Engaging Your School Community Through Social Media

What better way to communicate and engage students, staff, parents, and prospective families than through social media!  Engaging Your School Community Through Social Media suggests ways that we may wish to use school websites, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to engage with our community.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/engaging-school-community-social-media-howard-stribbell

Stuttering: 7 Tips for Talking to your Child

Thanks MaryAnn for sharing this information on your blog

http://www.stutteringhelp.org/7-tips-talking-your-child

Pic Symbols -Stop and Listen, Wait, I can Talk

Some more pics:

Pic Symbols

Many individuals are taking photos of items to make their pic symbols.  However, if you are looking for some symbols that are ready-made, you may wish to try the Visual Binders that were given out to schools or the Do@Learn website.

http://www.do2learn.com/picturecards/printcards/

Leadership Activities

Google Images

Leadership Games To Reach Your Own Goal lists several activities that may be done in your schools to develop or enhance leadership skills such as teamwork, problem solving, communication, trust, working wit
h limitations, risk-taking, decision making, planning, listening and team building.

Tools For Life

Tools For Life  is a program that assists in developing students' understanding, management, communication and relationship problem-solving skills. View some of the Tools by clicking here.

Classroom Use: Enables students to work on skills for character development, conflict resolution and peacemaking.

Getting Started with Student Inquiry

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

Google Image

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

Project Based Learning

View this video from Edutopia:  an "Introduction to Project Based Learning"


YouTube

Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning Explained

Kid'sAbility

Google Images

"KidsAbility is a dynamic, multi-faceted organization that serves children with a wide range of special needs. This includes children with developmental disabilities and delays related to premature birth, medical syndromes such as down syndrome, coordination disorders, and autism; physical disabilities such as muscular dystrophy, spina bifida and cerebral palsy; and communication diffficulties in language, articulation, fluency and voice." For further information please click on the KidsAbility link.

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

Google Images

• 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. 

Google Images

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

Google Images

• 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.

YouTube

Becoming a Better Blogger

I just came across Must-have Guide to Becoming a Better Blogger from Edudemic.

Personal Learning Networks

...Opportunities to connect with people who are passionate about similar areas of interest and develop collaborative relationships. 

Our YorkUICT has become another Personal Learning Network -a platform for connection and collaboration.  We have been able to connect face to face, through Twitter, Google+, Twitter and sharing of Blogs.   Through these vehicles we have been able to share ideas and resources with one another as well as educators around the globe. With Personal Learning Networks, everyone's knowledge grows.

For our students, many of them are participating in Personal Learning Networks already.  Social Media brings information to students and at the same time allows students to access information.  It is important for us as teachers to help student's properly navigate this process.  

Will Richardson speaks about this in his video.

You Tube

Teacher Use:  to keep up with the latest trends; inform & enhance classroom teaching; professional growth

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

Mobile Devices

Will Mobile Devices Lessen the Technological Divide?

Cell Phones

According to Soloway, in "Will Smart Phones Eliminate the Digital Divide" by David Nagel, cell phones will be in the hands of all grade K-12 students in the near future.  This is because they are portable, at a price point that can be affordable by all, they provide the tools for 21st Century Learning and they are the student's device of choice. In our board we have the BYOD (bring your own device policy) and the majority of our older students do bring cell phones.  However, students are bringing cell phones at earlier ages.

Classroom Use:  watch videos for flipped classroom viewing; for recording a lesson for pre-teeaching or re-teaching; students response; access drop box

iPads

Our board is piloting a few projects that involve the use of iPads. The pilot projects currently address the learning needs of some of our students with developmental disabilities, limited to no communication abilities, vision challenges and students working with our Itinerant Resource Teachers.

See how you can use iPads in the classroom by viewing the video below.

You Tube

See Bloom's Taxonomy for iPads below.

Google Images

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