The Flipped Classroom

Many teachers are starting to ask questions about blended instruction and the Flipped Classroom.  This, to me, really shows that technology is here to stay and not going anywhere.  Teachers are embracing a new level of differentiated instruction by posting notes, lectures and lessons online for their students to have learning occur outside the generic "4 walls".  I found this info-graphic about the Flipped Classroom from Cambridge Univeristy and Knewton.


            Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

My Teaching Philospohy

I've been teaching for 11 years now and still am amazed every year by how passionate students can be if you show them something to be passionate about.  I feel that the type of student has drastically changed over the last decade and growing up in today's society is nothing like we experieinced as kids. People say their brains are hardwired differently, so doesn't that mean that my teaching style must also change to meet these new brains?
This is where I feel one old school teaching idea still comes into play.  We use the student's strengths to help them achieve greatness.  By using technology in daily lessons, I am not only playing to their strengths, but they are also using tools that are available to them in the real world.  Technology isn't doing the thinking for them, mind you, it is helping them critically think around problems that didn't seem possible before.  Seeing the creative thinking process of a student using technology to further their knowledge is exciting to see, and I'm glad I can help facilitate technology in curriculum.  


 Just for fun, do you remember your first computer? Mine? A Commodore 64 (if you don't count the Intelivision).

3 things I have learned from this AQ course:

• As always, sharing and discussing with other teachers is a valuable resource. I've been introduced to Web tools and ways of teaching I haven't thought of before
• Trying something new. It's not easy to find the time to try new programs and this course made me create projects I may not have tried earlier
• Take an outside look at my teaching styles and using technology effectively for all my students.

To become a better leader:

• Have more regularly schedule PD in the school that reflects what teachers are doing in class
• Create a showcase of programs and why you would use them in the classroom with handouts and tutorials so teachers can have easy access to learn them.
• Create an organized resource bank of programs by curriculum and grade for teachers to use.

Stop Motion Winners

We have a winner!  Congratulations to all the students who submitted a stop motion video for our contest.  Each video was watched by the 5/6 class and together we choose the winner by secret ballot.  The winner of the contest is "Your Friends". This group created a claymation video for the kindergarten class to learn the value of friendship.

Royalty Free multimedia

My apologies for not getting to the Virtual Classroom Blog. I promise to post more frequently now that I've settled into the new tech job.

I've been training a lot of teachers and students how to create their own multimedia presentations and there are are some programs that are definitely winning out by being easy to use.  Audacity seems to be a school favourite so I thought I would post several links to royalty free music and sound effects here that will take your voice recordings to the next level.
Here's a short clip of a students reading the synopsis of the Hunger Games. Note how the background adds to their presentation (can you say book report replacement?).       

   
   
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These are my go-to websites that I use for background effects that are safe to use (no viruses here!) and free to use.  Enjoy creating!



freeplaymusic.com


 

 incompetech.com

pacdv.com

soungle.com

QR codes in the classroom

Recognize this little black box? Did you already whip out your mobile device and scan it? For those of you who have seen these little black boxes on virtually everything now, but are unsure of what they do, they are called "QR codes" (quick response codes). They are linked to websites, documents or pictures that the person, who made the code, wanted to have access to. They are great for instant advertisement, but can these be used in education.
The answer is yes! Over the last few months I've seen a roll out for iPads and mobile devices in the classroom, especially in the younger grades where manipulation of a tablet is a plus. By scanning these codes, students can have quick access to a websites, text documents,

I think this would also be a great ice-breaker for educators at a meeting. They can type in some quick information about themselves into a QR generator, print out the box and learn a little about their fellow teachers.

Here's a fantastic example to see
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/wikipedia_unveils_probably_the_coolest_qr_thingy_e.php


From the internet: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
For the iPad/Ipod: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qr-reader-for-iphone/id368494609?mt=8