About Ann

Welcome to The Possibility Post. 

Ann Rooney

Ann Rooney

My name is Ann Rooney and I teach the Research ProjectEnglish as an Additional Language, English Year 12 and Year 8 and Design Technology to Middle School students at Wilderness School in Adelaide, South Australia.

The Possibility Post started after attending a workshop by George Couros. I named my blog The Possibility Post because I believe innovation leads to unexpected possibilities.

In publishing my reflections, my research and lessons I aim to document my learning as a teacher and create a professional portfolio. I also hope to make local and global connections and just share information about education with anyone who visits.

Creating a Class Blog

In 2016 I added student blogs to my site and this has led to student global conversations and collaborations with schools in Norway and Dana Hall students in Boston.

Student Wellbeing & Digital Literacy

I am passionate about my students’ wellbeing and teach digital literacy to build the skills necessary for respectful and empathetic global digital citizenship, collaboration and leadership.

Leadership

Since 2016, I have held the position of Head of Business Enterprise & Innovation Department. My faculty includes Multi Media, Business Enterprise, and Digital Communication.

Projects

Please see my Projects page.

Connect

The Possibility Posts and Twitter have become important to professional learning giving me the opportunity to reflect, to share and to be inspired by other educators.

Thank you for visiting and please leave a comment on my blog or Tweet me, @annrooney6

You may also like to contact me at Wilderness School email:

arooney@wilderness.com.au

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16 Comments
  1. Dear Dear Dear Ms Rooney,

    This is Ariana :)) I am currently studying Commerce and Computer Science at UNSW. I miss you (a looooooooot!) and all the international girls. I hope to see you again when I go back to Adelaide during my holiday!

    • Hi Ariana, great to hear from you. Your university course sounds amazing. What fun to study at UNSW. Please come and visit us when you are in Adelaide. Congratulations on your Merit for EAL. I am so happy with your results and your promising career. Warm regards, Ann

  2. Hi,I came across your blog via Twitter and some Literacy links. I noticed it seemed a bit George Couros -ish in design theory, and sure enough….confirmed when I Read your about page. I’m just about to introduce student digital literacy portfolios (the Couros Model) to our high school of about 450 students, starting with a small pilot group in a few days.
    I’d love any advice you might have to share based on your blogging with students. Are you using the “digital portfolio” idea for your students as well?
    Cheers,
    Cammie Kannekens
    Alberta, Canada

    • Hi Cammie,
      thank you for your comment. I have just started my students on Edublogs mainly to document their learning. When I introduced them to blogging I described it as an academic portfolio and a platform to connect globally. This resonated with my senior secondary students who are keen to create an academic online presence. Students have reacted differently with some embracing their blogs and in the process they have demonstrated not just responsible digital citizenship but also leadership. Your students will find it useful to read my students’blogs. I recommend viewing- Lowell All student blogs are on my home page. Also have a look at Ann Michaelsen’s students blogs.
      All the best and please email me if you want to.
      Cheers Ann

    • Hi Fred, thanks for your thoughts. Having a blog creates opportunities for me to reflect, collect artefacts and to share on teaching and learning. There are so many ways to use a blog. I have just started posting lessons. Recently, I introduced my students to blogging to embed digital citizenship and to build global connections.

  3. Hi Ann- collaborating on a global network must really transform the learning experience for your students! I look forward to hearing about it.

    I am wondering how collaborating with people from very different contexts plays out? Are the students curious about the context, do they need help in interpreting culturally nuanced comments? When the students have questions about context, what do they do to find out answers?

    • Hi Monica, the global experience truly transforms the classroom environment as it brings authentic communication to the forefront and creates an environment that opens up questions about culture and context.
      Learning becomes contextual, global and relevant to student’s lives. The context is learning about the world and connecting using online tools. Because technology is the bridge to learning students develop digital citizenship in context in a safe supportive environment.
      Last year my Year 11 ESL class participated in the Flat Connections Global Projects (FCGP). I found students to be naturally curious about others and through their teams they discovered similarities “They are just like me.” Teachers and students are supported by the FCGP team to assist using digital technologies such as the Ning, wikis and Google docs to co-create videos and eBooks. Being part of FCGP produced a stimulating and challenging learning environment that gave my class the opportunity to travel virtually and meet new perspectives. Students activate independent learning skills using a range of digital collaborative tools. They begin to develop a learning network and curate their information using tools such as Diigo and Google Drive. I found that students thrive on learning challenges and asking questions. I now aim to have at least one global collaboration as part of my yearly curriculum.

    • Hi Monica, my class is starting our second Flat Connection Global Project this week. It is a wonderful opportunity to build student and teacher communication using new technologies, meet and collaborate with our global students and schools.

    • Dear Christine, thank you for your kind comments. I hope that I can inspire people about the wonderful possibilities in education today.

    • Hi Lili,
      I haven’t read Ron’s new book so I won’t be able to comment. Thanks for the invitation. I’ll check out the online book club and Ron’s book. Just went to Google summit if you want to see my recent blogs. Cheers Ann

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