Each school year, as I begin planning my days and units I am amazed at the changes and progression of technology. Last year, I was excited to use iPads, really focus on blogging with my students, and begin our Twitter classroom account. The connections made and sharing abilities proved to be successful, and provided ample …
A couple of weeks ago, a colleague sent me an article from Upworthy about a new kind of kindergarten design at a school in Tokyo (link to full article). The premise of the design is that it takes into accounts kids natural impulses and allows them the freedom that they need to experience risks and …
In one of my master’s courses, we were given the task to create an online learning project. My group decide to create a blog where we share our learning experiences, and also planned to organize a Twitter chat focusing on authentic learning. Our chat was a great success as we were able to share and …
As part of my master’s course, my group is conducting an online project to learn more about authentic learning and what it means. As such, we have create a blog as a tool to share our thoughts and the things that we are learning along the way. The blog will act as a site that …
Last week during class, I was working through a Rachel’s Challenge lesson with my students that was all about goal setting. We discussed goals they have set in the past, long term and short term goals they might have now, and the things that constitute a good goal. Then I asked them the following question: …
“We live in a world that is changing more rapidly than ever before. Today’s children will face a continual stream of new issues and unexpected challenges in the future. Many things that they learn today will be obsolete tomorrow. To thrive, they must learn to design innovative solutions to the unexpected problems that will undoubtedly …
Yesterday was International Dot Day and my class eagerly participated in the event. We began the morning by reading the story, The Dot, by Peter Reynolds. We discussed what the book meant, and the power of creativity and believing in yourself. Students were then given the opportunity to create their own dots. Using the app …
Sometimes I forget what the first week of school is like; the endless questions, the establishing of routines, trying to make connections with every student, and the feeling of exhaustion when I leave the building. This week has been all of that and more! Yesterday I set up my classroom blogs with my students. The …
For the past year I have solidly become an addict of twitter to build a professional network, and have experienced first hand the great abilities of it, the connections one can make, and the endless learning that is present. This year I decided to create a twitter account for my class, as a way for …
I am always looking for new ways to “hook” students and make them excited about learning a new topic or unit. As the school year is coming closer to beginning, my colleague and I were brainstorming ideas about how to introduce Spanish class. At our school, when students enter grade four, it’s their first year …
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