I believe in practicing what you preach and I think an important quality in life is to never stop learning new things. Continuously challenging and stimulating our brains has been linked to having a more vibrant and fulfilling life in our later years. Something that I go out of the way to do on a regular basis is to make sure my students are aware that I'm still eager to learn new things.
As a masters student, I regularly come into class and share new ideas that I have come across. Not too long ago I had a discussion with my class about ideas that I became aware about related to self-regulated learning. I was sharing with them things that helped me get through writing papers and staying focused while completing assignments. I often like keeping them up-to-date with tools that I learned about for google documents and they do the same.
I often learn new technology tools together with my class. Things that I come across that seem like they may be a cool tool and I'm unsure how to use, I'll test them out with my class. We then decide together, after the fact, if that technology tool was useful or not.
Lifelong learning is something that everyone should be doing and I think it is important that our students know that we are doing this.
Dave
References
Narushima, M. (2008). More than nickels and dimes: the health benefits of a community‐based lifelong learning programme for older adults. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 27(6), 673–692.
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Risk taking for teachers
Thinking back to my first year of teaching, I was extremely cautious with what I tried in the classroom. I would spend hours putting together a precise powerpoint that would help ensure the lesson went smooth. I was also hesitant to try new things or sway away from the curriculum. I've learned over the years that taking risks in the classroom is important to keep the class exciting and engaging for the students.
Here are a few ideas of some risks teachers can take:
1) Let Students Decide: I just started a unit on ecology and I'm giving my students some freedom in their research project. They're allowed to research any topic they desire as long as they are meeting some points from the Ontario curriculum. This is one example of letting students decide but other examples are by giving students choice in how they are assessed, learning experiences that will take place, and how projects can be arranged.
2) Flexible Learning Spaces: Learning doesn't always have to take place within the classroom walls. Planned or randomly, allow your students to take the day off from the classroom and have them complete the required readings, watch a video, or collaborate with their groups in a place of their choice.
3) Student Teaching: My school has shortened days on Friday, we are finished by noon. What I often do is have my students teach a concept to the class on Fridays. They create an activity or lesson plan that they think will be engaging for the class. The neat thing is, I end up learning some exciting teaching approaches from this as well!
The list is small but there are many other ways that teachers can take risks in the classroom. What I believe is that when teachers take risks the students can learn from us about taking risks in life.
Dave
Here are a few ideas of some risks teachers can take:
1) Let Students Decide: I just started a unit on ecology and I'm giving my students some freedom in their research project. They're allowed to research any topic they desire as long as they are meeting some points from the Ontario curriculum. This is one example of letting students decide but other examples are by giving students choice in how they are assessed, learning experiences that will take place, and how projects can be arranged.
2) Flexible Learning Spaces: Learning doesn't always have to take place within the classroom walls. Planned or randomly, allow your students to take the day off from the classroom and have them complete the required readings, watch a video, or collaborate with their groups in a place of their choice.
3) Student Teaching: My school has shortened days on Friday, we are finished by noon. What I often do is have my students teach a concept to the class on Fridays. They create an activity or lesson plan that they think will be engaging for the class. The neat thing is, I end up learning some exciting teaching approaches from this as well!
The list is small but there are many other ways that teachers can take risks in the classroom. What I believe is that when teachers take risks the students can learn from us about taking risks in life.
Dave
Technology Benefits in the Classroom
Technology is not a rarity in the classroom anymore, it is the norm. This makes sense as this is what is driving people in the world on a day to day basis. With so many schools making a shift towards 1-1 laptop programs, ipads, and other devices I thought it would be useful to post some reasons as to how technology can be beneficial in the classroom.
Collaboration: Classes are able to now work simultaneously on documents through their computers. A popular choice for myself is google docs. In groups, students can take on roles and co-create a document piece, all working on it at the same time. This allows for editing, checking each other's work, and giving feedback. Using google docs for example, also allows teachers to follows students progress on tasks.
Research: Students are able to research everything and anything. That can be good and bad in some people's minds but I feel as though educators have the duty to teach students how to research properly and safely this day and age. Teaching students how to check their resources, cite properly, and search for information is something that should be done in all classes.
Unique Artifacts: Students can create an abundance of artifacts online to display their creativity. Movies, songs, and websites are a few of the examples. Following this, students can post their pieces to class blogs where dialogue can being amongst classmates.
The above are a few ways that technology can be utilized in schools. If you have any other ideas let me know in the comment section below!
Dave
References
Scheeren, W. O. (2015). Technology Handbook for School Librarians. ABC-CLIO.
Collaboration: Classes are able to now work simultaneously on documents through their computers. A popular choice for myself is google docs. In groups, students can take on roles and co-create a document piece, all working on it at the same time. This allows for editing, checking each other's work, and giving feedback. Using google docs for example, also allows teachers to follows students progress on tasks.
Research: Students are able to research everything and anything. That can be good and bad in some people's minds but I feel as though educators have the duty to teach students how to research properly and safely this day and age. Teaching students how to check their resources, cite properly, and search for information is something that should be done in all classes.
Unique Artifacts: Students can create an abundance of artifacts online to display their creativity. Movies, songs, and websites are a few of the examples. Following this, students can post their pieces to class blogs where dialogue can being amongst classmates.
The above are a few ways that technology can be utilized in schools. If you have any other ideas let me know in the comment section below!
Dave
References
Scheeren, W. O. (2015). Technology Handbook for School Librarians. ABC-CLIO.
