Miss D's Classroom

As a final project we were asked to create a short document, and I mean short, reflecting on what we had learned through the duration of our Internet for Educators class #I4ED . So here are my thoughts and what I learned. I broke it down into 4 sections: digital identity, digital literacy, social media in the classroom, and our role as teachers. Technology and the internet should ultimately enhance student learning. If it is not doing that then it is pointless. What I learned in I4ED on Biteabl I have exciting news! We have just entered out last week of classes in the Education faculty! Here's to the future and our own classrooms! Until next time,

Ladies and Gentlemen! Today's post is brought you from a presentation by Alec Couros.  A little bit about him first. Alec is a professor from Regina Saskatchewan. He specializes in connective education. His job has him traveling around the world to advise and consult on online course related topics. The BEST part of the internet is that it gives everyone a voice, but how ironic is it that that is also the Internets worst trait too. Which leads to a buzzword in 2019 society, Fake News.  Alec talked on five big topics that I agree are important when assess and teaching about fake news. Attention Literacy: How do you spend your time online? There is no such thing as multitasking. What? I know. I am a firm believer on multitasking. But it actually can result in time wasted due to all the changing in between tasks. This can cause more errors, forgetfulness and a lack of attention. Because you are not focusing on only one thing your attention is divided. Due to the multitasking

This week is all about Distance Education. Have you taken a distance class? Personally, I have not yet. A couple of times I thought about taking a distance class when I needed an extra credit and wasn’t really interested in what is available. Chris Fredrickson and Shannon Magee gave our Tech class a small presentation about all the distance education classes available in Manitoba. I was surprised at the variety that is offered in the province. From division driven online classes, teleconferencing classes, and even completely online collegiates. I like the idea of distance ed classes because they are easily accessible for everyone and they have the ability provide many diverse classes rural schools aren’t always able to provide due to lack of number and funds. It can also be helpful where students are being home schooled or are unable to be in school. And for teacher’s distance course can be used as a great resource, especially, when you are thrown into a situation where you m

Inforgraphics is a visual tool to display important information that is readily accessible to its viewers. It uses charts, numbers, imagery, and very little text to provide an overview that is easy to understand.  I think this would be a handy tool for the classroom. Previously in my grade 5 social studies class I had the students create infographics that overviewed the key points of the Fur Trade. This allowed them to demonstrate their learning and build their critical thinking skills! The results were really good and were all unique to the students interest in the Fur Trade.  Here are 50 great examples for a further look.   Above is an example of one I create. It's not to in depth but it gives a good idea of what can be whipped up in s short time. I used Canva  to create mine but I also played around with Piktochart  . I'm sure there are other sites available as well to create them. These were just the first two I came across. Until next time,  

A while back I was working on an assignment gathering resources for unit plan and I came across Miss L's Whole Brain Teaching  page. It didn't take long before I was completely lost in all the activities and resources it provided. It was awesome! I was looking for activities for a grade 7 forces and structures unit and the page outlined different activities and resources. This included interactive experiments, online games and activities and even articles for students to read. Not only was it for cluster 3 but there were resources for all of the grade 7 curriculum. Another awesome thing it is aligned with the Manitoba curriculum which is such a relief! She lays out all the resources with the link and a small description I loved this and will defiantly use it in my classroom and upcoming practicum. As I was digging around the site I found that the site was inactive and moved to Teaching in a Fishbowl . Which surprisingly is yet better than the first site. I love the pag

Today's post will be short and sweet. I came across this Ted talk the other day and found it quite interesting. A lot of my classes want to change the classroom by incorporating more technology. Don't get me wrong I am all on board for that, and I think our classrooms need change. If you compare a classroom from 50 years ago not much has changed. So my question is how are you changing your classroom? Watch this ted talk and let me know what you think and what your doing in your classroom. A few key ideas he states: Education is a social process The future is in social interaction working together students as maker Leave comment below with your thoughts! Until next time,

I believe it is so very important to incorporate technology into our classrooms. You've heard me say it before and you'll hear me say it again and again. This is where our students are at. They are constantly surrounded by technology of some sort, whether it is their parent's smart phones, game devices, tablets, etc. it is part of their life. So why are we as educators going to remove that from the classroom? Instead we need to incorporate it into the classroom in a way that has value and meaning for both yourself and your students. If you are wondering ask yourself if it falls into one of the 4 C's: communication, collaborate, curate, and create. Are you using it to communicate with students or parents? Are you using it collaborate with other students or classes? Are you using it to curate your tech for students accessibility? And are you using it to help students create authentic work? But at the end of the day be smart; if it is not working for you and your students

Meet Emily Aierstok writer of the blog Read it. Write it. Learn it . and grade 7 ELA teacher! Emily has been teaching 7th grade for 17 years and believes that it's as simple as reading and writing and loving everyday. Having students do this as much as possible makes them better readers, writers, and learners. Having fun in her classrooms is so important. Her students have taught her that motivation to learn leads to the most success and it shows. Over the last couple of years she has shifted to a more data driven and standard based learning. This promotes a growth mindset and create the most meaningful learning experiences. Therefore, her blog provides time saving tools to help motivate, engage, and empower students to read and write. I started following Emily in the last couple of months as I was trying to expand my professional sphere. It started with her Instagram account, and then her blog  and  twitter . I found that she really cared about what she was doing, not only m

