Created with Tagul.com We’ve been working and editing our Digital Citizenship (curriculum dare I say) for a bit now (squeezed in between all the other projects). And I’ve returned to the same conclusion I had at the beginning of this journey. The only thing that is really different is that we access an online environment…
Tag: blogging
Engage in the Experience – Professional Learning
As we organize our teaching/learning environments, it is important to hold time to learn ourselves – to challenge ourselves to engage with new ideas, to seek out new opportunities in professional learning, and to reflect how they relate with personal beliefs. This is about connecting to what is important. Only then can we bring powerful…
Voice and Choice – Teachers & Students Ring Out
From time to time we continue our focus on sharing practices in SD41 that create community and build connected stories using our blogs. On the Cariboo side of the city, resides Armstrong teacher, Jude Comeau. Her blog called Division 11’s Class Blog-Learning One Byte At A Time, is a hive of connected learning. Her purposes are…
An Audience of One is No Audience At All
“Students need an authentic audience.” You’ve heard this statement before. Given the vast array of opportunities, you would think that this is easy. But any number of bells are ringing in your head and you recognize it’s not that simple. Consider questions like “who will be the target audience – parents, peers, people across the…
Who’s Telling Your Story If You’re Not?
Storytelling is as important today as years past – perhaps more so. There are many competing forces and it is challenging to capture audience’s attention. Questions to consider might be “What is your story? Who is telling your story? How are you telling it? Is it getting to the audience you wish?” Answers will differ…
Dialogue With A Twist
How would you create opportunities for students to practice dialogue? Perhaps it’s talk between two people or two characters in a book or a conversation between you and yourself? MMhh…now that would be interesting. A bit of reflective action produced in video format. And practicing a host of literacy elements to boot. The tool you…
How Do You Communicate?
More than any other initiative we’ve been a part, none have reached the level of activity as our wordpress blogging platform. This pilot grew from humble beginnings with the simple goal of “tell your story”. Our question – what would happen if we gave our people an opportunity to open a window into classrooms or…
Summer Reads
Summer is a great time to catch up on all sorts of things [those pesky chores, unapologetic ‘do nothing’ attitudes…]. One thing I look forward to, is diving into books that either I’ve been waiting for or have been recommended and I just never got to it during the year. Here’s an image of…
A Year of Discovery
It’s June and I’m really not sure what happened to this year. The ten months prior have whizzed by and here we are again. I wanted to take this moment to share some reflections of the year and try to put things into perspective. Our Writers Workshop folks grappled with ideas related not only…
Spring News
Spring is definitely in the air – the buds are on the trees and the daffodils have poked their heads above the ground. This also means that the latest newsletter is out. Check it out here!
To Blog Or Not To Blog
Why blog? Your current process of emailing parents or sending written notices home works just fine! Why change you ask. What makes blogging so unique? Blogging accomplishes many goals that cannot be accomplished as well as email, paper notices or student planner comments. Yes, blogging is an easy way to share homework and expectations for projects…
Informed Choices for Writing Workshop
Even though you may love Writers Workshop, the challenge comes in keeping track of all the confer/revision comments for planning purposes. We know that immediate feedback, specific and targeted will support our students’ approximation of great writing. How do you keep your ongoing comments on students? (I used to use post-it notes – hundreds of post-its.)…
Why Write?
Sometimes a picture says it all… While using ComicLife is a powerful tool to create comics, sometimes what’s required is a tool that has its own built in media library. There are many out on the web to choose. The one above is from LearnEnglishKids by the British Council. A range of panels, backgrounds, characters…
December – The Gift of Time
It’s December and most every hour is in high gear, trying to get those last minute projects merged in with winter festivities. And just this weekend, we got our first whiff of snow. Magic is in the air among the smell of gingerbread houses, mandarin oranges and other treats popping up in all locations. Not…
Adding Alternative Modes to Blogs – Connecting to Audience
Sometimes writing just text won’t do and you want to add some spice to get your point across. Or you’re thinking of how you might communicate more clearly to your audience. Like oral conversations, a variety of examples may be helpful to clarify thinking. One simple way is to use video and embed content…
The Writing Workshop Series – (Session #1)
Here we go – another exciting ride through the intricacies of Writers Workshop. And you knew this was coming – with a twist. As we navigate the environment of web2, we come to understand just how complex the writing process has become. I like to think of this as opportunities to offer more “choice…
Welcome back September
Welcome back September. And what a spectacular summer it has been – Olympics energy, warm sunny weather, family and friends laughter. Though it’s always great to get away and get recharged, I look forward to the start of each new year. A new year to test out some crazy ideas (yes I’ve read and reread…
Giving Voice to Your Story – Use an Online Tool
Capture that story (whether at school or home) with just a mic and a simple online recorder. Vocaroo (http://vocaroo.com) is a simple online audio tool just made for that purpose! Use it for audio recordings of class news, radio shows, as student assessments for oral readings or to increase skills in reading. You may even…
Writing Territories to Launch Choice in Writing – Session 2
“I don’t have anything to write about…” How many times have we all heard that? Using a structure like “Writing Territories” provides a powerful way to start scribbling their ideas. These ideas can be listed or supported through collaborative conversation. This mini lesson (* are specific and allow time for students to share their samples to…
Running Out of Space? Resizing Images is Magic!
Just when you get it all figured out, that dreaded message comes across warning you of your dwindling space on your blog. Most of the time this is due to posting images that are photo quality (right off the camera or ipad) but not web quality. Some of you already use IrfanView or Microsoft…