Makerspace Newsletter / Newscast

I chose this product for my digital portfolio because it's a great representation of students using technology to communicate with their community.  The entire production was student designed, written and produced, with a little help of course.  I also included it because it's a great memory of the best grade eight helpers I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Makerspace Newscast

Edsby

Last year our board introduced this app to teachers and it did not receive  great reviews.  I was in that group who did not enjoy using it but was pleasantly surprised to see that the developers listened to all the comments and now it has become quite a remarkable tool. I included this chart in my digital portfolio to remind myself to keep a positive mindset. Too often we discount "things" without discussion or conversation on how it may be improved to serve different needs.  This was a case where the conversations happened, and still are, which resulted in a tremendous improvement to what has become a great resource for us.

Edsby

For this etivity I went off the grid and chose the program our board is currently trying out which is called Edsby.

Plus	Minus	Interesting
Attendance section keeps running record of absences and lates, allows for viewing of past days, can print class lists in various formats and gives parents the opportunity to post a planned absence..	Not the simplest program to navigate for new users.	It has taken a long time for our board to look at adopting online tools such as this one that has the ability to share information.
Contains a markbook section where assessments, comments, pictures and videos can be recorded and share with students, parents and other teachers where needed..	Internet based so it is susceptible to wifi accessibility and system issues.	The program creators are working on the capability for Edsby to be used in creating report card comments.  But it is proving difficult because of our specific language that is used.  Will be interesting to see if our board “bends” a little to allow for use of the program to write report cards.
Each class has a blog section where students/teachers can post comments, pics and videos that can be commented on and also shared with parents and other teachers.	All your information is stored in one location online so may not be able to access it all the time.	All of the information on this program will be sharable with the Ministry and most likely educational consultants.
The assessment section is capable of delivering online tests and quizzes that can be multiple choice or short answer.  Teacher can correct and insert comments for student.	Could be difficult to learn a new system if this one somehow becomes obsolete or is no longer available.
There is a section to post documents and resources for sharing with students, parents and other teachers.
Other teachers can be added onto the classroom site so they can insert comments, pics and resources.
Has  great help blog where users ask questions and make suggestions.  Questions are usually answered in a timely manner.
There is a section that can call up sections of the Ontario curriculum for planning and assessment purposes.

Makerspace Webpage

I chose this etivity for my digital portfolio because it represents the direction in which communication to both parent and student is heading in the future.  The idea was to create a tool that introduced our Makerspace to new students coming to our school, existing students to see what challenges they will be doing and most importantly to community partners.  The community partners are the ones, at least in our neighbourhood, who support the Makerspace through donations of items for the challenges.  Having a web site to refer them, and new partners to, shows what we have accomplished through their support.  It also serves as a tool to connect with other Makerspaces locally and internationally.

Prince Edward Makerspace Website

Template For Learning

I chose this activity for my digital file because the timing was such that I had the opportunity to test it at a Maker Faire with dozens of participants. It was somewhat of a test to see if the challenges I create could be self taught through these templates.  The idea was to create all the elements required including a video of the finished product.  This choice represents a new way of teaching STEM activities to students 24/7 as long as they can access the internet and have the necessary supplies. The challenges can become a family activity enjoyed at home. Below the template are two pictures from the Maker Faire with the template in action.

Copyright

Note: I chose this copyright lesson for my digital file because until this etivity I had not thought much about delivering an actual lesson about copyright. As I progressed through the thought process for this lesson I realized how important it was and how little we do to actually teach students about copyright. We tell them to cite their resources and not copy directly when at all possible but we never really tell them why or provide enough direction or modelling for them to become proficient at it. The etivity made me realize how important this topic is and that is should be given some attention throughout the school year. Please note that the formatting was not completely compatible when copying content onto this site.

Lesson: Learning About Copyright and Citations

Grade: 3 (lesson will be developed using questions from the entire health curriculum)

Minds On

·         Show the video “plagiarism explained”

·         Ask if anyone has ever photocopied a book, magazine, or downloaded music, video or articles from a wet site.

·         Record what students have copied/downloaded and what is was used for.

·         Next ask if it was stealing and have a discussion.

·         Ensure there is some discussion regarding using the copied work for school assignments and activities.

Intro

·         Show the video: Copyright and plagiarism for kids (I would pause and read the screens to ensure they understand)

·         Discuss copyright and ownership of published work

·         Now show the video: Citation for beginners.

·         Talk about how students will learn to show where they find their information.

