CanadianTechEd

Computer Position

2012-02-07T19:28:00.000-05:00

Wow, its been over two months since my last blog post, I do apologize, sometimes life just takes over and doesn't allow us much time for anything else. In addition, I have also been quite busy trying to get settled into my Masters program in EDTECH @ Boise State University.

So far things are going really well and I look forward to sharing many of the new great things I will learn, with you.

To help me get back into the swing of blogging, I have this great video to share with you that was shared with me by one of my students.

Enjoy!

It's easy to innovate when you have great innovators!

2011-12-01T00:08:00.002-05:00

This school year has brought about a lot of change for my school, especially when it comes to the use of technology. In the last 6 months, we rebuilt a brand new school website, all the teachers at my school have created their own class websites, we created our Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin group, we purchased a class set of laptops and we have started to experiment with tablets and iPads. Furthermore, we created an online course for our grade 9 Information Communication in Technology Business class.

As the school's ICT Coordinator, I am really proud and honored to work with such a dedicated and hardworking team of teachers!

There is however one individual in particular who has embraced all of this new technology in her classroom with creativity and natural ability. Mme Nora, our Kindergarten teacher, has created an amazing classroom blog with daily updates of what her students are learning. She has also created her own twitter account to share her knowledge and collaborate with Kindergarten teachers around the world in addition to integrating tablets and laptops into her daily lessons.

Therefore, it is my pleasure to nominate Mme Nora's acadekinders blog for the Best class blog award for 2011 : http://acadekinders.weebly.com/index.html

Please join me, http://edublogawards.com/nominations-open-the-2011-edublog-awards-are-on/

Happy nominating!

Preparing my students for the future

2011-11-28T00:50:00.000-05:00

Today, while I was finishing my reports cards, doing final calculations to figure out my students final marks, writing their comments and giving them feedback. I couldn’t help but notice that the marks I gave my students were all quite high. Usually, my average marks are around a B. This year, I am teaching grade 9 for the first time and my approach, especially teaching in an IB school, (Académie de la Capitale) is quite different.

First of all, I don't accept a mark lower than 80% this year (this idea I got from my online course that I am taking). When I mark a student’s assignment, I give them feedback and ask them additional questions for them to answer and in doing so, they will better achieve the learning outcomes while coming back to me with a higher quality assignment.

One of the courses that I teach this year is also an online course. Therefore my students are constantly emailing me for clarification and to ask questions. Their success rate is higher because they are completing an assignment to its fullest. I even have students that submit their assignment to receive feedback before I mark their assignment, thus allowing me to guide them in the right direction to achieve the outcomes. In an IB school, there is also the flexibility in learning methodology and so if I see a student who doesn’t get something, then I will create another task or change the activity to allow them the highest success rate.

I was sharing these present observations with my fiancé, who is starting out in a law firm, and we came to the conclusion that this approach is often used to train people in the real world. For example, in work, he will have to draft a legal document and then share it with his supervisor. She will provide him feedback and then he will go and make the necessary changes before returning with the best possible product.

As a teacher, our lessons can be peer reviewed, but often, experience is our guide: good old trial and error. We may try and teach a lesson one day and it doesn't go as planned, but do we give up and end it there? No, we go home, evaluate what worked, what didn't work and make the necessary changes before going back the next day to start again.

jigsawofsuccess.jpg

successpointconsulting.com

My point here is that by allowing our students the opportunity to try until they succeed and by providing them with the tools to do so, we are better preparing them for their future. In a rapidly changing world, they must have the courage to try once, receive feedback and then give more effort until they reach their goal

And that is why I love teaching IB! The structure of an IB approach creates the setting to prepare our students to be hands-on learners, to find the courage to succeed, to ask for clarification, to give feedback and to work collaboratively just like in the work force. This approach favors the classroom without walls approach that I have become very interested in integrating into my own teaching. Break down those walls!

Virtual Stamps!

2011-11-22T12:16:00.011-05:00

It is report card time!

As I am sitting here marking my student's assignments (on paper, which is more and more rare), I began thinking of how I give feedback to students using stickers and stamps. From here, the idea of a virtual stamp came to mind.

