Many of the teachers in our school are looking/investing/ exploring one area or another on how to communicate with students, assess students, have students engaged, trying different manners of learning, and so many other areas. In January Jennifer Spain went around to each teacher in our school and asked them what are they learning, where are they interested in going. I've been posting the results but I never posted this summary in January and although some have moved on to new goals (as you see from the previous blogs) this summary does show that the passion for learning extends to our staff as well as to the students. Below are the links to emails for you to contact these people if you are interested in the area they are exploring. Thank you.
Bases
Using blog
to
· Write about highlights of the week
· Display student work
· Post photos of weekly science
experiments
· Talk about what’s upcoming
· The theme: come into our classroom
via the blog.
· Keep parents informed of what is
happening in the school.
Yearbook/Science
· using Dropbox for yearbook sharing/file
sharing. Going to use SEND TO ME to have students email me attachments
that will save directly to Dropbox. This will be great when using garage
band on the iPads next semester (can email sound files directly to me).
· Use of Google forms for collecting
yearbook survey results
· use of Google docs to collaborate with
other teachers to create a science 8 exit interview
· Used the iPads to do school wide
yearbook surveys. 4 hours, 850 kids. Not too bad :-)
· Next semester I look forward to using
the iPads with the science 8's and 9's for storybook building, possible
claymation comic strips and podcasts
· Personally, a lot of the technology I
tapped into this semester was technology of convenience. Dropbox, Google
Docs, and the portability of the iPads were all used for the sake of
collaboration and/or efficiency. Though a heavy user of technology in my
personal life, I am hesitant to use technology in my classroom that feels more
like a gimmick than something that increases creative and critical thinking
(for example, Glogster). I'm constantly on the hunt for apps and tools
that will achieve this (and of course whether they do or don't is often trial
and error). As with everyone else, it's a work in progress.
PE
·
Twitter feed – 300 followers for
athletics twitter feed. It started as professional development and has grown.
It has become more than just announcements and now their goal is to create a
model of a 24 hour teacher and modeling social relationships that exist outside
of school as well as within it. All teachers in PE have a Twitter account.
·
The professional development has
been very important using the driving philosophy of decentralizing learning. It
should not be controlled by the teacher or require large expenditures on
technology.
·
Focus: affect the teacher so that
the effect trickles down to the students.
·
Student side: BYOD took off with
the expansion of the wireless
·
TV allows access to Twitter feed
for those who don’t have technology & reduces the gap between the haves and
the have nots.
·
Wiki duplicates what’s on the TV:
Twitter feed, Google calendar, list of coaches
·
Plan; to introduce students as
authors and implement digital portfolios
·
Next step: Apple TV and projector
to use in hub to communicate with students. Has direct mirroring for all
connected devices (exactly what’s on your screen will be on the Apple TV)
·
Focus: looking for opportunities
for student authorship. Engaging technology with formative assessment and
student authorship.
Learning Assistance
· Investigated the usability and
positive influence of the Smartboard for learning in a small classroom
environment of ESL students.
Languages
· Has a Wiki where he posts student
homework
· Projects, homework, assignments can be
accessed and completed online
· Uses blogging with his students
· Uses GarageBand to record conversations
and posted on Wiki for other students to respond.
· Using student input on creation of
criteria and rubrics
· iMovie projects
· Musique mardi: weekly French music
videos/songs from a variety of French countries
I'm
trying to bring technology into my classroom as much as possible. This semester
I succeed in using more technology that I have in previous semesters,
although it was difficult at times due to the library booking schedule or
the lack of a class set of good working laptops but somehow I managed.
My
students used the following websites to create some fabulous projects:
· Storybird - to write a
story in Spanish using concepts learned in grade 10
· Mixbook - to create a
childhood scrapbook using preterite/imperfect in grade 11
· Toondoo - to create a comic
strip using reflexive verbs/present progressive in grade 11
· Voki - to send an avatar in
which students spoke Spanish for grades 10/11
· Prezi - to hand in projects
that use superlatives/ or any other project that required using a poster but
students chose to do a Prezi instead. - French nine
This is
what I'm hoping to do for semester 2
· goanimate - to create a
video
· urbanbarn.com - to create a
project on vocab related to the home
· ipads - to create small
projects using comics or any other useful tool
· website - create a website
in which students can give each other feedback on language learning
· as well as continue to
develop other projects with websites I have used before
I think
that what I'm doing is affecting my teaching in many positive ways. It's
helping me take risks and trying things with students that may or may not work
or may or may not be liked. It's also helping me feel more confident about using technology
and not be afraid to say to the students that I don't know that much about
technology.
