tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25748666476449031012024-03-05T16:28:50.078-05:00Gill-Ville's Gift of GabUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-80194315893462346862016-08-24T18:26:00.000-04:002016-08-25T14:47:05.433-04:00Crowd-sourcing at a ConferenceFriends/PLN, I need your help!<br />
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I am currently at the <a href="https://event-wizard.com/pedagogyb4technology/0/pages/89390" target="_blank">OTF Pedagogy B4 Technology</a> conference in Markham. Today I presented a session about my experiences with <a href="http://pb4t.weebly.com/getting-started-with-global-projects.html" target="_blank">global projects</a>. A participant in my session met me afterwards and we had a short chat about the session. He is very interested in global communities and getting started with global projects. This awesome teacher from TVDSB is not (yet) connected on Twitter (I am hoping to change that tomorrow). He was inspired by the mention of the <a href="https://akgtcanada.com/" target="_blank">Kids Guide to Canada</a> project that my friend <a href="https://twitter.com/beachcat11" target="_blank">Cathy Beach</a> is organizing. He has this idea to extend his "one thing" website where you share ONE THING you take away, remember, adore, etc. and apply it to this #<a href="https://twitter.com/akgtCanada" target="_blank">AKGTCanada</a> project theme. His idea was for everyone to share ONE THING about Canada. I told him we could easily crowd-source this on Twitter during my Minds on Media session tomorrow (also about global projects). He is not convinced it would be that fast and easy. I want to show him the power of a PLN on Twitter and hopefully convince him that this tool is helpful in establishing global connections. We will also be taking paper copies that I will photograph and tweet out. You do not have to be a Canadian to participate, but it helps!<br />
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Soooooo, here are my requests.<br />
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1. Please share this post and RT this plea to recruit help.<br />
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2. At some point in the next 24 hours please compose a tweet with the following things included:<br />
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- #OneThingAboutCanada hashtag at the beginning<br />
- your ending to that prompt<br />
- #pb4t & #akgtcanada hashtags at the end<br />
- feel free to include a photo or a link if you choose that proves your point! (not necessary though)<br />
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Example: <br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/onethingaboutCanada?src=hash">#onethingaboutCanada</a> You gotta see the rocky shores near Lake Superior, such stunning landscapes! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pb4t?src=hash">#pb4t</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/akgtcanada?src=hash">#akgtcanada</a> <a href="https://t.co/kbzMYF1v98">pic.twitter.com/kbzMYF1v98</a></div>
— Kim Gill (@Gill_Ville) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gill_Ville/status/768573257511530496">August 24, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-25289713409018815242016-07-17T23:52:00.001-04:002016-07-18T10:02:41.073-04:00End of an Era - Life Skills Reflections (Part 3 - Out of the Building Learning)<br />
As I continue to pack up my former Life Skills classroom, I am amazed at the artifacts that were collecting in the six years since the new Ryerson reopened and moving into Room 20. With every pile I sort and photograph I find, I am reminded of the very unique learning opportunities that occurred in this program over the past 8 years. With every class photo I look at, I am brought back to a really cool project we worked on or interesting trip we took. You see, having a class of 6-9 students each year allowed for some pretty cool and unusual experiences that you just can't do with a regular class of 18-30 students. With educational assistants willing to use personal vehicles, we avoided huge transportation costs and used those funds to seek out experiences that were new or exciting to the students currently in the program.<br />
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One of the trips that I always struggled with each year was Horseback Riding. This practice occurred prior to me coming into this role and it was a highlight that was requested to continue. My first year, I was shocked at the expense and had difficulty justifying using over half of the year's budget on an hour lesson repeated over eight weeks. To me it didn't seem practical. The adults basically watched and cheered on the students, and I wondered if this was a good use of 3 educators' time. What this time actually became was an opportunity for us as a team to do some informal planning and debriefing of recent activities. As a team, we never had planning time together. All of our communication occurred while students are present. These weekly trips that I scheduled in the Fall, gave us an opportunity to have some professional discussions to support students during the upcoming days. Each and every year, with each group of students, I learned something new about the students and each one showed some progression of skill achievement during our time at the stables. Let me tell you, you learn so much about students when you're driving in the car. They don't feel like they're in school and the conversations often take a humorous turn. It also allowed for some informal coaching and debriefing on the drive to and from the stables. Most of the students that I worked with over the eight years, with a few exceptions of course, did not have many experiences outside of their home. An opportunity to do something like horseback riding is something that many of my students would never experience otherwise. Every year, even though it's the farthest trip from memory the students always say that horseback riding was the best trip of the year. That REALLY matters with special education students because they typically recall the last trip/activity as the best. Was horseback riding the best use of those funds? I'm still not sure, but I justified it each year due to the excitement and development I observed in the kids. Some were terrified to get on the horse the first day but were thrilled to return on day 2 and loved each and every lesson thereafter. Some students that struggled with anxiety and anger management showed calm and controlled bodies around the horses 100% of the time. Really. Just think about that for a moment. Students with balance or physical issues worked on fitness goals, and for one student, it was the only time he was able to focus on this posture and keep his back straight. Maybe this learning experience is more valuable than the price tag the program costs. I was sad to inform the stables that we would not be returning next Fall.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPx_dAAFJxGStDhmry7m0KmGQTB8urCZ9vQPMwDxoH-wq4a8hhvf_t_gGQaRD-nTlQmNf_KOs5dg4livuVNbWCYGFFOA3zxloe7csPyDYEFlAUdxpPQv1vNddx4sGwba6dAir6VDqnt5X4/s1600/IMG_0802.PNG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPx_dAAFJxGStDhmry7m0KmGQTB8urCZ9vQPMwDxoH-wq4a8hhvf_t_gGQaRD-nTlQmNf_KOs5dg4livuVNbWCYGFFOA3zxloe7csPyDYEFlAUdxpPQv1vNddx4sGwba6dAir6VDqnt5X4/s640/IMG_0802.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Made with Prisma</td></tr>
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Being a Life Skills program, it was always a fun challenge to find meaningful local trips that relate to daily living. Our regular grocery shopping trips provided great talk time and in the moment math when students evaluate the value of items based on sale prices, quantities, and brand comparisons. At least once each year we would visit a restaurant to discuss dining etiquette, ordering procedures, and calculating tips. We were also fortunate enough to partner with some local food establishments for occasional cooking classes in the industrial kitchen. These trips were always a hit and a great way to prepare students for future vocational work in this industry. Students wore gloves, hair nets, and had to follow the safety rules of the kitchen. A trip to the local mall would provide opportunities to read maps and follow directions. A trip to a mall in neighboring cities would introduce students to the public bus system; using tickets, following the route, and attending for the desired stopping point. These all seem like pretty common outings for families, but you would be surprised at how many students were experiencing these things for the first time.<br />
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Occasionally we would find a reason to drive around Cambridge and make many stops to check out local attractions. Sometimes it was the quest to find the perfect place to take a photograph worthy of submitting to the Imagine A Show photo contest. Sometimes it was to find a scenic place to do some art, studying perspective, landscapes, and practice sketching. My favourite tour of Cambridge took place the year we were working on creating a "tourism Cambridge" app. Students recorded GPS locations and took pictures of local attractions and businesses to include with each write up. These tours were so beneficial for so many reasons. It was a great opportunity for orienteering, directional language, estimation of time and distance, and exposure to areas of the city outside of the student's home community. Again, it often amazed me at how little the students knew about their home town. For this reason alone, I felt these trips were extremely valuable for this population of learners.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjASAkWn7yziD1wiZf-IcpB1iOLyF5p_OmLwXP6L7eIem2xNL7yETwldPPwUBeJpID5xarplkRs6gMSd4K6c89W17Y58aZ3sUxJmucZQe_vCNVEYPiNsIVJ9L2DD9JwmDfnQyCWrg70-E4g/s1600/Screen+shot+2016-07-17+at+11.38.05+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjASAkWn7yziD1wiZf-IcpB1iOLyF5p_OmLwXP6L7eIem2xNL7yETwldPPwUBeJpID5xarplkRs6gMSd4K6c89W17Y58aZ3sUxJmucZQe_vCNVEYPiNsIVJ9L2DD9JwmDfnQyCWrg70-E4g/s640/Screen+shot+2016-07-17+at+11.38.05+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Made with Layout and Prisma</td></tr>
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One year there was a student that was obsessed with ships so a trip to the Museum for the Titanic exhibit was perfect for this group. Another year Medieval times was a huge interest for my class so we not only went to Medieval week activities at the Museum, we also went to Toronto for the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament. For most students in my class that year it was also their first trip to Toronto. Another year my class pulled in a huge profit on our hot dog lunch fundraiser. This enabled us to take a bus to Stratford, take a tour of the costume warehouse as well as try on some cool costumes, picnic in the park, and then take in a show at the Theatre. Again, live theatre (of this quality) a first for every student in my class. So many "firsts" over the last eight years. I feel like our team provided many memorable experiences for these students and showed them a little slice of what life has to offer.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-74783263626479959542016-07-09T00:13:00.000-04:002016-07-09T00:15:15.673-04:00End of an Era - Life Skills Reflections (Part 2 - A Terrific Team)When I first heard the news a couple months ago that our Junior Life Skills class was to close, my immediate thoughts went to my team. By closing our class, our team was being broken apart. This devastated me. For weeks, I was teary every time I thought about my EAs and what this meant for them. This was my work family. We've been together for eight years and it worked. It worked really well. I was very fortunate to have three very efficient, empathetic, and eager women who backed me up EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.<br />
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As a Life Skills teacher, I often planned and worked in isolation, never having a collaborative teaching partner. Having this team of educational assistants made up for that. They were there to share those glances when you're glad another adult heard what just came out of the mouths of babes. They were there to debrief after behaviour outbursts. They were there with suggestions and ideas to improve the learning for our kids. They were there to share to joys and successes when illiterate students learned to read and write independently. No matter what, they were there. <br />
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Not only did these women show up and dig in every day, these women supported me with every after hours event that I ever ran or hosted, including Family Math Night, EdCamp Waterloo Region, Family Technology Night, Cheryl Kewley's "ReTurtlement" Party, and all staff social events. Today, while packing up the Life Skills room, one of my wonderful ladies arrived to help me move some furniture over to the new classroom. Another has texted me every day to see how I've been recovering. Even after school is out and the program closed, I still feel connected to and cared for by these women. They also supported me personally when ever there was a family emergency, health crisis, or personal loss. Like I said, they were my work family. I will miss them immensely.<br />
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Yesterday I grieved for the loss of the classroom kitchen. Today, I am reminded of the loss of my work-family-unit. These relationships matter! This has been the toughest part of saying goodbye to Life Skills. Initially this particular loss was gut-wrenching. With time, I've come to accept that change is inevitable and I know that each of our team members will excel at our new positions next year. I am richer for having had this work family. With sincerest gratitude, thanks for the memories!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-15610630838183272452016-07-07T21:32:00.002-04:002016-07-07T21:44:01.551-04:00End of an Era - Life Skills Reflections (Part 1 - The Kitchen Community)Eight years ago I applied to Ryerson's Junior Life Skills program. It was a means to an end. Ryerson was getting a rebuild and I so desperately wanted to be involved in opening a new school. I had no idea what the program involved, it was my ticket in the door. What I very quickly discovered is that I loved this job. This job was meant for me. Flexible curriculum, increased budget, assistance from amazing Educational Assistants, and the autonomy to go where the learning led us. I became very passionate about using technology to support our neediest learners and, over the course of eight years, was able to do some really amazing things with kids.<br />
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The Special Education department recently decided to close my program (and three others) for a variety of reasons around enrollment, funding, and a change in philosophy that leans towards integration instead of congregated programs at the junior level. While I 100% disagree with this direction, I must move forward on to something new. For me, it looks like the next stop is grade three in September. Normally, I would be spending my last week of school reflecting on the year, and in this case, the last eight years that I've been in this role. But that was not to be as I missed the last week of school due to a terrible illness. Now that I'm slowly returning back to the land of the living, I have to pack up my room and get ready for the big move.<br />
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My mind is racing with memories and emotions as I move around the room and box up the journey that was Life Skills. I thought I'd start with an easy part...the classroom kitchen. Seemed straightforward enough, right? It was, until I started sorting the items I brought in for Lil Chefs Cooking Club, or the left over aprons from our amazing cooking shows we produced a few years back, or the specialty fish dishes that were gifts to "Gill-Ville". I spent more than two hours going through four cupboards! I was so deeply affected by the realization that I'm losing my classroom kitchen and, more importantly, the kitchen community that it created. I left school that day, unable to focus to accomplish anything else. Instead, I went home to create this sketchnote in attempts to share my feelings about my classroom kitchen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlq4Nme-sWAq_3sGEbEF9fUGXyvWpi739j6FbCYamrzBlU5EU-9xcYiup1RDBM1ijHu2_rBdFwIWTlr6OLR4IlGrYTeo23YoLLOAEeCMgr9hiq5xt4kWTGiIBu4UdINkqDcRaSIG1ZAe4/s1600/kitchen+community+sketchnote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlq4Nme-sWAq_3sGEbEF9fUGXyvWpi739j6FbCYamrzBlU5EU-9xcYiup1RDBM1ijHu2_rBdFwIWTlr6OLR4IlGrYTeo23YoLLOAEeCMgr9hiq5xt4kWTGiIBu4UdINkqDcRaSIG1ZAe4/s640/kitchen+community+sketchnote.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div>
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This kitchen provided curriculum connections to healthy living and math expectations, in addition to providing nourishment for hungry, disadvantaged bellies. I'm sure you think back to a time when you were little and helped a parent or grandparent make a meal, or cookies, or a special recipe. If you thought about it, you would recall the smells, the tastes, and the conversations that took place (often not related to academia). These kitchen activities made us a little more connected, more human. We shared stories, recipes, memories, and in those moments, completely forgot we were special education learners. The classroom kitchen really was the envy of all the other classrooms. The smell of our baking would fill the halls and attract visitors in hopes of being in the right place at the right time. Our kitchen made us special, but this time in a good way. We liked to extend our kitchen community and invite others in. Over the years we did lessons with buddies, hosted staff luncheons and school wide hot dog lunch days, and created personalized gifts for family members. The kitchen not only brought the members of our class together, it also brought us closer to the staff and students in the school. </div>
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And while I thought starting with the classroom kitchen would be the easiest part of packing up Life Skills, I was dead wrong. This is the part of Life Skills that I think I will miss the most....or until tomorrow when I pack up a different part of the classroom! </div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-51098778682536161442016-04-12T01:12:00.000-04:002016-04-12T01:14:04.727-04:00GAFE SummitThis past weekend I spent my days learning with other educators at
the GAFE Summit in Kitchener. This is my fourth summit and I would have
to say the best so far. IMO, there was a variety of sessions ranging
from beginner to geeky and some great tools being showcased. This
Google-stamped event was full of Google-type things (as to be expected)
but there were a few other gems tucked away in the program as well.
