Today I had the opportunity to attend a Learning Technologies Summit hosted by the Ottawa Catholic School Board. I am currently an occasional teacher with this board. I was so grateful that occasional teachers were included in this opportunity; I walked away with invaluable knowledge, and many practical ways to further integrate technology in the classroom! The best part...IT WAS FREE! Subscribe to emails from your union (OECTA, ETFO) to ensure that you don't miss opportunities such as this. I attended three different sessions, and I have outlined the general info from these sessions below. I attempted to diversify the sessions that I attended so as to gather a broad base of new knowledge. My focuses were assessment, apps in the classroom, and differentiated learning. Session 1: Descriptive Feedback, Learning Journals, and the Seesaw App The session leader introduced descriptive feedback using a video that I had not seen, but that I now believe every teacher should use in their classes. This video called "The Story of Austin's Butterfly" is a great way to introduce the value of meaningful feedback to a class. Meaningful feedback ...
After watching the video, the facilitator suggested you discuss with your class why we give feedback: - Give a checklist: I see...which makes me think of...I wonder what the writer thought… Showing this video is a great introduction to using "Seesaw: The Learning Journal" app in the classroom. Seesaw is an online learning journal that allows students to document their learning, reflect on the process, and provide descriptive feedback to others in their learning community. It is an entirely protected site that is regulated by the teacher. Any posts are approved by the teacher before going live, which allows students to see and comment on each other's work in a way that is safe. It is essentially a version of Facebook for the classroom! The app is also accessible to parents. You can make their child's folder available to them. This allows for an increased connection between home and school. Parents only have access to their child's account, and get a notification each time something is posted. For more info, check out my detailed rough notes from the session at the end of this post, or sign up for a free account for your classroom. Session 2: Learning is APPtastic! Now Let's Assess This session was jam-packed with great info and ideas! I am going to highlight two of my favourite apps from the session below; please look to the bottom of this post for my detailed rough notes from each session. Plickers www.plickers.com/ Gone are the days when you are trying to use quiz apps in the class, but just can't get it to work because having 25 students online at the same time bogs down the school's internet. Introducing Plickers! While the concept seems confusing at first, once you see a quick video of how this works you will be amazed. I love the idea of this app because it takes away the stigma and embarrassment of having to answer questions in front of a class, and having everyone see that you got the answer wrong. Each student has their own unique code card - therefore, no one call tell which way you are answering! Only the teacher can see who is right or wrong. Unlike other quiz apps, you run Plickers at your own pace; so students have the "wait time" necessary to confidently answer a question. Students can participate without feeling conscious of answering. Definitely not great for major tests, but what a fun way to do quick check-ins after a lesson! EdPuzzle www.edpuzzle.com This app was described by the facilitator as great to use for a "flipped classroom" model. It allows you to upload videos from youtube, cut them, and add questions to them. The great thing is that the app prevents students from fast forwarding the video, and they must answer the question before moving on. This allows the teacher to ensure that students have watched the video, and allows for easy check-ins on learning! What I also love about this is that students can watch the video as many times as they need to in order to grasp the concept. Check it out for yourself! Session 3: Differentiating Learning Tasks...Try Google Maps! I decided to attend this session because I loved how unique it sounded! Most of us use google maps often to get us from point A to point B, but to use it in the classroom...I was intrigued! While this session was geared towards intermediate/senior geography teachers, the facilitator offered some great cross-curricular connections that could be used in any classroom! Did you know that Google Maps has 25 years of satellite data that is open for you to explore? Me neither! Check it out at the following website: https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse/ You can use this data in the classroom to teach students about the impact that humanity has had on our plant. Use it to explore topics such as volcanoes, erosion, environmental impacts, glaciers/north pole and global warming, clear cutting etc. Another great use for google maps is virtual field trips! Find a place on google maps, and explore the pictures associated with that location. A great feature of Maps that I had no idea about - there is a feature that allows you to measure area and distance...is that a math connection I hear?! The possibilities are endless! Enjoy exploring! If you did not have a chance to attend OCSB LT Summit, I have gathered some resources to help you feel as though you were there! Check out below to find my rough notes from the day, and copies of some of the workshops given:
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So, I am usually pretty late to the game in terms of cool and useful things that our society has to offer. In case you identify with this statement, I want to pass along something that I discovered this week: Apple runs workshops from their stores!! The one that peaked my interest was "Get Started with Coding for Kids". How cool would this be for our children and students?!
If you have the opportunity, pass this onto parents and other teachers in your school community! When I spoke to a representative at the Apple store, they told me that teachers can even book a personalized workshop for their class; just call Apple and let them know what you are interested in doing! What an opportunity for a local, inexpensive field trip! *They run workshops in both French and English - excellent for those teaching in the Ottawa area! Just pay close attention to the session descriptions where this is noted. |
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