Monday, 13 March 2017
Student Created Podcasts
I came across an interesting read about students creating podcasts. The benefits stated were that students will listen to podcasts longer than they will read or watch a powerpoint. It was also stated a benefit of podcasts is that students can listen to these while doing other activities. These benefits listed seem more geared towards university students but it got me thinking.
Can student created podcasts work in middle school and high school?
I think having students create podcasts for a unit or even throughout the year is a great way for students to work on communication and writing skills. Units can be divided up and students can each be responsible for creating a podcast for their selected unit. They will learn how to summarize the content, ensuring the most relevant information is plucked out of the text. They will then be able to work on their speaking skills as they will want a clear voice when being recorded.
The end product here is something that they will be able to use as a study tool for exams and test. They can also post these on a class blog and students can follow up with questions to each other. I think this would be a great way to differentiate a classroom.
Dave
References
Wankel, L. A. (2013). Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Mobile Applications: Smartphones, Skype and Texting Technologies. Emerald Group Publishing.
Can student created podcasts work in middle school and high school?
I think having students create podcasts for a unit or even throughout the year is a great way for students to work on communication and writing skills. Units can be divided up and students can each be responsible for creating a podcast for their selected unit. They will learn how to summarize the content, ensuring the most relevant information is plucked out of the text. They will then be able to work on their speaking skills as they will want a clear voice when being recorded.
The end product here is something that they will be able to use as a study tool for exams and test. They can also post these on a class blog and students can follow up with questions to each other. I think this would be a great way to differentiate a classroom.
Dave
References
Wankel, L. A. (2013). Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Mobile Applications: Smartphones, Skype and Texting Technologies. Emerald Group Publishing.
Genius Hour
The premise of genius hour is you give your students 1 hour a week to learn anything they want to. This option allows students to pick the content they want to study while still hitting curriculum expectations. I came across it not too long ago and was very interested in learning more. I'm doing a trial with one or my classes currently and the students seem to be enjoying the concept. It took a while to get them buying in but once a few students got involved the rest seemed to follow.
There is a large community of educators online already with a wealth of information to aid you. Taking on new frameworks and ideas in the classroom is always challenging but you can learn a lot from educators who are currently engaging in genius hour.
Students will present their topic to the class at the end of the year and will build up ideas as the year goes on. It offers students an opportunity of differentiation within the classroom. Throughout history in education, we were taught to believe that education is a teacher in front of the class lecturing. Genius hour allows students an opportunity to learn by doing the research in something they are truly interested in.
http://www.geniushour.com/
Dave
There is a large community of educators online already with a wealth of information to aid you. Taking on new frameworks and ideas in the classroom is always challenging but you can learn a lot from educators who are currently engaging in genius hour.
Students will present their topic to the class at the end of the year and will build up ideas as the year goes on. It offers students an opportunity of differentiation within the classroom. Throughout history in education, we were taught to believe that education is a teacher in front of the class lecturing. Genius hour allows students an opportunity to learn by doing the research in something they are truly interested in.
http://www.geniushour.com/
Dave
Collaboration towards goals
I've mentioned in previous posts about how I enjoy getting my students to collaborate often in my classroom. With the help of the internet, students can simultaneously co-create documents and learn how to delegate work.
I failed to mention that when students are collaborating, they should be working together to achieve a solution. It doesn't always have to be through technology either. Incorporating collaboration in groups to fulfill a scavenger hunt or organize facts for an upcoming debate has students improving important life skills.
They will be practicing important communication skills, learning how to delegate and negotiate tasks, and will have a chance at practicing different roles within a collaboration team. When my class is collaborating together to achieve a goal I will often have students take on roles such as researcher, secretary, leader, and mediator. While the research is finding facts the rest of the team is working towards the main outcome.
Dave
I failed to mention that when students are collaborating, they should be working together to achieve a solution. It doesn't always have to be through technology either. Incorporating collaboration in groups to fulfill a scavenger hunt or organize facts for an upcoming debate has students improving important life skills.
They will be practicing important communication skills, learning how to delegate and negotiate tasks, and will have a chance at practicing different roles within a collaboration team. When my class is collaborating together to achieve a goal I will often have students take on roles such as researcher, secretary, leader, and mediator. While the research is finding facts the rest of the team is working towards the main outcome.
Dave
Student Blogs
I've recently launched my first classroom blog and it was much smoother than anticipated. My students created videos for a research project and I was unsure of where they were going to submit them so I decided to create a blog for the class.
It ended up being a great choice as students were about to watch everyone's videos and comment on the videos. I followed up the initial project with the students posing questions to each other to form extensions on the concepts they initially learnt. Students ended up taking this very serious and put a lot of thought and effort into the questions and responses. This ended up being a mini research project as I instructed students to include one source for each response.
A big benefit of the blogs is I'm able to teach the students about the importance of their digital footprint. I remind them to think about if they would be alright if everyone in the world knew that they were the person who posted.
The collaboration, research, and creativity that a classroom blogs offers is tough to beat.
Dave
It ended up being a great choice as students were about to watch everyone's videos and comment on the videos. I followed up the initial project with the students posing questions to each other to form extensions on the concepts they initially learnt. Students ended up taking this very serious and put a lot of thought and effort into the questions and responses. This ended up being a mini research project as I instructed students to include one source for each response.
A big benefit of the blogs is I'm able to teach the students about the importance of their digital footprint. I remind them to think about if they would be alright if everyone in the world knew that they were the person who posted.
The collaboration, research, and creativity that a classroom blogs offers is tough to beat.
Dave
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)