Thursday 20 June 2013

The Purpose of Adventure Learning and Where to Next


Over the past few weeks I've been reflecting on what I truly believe the purpose of Adventure Learning is and what I envision my year 4 children being able to do by the end of the year. I think that although there are similarities between how teachers deliver this type of programme, individual teachers also add their own personal flavour to it. This links back to our own personal teaching philosophy, as well as what we believe will best meet the needs of our current learners. 

Adventure Learning is differentiated to meet the individual learning needs of the children within my class. Therefore what I expect children to get out of Adventure Learning by the end of a term is often different for individuals or groups of children. However; the overall purpose is still to provide children with an opportunity to learn about something that they're passionate about and to develop a love for learning. There is also the expectation that children will learn about something that challenges their thinking, reflect on their learning, create a sharing item and present it. 


For some groups of children the main focus is on developing key competency skills through a context that they're passionate about. Adventure Learning has been a successful way for my year 4 children to learn to work collaboratively, plan effectively, reflect on their learning, problem solve and take risks. A lot of learners have made significant progress in these learning areas, for others these skills continue to be a focal point. Alongside this the children are also developing new knowledge in a specific area of interest. 

Adventure Learning has also lifted student engagement significantly. An excellent example of this is one of the boys in my class who is often disengaged with the core subjects e.g. literacy and numeracy. We have a Golden Bell Frog in our classroom. This particular child and his group decided they wanted to learn more about this breed of frog and what they need in their habitat. After spending a few weeks researching, the boys used the interactive whiteboard to put together a design for a new enclosure. Once completed, they set to work cleaning out the old tank and creating a new home for the frog. When asked what they plan on doing next to extend their learning, they told me that they're now going to learn how to use Scribble Press to create a book about caring for frogs in NZ. I thought this was a great next step as there is very little information online about caring for this type of frog. They've also talked about creating a movie and uploading it to YouTube. Two of the other boys in the group are achieving below their expected level in most areas. For these children Adventure Learning has not only increased student engagement, but has also enabled them to experience regular success with something that they're passionate about. 


For other children it's about learning to ask purposeful questions and develop critical thinking skills. An example of this is a group of boys who wanted to learn about grizzly bears. One boy in the group then shared that he would like to learn about polar bears too. In the end the boys ended up compromising and are now comparing the similarities and differences between the two bears. 

Adventure Learning also provides children with the opportunity to develop their creativity and ICT skills. One group of children are passionate about visual art. Adventure Learning has enabled them to further extend themselves in this particular area. These girls have used Pinterest to source their initial ideas, have adapted them and are now planning on creating 'how to' movies, then uploading them to YouTube. 
At the end of the day it comes down to knowing your kids and how to best extend their learning. 

I'm always looking for ways to further my own professional knowledge, ways to further extend the children in my class and modify Adventure Learning to better meet the needs of my learners. Over the past two years I've been lucky enough to visit Silverton Primary in Melbourne, Stonefields School, GKP (Gifted Kids Programme) in Dargaville, Island Bay School and Amesbury School in Wellington, attend the Learning 
@ School Conference both years, connect with other teachers at EducampTT and have numerous professional discussions with staff at school, as well as with my PLN on Twitter. After attending EducampTT last weekend there are a couple more schools that I'm hoping to visit in the near future too. I'm also looking forward to attending the 'It's a Learner's World' conference in Auckland during the July school holidays. I've shared ideas with teachers who are doing something similar to Adventure Learning, have spoken to children in different schools to hear their personal voice and even started up a monthly #Google20timenz chat on Twitter. I've also connected with American teachers regularly and spoken to them about what they call Genius Hour. Alongside this, I've done my own research online. I've read a lot written by Dan Pink and Sir Ken Robinson, as well as watched their TED Talks. If you haven't seen 'Are Schools Killing Creativity?' by Sir Ken Robinson it's worth watching. Ultimately I continue to come back to asking myself where to next?

Adventure Learning continues to evolve and I've come to understand that this is okay. It's all part of teaching as inquiry. By the end of the year I am hoping that the children in my class will not only be curious learners, but independent learners. As they continue to become more confident and familiar with Adventure Learning the depth to their projects will increase. In saying this I don't want to see Adventure Learning slotted into the same box as our whole school inquiry. Although the skills are transferable between Adventure Learning and inquiry, they remain quite different. In saying that, I still see Adventure Learning as being a form of inquiry learning. The more schools I visit and teachers I speak to, the more I realise that inquiry can be a very broad term. It means different things to different people and schools. 


