Sunday, April 30, 2017

Two Venues, Two Conference Styles & One United Vision of Learning!

As Digital Lead Learners setting up in another location for the day, we were able to check out presentations happening over at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) via live streaming in the auditorium at the ROM.  Kevin Bradbeer our Senior Manager of Client Relations, kicks off the 2nd annual Unleashing Learning conference with his warmth and sense of humour to a full house at the RCM.  He never looks over the opportunity to thank and appreciate all educators in the spotlight and behind the scenes who make days like this awesome!
Chief Academic Officer Manon Gardner shares her appreciation for all educators continuing to build a professional learning network, building upon passion to support our students.

Keynote speaker TDSB Director of Education John Malloy shares his Vision for Learning with a powerful speech that has several key phrases that stood out:

"Trust is hard to build and easy to lose"
"Relationships are the heart of everything we do!"
"We need to check our privilege and power. Recognize students experiences and voice. Ask, discuss and change in our class, school & system bias we bring in."
"When we look at our students we need to focus on these (in order): Strengths; Interests, Passion and Needs."

I didn’t make it to the Royal Conservatory of Music to attend the awesome selection of breakout sessions offered by a talented group of educators. They were run as an open-session format, first-in first seated, standing or peeking in at the door. I heard wonderful reviews from many educators but there was just too much for me to miss out at the Marketplace over at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).

 As a Digital Lead Learner (DLL) I had the awesome opportunity throughout the year to work along 120 other TDSB DLLers, as we came together to compose a collection of resources focussing on TDSB’s Vision for Learning, Global Competencies. Each of us sharing our best practices, lessons and assessment. These resources are organized in a way that will provide teachers an entry point to implement, build upon or refine as we bring continued learning opportunities of developing global competency engagement in our class programs.

 I am honoured to be part of the writing team to finalize the resources in preparation to launch at the Unleashing Learning Conference & Marketplace Kate Miles,  Iniyal Hryhorczuk, Chelsea Attwell, Whitney Baker , Marlena Rivett, Kevin Bradbeer, Carlo DiFelice and Shelley Lowry. I can’t think of anything more exciting as an educator than sharing the collaborative work created by teachers for teachers promoting teaching and learning. Showcasing the Google Site, our cool TDSB Vision for Learning logo highlighting the Global Competency categories and having discussions with teachers on reflective practices and how we teach students to be risk-takers, innovators and change agents for the present and future.

I was able to sneak away and visit a few of the surrounding booths with awesome setups. Checking out student samples, teaching pedagogy and extensions for growth. Just to highlight a few BUT oh, so many more showcased throughout the day that you can check out at Unleashing Learning Marketplace hosted by TDSB DLL. Listening to students sharing their learning and making connections with educators across all system levels of TDSB filled me with goosebumps! If you ask students what they are learning and how they will use this learning to move forward as global citizens… and they proudly share their understanding, connections and ideas… well… it doesn’t get any better than that.  Check out Mira Campbell, Diana Hong, Larissa Aradj, Sophie Young, Rupali Rodgers, Renu Mann & Josie Nanfara-Grande !


 I am shamelessly proud and humbled by my students who showcase their Entrepreneurial project with co-teaching partner Kamla Rambaran. The Director of Education and CTO Peter Singh, Superintendent Ian Allison and many other educators, get a tour of their Company Google Site, highlighting how they are building global competency, using the design thinking process & inquiry to delve deeper into understanding the world around them and how they can have an impact as a global citizen.

Shoutout to our @TDSB_IT for bringing the day together for all of us to enjoy with ease.


We wrap up the day the same way we started: back in the auditorium, watching the live streaming of Closing Note speaker Maya Burhanpurkar a young dynamic, learner and leader whose theme was Unleashing Potential in all children. "Raising the bar for students based on passions & interests." She shares the value of the design thinking process, learning from mistakes and iterations. The importance of teachers providing a culture in the classroom that allow mistakes to be made and keep the learning growing.

