Microsoft Professional Development: Teaching with Technology

As a part of the Microsoft Expert Educator program, we are encouraged to try out the free Teaching with Technology professional development modules available at the Partners in Learning network. (Educators can join the PiL network to access professional development, learning activities and the hot topics blog).  In this post, I am sharing key points and reflections from the course Selecting ICT resources to support curriculum outcomes

About the training

• Personalized Learning: As I explained in my previous post, I like how the Microsoft PD model "practices what it preaches".  We know that different students need to learn different things and that each student may need a different learning path to meet their goals, but often when it comes to teacher education we don't apply that principle.  Microsoft has made personalized learning available and effective with this training.  Start with a pre-assessment to identify areas of strength and gaps in your knowledge about teaching with technology.  The pre-assessment will award you completion for the courses in which you already have proficiency and suggest modules that focus on your areas for improvement.  Why relearn what you already know?  

 Big Ideas

• The need for risk taking & adaptability: It is impossible to avoid technical issues...something will inevitably crop up when teaching with technology.   Lessons will not always go perfectly (they often don't even when we're not using technology).  Teachers need to be willing to take risks, have a backup plan and to adapt as the learning activity unfolds.  Most of the time, I don't even worry about what might go wrong when I'm teaching/working with technology, I just know that being flexible is part of my job as a teacher, facilitator and learner.
• Finding the best tool/technique for the job: A recurring theme of this training module was the need to find the best method/lesson/activity/technology to support learning.  It might be "traditional instruction" for some learning goals or a new, exciting, tech-infused lesson for other goals.  

Resources

• OnGuard Online - internet safety information & resources
• Snipping Tool - to capture information/screen shots
• Edutopia - solutions and resources for improving education
• Selecting Software for Students with Disabilities
• TES - teacher sharing website
• Software for Learning - browse potential learning tools
• Microsoft Lesson Plans
• QuizStar - online quiz generator
• Explaining Copyright & Fair Use video
• Mouse Mischief  - allows for multiple responses from multiple mice

Favorite Quotes

•  "If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem tends to look like a nail."  - Abraham Maslow

I liked this reminder to use tools that best support the learning/solve the problem, rather than starting with a tool.  I think it is really important for students and teachers to explore a variety of tools and then develop the competencies to be able to choose the best one(s) to address an issue, complete a task, solve a problem. 

Microsoft Professional Development: Teaching with Technology

As a part of the Microsoft Expert Educator program, we are encouraged to try out the free Teaching with Technology professional development modules available at the Partners in Learning network. (Educators can join the PiL network to access professional development, learning activities and the hot topics blog).  In this post, I am sharing key points and reflections from the course Why does the UNESCO ICT-CFT promote technology literacy?

About the training

• Personalized Learning: I like how the Microsoft PD model "practices what it preaches".  We know that different students need to learn different things and that each student may need a different learning path to meet their goals, but often when it comes to teacher education we don't apply that principle.  Microsoft has made personalized learning available and effective with this training.  Start with a pre-assessment to identify areas of strength and gaps in your knowledge about teaching with technology.  The pre-assessment will award you completion for the courses in which you already have proficiency and suggest modules that focus on your areas for improvement.  Why relearn what you already know?  

 Big Ideas

• The Future is Unknown: This video from Beyond Current Horizons reminds us that we are preparing for a largely unknown future.  How does that affect education?  How SHOULD that affect education?  What can we do to ensure a good/positive future?
• Teachers Must be Learners: Part of why I chose to become a teacher was my love of learning and it's also part of why I love my job!  Our students need us to continue learning in order to provide them with the best education possible.  
• Technology Literacy: As the training states, "technology literacy is being able to use technology to solve problems".

Resources

• Innovative Teaching and Learning Research (ITL)
• Dvolver Movie Maker

Favorite Quotes

• "ICT expands horizons by shrinking worlds." - David Brown

David Brown's quote makes me think of the collaborative opportunities I have had because of ICT "shrinking the world".  My students and I work with classrooms in other locations, I connect with other educators from around the world and we have access to so much information because of ICT. 

•  "People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking they can do things.  When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success." -  Dr. Norman Vincent Peal

Dr. Norman Vincent Peal's quote applies to both teachers and learners in my opinion.  We want to feel like we CAN and we especially want to teach in a way that helps our students realize they CAN. 

• "The best way to learn is to teach" - Frank Oppenheimer

Again, learning is one of the things I love most about teaching, so this quote really resonated with me.  It also serves as a good reminder of the value of peer to peer teaching (which I think I could encourage more of in my classroom). 

I encourage fellow educators to check out these PD opportunities, my experience has been positive so far! 