Most of my marking this year is done online using Google Docs. When I do mark students work done on paper, I always stamp or put a sticker on their work. I realized that I have yet to do such a thing when I mark my students work that is done online.

So, I quickly put together some images (using Google Drawing) to put on my students' work.

Check them out:

I especially love the idea that I can make my own in French!

Happy Marking!

Creating your FREE website!

2011-11-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

Ever thought about creating your own class website? Have an innovative project you would like your students to share online? What about creating student e-portfolios?

Check out these 6 FREE Website builders, complete with templates and how-to videos and guidelines.

#1 Snap Pages
#2 Weebly
#3 Web
#4 Webnode
#5 Yola
#6 Wix (Flash)

Let your creativity inspire you!

THE GLOBAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE

2011-11-13T09:27:00.003-05:00

Wow, what an amazing FREE world wide conference available to all, during the International Education Week, November 14th - 18th!

Global Education Conference on Prezi

Check out the schedule and chose your time zone.

Looking forward to a great week of global learning!

Where I want to be in one less click!

2011-11-12T07:40:00.005-05:00

Wow!

So maybe I might be a little behind the times, but I just discovered Google Apps!

I have heard of their Apps before and after a quick glance, I became aware that I was already using some of them. However, last night was the real discovery : life is much easier with Google Apps!

Basically, I chose all the Apps that correspond to my daily online usage and determined how using the app brings me to where I want to be in less time!

Screen Shot of Google Apps!

In addition to my daily usage apps, I found some really neat apps to use with my students:

Diigo Web
Type Scout
Evernote Web
Picasa
Prezi
Sketchpad
Typing Test - Key Hero
QR Code Creator
Weebly
Google Docs
For Language schools there is Google Translate
For teachers, the Webpage Screenshot app is awesome!
And many more...

Another great thing is that we already use Google Chrome as our Internet browser at school ( I would highly recommend you install Google Chrome on your school computers, especially if you also work with Google Docs). By adding educative apps to the Chrome home page, it makes it that much easier to share app links with our students. In addition, each app has its own image. Therefore, it is much easier to guide our younger students to where we want them to go.

Happy Apping!

Mind Maps

2011-11-06T21:08:00.004-05:00

As a visual learner, I see the great importance in using mind mapping tools with my students when planning a project, when doing revision for a test and even when they need to write everything down that is in their head.

Before using mind maps with my students, I noticed that many times their ideas in their writing were disconnected, they would often go off topic or they would get stuck because they didn't know what to write about next.

With mind maps, students can link their ideas, insert images and even insert videos (depending on the tool they use). They can use colors and they can make their plan come alive. Students also tend to spend a lot more time on their "plan" when using mind mapping tool. Then, when it comes to writing, they are very prepared and feel more confident throughout the writing process.

Here is a link to 100 reasons to use mind maps :
http://www.mindmapinspiration.com/100-reasons-to-mind-map-paul-foreman/

Mind Map Ideas mindmapinspiration.com

Another great thing about mind maps, is it good for all ages!

Here is a list of 5 FREE Mind Mapping tools available online:
https://bubbl.us/ - Brainstorming made simple
http://mind42.com/ - Collaborative mind mapping in your browser
http://www.mindmeister.com/ - The leading online mind mapping tool (MindMeister goes mobile: iPhone. iPad. Android.)
http://www.mindomo.com/ - Mind mapping made easy
http://www.wisemapping.com/c/home.htm - Visual thinking evolution

Here is a great tutorial on how to use these 5 mind mapping tools:
http://h30411.www3.hp.com/posts/1018306?mcid=Twitter

Happy mapping!

The magic of Twitter

2011-11-05T23:06:00.001-04:00

This post is dedicated to all teachers who are not yet on Twitter or who are currently building their PLN (Personal Learning Network),

While studying my B.Ed, I remember my teachers always saying 'Do not re-invent the wheel'. When I started teaching, to avoid re-inventing the wheel, I would search online for what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I found that sometimes it could take a long time to find exactly what I was looking for (or I didn't find anything and ended up having to create something from scratch). This can become frustrating, if it happens often, since our time is so precious.

