RNPS iPad Trial

21 May 2012

Photography at RNPS

This term the Grade 6's have started an amazing photography program with Mrs Nicolandos.

16 kids have been chosen to take part of this program that is running for the first time at RIngwood North Primary School. The program runs for a full term and every term a new group of kids are chosen. The classes run every Monday for 2 hours per session.

This photography class is an incredible experience for us, because it allows us to explore the school grounds and take photos of whatever we think will make a great photo. Our project topic is based on ‘Survival’ this term, so we are looking forward to coming up with some exciting images.

So far we have learnt how to:

take a a clear photo
alter the aperture to get a shallow or large depth of field
edit a photo on the computer
look for leading lines in our compositions (the lines lead to the main attraction that you want people to see)

Later on this term we will be taking more photos for our exhibition pieces, so keep an eye out for the details.

For our exhibition we have to focus on one area about ‘Survival’ to focus on. We have been recording our ideas in Popplet on a concept map.

Once the term is nearing to an end, we will be finishing up our finial product. It will either be a photo or a mixed media art piece.

So far it has been an amazing journey and can't wait to share our final product!

Written by Ashlee & Chloe

Grade 6

Images: Ashlee, Adam, Alan, Alana, Cameron, Ella, Kaylah, Kyle, Chloe, Nick, William & Zac - Grade 6

16 May 2012

Movie Making Winner

At Ringwood North Primary School students and teachers share a passion for technology. We are always very proud of what students achieve both during school and also at home. A big congratulations to Jordan Tait, who entered a movie making competition. Here is his story.

Hi, I’m Jordan from Grade 6. I entered a competition run on the TV Show “Kids WB” on channel GO. The competition was the “Kids WB’s Search for Australia’s Tech Deck Champion”. This competition required me to make a 1 minute movie showing my tech deck skills. I got started making the movie and had help from my brother Kyle and friends Cameron and Adam.

The results were announced on TV and I came 3^rd in Australia. I learnt all of the skills required for movie making at Ringwood North Primary School, thank-you for teaching me how to film using different camera angles and also how to edit. I won $400 worth of tech deck gear and received a letter from the presenters of the show Lauren Phillips and Andrew Faulkner.

I hope you enjoy watching my movie. The music is “Back in Black” by ACDC.

Thank-you,

Jordan Tait

28 Mar 2012

Tap To Learn Apps- FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME

This company has produced over 20 educational apps for the iPad. For a very limited time they have priced dropped many of their apps to FREE. Take a look at the huge range of apps, you just might find something you like!

Some fun education apps include:

Follow the link to the developers page:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/taptolearn-software/id373242307

7 Mar 2012

Digital Citizens at RNPS

Welcome to the beginning of a new year and another exciting CBL journey. Our Grade 5/6 students are already into their first challenge for 2012. Our Big Idea of ‘Identity’ will be explored through the challenge of creating a positive digital culture at RNPS. The pitch video below will introduce you to our challenge.

During this CBL unit, students will be comparing their physical and digital identities, developing their skills and understandings to contribute positively as digital citizens in today’s world.

We are already very impressed with the enthusiasm and effort shown by the students and we look forward to seeing their final solutions.

22 Dec 2011

RNPS 'WOW' Apple in the USA

A very big congratulations to all the students at RNPS who have completed some truly amazing solutions for CBL this year. The work our students have done has inspired many around the world. The book "The World Needs Us" was written, illustrated and published by a number of RNPS students during a CBL unit on Biodiversity. They had hoped that their book could teach other students about global warming. Little did they know that their book would end up at the Apple Headquaters in the USA.

We can't wait to see what our students can achieve in 2012.

20 Dec 2011

Ringwood North PS Junior Geniuses

There can be no debate - our kids know more than most adults about technology. And at our school, there is no doubt our Year 5/6 students are our resident experts when it comes to iPads. Yet rather than be threatened by this, why not harness their enthusiasm and willingness to share their knowledge?

With our Year 5/6 students and staff each having their own iPads, and small class sets throughout tour Prep - Year 4 classrooms, the need to support the staff and students around the school with this technology is vital. We also have many parents who have indicated their desire to learn more about the technology and work their children are doing with it.

And so the 'Ringwood North Junior Geniuses' was born!

Over the last few weeks, we have been running lunchtime sessions with student 'volunteers' who were ready and willing to share their talents with students and parents from across the school community. During these sessions, we shared our knowledge and practised 'min-lessons' that we were going to run back out in classrooms around the school. I was quite amazed at the regular turnout of 20+ students to each lunchtime session.

A timetable was created, and pairs of students went out into classrooms during class times to share their expertise with the students and their teachers all over the school. We also had Friday afternoon sessions in our staffroom, where parents were invited to come and have a cup of coffee and learn a little bit more from our Geniuses.

And then of course, was the t-shirt. It took a little bit of time to get organised, but no Genius should do their work without the correct attire! The students are all very proud of their new tops.

