TT#8: Podcast - TEDtalks

This is one of the blogs I have been dreading.  I am not a fan of sitting and listening when I have a person in front of me to keep my focus.  This is one challenge I face when listening to podcasts. Much to my surprise when I searched podcast's on iTunes, I was shocked to find TEDtalks.  I would have never thought to categorize TEDtalks with podcasts.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TED_wordmark.svg

During my high school placement, I showed TEDtalks to my students to help enforce the material we were looking at.  What I like about TEDtalks is how they cover so many different subjects.  Each episode are roughly 20 minutes, they are not too long that I can re-show the episode back to back.  I have found that some are so compacted with information, that you need to watch them more than once to catch all the information.

The TEDtalk I had found for this post is How Schools Kill Creativity.  The speak was Sir Ken Robinson.  He discussed many in ways in which schools limit students ability to be creative.  The Arts receive the lowest amount of funding and students who need to be move to think are suppressed with medication.  This really made me think.  Do I suppress creativity in my students?  Ken told the story of Jillian Lyne who danced for the Royal Ballet in England.  When Jillian was young her teachers believed she had a learning disability.  Her mother took her to a specialist.  After hearing everything the mother had told him, he told Jillian he needed to speak to her mother for a moment and that they would be right back.  As he left, he turned on his radio.  He told the mother to just watch Jillian as she began to move to the music.  He informed her mother that Jillian was a dancer and that she should take her to a dance school.  This was the best possible thing for Jillian.  How many students are forced to sit still and learn.  Ken talked about how we learn through so many different forms.  This is why it is so important for teachers to not just teach in one way.

Depending on the grade level and the subject, I would consider showing this specific episode to my students.  I do recommend that teachers take the time to watch this video and think about how they inspire creativity in their students.

~ Miss Laing

1:1 Devices and Educational Tools

With everything I have learned about incorporating technology into my classroom, teaching at a school that supports 1:1 devices would be so great.  Having students with their own devices would help me, the teacher, support and personalize their individual learning.

In my future classroom I would love to have my students:

• Blog
• Tweet
• Skype

These tools would enhance the learning of my students.  

http://pixabay.com/en/twitter-tweet-twitter-bird-312464/

Twitter will help my students connect with professionals and other students.  I have been in contact with a teacher who uses Twitter for educational purpose with her class to connect other classes.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blogger.svg

Blogging is a great way for my students reflect on what they are learning.  This also provides me, the teacher, a chance to provide formative feedback for my students.  This also allows my students to give peer feedback.  Due to the fact that we would have a class blog, to which each student would have their own link, students would be able to easily access their classmates accounts.  Having a class blog would allow parents access to what students are learning and creating in the classroom on a weekly basis.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skype_t.png

Being able to Skype with other classrooms and experts helps provide students with information that as a teacher you might not be able to bring into the classroom otherwise.

So now, one issue I have been thinking about, is what do I do if these sites are blocked.  This is one topic that Kelli Boklaschuk from the Brandon School Division came to talk to our class about.  This is an issue I have come across in other divisions.  BSD expects teachers to use ONLY the tools they feel are appropriate to their students.  This is where I question WHY? Why only those specific sites when other divisions are supportive of those technologies? Teachers go to PD's where they learn new techniques and tools to bring into their classrooms.  It is very frustrating to be restricted.  Kelli did mention that if we feel a tool being blocked has educational value, to bring it forward and it will be considered.  I understand that blocking sites has to do with student safety, and I would never want to put my students at risk but to block sites like Google Drive just because of the ads that can be shown, is something that does bother me.  There are so many benefits of students using Google Drive and/or Google Community.  I personally believe that IF teachers take the time to teach their students about Digital Citizenship and online safety then why not allow students to expand their learning through these online tools.

