Innovation Journey

I love this infographic!

https://twitter.com/bashaierk/status/622366793739284480/photo/1

Do You have a Growth Mindset?

Edudemic points out many reasons Why the Growth Mindset is the Only Way to Learn.  The Growth Mindset creates a passion for learning.  

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Professional Learning Communities

The goal of Professional Learning Communities is to improve student achievement.  The Literacy Numeracy Secretariat (2007) presents Professional Learning Communities:  A Model for Ontario Schools.
Classroom Use:  Establishes a clear focus on student learning, ensures learning for all students, is results oriented.

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Connect, Collaborate and Create with Twitter in the Classroom

The article Connect,Collaborate and Create with Twitter in the Classroom, describes what Twitter looks like in a Grade 2 Classroom, discusses what students Tweet about, connecting Twitter with the curriculum and how to involve parents in the process.

http://etfovoice.ca/article/connect-collaborate-and-create-with-twitter-in-the-classroom/#.UzDLDuBfMGY.twitter

Web 2.0 Tool -Mural.ly

This is a visual, collaborative work space that can be shared with others. Thanks to Jonathon Butler for sharing this tool with me!

Sticking references on walls and corkboards is a common practice among creative teams. 

It’s been proven that is much easier to stay in the flow and find relations between elements by seeing the big picture.

In Mural.ly you can do the same without the need of using physical walls.

The best part is that it's really easy, just drag & drop any file to a mural like this:

You can add almost any type of document to a mural without the need to print.
It doesn't matter if it's a file on your hard drive, or a document on the web.

You can add:

•       Documents (pdf, xls, doc, ppt)
•       Images (jpeg, png, gif, psd)
•       Links (any link to any web site)
•       ZIP and RAR files

Click on the button below and try this feature in Mural.ly

Classroom Use:  presentation tool, visual brainstorming, graphic organizers, engages students, assessment of, for and as learning, collaborative work/projects, group research, creativity, away from school (distant) learning, attendance, homework assignments, tutor chats available outside school hours, publish content from various sources, link to web content, link to files, display videos, sharable, students can ask questions anytime, collaborative problem solving, accessing and sharing information via QR codes, designing storyboards and much more.

ECOO-Minds On Media

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My first event at ECOO this year with be Minds On Media.  It will be hosted by one of my colleagues, Brenda Sherry and I'm looking forward to participating in this hands-on, tinkering and learning from others approach!  This event promises to focus on:

• your play-based approach to learning; tinkering (a bottom-up approach to problem-solving)
• project-, problem-, passion-, and inquiry-based learning
• a constructionist philosophy across your curricula
• cross-curricular attitudes and practice

      (http://ecoo13-mindsonmedia.wikispaces.com)

Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement

Edutopia shares on 'What Engages Students?'.  Tap into "Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement."

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21st Century Education

Are we gearing our teaching to meet the needs of today's students?
The New Brunswick Department of Education begs this stimulating discussion among educators and other stakeholders in public education.


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Getting Started with Student Inquiry

The Ministry of Ontario has released a Capacity Building Series which includes an edition on Student Inquiry.

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Classroom Use:  This article provides a definition of student inquiry, and tips for how to get started.

Smart Phone Use

According to Edudemic, finding places and product information are some of the more popular functions of students' smartphone use.

Edudemic:  This is how students actually use their Smart Phones

Classroom Use:  Click here to view 5 (good) ways smartphones are being used in highschool

                          Click here to view 44 Smart Ways to use Smartphones in Class

Collaboration, Communication & Class Management

Kidblog

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• simple & easy to use
• there is one blog for the class
• no email address required  for students 
• add pictures and videos
• can be used for discussion
• can respond to blogs
• the teacher can revise comments and then publish if necessary

Classroom Use:  the opportunity to write to a global audience; share materials, share work, thoughts, videos & links; facilitate online discussions & collaboration; create a class publication; replace newsletters and stay in touch with parents. 

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Padlet

• cork board
• can drag & drip files, pics, videos
• can post videos, images, documents, maps
• good to use as a portfolio of class work
• good for visual diaries

Classroom Use:  students record books they've read; for group research; use as a show case for student work; use as a KWL Chart; formative assessment tool for student understanding; place a sentence starter on the wall and students complete it; allow students to ask questions about topics or assignments; used to collect feedback or a ticket out the door.

