. How can we as teachers engage students in writing in a 21st Century way? How can we give students an opportunity to reflect on what they are learning, express their opinions and share their voice? How can we provide a safe space for students to learn how to become reflective digital citizens? We can find answers to all these questions when we give students the opportunity to engage in blogging. Read more on how Mary Neal captivates her grade 4/5 students to write in Blogging to Ignite Student Writing.
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How can we get students to believe in the power of their own potential? How can we encourage students to become geniuses and believe that they can do anything they set their minds to? Why not give them a chance to become geniuses? Michelle Richter of Sacred Heart has done exactly this, given her students the opportunity to explore Genius Hour within the context of Arts Education. Last Thursday, I was given the opportunity to learn how these grade 7/8 students are exploring the artistic process as they become "Artistic Geniuses". In the slideshow shown here, students were engaged in finding creative inspiration for their Genius Hour Visual Art pieces. With the tablets, students explored different works of art from online sources then captured these pieces in a Padlet and recorded how they intended on incorporating that piece into their Final creative work projects. Recording their thinking is an essential aspect of Genius Hour and padlet was an effective and great visual tool for the students to use. Can tools empower kids? No. But can they allow students the opportunity to organize their thoughts and get excited about learning as they research and reflect... Yes. Paul Owens' grade six/seven students love telling stories, especially if it means they can win prizes of new mobile devices for their school! While learning about Saskatchewan's Boundary Dam Carbon Capture program in Science, Paul's class heard about a contest put on by SaskPower. The stakes were high, as the potential for new technology was on the line! However there was one catch... you had to make an engaging video to help educate others on carbon capture in Saskatchewan. This cross curricular project allowed students to explore outcomes in English Language Arts, Science and Arts Education. With English Language Arts, students were engaged in researching, brainstorming, script writing and creating a storyboard. In Science, students were evidently high engaged in learning about what carbon capture is and why it's important to everyone, particularly future generations. Finally in Arts Education, the students had to bring what they learned in Science and English Language Arts to life with the creation of a video. Read more on how Paul engages students with this cross curricular project and explores a multitude of cross curricular outcomes! Also check out Paul's video interview where he explores the creative process when you get a class of grade 6/7's together to compose videos. Tell Me a Story About Carbon Capture... To explore outcomes in English Language Arts and Religion, Clayton Murray had his students use Comics Head and Explain Everything as a means of representing and speaking in this cross-curricular assignment. His overall goals were for the students to represent a Beatitude studied in the context of a situation in our society. After creating the Beatitude representation, students were to explain the Beatitude in a modern day terms and language, and how their representation shows the Beatitude in action. Exploring these apps and "mashing" them together allowed the students the opportunity to explore what it means to treat others, but add their voice to tell the story. Below is a student sample of the project from Clayton Murray's class. Note the how student was able to further personalize this project when they "smashed", Explain Everything and Comics Head! Please check out more on App Smashing on the App-Smashing With Students page. As it gets colder and colder outside, here is a perfect opportunity to ease away with the prospect of indoor recesses and antsy students. Channel their energy with a Mystery Skype. If you are a little intimidated at the prospect of trying a Mystery Skype, all the resources are in the Hub to help you out! See the Mystery Skype page.
Be sure to also check out the tips from Suzanne Louttit's class, as they provide many great ideas in how to get started. Mystery Skype Classroom Connections. One of goals of this site is to promote digital integration in the classroom. I hope to provide resources for teachers so that the task of using digital tools to help enhance curriculum by allowing students to launch their voice, creativity and critical thinking, doesn't seem so daunting. My second goal is to share some of the ways teachers are making curriculum come alive with accounts of how various digital projects have made a difference in their classroom to propel student learning. And my final goal is create a forum for sharing ideas and thoughts on how teachers are using technology from the everyday to "big" projects.
Please share your comments in this area, or share ways you have integrated technology in the classroom. I would love to post your ideas on this website! |
AuthorHi there, I'm Jennifer Stewart-Mitchell and I am the author and coordinator of this website. However, I hope that more teachers will be able to share their classroom digital success stories as the Teaching With Technology Hub grows! If you have something you would like to share, please send me an email at: Archives
December 2015
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