Most of the sessions were geared more to learning about tools,
techniques, and tricks as opposed to tackling big issues in education.
At each of the previous GAFE events, I have spent most of my time
sitting on the floor as the rooms fill up quickly. For me, it's
literally been a big pain in the butt each year. This time around, the
pre-summit survey of interests seemed to help organizers judge which
sessions required larger rooms, which helped spread people out a little
more. I am happy to say that I did not sit on the floor once this year!
Here's a summary of the sessions I attended (and the ones I was
creeping the tweets/resources for).<br />
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<h2>
<span style="color: red;">Session 1 </span></h2>
I attended the first half of <a href="https://twitter.com/ms_e_a" target="_blank">Erica Armstrong</a>'s session on <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/196hlIJvdxKnx36tjB0KsDVzXR0WiXciSRbzPDsMEYfQ/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00" target="_blank">Creating Innovative Learning Spaces</a>.
She shared her journey to creating a learning space pictured below.
Her classroom evolved over a period of a few years as many of the
resources are very expensive and took time to acquire. She thought
critically about the use of space and design with the philosophy that
everyone does not need the same (seating, workspace, resources).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="B4qfLNWIAAAJcqp.jpg-large-2 (1).jpeg" height="212" id="docs-internal-guid-a0a75881-0868-4d19-7e14-ee45b2f32e2d" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/wKZ3UM0Jhyogj9YFQ2FY6b1pqg9hMlc1Ua6GHY34v-oglX3ijFjyDIQbUJkZC9UB9xyoMWUjcLxCMP7nIH5v510xSDVKBQTJeE9FokCQlwbZ4oz5aLP2whGWHVjaZ1t0yd7vBelMiS4" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erica Armstrong's classroom evolved in a way that allows for different needs and interests.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1YUDMB0JXuja5CB5hUWmrZMZ9EL6iw2qf3g_-Q74SQJSgdgfD7DxAevbmcF1FrTulpdNODq5eqwW0lqZrSwYM0KXSuKyTxKK7olo8FCMPqQiEojI5aJJsXXacpUSrfPUwPDi9HzIMOzV/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-12+at+12.45.24+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1YUDMB0JXuja5CB5hUWmrZMZ9EL6iw2qf3g_-Q74SQJSgdgfD7DxAevbmcF1FrTulpdNODq5eqwW0lqZrSwYM0KXSuKyTxKK7olo8FCMPqQiEojI5aJJsXXacpUSrfPUwPDi9HzIMOzV/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-04-12+at+12.45.24+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I left Erica's session in order to catch the last half of <a href="https://twitter.com/mrpiercEy" target="_blank">Donnie Piercey</a>'s session titled <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/mrpiercey.com/gtrainerdemo/google-drive/google-forms" target="_blank">Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Forms </a> I learned about some <a href="http://www.eminenceedtech.com/2016/02/google-forms-some-new-features.html" target="_blank">updates to forms</a> and a few new ideas of how to use forms such as the one shared in this tweet:<br />
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<h2>
<span style="color: orange;"> Session 2</span></h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfXBkimtm-FEbXZakywtFzcxgHjQvDDbG_dn5Z1y3esH8h7jwrEWvAXHhxrPlHmTPbjywonwtGooiVJz9Oj3eckFIk_y8TyACqpS-rEiF9SfriqI9AAVHYuOCYGsfjvmUcjAkigjg7Q5X/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-12+at+12.50.07+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfXBkimtm-FEbXZakywtFzcxgHjQvDDbG_dn5Z1y3esH8h7jwrEWvAXHhxrPlHmTPbjywonwtGooiVJz9Oj3eckFIk_y8TyACqpS-rEiF9SfriqI9AAVHYuOCYGsfjvmUcjAkigjg7Q5X/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-04-12+at+12.50.07+AM.png" width="400" /></a><br />
I attended a session about <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dMVsnMrkxcxcN7Cr3pK7BR9L4WdUXl0FeVAf8vKot_8/edit#slide=id.p" target="_blank">Google Expeditions</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/sylviaduckworth" target="_blank">Sylvia Duckworth</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/watnunu" target="_blank">Sandra Chow</a>
I had a quick peek at Google Cardboard at BIT15 and although
experiencing virtual reality was pretty cool, I didn't quite see how it
would be useful in primary and junior classrooms where access to
smartphones is extremely limited. I am much more intrigued now that I
know iPod touch version 5 will run it and that there are great tools
available to create your own virtual reality projects. I'm tucking this
one into my "explore more later" pocket.<br />
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<h2>
<span style="color: yellow;">Session 3</span></h2>
I wanted to be split three ways during this session, however, I decided to go to <a href="https://twitter.com/itechteach" target="_blank">Jeffrey Humpfries</a> session <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xrntgWjCnXtvMnhFsvbv5sWP0O5wwCwavE03TW9OfGQ/edit#slide=id.g332713cbd_0203" target="_blank">Awesomeness with Apps, Add Ons and Extensions</a>
I am excited to try extensions SnagIt and Google Tone. Also, learning
of Forms add on, Choice Eliminator, was a bonus. While sitting in on
this session, I was creeping in on Sandra Chow's session on <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UcKi74oLRgexnIxFwfZVZ961BGFoeFCF8HZOAPJyotw/edit#slide=id.p" target="_blank">Pop Themes - Engaging Students through Dynamic Learning</a>
It sounded like a fun session based on the tweets I was reading. I have
often utilized pop culture references in events and activities so
Sandra's ideas certainly were intriguing to me. Another session I
wanted to attend was <a href="https://twitter.com/MrSoClassroom" target="_blank">Jonathon So</a>'s about <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ozMkVSf1vVHE1G0_Fc7sAJXRmYwOOYzgwwjnmLlWKeA/edit#slide=id.p" target="_blank">Using GAFE in a Primary and Junior Classroom</a>
I feel that we are just beginning to see what people are doing to
integrate GAFE with primary students so this is one presentation I
wanted to bookmark to peek at later.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: lime;">Session 4</span></h2>
By this point of the day I was beginning to get tired
and didn't want to think about forms, spreadsheets, and amazing
extensions. I needed a bit of a creative outlet so I decided to attend
Sylvia Duckworth's session on <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a0TgYBEEQlMv6umZJ_g3KLHGOi1Vv40PHsFhjCN3LkE/edit#slide=id.g5f70fb3e7_00" target="_blank">Sketchnoting</a>.
I attempted to do this at BIT15 but it took me the entire session to
update my ipad in order to download the app so I didn't get to play
along. So this time, I went app loaded, ipad updated, ready to play and
catch the tips I missed the first time around. Gotta love technology
because this super cool app <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/procreate-sketch-paint-create./id425073498?mt=8" target="_blank">Procreate</a>
kept crashing every 10 seconds. I deleted the app and reloaded with
the same issues. I seemed to be the only one experiencing this. Maybe
it's time to admit my iPad 2 isn't the device it once was? Once again, I
didn't get to create along Sylvia, however it's always good to watch
her in action.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: cyan;">Demo Slam:</span></h2>
I'm glad I stayed for the demo slam if only to see Sylvia rapping with the assistance of <a href="http://www.incredibox.com/" target="_blank">Incredibox</a>. A few fun resources were shared, however, you'll have to search for the sites as many of the links are not accurate in this <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kYEIGG6EPDTthTDXfVLL3n5yMbssMwPMzlNbdS0hSxc/pubhtml?gid=607398286&single=true" target="_blank">spreadsheet</a>.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: blue;">DAY 2 - Session 5</span></h2>
This was another moment I wanted to be in three
places at once, which is not a bad problem to have at a conference.
This was a moment I was grateful for session slides being posted ahead
of time. I quickly previewed the slides for all three sessions and found
that <a href="https://twitter.com/hiD_mnhrt" target="_blank">Heidi Mannhardt</a>'s session <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zUZstxBSpr3EKoWivvZTzBfPuOWXGLm1fbangGcW-Qk/edit#slide=id.p3" target="_blank">Script-ilicious</a> was pretty easy to follow so I could refer to it later and learn independently. Great! Process of elimination... <a href="https://twitter.com/cordym" target="_blank">Michelle Cordy</a>'s session on<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l9quzv0nkpe9VjhbtK0TadT1gbkY2CNdUkLW1g6G5gM/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00" target="_blank"> GAFE and iPads</a> looked like it included some great tips but also lots of stuff I am already doing. So I decided to go to <a href="https://twitter.com/lesmcbeth" target="_blank">Leslie McBeth</a>'s session on <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eQRdK8UGHLAKv9fmwTwFv8xVpdqix1IchcTqug5eC9c/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00" target="_blank">Design Thinking</a>.
