END OF YEAR REVIEW MUSIC

It's that time of year when graduations and end of year reflections are upon us. I've searched for some sites where songs are suggested for these, but thought I'd put together some of the most famous ones and a few curve-balls that can be used. Under the Copyright act - schools may use and distribute movies made "for commemorative purposes". Although I use them to show to the class/school and add the line "This presentation is not for reproduction or distribution" just to ensure less problems are encountered in regard to copyright, as well as students photos being distributed.

Please comment and add your own - there's plenty more than this list!

"Time of Your Life" by Greenday (overused, but still good)
"Enterlude" and "Exitlude" by The Killers (bit quirky, but fits nicely!)
"All These Things I've Done" by The Killers
"Sunsets" by Powderfinger
"These Days" by Powderfinger
"The Metre" by Powderfinger
"Undiscovered" by James Morrison (kind of about love, but the chorus is relevant)
"Learnalilgivinanlovin" by Gotye (again, a bit about love, but message is there)
"Right here, right now" by Fat Boy Slim (more for the beat/build up, not the lyrics!)
"The Best Thing" by Boom Crash Opera (oldie, but a goodie)
"How Far We've Come" by Matchbox Twenty
"Are You with Me?" by the Potbelleez
"Angel" by Sarah Mclachlan
"Galvanise" by The Chemical Brothers (more for the intro, but the "Push the Button" lyric could be fun too!)
"Light Surrounding You" by Evermore
"Forever Young" by Youth Group (a cover version, but the best in my opinion)
"Ready to Go" by Republica
"Learn to Fly" by Foo Fighters
"My Hero" by Foo Fighters
"Imagine" by John Lennon
"Shine On" by Jet
"Fix You" by Coldplay
"Wake" by Linkin Park (used as an intro can be very powerful)
"Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park
"Plans" by Birds of Tokyo
"Firework" by Katy Perry (big message behind this)
"Drive" by Incubus (good for graduation - looking into the future)
"Sing" by My Chemical Romance (bit of a "call to arms" or "stick it to 'em" song, but talks of believing in your self/your school)

TOP 5 DIFFICULTIES WITH 1:1 LAPTOPS

Recently I spoke to a group of 14 principals from Thailand who were investigating Australian schools that have a 1:1 laptop program. When I was approached I immediately thought 'Awesome! I can show them this and that and we can do this and the students can get this ready and show them this task ...' Then as I found myself speaking to some students who had some creative uses of laptops with their learning, I stopped myself from the promotion side of things and remembered when I was new to the idea of 1:1 laptops. I wanted to find every problem, difficulty and essentially how my job would be made harder. I changed my tact when preparing the students and said 'be honest - go and get the best files/applications that help you with your learning. Tell me why it's better to do that task on a laptop'. With not much else, the boys did this, it was honest. Having worked through this idea some more, here are my top 5 difficulties for running a 1:1 laptop classroom.

#1: NETWORK/ADMIN ISSUES
These are usually out of anyone's control, but it is so frustrating to have a lesson planned, a webpage saved, and email sent to students etc etc and them not be able to access it. Having said that, I have been more creative with thinking on my feet!

#2: FLAT BATTERY / BROKEN LAPTOP
A frustration because it shouldn't happen! Students running out of charge toward the end of the day is only topped by students running out of charge at the start of the day! This doesn't happen often, but trying to organize a replacement activity for this one or two students adds to the excitement of a day in a 1:1 classroom. Accidents happen, and we realize that broken laptops will happen.

#3: JUSTIFYING THEIR EXISTENCE
This has only been a rare conversation, probably not one that detractors from the 1:1 idea would bring up to a teacher, but still annoying that people can't see the benefits. Thankfully parents are generally supportive, once they are aware of what's happening for their child. Technology obviously isnt going to go away anytime soon, so laptops MUST be used in schools. How their used is the key.

#4: DISTRACTED STUDENTS
There are many reasons why students are drawn away from the task at hand when using a laptop. Despite software monitoring being available, my feeling is that it is an indicator that the work has little relevance to the students. Hard to ensure everything is relevant, but you are less likely to find distracted student if they are enjoying and engaged in their learning.

#5: SEARCHING FOR THE BEST
Seems hardly a difficulty, and more 'best practice' however trying to find an application, web resource, quiz, keynote etc. That does exactly what you want for your students is difficult. A constant search for good sites drives me away from looking on a bad day! There are more and more apps being developed and web sites being created for the education sector, pleasingly more and more are being made by teachers or with a teacher's hat on... Not just 'this will be good for schools' attitude from a developer who is removed fro the education setting.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? PLEASE COMMENT ON YOUR BIGGEST DIFFICULT OR ROAD BLOCK WITH THE IDEA OF 1:1 LAPTOPS...

ICT IN AUSSIE RULES (PART #2)

Reviewing the 2011 football season it was brilliant to see the development of skills and strategy over the year. ICT helped the players learn these skills through videos, questioning and discussions. It was pleasing to hear the players talk on the field with keywords used in these videos, like "Kerr-Cousins guys, Kerr-Cousin" relating to the movement of the ball down the wing and drawing an opposition player out of the play.

Obsurvey.com was also used at the half-way point to gain feedback about the football program. Keywords, strategies in the forward or defensive half, player enjoyment and the structure of training were all part of the survey. The results were an interesting mix of keywords used by coaches, gaps in some players' knowledge of extended ideas and an overwhelming emphasis on the importance of fun while playing footy!

I look forward to finding some apps to include next season and integrating iPads into the program. It is a quick and easy way of communicating game play and assessing player understanding and gain their honest feedback through anonymous survey. Go ICT!