EPIC!

Technology has taken the world by storm and it is becoming increasingly more popular within classrooms every day. Different types of technology can allow students to accelerate their learning in new and innovative ways. Introducing EPIC! EPIC is an app that both students and educators can use. Epic is a digital reading platform for children 12 years old and under. Epic allows students to choose from an entire library of child-friendly books. This app is perfect for the classroom because teachers can assign certain books for students to read and as long as the student has access to a device where the app can be downloaded, the student can read the book for free. Epic is an innovative app that allows students to have the luxury of a library with incredible books right at their fingertips!

https://www.getepic.com

                                

Anna (OTECC) @NU

ASCD Article: Showing Up with Empathy

Amid deep social and political divisions, educators must resolve to find common ground.

January 1, 2022                 By Chase Mielke

 

“I feel like I just lost my brother,” I said to my wife one night. 

She and I shared a long, painful silence. 

The brother I thought I knew evaporated with one text message: A message about presidential overthrows. About government conspiracies. About how this world I was living as an educator—with COVID-19 cases and protecting against illness and school mask mandates—was a lie. 

He believed I was a sheep, indoctrinated by fake science and fake news.  

I’ll spare you the finer details of the text (though you probably could guess the gist of it), but what shattered in me that night was the feeling that my own brother and I shared the same reality.  

It’s a feeling so many of us educators have experienced over the last two years: A feeling that common ground has severed into opposing cliffs. Harsh double bell curves careening off the scale. It’s as though we live in the same world but see different realities. 

But I know too much about false dichotomies to put much stock in them. Good vs. bad. Us vs. them. Right vs. wrong. I know that we all employ countless cognitive distortions and biases that don’t serve us well. I even know that, in thinking I am less biased than others—than my brother—I have a bias blind spot.  

What if the feeling that my brother and I don’t share a common reality is, in itself, a cognitive distortion? 

I can’t downplay that this year has created real changes and challenges to life in and beyond the classroom. I’ve lived them as part of a two-teacher household navigating COVID-19 closures with two kids. I’ve felt it in the halls and walls of my school as students, teachers, and leaders describe the “new normal” and the burnout they’re navigating. And I’ve felt it in my gut — in the silence my wife and I shared — as I mourned the loss of my brother. 

But he wasn’t actually dead, and he was still my brother.  

To read the full article, click the link below:

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING

StarFall

Started as a free educational website that opened on August 27th of 2002. The site was founded by Stephen Schutz and was motivated by the idea of helping children to read. Shortly after the site expanded, offering a fully developed kindergarten, English and Language Arts curriculum as well as a comprehensive pre-K curriculum.  Starfall's continuous growth allows children to partake in a number of songs, books and mathematical activities. You can now enjoy activities on apps and mobile devices from kindergarten up to grade 3! 

The site is colorful and appealing to a young audience.  When you enter, you have the option of exploring activities for kindergarten or you can select grades 1 to 3.  Depending on your choice there is a section for math, language arts & music or seasonal activities. Kids are provided with a section called "Who Am I", here they have the opportunity to design a page all about themselves. Under each category, there are three to four activities available per section for free. If you want to unlock additional activities you can pay a yearly fee.  Kids interact with the app by selecting a category. Once selected they play a game while learning about the subject. For example, kids are provided with math questions and if answered correctly they can jump to the next level. The app celebrates success and is easy to navigate.  The site communicates verbally to the child with animations that are easy to follow and assist students along the way if they get stuck.  Beginners will definitely need assistance from an adult to get started. Although, the pictures provided seem appealing enough to entice a child to click on.

The site also provides a free resource center for parents and teachers.  Parents and teachers can learn how to navigate, find the best place to begin educating their child or students and get access to worksheets or lesson plans.  In addition, an activity index is provided for quick access.  It's a fun and interactive website for educators if they want to reinforce a lesson. Starfall was rated a 4.3 by 44 reviews from parents and a 3 by 77 reviews from teachers according to Common Sense Education.  You can be the judge by trying it out for yourself!        