This was one of my favourite sessions at the summit. Leslie shared
experiences with design thinking and challenged the participants to work
though a problem using the design thinking framework. The problem was
introduced as "How might we improve the attendance system in schools?"
Here's a screencast that shows a very quick demo of our process:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.educreations.com/lesson/embed/38439743/?ref=embed" width="480"></iframe>
<br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Session 6</h2>
I attended <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/edtechteam.com/molly-gafe/summit-presentations/collaborate-with-the-world---and-map-it" target="_blank">Mapping Forms</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/followmolly" target="_blank">Molly Schroeder</a>
Molly shared some neat ways to display form data geographically. I had
a chance to try it out with a quick test. A tweet was sent out with my
form link and with from the results, I was able to map the location of
the participants as well as colour code their responses.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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Mapped my data from my session form <a href="https://t.co/5mdvIdeFRD">https://t.co/5mdvIdeFRD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gafesummit?src=hash">#gafesummit</a> Thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/followmolly">@followmolly</a></div>
— Kim Gill (@Gill_Ville) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gill_Ville/status/719190722180694016">April 10, 2016</a></blockquote>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
<span style="color: purple;">Session 7</span></h2>
I've connected with <a href="https://twitter.com/rchids" target="_blank">Rolland Chidiac</a> on social media for a while now so it was great to finally meet him face to face for his session with <a href="https://twitter.com/missjessweber" target="_blank">Jessica Weber</a> entitled <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CyIG676WRBI2PBz4yjwaIAEVq86tV7BR7yDZfVprkJU/edit#slide=id.p" target="_blank">GAFE-volution</a>. I think this tweet shows my favourite share during this session and makes me really wanna get my hands on a 3D printer!<br />
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<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
<span style="color: magenta;">Session 8</span></h2>
I attempted all weekend to get into one of the <a href="http://www.breakoutedu.com/" target="_blank">BreakOutEDU</a>
sessions with no luck so I was excited to finally get into the very
last one! I have to admit, I was lost for more than half of the
challenge, which made me rely on others for clues and support. There was
lots of critical thinking occuring to discover and decode clues and
collaboration with group members was essential for success. Our group
solved the problem, opening all of our locks with 4 minutes to spare! I
already have an idea of how I would like to use this idea to introduce
my next novel study! Thanks Chris Webb & Jeffrey Humpfries!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-74762922446741744952016-02-28T13:23:00.000-05:002016-02-28T13:23:24.665-05:00EdcampWR - An Organizer's (worries and) OpinionsI'm coming down off an Edcamp high. I'm a horrible blogger (my posts are very few and far between) but after hosting the third #edcampWR yesterday, I'm compelled to write. Those that know me, know that I enjoy event planning. I love bringing people together. And I'm passionate about education and promoting the culture of sharing. So it seems like a natural fit to organize an event such as Edcamp Waterloo Region.<br />
<br />When I started planning <a href="http://edcampwaterlooregion.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">#edcampWR</a> in 2012, Edcamps were relatively new. The movement was beginning to grow in the United States in 2010. Kent Manning (retired teacher who was a very active member of my PLN and a big influence on me) sent a tweet over the Christmas holidays wondering if there would be any interest in hosting one in Canada, more specifically, near Belleville. Around the same time Vancouver was also starting get on board and planning an event for April 16th. <a href="https://edcampquinte.wikispaces.com/Home+Page" target="_blank">Edcamp Quinte</a> had three events in 2011, the first on March 5, making it the first official edcamp in Canada! There were only about a dozen of us in attendance that day but it was such a great experience. There was so much sharing, learning, connecting occurring. Being there in the moment, face to face with passionate educators, while still connecting with virtual attendees on Twitter and Adobe Connect was amazing and I was hooked instantly. By the fall of 2011, Toronto hosted their first event bringing in a much larger crowd and establishing "Edcamp" as movement to watch in Ontario. So, in my opinion, this was the time to showcase what was happening in Waterloo region. I had just been part of opening a newly rebuilt technology focused school and though it would be a great venue for such an event. And it was! We had 130 attendees from 11 different school boards represented at our first event on March 31, 2012. People came all the way from Windsor, Ottawa, Belleville, and every district in between. I'd like to think that our event, combined with Toronto's, inspired others because shortly after Edcamps were being planned in Ottawa and Hamilton. Our next event in February of 2014 had similar numbers of participants and most seemed to come from neighboring and local school boards. Edcamps were now being planned in other areas such as London, Sault St. Marie, Manitoulin Island, Barrie, Peterborough and Windsor! Fast forward to our event in 2016, although we did have people travel from Orangeville, Toronto, and London, most of our participants we from local school boards. It seems that educators are not having to travel great distances to participate in Edcamp events as more and more are happening across the province.<br />
<br />
When edcamps started in 2010, there were 8 events across the U.S. That grew to over 50 in 2011, 6 of those taking place in Canada. That rose to 125 events the year we hosted our first event - 7 of those took place in Canada. I remember the stress of trying to find sponsors for our first event and second events. It really was the biggest task in EdcampWR planning. In the beginning, we approached so many tech and educational companies for financial support or donations of products and services. Most did not even reply to our requests and the others declined. It was such a challenge to find support for our event. In the following 2 years, the Edcamp movement has exploded with over 300 events held world wide. Businesses are starting to take notice and are reaching out to Edcamps to promote their products and services. When it came time to begin planning our 2016 event, sponsorship woes significantly changed. Tech companies were contacting us and offering support! Almost all of <a href="http://edcampwaterlooregion.wikispaces.com/Supporters+of+EdCampWR" target="_blank">our sponsors for EdcampWR 2016 </a>approached us wanting to get involved. WOW! As an organizer, that was impressive. We had twice the number of business partnerships and the best prizes to date. It certainly took some of the pressure off of event preparations but, more importantly, it shows the the increasing support and value of events such as these where people are in charge of their learning. <br />
<br />
Although sponsorship was up, the number of participants for our event this year was significantly lower, about half of what we've seen in the past. In the week leading up to EdcampWR I received more than 30 cancellations from registrants expressing regret due to illness, death in the family, and conflicting plans. With a free event, it's always guaranteed that there will be 10-20 no shows. I worried that we wouldn't have many participants. I worried that our event this year would not have the impact that it's had in the past. I worried that eliminating our unique <a href="http://edcampwaterlooregion.wikispaces.com/Student+Showcase+Sessions" target="_blank">Student Technology Showcase</a> part of our last two events would be missed. I worried that Edcamps are losing momentum and that people were no longer interested in our event. I even stayed up the night before worrying about the the mistakes I made on photo booth I created! I worry a lot....<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Phew! Fixed! Such a perfectionist that this kept me up last night.... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hotmess?src=hash">#hotmess</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edcampwr?src=hash">#edcampwr</a> <a href="https://t.co/TRW3nwUGec">pic.twitter.com/TRW3nwUGec</a></div>
— Kim Gill (@Gill_Ville) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gill_Ville/status/703568229319499777">February 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Most of the time, I worry for nothing... Despite the lower numbers, EdcampWR DID have an impact, there WAS interest, and the educators were the ones naturally showcasing technology. I feel like the smaller group made this event a little more intimate. Roughly 1/4 of participants were first time edcampers and I think that's amazing! I had been worrying that EdcampWR would be mostly made up of the usual suspects...you know, the ones you see at every tech conference, the ones that are already actively involved in your PLN. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's always nice to see familiar faces, but I couldn't help but worry about the echo chamber. I, personally, love the echo chamber on Twitter because it's where I go for sharing, support, and motivation. However, I am also aware that different opinions, values, beliefs, and ideas are essential to push your thinking and grow. I've always struggled with this balance of needing affirmation and challenge.<br />
<br />
Being on the organization side of things, you tend to get around to see little snapshots of what's happening at the event. I tried to capture and share as much as I could on Twitter (check out <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=edcampwr&src=typd" target="_blank">#edcampwr</a> to see the stream from the day). As I went from room to room to check in, I could hear amazing stories being told, resources being shared, and supportive teachers providing encouragement and motivation to each other. I heard little snippets that I thought "oooohh, wish I was here for the rest of this conversation" or "I'll have to get someone to fill me in on that discussion". Although I enjoy being the host, I feel like I missed a lot of the learning that occurred and selfishly hope that others will share their resources and reflections as well.<br />
<br />
My favourite tweet leading up to the event:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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Another reason for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/flyhighfri?src=hash">#flyhighfri</a>? I registered for <a href="https://twitter.com/EdCampWR">@edcampwr</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edcampwr?src=hash">#edcampwr</a> Looking forward to connecting and learning! <a href="https://t.co/85O5M8GRPP">https://t.co/85O5M8GRPP</a></div>
— Shauna Pollock (@misspollock) <a href="https://twitter.com/misspollock/status/693109449041514496">January 29, 2016</a></blockquote>
<br />
I am very lucky that my family supports me in these endeavors as well. My mom, a.k.a. the most incredible woman on the planet, always rises to the challenge when I ask "Hey Mom, can you make me a cake for _______?" Not only does she drive an hour and a half to deliver the goods, she always goes beyond expectations. This time around there were 6 cupcake packages for prizes and an awesome Instagram cake (pictured below in a tweet from Scott McKenzie) for a lucky winner. And this I firmly believe!<br />
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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<a href="https://twitter.com/CareInCakes">@careincakes</a> has arrived!!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edcampwr?src=hash">#edcampwr</a> Nobody does <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edcamp?src=hash">#edcamp</a> cakes like <a href="https://twitter.com/EdCampWR">@edcampwr</a> <a href="https://t.co/x47UrleQ5m">pic.twitter.com/x47UrleQ5m</a></div>
— EdCampWaterlooRegion (@EdCampWR) <a href="https://twitter.com/EdCampWR/status/703622327397969921">February 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
Thanks to all who came out to make it a great day. It's tweets like these that make all the planning and preparations worthwhile:<br />
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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Thank you to <a href="https://twitter.com/Gill_Ville">@Gill_Ville</a>, the amazing organizer of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edcampwr?src=hash">#edcampwr</a>! Another awesome learning experience, and great rewards <a href="https://t.co/VQvwKYml5v">pic.twitter.com/VQvwKYml5v</a></div>
— Scott McKenzie (@ScottMcKenzie27) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMcKenzie27/status/703663566516314113">February 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/Gill_Ville">@Gill_Ville</a> Thanks for organizing such a fantastic event! Love the conversations and collaborating with amazing teachers. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edcampwr?src=hash">#edcampwr</a></div>
— Jenni vanRees (@jennivanrees) <a href="https://twitter.com/jennivanrees/status/703684893608431617">February 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/EdCampWR">@EdCampWR</a> thanks for the best PD I've ever attended! I learned some great tech tools- now I have to work them in to unit plans! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/todolist?src=hash">#todolist</a></div>
