"All good things must come to an end..." -- Q (All Good Things...)

So why did I choose to call my blog "The Pause"?

About three weeks into the course I had that aha moment. It was a happy accident, new to the platform of blogging, I entered "The Pause" as the title of the first post thinking that I would be able to choose a different title for the next blog. The title stuck around week after week though and so I decided it had to mean something more than just the pause before diving into the technological teaching environment. But what?

Before I get to that, though, here is a way to reflect back on the course as a whole:

"The times They Are a-Changing!" Checklist, (from Talk about Assessment, Damian Cooper, 2010)
Am I?
1. Am I interested in the possibilities that digital technology holds for my classroom?
2. Am I knowledgeable about digital sources of information and reference?
3. Am I open to receiving students' work, and offering feedback, via e-mail?
4. Am I currently using digital technology for planning and managing assessment?
5. Am I comfortable with inquiry-based learning?
6. Am I comfortable with the role of the teacher as being "facilitator of learning" rather than the "source of knowledge"?
At the beginning of the course I would have been in the N = Not at all or S = Somewhat; now though at the end of the term my answer to all questions is V = Very!

So, load, cancel, delete, install, search updates, download, upload, scan, extend, drop, choose, submit, share, save, follow, view, preview, low batt, publish, link, collections, community, pause installation and so on. Our programming is up to date, for now, version 2.0 of 'teacher literacy'. The next update will be available in the coming months. On to our next placement to work out the bugs. Best of luck to everyone!

Final word to Professor Mike Nantais. Gratitude. It has been proven over and over to me, again and again, that that which I resist once embraced will reap great benefits and surprising results. Cliché? probably, but I am honest with myself and whether it is cliché or not, it is true for me. Going back to school, group work, presentations, debating topical issues, accomplishing tech tasks, professional development sessions, exploring the leadership role rather than the supporting role, in essence evolving from a closed mindset to a growth mindset. Finding my own voice and being able to share it in my writing did not seem like a simple thing to do, but now I'm already thinking about collaborating with my sons for my next collection of blogs..."The Plant-Based Family - Our Story"

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5507/9974020146_a16dc52c34.jpg

Now you're talking my language

I am here and this is where I am and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It seems this term has been a rediscovery journey of sorts. Last week I attended the workshop on writing report card comments. Our presenter Bruce Lyons from Manitoba Education (great p.d.) asked the group to write down a comment that they remembered receiving in a report card. I could not recall anything... it was a lifetime ago for me. I wanted to know what my report cards did have though so I dug out the box. I remembered there was one year where I had perfect attendance - I had the merit badge to prove it. What the report revealed though is amusing so here it is: How does one go from an A in the first term, to a B in the second term, to a D in the third term of Social Studies with perfect attendance? Well don't think about it too hard, Social Studies back then was quite a dry subject. I probably caught up on some sleep because of reading too late into the night after lights out with a flashlight under the comforter.
The bigger throw-back for me last week was getting to attend my colleagues' introduction of 'Sphero' to the early year's cohort of ICT. 'Sphero' is the great-great-great-grandchild of my childhood idol R2D2 remote control! Awesome. You will have to stay tuned for the ICT Theatre Premier of the EY cohort learning to use computer coding for their future students. It was fun to be a part of! Thank You!

Other takeaways from this week's classes, reading of chapters 4 and 14 of Education and technology: Manitoba action and reflection and exploring of the WWW:
The nature of learning is getting closer to the outcomes than ever before, this is a good thing (ch.4).
The teacher is not the 'sage on the stage' or even the 'guide on the side'. The teacher is the activator for learning across disciplinary boundaries. http://npdl.global/npdlconnect/
Robert Frost said: "I am not a teacher but an awakener".
After reading several blogs, it is apparent that the music in the gym and classrooms is something that hit a nerve with many. I have a suggestion: play french music! It supports learning and it's cross-curricular! You're welcome;-) To get you started, search 'top french songs 2017'.
Speaking of French, there is limitless access to resources that I could not live without. There is of course Google translate (not great on its own) but used in conjunction with Bonpatron.com it is quite passable. There is the modern version of pen pals: Skype, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook that can connect teachers and classrooms far and wide. Classes can ask and answer each other's questions, collaborate on research, and this connection to classrooms around the world can make the learning inside the classroom or school more authentic.
A search of Smart Notebook lessons will generate a bank of resources that you can use to accompany your lessons. Be sure to examine the whole lesson to ensure accuracy and appropriateness for your particular curricular outcomes. Explore the many uses of Smart Boards, they are not just a projector screen or version of a whiteboard.
Finally, in reading chapter 14, one cautionary reaction I have when reading "with great knowledge comes great responsibility (and maybe some wisdom.)" (p.124). I will try to ensure that in my classrooms that this increase in responsibility is not the cause of increased anxiety in the students. I do however wholeheartedly endorse the responsibility and awareness of the process of producing the devices from design to the final stage of recycling. The digital graveyard is something that has always been on my mind and part of many discussions in my household. At last, I am reassured there is some meaningful dialogue about it in Chapter 14. Design, Mineral Sourcing, Manufacturing, Consumption, Energy, Recycling, and Cost do not have to be facets of technology that carry guilt. Instead, this is where personal contact can afford opportunities to make a difference. Collecting good information and giving students opportunities to act responsibly will avoid guilt. Chapter 14 also outlines a great idea to explore that is cross-curricular as well. It suggests 1-2 weeks of breaking your "normal life" reading, watching, and listening habits and go to the feeds that you would normally avoid. You are not expected to change your mind, but perhaps to have a better understanding of how and why some people think differently than you. I think this is great because in the school system you come across coworkers and parents with lots of different backgrounds and beliefs and I have found it to be more productive to be understanding around those whose views do not necessarily match my own. I believe that dialogue and understanding are the antidotes to polarizing and alienating.