                                                                                                                                             

Source:

Welcome to Starfall grade 123. Welcome to Starfall. (2002). Retrieved January 31, 2022, from

https://www.starfall.com/h/index-grades123.php?mg=g 

VanderBorght, M. (2021, May 29). Starfall review for teachers. Common Sense Education. Retrieved January 

31, 2022, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/starfall 

Talya OTECC@NU

5 informal assessment strategies for meaningful formative insights

Discover five easy techniques that educators are using to evaluate classes – in all types of learning environments – and adjust their instruction throughout each lesson and the entire semester. Want to know more? - Click the image below.

Brought to you by Pearson Canada

How to teach virtual PE

Teaching virtual is tough! Especially if you have never met your students in person before. I believe the first lesson should be spent establishing relationships with the students and assisting them in making a connection with you. This can be done by sharing personal details about your life with your students such as your interests and hobbies and so forth! 

Make sure you keep your lessons fun and engaging! Use interesting sound effects when pre-recording a video, have the students choose exercises to include! Additionally, checking in with your students to make sure they are not experiencing issues and overall how they are feeling about your class. What else do they want to see or have you include?

 You can visit:  www.thepespecialist.com

Brought to you by Amanda C@NU (OTECA)

How does technology affect students in the classroom?

Students can benefit from technology since it makes learning more enjoyable and collaborative. Students learn by doing and critical thinking rather than memorizing knowledge. This might be as basic as participating in a tech-enabled group discussion or completing an interactive quiz in class.

Although, since the COVID-19 pandemic, children and teachers have had to learn to adapt to fully online learning. Students may not acquire the essential verbal and social skills as a result of their online instruction. 

The inefficiency of technology, the difficulty for students to comprehend the ideas presented, and online learning induce social isolation are just a few of the negative consequences. I'm hoping as students return to school today (January 19th, 2022), they will no longer have to learn online and will be able to stay in the classroom!

Courtesy of Amanda C@NU (PTECA)

Grow Your Strength & Confidence (Activities For Kids: Exercise)

This mindful activity is a great way to practice "how to grow strength and confidence from within ourselves". 

Remember, you are in control of your body to change how you feel. This step-by-step guided video will help you relax, clear your mind and to start fresh to get ready for your day!

Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC0m_-HQcRU

Act of Kindness Ticket

Act of kindness tickets are given to students when they are spotted doing an act of kindness. the tickets can be found online on Starfall, or handmade. The intention behind this activity is to make the students aware of the kindness actions they practice at school. This strategy is developed to help students increase their positive behaviour, and look forward to receiving as many tickets as they can during the week. At the end of the week, the student with the most tickets will get a privilege of some sort. For example, get an extra 15 minutes of technology time the following week. 

The Act of kindness tickets are meant to help the teacher create a positive optimistic learning environment for all students. Since students don't know when they will receive a ticket or if the teacher notices their actions, they will always try and stay on the positive behaviour and the great choices. I find the act of kindness tickets truly encourage students to give their best. It's quite a surprise for them when their teacher announces their good deed for the whole class and gives them the ticket, what an accomplishment they feel. 

Aside from a great day, This technique helps students be disciplined during unstructured play and the free play time during recess outside. I noticed when students are given an act of kindness ticket, they start including other students to play with them, inviting friends, helping with cleanups, and setting a good role model for the rest of the class. They become more attentive to helping other students around them. It gradually eliminates the number of times a teacher has to step in to ask a child to play nicely with the others. The students become more aware of how they behave at school, knowing they can get a ticket at any moment of the day helps them to stay optimistic throughout the school day. The options for these tickets are endless and the students love having them. It makes them feel like they won an award. This technique aids students who have been having bad days due to their behaviour during school hours to have more good school days. 

By Marly F@NU (OTECA)

6 Alternatives To Bloom’s Taxonomy For Teachers - Part 6: The SOLO Taxonomy

This is brought to you by TeachThought Staff

At the end of the day, teaching is about learning and learning is about understanding.

And as technology evolves to empower more diverse and flexible assessments forms, constantly improving our sense of what understanding looks like–during mobile learning, during project-based learning, and in a flipped classroom–can not only improve learning outcomes but just might be the secret to providing personalized learning for every learner.

This content begs the question: why does one need alternatives to the established and entrenched Bloom’s? Because Bloom’s isn’t meant to be the alpha and the omega of framing instruction, learning, and assessment. Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy does a brilliant job of offering ‘verbs’ in categories that impose a helpful cognitive framework for planning learning experiences, but it neglects important ideas, such as self-knowledge that UbD places at the pinnacle of understanding, or the idea of moving from incompetence to competence that the SOLO taxonomy offers.