Over the years, as I have gained more experience teaching and I have learned that the Internet does have a lot of great resources but so do other teachers. So my conclusion is this, to avoid re-inventing the wheel we don't just rely on Internet searches, but we create and establish our PLN that should include (at least this is what I believe) connections made on Twitter. I strongly believe this because I have found this tool one of the quickest ways in finding an answer or resource.

Here is an image to help display how Twitter works for Educators:

http://blog.lifeisbalance.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/pay-it-forward.jpg

For example, you are looking for a Free Online Tool similar to Microsoft Publisher.

You can either ask your question (using Hashtags to target a certain group), or direct your question to a few people in your PLN. You can even do both at the same time to increase your audience, however remember you only have 140 characters, so use them wisely. After you have Twitted, you wait :) Hopefully you will have a response fairly quickly. If you don't get a response, follow up with those you contacted and you can even re-post your Tweet by re-wording it. The magic of Twitter comes into play when people start to Re-Tweet your question and you get a fairly prompt response!

I have to admit, this may not happen overnight, but the more your become familiar with Twitter and the more your build you PL, the more the magic will happen.

For more tips on learning how to use Twitter as an educator, check out : http://twitterforteachers.wetpaint.com/

For a list of chats to get involved in on Twitter visit:
http://www.cybraryman.com/chats.html

Let the magic begin!

PS. To learn more about creating your PLN visit:
http://onceateacher.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/pln-your-personal-learning-network-made-easy/

Learning with Technology

2011-11-04T20:20:00.001-04:00

What a few busy weeks of learning ahead of me!

1) This week I started my level 2 MYP Technology training online, where in addition to getting to know the program, I am meeting lots of great new IB technology teacher to collaborate with. http://www.ibo.org/

2) I am only a few weeks away from completing my Teaching and Learning with Technology course, in addition to 2 other courses, and am already very excited to see what January has in store for me.

3) Today I attended an amazing workshop : Friends For Life, http://www.friendsinfo.net/ca.htm, where I couldn't avoid sharing my two sense in using technology to help our students communicate with their peers, teachers and parents.

4) I plan to complete Google's certification to become a Google certified educator, over the holidays!!! So excited!!! http://www.google.com/educators/gtc.html

I just love learning, working with and exploring new technologies!

My quote for today:
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you."
- B.B. King

Have a great weekend everyone!

Opps...Almost forgot about report cards and parent teacher interviews coming up!

Screencast-o-matic

2011-11-02T21:12:00.001-04:00

My lessons just haven't been the same since I found out about this great computer screen recording tool, Screencast-o-matic: http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/screen_recorder

This tool is really easy to use!

You can save or upload your video into YouTube, you can embed your video into your webpage, blog or wiki and share with your students and other teachers.

Check out some of the PowerPoint presentations my students created and shared with their classmates, using screencast-o-matic.

Not only can your student record their presentations, but teachers can record their lessons for student to refer back to them later on!

Ever have students constantly asking questions about how to do something on the computers? By providing your students with a step by step video, they can watch it as many times as they need to in order to understand what they need to do!

Any online teachers out there??? What a great tool for students to use to be able to share their projects with peers in their virtual classroom.

Ready, set, record!

Tools for using YouTube safely in class!

2011-11-01T18:13:00.003-04:00

For me, YouTube has become one of the first places I look to get a great "hook" to catch my students attention at the beginning of a new unit (and throughout). When I'm in the drivers seat, I can control what my students see. However, more and more my students are driving and this year I am offering an online course to my students, therefore, I have been paying a lot more attention to the content on YouTube. Whether it be the comments at the bottom of the video, the video's that are available in the sidebar, the video's that show up after the video chosen is done, etc, I am much more conscious of the video links I share with my students....until now!!!

After attending another fabulous Webinar organized by SimpleK12 (http://simplek12.com/tlc/webinars/), I was introduced to some amazing tools that let you chop and purify those great videos!

