Virtual Learning Network

Gaylene is a teacher from Whangarei Primary School who has taken a years leaving and is currently living in the UK.  Gaylene has embarked on a blogging journey to share her story with students at WPS as well as friends/family and all interested.  You may like to check out her blog here.  I am sure Gaylene would love to collaborate with students and teachers from around NZ and would love your comments.  Gaylene is def harnessing the power of blogging to share her adventures!  The teachers at WPS are really thinking about how they can use Gaylene's blog to enhance the learning.  It has obviously proved a very authentic reading experience for the children...  what other ideas do you have for using this that you can share with the teachers at WPS?

Kia ora from the United Kingdom, Iwa is a kiwi from Room 9, Whangarei Primary School, Northland, New Zealand. Iwa has recently moved to the United Kingdom with his best buddy Puke, the pukeko, to live. They would both like to keep in touch with all of their friends and share their exciting travels with them.

I am sure Stephanie will probably jump in here BUT in case she doesn't - a link to her page around quality commenting checklist for students.  I LOVE following Stephanie's class blog as a way of seeing fantastic examples of learning in the classroom.  The latest post shows a good example of excellent reading strategies in the classroom.  Thanks Stephanie for giving us a fantastic view into your classroom.  Reason 1001 for blogging!

A few other very simple story writing apps that I recommend

Halftone $1.29 - very simple 'comic life' type format.  Easy to use.

Fotobabble Free

Storyrobe $1.29 - this is great for students still developing written language as they are able to record 3 minutes of voice with their photos.  Great for building oral language.  Have used it for students to take photos of their artwork and then tell a story about their creation which works really well.

I also really like book creator as mentioned above.

Morning - If you click on the word blogpost it will take you to the link  

Another twitter stream find....  Check out via this blogpost how to use google docs to create QR codes.  Also has other ideas for using QR codes in classroom.

Another blogpost I came across via my twitter stream today.  A few more ideas for utilising QR codes in classrooms.  A good quick read.

Kia Ora Ronald and Anaru - Thanks for sharing your comments.  Ronald - I look forward to seeing your You Tube video once created.  Make sure you put a link to it from the VLN so we can all learn from your students.  Would 1 of your classes be interested in skyping with a class in Whangarei to share their karakia, waiata, whakatauki and pepeha.  It would be great to share their skills and knowledge especially with Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori coming up Anaru - Animoto is a great tool and fantastic idea to use this to create mihi.  I am hoping to gain permissions from whānau of the students I worked with so I am able to publish their kidpix mahi online.  Watch this space!  I am currently putting together a 'digital kit' for Māori Language Week and will invite you in.  

Reomations is a FANTASTIC resource that I use in my teaching practice to support my learning and to motivate children to create their own 'reomations' using te reo.  We have started our 'mihi' and are using kidpix to create our own digital mihi.  Watch this space...

The dates for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori/Māori Language Week are 23-29 July. This year, the theme is -Arohatia te Reo, which means 'to cherish the language.'

I have been reflecting on the following questions and would love to share some ideas.

How do you 'cherish the language' in your daily practice?

How do you encourage our tamariki to cherish the language?

 How can we utilise ICT to support us in cherishing the language?

If you are wanting resources to support Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, there are FREE resources available through the Korero Māori Website.  There are also lots of ideas on the Maōri Language Week page.

Thanks to my twitter stream tonight I came across this photo of a great way a teacher is using QR codes in the classroom.  You can check out the link to the blog here.  Would be great to see photos of how others are using QR codes in the classroom.