As we approach the end of Term Two, students are working on a variety of culminating activities. Generally, students will complete a culminating activity independently as a way to show what they know. In this activity, we will collaborate our ideas and thoughts in a text form by using Etherpad, a collaborative writing document. Students are familiar with this form of writing as they use Google Docs regularly, however, Etherpad colour codes what students are writing. Initially I will introduce this writing tool in a whole group activity by asking students a variety of questions based on the Social Studies Curriculum. In partners, students will discuss a response and will use resource to look up information. Later, I will use the Etherpad as a backchannel, or collaborative writing tool between our classroom and other classrooms to help students with comprehension in reading.
It is important to me that students are at the center of their own learning, not the teacher. This sounds easy, but when it is facilitated appropriately, I often find that I worry and stress about the students and if they are “actually” learning the content that I am required to teach. I find it hard to give up the control and the temptation to tell them the answers. I am constantly asking myself if they are focused, if they are applying themselves, if they are retaining the information.
As educators we need to reflect upon how we learn best. How do we construct new ideas? New knowledge? Often, we do this by investigating, by discussing, communicating, creating, and of course by teaching others. We often pick topics because that is what interests us, and thus, we are engaged and motivated. That is what I want my students to do. I want them to choose to learn.
The following set of self paced tasks are focused on Canada’s Links with the World (Ontario Provincial Grade Six Curriculum). Students will choose among a variety of topics, levels, and tools to carry out their project. Students will work in groups, in pairs and independently.
I look forward to seeing the products and watching students as they become the teachers.
Students face difficult decisions everyday when it comes to acts of honesty. Students are faced with situations where they are confronted with gossip, lying, cheating, or stealing. Even as adults, we know that honesty is key to our success in ourselves and our relationships with others.
Please consider sharing this survey with your students to give them a chance to reflect and discuss issues around honesty. Click here to take survey
Please consider adding to our collaborative book (have your students synthesize pictures and quotes) ADD TO OUR HONESTY POWERPOINT
We made our first Phlog today from Ipadio App and Iphone. A very easy way of recording a student discussion, radio broadcast. I like how it also has a “Speech to Text” application. I am definitely impressed with the quality of sound, especially when using the Front Row system with it. I look forward to more impromptu broadcasts from our Grade Six Class.
After returning from Educon2.2, My students (grade six) wanted to know the “most amazing thing I saw”. They know about conferences. They’ve attended conferences. They’ve been Skyped from conferences. They wanting me to “Wow” them. It wasn’t hard, thanks to Jeff Han.
I have had a Smartboard in my classroom for three years now. So have most of my students, who are fortunate enough to attend a Smart Showcase School. These students have become familiar with the terms, “Notebook Software”, “Social media”, “twitter”, “blogging” and “collaboration”. They are used to taking leadership roles and each of them play “teacher” in one way or another. When I showed them the video demonstration (below) of the ‘Multi-touch board, – the students surprised me with their comments. Most have begun writing letters to Mr.Han with their reflections about this tool and how they see this impacting their learning. One student (9 year old) posted her comment last night, here)
Until the rest of our blogs are posted, I am compelled to share with you our discussion. Many of the students indicated that the “Smartboard” is often cumbersome and difficult to use in a group because it allows for one touch only. They want their hands all over the board. Students talked about the “Shadow” cast on our board and that often, they can’t see what they write. They admitted that they are used to the board, and can’t imagine learning without access to a touch screen – but their expectations have increased.
They say they need something that helps them “collaborate better” –
A few days ago, someone asked me if I could go back to a “normal” classroom and teach without technology. Could I teach without my Smartboard, or document camera? Could I teach without student access to computers? Could I teach without internet connectivity? Immediately, and perhaps with some defense, I responded,
“Of course I could, I’m a teacher”.
But, to be honest, I am not sure if I even know what a classroom without connectivity looks like, without resorting to memories of my own experiences as a student. In fact, I don’t think that I’ve ever taught in one of those “normal” classrooms. Normal for me has always been to access and use relevant, current and authentic tools that engage students. Most of the educators, the ones that are probably reading this blog, like me, have found a way to bring the necessary tools and equipment to their students- not to make their jobs easier, but to give more opportunities to more students. But this isn’t about the equipment. The question I was asked, was could I teach without connectivity? I say no, I couldn’t and I won’t. The purpose of this blog post is to demonstrate how simple concept like collaboration can have such a profound and deep impact not only on student learning, but on teacher learning.
First, a short video that my class created for our Holiday Concert. We wanted to demonstrate how our class could connect with other classrooms around the world by teaching them some of our traditions and cultures – thus, we sang an old french Canadian Song: D’ou Viens Tu Bergere – From Ontario to Australia and across both coasts of North America. We used Skype. I couldn’t have done this video without my link to my PLN on Twitter.
My students often say that the Smartboard in our classroom isn’t a Smartboard at all. It is a window. Through this window, they can view the world. Our students can literally walk down the streets of Rome or Egypt. They can show and share with each other their native countries and can view the devastations caused by natural disasters, war, or environmental issues such as pollution or global warming. For these students, unlike how most of us were educated, what used to be an abstract concept has become real.