1) TubeChop allows you to easily chop a section from any YouTube video and share it. (You can also embed your chopped video into your website, wiki, blog, etc.)

http://www.tubechop.com/

2) Safe Viewing

Safeshare: http://Safeshare.tv - Generate a link without the comments and related videos. (Ability to share the video via Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

QuietTube http://quietube.com/ - This provides you with a button to put on your toolbar. When you open YouTube or other video sites, click on the button, and your video will be displayed without any ads, comments, etc.

ViewPure http://viewpure.com/ - Very similar to QuietTube, however has a few more options.

Now I can share video's with my students without having to worry if something inappropriate or offensive will show up while they are viewing the video's links I have shared with them.

Did you also know that YouTube has a section for educators?

Check out : www.youtube.com/education

As well, for all the history teachers out there, this is really neat: YouTubeTimeMachine - http://yttm.tv - Where you can get videos from any year. Your students might really enjoy searching and watching video's of a certain time period!

For other additional resources visit: http://livebinders.com/play/present?id=172921 which also includes a list of YouTube alternatives.

Enjoy!

Thriller

2011-10-28T09:28:00.005-04:00

Hello fellow bloggers,

I apologize for being absent the past few days. I have a lot of great new tools to share with you so please bare with me, I will be posting and updating my resources this weekend. Please check back in a few days.

In the meantime, check out this how to dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller, a great activity I like to do with my students during Halloween :)

The how to :

Dance with the music:

The music video: (Start the video around 1 min 44 secs for the dance)

Happy Halloween

6 Steps to Becoming a Viral Educator

2011-10-25T19:44:00.001-04:00

Today I attended a Webinar that discussed the 6 steps to becoming a Viral Educator. I found this to be a very valuable webinar in order to get organised and get ready for the next step of my adventure of becoming a great technology teacher, school coordinator, technology specialist, etc.

These 6 steps were presented by: Steven Anderson

Twitter @web20classroom

Email: steven.anderson@web20classroom.org

Some of you may feel that there are more or less then 6 steps. Please feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts on becoming a viral educator.

Step 1: Form a Brand (your online profile)

It's all about your digital footprint
Name - Always use the same spelling (Middle initial or not)

Your Blog

Twitter

Combine together -https://about.me/

QR Code - Link to your information http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Step 2: Get connected

Quality not quantity - better to follow a few good people, reduce noise
Twitter for Teachers http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com/w/page/22554534/FrontPage and http://twitterforteachers.wetpaint.com/

Alec Couros, PhD Thesis illustration,

the Networked Teacher ...

edtechfrontier.com

Step 3: Share

A two way connection - give information back

Create new information or
Share the information
http://www.slideshare.net/ a great place to share your presentations with others.

Step 4: Reflect and think (reflections helps us grow and learn)

Be CURIOUS
Start a blog
Ask questions

This is the blog post created by Alec Couros with a voicethread using the "connected teacher" image http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/799

Step 5: Grow

Take time to engage in edchat, read others' blogs, comment, and post new info.

Read others people posts, tweets, etc that think differently than you do

Step 6: Have fun

Always remember to Have Fun

Thanks for reading!

And If you are just getting started, start with Twitter, follow me : @canadianteched and check out : Social Media Getting Started: http://www.cybraryman.com/chats.html

My first attempt at using Google Forms and Fluberoo

2011-10-24T21:48:00.001-04:00

Beginners mistake:

I worked really hard last night preparing my very first online exam for my grade 9 students. I even had a mixture of questions to evaluate all the levels of Blooms Taxonomy. However... when I shared my quiz with the students today, somehow they got a copy with most of the answer's. Luckily there were still enough questions to be able to evaluate them properly and it was a good drill to get them to verify the answers that were already there.

Needless to say, my lesson learned today: Always send myself a copy, before I share anything with me students. My students lesson today: Patience, understanding and flexibility with using online tools is key in a online course :)

On the other hand, I am very grateful to have learned about the application Flubaroo integrated with Google Forms. It saves a lot of time when marking your exams. However, another beginners mistake : Don't forget to exclude your long answer questions before you submit to have your exam marked, otherwise your students marks will be much lower as it is not able to correct long answer questions. ( I had to send an email to my students apologizing for the amount of emails they may had received with various results of their quiz).

