A Few of My Favourite Things

"Here's the next instalment of #Peel21st Blog Hop. This round we thought it would be great to share some of our favourite apps, tools, websites, books, blogs, and just about anything & everything else! Also, be sure to take a look at the blogs posted at the bottom, and hop from one to another to see some other best moments."

So it's always a great time of the year, kids are counting down the days until holidays, teachers are switching to sugar-only diets, and schools are abuzz due to the previous two things. It's also a great time to share, and so I thought I would. It's tough to choose favourites, but a blog hop with a title "Some of my Somewhat Favourite, well Almost Favourite, ok, Things I Really Like Things" just wasn't as nice sounding. So without further adieu, here they are...

Be sure to check out the other #Peel21st bloggers and their best moments!

• Tina Zita
• Jonathan So
• Amit Mehrotra
• Jim Cash
• Melanie Mulcaster
• Heather Lye
• Maggie Fay
• Jason Wigmore
• Pam Taylor
• Gina Loutrianakis

EdTech & Numeracy Unite!

This year has been quite the journey for many teachers when it comes to numeracy and technology. Great learning has taken place, with many stories to share. It is these stories that can continue to support others in their learning journey; as well as act as an excellent reflection piece for my own journey. So what better way to share then through another #peel21st blog hop! The following is my own reflection on combining technology with numeracy; but be sure to check out the other blog posts by other amazing #peel21st educators about their own reflections. 

We are bombarded regularly with numbers and data in all walks of life. Whether it is financial information, contact details, mathematical equations, spreadsheets, graphs, addresses, etc., we can easily come across hundreds of sets of data in a single day. One of the difficulties in understanding all this information is processing it in your mind and providing some context for it. This has always been a difficulty for myself, where upon being presented with such data the words "Okay, how much is that really?"will regularly be uttered.

However, one of the tools I find to be extremely beneficial in understanding such large sets of numbers has been through infographics. In the past Excel was one of the only ways to visualize data (scary I know!), but now we have such tools like Piktochart, Ease.ly, Infogr.am that can create some really stunning presentations (just search 'Infographics' on Google, or see below)

http://www.bethkanter.org/wp-content/uploads/what-is-an-infographic.jpg

I have found many other educators have come to appreciate these tools as well, and students especially. A conversation I had with Chef Marelli not too long ago is evidence enough. We discussed how recipes have lots of numeracy in them - weights, measurements, sizing, scale, etc., and for many students this can be a struggle. However, looking at this information through an infographic lense, students can come to understand all these concepts much more effectively; and produce a fine tasting dish as a bonus!

http://lloydhumphreys.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/11-cinnamon-roll-recipe-infographic.png

So whether you are in English, Math, Social Science, Technology, Phys Ed, or any other subject area, Infographics can be a great way to demonstrate learning; and allow for a greater understanding of data across all curriculum. Yes Math may be a focus, but that doesn't mean we can't use something like infographics to work on numeracy skills in any subject, and become 'Super' as a result!

http://mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Superman-Infographic-Updated.jpg

Be sure to check out the other awesome #peel21st bloggers!

• Phil Young
• Shivonne Lewis-Young
• Jay Wigmore
• Don Campbell 
• Jonathan So
• Tina Zita 
• Graham Whisen

Mindomo

It's home screen says it all "Use the Force of Mind Mapping" and that's exactly what it does. There are a variety of tools available for teachers for this very purpose, and Mindomo is no different. It allows students to 'map' their content knowledge in a way that allows them to develop a deeper understanding of course content. The website/tool allows for this mapping to venture to various levels in order to do so and provides a wealth of options for students to collaborate, communicate, critically think, and create.