The remote control 'robot' needed batteries for the remote plus for the R2D2. It could go forwards and turn. It was the best!

Penultimate - last but one in a series of things; second to the last.

Like any good tour guide on a trip worth a recommendation, they have to give you an overview of what the plan is so that you don't stray off course or get pick-pocketed at the common tourist attractions. It's in the handbook - tour guiding 101. A heads up so to speak!

Okay, I made that up...

I do believe though that our job as a teacher is knowing and recognizing when there is an unsavory amount of use of social media that we have access to 24/7. I had a conversation recently with my youngest son who is in his first year of university about this very topic. I asked him, could he give me some perspective on whether he thought social media took up too much free-time for someone like him? He thought so but did not really articulate what could be done about it other than simply to hope for better will power. This got me thinking, and so I watched the following video by Dr. Cal Newport that was recommended to me. I believe that it is important to know about the 'other side', for the sake of our future students. Not talking about the negative side does not mean it doesn't exist. Being informed allows for the confidence to do something about a problem and to learn that yes we are the ones in control. This video is just under 14 minutes, you could start watching it at 6:50 to save time.

https://youtu.be/3E7hkPZ-HTk

Watch the video! My takeaway message from the video though is this: 1. Social media is not essential - it's entertainment; 2. It is harmful and would need to have serious benefits to outweigh the negatives, on the continuum of thriving in the economy one is trading off high-value productivity time for easy to replicate and produce low-value fluff; 3.There is so much life to enjoy and find purpose in without social media. "Be on the road to awesome" just like Kid President says, thanks, Justin! "Create something that will make the world awesome."

Another part of my week was about why copyright matters by presenter John Finch. Note to self - DON'T be in the 3% minority that violates the copyright laws once a week in Manitoba! Use http://copyrightdecisiontool.ca/DecisionTool/

I'm going to make a go-to list of places to search for images and music that can be used as long as credit is given, just in case I need to play a game of musical chairs or a game of 'freeze' in the gym as
substitute teacher...but aren't those valid reasons to use music under the copyright law?

..."pining for the fjords" or in my case the Rocky Mountains!

I took the advice from one of our professors this week, I spent some time searching for wisdom from the ages. This is a quote that I thought applied quite well to this course and ICT in the classroom:

"Always fall in with what you are asked to accept. 

Take what is given, and make it over your way.

My aim in life has always been to hold my own

with whatever's going. Not against: with"

Robert Frost - Vogue, 14 March 1963 

I find comfort in searching the past to make sense of today. It is the constant quest that cycles through every period and every generation in time. So, in the spirit of persisting with ICT in the classroom, I will share my thoughts on what I gladly embrace from the past week.

The most recent assignments that add to my ICT knowledge are slide shows, e-portfolio, and coming up next, the creation of a short video. Cheers, to my tech credibility rating increasing in my household!
I really enjoyed how our pixlr.com came together on "Learning is...". I found the animoto.com software to be user-friendly and I can easily imagine a variety of ways that it can be used in teaching. It was not difficult to select a template, photos, music and transitions. In the past, I have taken many photos on student field trips, retirement parties, baby showers, and special events that occur in the school or classroom. These photos ended up in what I have affectionately termed as 'digital no man's land' as a folder on my computer or external hard drive.
Applications of this software are numerous in the classroom: a mini-lesson, a tool for individual students or groups of students to show their learning. I also see myself down the road perhaps presenting in my own workshops and using a video slide show to share a collection of photos or quotes that I have curated that are relevant to my topic.