~ Miss Laing

TT#11: Show and Tell

One app that I have used in my teaching experience is Pixlr.  I had my students download this app but it can be accessed on the web.  This is a photo editing app.  I was teaching grade 11 ELA and we were looking at the impacts of the Media in the News.  To begin this unit, I wanted my students to see how easy it is to take a photo and change it to say what you want it to.  They were to choose simple objects from around the room and edit them to tell a new story.  It was interesting to see how the students took items and transformed them.  Students worked in partners for this assignment.  After they had completed the editing stage of the assignment, they had to prepare for their presentation.  I wanted to know what editing techniques they used, why they chose the item, and what story their new photo told.  Here are some examples my grade 11's submitted:

 

When I first mentioned this assignment to my class, they thought I was joking.  For this reason, when the students had to actually stop and think about what they would do took longer than I thought.I was very impressed with the risks that some of my students took.  The picture of the iPhone was the one I was most impressed with because this group had to find a way to take two pictures and overlap them to create their final product.  This took this group just over a class to play around with, but I was impressed with how they did not give up and try something simpler.  

Using this app, along with the Dove Evolution Commercial, allowed my students to see how simple it is to take a photo and change it to tell a new story.

~ Miss Laing

TT# 12: The Future!!!

The practice of teaching is always evolving.  Articles like Horizon Report highlight aspects of ways in which the practice is changing and how teachers can incorporate technology to help improve the way students learn.

The more I have been talking with current teachers who use technology in their classroom, the more I wonder if there is any other way?  What I mean by this is technology and Social Media are large parts of most students lives.  Some will be hesitant at first because they want to keep Social Media for their own personal social lives not for academics.  From what I have heard from presenters and in talking with teachers, most students in the end get over that separation and embrace learning through these mediums.

When looking over the table of contents for the Horizon Report, certain headings caught my attention.  These titles are:

Rethinking the Role of the Teacher
"Teachers are no longer the primary sources of information and knowledge for students when a quick web search is at their fingertips. Instead it is up to teachers to reinforce the habits and discipline that shape life-long learners — to ultimately foster the kind of curiosity that would compel their students to continue beyond an Internet search and dig deeper into the subject matter."The Horizon Report 10.

As I have gone through my education courses I have heard from many profs a similar version of this quote.  It is interesting how education has shifted since I was in grade school; this is now almost 10 years ago just to put things into perspective.  I remember being in school and listening to the teacher talk or read a textbook or if we were really lucky we would get to watch a movie.  It was not until high school that I was finally able to begin research on the internet for assignments and projects.  With students having so much information at their fingertips, teachers have to find away to keep up with that change, just like the quote above suggests.  Teachers need to start thinking of themselves as coaches rather than teachers.  In coaching we will help the students develop life long learning skills rather than overload them with the facts from a textbook.

Shift to Deeper Thinking Approaches
By working on self-directed projects where students think critically and communicate effectively, students are mastering core academic content aligned with 21st century skills while tackling real issues in their community and beyond. The Horizon Report page  12.

Some, not all, teachers are beginning to integrate project-based learning, problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and self-directed learning into their units.  Students are not just learning the outcomes but more importantly developing skills that will benefit them in their future, as the quote above mentions.  It through inquiry-based learning and self-directed learning that allows students to integrate technology.  Today's student, most again not all, are very technologically savvy.   Allowing them to use technology provides them with more opportunity to be creative.

Good teachers are always finding new ways to engage their students academically and creatively. The Horizon Report looks closely at the shift in Education as technology becomes a greater component. Teachers are using technology to teach and record information.  Teacher need to be aware of all precautions to ensure the online safety of their students.

