Our Inventions

Part of this week's chat was flipped. This meant that before we participated in Kidsedchatnz on Thursday afternoon we all watched a YouTube clip of the Kid President. He created a Catuum Cleaner. 

Then we drew pictures of inventions we would create to make the world more awesome. Here are some of our ideas. The Kid President YouTube clip is in the Week 4 questions post, if you would like to watch it. 

Tweet of the Week

Thank you to all the classes that joined in with our Twitter chat yesterday afternoon. You came up with some amazing ideas! 

Tweet of the week goes to @Room16Central

Here are eight more tweets from this week that were of a high quality too.

Week 4 - Passions, Talents and Lifelong Learning Skills

This week's topic is about your passions, talents and lifelong learning skills.

Part of the chat is flipped so make sure you watch the Kid President's

YouTube clip on how to be an inventor. You may also like to physically create or just draw a picture of something you would invent to make the world more awesome. There will be an opportunity for you to share your inventions during the chat. 

    Teachers, you may also like to watch the 'Creativity Takes Time' YouTube clip yourself and do this mini lesson with your class. 

1. What are your interests, talents or passions?
2. Do you get to learn about your interests in the classroom? Give us an example.
3. What do you have to do to become really good at something?
4. Do you think it's important for children to have some time each week to learn about something that they're interested in? Why?
5. The top 10 jobs in 2013 didn't exist in 2004. What jobs do you think there will be in 10 years time?
6. What skills do you think we will need for these jobs in the future?
7. The Kid President wanted to invent a Catuum Cleaner. What would you like to invent to make the world more awesome? *Opportunity to share a photo via a tweet here. 
8. Is creativity important? How can we encourage creativity in the classroom?
9. Sometimes we get stuck with our learning and have to problem solve. What does good problem solving look like?

Tweet of the Week

Wow, what a fantastic Kidsedchatnz! I have never seen so many quality tweets! 

Great work students, I was so impressed! Also please give a big Paki Paki to all the teachers who spent time preparing their classes for the flipped chat! Without these awesome teachers Kidsedchatnz wouldn't be possible!

In all we had 20 classes taking part (A couple of new classes) and we recorded over 800 tweets within the hour! Not bad going!

Anyway, who won Tweet of the Week? Watch the slideshow to find out!

Week 3 - A letter to my Grandchildren

This week's Kidsedchatnz is a flipped chat. This means you need to read the letter below before you take part in the chat. All questions are based on the following letter.

James K. Flanagan passed away on September 3, 2012. He left behind this powerful letter for his 5 grandchildren. In truth, this letter holds great advice for us all…

1. Each one of you is a wonderful gift to your family and to all the world. Remember it always, especially when the cold winds of doubt and discouragement fall upon your life. 

2. Be not afraid . . . of anyone or of anything when it comes to living your life most fully. Pursue your hopes and your dreams no matter how difficult or "different" they may seem to others. The worst thing in life is to look back and say: "I would have; I could have; I should have." Take risks, make mistakes. 

3. Everyone in the world is just an ordinary person. Some people may wear fancy hats or have big titles or have power and want you to think they are above the rest. Don't believe them. They have the same doubts, fears, and hopes; they eat, drink, sleep, and fart like everyone else. 

4. Make a Life List of all those things you want to do: travel to places; learn a skill; master a language; meet someone special. Make it long and do some things from it every year. Don't say "I'll do it tomorrow" (or next month or next year). That is the surest way to fail to do something. There is no tomorrow, and there is no "right" time to begin something except now. 

5. Be kind and go out of your way to help people -- especially the weak, the fearful, and children. Everyone is carrying a special sorrow, and they need our compassion. 

6. Read books, as many as you can. They are a wonderful source of delight, wisdom, and inspiration. They need no batteries or connections, and they can go anywhere. 

7. Travel: always but especially when you are young. Don't wait until you have "enough" money or until everything is "just right." That never happens. Get your passport today. 

8. Pick your job or profession because you love to do it. Sure, there will be some things hard about it, but a job must be a joy. Beware of taking a job for money alone -- it will cripple your soul. 

9. Don't yell. It never works, and it hurts both yourself and others. Every time I have yelled, I have failed. 

10. Live in harmony with Nature: go into the outdoors, woods, mountains, sea, desert. It's important for your soul. 

11. Hug people you love. Tell them how much they mean to you now; don't wait until it's too late. 

12. Be grateful. There is an Irish saying: "This is a day in our lives, and it will not come again." Live every day with this in mind. 

QUESTIONS

Q1. Do you think it was a good idea for the Granddad to write down his advice? Why?

Q2. Which piece of advice is your favourite and why?

Q3. Create your own piece of advice to add to the list. Why is it important?

Q4. Do you agree with the statement, "Everyone in the world is just an ordinary person." Why?

Q5. Read someone else's tweet and ask them a question! This is called starting a conversation!

Q6. What are 3 dreams/things that you would like to achieve in your life?

Q7. Advice number 11 says tell people how much they mean to you now. Have you got a message to someone special in your life?

Q8. Do you know any quotes that inspire you or you think are meaningful?

Q9. “This is a day in our lives, and it will not come again.” What does this mean?

Tweet of the Week! Hacking your Learning: What would make you happy?

What a fantastic afternoon of sharing! There were so many wonderful ideas from everyone. We were so inspired, and would love to learn with you in your incredible spaces. Here are a few of magnificent tweets that were shared.

Tweet of the Week goes to Caleb from Koraunui School

Simple, and we think it says it all Caleb! Congratulations.

Hacking your Learning: What would make you happy?

What if you could design your learning environment - both the physical space, and what you were learning, what would it look like? Imagine it! How would you design your space? What would you create?

What would make you happy?

This is Logan LaPlante. He is 13. His talk has had nearly 5 million views! He's a Hacker.

"Hackers are innovators. Hackers are people who challenge and change the systems to make them work differently, to make them work better. It's just how they think. It's a mindset."

Senior Primary/Intermediate classes might to watch his talk to help them think about the answers they contribute for the questions this week.



Junior and Middle Primary may like to watch Josh's Video about his perfect classroom.

What if learning looked like this?

Questions:

Q1. What would be your ultimate learning environment? Describe it.

Q2. What tools would be used in your environment for your learning?

Q3. What would you like to learn about?

Q4. How would you like to learn this?

Q5. Why would this learning be important to you?

Q6. How would your Dream Teacher help you?

Q7. What do you think is important to learn?

Please make sure that you have joined the Kidsedchatnz list, prior to Thursday if you are wanting to participate in this chat. More info can be found on the blog, including a step-by-step video. 

Tweet of the Week

I was really impressed with the engagement from all students who participated today.  There were many fantastic tweets and I have decided to choose more that 1 Tweet of the Week! Here are two winning tweets with their answers from Q4: Do you think going on a field trip is a good out of the classroom learning opportunity? Why?

And some more winning tweets:

Thanks for all the awesome ideas and tweets today everyone! 

Week 1 - Topic: Education outside the Classroom

1. Do you agree with the people in this video on what outdoor education is? Why?
2. What do you think are the benefits of learning outside the classroom?
3. Do you think learning outside the classroom should be part of all the 'normal' lessons? Why?
4. Do you think going on a field trip is a good out of the classroom learning opportunity? Why?
5. Where would you like to go for a learning outside your classroom experience? Why?
6. Would you rather use a Virtual Field Trip instead of physically going to or visiting a certain place? Why/ why not?
7. What does your school do for outdoor education?
8. Outdoor education is about outdoor activities, but it is also about learning about the environment. Why is this important?