Enews 24th February Vol 4 No 1
Edited by Keith Redman
Topics covered in this edition include:
- The Victorian bush fires: Helping the schools
- New Victorian office for ANSN and Big Picture Education Australia
- Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) Hub
- Two new ANSN Snapshots of Practice, from the IWB Hubs
- Cognitive Coaching in WA
- Dimensions of Learning national program for 2009
- Dimensions of Learning (DoL) in Queensland
- New Hubs in 2009: Setting the Stage – developing Habits of Mind, in context
- New Hubs in 2009: Improving Science Literacy
- Digi Kids Hubs – Early Childhood and Technology
- Big Picture Education Australia – PD in SA
- Some interesting reading
- Reminders of ANSN activities, covered in previous editions of E-News
The Victorian bush
fires: Helping the schools
If you saw the awful
images from the Victorian bush fires and want to provide some help
directly to the school communities that have been affected, contact viv.white@bigpicture.org.au.
Viv White, National Coach for ANSN, is arranging for donations – of
money or as offers of materials and equipment etc – to be gathered and
dispersed according to need, via Yea High School.
New Victorian office
for ANSN and Big Picture Education Australia
ANSN is now sharing a
Victorian office with Big Picture Education Australia. Located at
Williamstown Primary School, the work space is large enough to house
workshops and seminars, which currently are being planned. A new hub
has also been established at Mooloolaba Primary School on the Sunshine
Coast where Hanan Harrison and Tina Doe will work. ANSN will also
continue to run courses, Hubs and Research Circles at a range of other
venues in Victoria, including St Albans South PS, where Andrea
Federico, ANSN IWB Hub Co-ordinator, is Assistant Principal.
Interactive Whiteboard
(IWB) Hub
Andrea Federico reports
that all places are filled for the three IWB Hubs starting in Term One
2009. As a reminder for Hub Members, the session dates are as follows:
Group 1:
- Thursday 26 February 2009
- Thursday 19 March 2009
- Thursday 21 May 2009
- Thursday 27 August 2009
- Thursday 12 November 2009
Group 2:
- Thursday 5 March 2009
- Thursday 26 March 2009
- Thursday 28 May 2009
- Thursday 3 September 2009
- Thursday 19 November 2009
Group 3:
- Thursday 12 March 2009
- Thursday 2 April 2009
- Thursday 4 June 2009
- Thursday 10 September 2009
- Thursday 26 November 2009
Although the Term One
Hubs are full, Andrea (below, left) is keen to hear from people who
would like to participate in introductory sessions, and/or join a new
Hub, which would start in Term 2. Contact andrea.federico@ansn.edu.au
for details or to register an expression of interest.
Two new ANSN Snapshots
of Practice, from the IWB Hubs
If you are interested in
the IWB Hubs and want to find out what you might gain from being a
member, have a look at the two new ANSN Snapshots produced with
teachers who participated in 2008. Adria Quinn (above, centre) is a
Year 5-6 teacher at Westbreen PS in Victoria and Dean Stafrace (above
right) was a Year 5-6 teacher in 2008 and in 2009 is Middle Years Team
Leader, at Mackellar PS. Their Snapshots are drawn from interviews with
Keith Redman, Editor of E-News.
Adria and Dean discussed
what they had known about IWBs at the start of the year, what they had
gained from ANSN Hub membership, how they had used IWBs during the
year, what they had learnt that had impacted on their practice, their
“Ah ha!” moment if they had experienced one, where they were heading to
next, and what advice they would offer others starting off with IWBs.
Dean also included some examples of material that he developed during
the year. Thanks to both of these teachers, who fitted in the interview
and text-checking sessions at the end of a busy, tiring but
professionally rewarding year. To
read or download Adria’s Snapshot click here. For
Dean’s Snapshot click here.
If you have feedback on these Snapshots or if you would like to develop
one based on your own work with ANSN, click here to contact the E-News Editor.
Cognitive Coaching in WA
Leith Hogan (below left)
reports that in January this year twenty-five WA school leaders gave up
four days of their summer holidays to participate in the foundation
training course for Cognitive Coaching. They worked with Sue Presler
and co-trainers Gavin Grift (below right) and Janelle McGann in the
ANSN-sponsored course, which was held at Canning Vale College.
Twenty-one of these women had been chosen by the Education Department
of Western Australia to participate as part of a scholarship to support
women into leadership positions in the Department.
The participants, from rural, remote and city schools around the state,
generated a great sense of energy during the sessions. Leith reports
that they have begun building partnerships to support their coaching
work, using an Action Learning focus. She will follow up with the
participants to collect some of their stories about what they have
learnt and, over time, to track how they see it impacting on their
practice.
Dimensions of Learning
national programs for 2009
In 2008 ANSN
successfully
launched their inaugural Dimensions of Learning (DoL) Hubs nationally.
Participants engaged in strategies to immerse themselves in DoL as a
tool for planning curriculum, assessment and as a tool for reflecting
on pedagogy.
DoL is based on contemporary research that links learning to five types
of thinking. The framework provides a common language and a set of
procedures. When used as a planning and an assessment tool it becomes a
guide to focus teachers on the following questions (Marzano, 2007):
- What will I do to help students interact effectively with new knowledge?
- What will I do to help students practise and deepen their understanding of new knowledge?
To register your
interest in being part of ANSN’s DoL Hubs in 2009, click here, download
the flier, and complete and return the fax back sheet. Also check
out the following item in E-News, which is a short report of a DoL
program that was delivered recently in Queensland.