— Mrs Hinnegan (@MrsHinneganPELC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrsHinneganPELC/status/703754914011475968">February 28, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Great to connect with educators in the Waterloo region. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edcampwr?src=hash">#edcampwr</a></div>
— David Carruthers (@pluggedportable) <a href="https://twitter.com/pluggedportable/status/703598031950716928">February 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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Thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/EdCampWR">@EdCampWR</a> and all the wonderful teachers! It was so nice to part of such a collaborative learning experience! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edcampwr?src=hash">#edcampwr</a></div>
— Parastoo Ghaffari (@PareGhaffari) <a href="https://twitter.com/PareGhaffari/status/703697748265201664">February 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-20502156092275640342014-11-09T02:15:00.000-05:002014-11-09T09:59:16.775-05:00BIT14 Breaks Blog Blackout!It's been over 2 years since I've written a blog post. There have been many factors that have contributed to my writer's block, both personal and professional (that I won't go into in this post). After returning from the ECOO <a href="http://@JenApgar 29s29 seconds ago @darty76 @Gill_Ville I can't ignore something I don't know. These stats need to be shared to make change. #passiton" target="_blank">Bring IT Together 2014 conference</a> in Niagara Falls, I feel compelled to share my thoughts, learning, and special moments that occurred during my time there.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EfBWe7MoiuQseoHgGC074BfH90OGtxGK-ibUc9AODxvS_HufH2k7KqSYVSdovlqPFAUAlxX0bZtDsz14mf5rWahcenfLCuoUTH4BcJwTfZlxkks_PlBqcex6rHq3A5Rq7LQ85OoMHAeL/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-09+at+1.48.13+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EfBWe7MoiuQseoHgGC074BfH90OGtxGK-ibUc9AODxvS_HufH2k7KqSYVSdovlqPFAUAlxX0bZtDsz14mf5rWahcenfLCuoUTH4BcJwTfZlxkks_PlBqcex6rHq3A5Rq7LQ85OoMHAeL/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-09+at+1.48.13+AM.png" height="174" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Missing @cakewley #sadface #bit14selfie </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This year, I attended on Wednesday and Thursday only. I've attended and presented at the conference every year since 2009. It was a different experience for me this time around for many reasons. The first of which was the absence of some great friends and colleagues this year. <a href="https://twitter.com/cakewley" target="_blank">Cheryl Kewley</a> has always been my roomie for the ECOO conference and did not attend the conference this year. I really missed debriefing with her at night before going to sleep. It was a shift for me to have quiet reflection time by myself each night as I retired to my hotel room. I might have been more productive with my time but I did miss the face time with a good friend.<br />
<br />
Also, for the past two years <a href="https://twitter.com/euenoconnor" target="_blank">Euen O'Conner</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/jpkitchener" target="_blank">Jeff Pelich</a> and I have presented <a href="http://lanyrd.com/2013/ecoo13/schhxp/" target="_blank">spoof-styled sessions</a> at the conference that have been a lot of fun to prepare and perform at the event. These guys provoke a laugh a minute when together and I certainly missed both learning and social time spent with these two. Who know? There just might be an <a href="https://twitter.com/IvanaTellastory" target="_blank">Ivana Tellastory</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Willy_Wiki" target="_blank">Willy Wiki</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/Doc_Google" target="_blank">Doc Google</a> sighting again down the road...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdMQVkGdjYTRLQlVtXNl_oatrksZQuXKAn4x5bz6fEDxUyMboclFFgSTcT_mtuv7xkoigD7ujXr8A8u0G0PrF9Iw2b4wCskWgXK6NwQ2XwC-VTtp4J3hRf2mqnFZI9f5TmiDhYMzPDd13/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-09+at+1.05.01+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdMQVkGdjYTRLQlVtXNl_oatrksZQuXKAn4x5bz6fEDxUyMboclFFgSTcT_mtuv7xkoigD7ujXr8A8u0G0PrF9Iw2b4wCskWgXK6NwQ2XwC-VTtp4J3hRf2mqnFZI9f5TmiDhYMzPDd13/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-09+at+1.05.01+AM.png" height="301" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">@nobleknits2 @colleenkr @gill_ville </td></tr>
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Relationships and face to face connections have become the greater benefit for attending these conferences for me. I appreciate the learning (which I'll address later) but it's the time spent with inspirational, innovative, and/or creative people that really makes the event such an attraction. I learn as much from the side conversations, lunch time chats, and stories shared during evening social events as I do from the sessions I attend. I was grateful for the very brief moments to connect with educators I rarely see such as <a href="https://twitter.com/verenanz" target="_blank">Verana Roberts</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ColleenKR" target="_blank">Colleen Rose</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/hdurnin" target="_blank">Heather Durnin</a>. I was extremely thankful for some one to one time with some pretty awesome people that directly supported MY learning journey. Each of these conversations could spark their own post, however I'll try to share a brief summary.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/smartpencentral" target="_blank">Joe Valenti</a>, SmartPen Central representative, was appearing as a vendor in the exhibit hall. I have known Joe for a few years and have owned many Livescribe pens (that have come from him). He was very helpful in explaining the changes <a href="http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/" target="_blank">Livescribe</a> is undergoing with their products and services. From this discussion, I have determined that the newer/updated versions are not better for me and my use for the pens. I have been receiving product emails regarding the new ECHO desktop and I warn other educators using these pens to become informed of the changes before downloading the new software. I have some concerns regarding the sharing options and the switch from PDF creation that the Livescribe desktop version provides. It is unclear whether old files and functions will transfer nicely into the new desktop. Also the new viewing features require an internet browser (and access to internet) to view when shared. For these reasons, I'm sticking to my old software. The unfortunate part of these company transitions is the loss of the online community and option to embed the pencast in other web postings. I'll have to work on a way around that one as I move forward. Also, I need to purchase a new pen as three of my old ones died around the same time. I learned that the Sky pen and Livescribe 3 do not really offer features that make sense for my purposes. The Livescribe 3 works with an iPad over WIFI which means I am tying up another device when the pen is in use. I don't have extra iPads to spare for this use so it's not a practical pen for me to buy. I'm sticking with the old tried and true ECHO pen. It works for me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYaW3OLaEkVUu5lPRpIKZ5Gu3Sw__E2ExZOIl0swm-uQ4Yqgn8ZSQSBWug1YPOkrwaSW_UYEGf_ZheZ_4eoXTnXWlN5_uV08QaG_8lJAvb2M4Bg99dUrypua5bPy3Fg4nf2q2BewXno2Y/s1600/scratch+game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYaW3OLaEkVUu5lPRpIKZ5Gu3Sw__E2ExZOIl0swm-uQ4Yqgn8ZSQSBWug1YPOkrwaSW_UYEGf_ZheZ_4eoXTnXWlN5_uV08QaG_8lJAvb2M4Bg99dUrypua5bPy3Fg4nf2q2BewXno2Y/s1600/scratch+game.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Student Created Game</td></tr>
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I am beginning to explore coding and maker space projects so I was thrilled to see so many "tinkering" stations at the <a href="http://ecoo14-mindsonmedia.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">Minds on Media</a> event this year. I was a little disappointed that I didn't have more time to be a participant as the stations were very interesting and hands-on this year. I was very grateful for my time playing with <a href="https://twitter.com/beachcat11" target="_blank">Cathy Beach</a>. I had just received my <a href="http://www.makeymakey.com/" target="_blank">Makey Makey</a> in the mail the day before I left so I was able to take it out of the box and sit with Cathy as she showed me some cool projects she has seen and shared some resources related to Makey Makey. My favourite was this student-created version of the game Operation created using Makey Makey and <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Scratch</a>. So many ideas spinning around and I can't wait to explore more and start using this with my students.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-wTavlzacWGwpE5DBZkdUsSJ-RZKdtSOs-tczh99jAOEL0SqHO5ah918w3aZu6ghbPzFri4XTWGyRLoAJuejpDFnGA6SHByE6H4s82vLppvAgzlGSAac75_DWtQqJx655y3uH2WRL3zQ/s1600/pinball+in+trunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-wTavlzacWGwpE5DBZkdUsSJ-RZKdtSOs-tczh99jAOEL0SqHO5ah918w3aZu6ghbPzFri4XTWGyRLoAJuejpDFnGA6SHByE6H4s82vLppvAgzlGSAac75_DWtQqJx655y3uH2WRL3zQ/s1600/pinball+in+trunk.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's locked in the trunk of your car?</td></tr>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/TeacherHann" target="_blank">David Hann</a>, an intermediate teacher in my PLN has been sharing his <a href="https://twitter.com/#pinballproject" target="_blank">#pinballproject</a> on Twitter and I've been intrigued. I'm working on the global cardboard challenge and making games with my students and I feel that his project idea, with some modifications, would work really well with my class. David was kind enough to talk about his process and show a couple of examples with me (from the trunk of his car). He's given me some food for thought and I appreciate his offer to connect with us when we're ready to move forward. His enthusiasm is contagious and I can't wait to get started with my class in the new year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilc_sIrhZIgnyQppMpSkESuuJHS3F3qxwyCC3r469Arl3bIa7uJz4RJkf21kEzPXqM5gbK_PMQ-eHq-mp4jNXBRaAhNZRJ0uHN0qbcxWYZZAQTkKUrah_rqzSIXeuaRHZGLec1pZGOHBRs/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-09+at+1.43.51+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilc_sIrhZIgnyQppMpSkESuuJHS3F3qxwyCC3r469Arl3bIa7uJz4RJkf21kEzPXqM5gbK_PMQ-eHq-mp4jNXBRaAhNZRJ0uHN0qbcxWYZZAQTkKUrah_rqzSIXeuaRHZGLec1pZGOHBRs/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-09+at+1.43.51+AM.png" height="200" width="182" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">@aforgrave on @105theHive</td></tr>
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On Wednesday, I helped <a href="https://twitter.com/aforgrave" target="_blank">Andy Forgrave</a> present about <a href="http://105thehive.org/" target="_blank">K-12 internet radio 105 the Hive</a>. We had a morning session with a group of interested educators and then spent the afternoon with drop by visitors in Minds on Media. I think this is a fabulous tool and I was honoured to work with Andy to share ideas and resources to get others involved in this project. My experience with this will be discussed further in a separate post as it's really got me thinking.... more to come here, stay tuned.<br />
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On Thursday, there were many resources and ideas shared in the sessions that I attended that I need to explore further. One of those is <a href="http://www-2.rotman.utoronto.ca/integrativethinking/definition.htm" target="_blank">Integrated Thinking</a>, a topic discussed by <a href="https://twitter.com/heidisiwak" target="_blank">Heidi Siwak</a>. Heidi is an amazing educator doing innovative things. I wish I was a student in her class. Her lessons on "finding value in bad ideas" and "pro pro model" are great ideas for teaching about perspectives and how different people learn to find value in hearing the opinions of others. Heidi talks about teaching innovation, creativity, and collaboration - not subjects. If you don't follow Heidi and her work, I highly recommend checking out <a href="http://www.heidisiwak.com/" target="_blank">her blog</a>. She will surely inspire you to think differently about your teaching practice. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJb4e2eBlWQz9bTzygUnewUa_2E5Fl6Y4PtooG-jHrx9IaI_mvn-6lCsEqzY4nbNDh28j82-thUXPfSauneYO035jnm3e9QIIgR2kUFn1bqFrFdK35lLafWAAYKc3u0bjz4_H3FvhgJM0/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-09+at+1.52.53+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJb4e2eBlWQz9bTzygUnewUa_2E5Fl6Y4PtooG-jHrx9IaI_mvn-6lCsEqzY4nbNDh28j82-thUXPfSauneYO035jnm3e9QIIgR2kUFn1bqFrFdK35lLafWAAYKc3u0bjz4_H3FvhgJM0/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-09+at+1.52.53+AM.png" height="343" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ask you shall receive! Gotta love your PLN!</td></tr>
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I was sad to leave early, missing the Jam session Thursday night, a session with Royan Lee's former students (I always love when student voices are part of the presentation) on Friday morning, and a panel <a href="http://lanyrd.com/2014/ecoo14/sdfcdw/" target="_blank">discussion among some great thinkers</a> about Danah Boyd's "It's Complicated" Friday afternoon. Thankfully with the use of technology, I can catch it later. Thanks Andy!<br />