So with apologies to Bloom (whose work we love), we have gathered six alternatives to his legendary, world-beating taxonomy, from the TeachThought Learning Taxonomy, to work from Marzano to Fink, to Understanding by Design. 

SOLO stands for the “structure of observed learning outcomes.” Created by John Biggs and Kevin Collis, the SOLO taxonomy is made up of five levels of understanding, as illustrated above. According to Biggs, “At first, we pick up only one or few aspects of the task (unistructural), then several aspects that are unrelated (multi-structural), then we learn how to integrate them into a whole (relational), and finally, we are able to generalize that whole to as yet untaught applications (extended abstract).”

Full article available at: 

https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/alternatives-blooms/#learning

Ticket Fun

Courtesy of Maria M@NU (OTECC)

Factile

Factile is a free learning platform that lets the teachers create engaging jeopardy-style quiz games for remote or in-person classrooms. Online learning is sometimes hard for younger students to enjoy thus this would be a great alternative for them to be actively participating and interested in a new and different activity. This is a great resource because it allows technology to be incorporated in a different way. Teachers and students can use this to review material for an upcoming quiz or test. This makes learning very fun and engaging for everyone involved and it allows students to study as a whole class. Jeopardy also allows for collaboration and team work to occur. 

           

The website allows teachers to 100% customize the game down to the picture, sound effects, questions, the size of the cards, noise etc. This website also allows teachers to provide the jeopardy as a self-paced game thus It allows students to review information on their own.

Maria M (OTECC)

 

 

The Importance of Group Work and the Role of Technology

While studying and reflecting on chapter 3 of  Transforming Learning with Unique, Powerful Technology, one topic in specific that resonated with me was the importance of group work and collaborating with others. 

I remember being in elementary school, the teacher would announce to form groups and the class immediately got excited to work with their peers and friends. As an adult, this has not changed. Group work and collaborating with others is insightful and allows one to build on team working skills that are essential for life. As future teachers, we will have to work together with others for the best interest of each student. In Chapter 3 it is discussed that group work invites students to harness the abilities that each student contributes to the assignment and, as a collection of learners with varied skills, teach one another and problem-solve imaginatively when there are open-ended problems. Students gain control and responsibility for the learning process through well-organized group activities that creatively use technology resources. 

Over the years, technology has become very present in classrooms, now more than ever with virtual classrooms. Students often have to work together to navigate through a technology system and different websites. When working together students can play online games together, show each other videos and pictures, they can do activities that are shown online together, etc. Technology also allows students to collaborate from different places. Students can work from anywhere using their technology and it allows them to collaborate with others who may not be around them. 

Brought to you by Valentina@NU (OTECC)

TOY THEATER

 Toy Theater is a free online website for grade one to grade eight. It's A fun tool for children to practice their understanding through playing fun games. Also, it is an assistance tool for the teachers to help their students assist their knowledge and reflect on the children's achievement. Children will play games and answer questions instead of the old way of assessment with pin and paper. 

          Toy Theater provides games and activities in math, music, reading, and art. Students will have fun in their own time while keeping playing and practicing the curriculum expectation. Toy Theater is a creative tool for students to keep learning while having fun without getting bored and for the teachers to help students understand different concepts in a technology-based learning environment. Teachers can watch what each student achieves, what he/she is good at and what needs improvement. Teachers also can assign assignments to students based on their learning level.

Reference: Toy Theater | Learn • Create • Play. (n.d.). Teacher Tools» Toy Theater | Learn • Create • Play. [online] Available at: https://toytheater.com/category/teacher-tools/. ‌https://toytheater.com/category/teacher-tools/

FG(OTECC)@NU

Prodigy Math Games

Prodigy Math Games

         Prodigy Math Games is a free online website and application that is loved by elementary and middle school teachers all over the world. This is because teachers are able to reinforce math concepts taught in grades 1 to 8 through a fantasy game format where students get to explore different realms and collect prizes while going on quests and battling friends (Prodigy Education Incorporation, 2021). Based on where a teacher is located, they are also able to create assignments that align with their country's or province's curriculum as well as cater each assignment to their individual students' needs. Thus, allowing each child to meet the curriculum expectations at their own pace and time.