The benefits of this program include;

providing leadership opportunities for students
personal learning (developing responsibility, organisation, etc)
preparing lessons for a specific audience (these guys are nearly certified teachers based on their performances)
presentation skills, public speaking
teamwork, collaboration
self-esteem
other students, teachers and parents excited to learn from the students
ongoing professional learning for our teachers that takes 15 - 20 minutes!

A big thanks to Tim, one of our school Dads who helped with the T-Shirts, and a big congratulations to our amazing and talented Junior Geniuses.

We look forward to more adventures next year.

16 Dec 2011

Ringwood North PS Architects!

Today, a number of our Year 3, 4 and 5 students have the honour of working with our new architects as part of a new development for Ringwood North PS.

The students have the opportunity to share what they like about the school, Their favourite play and work spaces, as well as ideas for the future.

Exciting times ahead!

8 Dec 2011

'Respect' Festival

What is respect?

Often we talk to our students about 'having' or 'demonstrating' it, but have you actually had your students investigate this Big Idea?
How can we expect our students to demonstrate this concept if they don't know what it actually is?

Students from Ringwood North PS investigated the Big Idea of 'Respect' as a part of a school wide Challenge Based Learning project. Students from Prep - Year 6 were guided through specific activities relating to this theme, and ultimately found a solution to a challenge issued to them. From preparing visits and celebrations for members of our local community not often recognized for their hard work, investigating the history of our students' origins, to developing solutions that promote a healthier lifestyle, this concept of 'respect' took on many faces.

The Year 5/6 area was issued with the challenge of 'Develop a festival that celebrates respect.' This was an ambitious project for the students, but also their teachers. This was going to be an authentic representation of the students' work. While the teachers worked through the challenge with the students - developing questions for investigation, creating literacy and numeracy lessons that supported the students' research, as well as ongoing collaboration, the students were responsible for making their contribution towards the festival.
The end result reflected what is possible when students are empowered to make choices, learn from their mistakes and work in collaboration with their teachers. The ideas the students came up with in relation to the festival was diverse and original. From the celebration of international cuisine, artworks from different cultures, our environment and the people in our community who make it special, this festival was an unbelievable achievement. One group took on the huge task of co-ordinating the event - developing floor plans, schedules, advertising materials, as well as organizing the other groups.

Students manned their exhibit space, engaged in conversation with the school community who were invited to the event, answered questions and even challenged some of our practises, as highlighted by the 'Fair Trade' group. Exhibits included craft activities, showcasing original artworks, brochures, and used the iPads as an interactive tool to further demonstrate their understanding. The night ended with a number of films developed by some students as part of their solution, and even some student reflection movies.

Students sharing their passion and new understandings, working with teachers to achieve their goal and ultimately sharing their success with their parents, friends and school community highlights what the notion of 'Respect' truly is.

This challenge highlighted how a child's creativity, imagination and willpower can achieve what some say they can't.

4 Dec 2011

Grow Your Own Snack - Year 2 CBL Success!

Our Year 2 superstars completed an amazing job in their 'Grow Your Own Healthy Snack' challenge as part of this term's focus on 'Growth.'
The Year 2 students were given 8 weeks to grow their own healthy snack and needed to investigate all kinds of questions in order to get to their solution. With their research completed, the students decided what plants they needed to purchase, where they were going to plant the seeds and organise teams to manage and care for the crop. With several weeks to spare, the students in Year 2 celebrated their success by having a healthy feast of the foods they had grown.
At Friday's assembly after a fantastic presentation put together by Mrs Bryant, a new solution was presented to deal with a new problem - the food is continuing to grow! An 'Open Market' was held at recess where hoards of students lined up to sample the healthy snacks. To see the pride in the students' faces, the excitement at their success and now their ability to feed students throughout the school was simply amazing.
Congratulations to all the students in Year 2 and their talented and creative teachers, Mrs Bryant, Mrs Prince & Mr Freeman.

4 Dec 2011

Dr Larry Johnson Visits Ringwood North PS

Last week, Ringwood North PS had a very special visitor to our school.

Dr Larry Johnson, the CEO of the New Media Consortium, took time out from his busy schedule to pay us a visit. The NMC produces the 'Horizon Report,' a document that draws on data from all over the world to predict the trends in education and technology over the next 5 years. The NMC has also been responsible for the collection and analysis of data in relation to the global Challenge based Learning project we have been involved in.

To kick off the day, several of our students presented their solutions with our most recent challenge on the Big Idea of 'Respect' to Dr Johnson. We then had a tour of the school and a chat with many of the students involved in their CBL tasks. We appreciated Dr Johnson making the time to visit our school considering he was only in Melbourne for the day. It was fantastic to have him see our students in action and get a chance to meet the staff who have worked so hard on this project.

Dr Johnson's visit, his kind words to our students and in a recent blog post at the NMC, has made us realize the genuine impact our students can have on the world.