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All in all, a jam packed two days at the conference with lots of learning still to come! <br />
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Resources shared in various sessions that I want to explore further: <br />
(thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/adeletweets" target="_blank">Adele Stanfield</a> , <a href="https://twitter.com/stepanpruch" target="_blank">Stepan Pruchnicky</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/mraspinall" target="_blank">Brian Aspinall</a> ) <br />
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iPad apps - <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/adobe-voice-show-your-story/id852555131?mt=8" target="_blank">Adobe Voice</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8" target="_blank">Green Screen</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tynker-learn-programming-build/id805869467?mt=8" target="_blank">Tynker</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/duolingo-learn-languages-for/id570060128?mt=8" target="_blank">Duolingo</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/thinglink/id647304300?mt=8" target="_blank">ThingLink</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/epic%21-books-for-kids/id719219382?mt=8" target="_blank">Epic!</a><br />
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Web - <a href="http://sumdog.com/">sumdog.com</a> <a href="http://wevideo.com/">wevideo.com</a> <a href="http://nkwiry.com/">nkwiry.com</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-52051763450584708162012-07-11T20:09:00.000-04:002012-07-11T20:09:16.346-04:00#DigiFoot 12 - Lead Detective: Tweet Me CaseShortly after attending <a href="http://connectedcanada.org/" target="_blank">ConnectEd Canada</a> in May, I was contacted by <a href="http://twitter.com/verenanz" target="_blank">Verena Roberts</a>, a teacher in Calgary that I met at the conference. When we met she had shared this idea she had for creating a MOOC (Mass Open Online Course) for anyone to get involved in that dealt with digital citizenship and understanding online spaces. Verena attended my <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YsjdVHav3g7zxEz3rHtfp6K8wDiR2dhQR_Jn_K1iVtA/present#slide=id.p" target="_blank">Twitter in the Classroom session</a> at ConnectEdCa and asked if I would help lead the course for the week dedicated to learning with Twitter. Since I am passionate about getting educators using this social network for professional learning, I gladly accepted the offer. Did I mention this was in June? Any of you teachers out there know how incredibly busy June can be and this was certainly no exception.... so my commitment was stored at the back of my brain until the calendar flipped to July and I could think about something other than work! July arrived and panic set in as I realized the amount of work Verena had put into <a href="http://digifoot12.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">planning the course outline</a> and setting up <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1JHtfhFYCg9F8_3O1G0qlO1WfzwgcSjaYTPu2g6EJlAE" target="_blank">the first week with the various activities</a>! The bar was set high, so with little time to prepare, I began pulling a few Twitter resources together.<br />
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Initially I had thought, "introduce Twitter", how hard can that be? While planning the activities and my presentation, I began to consider my audience...which, to me, was completely unknown! I knew that over 100 people, mostly educators, were signed up, but their entry level to the topic was a guessing game. So I decided to do a little data hunting and threw a google form up on the wiki to see how comfortable people were with Twitter, how they used it and what they wanted to learn. Less than half of the participants have responded at the point of writing this blog, however I feel it's safe to say that we really have a mixed group of participants at various stages and comfort levels with social media and Twitter specifically. The preparation began to feel very similar to life in the classroom with diverse strengths, needs, and interests to develop.<br />
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So began at the beginning. What does a new user need to know? My early perception that this would be easy was quickly altered as I realized all the lingo, tech terms, and number of uses for Twitter. Half of my audience are proficient Tweeps, so clearly I needed to think of my "Detective's Guides" (inspired by Verena's Detective/case study approach to the course) in two parts; <a href="http://snack.to/fu50oa0i" target="_blank">one for newbies</a> and a <a href="http://snack.to/fuki6fl9" target="_blank">second one</a> for experienced users. It also became apparent that there are Tweeps involved in this course that have knowledge and experience on Twitter that I have not yet developed. This made me feel like there should be a third installment to the Twitter Detective Guide series...one that I am not equipped to create (at this point). So I have put a call to action out for DigiFoot participants (and anyone else who knows some advanced Twitter uses) to collaborate to produce the third guide. I will gladly publish the collaborative work once the information has been collected. It will be interesting to see who might take me up on this challenge. If you're interested, add your idea to the <a href="http://bit.ly/OXuAFA" target="_blank">google doc</a>.<br />
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One of the resources being used in the DigiFoot12 course is <a href="http://mightybell.com/" target="_blank">MightyBell</a>. This is a service that I have not seen before but I am becoming a fan early in my exploration. I can see this being an essential tool to use for collaborative group work. I love that you can share links, videos, files, images, comments, ask questions, post conversation topics, and schedule events within your group. I decided to try it out for our week two Twitter topic and so far it has worked very well. This is definitely a tool that I will use again.<br />
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I presented during my first Blackboard Collaborate session as a moderator for this course! On Tuesday, July 10th, I used the slides embedded below to introduce my story and experiences with Twitter to the participants of this course. I believe there were about 45 people that participated in the session and the recording has been shared with the course participants that were not able to make that time commitment.<br />
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During <a href="https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2012-07-05.1718.M.3BBB2AFFED568E7EB37FA0573991F3.vcr&sid=2008350" target="_blank">our first meeting</a> to kick off DigiFoot12, reference was made to <a href="http://thecleversheep.blogspot.ca/2012/06/seven-degrees-of-connectedness_06.html" target="_blank">The Seven Degrees of Connectedness</a> post and infographic recently created and shared by <a href="http://twitter.com/thecleversheep" target="_blank">Rodd Lucier</a> (will collaboration from <a href="http://twitter.com/zbpipe" target="_blank">Zoe Branigan-Pipe</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/langwitches" target="_blank">Silvia Tolisano</a>). This infographic (seen to the left) became a basis for great discussion about developing your PLN and using Twitter. It naturally fit with my presentation when considering my own path to learning using Twitter and social media; from being the hesitant lurker, to branching out to share and connect, to making meaningful contacts, and then on too deeper face to face relationships. The recording of the meeting can be viewed <a href="https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2012-07-07.1007.M.3BBB2AFFED568E7EB37FA0573991F3.vcr&sid=2008350" target="_blank">HERE</a>!<br />
<span style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;">I am feeling very connected after reflecting on my Twitter use for this course. You've heard me say it before, but I'll say it again....Twitter has changed my life!</span><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"> </b><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Gill-Ville/digi-foot12-tweet-me-13601139" target="_blank" title="Digi foot12 tweet me">Digi foot12 tweet me</a></b> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/13601139" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC;" width="427"></iframe> <br />
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<noscript>&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.flipsnack.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Flipsnack &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</noscript>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-10934656540208106362012-05-30T16:06:00.000-04:002012-05-30T17:08:04.450-04:00#ConnectED CanadaThis past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Alberta for the first <a href="http://connectedcanada.org/" target="_blank">ConnectED Canada</a> conference. There were so many different events and people that impacted me greatly that it's difficult to process it all and get it into words...however, I will try!<br />
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First off, a big hats of to Erin (@erincouillard), Neil (@neilstephenson), and George (@gcouros) for all of their work co-ordination, organizing, preparing, and running the conference and related social events. As someone who spends a great deal of time coordinating events such as Family Math Night and EdCampWR, I am fully aware of the dedication and work involved in taking on a project this size. Kudos to these three fearless leaders and to the staff and students of the Calgary Science School that opens the doors to their classrooms to provide us with a window into their learning.<br />
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I was most impressed with the manner the students presented themselves, their pride in demonstrating their work, and their genuine interest (and ability) in communicating their learning. I can't help to be a little envious of their learning spaces, with wide open areas, couches, and non-traditional classroom furniture that promotes collaboration and invites learners to move to a place more suitable and/or comfortable for the task at hand. It was interesting to see the students working in a 1:1 mobile device set up, with students using iPads, cameras, and laptops to research, record, and present their learning.<br />
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Having this access to technology has really helped them take their learning to the next level and share it easily. I enjoyed seeing the QR Codes posted on the walls so that others classes can see what other students are working on. In fact, I was blown away by how much the student tour guides knew about what other grades/classes were working on. You really got the sense of a learning community. When students are involved, they frequently steal the show, and in this case, there was no exception! They were definitely a highlight of the conference for many attendees.<br />
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The Saturday break out sessions were very thought provoking and included some great debate and sharing. It always amazes me the conversations that occur when you place passionate educators together in a space and let them talk. The "educon/edcamp" model for these sessions allows people to connect, collaborate, and become active participants in their learning. This usually only occurs during breaks and lunch time at regular conferences. By switching up the format, these discussions are taking place everywhere and are not limited to brief gatherings in the hall. It allows educators to personalize and control their own learning, a choice that we value when working with students and appreciate even more when applied to ourselves. During Tom Fullerton's (@tomfullerton) session we had great discussions about professional development that is driven from the top down and how effective this really is. I loved Tom's analogy of "PD being like shoes" with "value coming from a variety of models". Not only did he win over the women in the room, but he makes a valid point about the time and place for different forms of PD. With educators entering the conversations at different starting points, it becomes increasingly apparent that various levels, forms, and models of PD are needed to address the diversity of teacher learners' needs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFabjiizEfhH-FMnLpUo6bIBl4cxe73p6YknSTemGjryg55JYbi5xoL_XrSRA1hT-q37p19WD-wu_x0xyECx6uFpCof1sK7xUr-Lttr9nvO6zXVAP97IrjgmDMsQ26vWMMKxNJoa5hJZ_/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-05-28+at+10.55.16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFabjiizEfhH-FMnLpUo6bIBl4cxe73p6YknSTemGjryg55JYbi5xoL_XrSRA1hT-q37p19WD-wu_x0xyECx6uFpCof1sK7xUr-Lttr9nvO6zXVAP97IrjgmDMsQ26vWMMKxNJoa5hJZ_/s320/Screen+shot+2012-05-28+at+10.55.16+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