         Moreover, Prodigy Math Games allows students to have fun while learning math, which, in turn, keeps them engaged and motivated in the learning taking place. The game also gives teachers an opportunity to assess their students' learning so that they are able to figure out where their students are excelling or struggling (Prodigy Education Incorporation, 2021). In doing so, teachers are able to revamp the assignments and tasks they have created on Prodigy so that their students are always working at their desired level. Not to mention, teachers can always use the data collected from Prodigy to reteach lessons their students are struggling with within class as well.

In order to get started, please check out the following links:

·      https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/

Start Here >>>>> How to Create a Teacher Account:

Prodigy Math >>>> Getting Started

         Each of these video links above provides an in-depth explanation of how to use Prodigy as either a teacher or a student. As a future teacher, I cannot wait to use Prodigy with my class; however, for now, I will spend some time familiarizing myself with the software and learning how to play the game myself. 

Happy exploring, everyone!

Courtesy of Jasman(OTECC)@NU

References

  Prodigy Education Incorporation. (2021). Prodigy: Kids math games (Version 4.0.2)

         [Mobile Application]. App Store. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/prodigy- kids-math-game/id950795722

 

Technology Tools to Use in the Class to Enhance Learning

 These are some great technology tools to use in the class to enhance learning.

                                                   

1.     Padlet: This online tool is like a digital notepad where students can collaborate, and can comment and post pictures, videos and documents to share their ideas.

 

2.     Kahoot: A tool to quiz students on their knowledge and application. Students need to answer questions in the time limit given. Videos, images and pictures can be added to questions to spark interest.

 

3.     Socrative: It is a tool similar to Kahoot, where learners are tested with questions and activities. It is a bit more enhanced than Kahoot where learners can join different rooms and work on online activities.

 

                                               

4.     ThingLink: A great tool to make written work attractive and interesting by adding pictures, audio and videos. This tool also allows for the sharing of 360^o pictures and virtual reality experiences.

                                                     

5.     Slidebot: A tool where information can be input and Slidebot generates a presentation automatically. The information can also be edited on the slides once the powerpoint is created.

 

6.     Canva: This tool offers several well organized templates and designs where educational or any type of content can be created.

 

7.     Powtoon: A web based tool where one can create simple animations using the templates provided. Once the animation is created, it can be exported to Vimeo which is a video player platform.

 

8.     Explore Everything: This is an app where animated 'how to' videos can be created.

Reference:

8 best online collaboration tools for business growth. Internal communication tool. (2022, January 19). Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://clariti.app/blog/8-best-online-collaboration-tools-for-business-growth/

Cobb, J. (2021, August 28). 15 cool learning technology tools for your education business. Leading Learning. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.leadinglearning.com/learning-technology-tools/

Socrative - Online Assessment Tools for the classroom. Google Sites. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://sites.google.com/a/ames.k12.ia.us/online-assessment-tools-for-the-classroom/assessments-for-everyone/socrative

Courtesy of Priyanka@NU(OTECA)

Looking at Technology

Reflection on Videos of 21st Century Teaching

Technology in the classroom, is it creating more harm than good?  Well, this depends on how technology is integrated.  We have heard that teaching in the 21st century "is technology" but this is not true.  Technology is merely a tool to assist educators in enhancing lessons.  It is not there to replace the educator. The use of technology can provide students with facts but the educator will provide students with the necessary skills to apply these facts.  In addition, not incorporating technology is placing our students at a disadvantage as it is a necessary tool in the real world.    

How effective technology is depends on the educator.  If technology is being used to pass the time well, then it's not serving its purpose.  There are many approaches to take when teaching but to provide some examples of how technology can enhance a lesson let's look at the 4C's model. Modeling the 4C's approach, here is my view on how technology can assist educators to enhance a lesson and nurture the necessary lifelong skills of students.

                                   

Communication:  Providing video clips about various topics, for example; the pandemic or social networking. After watching the video clip the educator can facilitate a class discussion encouraging students to express their views.

Critical Thinking: Provide students with a project. For example; climate change. Students will have to analyze and evaluate the problem using various mediums. Students can use technology to find other resources, share their findings and solutions.