Connectivity, in this classroom of 10 and 11 year olds has become an essential part of how they learn. They depend on it to share and collaborate. These students do not see the relevance of their work or ideas, unless they can collaborate. “What difference would it make if I just put it in my desk, ” a student told me recently. The connectivity has allowed me to differentiate for all levels and styles of learners. Students use translation software to communicate. Some students use graphic software like Bitstrips, or Glogster to produce a report, instead of written essay. Some students use Podcating to to upload their ideas. Students with the most prominent learning disabilities in this classroom have learned to micro-blog such as twitter as a means to ask questions or deliver their own content.
For me, I also use the connectivity to ask questions, share ideas and access expertise from those more knowledgeable then myself. Recently, a teacher from the Upper Grand District School board, Mike Anderson, streaming into my classroom last week to teach a patterning concept to my classroom:
The students were so engaged by this (so was I) and continued the activity on their blog – classroom math blog In fact, students spent the rest of the week writing creating their own codes (and doing math, quite readily).
Another collaborative project in which my students feel compelled to read – and with though and expression is through a program that Kathy Cassidy and I are experimenting with between our classrooms, called RippleReader. The focus of the program is literacy, but what draws the students into the books is the fact that my students, hundreds of kilometres away are reading stories to Kathy Cassidys’ Grade One class.
To go back to the original question, can I teach in a ‘non-connected” classroom? Even without the use of an internet connection, the collaborative nature of our society requires us to work together, share, comment, agree, disagree. So the question is not really relevant. What is relevant is that my students are participating in this culture of sharing and learning from others – like you are, reading this post and that many of their past and future teachers are not. What do we do about it? We continue to take risks, use innovative tools, and open up opportunities for our students. Ask yourself, does your classroom or school have a “window to the world?”.
My students have been studying the Olympic Torch over the past few weeks and enjoyed collaborating on the creation of the “Green Ring”, for the Torch Relay presentation as it arrived in Hamilton, Ontario. We used ink printing for this activity. It was great – students use styrofoam plates and carved symbols of the Olympics and shared their prints. It was a great opportunity to use a variety of art materials as they’ve never used ink in this way before. I enjoyed bringing a different type of technology into my classroom and yet I still had a theme of collaboration!
Lawfield is here
to spread some Olympic cheer
Red, yellow, blue
The torch is here!
Go CANADA GO!
A little Clay can go a long way — Great Activity for Olympics!!
Best Resource Sharing Blog
http://dougpete.wordpress.com/
@dougpete
Doug Peterson is the Computers in Education Program Consultant for The Greater Essex County District School Board in Southwestern Ontario. An educator since 1979, Doug has taught Data Processing, Computer Science, Accounting, General Business Studies, and Mathematics at the secondary school level and was the Director of Business Education at Sandwich Secondary School in Lasalle, Ontario.
Best New Blog
http://edvisioned.ca/
@aforgrave
So much of what you write is reminiscent of discussions we had with folks at NECC this past June/July — the PLN movement IS gaining some traction, in no small part due to Twitter and the related social media and 2.0 explosion, but the numbers of folks who are diving in and embracing the concept seem to mirror the rush of the general educational population to embrace technology in general – that is to say, rushing very slowly.
Best Student Blog – Grade Six Student, Lawfield Elementary School
http://allison213.edublogs.org/
The new collaborative test is more for any type of student, independent, talkative, in the middle. It really helps build group and team work skills. Students also get one-on-one learning opportunities with friends and people in their class. With the normal test, most students feel uncomfortable with asking the teacher for help but perfectly fine with asking other students. This test also helps get ideas flowing through students minds. They get up, go sit with a few friends and they all exchange ideas. As long as the teacher goes around and makes sure all the students get the concept, this test would work perfectly in any classroom.
Best individual blog
http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/
@courosa
In my view, open teaching goes well beyond the parameters of the Free and Open Source Software movement, beyond the advocacy of open content and copyleft licenses, and beyond open access. For open teaching, these are the important mechanisms, processes, and residuals, but they should not be viewed as the end goals in themselves. Rather, open teaching may facilitate our approach to social, collaborative, self-determined, and sustained, life-long learning.
Best educational use of a social networking service
http://makingmakers.posterous.com
@wmacphail
Let me explain. The two classes are collaborating on a multi-part, multimedia project called MakerCulture – Taking Things Into Our Own Hands. It’s a deep, wide exploration of the world of artists, hackers, fabricators, activists and citizens who have decided that a DIY (do-it-yourself) approach to government, software, art, music and hardware is a valid response to global consumerism. It’s a fascinating feature full of astonishing gimcrackery and a sideshow tent full of characters. Great stories, no question.
It will be collaboratively published on rabble.ca and The Tyee. It’s the first time Western and Ryerson have worked together on a joint journalism project, and the first time rabble and The Tyee have co-published as series.
Best Blog Post
http://weblogg-ed.com/2009/the-obama-speech/
@willrich45
My kids both start school on Wednesday, so our schools have avoided all of this. Still, I hope they play the president’s message, regardless of whether it’s a motivational speech to work hard and pursue a love of learning or whether it’s a paean to Stalin, and then engage my kids in conversation about its merits, its flaws and its omissions. And better yet, I hope they take a step back and look at this “controversy” in the context of media analysis, information literacy, political dialogue and debate. Talk about a teachable moment.
But without that, any way you look at it, this is not a great moment for schools.
Best Tech Education Blog
@jswiatek
http://citrushightechnology.com/
Thoughts from a tech specialist…
Daily Bookmark Post 11/21/2009
Posted by Jerry Swiatek on November 21, 2009 |
“Want To Try Out Google Chrome OS For Yourself? Here’s How.”
tags: google