I also re-watched the videos that we were shown in class last week. I think it would be a brilliant idea for students to compile a collection of their own moments over the course of a term, a year, or longer as in William Hoffman's video. The Harold B Library 'Old Spice' style of commercial, Typography,  "Who's on First?" Abbott and Costello, the Mash-up, Mary Poppins - Scary video by Chris Rule are all good jumping off points for student projects that will more than meet curricular outcomes. I now understand why the school division might block Youtube.com after watching the Elf movie as a mash-up thriller, though. It is a good idea to use these types of videos by embedding them into a presentation and have students react and perhaps create their own versions without getting bogged down by watching an endless stream of videos. Let them do that on their own time at home...yes parenting teens was a blast...

I attended the Eventbrite presentations and I will attend more in the future if I can. They all presented powerful hands-on experience of Project-Based Projects, The Flipped Classroom and Creating Meaningful Tasks for students in the classroom.
In case you missed it on G+ community here are the summaries.

Powerful Projects: Pint-Sized Edition, Devon Caldwell (Oak Lake Community School) and Leah Obach (Hamiota Elementary School)

Supported by today's technology, project-based learning is engaging and exciting for students and teachers. Good project-based learning provides opportunities for meaningful and authentic learning, while promoting the development of important 21st-century skills. Powerful projects help students meet curricular outcomes while they are making a difference in the world. Join this session to hear a small, pint-sized sampling of powerful projects that young learners have led in our classrooms!

The Flipped Classroom, Matteo DiMuro (Math, Computer teacher, Vincent Massey High School, Brandon)

Classroom flipping is an instructional strategy where course content is consumed outside of the class in order to maximize learning activities and teacher contact time during class hours. An introduction to flipping your classroom, including why you should flip and how you can begin flipping your classes. Resources and flipping techniques will be shared.

All the World's a Stage, Tyler Letkeman (ELA teacher, Vincent Massey High School, Brandon)

Using Technology and the Internet to Create Meaningful Tasks. Turn the grumbles of, "What's the point? When am I ever going to use this?" into whispers of, "Hey, I might actually like this!" by providing audiences and tasks that extend beyond the classroom.

This evening is sponsored by ManACE - www.manace.ca

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• SETTINGS

Organizer:

In keeping with my theme of flight...

In keeping with my theme of flight here is a typography video of Monty Python's Dead Parrot Sketch.

Time for lift-off

I've realized recently that there are a lot of people that like quotes as much as I do, so here is a quote that makes me smile every time I read it, mainly because I hear Eric Idle's voice in my head as I read it:

 “There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”  Douglas Adams

Trying to reach a level of proficiency with all my classes is a struggle every week: studying hard, participating, and taking on new challenges. ICT has been the class that has pushed me further outside of my comfort zone than I thought possible and challenged me to feel like all the struggle is worth it.

The first great surprise came after being reluctant to start a blog. I trusted that in the process I would learn something useful to share with colleagues and future students and so I plodded forward. Blogging has given me so much more in terms of my personal growth and I am not just saying that.

I have been struggling with the part of becoming a teacher that means I must 'brag about myself', I am all about making connections with the students but telling other adults what is special about myself whether it's for an interview or on a resume, not so much. I like to let the facts speak for themselves and if you have questions I am very comfortable with entering a conversation that way.

So on to the next seismic shift - a web page! A new level of understanding myself as a life-long learner. An e-portfolio/web page is the ultimate 'brag about myself' forum. Will the effect be the same as the first time I clicked 'publish' on the blog? My gut feeling is yes, and the proof of that is that even just thinking about what to brag about is forcing me to clarify the essential questions of who I am as an educator and re-package my disjointed philosophy of teaching.  

The jury is still out on whether the e-portfolio will land me a job or not, however, the process of learning how to create an e-portfolio is a practical one. As a teacher, some of my students and colleagues may have an interest in publishing a blog, vlog, etc. and I know I’d enjoy being able to share with them what I know and help them out. I am also looking forward to helping my two sons expand from their Instagram platform to blogs or vlogs this summer and who knows, maybe even a web page…
This week I attended a workshop on workshops which I would love share more details on another blog. One tech tip that I will share with you right away though is the slide show software that was recommended. It is called Haiku Deck. Our presenter said it will change our lives when it comes to presentations. 
https://www.haikudeck.com/static/img/home/haiku_deck_screencast-solid-color-background_800p.mp4

Pondering 'Share'

It struck me this week that share seems to be the theme of the moment, has anyone else notice this?