Today's teacher is shaping the future leaders!!!  It is important that we prepare them with the tools and skills that will help them in their future.


http://www.flickr.com/search/?l=commderiv&q=The%20future%20signs

~ Miss Laing

Creativity and Technology

Today's class is one that will stay with me.  We had Martin Ingenmey and Bryce Ridgen from Minnedosa Collegiate come to present to our class on Initiative and the Classroom.  They talked a lot about how they are a 1:1 high school.  This means that every student has a device provided by the school.  The students use this device through the years.  When graduation comes they can either buy the device or return it to the school.  This concept is great in theory.  It would limit the headaches of booking computer lab time or the reserving the portable laptops.  This is an issue I have run into during previous placements.  Having all your students have their own device would open up so many more options for assignments you could create or implement in your classroom.

http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html

During the presentation Bryce looked at how teachers need to create assignments that reach the higher levels of the SAMR model and Bloom's Taxonomy (the picture to the right connects the two models).  Technology can greatly impact how a student is able to demonstrate their understanding of their knowledge.  It was great to see some of the exemplars from Bryce's students, past and present, as he has challenged them to think creatively, allowing them choice in how they demonstrate what they have learned.

One concern that came to mind during this presentation was how to use some of these ideas with younger students.  My next placement is in grade 4.  With the age restriction for some sites or apps my students would be limited to what they could do to publish their work.  I have been hearing more and more about the use of Twitter in the classroom, but it is the teacher who publishes the posts. Students do not have their own accounts, it is the classroom account.  I agree with the statement that students take more pride in their work when it is published, but I believe that they would have even more pride if they, themselves were able to publish their final product.

One other concern that was in the back of my mind was "what if I end up working in a division where they are not supportive of using technology in the classroom" or "what if I end up working in a division where technology is very limited?".  The second question is the direct result of one of my placements.  I was at a school where the wi-fi was blocked to students.  There were no iPads, or netbooks, or laptops for the classrooms to share.  There was 3 computer labs, and one was a teachers classroom (ICT).  This made it challenging for one of the assignments I had created.  Thankfully, my students were able to use the app, but they had to download it at home.  Also, to submit their assignment they either had to connect their phone to the computer or email it to me outside of school hours.

With these thoughts in my head, I had to remind myself that teachers can modify anything to work with there resources, laws, and students.  Teachers just have to get creative, especially when they expect their students to be creative.

~ Miss Laing

TT# 4: Follow an Edublogger

Much to my surprise I recently learned that I have been following an Edublogger for the past year. Last year I was introduced to Ms Bettess' blog.  I do not remember how I came across hers but I'm glad I did.

She is a grade 3 teacher from Northern Manitoba and has a love for technology.  Many of her blogs talk about how she integrates technology into her lessons.  Her most recent post is all about #ilovetoreadbingo.  Her students have been challenged to chose a prompt from the bingo card, take a picture of them doing something that matches the prompt, and then as a class share it with the #ilovetoreadbingo along with the bingo prompt.  The photo's can be shared on Instagram, Twitter, or both.

This is not the first photo challenge her students have been a part of.  This same year, her students participated in the math photo a day challenge.  In one of her blog posts she talks about how enthusiastic her students get as they create their photo to match the challenge.  What teacher would not be excited about their students being so excited about a math assignment, and on a daily basis?

Reading her blog posts makes me excited for my student teaching placement, and future classroom to see how I can integrate technology into my lessons, but it is so much more than that.  Reading Zoe's blogs makes me want to become a better teacher in creating lessons that my students will be excited about.  I like to think the lessons I have come up with are good, but now I want them to be better. Zoe has been an inspiration.

You can follow her class on Instagram and Twitter by searching either #ilovetoreadbingo or #mathphotoaday.

I can't wait to learn more about how Zoe is integrating technology into her lessons.

~ Miss Laing

TT#6: My PLN & the Connected Student

Above is a mind map of my Personal Learning Network.  This map illustrates the different tools and sites I use on a daily basis.  These tools are for both personal and professional use.  As I learn more about the different benefits of these online tools, I am beginning to think about the different ways I could use them in my future classroom.

I decided to try another website in making the next mind map; I read Cecile's Blog and thought why not give it a try.  Once I figured out how to actually get to the part of the site where you can make the maps, Inspiration proved to be a lot simpler than Piktochart.

For my connected student mind map I chose to colour code to help make it simpler to separate school life and their personal life.

~ Miss Laing