Researching Together: Engaging Minds

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Researching Together Engaging Minds

• the inquiry approach and the VELS

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This presentation
                             
                             

• Is not based word for word on this PowerPoint.
• Will provide you with some necessary information
  handouts to take away with you.

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This presentation

• Encourages your input comments, suggestions,
  concerns.
• Aims to provide a starting point for your
  situation.

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Does not mean to state the obvious!
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Presenters

• Carmel Spry Assistant Director of Studies and
  Head of English
• Margaret Simkin Head of Information Services
• At
• The Hamilton And Alexandra College

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About us Carmel

• Appointed 2006. Background primarily secondary
  English in the Catholic and Independent sectors.
• Current teaching load this year comprises Year 8,
  10 and 12 English.

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About us Margaret

• Commenced 2005, background mainly as a classroom
  teacher in secondary SOSE, Information Technology
  and English. Qualified Teacher-librarian.
• Manages both the Junior and Senior Campus
  libraries teaching Library and Information Skills
  from ELC to year 6, and a Year 10 Geography
  class.

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About The Hamilton and Alexandra College

• Is a Co- educational Day and Boarding School
  situated in Victoria's Western District.
• Established in 1871, the school has a strong
  history and tradition of academic excellence.

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About The Hamilton and Alexandra College

• The College has 460 students from Early Learning
  through to Year 12.
• There are 2 campuses (Senior and Junior)
  approximately 1.5km apart.

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Technology provision

• Each teacher is issued with a tablet laptop.
• Each classroom has an overhead projector, docking
  station and Interactive Whiteboard

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Senior Campus
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IWB use at the senior campus
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IWB use at Senior Campus
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Alexandra Library Reference section
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Other technological access

• Two computer rooms with 25 computers.
• Reference section of the Alexandra Library has 10
  computers.
• Two trolleys of laptops (15 per trolley).
• Fully networked sites.
• Numerous printers BW colour.
• Several scanners.
• Still and DVD cameras.

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Junior Campus
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Using IWBs in the Junior Campus
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IWB use at the Junior Campus
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Handbury Library
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Other Junior Campus technology

• Computer lab with 25 computers adjacent to the
  Library

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VELS and our situation

• Independent schools have not had to base their
  courses on VELS to date.
• Our strong academic tradition means there is a
  high level of concern about integrating domains.
• Next year we will introduce VELS
• based courses into year 7.

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Researching Together Engaging Minds

• Anyone not already own the program?
• Anyone using it already? Please feel free to
  contribute as we go along we are beginners and
  can do with help!

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Collecting VELS information

• Has been vital in terms of being ready to assist
  teachers with course writing.
• Has been multi pronged no need to reinvent the
  wheel!
• New text books
• Sources from elsewhere
• Promotion where/when possible e.g. from SLAV
  website

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Timeline of our journey with R2G

• Full details are on the handout but in summary
• In 2005 the flyer advertising the CD arrived. I
  thought about purchasing.

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2005 contd.

• June 2005 Mary Manning spoke at a South West
  District Library Association meeting.
• She made the point that VELS embodied cooperative
  planning and teaching and provided a pathway to
  information literacy. She briefly showed us R2G.

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2005 contd.

• In November 2005 SWDLA hosted Anne Young from
  BSSC demonstrating R2G. She extolled the virtues
  of a consistent approach to assignment setting
  which integrated information literacy skills with
  assessment tasks.
• Program was purchased.

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Semester 2 2006

• We attended a regional one day workshop in
  Stawell. There were many advantages to taking
  this opportunity
• BSSC and SLAV expertise
• Time
• Hands on
• One main focus
• Applied to many different settings by the school
  teams in attendance
• And being there together.

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2006 contd.

• We then ran an internal PD session at the start
  of term 4 for interested staff showing what can
  be done with R2G and how to do it.
• We demonstrated the unit we had devised at the
  workshop.

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Meanwhile in Geography

• Margaret used templates to develop assignments.
• Very basically initially using the concept of and
  incorporating thinking skills.
• (Using R2G addresses some of the ICT standards as
  well!)

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Term 4 Geography

• Then, encouraged by student response, a complete
  unit.
• Setting up units takes time, dont be too
  ambitious about how much you can write up in a
  term.

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A golden opportunity

• Arose towards the end of the year when teachers
  began looking for an alternate program for Year 7
  8 students
• in the last week of school.
• Fantastic Futures was proposed and then developed.

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Fantastic Futures an integrated unit

• Student Assignment
• Preparatory Evaluation

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Advantages of putting Library time into
developing this was

• Almost all year 7 8 teachers were involved.
• They were happy to supervise
• but preferred not to have
• to organise anything!
• (End of year crazy time!)

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Like a Christmas present for teaching inquiry
methods

• Library and IT staff were available to assist
  students take their work wherever they wanted it
  to go.
• Students got to see what we owned and how to use
  it.

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Hence in 2007

• Individual teachers and student teachers are
  starting to use R2G or parts thereof. E.G
  Assessment rubrics.
• A number of staff are aware that they can come
  to the Library for assistance with assignment
  planning.
• Library intranet presence becoming established.

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The next piece for English

• Was developed by Carmel for her Year 10 class.

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So where do you start?

• Buy the CD.
• Load it onto your network.
• Explore it.
• Start to use it like this
• Set up a folder which includes anything a teacher
  might need VELS standards, PoLT, Word proformas
  from the CD etc.

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Sessions on R2G

• Are being run by SLAV in August.
• Plan now to attend one of the sessions with a
  proactive teacher at your school! Sign on asap!

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When working with a teacher

• Hand them this copy (or direct them to something
  like this on the network so the hyperlinks work)

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And remember

• R2G is enormous. You will continue to keep
  finding information and templates you can use.
• When you begin you might find it overwhelming.
• Once you start to use it you will easily become
  familiar with it.

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Go home and play with it!

• Feel free to email us
• cspry_at_hamiltoncollege.vic.edu.au
• msimkin_at_hamiltoncollege.vic.edu.au