Miss D's Classroom

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 t...

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 g...