Cross pollination of ideas
Posted by david on Wednesday Aug 18, 2010 Under Resources, classroom management, e-learning, facilitation, web2.0
I have already shared how Mel at Westmere has taken my suggested idea of class experts and has created her own experts wall. She even went to the trouble of creating and sharing a template for others to use. I have been promoting the great progress and innovation that Mel has been achieving at Westmere and it is obviously paying dividends. I was in Buckland School yesterday working with their lead teachers from the cluster and they took me to one of the rooms that is powering ahead with e-learning. To my surprise and delight, there was Mel’s experts wall template and my experts idea thriving on a class wall that neither of us have had input into. Proving that great ideas need spreading. The slide show above shows the images from Buckland.
August 19th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
I love the Experts wall !!! Hope you don’t mind if I adapt it and use it at my school.?? Such a simple but effective well to share skills and in the meantime highlight strengths etc.
August 20th, 2010 at 8:12 am
Celia, go for it. Mel has described this classroom management strategy as the “most powerful teaching and learning tool…” she has ever used. I have also developed and Mel has instigated a “Yellow Pages” system for older students. In this system the students create their own Yellow Pages advert promoting their skills. These adverts are placed in a folder and kept in the staff room. When staff need assistance to learn certain e-learning skills or tools, they consult the “Yellow Pages” and seek help from the students. Thus we are creating a role reversal, students become teachers and teachers become students, modelling life long learning. It works really well.
August 20th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Thanks David
I love the Yellow Pages Ads too !!! I have heard them called Tech Angels in other places - so many ideas thanks for sharing .
August 20th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Celia, Yes Wellington Girls College called them tech angels. The difference here is that these students are so young, Mel’s class are year1/2. What they are demonstrating is that even the youngest student can be an expert in some facet of a continuum of skills. Empowering the students should go some way to create a sustainable community of e-learners in school, while teachers take time to catch up!
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Hi, it’s Mel! It’s great to hear you like the experts wall concept Celia. It was great to read your blog David - the children in my class will be so excited to know that they are being talked about as experts outside of our school too. Here’s a link to one of my wiki pages which has the templates (in a blog from earlier in the year)for the experts wall if anyone else wants to check it out. http://isquared.wikispaces.com/Mel