For example, my french methods class has set up Dropbox for sharing lessons, rubrics, language learning games and assignment instructions so that we will all have access to these resources even after we graduate next year. I am certain that I will be grateful to have access even after our class is done. Are the other methods classes doing similar things in their classes?

I had an opportunity to reacquaint myself with my art appreciation side when I attended a Take 22 presentation given by Curt Shoultz. The presentation was based on chapter 11 of the book CREATING THINKING CLASSROOMS: Leading Educational Change for a 21st Century World By Garfield Gini-Newman and Roland Case. 
It is Shoultz' strong belief that sharing is the most important component of teaching. The Take 22 format of sharing with others in the education field his own professional development is a good example of his belief. He shared with us three great takeaways: his presentation/summary of chapter 11 of the textbook, a graphic organizer that he created for self-assessing artwork in an art class, and a Checklist for Creating Assessment-Rich Learning. Wow!

The presentation by John Evans on the Maple Forem also placed a heavy emphasis on sharing for teachers. The Maple Website is designed to provide a network for teachers and other educational professionals. The new ELA curriculum is being introduced on this site so I will definitely be looking at it on a regular basis. I also remember a while back reading about how Millenials are defining the sharing economy similar to this article https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275802 and so it is not surprising that the sharing of teaching resources stretches across cities, provinces, countries and the globe as Mr. Evans suggests. 

In my last placement, I had an excellent CT that shared with me any resources I asked for, most of the items were within reach on her shelves. I made some copies of curriculum material that I needed to prepare the few lessons that I was responsible for creating on my own, and any questions I had were answered. I remember thinking that if I ask I shall receive but being so new to the complete francophone teaching environment I did not really know what to ask for. For instance, I did not know about an online software that is useful in checking french grammar on documents, BonPatron.com. For English grammar, Grammarly.com has been working very well for me in all the platforms I now use. Now with my basic knowledge of resources that are useful I have already started to compile a shareable document on GoogleDocs. 

The final word is this - Teaching without sharing is like reading Shakespeare alone in silence, "Shakespeare is meant to be viewed and heard" as Cameron Tataryn said just this past week. 

The Globe Theatre, London, UK
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jnaehler/3706177381/ .

Adding to the teaching toolbox…

A short background story for you, I grew up in south-western Ontario speaking French at home. We had one television set in the living room and if you wanted to change the channel you had to get up and walk over to the set to change it. Well, there was a certain popular children’s television show that I would get to watch every weekday in those early formative years before the age of 6. It was educational for me and for my mother, and as the family joke goes it is how we both learned to speak English. 

I came to the presentation with no personal experience or knowledge of web-based classrooms(WBC). I thought that Shannon Magee and Donald Girouard had a presentation that explained well the possibilities of the web-based learning that Manitoba Education offers.

I started to hear about these opportunities for the first time from others in my cohort once I started classes here last fall. As for synchronous versus asynchronous learning, I think the correct answer to that is asynchronous in a synchronistic way? But seriously, the slide said asynchronous online distance learning is preferred by students with complicated schedules and lends itself well to students who can be more self-motivated. I would have to agree with this premise because of the accessibility of the instructor through message boards, email, pre-recorded video lectures and traditional mail correspondence. Whereas time is the flexible feature of asynchronous distance learning, in synchronous distance learning time is fixed. The teacher will interact with the students at a fixed time and can make the web-based course more of a community with the use of group chat opportunities, webinars, video conferencing and phone call-ins. Blended Learning seems the most compatible with who I will be as a teacher. One where face-to-face practices work in combination with web-based activities. Students will have some autonomy in regards to the pace, place, and direction of their learning. I can see how this will work in a high school setting because I have two sons that were voracious researchers on their interests in high school. They might have earned extra credit for all their extra-curricular research in a web-based course given the opportunity.  

I would like to plan the course I requested as a resource for English Language Learners(ELL) in my classroom. As part of my ELL toolkit, I could have a range of mini lesson plans that span the range of ages of the students I will work with over the years.

Sunny days in grade 2

To begin with, it would be a good idea to load lessons that the student can do in the classroom on devices at the school. These lessons would scaffold the learning going on in the classroom and expand on themes with cultural information and language cues that they might not be exposed to (voicethread.com comes to mind). By starting the WBC in this way, I would gain experience with how the students interact with the WBC style of learning and I can adjust the lessons accordingly. Once I am satisfied that I have created effective lessons, I would then be prepared to allow students to participate in the lessons from home.   

I would also like to seek advice from other ELL teachers in building a course of mini-lessons for students. If lessons for ELL students are accessed from home, I would perhaps ensure that the classes can be accessible to other family members such as the parents. To illustrate this, if I have an ELL student in my class, chances are that they have a parent or two or older siblings that can benefit from this additional language and culture support.