Activity 1

·         Students are divided into pairs

·         Each pair is given five blue research templates

Research Form – Blue Question:  ____________________________________________________________________ Answer: ______________________________________________________________________ Article/Story Title: ______________________________________________________________ Author: ______________________________________________________________________ Name of Website: _____________________________________________________________ Your Name: ___________________________________________________________________

 

 ·         Prior to the activity 12 packages were made up which each contain:

o   Copy of a question and QR code for students to look up the answer

Here is a sample of what each package will contain

Package 1

Question: What are the four main food groups?

QR Code:

Package 2

Question: What are the four main food groups?

QR Code:

·         Each pair will select one package randomly until have completed five questions and blue sheets

·         Once each pair has answered five questions the class will review, record references on chart paper and post their blue research forms on the white board.

Activity 2

·         Now pairs will do the same activity but choose a question they did not do.  The only difference is that each question will already have an answer.

·       The pairs write down the question and record the answer that is already on the chart paper onto a green research form.

·         Then they must find a different web site that is not on the chart paper or blue sheet which provides the same or similar answer

·         Next each pair completes the green research form and records the “new” reference information on the chart paper where that question is written on.

·         Repeat this process for five more questions so that each question has at least two references for the same answer.

·         Discuss the references and mention how the same answer can come from many different sources.

Wrap Up

·         Discuss and decide as a class how reference information will be written down for projects, research and writing assignments.

·         Then post to final anchor chart and give it a title such as “How To Reference”

Using Technology in Physical Education Class

Note: I chose this plan because it represents a complete mind shift for traditional gym classes which are typically instruction heavy because in most cases only one teacher is present.  Incorporating technology to help students teach themselves and others while constantly self assessing adds a new and challenging dimension to this subject.  In addition, the opportunity to collaborate with intermediate students and utilize their skills and talents to teach primary, and possibly junior, students is truly amazing and a great example of what 21st century learning is all about.

Using Technology in Physical Education

This is will be an interesting challenge for me because of two reasons.  The first is that I teach health to four classes, all of which use technology on a regular basis so any change would not be significant.  Second, the other subject I teach is physical education which is typically not a subject that utilizes technology.  The challenge then would be to try and incorporate technology into a phys-ed lesson so it is both effective and has a purpose.

In a recent phys-ed class with my grade twos we worked on some basic floor hockey skills prior to playing as our school purchased some new equipment.  Before they could play I told them we needed to learn some basics so I had set up four stations where they had to practice passing, stick handling, shooting and of course how to celebrate a goal i.e. doing a dance after scoring.

Prior to the lesson, I quickly went over each station and showed what to do.  While the activities were taking place, I visited each station to ensure the proper skills were being worked on.  It would have been easier to focus on one skill at a time but since I only see this group once per week I wanted them to be able to play as soon as possible.

Incorporating technology into this lesson was not as difficult as I thought it would be.  I made it a little easy on myself by choosing the grade twos because they are reasonably proficient with technology and I know they would be able to carry out the task(s).  I decided to use four iPads because I know they would be available and anymore in the gym would not be a wise choice.  Here is how my new lesson plan would look with technology.

·         Prior to the lesson, I would ask a group of grade 8s to make a video where they are individually performing the basic skills (passing, shooting, stick handling and the dance) which the grade twos will perform at each centre.

·         Before taking the iPads down to the gym I would log them all into a program called Seesaw which we use in health classes.  It can capture pictures and save notes on individual student accounts in addition to allowing views and comments by other students.

·         Once in the gym, one iPad will be placed on a chair at each station.

·         Students will still be given general instructions on what the skills are but will be told to view the video at least once at the station as a review.

·         As the students are performing the skill they will be told to take a video of each other performing the specific task then save the video to their Seesaw account.  The students would take turns videoing each other.

·         Once all students have completed the tasks they will be divided into teams and play a game.

The video on the skill will provide additional instruction for the students that can be watched more then once if needed.  Having the students video themselves will serve two purposes. It will provide me with a great opportunity to assess if they are performing the skill properly.  In addition, each student will be able to do a self and peer assessment while comparing their video to the instructional one.

It’s a great win/win situation and I’m surprised that I have never thought of it before especially since I have been involved in coaching elite hockey where we used video constantly.  It will be interesting to try and deliver this lesson live because I’m sure that it will need to be refined but I do like the idea and will give it a try.

Classroom Design

One of the most important aspects of teaching for me is classroom design.  The classroom must be functional and have adequate space for a variety of activities and tasks.  I chose this piece for my digital portfolio because it shows my thinking when it comes to designing a classroom.  In my etivity I only posted the layout on the left but the one on the right shows my redesign of which most aspects were incorporated into my grade four classroom last year.  It is much more open and organized to accommodate all the functions of an efficient classroom