I'm hoping that the children in my class will begin to take on more ownership of their learning and that I will continue to see kids teaching kids regularly. As the year continues I'm certain the children will begin to reflect in greater depth and that skills developed during Adventure Learning will be more evident in other areas of the curriculum. I'm also positive that we will see an increased level of confidence with the use of the iPads, especially with creating and sharing content. Our goal is also to plan and hold a sharing afternoon for family, as well as for other classes to do a walk through. The purpose of this is to celebrate the children's learning and to make them more accountable for developing an authentic sharing item. 


There’s a lot to think about when considering our next steps, but also a lot to celebrate when reflecting on how far my year 4 class have come in the first half of the year. 



I'll leave you with this quote. 



'Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid' ~ Albert Einstein

Friday 14 June 2013

The first #Google20TimeNZ chat


On Wednesday at 8pm I hosted the first #Google20TimeNZ chat on Twitter. The purpose of this was to provide an opportunity for NZ teachers to learn more about what Google 20% Time is, as well as a platform to share ideas. I had only shared my idea of a #Google20TimeNZ chat just over a week ago so wasn't expecting a big turn out. It's safe to say that I was blown away by the turn out for the first #Google20TimeNZ chat. Once again I want to say thank you to everyone who joined in last Wednesday night. @Mrs_hyde kindly used Storify to collate the discussion. I've since had a go at doing it myself too, as I hadn't used Storify before. If you missed out on the first chat, but are interested in reading the discussion you can click the link below. The next #Google20TimeNZ chat will be held on Wednesday 10th July at 8 pm on Twitter. Simply join in the conversation by following the #Google20TimeNZ hashtag. 






To find out more about #Google20TimeNZ please see 







Wednesday 12 June 2013

Sparking Interest in Adventure Learning

I'm often asked by other teachers how they can start Adventure Learning in their own class. As mentioned in a previous post I spent the majority of the first term running group challenges. Following the group challenges I spent two weeks with my class looking at the difference between passions and talents, as well as sparking interest through other blogs, sharing items or photos/videos from previous years, I wonder questions, YouTube videos and by using Pinterest.


We got the name Adventure Learning from the movie Up. The name was inspired by the character Ellie and her passion for adventures. This was one of the first YouTube videos I showed my class, as they are all familiar with this movie. I then gave each child their own Adventure Book. 

This year (2014) the children in my class are designing a visual model for Adventure Learning, called Adventure Island. Each group will also receive an Adventure passport where they will earn badges for visiting the different places (stages) on the island. The six badges will be designed by my year 4 class. This hooked my class in as two of the boys in my class have just started cubs and brought the excitement of earning badges into our classroom. 

Scroll down for a smorgasboard of ideas I've put together that may help you to spark the excitement of Adventure Learning in your own class. 








  • Create a class Pinterest account. This is a great way for children to find ideas and save them for later. What I love about Pinterest is how visual it is and how easy it is to use for younger children. A lot of the children in my class who struggle to search using Google have found this really useful. Here's a link to the start of our Pinterest boards http://pinterest.com/room2smarties/boards/
  • As well as having an online Pinterest account we cleared a wall in our classroom and created a physical class Pinterest board too. To start with I pinned a few pictures on the board to spark interest in different topics. The kids soon started adding to the Pinterest board and it wasn't long before we took most of the photos I had put up, down. 

  • We talked a lot about what our talents were, what we were passionate about learning more about, as well as the differences between talents and passions. You don't have to be talented at something to be passionate about it, but if you're really passionate about something you are more likely to become talented at it. We then wrote our talents and passions on giant beach balls. 

  • One morning I put a few 'I wonder...' questions on the interactive whiteboard e.g. Why do glow worms glow? How are jelly beans made? How does kiwifruit get to the supermarket? From there Room 2 went away and wrote their own I wonder questions. They came up with some awesome questions. See the photos below. If you want to get kids started with a few have a look at the Suzy's World DVDs. I've got a few of my own that I picked up at the Warehouse for $10 each. Here's a link to the DVD titles and questions http://www.suzy.co.nz/suzysworld/Videos.asp#Vol14
  • Watch the Coca Cola Let's Go Crazy YouTube clip. It's an awesome clip and a great way to inspire kids to choose an Adventure Learning topic that may help someone else in the community. 
  • Share examples of previous children's adventure learning projects. You'll find lots of examples on my blog, especially if you visit the 'celebrating learning' label on the side of the blog. 
  • Start a classroom Twitter board. My class uses Twitter online, but the Twitter board has been a great way for them to connect with other children in the classroom that they wouldn't normally have much to do with. I simply wrote a tweet asking Room 2 what they would like to learn about or create during Adventure Learning time. The love any excuse to write a tweet so this was a great way to hook them in. 