Collaboration: With the assistance of technology, students can work with other classmates to find solutions collectively. This encourages communication and also gives students a hands-on approach to learning.

Creativity: Using various platforms or white boards to brainstorm. Students can create new ideas and share with classmates.  

Along the way, the educator must always encourage learning and ensure that students are engaged.  It is also essential to make sure all students have access to technology. The idea is to use technology as a tool to encourage student centered learning and build lifelong learners.

TIP! If you're uncomfortable with technology yourself, make it a learning experience with your students. Work on figuring it out together!

Source: Masciarelli, J (2022) Class 2:  Teaching Success. 

What are the 4C's. Common Sense Education | Digital Citizenship Curriculum & EdTech Reviews. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/ 

Pear Tree education. What is 21st Century Education. Retrieved January 30th 2022.

Am I A 21st Century Teacher. Retrieved January 30, 2022 from www.c21canada.org/

Talya - OTECC@NU

Comic Creation in School

There are different apps that students can use to create comics. Comics are a great way for students to see the visual and the written aspect of literacy. They are considered controversial in schools as comics can be viewed as entertainment rather than literature based reading (Lo, Lyu, Chen et al., 2021). However, it can be argued that they provide students with a continued interest in reading, increase in reading comprehension and provide an element of creativity when creating a comic (Lo, Lyu, Chen et al., 2021). Two of the many digital comic apps are compared below. The two apps are Pixton and Canva.

Pixton is a digital resource that allows students to create graphic novels, storyboards or comic strips. You need to create an account to use this app. There is also a fee to use the app, which is charged on a monthly or yearly basis. It can be quite expensive, however the comics turn out really well. There are 100's of clip art to use for people, backgrounds, etc. The people can also be changed for different types of actions based on what you want from your comic strip. The speech bubbles can be changed depending on what type of expression you want to do. The students are able to create avatars for themselves and their classmates, which can be a fun and creative way to include students.  It creates genuine comic strips that look like the real thing. After the students are done creating them, they can be downloaded, printed or shared on the internet.

Canva is a free or fee based depending on what templates you use for the comic. There are a lot of free templates so you would not necessarily pay to get an enhanced version. The premade templates are a great way for your students to start creating their own comic. There are different versions of the templates, however a lot include a blank comic strip, a page with different clip arts of people, images, faces, backgrounds, blank speech bubbles and more.  After the students are done creating their comics, they can be downloaded or shared with their classmates. In addition to creating the comics online, you could also print out the comic templates and have the students create their own content with their own illustrations or cut and paste the illustrations from the template. 

Overall, both websites are fun and easy to use for students. They both offer the opportunity to create comics. It really depends what you want students to be able to do with their comics and what you want out of the program.  

Websites:

Canva- https://www.canva.com/search/templates?q=Comic

Pixton- https://www.pixton.com/

References:

Free templates | CANVA. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.canva.com/templates/

Lo, P., Lyu, Y.-P., Chen, J. C., Lu, J.-L., & Stark, A. J. (2021). Measuring the educational value of comic books from the school librarians' perspective: A region-wide quantitative study in Taiwan. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000620983430

Pixton Lesson ideas. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://ideas.pixton.com/?grade=3rd-grade

 

 Brought to you by: Roseann@NU (OTECC)

TinyTap

TinyTap is an incredible resource for teachers to use within the classroom! TinyTap is both an application that is accessible through an iPad, iPhone, Android, or tablet. TinyTap is also available through any web browser. This tool is used to help children and adults to create interactive games as well as storybooks to enhance learning. Not only does TinyTap provide the opportunity to create, but it also allows the user to access to a vast, diverse library of previously created resources. These resources are browsable by category, age, or even keyword. Students and adults can use this engaging tool to create or use digit material such as interactive lessons, quizzes, games, and books. 

My favorite part about TinyTap is that it provides weekly feedback which is extremely important in order to track progress and create future learning goals. I have used this resource in a Grade One classroom, and they absolutely loved it. After teaching an addition lesson, I showed the students how to create their very own game. The website is extremely user friendly and easy to navigate. Each student then created their own game, relevant to the lesson taught prior. Finally, the students took turns playing each other's games. They were all extremely proud of their hard work and not only learned about mathematics, but about technology too! 

Madeleine @NU (OTECC)