After three long days at Year 9 Camp, it was great to come home and find the most recent copy of 'About Catholic Schools' in my pigeon hole. 'About Catholic Schools' is a magazine produced by the Sydney Catholic Education Office to showcase what is happening in schools in the diocese.
Upon opening the September issue of the magazine, I found a double page article showcasing my Year 7 students and the Google Hangout that they did with local primary schools (St Joseph the Worker Auburn South, St Therese's Denistone and St Kevin's Eastwood) earlier in the year. Over the past term, the girls have conducted two Google Hangouts to teach primary school students about the states of matter and gravity.
Upon opening the September issue of the magazine, I found a double page article showcasing my Year 7 students and the Google Hangout that they did with local primary schools (St Joseph the Worker Auburn South, St Therese's Denistone and St Kevin's Eastwood) earlier in the year. Over the past term, the girls have conducted two Google Hangouts to teach primary school students about the states of matter and gravity.
Prior to the states of matter 'Hangout' the girls spent a lesson preparing group sessions that they delivered via the Google Hangout application. One group demonstrated an experiment to show how water moves through the three states of matter, while the other groups produced role plays that allowed the primary school students to visualise how particles behave in the three states of matter and the different processes that occur as the substances move through the three phases. Another group of students manned the 'TodaysMeet' back channel - a private Twitter-like chat platform where the primary students could ask questions and the Year 7 students could answer them.
The Hangout was highly successful, with all students involved saying that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and thought it was entertaining and educational. They also said that they wanted to take part in another Hangout in the future.
Early in Term 3, we did another shorter Hangout where this time, the girls taught the primary students about gravity. Again, a TodaysMeet back channel was created and students were engaged and participated actively. Students used simple demonstrations and explanations to help explain the difficult concept of gravity to the primary students and challenged them to create parachutes to investigate the idea of gravity more.
It was great having the editor and photographer from the magazine come and witness the gravity Hangout first hand so they could see the students and the technology in action. The write up that was included in the issue was great, showcasing the efforts of the students as well as the opportunities that this technology provides for others.
The Hangout was highly successful, with all students involved saying that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and thought it was entertaining and educational. They also said that they wanted to take part in another Hangout in the future.
Early in Term 3, we did another shorter Hangout where this time, the girls taught the primary students about gravity. Again, a TodaysMeet back channel was created and students were engaged and participated actively. Students used simple demonstrations and explanations to help explain the difficult concept of gravity to the primary students and challenged them to create parachutes to investigate the idea of gravity more.
It was great having the editor and photographer from the magazine come and witness the gravity Hangout first hand so they could see the students and the technology in action. The write up that was included in the issue was great, showcasing the efforts of the students as well as the opportunities that this technology provides for others.
It was also great to see that my name appeared on another page in the magazine under the article title 'Teacher's Tweets Telling'. This article discussed the great things that the #aussieED team is doing by connecting teachers from Australia and the world in our weekly Twitter chat on Sunday evenings. It was so nice to see that the CEO is appreciating the hard work that we are putting in to this venture.
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