 

  • Spend some time talking and coming up with ideas for what we can do when we get stuck with our learning. This was one of the most useful things that we did. At the start of the year a lot of my class thought that the best person to ask is the teacher. I asked all of the children who thought they were good at skateboarding to put their hand up. I then asked them if they wanted to learn about skateboarding for Adventure Learning if they would come to me? There was a lot of laughing before deciding that I possibly wouldn't be the best person to go to. Room 2 now know that they can ask each other for help because everyone is an expert at something, use the class Twitter board, tweet on Twitter to ask other children in other schools, use Google, email an expert, ask family etc. 

If you're wanting to read more about Adventure Learning/ Google 20% Time here are some links, as well as a couple of authors that are often referred to when discussing Google 20% Time. 



YouTube clips 













Monday 3 June 2013

#Google20timenz

Over the past two and half years I've been trying to connect with other teachers in NZ who are doing Google 20% Time or something similar in their classrooms. It's proved to be more challenging than I expected. I was lucky enough to visit Stonefields School earlier this year and see the awesome work they're doing with Breakthrough Learning. It was great to be able to spend some time sharing ideas with @Chrisbradbeer. We also spoke of how there were still very few primary schools running something similar to Google 20% Time in their schools. 

As a result I've created #Google20timenz. #Google20timenz is an opportunity for other NZ teachers to connect via Twitter once a month, to discuss Google 20% Time in education. The first #Google20timenz Twitter chat will take place next Wednesday 12th June at 8.00 pm. The focus question will be: 'How can we effectively introduce Google 20% Time into our classrooms?'

I'm not expecting a huge turn out on the first night. However; I'm hopeful that the more I can get the word out via Twitter, Educamp and through my PLN that the interest will continue to grow. 

You can find out more at http://google20timenz.weebly.com/






Term 1 Group Projects

As mentioned in the previous post, the first term was spent doing Friday group challenges. The purpose of this was to teach the children how to work collaboratively, compromise, problem solve and take risks. It was also an opportunity to explicitly teach Room 2 how to plan effectively and reflect on their learning. An example of this was our Mexican Fiesta challenge


For our Mexican Fiesta Room 2 were told that their Friday challenge would be to make nachos. Each group was told that they would be given nacho chips, grated cheese, mild salsa and guacamole. They had to work out how to put the ingredients together to make nachos. In our classroom we also have a mini kitchen with a microwave and small oven, so they were able to melt the cheese if they wanted to. What would appear to be a very simple activity proved quite challenging to a classroom of 7 and 8 year old children.

Each group had to discuss in their group what they thought the best way to make nachos would be. There was a lot of debating and finally some compromising. Once they all agreed they began to work on their plans. Examples of these can be seen at the bottom of the post. The most important thing as a teacher is to step back at this point. One group came up and told me that they were going to put the grated cheese on the plate and melt it in the microwave. It would have been very easy to step in and tell them that they needed to sprinkle the cheese on their nacho chips and then melt it, but this would defeat the purpose of the group challenges. I simply asked the group what they would do with the cheese once it was melted on the plate. They gave me one of 'those' looks and told me that they would spoon it onto their nacho chips. I told them to give it a go. 

Room 2 had a lot of fun making nachos. I think it's safe to say that this was their favourite group challenge, possibly because food was involved! After making and eating the nachos each group reflecting on their learning. The group that melted the cheese on the plate decided that next time they would do it like one of the other groups and melt the cheese on top of the chips. I asked them why and they said that when the melted the cheese in the microwave it all stuck together, so it wasn't as easy to spoon onto the chips as they had thought. From observing other groups they also came to the conclusion that the cheese melted better in the mini oven than in the microwave too. Each group was able to identify what went well and what they would do differently next time. If time allows, it's also a great idea to get each group to share back with the rest of the class. Room 2 has also learnt to add more detail to their reflections. To start with when answering the question 'what went well?' they would write 'it was yum!' The response to 'what could you do differently next time to improve it?' was often nothing. We've spent a lot of time discussing what it means to reflect on our learning and why this is important. A lot of modelling and reflecting together as a class also took place in the first term. 

After spending a large portion of the first term on group challenges, we then moved on to sparking enthusiasm and ideas for independent topics. Here are some of the photos from the Mexican Fiesta challenge. 













