OZ/NZ educators

An asutue post by Sylvia Rosenthal Tolisano (langwitches) "While social media in schools deals primarily with policies around how to use (or not use) social media in the classroom with students, social media for schools is about storytelling and getting their stakeholders (teachers, students, administrators, parents, community) to spread these stories."

"Digital citizenship is not just about teaching students what not to do, but also what they should be doing, to create a positive online impression. It can not be taught in a one-off lesson but needs to be embedded into lessons and "lived" or owned by everyone going about their daily lives "

"Parent teacher conferences at Wildwood Elementary are actually a time when the teachers do very little talking. Instead, the students run the conferences, informing their parents about how they're doing, what their goals are going forward, and what kind of learners they are."

"Are there computers in the classroom? Does it matter? Students, Computers and Learning: Making the connection"

"Schools are a network of human beings who feel, think, behave, and function within a human system that is alive and never static. Inside living systems, we need to feel safe and felt. This system is wired to thrive, even through difficult times. We're here for deep learning, which is profoundly relational, and connection to one another is a prerequisite for our collective emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive growth and development. In creating an environment that feels safe and relational, behavior management develops into behavior engagement"

George Couros discusses how he sets about curating and sharing the work of others. " I have been blessed with a huge network on social media and I want to use that to not only share my voice, but hopefully the voice of others as wel"

" What if we changed the time table in the same way. What if student's came to school to learn and not just move from class to class. What if we changed how we use time? Is our current school structures killing learning? "

The author of the post has culled a bunch of ideas from different teachers who have shared their approaches to using QR codes in a classroom setting. Once students are equipped with a device that can read QR codes and they know how to scan them, it is easy to adapt the ideas here to use a classroom.

"Given the prevalence of Chromebooks in schools, and the momentum with 3D Printing as a school science activity, it seems logical that people would ask "How can we do 3D Printing with just Chromebooks?". Here's some ideas for tools that will all work on the web - on your Chromebook (or in your other computer's browser with no downloaded software)."

"Whether you are just beginning your flipped teaching journey, or an experienced flipped teacher, YouTube offers a variety of ways to organize instructional videos for both teachers and students alike. Note taking with VideoNot.es is just one avenue teachers and students can explore to increase the benefits of video instruction."

"Science4Us is a standards-based digital science curriculum that teaches science using the 5E inquiry-based instructional model. In addition to over 350 digital games and online activities, there are tons of offline experiments and hands-on projects to keep students engaged and excited about science.  It's a great choice for teachers looking to include cross-curricular activities that connect science instruction to math and language arts. Students will also learn the importance of notetaking and observing, with their very own digital notebook."

A growing number of videos that may be of interest for science. "for instance BBC Brit's Biggest Bangs is a fun, interactive video experience that allows users to channel their inner mad scientists, mixing dangerous chemicals with sometimes explosive results without a proper laboratory. The secret behind the interactivity is a central choose-your-own-adventure video around which annotations lead to separate videos that respond to your chemical selections." You choose your first chemical and then select another from among eight on the laboratory table.  You'll see the team scientist take each chemical from the table.  Then pause to consider-will it explode or won't it? If it doesn't, the oh so serious, oh so British narrator offers background on why the bang, or the lack of bang (NR or no reaction) may have disappointed, as well as what the resulting compound is and does.

In the Bloom's Taxonomy Planning Kit, you are offered with a variety of key words, action verbs, outcomes and questions all related to each of the thinking levels in the taxonomy.

"Classroom rules posters for those who believe that behavior is not only learned, but a product of self-awareness and self-respect-then a new tact must be taken. "

A great post that goes into some detail about digital stoytelling by @langwitches. NB: Digital storytelling is NOT just a story told/created/published on a digital platform.

In this post there are a range of good formative learning tools, in nine different categories, for use in the classroom. One teaher shares his ideas in this series. "Please keep  in mind they are only tools and are best utilized through the important art of teaching. "

A good start for any teacher not already usig Pinterest. It explains how to set up an account, how others are using Pinterest, and a few places to fin some inspiration on this tool.