This was very evident during my own breakout session on using <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YsjdVHav3g7zxEz3rHtfp6K8wDiR2dhQR_Jn_K1iVtA/present#slide=id.p" target="_blank">Twitter in the Classroom</a>. I had to admit that I was a little stressed out about the format of my session prior to it beginning. I have not attended Educon but have been involved in edcamps, and I was a little concerned that my session involved too much "showing" and not enough "sharing". This fear went out the window as soon as I asked the participants where they were in their own social media use and with respect to using Twitter professionally and with students. After polling the audience, only 5 educators were on Twitter (three of them had just joined that day) and NONE of them were using Twitter with students. Although this hinders my planned discussion about how people were using Twitter in Education, it allowed me a chance to start fresh and introduce a new concept to this audience. That excited me. So, my session became more of a "presentation" but I am OK with that because it was where the group was "at". It was also great to hear the feedback from session participants that claimed they were "wowed" by my students' use of Twitter and social media. Thanks Verena Roberts (@verenanz), Julie Gummesen (@juliegummesen), Fiona (@fina_bro), Laurie Besenski (@besenski), and Preet Dhaliwal (@tweetteacher) for taking the time to talk to me specifically about my session. Your feedback was much appreciated!<br />
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I would be remiss if I failed to mention the new additions to my PLN over the course of the weekend. I think I received over 150 new Twitter followers over the 3 day conference!! It's always exciting to meet people face to face that you've been following for a while (such as my new lilac loving buddy, Michelle Baldwin - @michellek107). There were many opportunities for this, especially with my western colleagues. I thoroughly enjoyed the online and live dialogue with new friends, Aaron Akune (@aakune), Steve Bloom (@teckteach), Wayne Deptuck (@wdeptuck), Robert Wielgoz (@rwielgoz), Rosalind (@rozgoldsmith), Valerie Irvine (@_valeriei) and Lindsay Bingley (@lbingley). I look forward to continuing these conversations online! I also found it ironic that I had to travel to Calgary to finally meet
Ontario Tweeps, Tania Sterling (@taniasterling) and Brian Harrison
(@bharrisionvp). All of these new connections have lifted me up and will help sustain me through the last few days of this school year (and beyond).<br />
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The one theme that kept popping up, session after session, discussion after discussion, and during the social events was that of RELATIONSHIPS. Relationships matter! I also took some time to nurture existing relationships with friends from the <a href="http://unplugd.ca/" target="_blank">Unplugd Summit</a>, reminiscing about the event and the relationships that developed from the experience. It was a great pleasure to take some time to spend with Zoe (@zbpipe) hearing about her adventures in Jerusalem and touring Banff with Rodd (@thecleversheep), and most importantly, my amazing travel buddy, Alanna (@banana29) who took care of me every step of the journey. The Unplugd Summit had a huge impact on me both professionally and personally. So much so that I just couldn't resist attending Zoe and Rodd's Unplugd session. To hear what you missed, check out my <a href="http://www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/MLSOverviewPage?sid=pPcLGdX0gsgn" target="_blank">livescribe pencast</a> recorded that day. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7J_H5U2F-ne26vJeEzGmQdbLCErmzGpjotWxlU3mz-D4vBlB1m8nnzQHLmxxp4HBHC755QRz_z8d3-VCt4YyXdq-XeAsDJfgpzdwFaLu0rrA3TqySYAoOko8jnm3D1RS32kukSF8nE5n/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7J_H5U2F-ne26vJeEzGmQdbLCErmzGpjotWxlU3mz-D4vBlB1m8nnzQHLmxxp4HBHC755QRz_z8d3-VCt4YyXdq-XeAsDJfgpzdwFaLu0rrA3TqySYAoOko8jnm3D1RS32kukSF8nE5n/s200/photo.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
This conference was such a full and rich experience, from start to end.<br />
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One thing you won't hear from this cat is "I attended #ConnectEDca and all I got was this waterbottle!"<br />
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Thanks ConnectED Canada! <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-15132295949415975782012-04-11T22:24:00.005-04:002012-04-12T15:38:59.841-04:00Edcamp Waterloo Voices<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPso9Bits5dLLs5CTyK-rIbn9nrrXZ2xyVlVQFAEHVcA7dsDPfhuU543RJl4Ds4KNH1ashcqb93dTH4vPr0D9YkYywDILL9yDdRdSnkbAWHV0Ukp1xL3hpqOgW4xNlY5yldFz3G2I75uZ/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-04-11+at+9.02.24+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="187" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPso9Bits5dLLs5CTyK-rIbn9nrrXZ2xyVlVQFAEHVcA7dsDPfhuU543RJl4Ds4KNH1ashcqb93dTH4vPr0D9YkYywDILL9yDdRdSnkbAWHV0Ukp1xL3hpqOgW4xNlY5yldFz3G2I75uZ/s400/Screen+shot+2012-04-11+at+9.02.24+PM.png" /></a></div>It's been over a week since <a href="http://edcampwaterlooregion.wikispaces.com">Edcamp Waterloo Region</a>. I think it's taken me this long to come down off my "edcamp high" and gather my thoughts about the event. As an organizer of the event, lots of time and energy went into the planning and preparing for Waterloo Region's first ever edcamp and to see it come and go is a little surreal.<br />
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When I set out with this idea of hosting an event on my "<a href="http://rye.wrdsb.on.ca">home turf</a>", I had this lingering question of "if you build it, will they come"? I am a firm believer that the people that are meant to be there, will be. It is the participants that really drive events such as edcamps. The <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Gill_Ville/edcampwr-attendees">attendees of EdcampWR</a> were second to none, with representatives from eleven different Ontario school boards! As our guests arrived early on a Saturday morning to dive into the intricacies of educational issues, I couldn't help to note the number of familiar faces from my own PLN, known through twitter avatars and/or face to face networking. It was fantastic to come together to share, discuss, debate, challenge each other, and continue the online conversations that often fuel our edu-passions. It is the quality of these participants and their contributions that made EdcampWR the success that it was.<br />
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In noticing those that joined us for EdcampWR, it seemed a meeting of like minds, like we were speaking to the converted. I couldn't help but notice those missing from the edcamp conversation and wondering how do we get others involved in these important discussions? I believe it's important to express opinions and consider various point of views on educational issues...including the technophobes, the anti-gamers, and those anywhere else on the spectrum of technology use. These voices are important to provide balance and context to current challenges facing innovative teaching practices. These voices are necessary to move forward, to change. <br />
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There were registrants that admittedly decided against attending and some that left early because they were intimidated by the conversations, topics, and even evident PLNs. As an educator, I find this very concerning. I feel somewhat responsible to make sure everybody is welcomed and invited to contribute (in what ever capacity) and to meet learners new to concepts "where they are at". How do we make sure our techno-babble and edu-speak doesn't hinder or make the conversation inaccessible to some participants? Do we need to be more aware and respectful of various entry points? How can we make our messages more accessible to newcomers?<br />
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I also feel that these individuals have a responsibility to take action to make sure their needs are being met. If a conversation is "too out there" or "above your head" then a decision needs to be made; will you move out of your comfort zone and learn something new (as we ask our students to do daily), or will you choose to get involved in a different conversation (that better suits your interests and needs)? There's always the argument that none of the sessions applied to a specific individual. To those, I challenge you to start a new conversation, one that you feel passionately about, one for which you can feel good about contributing. Like many things in life, what you put in is directly related to what you get out. We don't allow our students to disengage so why would we accept this of ourselves? <br />
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I recognize that there are all types of learners and that participation in edcamp-styled events often requires a risk-taking, self-directed individual. To those that fit this description, I applaud you for getting involved, sharing your stories and voices, and continuing the sometimes messy learning journey. To those that aren't comfortable with this, how can we include you in the conversations and hear your voices? It's <b>YOU</b> that I want to hear from the most!!!<br />
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If you would like to see what over 150 online participants were saying in the backchannel on Twitter, check out <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/87587253/Edcamp-Waterloo-Region-Tweets">Edcamp Waterloo Region Tweets</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-33158539324776104142012-04-11T21:24:00.001-04:002012-04-11T21:26:03.733-04:00Student Showcase at Edcamp Waterloo RegionThis is a cross post from the Gill-Ville Class blog.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1auYHp4cmVzSq82AUFKcM0PDTRSqlD0ndltwsCxq2et5YXnZB9nFG_9tmyxzb3jF84XA8HK4mvu2dV3DKDCA8lXmtZCNajYj4QOenpfA9cHvntcewRuD-o2yRF8aJUiYtQcRoDDgAZrXk/s1600/edcampWr+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="347" width="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1auYHp4cmVzSq82AUFKcM0PDTRSqlD0ndltwsCxq2et5YXnZB9nFG_9tmyxzb3jF84XA8HK4mvu2dV3DKDCA8lXmtZCNajYj4QOenpfA9cHvntcewRuD-o2yRF8aJUiYtQcRoDDgAZrXk/s400/edcampWr+logo.jpg" /></a></div>On Saturday, March 31st most of the students in Gill-Ville attended Edcamp Waterloo Region, our areas first ever edcamp! The students were involved in a technology showcase session where they each presented a project or tech tool to other students in the session and teachers that were attending the event. The Gill-Villeans represented us very well and impressed educators from eleven different school boards across Ontario. It is safe to say that they stole the show! If you are a Twitter user you can check out the #edcampwr hash tag to see what educators are saying about our students and event. Our students shared social media sites such as Twitter, Edmodo, and blogging. Some students shared iPad apps and multimedia projects like our Pan-Canada ePub project. The Gill-Villeans rose to the challenge and inspired educators to learn and try new technology tools. You can learn more about our class showcase sharing by reading a blog post written by a well known Ontario Edublogger, Doug Peterson, who came to see us the day before and wrote all about us! <a href="http://dougpete.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/the-day-before-edcamp/ ">http://dougpete.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/the-day-before-edcamp/ </a> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOd14z6hMP5h4EReFv7zgCYAqHVIKSCavC4_M_DYpXqlMPD7D0q2fU6heUIXDw5XxQnEWvFPgFXyZlhmnG3T0uoiRMpYUOVJJacjb5HCoXVtv7zMJjwawCNRw9TXiFyGIHABJ4_fmhWsGm/s1600/oreo+assembly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOd14z6hMP5h4EReFv7zgCYAqHVIKSCavC4_M_DYpXqlMPD7D0q2fU6heUIXDw5XxQnEWvFPgFXyZlhmnG3T0uoiRMpYUOVJJacjb5HCoXVtv7zMJjwawCNRw9TXiFyGIHABJ4_fmhWsGm/s400/oreo+assembly.jpg" /></a></div>The students also had a large part in helping prepare for the event. In the days leading up to Edcamp Waterloo, the students were eager to show off their baking skills as they made a variety of muffins, cookies, scones, and other treats. They were such a big hit that many educators have tweeted us looking for recipes to some of our goodies! The lemon Oreos that Miss Broderick taught us how to make were quickly devoured and made us famous! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpGn-oEZDvi_yKH7OB2d0SZj5P1-CKh5E2N5VAC-7llYmh4_JkBkgvyDHNyiRYFap8dzprCyNVLxPbLRZyJOwRBzBtSe9hq1ZJHSkgOYUe1lFinrdX_F4il9DB1nS9GJ_lLqh15r8Jv_k/s1600/edcamp+food+bank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpGn-oEZDvi_yKH7OB2d0SZj5P1-CKh5E2N5VAC-7llYmh4_JkBkgvyDHNyiRYFap8dzprCyNVLxPbLRZyJOwRBzBtSe9hq1ZJHSkgOYUe1lFinrdX_F4il9DB1nS9GJ_lLqh15r8Jv_k/s400/edcamp+food+bank.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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The students in our class also invited Edcamp Waterloo participants to bring donations for the Spring Food Drive. Attendees rose to the challenge and we collected 76 items!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhokJyvTrXftNww2x0vvGeuYAlSAUi10ptpGc7PvCZLFGf2Ladz_JXbnEzFvGD87QGxv7WS7QgXEPxh-UfqCpVmpvNjSull3muEy-hZI6f27M5qWawA20nlDxWFWS-d7kOYSUlUf1ObWBOZ/s1600/gill-villeans+shirts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="299" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhokJyvTrXftNww2x0vvGeuYAlSAUi10ptpGc7PvCZLFGf2Ladz_JXbnEzFvGD87QGxv7WS7QgXEPxh-UfqCpVmpvNjSull3muEy-hZI6f27M5qWawA20nlDxWFWS-d7kOYSUlUf1ObWBOZ/s400/gill-villeans+shirts.jpg" /></a></div>The students that participated received special event T-Shirts from Smart Pen Central and apple swag from one of our sponsors. To show our appreciation, the students created Thank You messages that we sent digitally. Check out the student blogs for their recap of the event and special messages to our supporters. <br />
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Mathew: <a href="http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Mathew50/edcamp-waterloo-region-3/ ">http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Mathew50/edcamp-waterloo-region-3/ </a><br />
Logan: <a href="http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Logan608/edcamp-waterloo-region-2/">http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Logan608/edcamp-waterloo-region-2/</a> <br />