The start of independent projects

Over the past two Fridays Room 2 have started working on their own 20% time projects. Prior to starting their own topics we spent a lot of time focusing on how to ask challenging questions, what to do when you get stuck with your learning, discussing talents and passions, as well as sparking interest through sharing what previous students had done, YouTube clips, photos, student interviews etc. I'm currently putting together a blog post of how I initially inspired children to find their own passion and learn about what excites them. 

I also spent the first term organising Friday group challenges. The purpose of this was to teach the children how to work collaboratively, compromise, problem solve and take risks. It was also an opportunity to explicitly teach Room 2 how to plan effectively and reflect on their learning. An example of this was our Mexican Fiesta challenge. Please see the separate blog post about Friday group challenges. 

I have 28 children in my classroom and seven different Adventure Learning groups. I wouldn't have any more than this with my year 4 class, as it becomes increasingly challenging to manage. It's probably also important to note that I have a full time teacher aide on a Friday, as well as a student teacher in the classroom at the moment. The teacher aide is permanently attached to a child in my class that is visually impaired. However; it still means that she can help support a group. 

Adventure Learning topics this term currently include groups working on the following things:


  • Group 1 is learning a new jump jam dance. One of the girls in the group regularly attends dance classes so she has taken a lead role in this group. At the moment they're using the DVD to learn the dance moves. Once they're more confident they plan on only using the music, then teaching the new song to the juniors during their fitness time. 
  • Group 2 is a group of boys who were interested in learning about grizzly bears. Another boy in the group wanted to learn about polar bears. They've now decided that they will learn about both types of bears and compare their similarities and differences. 
  • Group 3 is another group of boys who wanted to learn more about our Golden Bell frog. They plan to learn more about what this particular frog's diet and habitat is. Then they're going to design a new habitat for Lucky, our pet frog. One of the boys in another group had a large fish tank lying around at home and so his family has kindly donated it to the classroom. 
  • Group 4 are learning about how to make ice cream from scratch. The student teacher knows the manager at the Tip Top factory in Auckland so this week the children emailed him to ask some questions. They're also going to have a go at making their own ice cream and then modify the recipe. 
  • Group 5 are interested in learning about guinea pigs. They're currently learning about what they eat, how to set up a cage for them and how to look after them properly. They've asked me if once they've learnt about how to care for them if I can bring my two guinea pigs in. They're planning on looking after them for a day. Initially all the girls knew was that guinea pigs drink water and need a cage. They've learnt A LOT already. 
  • Group 6 are interested in crafts. They've used Pinterest over the last couple of weeks to come up with some ideas. They've selected a craft and are now modifying the design to create their own final product. 
  • Group 7 are working on designing and creating their own fairy garden. 

Here are some of the photos from Adventure Learning on Friday. 


Tori emailing the manager of the Tip Top factory with her group's questions. 


Bianca using Pinterest on the interactive whiteboard to find ideas for her own fairy garden. 


Reading about how to care for guinea pigs and writing down some notes. 


Using Pinterest to find and print some photos of wire crafts. 


The boys finding out information on a Golden Bell frog's habitat. 


The dance group working on learning the dance moves to a new jump jam song. Look at that timing! 


Tumai surrounded by books about frogs! He's also using Scribble Press to start putting together some ideas for his book about caring for Golden Bell frogs.


Shannon finding out exactly what flavours of ice cream Tip Top makes. 



Love the looks of concentration in this photo! These boys are writing down their 'I wonder...' questions about grizzly bears and polar bears. 

Sunday 2 June 2013

Sparkler sessions and opt in sessions

Sparkler sessions have typically run at the beginning of an Adventure Learning session. A sparkler session is when a child shares a new skill or tool that they have learnt or discovered. This may be a new iPad or iPod app, how to use Google Earth, a website, new skill on the cameras or something about blogging. A sparkler session can run any where between 5-10 minutes and is student led. 

Children generally sign up to lead a sparkler session. Initially only one sparkler session will be run at the beginning of a session and all children will tune in. Where I would like to see this go is for either 2-3 sparkler sessions to be run at the same time. It provides more children with a leadership opportunity and also enables the other children with a choice of which session they opt into. 

The other way to do this would be to allocate the first or last 20-30 minutes of Adventure Learning to opt into a sparkler session. Again, the purpose of this would be for children to teach children new skills. A class message board would be set up to enable children to share what they need help with and/or what they feel they could help others with. Similar to Ignite or Educamp in a way. This would also be a great way to expose children to different ways to create and share content. I plan on giving this a go either this week or next week so will reflect on how it went afterwards. Opt in sparkler sessions will be  recorded using the digital cameras to provide children with a resource that they can access at a later date. All sparkler sessions will be available for children on the student drive. 






