Saturday, November 16, 2013

Transforming student learning


Dear all,

Hope you have had a good week. This week’s food for thought will be a bit longer than usual because I would like to share a little bit of the learning from last week’s Kim Cofino workshop whilst also sharing with you a good article that includes two ideas for developing inquiry on the iPad for Math and Science.  Also as I will miss Monday briefing this week because I am doing a combined IB/ CIS and NEASC visit in Singapore I have added a couple of PD opportunities for after winter break.

Sharing the Kim Cofino workshop:  What I have decided to do is share each week for the next 12 weeks somewhere in my Food for Thought email/ blog post, one of 12 areas we looked at during the weekend on transforming learning in our classrooms. What this will entail will be a few articles about the main focus and examples of how it has been applied for you to look at and possibly try out in your classrooms.

 1: Globally Collaborative Projects



Project Examples:

In addition during a “speed geeking” session ( this is where a person shares a tech application/ piece of software etc that they have used in their classroom and liked, with the rest of the group) we learned 6 really interesting ideas that you might find useful. I know that some of you who attended have already shared some of these but just wanted to let you know about one I tried this week that worked wonderfully. I used something called “Todaysmeet” https://todaysmeet.com/ which is a back room chat. It is very simple to use and engaged the class. I used it in a situation where students were doing a jigsaw reading exercise and I asked them to share any thoughts that they had about what they had read as they were reading. I was very surprised by the level of thinking by several students who are usually quiet and do not contribute much to class because of their level of English. It also created a few humourous moments as well which showed another side of my class that furthered added to our relationship. All in all it was a good thing to introduce to my class and one that we will be using again in the future.

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       buistbunch via Compfight cc

 
Inquiry Learning Ideas for Math and Science With iPads

”Granting students the freedom to inquire and explore makes them the investigators of life’s mysteries. In the process, they are sharpening their all-important critical and creative thinking skills. Technology offers fantastic opportunities for the application of critical thinking skills toward an understanding of real-world questions and answers. It can be used to gather information about the world around us so that we can investigate real-world questions and test their answers. That’s the focus of this chapter. You find numerous apps that deliver content about botany or algebra, but I want to focus on how you can use technology to have students experience that knowledge from the inside out.”

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/11/inquiry-learning-ideas-for-math-and-science-with-ipads/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29

The article contains extracts from a book that I have seen referenced in a couple of articles recently that might be worth investing in for your own professional teaching library

iPad in Education For Dummies by Sam Gliksman, Wiley, Copyright © 2013. So here is a link to a short but useful “Cheat Sheet” by the author about the book, http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ipad-in-education-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

 
2 PD Opportunities that are coming in January and February.

This is the PD opportunity that I mentioned in last Mondays morning briefing. I believe it will be a great opportunity to learn more about technological for your classroom from practitioners.



·         VIETNAM TECH CONFERENCE

Learning, Community, Responsibility
Please consider presenting a workshop and/or leading a Speed Geeking session!  

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW:

VTC is an initiative sponsored by Saigon South International School and the United Nations International School in Hanoi. It is an annual educational technology conference targeting international schools in Vietnam. This conference is designed for teachers, administrators and support staff to network, share effective practices and continue to move the use of technology forward. VTC 2014 builds on the successful initial conference held at SSIS in 2013.

Vietnam Tech Conference will:

 

·         Provide a venue for educators to inquire and explore how they can effectively integrate technology within the classroom

·         Create a community of educators pushing the boundaries of educational technology

·         Promote Digital citizenship and awareness throughout our learning community

Events:

Saturday: Learning and Technology workshops, including Speed Geeking sessions

   Cocktail Social and Dinner hosted by UNIS Hanoi

Sunday: “Unconference” sessions based on participants’ interests, Job Alike and workshops

If you are keen to present a workshop and/or lead a Speed Geeking session, click on this link to enter your session proposals.


Saturday, February 15, 2014 (8:30 – 3:30)

Sunday, February 16, 2014 (8:30 – 1:30)

United Nations International School Hanoi

Ciputra, Lac Long Quan Road, Tay Ho District


·         EARCOS SPONSORED WEEKEND WORKSHOP at Saigon South on Common Assessments January 11th and 12th

As a result of this workshop, participants will deepen understanding of how to:

• use Common Assessments to integrate unit planning, balanced assessment approaches, quality rubrics, using data results to inform instructional decisions, and professional learning communities;

• develop quality assessment tasks and associated rubrics/scoring guides (or refine ones that already exist);

• explore protocols for calibrating scoring of common assessments;

• become familiar with a data-driven decision-making protocol that can be used to inform instructional decisions; and

• support common assessments through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).

Here are more details:

http://www.ssis.edu.vn/uploads/pdf/SSIS_Flyer-Common_Assessments%20(Jan_2014)-JSparrow.pdf 

Have a good weekend,

See you on Friday.

Yours,
Adrian
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1 comment:

  1. Susan MNovember 16, 2013 at 2:04 PM

    I think global collaboration projects can be adapted to fit into a school - different classes & grade levels can form a learning community. Personally, I'd feel more comfortable starting at the school level - or even working with another school in the same city - before I joined a global project. Did Kim mention this during the workshop?

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