I'm
having been finding that most of my students are very engaged in the projects
that involve technology. For example the Storybird was a project that took
almost a week and many of the students were very focused on the task. It was
incredible to see how engaged they were and how hard they worked on it. I was
worried that after various days of working on it some would be bored, but at
the end I heard a lot of positive comments such as 'that was fun' 'I really
enjoyed doing that' or 'I can't wait for you to read my story.' It's helping my
students demonstrate their language learning in a variety of ways and in ways
that they can relate to.
· Using student input on feedback and
assessment criteria. This gave students a sense of ownership in the assessment
process, and made them far more effective in providing peer feedback than they
ever had been before.
· Using Twitter and Google Docs for
student homework assignments and study/supplementary resources
· Using www.socrative.com for student input/participation (similar to iClickers but
using any internet enabled device)
· Using www.voicethread.com for online discussions and responses to questions
posed by students
· Technology–related tools were
chosen on their ease of use for all students (i.e. not having to spend a lot of
time teaching the tool), their privacy policies, and their ability to work on
multiple platforms (i.e. iPod, iPad, cell phones, desktop computers, etc.) I
deliberately chose as many tools as possible that were not specific to
languages, but rather had a range of possibilities for students to use in other
courses too. When they saw the usefulness of the tools they were using, they
became enthusiastic adopters of the tools, and many of them did their own
trouble-shooting by looking for YouTube videos etc. on how to use the tools if
they were having trouble with them.
· I used Google Forms to survey my
grade 11 students at the end of the course, and asked them to tell me one thing
they liked about French 11. Many students commented on how different the
collaborative, technology-based projects were and how much they liked them, but
many also commented on how much they had enjoyed all the speaking they got to
do.
· Exploring the use of student choice
in format of assignments. All students receive the same guidelines on content
but can choose how they would present it. Some examples chosen by students
included traditional posters and essays as well as Prezi, Glogster, PowerPoint
and SlideRocket.
· Next semester will be including use
of iPads and Dropbox to hand in assignments.
English
Twitter
- Use to update homework etc.
- Used it for a character project
with students
- collaborate with other teachers
about the changing landscape of education
Live
Binders
- started keeping my bookmarks from
the Internet that I use on a regular basis with students
- share students’ work
- plan to put all my resources on it
Document
Reader
- live brain storming with students
- model my thinking
- edit students’ work with them
Use
various other online/computer-based formats for project choice: Prezi,
Powerpoint, Toon Do, etc.
In the English department, we have each been
working on tech goals (many have created webnodes, used Twitter for assignments
- Margo used it with Taming of the Shrew, Erin uses it to tweet homework,
Melissa uses it as well, several teachers are using Livebinders (we would like
to create a department binder so any teacher could add / take from it).
As well, the document readers are being used to
present and critique and revise student pieces and to have students present
final projects (they used the readers to show the class what they had done -
ie. presenting a newspaper or a board game).
I have converted all of my Literature 12 notes
into more interactive PowerPoint presentations which include pictures, video
clips, and sound bytes. I also had students use power point to present
author's lives and poetry to the class.
My plans for this semester include:
updating my webnode to include "gifted / talented" and trying
to use twitter for a Shakespeare assignment.
Social
Studies / English / Home Ec
Website: http://ms-lawswebsite.webnode.com/
At the moment it is largely a resource for my
classes both for homework and assignments as well as for extra info and
Socials/English resources. As I get further into the semester, my hope is to
build it and use it as an online portfolio of student work that will updated
with examples of class work/projects. This year I was adamant about getting a
signed outline back with parent emails and assigned students the task of
teaching parents how to use email in cases where I was told that nobody at home
had an account. So far I have contacts for about 75% of students and am
actively hunting down the rest. The hope is that I can get most parents
visiting the website and receiving updates to encourage fluency of
communication between me, the students, and the parents/guardians.