Here's my 5 brief thoughts (and completely initial - need to use it more):

1. Ministry Supported - for Ontario teachers, this means that you can create free accounts for yourself and all of your students; and access all of the features it provides.
2. Device Neutral - whether your students use iOs devices, Mac OS X, Android, Microsoft, or Linux, they can all access the tool in the same way.
3. Posting Options - Students can post notes, multimedia, links, icons, comments, and emoticons; change the themes of the blank space; and connect ideas using lines just like they would on paper.
4. Class Collaboration - I haven't really explored this in detail, but it allows you to set up your classes, enrol all of your students and have them connect, share, and collaborate on course mind maps. You can set up specific groups, and organize them in any way you want.
5. Fairly Simple User Interface - like other tools such as Padlet, adding content is as easy as clicking on the blank page and adding text. Inserting visuals and other media (as mentioned previously) is also as simple as clicking and adding. However, I think it's a bit more of a tool I think that suits intermediate/secondary students, as the terminology and commands might be a bit too much for elementary.

Anyway, a pretty good tool for visualizing the connections between concepts, and developing an understanding of the relationships that exist.

#Peel21st Blog Hop - IFTTT

This summer we were chatting about our favourite digital tools on Twitter and sharing some tools we would like to explore this upcoming year. It seemed like the perfect topic for our first #peel21st blog hop. So here we are! Read on to learn more about IFTTT and don't forget to check out the other blog posts linked at the bottom of the post.

One of the amazing things about 21^st century technology and the tools that accompany it, are the vast amount of resources available. The growing sentiment made by many is ‘There’s an app for that!’.  All these apps can make life a little more manageable, while at the same time a little more confusing. The endless apps that are released, then downloaded to your device, can make managing them all extremely overwhelming. Here’s where I believe the app IFTTT can really help!

It’s not something I’ve used exhaustively yet, but begin to see some really useful potential. Imagine the student who is looking to manage their work from their courses, or the emails they receive, or a list of due dates from their teacher. What do they do with all this information? IFTTT looks to show them how to leverage the power of one app, to support the other.

What is it exactly?

IFTTT is really a digital tool recipe maker. It allows users to leverage the apps or web tools they use on their devices, by illustrating the various ways you can use them with other tools. It allows users to create their own recipes, or by browsing the hundreds of recipes already created by others.

IFTT Recipe

These recipes illustrate the idea that ‘If you use this app/web tool, then you should use this other app/web tool’ with it. IFTTT breaks down the recipe into manageable parts, and gives users the ability to select suggestions on how to best leverage each through their recipe creation process.  Users have posted an endless supply of suggestions and it’s quite amazing to see the creativity - how about using the weather app in conjunction with the phone call channel app to give you a wakeup call every day! With the weather report!

Why I like it?

The only way I can really explain why I like IFTTT, is to highlight some of the recipes. These recipes can be used for students, as well as for teachers, which in my mind makes it a very useful app. It makes the management of devices easier,  and it makes your device and its tools much more efficient and productive. So here are my top 5 reasons...

As you can see, I'm only beginning to explore its potential, but begin to see how it can make my life a little easier, and hopefully students' as well. If you have a really useful recipe, please share it; the creativity of its users is really what makes IFTTT so amazing!

Don’t forget to check out the other blog posts in our Blog Hop!

• Code.org by Erica Armstrong
• Puppet Pals by Debbie Axiak
• Scratch Jr. by James Cash
• Educreations by Matthew Oldridge
• Photo Editor by Tina Zita
• NFB StopMo by Graham Whisen
• Pocket by Greg Pearson
• Notability by Phil Young

Why Am I Still Using Paper? I Need a Mural (ly)

So I had this strange epiphany this week. I asked students to create a poster for an assignment in my Marketing class. It's something I've always done, and find the finished products turn out to be of fairly good quality. However, I also always seem to wonder how I can make it better; make it more visually appealing and creative; make it easier to cart around to mark; make it less of an issue to post so the class can see their peers' work. And then it hit me - why am I asking students to still create work like this on paper? I have my students create presentations online (Prezi), write experiences or answers to questions online (blogger), collaborate & discuss (wikispace), so why don't I have them create posters as well? The reason has simply been that there has not been a great tool to do something like this. Prezi is great, but it's a presentation type tool, a blog is really just for text and so you can't get all that creative, wikis are great but very basic and not very visual either. So what can I use? Well I think I found it - Mural.ly.