To find out more information about this hub email hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au
or call Hanan Harrison on her mobile, at 0407 464 472.
Dimensions of Learning
(DoL) in Queensland
Hanan Harrison (below
left), ANSN National Networker, based in Queensland, reports that
Narangba Valley State High School “kick-started” 2009, with a
custom-designed training program on Dimensions of Learning (DoL), for
all their staff, on the first student-free day of the year.
The aim of the day was to get teachers developing knowledge, strategies
and skills to engage with colleagues and students on a curriculum,
assessment and pedagogy journey, based on DoL. Over the year, ANSN
will develop a critical friend relationship with the school, training a
key team of teachers to develop a deeper understanding of the DoL – the
aim being for them to become group leaders in the implementation
program.
Schools interested in this model of professional learning can contact
Hanan Harrison, by email at hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au
or by mobile on 0407 464 472.
New Hubs in 2009:
Setting the Stage – developing Habits of Mind, in context
In 2009, ANSN is
launching a new five-day action learning hub Setting the Stage (for
Learning), which focuses on developing skills around Habits of Mind
(Dimension 5 – dispositions for thinking), together with strategies for
developing positive attitudes and perceptions for learning in
particular classroom climates and classroom tasks.
Why join a Setting the Stage Hub? You will …
- challenge your current knowledge, strategies and skills, using Habits of Mind;
- learn to use a curriculum design and assessment framework, and start to develop a common language for instruction in your school;
- engage in professional dialogue and reflection with colleagues;
- focus on issues through the filters of “intellectual bite” and connectedness to 21st century learning and learners;
- become part of a national professional learning community.
Participants initially
attend a 2-day intensive program, based on gaining awareness of
attitudes and perceptions for learning, and on the development of
Habits of Mind / dispositions for thinking in this broad context. On
the
basis of this initial, intensive experience, participants have the
option to enhance their learning by attending the remaining three days,
as part of an Action Learning hub.
The first of the two-day intensive programs is being held at Morayfield
SHS, Brisbane, on 16 and 17 March, 2009. Further hub activities are
planned for all states and territories.
To find out more information about this hub and its operations, or to
register as a participant or team, click here to
download a flier.
For additional details or to enquire about courses in your area,
contact Hanan Harrison at hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au
or on 0407 464 472.
New Hubs in 2009:
Improving Science Literacy
International research
(TIMMS) indicates that fewer than half of Australian Year 4 teachers
say they feel well prepared to teach Year 4 Science. It therefore comes
as no surprise that the improvement of student outcomes in Science
Literacy has been established by education authorities as a target in
2009.
ANSN Hubs, currently being planned for all states and territories
across Australia, will bring together research, theories of learning
and practical activities in this area of education.

The aim is to help
educators make meaningful and sustainable changes in
their practice and also find ways to engage their communities in a
science curriculum, assessment and pedagogy journey.
For further information, or to register your interest, click here and
download the flier.
Digi Kids Hubs – Early
Childhood and Technology
The ANSN Digi Kids Hubs
offer opportunities for teams of teachers to explore how integrating
technology in classroom activities can be used to motivate young
learners.
In the five-day Action Learning program, participants explore the use
of various tools and link this to providing stimulating experiences for
students. Participants report that this has had proven results, in
terms of “hooking” many reluctant learners into the learning process.
To find out more information, or to register your interest, email Hanan
Harrison on hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au
or phone her on 0407 464 472.
Other ANSN workshops with established track records in the area of
early childhood and technology will be presented nationally in 2009.
These include:
- Bee Bots – robotics for early learners (see below, with the Bee Bots being choreographed and decorated at a 2008 Williamstown workshop);
- E-Literacy – creating personalised interactive books, using computers as tools for developing literacy skills; and
- Claymation – animation as a tool for story telling. 
For more information, or
to register for a workshop, email Hanan Harrison at hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au
or contact her by mobile on 0407 464472.
Big Picture Education
Australia – PD in Queensland and South Australia
In the last few days, if
you are on the broader ANSN mailing list, you will have received a
flier for Big Picture Education Australia professional development
activities, in Queensland and South Australia.
The programs offer educators in these two states the opportunity to
explore Big Picture’s personalised approach to education, combining
academic work with real-world learning and characterised as a model of
educating ‘one student at a time’.
The sessions will be presented by Viv White, Director of Big Picture
Education Australia and ANSN National Coach. Summary details of dates
and locations for these PD opportunities are as follows.
Queensland: Mooloolaba State School
- Option 1 – One-day intensive workshop on 15 April
- Option 2 – Two-day advanced, ‘foundation’ course on 16-17 April.
South Australia:
Enfield High School
- Option 1 – One-day intensive workshop on 22 April
- Option 2 – Two-day advanced, ‘foundation’ course on 23-24 April.
Click
here to download a South Australia flier or to register.
Some interesting reading
Education.au recently
published a market research report, which they had commissioned from
McGregor Tan Research. Entitled EDNA: Awareness, Perceptions and Needs
of First Year Teachers, it explores how first year teachers currently
use ICT in their teaching, and how their pre-service training prepared
them for using information technologies.
The participants worked in focus groups, from which it emerged (among
other things) that these new graduates:
- can be considered 'digital natives', with much greater reliance on ICT than their more experienced colleagues; but
- use the web much more in planning than in teaching – with the use of Google and Wikipedia predominating;
- described their pre-service ICT training as patchy and inconsistent; and
- advised owners of websites to 'keep it simple'.
The full text of the
report can be accessed from http://www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=259852
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