How is a day of Adventure Learning organised?

Here is how I have organised Adventure Learning in my classroom over the past two years. I'm still yet to introduce sparkler sessions this term, but they're in the pipeline. Currently we are only running one sharing circle. My goal is for two to be running by the end of the term. At the moment the children are still learning what happens during this time so I feel that for now it's important that we all work on this together. We are really just starting to dive into our individual projects now. Video reflections are something else that are yet to be introduced also. Watch this space :)

Sparkler session (5-10 minutes)

A sparkler session is when a child shares a new skill or something exciting they have discovered that they feel might be helpful to others e.g. how to use Google Earth, an ipod or ipad app, an exciting website, something on ActivInspire, how to do something on the digital cameras or class blog.

Sharing circle (10 minutes)
Each group shares where they are up to and what their goal for this session is. I try to run two sharing circles and have a child lead these.

Exploring and Creating Time
 (An hour and a half on Friday)

This is when children work on their individual or group projects. During this time they can book a conference time on the whiteboard (if needed). 


Reflection time (10 minutes)

Each group briefly reflects on what went well and what their next steps are. 

Tracking Learning and Conference Times

I'm constantly looking for ways to improve how I track children's learning during Adventure Learning. Currently I track the children using a Google Doc. The document consists of a table with the following headings: date, what we have achieved over the past week and where to next? The Google Doc is added to during the sharing circle time at the start of Adventure Learning, during conference times or whenever a group feels the need to add to it. All children have access to this via the Google Account. It is also displayed on the interactive whiteboard during Adventure Learning.

Conferences are initiated by the children and are student-led. Children book themselves in for a conference time with me by writing their name beside a time on the whiteboard. The children shared that they found this system useful as they could book a conference time when they needed and as often as they wanted. The purpose of the conference times is for children to share their learning journey so far, as well as any problems or questions they need support with. They also identify their next steps. I don’t provide children with the answers they’re looking for, but aim to challenge their thinking and enable them to self-discover. I keep track of who I see throughout the week so that if there are any groups I haven’t seen by the end of the fortnight I can touch base with them. 


Here is a link to an example of how I track individual projects. 

http://goo.gl/fjYv8

My Interview with Caitlin

Last term I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visited the Gifted Kids Programme in Dargaville. I have taught Caitlin for the past two years. She has now moved on to intermediate. While I was visiting I asked her a few questions about Adventure Learning and Google 20% Time. Here is what she had to say. 


What is Adventure Learning?
Adventure Learning is a time where you can learn about whatever you like and create a product to share. Adventure Learning is a time to learn about something you have always wanted to learn about.

What do you personally get out of participating in Adventure Learning?
Adventure Learning helps to develop your talents and passions. It is not just a small project; it can develop into lifelong learning.

Do you think it is important for children to have an opportunity to participate in this type of learning in the classroom? Why or why not?
I do think that it is very important. It gives you new opportunities to focus on different and new learning.

What’s your favourite project that you’ve done and why?
My favourite project is the one I am doing now which is architecture. I like it the most because it challenges me and extends my learning.

What do you think good learners do?
They use the habits of mind and the habits of a scholar. They show creativity, but they also show logic.

What do you do when you are stuck with your learning?
I go back to how I became stuck and try to do it differently. You can apply your past knowledge to your new knowledge or ask someone who knows about it too.

How do you like to share your learning?

I like to show my work, rather than speak about it. I’ve done an information board, a book, models and made a board game that has information about coral reefs. 

Here is a poem that Caitlin wrote about passions and talents while I was visiting. 




'A person's a person no matter how small' ~ Dr Seuss

Caitlin's favourite quote 



Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with me Caitlin. All the best for your new adventure. 


What is Google 20% Time?



What is Adventure Learning (Google 20% Time)? 


Adventure Learning is based on the concept of Google’s 20% time, where employees are given 20% of their working week to work on projects that they’re passionate about. 50% of Google’s innovative ideas have come out of their 20% time, including Gmail.

Over the past three years I have given the children in my classroom 20% of their school week to learn about something that they’re passionate about. Projects have ranged from dancing, to learning about Ancient Rome or community based projects e.g. fundraising for the local S.P.C.A. Adventure Learning increases student engagement, enables learning to be personalised and sparks curiosity. Most importantly, it helps children to develop a love for learning.



Here is a YouTube clip about how Google thinks their 20% Time fosters innovation.