VLN Primary Schools Roadtrip

A quick round up of my road trip to Auckland last week. It was great to pop in to some of our schools who have students learning with us in our online classes and projects. So good to have some face to face time with our students, getting to meet teachers & kids we have been working with throughout the year; also good to catch up with old friends in real space & time :-)

Moanataiari School                                     

Students at Moanataiari school participate in our extension Mandarin class, extension Maths & te Reo Māori. In addition to these students are another dozen joining in with My Story, Our Story, Your Story - Photography project. (Lots of kids running around with camera's & a very keen classroom teacher). Feedback from their Principal ise that in Mandarin they are 'going great guns', te reo just starting to come out of their shell and participating more, were a little whakama to start with & maths students are being challenged with the step up in learning.

You can listen to some of the students comments here:

Mahurangi Christian School

A shame that I spent a good part of my visit on Helen's floor looking for the screw for my glasses and then more time with her sticky taping my glasses together - we did have a short 'meet &greet' to touch base. Language classes are the interest for this school at the moment & perhaps we won't see them again next year with the prospects of having a Japanese teacher at school. Which is a good thing, some of our schools are participating or NOT depending on the needs of their students and what support they need at the time. The VLN Primary should not be an end in itself but a bridge to connect our students, our schools and learning opportunities. Other projects are of interest but only if they fit what's happening for these kids - so message here - just keep in the loop, keep connected, hook in & engage where there is a clear & relevant purpose to participate.
Great to see independent student learning & inquiry based learning in this school and have the children tell me all about how it works in their school. Thanks for taking the time to chat with me Louise. Here's a short video via VPLD on how Staff at Mahurangi Christian School connects the classroom to the community through digital technologies.

Ahuroa School

A great little country school less than an hour north of Auckland. Ahuroa School was my destination to meet Theressa who is running a collaborative Photography project - again another great opportunity to make a face to face connection. Although completely virtual, if there is an opportunity to touch base in person, it is really worthwhile making the time. Theressa is a great asset to her school, not only running the photography club, but also their Robotics team, and a keen hands on interest in elearning. Thanks Theressa for taking the best of what you do in your school and collaborating with other schools - i know there are a lot of teachers & kids already buzzing with this project, Some nuts & bolts still to work out around managing so many photos, maintaining a feedback & improvement process and keeping engagement going to ensure student are improving their photography skills, choosing relevant photo's to the theme and having some great thoughtful images to exhibit in 2015. Looking forward to watching this unfold.