User:Robeanne

=My Profile=

Professional Background

 * I graduated in 1984 with a Degree in French, German and Politics and followed that with a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) I am from the UK but recently emigrated to NZ with my family.
 * I have been involved in Education for the last 25 years teaching French, German, Spanish, PE and Outdoor Education in a variety of secondary schools in the UK and now here in NZ. Over the last 10 years I have developed more of an interest in ICT and how technology can enhance my teaching and the learning of my students.  I guess I needed a new direction after teaching for 12 or 13 years.  Much as I loved being in the classroom and was passionate about teaching, I was at that sort of crossroads where I needed a change and something new to inject some pizzazz into my lessons!
 * I am currently teaching French at Waikato Diocesan School for Girls in Hamilton. I have also been appointed as Teacher IT Coach – a grand title but my role is to help and encourage  my less confident colleagues to embrace the technology we have available to us.  My school in the UK introduced Moodle so I was one of the active users of that.  I then came here to NZ to a school that didn’t have a VLE so I created a Ning site to enable my students to get some of the benefits of online learning.  At WDSG we use Ultranet and one of my roles here is to train people in the use of it – this is a work in progress as I try things out with my classes and find out how the system works before passing on the information to my colleagues!
 * I use a Podcasting site on Podomatic with my students – a great way to get them to practise their speaking and listening. I have tried to use the Wiki application on Ultranet with my students but it seems quite limited in its scope and certainly not as dynamic as the module in Moodle though I didn’t get much chance to use it in the UK. So I am interested in how Wikis can be used  and the benefits students can get from them in the classroom and at home.
 * I have acquired another role in school this year as the Outdoor Education Co-ordinator, so I wear many hats! Somebody recently commented that my mix of roles was oxymoronic, but I prefer to see them as keeping my life balanced and interesting.  Variety is the spice of life.

Education

 * Pre-school at St John's School, Pudsey, Leeds
 * Primary Education at Fir Tree Primary School, Moortown, Leeds, UK 1968 - 1975
 * Secondary Education at Allerton High School, Moortown, Leeds 1975 - 1980

Higher Education
 * Leeds Polytechnic 1980 - 1984 (with one year at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, Paris)
 * Leeds University (PGCE) 1984-5

Professional
Teaching and learning languages, exploring new and different ways to enhance student learning and developing my own expertise

Personal
My Family, walking, camping, caving, mountain biking, cycling, the outdoors, gardening, reading, foreign films, photography, languages, chocolate, good food and wine.

My Projects

 * Completing this Wiki course
 * Writing a user-guide to using Ultranet and Uspace for my students and colleagues
 * Finding out more about the protocols for using Social networking sites with students and how best to embed them into teaching and learning

My Reflection
I feel like I am making some progress now after struggling for a bit! I have been thinking about the advantages of using wikis with my classes and though I am not completely aware of their full potential I can see that they can be a very empowering tool for students. This would be especially so if they can collaborate across borders, nationalities, cultures and of course that is possible. My problem is that I work within the constraints of a Secondary school where the emphasis is on protecting the students from any danger, and also an operating budget that means that we are restricted in our use of external websites. In fact any external contact is discouraged because of the concern of computer viruses, worms, spyware, spam e-mail etc. It is very frustrating! I have already tried using wikis to get my students to work together on essays and research, and also as a way of getting them to do some peer review and checking the accuracy and language in what they write. This has been quite successful albeit on a very small scale. I also think that this is the key - don't try to do too much at once - we need to be conmfortable in understanding how a wiki works before we can really launch it on to our students. One class at a time is a good way to get going.

My Bookmarks
Why not have a look at this site thistle French podcast - I have been using it to create podcasts in French for my students to listen to.

Glogster is another good site for teaching - students can create their own interactive posters - great fun and very engaging!

Our family blog is at Easegill

Speleoblog
Caves, Potholes, Grottes, Tomos - call them what you will, holes in the ground fascinate me!

Here is a /page dedicated to my passion

Feedback & Notes from my WikiNeighbours

 * Hello Anne, I posted a question for your question at Wiki Questions :-) --Gladys Gahona C. 04:30, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
 * thank you - I have nejoyed working on this so far - it has given me lots of ideas and made me realise the potential of what we can do to help our students learn--Robeanne 09:01, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
 * thank you - I have nejoyed working on this so far - it has given me lots of ideas and made me realise the potential of what we can do to help our students learn--Robeanne 09:01, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
 * thank you - I have nejoyed working on this so far - it has given me lots of ideas and made me realise the potential of what we can do to help our students learn--Robeanne 09:01, 4 November 2009 (UTC)