John Butler Primary College Winthrop Australia Ongoing PD Blog

The Year 6 students learned how to organise, represent and analyse data they had collected about drawing cards from a pack using Numbers App on the iPad. They organised their data in a blank spreadsheet (as below), then used the chart generation options (+ icon top right corner) in the app to represent it as a pie chart. The students then learned how they can format their charts to ensure they accurately represent the data in a way that they can analyse it themselves, such as giving their chart an appropriate title and inserting labels to match the values within the pie. Finally, they learned how to convert their 2D pie chart into a 3D version with interactive scrolling to enhance analysis. Next, the students will use the app to collect, organise, represent and analyse data about the possibility of a boy/girl birth in separate families.

For the first 'Popple' here the inking feature was used to write the word 'Old'.  The students in Mrs Foster's class learned how to create representations of their knowledge using Popplet app. Squares, called 'Popples' have various input options such as inking, text or images. The Popples can be linked and positioned in a way that the students choose to suit them. A fully completed page can be saved and exported to the Camera Roll or other apps. The students in Mrs Foster's class started to create an 'Old' and 'New' Popplet page. They came up with many interesting observations for each such as a tin bath as part of an old house and a rag doll for an old toy. Next, the students will be challenged to add different coloured Popples to their pages that indicated researched inputs using their short-cut Google Advanced Search skills.

Mrs Westlund outlining the SWOT analysis. A group in action conducting their SWOT analysis on their Prototype Mk 1 The students in Mrs Westlund's class continued their great work on their Design Technology projects by conducting a Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (SWOT) analysis of their initial vehicle prototypes. Referring to their first build as 'Mk 1' or 'Series 1' the students gained useful insights into their vehicle designs in their current form such as 'the high level of friction is a weakness', 'a strength is that our vehicle is light' and 'an opportunity for us is to provide another delivery compartment but keep it light'. This enabled the students to be able to satisfy the requirement of the Design and Digital Technology curriculum to provide evidence of redesign via a process which is also part of the assessment rubric for their project.

Mrs Crabtree working with a pairing of students. The final instruction was matched to the final shape to provide instant feedback. All movies were saved with the convention - Name/Task - to assist with review and assessment. All the Pre-Primary classes conducted a positional language task using Stop Motion app recently. To prepare the students developed staged instructions on a fold-able that created a shape of their choice using manipulatives. They then described their instructions to a partner, finally comparing their final shape with the one their partner had created. The students enjoyed the instant feedback of their success or were able to review their process again.

The Year 1's in Mrs Foster's class continued their learning about old toys and new toys in HaSS. First, they made sure they had downloaded all the images they needed via a short-cut Google advanced search of the key words 'old toys' and 'new toys'. Then they learned to develop their explanations of the differences of these by using the Book Creator app to record an audio note of their descriptions. Some students wrote their sentences out first. Audio notes (shown as speaker icons) were attached to all relevant pages in their e-book. As a summative task they recorded their own opinions of which they prefer after describing the differences between old and new, including references to their favourite toys. For a plenary some were shared out via screen share on the Apple TV.

Generating ideas to solve a problem through Empathising with it. Extracting an idea that can be a product that solves the problem. Drawing an initial design.   The Year 5's in Mrs Westlund's class learned how to use a 5 phase design process to create a product for their Design Technology project. The 5 phases are Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype & Test. In this session the students empathised with Mrs Westlund who needs a whiteboard marker, defined the problem as being a matter of transporting the marker to her, generated many ideas to solve this problem based on what they know about BeeBots and coding and then began drawing and building their designs as protoypes. They used materials they had brought from home such as cardboard and plastic bottles to combine with tape and the Make Do tools from school to collaboratively build their prototypes using the BeeBots. They even empathised with Mrs Westlund to the extent of delivering chocolate!