Another successful student-led project!

The grade 1s held their Recycle for Good Garage Sale on April 18th & 19th.  Their goal was to raise funds to help people in Africa (through World Vision) and to help animals (through the World Wildlife Fund Symbolic Adoption Program).  The idea came from Lilly, a student who was watching television one night and saw a commercial that showed some people in Africa need help getting clean water and fresh food.  When she shared her idea to help people in Africa the next day at school, everyone in our class was excited to help  make it happen!  We had lots of supporters to help us too.  Community members and families donated many items to sell at the garage sale, parent volunteers helped grade 1 students work each shift of the garage sale and many shoppers came to buy items that they could use.  When our final volunteers totaled the profits, the grade 1s had raised $464!!

 This week, we visited the World Vision website to see what we could put our donation towards.  Since our goal was to provide food and water for people in Africa, we made a list of things that we might want to choose.  Then we added items to our "cart" until we were close to the amount we had to donate.  We were able to provide 1 pig, 1 sheep, 1 goat, 3 agricultural packs and clean water for 1 family! 


Throughout this project, it was very exciting for me to watch as my students identified a real problem that concerned them, then made a plan to make a difference and to see their tremendous success!  It never ceases to amaze me what young learners can do when we let them! Way to go Grade 1s, I am such a proud teacher!

Earth Day Celebration!

Today, we hosted an Earth Day Celebration at our school.  Some of the things we did for Earth Day included:

• We kicked off the day by showing our whole school this video we made 
• We had guest presenters from Oak Hammock Marsh who worked with each class
• Guest students from Oak Lake Community School and Hamiota Collegiate joined us and participated in the Oak Hammock Marsh presentations

 

• We had a delicious and healthy lunch
• We used biodegradable plates, bowls, spoons and forks
• We played Earth Day Bingo (we made up each activity and invited other classrooms to play too!)
• We did a special Earth Day art project to remind us that it is our job to care for the earth - it's in our hands!

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Recycle for Good Garage Sale Video

This is the video we showed to our school to encourage them to help with our Recycle for Good Garage Sale! 

Teaching Skills that Matter: Microsoft Virtual Univeristy

After an enjoyable evening ride on my Quarter Horse gelding Ripper, I am settled in for tonight's Microsoft Virtual Univeristy session Teaching Skills that Matter with presenter Chris Gerry.  Devon Caldwell and I were thrilled to be selected for the Microsoft Expert Educator program as a result of our success at the 2012 Partners in Learning Global Forum.  Invitations to Virtual University sessions are just one perk of being part of this exciting program! Fellow educators - be sure to join the Partners in Learning Network and check out the application for the Expert Educator Program.  

Tonight's session was all about the importance of non-cognitive skills and the role they play in cognitive/academic success.  Here are my key ideas and reflections from tonight's learning:

• In order to succeed, it is important for students to know that teachers and schools are interested in them as people, not just in their scores and their performance.
• Non-cognitive traits that increase success include "grit", resiliency, perseverance, self-regulation, ability to work with others 
• Educators, parents and community members can help our youth develop these traits of resiliency, self-management and teamwork
• Research shows that it is beneficial to tell learners that they WILL improve by being at school/participating in an activity/completing a task
• Positive relationships, social interaction and reflectiveness are key to developing resiliency

As a follow-up, I did some more reading on Chris Gerry's ideas as presented on the Project Based Learning section of the Partners in Learning Network's Hot Topics Blog.  More key ideas that resonated with me included:

• The need for educators to believe (and act upon) the idea that cognitive and non-cognitive intelligence is changeable
• The importance of a strong school team when trying to change/improve school culture

Recycle for Good Garage Sale

Things got pretty busy in March and my blogging was neglected.  However, my students and I were keeping very busy...

One of the exciting things that we have been working on is our "Recycle for Good Garage Sale".  One of my students brought me the letter below and acted as a passionate advocate for helping others.  She asked me if she could talk to her peers about her ideas and then worked with them to come up with a way to fundraise to help people in Africa.

Our class had talked about the idea of a garage sale earlier in the year when we were thinking of ways to fundraise to adopt polar bears, so it seemed like a good time to put our idea into action for a good cause!  We chose dates that coincide with our Celebration of Learning because families will already be visiting our school on those days.  We already new that we wanted to adopt another species from WWF, but since we had a new focus of helping people in Africa, we had to research organizations working in that area.  Next, we designed posters and chose locations to advertise our garage sale.  We shared our posters electronically and students also put them up in our community.  Currently, we are collecting items to sell and seeking volunteers to help run the garage sale.  It's another exciting learning adventure for our class!