Tina+-+Wilford

==Hi this is a photo of my 3 year old son, Matthew which i'm trying to crop! Help Suzie! Anyway, i want to incorporate ICT into all curriculum areas, in particular i'd like it support my Literacy and Numeracy programs in the class. I'd also like to create a wikispace for my class so that students and families can access it from home; it's also a way families can see what learning is happening inside the classroom.== == ==

Hi Tina :-) I have reduced the photo for you. A tip when uploading photos to the internet is to make sure it is a good size before uploading it. To do this, the first place to check is the setting on your digital camera. If it is turned up too high, your picture files will be very large which you don't need for the internet. If you have already taken the picture and it is still too large, you can use a free piece of software called Photo Razor to resize your pictures (Brian has it so you could ask him about it or [|download it from the internet]). Gorgeous pic :) Thanks so much Suzie! x

Hey there believe it or not this version is approx 1/24 of the file size! I used MS Office Picture Manager to compress it for you.Do you need a hand setting up your wikispace? Nigel, Korokoro

Sorry Nigel for the late reply. That was really kind of you, i've set up my wikispaces (even though am in the process to add more). Would love you to have a look and make any comments, also any advice as it sounds like you are a pro when it comes to wikis. My wiki is listed on teacherportal under wikis and blogs (thanks Suzie!). It's missfagaloa.wikispaces.com. I've also been going into the Muritai ones listed ie Room 21 and i was blown away by the students' wikis-i'd love to do this with my class but judging by Room 21, they must be Year 7/8.

Term 2 - My goal was to use my wikispaces to support the classroom Reading, Maths and Writing programs, but it hasn't worked out as well as i'd liked. So this goal, along with becoming familiar with basic Word skills will be the focus for Term 3.

Term 3 - I thoroughly enjoyed the ICT Expo held at Muritai in the Holidays. I was blown away to see where other schools are at and what they are doing - which was alot! I was part of the ComicLife and Keynote workshop (as the young chap-sorry forgot your name!-put it, a version of microsoft powerpoint; didn't know that!) And then there was Peggy and Onieka from Sacred Heart who did a great presentation on Comic Life-seems easy, just wished we had the software to use it. I know there are several of us who would be quite keen to use it (as well as lots of other exciting software packages) as part of our ICT part of Inquiry on Beauty and in general. Onieka mentioned that she used it for fairytales which is what we're doing as part of Beauty so it was pretty inspiring and relevant stuff which was going on in this workshop. I also really enjoyed Mark Treadwell's presentation, particularly the framework-which i need to refer back to because i thought it to be quite relevant...just not sure re his explanation on rote learning and how it is irrelevant. Another goal i'd like to set myself; thanks Rachel Boyd, is to start a classroom blog...I think part of the solution for me personally, is just to try these things out and not be phased when it doesn't work.

Hi again Tina- sorry I haven't responded sooner. Your wikipage looks great! If you want to add some of the kids own contributions a blogs would be cool. try starting out with [|Blogger] - registration is easy and Suzies page on blogging should give you food for thought. It would be great if you could send me a link to your blog, as my kids could post some comments on there for your kids to read! Try posting some thoughts here on the impact on teaching and learning for you and your kids from the EXPO presentations. Nigel@Korokoro 7/8/08: Thanks so much Nigel. The last few COW (computer on wheels-ICT) sessions in class has been about showing the kids around the wiki, getting them to write an intro and adding a pic - skill: 1. To be able to edit their page to add a profile. 2. To cut and paste images from the internet into their files. Next, we'll be getting them to publish some of their pieces of writing into their file too. Thanks for the reference on blogs (i'll definitely have a look in the weekend). Is it something that can be connected to my wiki or is this a separate website/setup altogether? Anyway, i'll have a look. Thanks again. And once i do, will definitely let you know as i think that's a wonderful idea to connect with your kids. Ok, have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

26/08/08: I've been having a little trouble with my blog; easy setup, but wasn't sure how to add members ie my students' profiles, so am going to use the 21classes, as i was talking to my Syndicate Leader about it, and she mentioned that it was better because it was specifically designed for the classroom. That's my next step: to setup classroom blog through 21classes. The wiki is getting good use, the next lesson - and with persmission from my colleagues - we'll be looking at their wikis to get an idea of it's different uses and purposes.

5/11/08: Update: I haven't been using my wikispaces as much, unfortunately-and at times it has been time consuming to add new programs to it. I aim to be impelmenting it's use more next year. I haven't begun to blog as well, but will definitely look at implementing this at the beginning of the year in the Juniors. This week (and as part of a unit) our class will be going back to basics and refamiliarising/introducing ourselves to powerpoint as part of non chronological report writing. 