Diary of a Home Learner! Week One

Home Learning, huh?

Isn't that just an excuse to not use your diaries?  An excuse to not do work? 

Isn't it really just a cop-out?

Some people have been really positive with me about my Home Learning trial this month.  I must admit that others have played "Devil's Advocate" quite well.  And they have reason to worry.  This could well turn to farce before it's over.  I'm not predicting that, but it's a possibility.  Some concerns are legitimate.

• 1.  Some kids might opt out and try to do the bare minimum. 
• 2.  Some kids might use their diaries poorly.
• 3.  Some kids might find the lack of direction hard to handle.
• 4.  Some parents might find the lack of direction hard to handle.
• 5.  Some parents might want their kids drilling skills rather than inquiring freely.
• 6.  Some kids will happily inquire without having finished their class work.
• 7 - 10. Four other possible concerns which I haven't thought of yet - one of which should include a wookie, a goat or approximately 7kg of cat litter......

I do set some guidelines for activities, but as you can see, there are a variety of options...  

You have hopefully seen our essential agreement before in a previous post.

So last week I decided to address some of these concerns head-on by making a song & dance about the use of student diaries.  Each day, I modelled good diary usage and I made a point of celebrating good diary usage from the students who had figured it out.

Today, I took photos of last week's diaries.  Every kid's diary was photographed.  I didn't just want the good, I wanted everyone's diary.  I am interested in the wonderful stories that make the system look amazing AS WELL AS the horror stories that make this system look doomed.

These diaries aren't filled in at 3:00pm every day.

They are filled in each night or early the next morning - outlining what was DONE.

The pictures should tell the story.  I'll post my thoughts in a supplemental on this blog post later.  Right now, check out the many, varied ways my kids have understood how their diaries should be used effectively.

Don't let a few spelling errors put you off... This kid 'gets it'

First time I've seen comments in the comments box for a loonnnnng time.  Awesome to see.

I'm not sure about the check boxes, looks kinda cool, but we're supposed to document what we have done...  The jury is out on this one.  I definitely appreciate the amount of learning taking place each night!

Completing class work! Cool to see.  Testing a year 11... hmmm.  I'd rather the year 11 tested YOU!

I love the times outlined.  I also love seeing what was learned from Wonderopolis on the Tuesday.  I would like to know what books were being read.  I think that's important.

Times... Cool.  Reading to a pillow is a reading aloud strategy - awesome to see.  I wonder what book was being read?

I like the sentence structure.  Another interesting approach.  Precise timings too!

Even telling me what she did on the Writers' Club!  Cooool. Watched News!  Awesome!

Those circled words represent self editing of spelling.  My dream.  What a great job!

What did you do on Writers' Club, Kiddo?  Cubs sounds RAD.  How long were you there?  What an amazing piece of info about Mum.  I don't know if I'd see that with the old way we used our diaries....

Times tables using a ball (throwing).  Counted money is interesting!  How much?  How did you do it?  Tell me more!

This guy often opted out of homework. With home learning, he is opting in.  Does he still need to vary his choices and aim for some more academic learning? Sure.  But he's involved.

I'd love to know what this guy did at cubs.  I miss the details.  They make a huge difference!

    Single words don't tell me the story.  I miss times here.  I'd also love to know who won Buzz!                                                  I'm really confused by "What!!!!"

A VERY interesting comment on Monday.  That needs unpacking.  Very interesting idea on Tuesday.   The mention of goals on the Wednesday is AWESOME.  A mixed bag of joy and concern here.

Awesome.  Sentence format.  Few glitches, but a great effort!

We're circling words!  That is really promising.  Now to complete the editing phase by finding the correct spellings...

I might let Moo in on the spelling issue tomorrow.  Particularly when she's actually quite talented at the violin...  Great to see parent communication in diaries.  I think this is where they belong, where possible.

All I want to know is, which book?  It must be a good one!  Awesome diary upkeep!

Terrific diary upkeep!  I can really see what time was spent learning.

My next step:  How to use our diaries on the weekends - or how to fill them in together on the Monday mornings.

So there you have it.   The good, the bad and the ugly.  

This was our first week of using our diaries for Home Learning.

Any comments or suggestions you might have for our next week of diary upkeep for Home Learning would be greatly appreciated.