Kara: <a href="http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Kara57/edcamp-waterloo-region-4/">http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Kara57/edcamp-waterloo-region-4/</a> <br />
Rachel: <a href="http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Rachel609/edcamp-waterloo-region/">http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Rachel609/edcamp-waterloo-region/</a> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOoSECHu9axPQBujK8v0fpRdv-TccakmQzG2R7T0kTlh_82a-HE6NOP4T8Oau_pC5vxdyQ4Q6aMD6DToo-Ijxh64oCxYkwokqwAn9hYHxeHVdqvyhgXw8mWIJww-y7rRdnnuEFfJcCFQQ/s1600/eWaste.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOoSECHu9axPQBujK8v0fpRdv-TccakmQzG2R7T0kTlh_82a-HE6NOP4T8Oau_pC5vxdyQ4Q6aMD6DToo-Ijxh64oCxYkwokqwAn9hYHxeHVdqvyhgXw8mWIJww-y7rRdnnuEFfJcCFQQ/s400/eWaste.jpg" /></a></div>The students in Gill-Ville have been learning about various ways to help the environment and reduce our carbon footprint. After learning about the polar bear migration and issues with climate change on their habitat, the students felt a call to action! One thing we decided to do was to raise awareness about the waste humans create. Our class already shows leadership for the school recycling and composting programs, so we decided to go to the next level and learn about eWaste. We also challenged Edcamp participants to bring their old electronics (pictured above). During Earth Week, we will also invite the Ryerson community to drop off their eWaste! Read our eWaste blog posts here:<br />
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Jacob’s post: <a href="http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Jacob1095/ewaste/">http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Jacob1095/ewaste/</a><br />
Emilee’s post: <a href="http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Emily1271/ewaste-2/">http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Emily1271/ewaste-2/</a><br />
Bailey’s post: <a href="http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Bailey270/ewaste-3/">http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville/Bailey270/ewaste-3/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-35588816504188816202011-11-20T20:56:00.000-05:002011-11-20T20:56:00.271-05:00Moving On OverI have been playing with various blogs and formats and have decided to move away from Edublogs and set up camp here on this space. The next few posts are archives from the Edublogs page, which will now become strictly personal ramblings... This site will be for professional reflections and dialogue, as rare as they might be! ;-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-71701344660950216782011-09-23T18:55:00.002-04:002012-04-10T22:19:09.277-04:00And This Is Just The BeginningThis is a cross post from the Global Read Aloud blog.<br />
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Our class, known as Gill-Ville (<a href="http://twitter.com/gill_villeans">@Gill_Villeans on twitter</a>) is participating in the Global Read Aloud Project for a second time. We had such an amazing experience last year that there was no question whether we would participate again this year.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtesaysq012A9YICE-aSLMkGB0HaivxGaeTrMIM0yGO3u3o7e2ccFwvkHFjFI6kq1CA5xnoV7AaO34MEKuZ87TVQkl33wxFdO8NKn1Su3Il0nQVv1nfiYG981W2L-oduhvkU3vz6rWrAQ3/s1600/lino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="246" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtesaysq012A9YICE-aSLMkGB0HaivxGaeTrMIM0yGO3u3o7e2ccFwvkHFjFI6kq1CA5xnoV7AaO34MEKuZ87TVQkl33wxFdO8NKn1Su3Il0nQVv1nfiYG981W2L-oduhvkU3vz6rWrAQ3/s320/lino.jpg" /></a></div>We had the common goal this week to read the prologue and up to chapter six. We had two trips this week as well as a PD Day, we are already a little behind, but that’s quite alright! So far we are enjoying the story. Students have joined a special group on Edmodo to talk with other students about the book. We have already answered a few polls on Edmodo that asked us which country we lived in, our predictions for the book, and whether we’ve read it before or not. We are also contributing to the online wiki where classes are posting their work using a variety of web tools. In our class, we started by making predictions using LinoIt . <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHIRGHq4q17P2V1gOlcc4arfoapAS-VIGkrD18vixQNJFNubisKkasEUWEVN0UxqimkqkCcwZh9qVt4JUEJ9X5sLpsOG-82FXa4psfKvGW0G_008bYiWQGoIHpQghLs9oppqMKFhWcwj5/s1600/debate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="276" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHIRGHq4q17P2V1gOlcc4arfoapAS-VIGkrD18vixQNJFNubisKkasEUWEVN0UxqimkqkCcwZh9qVt4JUEJ9X5sLpsOG-82FXa4psfKvGW0G_008bYiWQGoIHpQghLs9oppqMKFhWcwj5/s320/debate.jpg" /></a></div><br />
We then turned the discussion to whether or not "life everlasting" would be a good thing. Here is a screen shot of some of the responses that were shared during our discussion.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnuvus8wt7MXq6AIAOYjzNz6_o0BptHEYSp2XDXkN02olwyN56po2GphUFJUYzUYsJbVik7Vjmu1ITaXxfFz4yiSjb96ASWEeJZJj79-EwTqnIjUZqah0_jzK7EVCspEx8vS_gEbi5UTN/s1600/vocab+list.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnuvus8wt7MXq6AIAOYjzNz6_o0BptHEYSp2XDXkN02olwyN56po2GphUFJUYzUYsJbVik7Vjmu1ITaXxfFz4yiSjb96ASWEeJZJj79-EwTqnIjUZqah0_jzK7EVCspEx8vS_gEbi5UTN/s320/vocab+list.jpg" /></a></div><br />
As we began reading the first chapter, we discovered many new or unusual words in the story. Students worked in partners and used the “Use Your Handwriting” app on the iPad to create personalized word lists from the chapter.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWrjr9e95e2zra6cjBw3wmTHHHGNw57XN1asGICvfL3tXdoMfiG7cwaIDlkPCxCaE1pssoLku5oLrJqrU7vPvhlKcoLTP_qPPeJ3O6H9d2MOkwIaRGfKk72LPKy4NnRER_2X6-7yrFr4l/s1600/visualize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="238" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWrjr9e95e2zra6cjBw3wmTHHHGNw57XN1asGICvfL3tXdoMfiG7cwaIDlkPCxCaE1pssoLku5oLrJqrU7vPvhlKcoLTP_qPPeJ3O6H9d2MOkwIaRGfKk72LPKy4NnRER_2X6-7yrFr4l/s320/visualize.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This story is a novel that does not include many pictures or images for the students to look at. This gave us a great opportunity to work on visualizing. This task is very tricky for many of us who struggle with auditory learning so we began working together to describe the setting using the SMARTBoard. Here is our representation of the road to Treegap as described in the first chapter.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI1YnfAaZwEC9d909_MUCucKjyKoC9FcaI-jgBw-YH9BjdQkmp0jklPhhrWZUFfBq3T6cIl84w5TWig_AS0P3hM-s1a7zkgytaImwALMFi1J7cQh8LKbgWrEPSIeWM7jm1fRJPF-iDA2IX/s1600/the+wood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI1YnfAaZwEC9d909_MUCucKjyKoC9FcaI-jgBw-YH9BjdQkmp0jklPhhrWZUFfBq3T6cIl84w5TWig_AS0P3hM-s1a7zkgytaImwALMFi1J7cQh8LKbgWrEPSIeWM7jm1fRJPF-iDA2IX/s320/the+wood.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The text then goes on the describe the wooded area beyond the road that is very important to the plot of the story. Students listened carefully to find details in the text that they could draw. Here is an example of the wood as visualized by Emilee.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXHG1vh1IUYA0UnNUh45Kbj7zE1aMora6fQQCnhNbKA_BFLvW2E9MbdQsMGqZ87xxQgFpPX90qWlPd0QFmDRt_b-iFfrctKeEnTJ5iGuDwvcYpr114syv4JDeQ8x1OjS_dwbvVD3jJa78/s1600/MaeTuck-300x225.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXHG1vh1IUYA0UnNUh45Kbj7zE1aMora6fQQCnhNbKA_BFLvW2E9MbdQsMGqZ87xxQgFpPX90qWlPd0QFmDRt_b-iFfrctKeEnTJ5iGuDwvcYpr114syv4JDeQ8x1OjS_dwbvVD3jJa78/s320/MaeTuck-300x225.png" /></a></div><br />
As we moved on to chapter two, we started to meet some of the characters in the story. The first character we meet is Mae Tuck, the mother of two boys and wife to Tuck. The text provides a very detailed description of Mae that we used to help us visualize her appearance. In the computer lab today the students used SumoPaint, an online art program that can be used at home, to create their drawings of Mae Tuck. From this picture below, can you tell us something about her? You can see the students’ drawings and descriptions of Mae Tuck on their <a href="http://kidblog.org/gill-ville">blog posts</a> from September 22!<br />
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We can't wait to get back at it next week as we look forward to Skyping and chatting with some classes about the book!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-59724768081720245732011-08-23T22:09:00.003-04:002012-04-10T22:16:55.247-04:00Why the Tool Matters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosqTK4gSoC27A46me659Pd75iV9ImEtszi-9zgePByJyJaAY6yeg8zIWSWyxybvFVFeJiINDG913XJwngr3A5raD8I65UOuKiizlwlTxpDx8TLzjnnIhdJ_64QINQ9H32WBdD5AISL-W2/s1600/tool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosqTK4gSoC27A46me659Pd75iV9ImEtszi-9zgePByJyJaAY6yeg8zIWSWyxybvFVFeJiINDG913XJwngr3A5raD8I65UOuKiizlwlTxpDx8TLzjnnIhdJ_64QINQ9H32WBdD5AISL-W2/s320/tool.jpg" /></a></div><br />
My written contribution to <a href="http://unplugd.ca/page/unplug-d11">“Why ______ Matters”</a> was inspired by an incredible year in a <a href="http://teachers.wrdsb.ca/gillk">congregated special education class</a> in a brand new, <a href="http://rye.wrdsb.on.ca">technology-focused school</a>. I shared my story of the amazing successes my students experienced, largely in part to the vast amount of new technology available to them. The topic is very near and dear to my heart as I watched these first percentile learners connect, communicate, and collaborate with students in regular classrooms around the world using <a href="http://twitter.com/gill_villeans">social media</a>. Simply by having access to “cool tools” such as iPads and Livescribe smartpens, the playing field was not only leveled a little, but the stigma of being in a special class was removed. These students were no longer ashamed to need accommodations and were actually very proud to be in “the class that tries out all the technology”. Selecting the right tools is always a concern, whether it’s computer technology or art supplies, so I’ve really explored the use of many different technologies and strategies. That being said, I am convinced that the technology used this year is what made the difference in my students’ education. They pick up these tools and use them without any pre-teaching. In fact, they are often experimenting and finding tricks and tips that they teach me! For many of our special education students, this is HUGE as they become teachers and leaders (for some it’s a new phenomenon). I have watched confidence and participation increase ten-fold simply by adding a mobile device or a web connection to a lesson. The immediate and constant feedback that many digital tools provide is perfect for our students with attention issues and the motivation factor simply can not be ignored. For many students in our special education programs, this is key. If we can engage these learners by using appropriate tools then we have to be doing more (as a system) to provide better access to students with special needs. I could go on and on and on about this…but I won’t (for now).<br />
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I knew when I was preparing for Unplug’d that this is the story I needed to share. I had much more difficulty deciding how I would share this beyond my personal narrative. Writing about this topic in a concise manner was impossible for me, so I decided to stick with what I know, and for me – that’s poetry. I’m not sure if it’s due to years working with primary students or just my innate love for the sound of rhymes, but for some reason it was so much easier for me to be creative with this “essay”. I still struggled with keeping it small. The size requirements set for our publication was a challenge for many but I really didn’t know how I would take my poem and literally cut it in half! This is where the small group collaboration really changed my game… I wasn’t sure how it would go having others pick apart my work, my art. I mean, how can you easily critique poetry? Well…they did. It was painful pulling apart my work and trying to decide what should stay, go, or be tweaked. I certainly could NOT have done this without the insights of my group members. I am really grateful that each member was honest and direct, while sensitive at the same time. I am pleased with the changes and suggestions provided by these awesome individuals, and in the end, their input made it better.<br />
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Read the original poem in its entirety here:<br />
<a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/62906681?access_key=key-i6l58cczwyfik01noma">Why the Tool Matters – Unplugd11</a><br />
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This is an exciting week, reliving the Unplug’d vibe, as our chapter has been released, our videos are also being released, and a #ds106radio chat will take place on Thursday evening with the chapter two authors. If you’d like to take part, you can post questions HERE before Thursday at 9:00 EDT or you can listen to ds106radio and tweet along with us!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-4667914053648654852011-08-11T21:00:00.000-04:002012-04-10T22:18:40.201-04:00Unplugd 11I have been struggling where to begin with the many thoughts and emotions floating around in this body of mine after attending <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/saved-search/unplugd11">#Unplug'd11</a>. <br />
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<a href="http://gillville2point0.edublogs.org/files/2011/08/Screen-shot-2011-08-08-at-2.26.43-PM-1hi6ccl.png"><img src="http://gillville2point0.edublogs.org/files/2011/08/Screen-shot-2011-08-08-at-2.26.43-PM-1hi6ccl.png" alt="" width="1021" height="206" class="size-full wp-image-112" /></a><br />