I've been messing around with the site the last couple days, and feel this is exactly the thing I can use. Now at first I was very disturbed by their lack of support for Internet Explorer (all of our school computers use IE, and I would guess most others do as well); however, this is a problem they are currently fixing and will soon be supported; so don't worry. Once I logged into the site and began to just 'play', I found that there are so many uses for this tool. I love the pre-existing templates they have, and the possible applications they have for the classroom. What I like most about them is the fact that they are all visual. Most students I find are visual type learners and if I can provide them with a tool like this where they can organize their thoughts, goals, ideas, events, work, in such a visual way, I can only imagine how much they will find it beneficial too. While using it I began thinking that this can be more than just a useful tool for presentations, and thus began to realize how much it is different from Prezi (and maybe better?). Now don't get me wrong, Prezi is great; but the fact that Prezi is all about following paths, and zooms in and out so much, means it is a little more complicated than it needs to be for certain tasks. Thus, Mural.ly might just offer more applications for classrooms, and can be used easily by our students.

So here's what I think could be the top 5 uses for Mural.ly in the classroom (besides using it as another presentation tool):

1. Poster - Yes this is a very basic use for the site, but why cart around bristol boards, or even 3-panel boards anymore? Students can arrange their information and visuals in the exact same way, and you don't have to fill up your back seat of your car with student work!
2. Ongoing Learning Page- With my marketing class, I'm always asking my students to share advertisements, products, or anything else they find that relates to marketing. I've thought about using a wiki, but just don't find it visually appealing enough for what I want. With Mural.ly however, we can create a class collaboration page where they can post pictures of advertisements, videos of commercials, articles discussing new products, and just about anything else they want to share. I'm thinking this is a great way to get them to always be learning and looking for items to post.
3. Group Work - Mural.ly provides a template for this very task, and I can't think of a better way for my students to work together on their summative then to use this site to do so. The template already has a structure to it that allows for students to organize their information in a easy-to-follow way. Students could arrange their information in any way they see fit, and the fact that they can work together on one site to do so (rather than email back and forth) makes it just that much more effective.
4. Online Portfolio - Many teachers use portfolios of student work for their final summative. This gives students a chance to really show off what they've done all year/semester. The problem with many portfolios, is that they are a combination of digital, written, and visual. I think Mural.ly provides an opportunity for students to organize their work in one place, and they don't have to worry about the mix of examples they use for their portfolio
5. Unit Review & Concept Mapping - This also may seem pretty straightforward or simple, but why not have students provide examples of concepts covered throughout a unit using this tool. As the unit is covered, post the concept on Mural.ly, and have students look online for examples of that concept - whether it is videos explaining it, pictures of it, text gathered from other sources, etc. This gives the students an opportunity to really apply what they've learned, share their knowledge, and use the page as a great study aid prior to an assessment. For flipped classrooms, this could be a great way to organize all videos pertaining to a unit in one easy to manage website. Students wouldn't have to search through Youtube, or other video hosting sites; they could just log onto the 'mural' and all the videos for the unit would be there, as well as text, and other sources of information to support all learning styles.

I think there are probably a hundred or more ideas out there, and this is just a very basic list. In due time, I'm sure the uses of Mural.ly will be well known, but in the mean time let me know what you think? 

Pow What? Powtoon!

Ok, I had to share this. One, because it has so much potential with the 'flipped' classroom, and two, because it's just cool! I don't mean to shamelessly advertise for company, but I find that every once in a while I come across a really useful website/app/tech. tool, that needs to be shared; and this one is definitely no exception. It really caught my attention when a coworker of mine created this video. It's simple, yet highly informative, entertaining, and effective. He did it using the website Powtoon - don't let the name confuse you!

I think it's so useful because unlike the typical videos I use for my 'flipped' classroom, Powtoon allows you to fully animate concepts and illustrate events using simple, but effective graphics. As soon as I watched the intro video on their website, my mind instantly remembered this video from girleffect.org. I remember showing the Girl Effect video to my geography class last year, and can remember how hooked they were. They wanted to watch it again, and again; they wanted to create one just like it for their project; but unfortunately at that time, I had no clue how they could create something like that.