The drive home was filled with awe, laughter and inspiring discussions about moving forward as a teacher & learner. Thank you all for yet another day of building relationships, reflecting on my teaching practices and providing opportunities for students to share their voice! Want to read more snapsnots of the day, simple go to twitter @TDSB_TLT or using hashtag: #tdsbvision #tdsbdll


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Monday, March 13, 2017

TDSB Google Camp 4.0 SOLD OUT!

So, I didn’t win the Demo Slam, the crown nor bragging rights for a year. Competition and talent was fierce but I was glad to be a contender. That was the end of a long, mind-blowing, adventurous learning day.  
TDSB Google Camp is a great conference for TDSB educators by TDSB educators looking to further develop a positive growth mindset, build a Professional Learning Network while leveraging technology like Google Apps. An opportunity to seek out like-minded educators or not and engage in discussion to push ideas to new limits or create new ones altogether.
There was a strong Elementary panel presence in both presenters and attendees, while the Secondary panel is growing with teachers sharing their best practices leveraging GAFE apps. This year, there were a few sessions hosted by Administrators leading through example; for both teachers and administrator on the effective use of ‘working smart’ with various GAFE apps.
The morning began with the hustle and bustle with last minute set up of Thank You cards for presenters; teachers, administrators, board-level and IT members. The registration table line-up was moving smoothly as over 500 educators picked up their lanyards leading to the hack-your-badge table, a light breakfast snack and photo booth to entertain while building memories.  
I meet with my Social Media Crew, a talented team who were always ready to provide support Diana Hong, Shawn Spencer, Mahfuza Rahman, Gerry Corrigan and Tim Barker. Throughout the day we Tweeted out from the @TDSB_TLT #tdsbcamp account capturing the learning, sharing, and ‘a-ha’ moments. We were able to capture a few sessions and live stream them via Periscope for educators unable to attend, to watch from the comfort of their homes.



Keynote @JesseBrown asks us to consider disruption as a positive, and that as educators we need to provide students with experiences where they “build an array of skills to surf thru chaos.” He challenged us to consider how we might apply the strategy of how “Google built failure into their model” into our own classrooms. How might we harness passions in what we do? Perhaps looking further into providing opportunities for passion projects Google 80/20. All of which I believe is a part of my class learning community but so much more growth is needed for consistency and addressing the boundaries (if needed at all) of ideas/resources. Jesse Brown ended his keynote with “I wish you wonderful failures.”


I was proud to present during the second session with Kamla Rambaran focussing on Student Voice: ePortfolios using Google Sites. A great topic, yes, but that was not the highlight. Two Grade 6 students honoured us by co-presenting as they gave educators a tour of their ePortfolio; what they get from reflecting on their learning and how they will use this to continue making plans toward achieving their set goals, both academic and personal. From here, students provided support to our guests in setting up their own Google Sites. I believe that an integral part of student voice is provide students opportunities to speak to educators and be leaders in discussions or responding to questions on how we can all learn from one another. This was the proudest part of my day: stepping aside and letting the students step up.



The biggest challenge of the day was selecting which of the sessions to attend which is why I, myself reviewed the periscope sessions over the days that followed Google Camp. This was a wonderful way to get a glimpse of the sessions offered throughout the day. But to highlight a few, sessions ranged from beginners using Google Keep with Kate Miles to being Innovative Entrepreneurs with Arianna Lambert to Digital Breakouts with Larissa Aradj to effective Gmail Workflow with David Hann.  

As the day went on, educators made their way back to the auditorium for closing activities including prizes for high attendance from a school, school Google Camp spirit and a randomizer app to select winners from the audience.

 But, what better way to end a day of learning, being overloaded with new information to take back into our classrooms to further explore than a Demo Slam! Each of the Demo Slammers pitched a 3-minute tech demo, while getting the audience all hyped up and excited was a success. This year, I put my name forth and took part in my first Demo Slam... I was nervous, stumbled and then with a bit of help from the audience I just had fun with it!


The impromptu challenge put upon, Peter Singh, CTO was to select the winner. With grace and much audience noise the Demo Slam Queen Larissa Aradj was announced!



With that, they day came to a close and all the ‘behind-the-scenes’ Google Camp crew members packed away equipment wrapping up another successful TDSB Google Camp. Looking forward to TDSB Google Camp 5.0.