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As I begin my weekend of networking and learning at <a href="http://catccamp.wrdsb.ca/">#CATC11</a>. I am bombarded with questions from my <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/list/harryniezen/waterloo-region-educators-21">WRDSB tweeps</a> about the event. I find myself not knowing where to begin. Do I start with the events, the structure of the weekend? You can go to the <a href="http://www.unplugd.ca/">official site</a> for all that. Do I start with the purpose and artifacts created? Nope, those can also be found online with the <a href="http://www.unplugd.ca/unplugd11.html">epub releases</a>. Do I start sharing stories and tales of connections made? Well, I could but many of those can be seen in the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1753363@N23/pool/">flickr photos</a> or through the stories shared in our document. Do I explain the impact this had on me? I'm not sure my words can even begin to describe the intense range of feelings I have around the relationships developed and the many "ah ha's" and touching moments. I had hair-on-end styled goosebumps this past weekend more times than I can count. How do you even attempt to recount the experiences that led to those moments? <br />
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What I can say is that I've been forever changed. Each and every one of <a href="http://www.unplugd.ca/whos-comingqui-vient.html">these people</a> that told their stories, shared a song, engaged in down time play, or simply smiled and listened somehow made this weekend what it was. I don't think that any one of us going into this could even imagine what would occur. Although we began with a goal in mind - to unplug and connect to collaborate on a published document about what matters in Canadian education - so much more happened. When people asked me what I learned, I think I can say that "face to face relationships matter" and that "story telling is important". The other things I learned were all lessons from people, not programs, tools, or books. <br />
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Even as I sit here in my room at Kempenfelt conference centre, alone, I hear <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/melaniemcbride">Melanie McBride's</a> words about autonomy and how if I want to sit alone and reflect, that OK. This is my fourth time attending this camp and I always wanted to make the most of each and every moment, working late in the room with others, helping and soaking in everything there is to learn. I would have NEVER taken a break at 3:30 of DAY 1 to go off by myself to write. Thank you Melanie for reminding me that I don't always have to be "ON". <br />
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I have been having the "Unplug'd tinglies" as <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/courosa">Alec Couros</a> called them ever since the event ended. I have been glued to my screen, looking at the photos being posted, the tweets coming through my feed, and the blog posts that are slowly trickling out a few each day. Each time I see one, I immediately feel that heart in throat feeling that brings me right back to that time and space. When I read Daryl Bambic's words on <a href="http://www.yourlearningcurve.com/">her blog</a>, I was speechless. She was able to capture many of the emotions I had been experiencing and articulated them much better than I would have. I agree with Jaclyn Calder's comparison to summer camp on her <a href="http://teachercalder.ca/2011/08/09/unplugd-11/">blog</a> and can relate to the words shared by <a href="http://alanacallan.tumblr.com/post/8774211871/unpacking-reminiscing-and-wondering-ive">Alana Callan</a> and <a href="http://kellypowerca.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/what-i-should-have-shared-at-unplugd11%E2%80%A6/">Kelly Power</a>. I am touched by Danika Barker's <a href="http://dbarker.edublogs.org/2011/08/09/this-is-not-that-kind-of-story/">story</a> and related to many of the feelings <a href="http://www.ourschool.ca/?p=4330">Lorna Costantini</a> expressed with her initial reflections. When I read Rob Fisher's <a href="http://principal2pointoh.blogspot.com/">words</a>, I am transported back to that moment when his simple phrase "I spent 3 days in Algonquin park at the Northern Edge with 37 people that care so much about education that it hurts." literally took the breath out of the room. Unplug'd lives on with all that is shared.<br />
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I was also reminded of the power of music and how much it means to me. From the canoe serenade by <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/bryanjack">Bryan Jackson</a>, to the campfire tunes with <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Stephen_Hurley">Stephen Hurley</a>, to the introduction of ds106radio by <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/giuliaforsythe">Giulia Forsythe</a>, to the chats with <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/amckiel">Andy McKeil</a> about my favourite band, music was a big part of this experience for me, as it is in my daily life. This weekend reminded me that I have to feed this part of my soul frequently. Music lovers, share on!<br />
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<a href="http://gillville2point0.edublogs.org/files/2011/08/Screen-shot-2011-08-08-at-12.56.49-AM-1qf6pxn.png"><img src="http://gillville2point0.edublogs.org/files/2011/08/Screen-shot-2011-08-08-at-12.56.49-AM-1qf6pxn.png" alt="" width="514" height="377" class="size-full wp-image-111" /></a><br />
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I also learned that I need to make changes with what I do with my time. I am spending WAY too much time in from of a screen and working. I need to unplug more often to feed my soul. I already knew that water, being near it or in it, grounds me. I need to spend more time near water. Thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/toddlucier">Todd</a> and the folks at <a href="http://www.northernedgealgonquin.com/">Northern Edge Algonquin</a> for helping me to remember this. In fact, as soon as I press POST here, I'm heading down to the water with a book and my beverage of choice (I know you Unplug'ers will find that hard to believe) to enjoy the sunshine before I re-engage with the current learning that is going on here in this time and space...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-11233186083152321682011-03-10T18:35:00.003-05:002012-04-10T18:52:53.498-04:00We're All Art Teachers TodayThis is a cross post from the Live Learning with Livescribe Blog.<br />
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Today we used our livescribe pen to record instructions to demonstrate how to draw an item of choice. I was amazed at how this tool allowed for differentiation amongst my special education class, as the complexity of drawings greatly differed, as did the oral descriptions that were attached. What was even more amazing was watching them beam with pride as each students’ pencast was played for the rest of the class to attempt the drawing. They loved being the “drawing teacher” and it didn’t matter which picture looked the best, had the most detail, or even the best explanation, the livescribe pencast provided the auditory and visual connection that allowed each student to be successful when replicating the pictures. I was especially pleased to see one of my ASD students shine today when most class mates commented that his drawing was the best! I just had to include his pencast here! Enjoy!<br />
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<div class="pencast"><a href="http://www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/MLSOverviewPage?sid=5FLMSWxk8zFw" target="_blank">Jacob's How to Draw</a><br />
<small>brought to you by <a href="http://www.livescribe.com/" target="_blank">Livescribe</a></small><br />
<object width="228" height="316"><param name="movie" value="http://www.livescribe.com/media/swf/embedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="FlashVars" value="path=http%3A//www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/flashXML%3Fxml%3D0000C0A8011700003A98CE3E0000012E53E0AC9B1BD18B85&embedversion=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.livescribe.com/media/swf/embedPlayer.swf?path=http%3A//www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/flashXML%3Fxml%3D0000C0A8011700003A98CE3E0000012E53E0AC9B1BD18B85&embedversion=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="228" height="316"></embed></object></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-15776015338016509222010-11-05T18:23:00.002-04:002012-04-10T22:25:14.691-04:00Connected by a book: Gill-Ville Goes GlobalThis is a cross post from the Global Read Aloud Project 2010.<br />
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Thanks so much for the opportunity to participate in the project and contribute this guest post about the Global Read Aloud. When I stumbled upon the twitter post announcing the concept of connecting classrooms with a story, I thought that it was a brilliant idea that I just had to get involved in! We began reading the story online, projecting it on our SMARTBoard.<br />
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Students took turns using the hand-held microphone for our new sound field system while reading aloud. Our special education class had more volunteers anxiously waiting for their next turn than in any other read aloud situation we've encountered. As we became more interested in the story we wanted to see the actual book. This allowed us to take our story mobile and we finished reading the story in our new outdoor classroom. It did bring me a little pleasure to see their desire<br />
to physically hold the story and appreciate the pages (a little balance in our technology-focused school).<br />
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The vocabulary in the story was a little out-dated and above some of my students in this congregated setting, however the numerous characters introduced throughout were interesting enough to capture their attention and imagination. We used this project to introduce many web tools that we'll be using this year. It was amazing to share our character vokis, wallwisher and voicethread predictions, animoto videos displaying our illustrations, and tagsxedo word clouds on the Global Read Aloud wiki .<br />
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Even more amazing were the connections we were making with other classes beyond our own school building. The relationships developed during conversations about the story and introductions to class/school/town were fabulous. We were able to connect twice through a chat site, twitter numerous times, and skype on two occasions. During these sessions, we had wonderful discussions with a grade 2 class in New Brunswick, another in Pennsylvania, a grade 4 class in Wisconsin, a 5/6 class in Nova Scotia, and a grade 6 class in Iowa! We mapped out the route we would take to travel between schools and posted them to our own class wiki page. Not only did we connect about the characters and plot development of the story, we shared pictures and school website links. I am convinced it is these connections that made the project such a success.<br />
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Thank you once again for organizing such an amazing reading network for our students and providing them a place to showcase their ideas and interpretations. I look forward to future involvement with these projects. I am even more excited to maintain some of our Global Read Aloud connections throughout the year ahead.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2574866647644903101.post-40526455685061436272010-10-18T18:26:00.002-04:002012-04-10T18:51:54.914-04:00Gill-Ville's Talking Tree of ThanksThis is a cross post from the Live Learning with Livescribe Blog.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuBlJ9wQ7ve0JGyio_0J6J07JaxLNzkUVjtewnV7hQ02fj3X3_BeSPhTx8u8uBxpqIHCrIv6mSlcMFe8X-U1Y-tzfpw_PpuAtZ7WJDDIGduOTjNkAAhlp8WKDrE7CaA03KwSHb4QkQ1Op/s1600/talking+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuBlJ9wQ7ve0JGyio_0J6J07JaxLNzkUVjtewnV7hQ02fj3X3_BeSPhTx8u8uBxpqIHCrIv6mSlcMFe8X-U1Y-tzfpw_PpuAtZ7WJDDIGduOTjNkAAhlp8WKDrE7CaA03KwSHb4QkQ1Op/s320/talking+tree.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I am honored to have been asked by the livescribe TLLP project team to guest blog about using the Livescribe pen with my special education class. We just recently began to use the pen in our classroom, so it was important for students to have a simple activity to experiment with the function of the pen. Motivation was extremely high to record and play back voices using this device. We decided to create a “Talking Tree of Thanks” for our school’s Thanksgiving assembly. Each leaf has a different message that can be heard just by touching the dot we drew on each one. As word spread around the school about our little project, teachers and students from other classes were stopping by to see how the pen works, and to add a message of their own! For the most part, each student was successful with this activity. One issue that students occasionally faced involved touching the dot-paper when they were recording. Some touched too lightly or not at all, which made playback difficult on some leaves. During a parent night held last week, families had an opportunity to try out the pen and add a message of their own. Feedback regarding this tool was extremely positive. Most of our friends think of the livescribe as a “magic pen” and we don’t argue!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0