For students, when learning any new concept, the delivery can mean the difference between understanding, and scratching their heads. For teachers, understanding how to deliver new information, can also mean the difference between students being hooked, or students being asleep. I think the more tools we as educators have at our disposal, the more dynamic our classroom can be. So whether you're using a 'flipped' classroom approach, or the traditional model, a tool like Powtoon can really make the classroom a more enjoyable place.

Ted? Is that you?

It's June. Exams are over, marks have been updated, reports are finished, and I can finally get back to this blog. It's been a while, I know, I've missed you too. However, you can't say that I have not been busy. Over the last several weeks, aside from the usual classroom work, and reporting process, myself and a group of other teachers have embarked on a new journey (that sounds corny I know - but it is true). A group of us have begun the process of 'flipping' our classrooms. We have ratcheted up the learning, at a time in the year where most are dialled down. We have begun researching about the products and processes required to effectively 'flip', and I can honestly say it's pretty cool to see all of the tech tools out there that you can use. The one that really caught my eye recently is one that many are familiar with - TED. Only this TED is a little bit different than his more famous brother. This TED is TED-ED.

First, if you haven't checked out TED yet, then please do so. The countless hours of video lectures are amazing, and I constantly find myself watching these videos rather than TV. Below are a list of what I think may be some of the best that pertain to education.

1. Sir Ken Robinson - Schools Kill Creativity
2. Salman Khan - Let's Use Video to Reinvent Education
3. Sugata Mitra: The Child-Driven Education
4. Sir Ken Robinson (again) - Changing Education Paradigms 
5. Malcolm Gladwell - Spaghetti Sauce (Not necessarily about education, but I really thought it was fantastic. Probably because I love marketing.)

Now that you are familiar with TED, let's meet his little brother TED-ED. Now this little brother has a pretty large mission - capturing great lessons from the world's educators. With TED-ED you can submit an idea for a lesson, have a professional animator illustrate it for video, record your own voice to it, and then have it posted on the website; where thousands of other educators can use it for their own lessons. Most videos are then accompanied with a number of questions, both simple and critical thinking, as well as extension activities. The idea that anyone, anywhere in the world can create a lesson is somewhat new, definitely amazing, and really shows how far we've come, not just with regards to technology, but collaboration. There are so many amazing teachers out there, TED has just given those teachers a new platform to share their great lessons, and we can all benefit from this. The website/project is still in its infancy, but before long I imagine it will be contain a wealth of knowledge and lessons that many educators will use on a regular basis. I for one can't wait to see where it goes from here!

A Blog About Blogs

Utilizing the online classroom effectively can open up a world of possibilities. I hope with the last couple of posts, people might strongly consider moving a lot of their teaching and resources online. It's the environment used most by our students, and we really need to consider doing the same. This blog is about just that; using 'their' environment to not only educate them, but others as well.

The idea of writing a blog, to some, may seem like a waste-of-time kind of idea. Who's going to read it? Who's going to care? What can I write about? All this may be true, if you don't have anything worthwhile to say. For me to suggest that this blog is followed by many, is a huge overstatement. I'm amazed actually if anyone at all is reading this now? Many students will also have these feelings and opinions. However, blogging has become a huge voice in today's world. It's what has allowed thousands to spread the word about various issues and events. It's allowed for the dissemination of information to the masses. It's what has given many people a platform, and thus an audience who would never have been able to achieve such feats previously. Encouraging students to take their voices online can greatly aid in the learning of the classroom, as well as their awareness of what's out there.

For the most part students have simply written statements online in 140 characters or less, or about things they saw, heard, or did today to their group of 'friends'. I believe many have not given much consideration to really formulating an opinion online, and having to defend or appreciate the comments left by others. For the most part, students feel that whatever they post online goes without defense or critique. Blogging can really force students to consider what they write, and how others will perceive their writing. But how do you go about getting your students to blog? What activities can you use in the class? And how do you keep students interested?

