Fractals is an aspect of maths that can inspire awe and wonder in the students. This is a piece of ecphrastic poetry (where you ask questions of artwork) based on fractal geometry. The students had to ‘combine’ Fractalus, Photostory 3, Ejay and poetry. See what you think.
Adrian
PS My Twitter Network sent me a collection of ideas for using Photostory 3. See if any of these ideas work for you and your class.
Where in our classrooms do we celebrate genius? Where do we demonstrate genius? Where do we question what constitutes genius? Where do we demonstrate that there is sooooooooo much more to doing ‘well’ than completing a standardised test? Where do we encourage our students to rise above the mundane? Where do we encourage our students to practise their passions? Where do we question the status quo?
Outcomes are the floor people! They are not the ceiling!!!
Over the last few years I’ve become very interested in creative process. What is it that enables some people to have an amazing output of creative ideas? How can we teach ‘creativity’? Can we truly teach creativity? Am I creative or am I doing what creative people do?
One of my favourite creativity tools is the SCAMPER Process. I particularly like to play around with the ‘Substitute’ & ‘Combine’ part of the process to produce ‘creative’ pieces of work.
In my ‘Dora Meets Sigmund’ comic I’ve ‘Substituted’: Comic Life for paper, digital photographs for drawings as well as ‘Combining’ Dora from my daughter’s doll house & Freud from my workspace. The dialog comes from ‘Combining’ aspects of a joke my cousin and I had via email. Thanks cuz!!!
Try a little SCAMPER yourself, you’ll be amazed with what you come up with.
One of the great things about working in so many schools is that I get to meet some really talented teachers. Sometimes I can convince them to make their resources available to the world. Tonight’s reading comprehension resource comes from a particularly talented STLD (Support Teacher Learning Difficulties) who works tirelessly to bring the joy of reading to her students.
Thanks a heap sister!!! 
Ever since Chris Betcher let me know Comic Life had a PC version I’ve been a fan. It is one of the few pieces of propriatory software I use in my workshops. It is a wonderful tool for digital storytelling that has so many uses in the classroom and beyond!!!
I am planning a Comic Life section for my website… I’m sure I’ll get started on it one day soon. Just as soon as I finish all the other unfinished bits. hehehehe 
The Fail Whale
Let’s just say I’m embracing my procrastination. As a result I’ve created a fail whale with an environmental activist’s bent. Feel free to give the image a little social media love!
Hi All,
Tonight I’d like to take the opportunity to welcome Mahatma Ghandi to my desk. Mahatma is the 7th Oddfellow
So why do you keep inviting these guys to your desk Adrian?
1. These people led inspirational lives. Maybe we can learn a little from them.
2. Reality TV mostly makes heroes of people with little talent of worth to humanity. How do we as teachers counter that?
3. To get my students asking questions about historical figures and what it is that caused them to live ‘beyond their generation’.
cheers
Adrian
Plus I’m really glad a magnificent ‘Pommie basher’ join me during The Ashes
So now I’m looking for captions. Feel free to add your ideas to my comment section
2 weeks later – ‘One day lads, we will reclaim The West Island!’ – …and Kiwis might fly!
Who hoo, my son and I have just had our proposal for a 4 hour workshop accepted by the good people at ELH 09. This makes the 4th year in a row that I have been accepted for this conference and I’m pretty stoked to be asked back again. So for all those who missed out last year it might be time to hit your principal up for some funding to head to Lorne Victoria in August 
Last year I wrote an article for the Australian education journal EQ Magazine entitled ‘Keys to the Virtual World’ and now the time has come upload it to my website.
Beyond the school gate exists an awe-inspiring virtual place where a person can take almost complete control of their own professional development. It is a place devoid of filters that allow you to purchase a Russian bride but block the evils of lego.com. A place where staff politics, ill conceived arguments and small mindedness fall by the wayside to the pursuit of evidence based ‘best practice’. A world inhabited by passionate educators & ‘switched on’ learning communities. The world I speak of is that of the modern digital Personal Learning Network or PLN.
Read more about Personal Learning Networks