Class Dojo

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• behaviour management tool
• web based
• can be used with iPads and Android Apps
• helps teachers engage students
• allows tracking of behaviour
• shows students their progress

Classroom Use:  teachers require less time for classroom management; there is a focus on developing positive behaviour; students develop a sense of purpose with the positive reinforcement; PDF reports for whole class, individuals and parents; auditory cues; focus on learning skills and student goal setting.

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Constructivism Learning Process

Our course began with an introduction to Constructivist Learning.  In this model the student guides the pace of content and the teacher provides communication and guidance.  The emphasis is on students gaining strategies and processes in order to attain knowledge.  I really like this chart on Constructivism Methodolody:

http://www.excelsiorlearningcenter.com/Constructivism.html

http://www.alicechristie.org/pubs/

Classroom Use:  teachers pose questions & problems. guide students; allow for inquiry; multiple intelligences; group work; peers as resources

21st Century Learning

Communication
Collaboration
Critical Thinking
Creativity

These 4 skills are learned through our curriculum with an approach that is interdisciplinary, integrated and project-based.  TCDSB is the largest board in Canada that has focused on 21st Century Learning Strategy. This has been done in collaboration with Dr. Rutherford where the emphasis is on moving away from rote learning and moving toward innovation. These skills are required by students to learn and be successful not only in school, but in life.  

6 Competencies:

1. Collaboration
    Preview & Reflect on your Lesson's Level of Collaboration 
2. Knowledge Construction
    Preview & Reflect on your Lesson's Level of Knowledge Construction

3. Real World Problem Solving & Innovation
    Preview & Reflect on your Lesson's Real World Problem Solving & Innovation

4. Skilled Communication
    Preview & Reflect on your Lesson's Level of Skilled Communication 

5. Self-Rgulation
    Preview & Reflect on your Lesson's Level of Self-Regulation

6. Use of ICT for Learning
    Preview & Reflect on your Lesson's Level of ICT Use for Learning
 

21st Century Learning and Constructivism are intertwined and have application to the real world.  It is important that we preview these areas of competencies and advance our lessons from entry levels to transformation levels.  Much of what we discussed today in terms of applying transformation level competencies to our lessons is very similar to what I see in our Gifted Programs!
A great read:   "8 Essentials for Project-Based Learning"
Parents:  see A Parent's Guide to 21st Century Learning

Stop Animation

Stop Animation Video Making... A Motivation to Learn!

Cool! I had never made a Stop Animation Video before, but really enjoyed this activity. Imagine the level of engagement as well as the motivation to learn! I can see how this activity could appeal to all learners including our students that are more reluctant to participate in learning activities. The video below briefly describes the process of How To Make A Stop Animation Video.
YouTube Video

We were off to the races and began by sharing ideas and looking at a few stop animation creations.  All of the members of Part 2 formed a group and we began working on a video called Diversity and Inclusion. We dropped our photos into Windows Movie Maker and voila.. our Stop Animation Video was formed. Please see our Stop Animation Video below!

A Stop Animation Lesson would definitely follow the Constructivism Learning Process in that students involved in this project would  be construct meaning as they learn and learning is social. This task is engaging and helps to inspire and motivate students' creativity and desire to learn.This task has 21st Century skills embedded into it:  Creativity, Collaboration, Community, and Critical Thinking.

In this case technology was used as a tool to tell a story.  Although developing the Story Line was not the focus, it involved assessment as learning. Assessment is built into the learning process and students have the opportunity to revise, self evaluate and receive descriptive feedback.  As was discussed by the group, this enriching task would be used as a cross-curricular lesson approach (perhaps involving Media Literacy, Language and Social Studies) and using multimedia such as this assists in addressing individual learning styles while also giving 'Boys Voices'. This task was introduced as a formative assessment, Descriptive Feedback would be important for students in planning for the next steps in learning.  Given more practice and opportunities to revise and reflect, a similar task could be done as a summative task.

Classroom Use:  digital storytelling; engage students in collaborative learning; problem solving; creativity

As we all know, motivation is key to learning and self-discovery is a part of this process.

A thought on Motivation and how this relates to students by Daniel Pink.

YouTube Video