Raising awareness of blogs and generating interest has to be accomplished before you can even begin to ask your students to blog. Therefore, introducing your students to online blogs is the first step necessary in getting your students to blog. Blog hosting websites like blogger.com, wordpress.com, or edublogs.com, contain thousands of excellent blogs that you can use to illustrate blogging to your students. Tumblr.com will allow students to 'collect' blogs and follow them using their computer, tablet, or mobile device. There are plenty of examples out there to show them just how many people are blogging, and all the different uses for blogging.

The next step is to have your students learn the steps, characteristics, and rules of blogging. The best strategy that I believe to do this is something I found on, well, another blog. It's called 'Paper Blogging' and it illustrates to students all the necessary skills required when blogging. I could go on, but why not just check it out:
http://www.notesfrommcteach.com/2010/09/learning-to-blog-using-paper.html

Lastly, what can you use blogging for with your students? Other than asking them to blog about the day's lesson and what they learned, felt, or thought from it, there are countless activities that can be done. In the past I have had my students blog about economic news events that have taken place throughout the semester. They had to summarize what happened and the impact the event would have on the economy. It's an activity that can be translated to many classes and courses, and is a simple one. However, one that I believe would lend itself to much greater critical thinking is something discussed just the other day at a PLC meeting. What about posting one simple question to the students the very first day of class, that the students would have to continuously address throughout the semester/year?

This idea was posed for Canadian geography, so I will do my best to use that course as an example to illustrate the concept. The idea is to pose to the class on the very first day the question "What makes Canada such a special and unique place to live?" It is also in your best interest to inform the students that the very same question will appear on the final exam. Each student would then construct a blog where they would address that question and write about Canadian news stories, lessons learned in class, and any other ideas they had regarding the question. They could choose either side of the opinion in answering it, but the whole idea is to continuously have students comment on Canada and the uniqueness (or lack of) that this country has. They could source news articles, other peoples blogs, and videos. They would also comment on each others blogs, critiquing or agreeing with each other along the way. Not only would students critically assess Canadian geography, but they would also engage in an interesting conversation online. The final step to this activity is to pose that very same question on the final exam. For those students who continuously blogged, answering the question will be relatively simple, as they have already put forth all the necessary hard work and critical thinking. For those who did little blogging, they would then have to really work hard to answer the question. An interesting idea, and one that I will be trying next school year.

For other ideas, search online, there are hundreds of activities that you can use blogs for, and students will appreciate the online experience.

Discuss This!

Discussions in classrooms are valuable activities that allow students to analyze, assess, provide opinion, and argue about topics. They allow the teacher to assess students' understanding of the curriculum. Why do we limit ourselves then to only having discussions in physical classrooms? Why not take it online?

Virtual/digital classrooms provide an excellent medium for hosting such discussions. Many of these digital classrooms provide the discussion forum tool that allow students to join and post their opinion on topics and questions posed by the teacher. There is great benefit to this. Students do not always have their thoughts organized enough in class to be able to speak about a topic. Many students require much more time to gather their opinions and ideas before speaking out to their peers. Many students would rather write down these thoughts on paper first before speaking out. A useful strategy is to host daily or regular discussion forum for students who can leave the classroom and then respond to the question online.

My experience with this strategy has been positive, as I have found students who don't usually respond in class, responding much more online. In classes I have taught in the past, I have posted questions to the students at the beginning of the class, and have revisited the question at the end of the class. However, I have found that the same students are the ones responding, and the voices of the majority are not heard. Whereas hosting an online discussion forum has brought many new voices and thus opinions into the discussion, and the results have been great! However, there are a few things to remember with this.