On a broader whole classroom scale than ELL, though, I think that I would prefer to try google classroom. As with any new must have tool, I like to do my research to find the right tool moving forward. Google classroom seems to have all the practical features in one place. It is user-friendly and covers all the C’s of integrating technology in the classroom. Curation, Communication, Collaboration, Citizenship, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. That’s what being a life-long learner is all about, being open to new possibilities but also being aware of others’ trials and errors and learning from them.  

Hmm, which character was the favorite...the feathery yellow bird, the smelly grumpy one that lived in a garbage can, the big brown mammoth with the long name or the bat-counting Dracula with an exotic accent…

The teaching toolbox. Be brave, take a risk, it's actually fun!

Just like that, the click of a button and I became a writer with my first post. That was a feeling I will always remember. It was like always having that one item on the list of things to do, trusting that it will happen someday, but when and more importantly how? Eureka!

This week's exploration of Curation and Collaborating has unleashed many more possibilities for me. I had preconceived ideas that Using ICT in the classroom would be dry, appeal to those who are self-proclaimed techies (not me), and that I would be forced to perform tasks just for the sake of being able to say that I know how to integrate technology in the classroom. The words personal and creative did not seem to fit here for me.

Boy, was I ever wrong! Instead, I have begun an online presence that is growing and growing. Among my family members near and far, I am now at the frontier and that is astonishing. I now know what RSS is and how to use it. I would not miss conversation and collaboration with class members on Thursdays where they share with me how they use various software applications and what excites them. Is 'Sphero' going to come out to play? I watched my son score the winning goal for the Bobcats on Twitter while I was working on assignments for my teachable subjects of french and English language arts. I am keeping up with classmates' progress on feedly.com. I checked out a site called VoiceThread.com, it attaches voice over threads to images, creating accessibility for students who can benefit from this visual application such as English language learners. At the coffee and conversation session, I attended with the Brandon School Division EAL specialist Joanna Ford, it was suggested that teachers have a survival kit on hand. Wouldn't it be great to have a google drive folder with suggestions for the kit to share among staff members?

I spent last Friday at my next placement getting to know my class of kindergarteners and as I was researching more suggested sites and information I had an idea for the class that will tie in nicely with what I will be doing. The smart board can be used as a dramatic play background that will get the kids talking and thinking of things outside of the classroom! How cool will that be?

When the opportunity presents itself to me to teach high school I will aim straight for the yearbook committee to see how to produce a yearbook. I produced yearbooks the old fashioned way for a couple of years when I was in high school. Furthur research is needed but I think I'll start by typing in the term eYearbook.

This has been a surprisingly creative and personal experience and one that I will document, curate and look forward to sharing with my future colleagues and students.

The hurdle that I have overcome is that I now have a rudimentary understanding of how what I do with my pens, notebooks, file folders, sticky notes etc can co-exist with the 'integrated' presence of online technology. Let me just reach into my 'pocket', there, the term for someone who likes paper, papryophile...

Practice Blog - #1: A Pause on the Diving Board

I will be honest. I am both excited and nervous about expressing my ideas in blog format on the internet. The process for me is like those summer days hanging out with friends by the poolside. While listening to the radio on the ghetto blaster attached to the extension cord at the back of the house, I am enjoying my frosty glass of iced tea with a wedge of lemon on the rim. Mother brings out a platter of cut-up watermelon for us to share and persuades us to take a dip…

Like-wise, I am at the edge and ready to jump into my role as an educator. My challenge as a teacher will be to educate myself on the benefits of using information and communication technology (ICT) in the classroom, but also to provide an understanding of the broader picture of ICT in the world. I pause before jumping. From the back of my mind rises the article in The Guardian newspaper: Extreme Surveillance Becomes UK Law with Barely a Whimper.

“A bill giving the UK intelligence agencies and police the most sweeping surveillance powers in the western world has passed into law with barely a whimper, meeting only token resistance over the past 12 months from inside parliament and barely any from outside.

The Investigatory Powers Act, passed on Thursday, legalizes a whole range of tools for snooping and hacking by the security services unmatched by any other country in western Europe or even the US.

The security agencies and police began the year braced for at least some opposition, rehearsing arguments for the debate. In the end, faced with public apathy and an opposition in disarray, the government did not have to make a single substantial concession to the privacy lobby.”

With swimwear on, and enough prodding and cajoling, I dive in with barely enough space on the low pool-side diving board to land my infamous jack-knife dive. Now, I can join in the fun swimming underwater and practicing crazy synchronized swimming moves.