I am trying to get the blog section up and
running and to keep it updated with where we are in classes and how students
are demonstrating their learning.
I'm still developing it and working on how to
integrate it more actively into what we are doing in class so that it is not
just an online agenda so I'll keep you posted!
InfoTech
· Explored and continuing to explore
the use of e-portfolios for students assessment, peer assessment, and the
development of their learning line (improvement) in what they are doing. Explored Facebook as well as Webnode and now
presently looking at Weebly.
· Have used different organizational
programs (id venn diagrams) for assessment
· Have used Parent assessment in
different situations.
· Using different Web 2.0 tools in
classrooms.
· Exploring Apps, and their uses.
· Presently working on AppleTV for
the projector and IPads.
· Explored the option of giving
students Digital Choices and personal learning in presentation of learning on
different subjects.
· Used different Web 2.0 tools in the
classroom and continuing explore this field.
· Used Learn360.
· Exploring Apps, and their uses.
Home Ec
·
Using Learn360.
·
Has started taking tourism movies
& downloading them to show to class instead of going to library. They are
more useful because they are up to date and allow her to incorporate current
content.
·
Trying to incorporate downloaded
videos into foods too, but most of those are really outdated, so she is using
YouTube for sources and creating new demos using document cameras. This is very
meaningful for students.
·
Using document reader for teacher
and student presentations in sociology.
·
She really enjoys seeing
technology being integrated in a non-traditional way or in a non-traditional department.
·
Also using LCD and SmartBoard for
teacher and student presentations.
·
Beginning to integrate
LiveBinders into gathering teaching resources.
·
Also incorporating Facebook into
Sociology for 2 assignments (social self portrait), building on the HACE
presentation from Jesse Millar and continuing that dialogue with students.
· Trying to include some iPad use as well and will be building in second
semester.
Math
· Explored using smartboard
technology with a template.
· Explored the use of different
cognitive learning styles in the classroom, ie visual with videos, audio, etc.
Science
· Explored Gizmo Program with
students, evaluated content, explored testing of this program, and usage of
students in independent studies.
· Exploring the use of iPad Apps in
Science.
· Explored and continue to do so
different web sites for review of work.
· Explored the use of Smartboard
technology in the classroom, and use of it for independent studies.
· Explored use of document reader and
considering possibility of videoing lessons created on the document reader.
· Exploring using Podcast in science.
Social Studies
One of the major issues for these two teachers is that many
of the videos they have used over the years are no longer available, don’t work
with modern technology, or are in such poor shape that they are no longer
usable. The A&E biography of Napoleon is so old that they can’t show it
anymore. They searched unsuccessfully for another copy of it, but then with the
help of Roger Hayward, our librarian, they were able to find it on Learn360. They
will now be learning how to hook up to an LCD projector to a computer to show
movies in class, as well as save movies to files so they can find them again. These
movies are most relevant with Grade 12 as it is a content-rich course. Using
the movies and being able to assign them as homework provides a lot of scope to
be able to assign them as homework. That way, students can cover the content
outside of class, and assignments focusing on critical thinking and analysis of
that content can happen in class. As well as its applications in grade 12, the
use of these videos means that more viewing for all grades can happen outside
of class and students who are away can access information as well.
· Planning to use iPads & student
devices in classroom to look up information.
· Students use laptops from the Cow
and cellphones to gain access and openness. The improvements to the wireless
have made it possible to use these tools without any problems most of the time.
Students are enjoying this and there is lots of participation.
· Teacher attitude is more relaxed
and is finding that students are more respectful of the rules (i.e. things like
accessing Facebook or texting when they are supposed to be working on class
assignments).
· Using a lot of BYOT (Bring Your Own
Technology – asking students to bring their own devices to school to access the
internet via the school wireless) with great success. Some students were reluctant
at first but then became willing adopters.
· Still using Twitter to communicate
with students and has modified student contact form to ask for student Twitter
handles.
· Planning to do a “FedEx Day” for
Geography 12 where students have 24 hours to deliver a product.
· Will be using Wordpress
blogs/physical/digital portfolios to present finished product.