You've heard me say it before, technology is a powerful tool that can and has shaped classrooms. It has created a vastly unique world. That's fantastic, but my biggest challenge is how to incorporate it into the classroom and curriculum that has meaning and is engaging. Because we all know making mandatory classes like ELA interesting and engaging for students can be challenging. But Tyler Letkeman from Vincent Massey in Brandon Manitoba has an interesting spin on engaging students. The goal is to use tech tool to create meaningful tasks and improve the health of the classroom for both students and teachers. Here are just a few of my favourites he shared that I’d love to try in my class one day: 1.       Student crafted Books Student crafted book puts an interesting spin on writing and writing with a purpose! It takes students through the writing process, but with the end goal of publishing their work. When students have a purpose for their work it brings me

Our students live in a vastly diverse world, especially considering the world most of our parents grew up in 40 years. Technology has connected the world like never before. Now people can see what is happening across the globe and chat with someone across continents in a matter of seconds. Gone are the days of snail mail. These students walking through our classroom door have never grown up without technology and access tot he internet. They do not know the dreadful sound of dial up or had farmer vision television with 3 channels.  Many people see this as a bad thing that is harming and depersonalizing the younger generations. But I disagree. I think it is a toolbox used to empower students. It starts of as a blank sheet for students to make something of themselves. to gives them tools to let them discover and explore to let them use their creativity and put their own spin on it. Sure it can be used for both good and bad, but that's where our role as teachers comes in to give them

This week’s blog post was inspired by a presentation I attended this week with Daniel Dillon . Our internet for educators class at Brandon University Skyped him in from Flin Flon, MB! Mr. Danial Dillon is on the forefront of education, especially inquiry-based learning. He is based out of Flin Flon, Manitoba. Growing up he spent his time mostly outdoors exploring and doing hands on activity. He started out as a carpenter working to set up for car shows, etc. But it was this upbringing that inspired his inquiry-based learning passions within his classroom. He wanted to provide an education that allowed students to take their passions and interests to learn and get credits for it. He wanted a classroom that involved student discussion, allowed to self expression and movement. Then two years ago, this came to a reality when Dillon was inspired by the book The 20 Times Project written by Kevin Brookhouser (you can get your copy here) to completely revolutionize his classroom

Today's post is all about copyrights and education; a subject that has the majority of teachers confused, frustrated and targets for copyright lawyers. So what is a copyright?  John Finch  --a copyright coordinator-- came in and explained it. According to Finch "if you create it you own it." For example if you create a song, it is both legally and morally yours until it enters the public domain 50 years (soon to be 75 years) after you die. Now how does that translate into education? One example, when a student in your class creates a piece of any kind you need their permission and parent/guardian permission to post it. Now students do give up their rights with in the classroom like posting their work within the private environment of the classroom, but technically, a teacher needs student permission to post their creations in a public environment, whether that is in the hall outside the classroom or on your class website (thankfully most parents give permission to sha

Everyone knows that one teacher with an overwhelming amount of papers on their desk that threatens to topple onto passing students. Or that teacher who's computer desktop is files upon files deep of clutter. It's simply a nightmare. Safe to say organization can be difficult to maintain, especially as classes continue, assessments pile up, and  to do lists lengthens. So what about our online world? How do teachers organize those amazing pins from Pinterest that promises to revolutionize their classrooms? or their many blogs they may follow? I am all for organization. As difficult  as it can be to stay organized I think it is incredibly important. Important to have easy access to resources and ideas online. So, naturally curation of my online world was a simple choice. I like to be organized. Now organized isn't necessarily  neat or clean. It's a system or way that makes sense to the user. Anyone know a teenager who swears their bedroom/locker/binder is organized and

Have you ever googled yourself? (If not try it) Everything that comes up in your search is your digital footprint. A digital footprint is unique to each individual. It is what traces each individuals online activity.  For example, have you every put down a cup and notice that your fingerprints are left behind? Similar to fingerprints, digital footprint is every website you've gone to, every photo uploaded, game played, every question google or account made. It is your unique online presence. When I first googled myself I was shocked to see what I found. Pages on pages of Pinterest pins, old news articles about sports teams I played on, articles of school events I took part in, social media accounts, personal photos, websites used for school projects, etc. Somewhere along the line I realized that this was not okay. People didn't need to know all this about me. Especially as a looked for job as a professional. So with some dedication I started to clean up and restrict the priva

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” –Nelson Mandela.  Two thousand eighteen marked Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday. It also marked nearly one hundred years of Mandela inspiring generations to overcome diversity. Just like the millions of people he touched, he inspired me to further develop my passion for education through equipping future generations with the weapon of education in an effort to change the world. My passion is grounded in his idea that one’s education is the foundation for nation-building and reconciliation. A child’s education is more then the apparent math, reading and writing. It is about teaching children to think for themselves and equipping them with values and life skills that will give them a fighting chance after high school. It is about learning, exploring, discovery, imagination and giving them a chance to find their sense of self worth and identity. It is about laying a solid foundation for our next gener