Saying 'good-bye'... it's not easy

Due to many commitments, I had to make a serious decision regarding my ever growing workload and responsibilities. I realised that I will have to let go [at least] one of the many initiatives I am involved in. It was with a heavy heart and after pondering for many weeks, that I made the decision to withdraw myself as co-organiser from KidsedchatNZ at this moment in time. 

I feel humbled with the replies from the members of the team:

More feedback...

... and then this blog post:

"KidsedchatNZ: Crew Vacancy

Tena koutou KidsedchatNZ whānau

We have some changes afoot with our KidsedchatNZ organising crew. We are sadly farewelling the magnificent Marnel van der Spuy from our team.

Marnel has been one of our co-organisers from our very inception, and has contributed masses of her own time and energy into making our chat the great tool that it is for New Zealand kids to connect. 

Thank you so much Marnel, we have valued your contribution and commitment. You are steadfastly reliable and have always been there for us as a team. We wish you well - the kids at Broadlands School are very lucky.

Are you able to help? We are looking for more teachers to join our team. We believe in KidsedchatNZ, and know from our experience that it is a brilliant tool for kids to begin connecting with each other. 

It is great that there are now more vehicles for our New Zealand kids to use twitter to connect such as @ReadaloudNZ and @ChapterChatNZ. 

We love them all! These chats don't happen without the commitment of our superhero NZ teachers who believe in using digital technologies as tools for learning - thank you to all of you - you rock.

Can YOU be our next Superhero?"

Get into action and seize the moment

Māori Language week is almost here...

Sometimes things seem to creep up on me.  I have planned my class' involvement in this event a long time ago on our class wiki, and thanks to Stephen's heads up, I jumped for the opportunity to compile questions for the KidsedchatNZ blog (thank you to Stephen who've added some questions as well) and to moderate this chat.

Due to my learning in the weekly Te Reo Māori Course during Term 2 , this was just another way for me to demonstrate my commitment to the bicultural partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand.


~ "It's the little choices everyday that lead to the final results we're striving for." Jason Bartels ~

A guest post about KidsedchatNZ for #EdchatNZ

I am privileged to be writing a blog post for #EdchatNZ on a topic I find very close to my heart ... KidsedchatNZ!

I have always considered myself lucky to have the opportunity to be involved in KidsedchatNZ with my class, as I have experienced the positive benefits of being involved first hand with my students.  The following is just one example, where this 5 year old student of mine received positive feedback from a teacher on the writing he shared during a chat.

It is lovely to see how students have confidence and feel good about themselves, which in the end leads to them being actively engaged in their learning. That is what KidsedchatNZ offer to students!

In recent months, KidsedchatNZ got a lot of recognition by winning the Interface Magazine Award for 'The Best Teaching with ICT' and from mentions during the uLearn13 conference.


What is KidsedchatNZ?

• KidsedchatNZ is a twitter chat between New Zealand classes and students, every Thursday @ 2:00 - 3:00pm. 
• KidsedchatNZ has been created by Pascal Dresse during Term 3 2012 after participating in an #edchatNZ. It started of as a fortnightly chat, but as it gained momentum it became a regular weekly chat.
• KidsedchatNZ is run by the Super 7: @PalmyTeacher, @PascalDresse, ReidHns1, @Juliet_Revell, @MNatusch, @simone15, @1MvdS
• All organisation is done via Twitter and Google Apps. 
• Some of the topics covered so far have been:  Literacy, Maths, Technology, Digital Citizenship, Teachers, Education outside the classroom, Rules, Courage, ANZAC Day (Trans-Tasman Chat), Culture, Learning, Homework, Modern Learning Environments and Inquiry Learning.
• Anywhere between 10 and 30 classes participate in KidsedchatNZ each week, with up to a 1,000 tweets being recorded.
• After each KidsedchatNZ session a 'Tweet of the Week' is announced for the best tweet during the session.
• KidsedchatNZ also has a mascot called 'Follow' who visits classes that participate.  You can book 'Follow' here:  http://kidsedchatnz.blogspot.co.nz/p/mascot.html

Why participating?

• KidsedchatNZ gives students an authentic audience to share and reflect on their learning.
• Students connect with other classes and students throughout New Zealand, sharing ideas and thoughts.
• Reading, writing and thinking skills develop.
• KidsedchatNZ is an authentic place to learn about Digital Citizenship

How to get involved?

• Create a class twitter account.
• Send @PalmyTeacher a tweet and he will add you to the KidsedchatNZ Twitter List.
• Subscribe to the KidsedchatNZ Twitter list and follow it on the day.
• Join in the chat. You will find topics on the KidsedchatNZ Blog
• If you need any more help to get started with KidsedchatNZ, we have created a number of 'How To' videos.  They can be found here: http://kidsedchatnz.blogspot.co.nz/p/how-to-join-kidsedchatnz.html

Get involved. Your students will thank you for it. We hope to see your class there soon!

~ A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there. - Anonymous ~

Feeling lucky

I have always considered myself lucky to be involved in the KidsedchatNZ twitter with my class, as I have experienced the positive benefits of being involved first hand with my students. 

Read more in this Education Review Magazine article:

http://www.educationreview.co.nz/ict-and-procurement/november-2013/10-twitter-tips-for-teachers/#.UnR91nBmiSp

In recent months, kidsedchatnz got a lot of recognition by being nominated as a finalist in the Interface Awards for 2013 and from mentions during the ULearn13 conference.

I am now in the fortunate position of being part of the Super 7 team as one of the co-organisers.

http://kidsedchatnz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/the-changing-face-of-kidsedchatnz.html

I am looking forward to this new challenge as well as for the opportunity to be collaborating with all. May kidsedchatnz long continue.

Connected students

I encourage my students to get involve in the twitter Kidsedchatnz, every Wednesday from 2.00pm - 3.00pm.

Why?

• Students connect with other students throughout New Zealand, sharing ideas and learning
• Reading, writing and thinking skills improve

How?

Students put their names forward to participate and the class then nominate 2 - 4 students to participate for that week.  They are also making sure that everyone gets a chance to participate in chats. 

This Wednesday's topic was a hit with students and before I knew it, more than half of the class were engaged in the chats, sharing their ideas. 

Priceless! 

Class Twitter

One of the tings that was introduce at EduCamp TheTron was #kidsedchatnz which I, at that time, have decided to explore further.

It turned out to be a great concept, as students are 'chatting' to other students in NZ and can share their learning.  They can also experience what other schools and students are involved in.

I set up a Twitter account for my class and on Wednesday, 28 November they participated in their first Twitter chat: http://goals-r-us.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/our-first-twitter-chat.html.

To the students' surpsrise they found one of our senior classes 'chatting' as well.  This was excitement galore!

Room 4 was even quoted in a storify story: http://goals-r-us.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/quoted-in-storify-story.html and felt very famous!

At the Annual End of Year Prize Giving, the Board of Trustees Chair mentioned how she "waisted" a lot of time one day, following Room 4's chats on Twitter!  That made me feel good and very proud of what are being accomplished in my class.

It is so lovely to see how my students have confidence and feel good about themselves, which in the end leads to them being actively engaged in their learning. I regard myself very fortunate to be part of all the fantastic opportunities I can offer to my students.