My suggestion and lesson #2 for today: Make a 2 part exam
a) Multiple choice - short answer (User Fluberoo to evaluate)
b) Long answer ( Have students share their answer's with you in Google Docs)

I hope you will all have much more success when it comes to your first time using Google Forms and Fluberoo.

Feel free to share your experiences!

Supporting Bloom’s Taxonomy in a Digital World

2011-10-23T21:31:00.002-04:00

On October 6th, I participated in an amazing Webinar, offered by SimpleK12, that shared a lot of very useful tools for our classroom.

Digital_Blooms.JPG

visualblooms.wikispaces.com

I hope you find these applications useful as they are also very well organized for each level of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Blooms chart (New Version)

Creating

Evaluating

Analysing

Applying

Understanding

Remembering

Knowledge and Rembering

Visuwords - graphical connection - Online Graphical dictionary http://www.visuwords.com

LinoIT - sticky notes - http://en.linoit.com

studyblue = flash cards - http://www.studyblue.com

What to learn = Create own games - http://www.what2learn.com

Jeopardy Labs = 1$ donation - http://jeopardylabs.com/

Spelling City = Vocab http://www.spellingcity.com/

Comprehension and Understanding

Discovery Education - Subject area free discussion and lessons http://www.discoveryeducation.com

BBC - Games and Videos Galore - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/games/

Hippocampus - Online digital Media (like a digital textbook) - http://hippocampus.org

Annenberg - Free media - http://www.learner.org

Bubbl.US - Mindmapping - http://bubbl.us - Like Inspiration - Can be exported

Voki - Talking avatars - http://www.voki.com

Application and Applying

Wolfram Alpha - using search to develop and construct- http://www.wolframalpha.com

Vocaroo - (Flash) audio recording - http://vocaroo.com - get links or embedding code

Soundcloud - Use phone to record audio - http://soundcloud.com like http://cinch.fm

Xtranormal - Animated Movies creating audio from your text or you can upload audio http://Xtranormal.com

Analysis..

10 x 10 - Get material on topics from many different angles - http://www.tenbyten.org

Exploratree - visualize conclusions - advanced mindmapping - have templates for ideas - http://www.exploratree.org.uk

Animoto - Free video making site (30 seconds free) - http://animoto.com

Popplet - visual display, like poster board or mindmap - embed videos into mindmap - http://popplet.com

Jaycut - free video editing w/o camera or download http://jaycut.com/

Evaluate (Formerly the top)

Fotobabble - Record audion over picture - http://fotobabble.com

Authorstream - Share your powerpoints with audio - http://authorstream.com

Protagonize - Upload writing projects for feeadback -http://www.protagonize.com

ToonDoo- Comic stripping type site - http://www.toondoo.com

Nota - collaborative whiteboard/webpage - many people can work on it at the same time - http://notaland.com (has education version)

Creating

Voicethread - Make comments on a picture with audio - http://voicethread.com

Go Animate - animation -http://goanimate.com/
Screencast-O-matic - Desktop recording (online) http://www.screencast-o-matic.com

Glogster - Digital poster board - http://Glogster.com

Prezi - More sophisticated slideshow has educational licence that gives teacher more -http://prezi.com

Stupeflix -add images/text/audio tracks to make video - http://www.stupeflix.com/

Links from the webinar:
http://www.diigo.com/user/mrplough07/bloomsSK12

If your interested, check out : http://simplek12.com/tlc/webinars/ for their upcoming FREE webinars!

Welcome!

2011-10-23T21:09:00.001-04:00

Hello,
I am really excited to start my new blog. Over the past year I have been learning so much about new and exciting technology tools and applications available for our classrooms. In addition, I have many friends and co-workers often asking me to share with them the tools available and what I have learned through my research! So here it is, a place to hear about my experience with these tools in the classroom and a place for me to share the knowledge I have acquired.

Enjoy!