Infographic (Extra)

I am not entirely sure if my infographic is considered an infographic but I am saying that it is because I am not changing my mind for the thousandth time!

What are Infographics?
Inforgraphics "are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly" as stated by wikipedia.

I really like the idea of using infographics in the classroom because they can sum up a topic in a way that displays the important information in an easy and clear way. Infographics are great for the visual learners in the classroom and would also be a great assignment for students to display their learning.

Examples of Inforgraphics:

I found both of these examples on pinterest

Now for my Inforgraphic:

I used photos that I took and I found my information on livescience.com and canadianencyclopedia.com

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Panel

Thank you to all the panellists that came out to talk about the One to One Computing in Manitoba Schools. Dakota Collegiate, St James-Assiniboia School Division, and Rolling River School Division came out and talked about the processes that they went through to implement 1:1 computing in their schools and divisions.

Each of these divisions took a lot of time in planning out what the 1:1 computing would look like in their school and going over the pros and cons of implementing this in the divisions. Dakota Collegiate took five years to bring 1:1 computing into the school where each student would have to bring their own device. This process came with many meetings and making decisions together as a team. Teaching styles needed to change once students brought their own devices to class. Andy and Darren from St. James Assiniboia School division talked about the 5 C's (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, citizenship) and using the 5 C's as a lens to decide how technology will work when thinking pedagogically. Their goal was to equip each classroom with ipads. The early years classrooms were given ipad to share and middle years and senior year students were each given their own ipads. This came along with many challenges like breakage, deciding what apps to add, updates, storage, and charging. Rolling River School Division also implemented 1:1 technology. Each student was give a choice of what device they would like to use. Again, along with that come many challenges like monitoring updates, breakage, storage, etc.

Going in I felt nervous that I would feel even more intimidated about using technology in the classroom than I already do. I felt very relieved to hear that each of these school divisions did a lot of planning and discussing as to what this should look like. It was a process and there was also professional development for teachers and students. It would have been great to have a follow up discussion about how we could use ipads/ other devices in effective ways in our classrooms.

Organizing Yourself Online (Extra)

I think it is important for us as teachers to be organized in the classroom. It will make life a whole lot easier, especially in our first year as teachers. It will make our jobs more efficient and less stressful. Just as we are organized in our classroom, I think it will be important for us as teachers to also be organized on line. How often do we not come across a neat resource on-line or a cool website that we really like but fail to write it down or tag it and then forget where we found it the next day? I know I have often done this and it drives me crazy!

To be honest, I can't say that I am very organized when it comes to the things I do on-line. I started using an RRS feeder to keep track of all the blogs that I follow. I haven't used it all too much but I think it is helpful to know which blogs I have looked at and which ones I haven't. And it also helps me to see what is new!

I really like the idea of using Symbaloo as an organizational tool.

symbaloo.com

 It is a place where you can bookmark your favourite sites and a whole lot more. You can use it for creating units and the resources to go along with them. You can also use it to just plainly keep track of all the websites that you have visited and really like. I keep track in my agenda of all the sites that I like (not as efficient or effective as symbaloo might be). Another really neat tool I use to organize myself if Pearltrees. Pearltrees in a social library where you can organize, collect, and cultivate interests. I think using tools like symbaloo and pearltrees would be difficult to use with primary grades but I would definitely use this with higher grade and begin to teach them how to organize themselves on-line. I think it will beneficial for them to have these skills when it comes to high school, university as well as later on in their careers to be organized individuals on-line.

pearltrees.com

Twitter (Extra Post)

We will just say that the little blue bird to your left is close enough to the actual twitter bird. 

I have used twitter a little bit here and there. I have tweeted out reminders to bring snack to class, which reminds me, I should probably do that for today's class! I have tweeted mostly tweets that have nothing to do with Internet for Educators. 

I haven't really explored twitter in terms of how it will be useful for me as a teacher. I have heard some of my peers talk about how they use twitter to get teaching ideas or activity ideas for different subject areas so I will have to give that a try.

I don't mind using twitter but I feel like I haven't explored it enough to use it for a greater purpose than just tweeting random tweets.

 It is yet a goal of mine to participate in the mbedchat at some point before the term ends and will blog about that when I get to it.

How have you used twitter for the purpose of teaching and getting ideas??? Let me know in your comments

Web Based Courses

First of all thank you to Sophia Palahicky for a great and informative presentation on Web Based Courses.

I really like the idea of using a web based course as resource to use in the classroom. We talked about how web based courses could be used for differentiated instruction, enrichment, when students have been absent to catch up on what they missed in class, and if students are travelling. Great! 

I am, however, not keen on the idea of students taking web based courses as their primary way of learning. I asked Sophia the question on how taking a web based course would impact a student's social development and development overall? She said that in B.C., they make sure to keep in contact with the student and parents to make sure that students have  a good social life and are getting involved with other peers, for example swimming lessons. I believe she said that this was not something that was being monitored here in Manitoba (correct me if I am wrong). I think it is good if students have a social life but I still do not entirely agree with students taking web based courses instead of being in the classroom with a teacher and their age group peers. I feel that students need to be in the classroom and with their peers in order to learn to the best of their ability. I believe that students learn from their peers. When students work together on different projects or assignments, or even individually, students are constantly asking each other questions and talking about what they are working on and what they are learning. You don't get this experience when you sit at home and work on your assignments through a web based course. That social interaction is important. 

Not only that, but when students are in school and with their peers, it is a whole lot more engaging than sitting at a  computer. Students are able to feed off of each other's energy and motivation to learn and complete their assignments and projects.

