Tracey@ODC: Term 1, 2012

Goodness me, it is the end of term already! What an incredibly full on learning time we have had! ODC is always action packed, but this term has seemed to go past particularly fast.
Our concept for this year is CHANGE, so much of what we have been discovering is about that.

DEBATABLE TRUTHS for CHANGE

CHANGE may be positive or negative or neutral

CHANGE has a cause and effect

CHANGE is inevitable

CHANGE may be influenced

CHANGE can be natural or man made

CHANGE can be revolutionary or evolutionary

Much discussion has been had around the debatable truths especially around the concepts of evolutionary and revolutionary. What is the difference?

Mental Edge

This term we have unpacked CRITICAL thinking.
What is critical thinking and what does it mean to think critically?
There are many areas to critical thinking, but we focused on;
PLANNING THINKING-to identify central issues, to consider all factors and viewpoints
FORECASTING-to consider causes and consequences, to recognise others' points of view
PROBLEM SOLVING-to identify problems,
DECISION MAKING and EVALUATING-to present justified arguments.
We practiced these skills by using Tony Ryan's 'Thinkers Keys'. The Disadvantage Key. What are the disadvantages of a school bag? We had a lot of fun with this one, especially when we looked at it from different points of view! The creative minds here worked over load! What are the disadvantages of a school bag from the point of view of a lunch box? An ant? A shop keeper? The carrier?
We also used our critical thinking skills when we had to come up with the learning space of our dreams. This activity was inspired after we watched a Ken Robinson interview. We weren't looking at the physical layout of a learning space, but how we would run our learning space and the implications that would go with it.

Talent Clubs

Readers/writers have been creating fantasy worlds. Much has gone into the planning stage of this writing so not many people people have begun to write. The kids are really enjoying having the opportunity to unpack their worlds, characters and plot. Writing may begin next term for some it may not. Ask your child where they are in the planning process and about their fantasy world.

Mathematicians

We have been working at various levels on mathsmate. Everyone loves this programme for its variety and individual levels. There will be the option to continue this next term, or move on to The Khan Academy.

Exploring Talents

A variety of exploring has been going on. Some have chosen to continue on with their talent during this time, others have done some exploring. I have had some students exploring; minecraft, ALICE animation, ACID music Studio, claymation, circuitry, science experiments and photography....phew!!! Busy times!

Concept
We have been doing intro tasks around CHANGE this term and unpacking the many different types of change. We used the creative thinking tool 'SCAMPER' to create squiggle creatures. We had to use SCAMPER to CHANGE our squiggle by making changes; substituting, combining, adapting, magnifying/minifying, eliminating and reversing our original squiggle. Photos of these to come.

A variety of pictures of this term.