1. Be regular. Schedule this strategy into your weekly plans. I wouldn't suggest doing this everyday, as setting the bar that high may mean ultimate failure; but twice or three times a week would keep your students connected to the routine. 
2. Make it meaningful. Students typically do not do work just for the sake of it. You as the teacher have to use this strategy as an assessment. However, I would suggest that you look to assess students responses on a weekly basis rather than each and every discussion. Not every discussion requires a response from every student, but I would say that responding at least once a week in a meaningful way can, and should, contribute to the students' overall grade.
3. Respond in kind. Having students respond to a question and each other is great, and students typically like to hear what their peers have to say. But you as well need to respond. Showing your students that you are paying attention to their opinions is easy to do in class, and necessary, and therefore online should be no different. Follow-up with your students and pose new questions. Critique their responses and approve their opinions. Showing any interest whatsoever will keep students coming back for more, and will lead to continued valuable discussions.
4. Switch it up. Rather than always looking to illicit responses from students on questions posed, frequently change the task. Have students look for articles, websites, blogs, etc. connected to the topic and have them provide a response to these. Have them post their own questions and generate their own discussions. Have students take the discussion to Twitter rather than the usual discussion board. Whatever you do, don't remain stagnant. Just like we need to switch up our activities in the classroom, we need to also switch up our activities online, and discussions are no different.
5. Have fun. The last thing you want to do is make the task mundane. Obviously not every discussion can be fun, and not every student will find it interesting, but you as the teacher can attempt to make things a little more enjoyable. Why not simply hold a discussion about a school event, popular culture, or the latest youtube sensation. It doesn't always have to be curriculum related, and you may find that the conversation does begin to connect to your course once the conversation gets going.

Discussion forums can be a great way of engaging your classroom. They don't have to be a chore however, and you don't have to host them every day. Setting up your online class website to host even a few can add a new dynamic to you classroom. And who knows, you might find a student you always thought was shy and reserved to be the most talkative and outgoing online. It's all about the medium.

Let's get Virtual!

Virtual or online classrooms are excellent tools that many educators are using now. For those still in the 'dark' about these environments, they offer many online tools that allow teachers to connect digitally with their students. They provide excellent extensions to the classroom that students appreciate as you are able to connect to 'their' world. Many schools offer online class websites such as 'MyClass' which provide a lot of useful features but often times are  limited in a number of important features; most noticeably that they only allow ‘one-way’ communication.  This type of communication only allows for teachers to distribute resources, links, and dates, and therefore limits student involvement. Other online class websites, such as ‘Angel’, allow students to communicate with each other, and most importantly, you the teacher; asking questions and finding answers to many issues that they might have forgotten about until after they left the classroom. This type of online classroom allows for teachers to post important dates, announcements, resources, and links, but also allows for assignment inboxes, blogs, wikis, surveys, discussion forums, quizzes, email, live chat, and marking and returning assignments all online. Over the next couple of weeks I will profile many of these online features that digital classrooms like 'Angel' provide, and explain the uses of these tools and how you can 'connect' more with your students!

Tweet This!

Although many have an aversion to tweeting, the many uses of twitter can add an exciting dynamic to any classroom. It can be more than simply telling your followers what you ate for lunch, or where you went for Easter break. An experiment on the use of social media at the University of Leicester in the UK has shown that Twitter can act as a valuable communication tool, as it developed peer support among students, personal learning networks, and an increase in students arranged social meetings. Try using it to hold a class brainstorm session, analyze the math behind a viral tweet/hashtag, issue a poll to gauge opinion, or communicate with experts in their field. Check out http://edudemic.com/2012/03/25-ways-to-use-twitter-in-the-classroom-by-degree-of-difficulty/ for more ideas!

Stats Are Cool?

How many of you have sat through endless lectures in university staring at graphs and statistics, all the while wondering, "How could this get anymore boring?" Yes, we’ve all been there, and wish we were anywhere else but. Graphs and plotting data points can be quite boring; staring at them and attempting to analyze them the same. Well not anymore!  Hans Rosling has made it extremely cool and interesting! He has brought us Gapminder. An exceptionally designed website, chalk full of social, economic, educational, environmental, etc. statistics that you can use to plot and analyze. It allows you to look at the world from a different perspective and appreciate various countries’ places in the world. The only way to really appreciate what I’m saying is to watch Hans explain:

http://www.gapminder.org/videos/200-years-that-changed-the-world-bbc/

From there, explore the website, plot some data, and never let anyone ever say “stats are not cool”.