One of the concerns that was raised was that our schools today are still focused on instruction instead of learning. I feel that if we would work toward an inquiry based model of learning, that this problem could be solved more or less. Inquiry based learning has a more student centred approach where students have more control of the questions that they ask and what they learn about. Students are able to explore, created, and investigate (if you want to know more about inquire based learning check out Jeremy's Blog: Internet For Educators or this pd that I found: Capacity Building Series).

As I said at the beginning, I love the idea of using web based course materials as resources to enrich the learning environment, but as a primary way of learning, I feel students get gypped of a true learning experience.

What are your thoughts? 

Who Knew!

First off, I know I am behind in my blogging. This year has been a huge struggle for me to keep up with it... here is to catching up.

Who knew that there were so many rules that, we as teachers, need to follow when it comes to copying materials for our students, playing music or videos, or even to performing music and dramas?! I sure didn't. I just finished reading the little orange booklet "Copyright Matters!: Some Key Questions & Answers for Teachers"  by Noel, Snel that John Finch gave to us and WOW!!! There are rules that I had no idea even existed. I wonder how many teachers know about all these rules???

In all of my student teaching placements, not once was I told to be careful with what I print off, what I photocopy for the students, or what videos I showed in class. I will make a point in asking my cooperating teacher in this last placement about what copyright rules are in place in their school and if they know about all the rules that there are.

Some of my thoughts about the copyright laws:

I remember when I was growing up, we would often watch a fun video when it was raining outside or for a class party. It had nothing to do with my education. We even watched movies and listened to music in the classroom during some of my student teaching placements. The booklet states that we can only play videos that are for educational purposes (as many of us heard when John Finch came and spoke with us).

To be honest, as I was reading through this booklet, I felt a little frustrated and annoyed with some of the rules that are in place; say about playing the radio in the classroom. During one of my student teaching placements, my CT would play the radio in the classroom while they worked on an art projects or other work. Or for example, if you play music at a sporting event, it is not permitted by the Copyright Act and requires permission and payment. To me that seems a little ridiculous, but it is what it is.

So, my fellow peers soon to be coworkers in one division or another, make sure you are well educated in what you can or cannot do on school premises regarding copyrighted materials! Also make sure to educate your students!

 

Podcast

Definition of a podcast: "A podcast is typically an audio file that one downloads and listens to. People generally produce podcasts to share ideas, presentations, or music. Typically podcasts are linked from a blog, so "podcasting" is often used to denote audioblogging. Podcasting combines the words "iPod" and "Broadcasting," but you don't need an iPod or a Mac to produce, or listen to, a podcast. (There are also video podcasts (vidcasts) and Photo podcasts (photocasts), so the definition of a podcast is evolving.)" (http://edtechteacher.org/)

I really like the idea of using podcasts to demonstrate student learning. There are many ways that students can use podcasts. Here are a list of examples from edtechteacher.org:

1. Students interview relatives about their life histories, and then combine the audio interview with family photos in an iMovie project.
2. Students write a radio drama based on a historical event and record their show (complete with commercials) using an iPod and a voice recorder.
3. Students learn about a different country by interviewing a recent traveler. They record the interview and then create a digital travel album.
4. Students create a faux advertising campaign to convince immigrants to settle the new American colonies.
5. Students use an iPod and a voice recorder to interview sources for articles for a class newspaper.
6. Students write and record short stories and add music and sound effects.
7. Teacher records a tutorial that students listen to on their own
8. Present student writing through a class radio drama or a poetry slam.
9. Teacher records and broadcasts group discussions.
10. Using an iPod and a voice recorder, the teacher records each student telling a story and then saves the recordings in iTunes for assessment purposes.
11. On a field trip, students use an iPod with a voice recorder to take notes and a digital camera to take photos. They then create a guided tour in iMovie.

Here is a list of some of my ideas as well as M. Nantais ideas: 

1. Using podcasts as an exit slip.
2. Students explain how a certain concept in science works.
3. Students can create podcast for awareness days. Example: bullying, earth day, etc.

I think that using podcasts is a great way for students to become creative in how they learn and how they demonstrate their learning!

Kirsten Thompson & Tiffany Smith & Tyler Letkeman

Last week Tuesday, January 28th, Kristen, Tiffany, and Tyler spoke to us about how they have been incorporating technology as they have been teaching and some of the challenges that have come along with it.

Kristen was the first one who spoke to us. She is in her first year of teaching. She talked about how in her school, there were many teachers who didn't like the idea of using technology in the classroom. She talked about how there were many websites that were blocked, even sites that she found to be useful. Another issue that came up was that parents were not necessarily keen on the idea of their children using technology to post their work on-line. Parents have warmed up more to the idea after she explained to them the reasons of why it is useful for the students.

Kristen also gave us some ideas as to how she uses technology with her students. Her students blog about what they  learned in class. You can check out the grade 8 blog here http://mrstsclassroom.blogspot.ca/

Another way that she has used technology in the classroom with her students is through using symbaloo. She uses symbaloo to organise her units and offers the resources she has found to her students. Her students have also started creating their own symbaloo resources.

Tiffany was the next one who spoke. She talked about how one of the main issues with using technology in her classroom was that her classroom was a DEAD ZONE! Wow! That would drive me bonkers. She, however, gave us some great ideas of how she used technology without using technology.  She gave the example that her students were working on different Shakespeare plays and how they incorporated twitter into what they were doing. Tiffany created little blue birds and laminated them. As the students went through the plays, they had to comment on different scenes by writing on the blue twitter birds. I thought that was really really neat.

  

Tyler was the last one to talk. The only issue that I remember him talking about with using technology in the classroom is that not all students use the same devices and how it can create some issues with different apps and so on. I honestly can't remember what he all talked about. I failed to write down any notes from his talk. so I am going to leave it at that!

Cheers