Grade 2's go Green (Screen, that is!)by DLCoach, Kathy Burtman from Dorothy Peacock elementary Green screen. Wow! What endless possibilities of activities a teacher can use with their class. After a great experience of learning new ways technology can be used to engage students from our DLCoach Pro D on Oct. 23, 2015, I wanted to try green screen with my Grade 2 students. I purchased the Do Ink app and was ready to try. I would love to say it was flawless, Steven Spielberg quality material, but we did have a few issues. Over the past few weeks the class has been reading Halloween poems and singing songs. I thought this would be a good starting point to try green screen. The students were excited to try and they were quiet during filming. This is a sample of their project. So what did we learn? 1. Make sure green screen is big enough to cover the whole space. 2. Make Sure the students' scripts aren't on green paper. 3. Make sure the students clothing isn’t similar to back drop. Note the invisible body parts in picture. 4. Green screen needs to be smooth with the seams taped down. 5. Mic the students if possible. Some groups spoke softly and the iPad didn’t pick their voices. 6. Try and have good lighting so you avoid shadows. 7. Put the iPad on a stand to avoid the shakes. Over all the students had a great time and no one was shy. In the future will we earn an Academy award? Probably not, but I did have 23 excited students wanting to continue using this app to showcase their learning. That is what we want as teachers, excited learners and teachers. | Digital Aboriginal Storytelling by DLCoach Victoria Woelders from Dorothy Peacock elementary Over the last couple of months we worked with an app called Book Creator in our Grade 4 class. We enjoyed making iBooks with this very cool app. Recently we moved towards digital storytelling with our iBooks. We learned about aboriginal culture, traditions and storytelling in Term One and listened to books such as Rough-Faced Girl, Frog Girl, Storm Boy and Eagle Boy. All of these stories have a pattern to their storyline. This includes a main character, a bully; a dream in which an Aboriginal animal helps the main character; a tragedy (fire, famine, lost at sea, rejection from the village people) and the main character showing courage to help his/her village. Using Book Creator we worked together to build a framework that mirrors this pattern. Each student selected a term from Nature or an aboriginal animal as part of the title with the term Boy or Girl following. Using the template, we walked through a rough draft of the story. The students then wrote out their ideas. On the Book Creator app they then put in their opening sentence and then proceeded to an audio feature and continue their story verbally. As part of the 'getting ready to publish lesson,' the students were taught how to find images on Google that allow for "labelled for reuse and modification." As a result, all the images they use in the iBooks are images that are approved for usage and modifications Here are some screenshots of their work: If you are interested to learn more about the scaffolding involved and assessment piece, please see the Google document HERE. |
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by Dorothy Peacock elementary's DLCoach, Rhonda Krisko
Teachers typically have a well-stocked tool chest when it comes to implementing specific strategies to meet needs in the classroom. The challenge comes in choosing the most appropriate strategy. John Hattie, a professor and researcher in education, has conducted a meta-research project synthesizing 800 studies examining strategies in the classroom. His answer to choosing the best strategies is to ensure that what is being done in the classroom works to make the learning and teaching visible.
by Rhonda, DLCoach at Dorothy Peacock elementary Every new unit plan we start a journey with our students. We engage in the learning process with our assessment for learning and as we move along provide further feedback in the form of assessment as learning. The final stage, of course, is assessment of learning. Regardless of the form it may take, be it a test, a PowerPoint presentation, or a poster, students often experience anxiety wondering if they will “make the grade.” One of my biggest struggles as a teacher is witnessing a student engage whole heartedly, experience a tremendous learning curve, only to come up short on the final assessment, in comparison to their level of effort, either because of academic difficulties or otherwise. At the January Digital Literacy series, Dr. Roland Case, the executive director of TC2, addressed the myriad of conundrums that surround the issues on assessment. His main point was that students should no longer be assessed on their knowledge of specific content, but on the process they engaged in in order to learn it. Why grade them on something that can be accessed from the Internet in seconds? Instead of focusing on the product they produce we should be focusing on providing frequent, formative assessment around their thinking process. I have often struggled with my student’s need for feedback, managing my marking load, and assessing their understanding of specific outcomes…Roland had me at “Hello.” I was hooked! One of the best features of his presentation was that he didn’t just lecture on what not to do in the classroom, but provided reminders of strategies that I already knew about and introduced ones I have never heard of. Each of the strategies he mentioned coincide with the 21st Century Learning philosophy in that they require students to be critical thinkers, collaborative, and creative. One strategy I am looking forward to trying is the U-Shape Discussion. Students are provided with a thought provoking question and asked to place themselves in the shape of a U with each side of the U representing the extremes. When students are asked to justify their choice and listen to others as they justify theirs, and they are able to move where they like in the U as their minds change. I found this presentation quite timely. Right now, as educators, we are required to assess student’s ability to demonstrate a certain level of understanding of specific content. However, education is shifting, we can see it, we can feel it…I get excited just thinking about it! Can you imagine a system that no longer requires you to teach specific information, but a system that allows you the time to teach purposeful, rigorous thinking that results in powerful, imaginative questions? I am waiting with bated breath as a few school districts, like Surrey, take the plunge in an effort to move in this direction by having 5 of its elementary schools discard the report card and replace them with frequent, descriptive feedback that celebrates their learning and outlines strategies for improvement…an educator’s dream come true! |
Langley's Digital Literacy CoachesDLCoaches from each school will be sharing a blog entry about their staff & students' digital literacy experiences. Blogs by Content or by School:
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