them from "home talk to school talk".

After a further six hour driving marathon in rains that would have sent Noah running to his Ark, I arrived in Sydney where I met with the wonderful social and media team from my scholarship sponsors, Teachers Mutual Bank. I shared my travel plans and some stories from the 'coal-face' and received a cute bag of treats (including a TMB blanket for the plane!).

Leaving here to head to my accommodation, was were things got really fun... Driving in the rain, in the city (which I'm not familiar with at all!!!) made it an extremely nerve-wracking experience. Google maps kept directing me to the wrong place and I ended up having a minor nervous break down in a car park. Thank goodness for Rescue Remedy (it says take 5-10 drops, this situation called for a swig) and the patient guy from reception who talked me through the directions (I think I understood after the third time). The rest of my stay in Sydney involves some school visits (stay tuned, they will be mind blowing) and a private workshop with Dr Kristy Goodwin (THE iPad guru). Looking forward to the explosion of my mind that will undoubtedly ensue this week!

See you later, Lightning Ridge!

Anyone interested in seeing what the wonderful town of Lightning Ridge is like, check out this video by Chris Bucanac
https://vimeo.com/125318187