Thank you Kevin Bradbeer, Carlo DiFelice, Shelley Lowry, Marlena Rivett, Lisa Weaver and TDSB_IT Services for the opportunity to be a part of the Google Camp crew and all of the awesomeness that made this day great!

A shout-out to the TDSB Google Camp Committee I was proud to be a part of: Lucy Chan, Holly Sharpe, Iniyal Hryhorczuk, Maleka Kaderbhai and Lisa Rubini-Laforest for making the day even more special with your support and attention to detail.

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Thursday, March 2, 2017

MakeyMakey: Not just about the Tool BUT a whole lot of Fun!

Really, it wasn’t about the tool but it sure was a whole lot of fun!

 The MakeyMakey Certification course did not disappoint!
MakeyMakey a starter project by two MIT students Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum that provides endless opportunities to turn ordinary objects into a touch pad/surface. It does this by conducting electricity into the device to controls your computer keyboard. Yes, for a Grade 6 teacher, there are so many curriculum connections right across the Electricity Unit as we discussed open and closed circuits, series and parallel circuits, creating switches, lighting up LED’s BUT it doesn’t stop there.

 Now, combine this tool with the creative control of coding in Scratch under the guidance/inspiration of Mitch Resnick’s MIT Media Lab. This takes your from controlling your keyboard to include visuals, sounds and even more elaborate interactive fun where YOU have the ability/opportunity to be the creators of your own content.

Consider the innovative application my students created when they were guided through the Design Thinking process with an Empathy for User Needs approach and came up with their ‘How might we…” statement: How might we engage our Deaf & Hard of Hearing students with interactive games to share our message about Global Citizenship? Students designed, prototyped and constructed three interactive mini-putt lanes wired with MakeyMakey. There were switches throughout the lanes; when the golf ball hit the switch, a bright light would flash across a laptop at the end of the lane, drawing the attention of the player, followed by a ‘Did you know..’ statement. And, yes, it was glow-in-the-dark too.



This was all great but there was one hitch. I, myself, did not know much about MakeyMakey other than providing students with the opportunity to explore, plan flow-charts and create storyboards. Both my students and I were truly fortunate to have TDSB teacher David Hann mentor students via Google Hangouts by providing tips and tricks while promoting further testing of their ideas.

 That is why the MakeyMakey Certification course was so important for me to attend. I want to further build upon my own understanding of STEM and Coding pedagogy to enhance opportunities for curiosity and student engagement. I want my students to see themselves as problem solvers who can leverage technology to make positive changes in our world.

 Lisaanne Floyd and Brian Aspinall from FairChance Learning who is a MakeyMakey Ambassador (the only Canadian) highlighted features of Mathematical Thinking and Computational Thinking with an emphasis on the ‘Sweet Spot’: Problem Solving, Modelling, Analyzing, Interpreting and Statistics and Data. Why? According to Brian, “If you can learn to code, you can code to learn” thus building upon Seymour Papert’s constructivist theory approach, and Mitch Resnick who is the developer of Scratch programming brought together to inspire “creative learning experiences”.

 That is why the MakeyMakey Certification course was so important for me to attend. Refining teaching practices to effectively integrate global skills and competencies with the use of inquiry-based learning, information and communications technology, cooperative group learning and a problem solving skill set. I want to further build upon my own understanding of STEM and Coding pedagogy to enhance opportunities for curiosity and student engagement to see themselves as problem solvers who can leverage technology to make positive changes in our world.
Time to keep playing and coding!




Check out Brian’s blog to learn more


If you would like to see some classroom examples, check out http://www.hourofcuriosity.com/makey-makey/
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Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Student BreakoutEDU Signature Story

In a post a few months ago I shared “The BreakoutEDU sessions to connect, build relationships and teamwork were as challenging as they were insightful.” Well, this still stands true today!

Rafranz Davis immersed us in discussion of Your Signature Story emphasizing how our life experiences change us and how do we use that to drive positive change. Jeffrey Humphries used the BreakoutEDU experience as an icebreaker activity for #TOR16 educators to share something about themselves with our #GoogleEI cohort. Inspired by both education leaders, I took these concepts and modified them to create an assignment for my students.


Students shared a brief story setting up their mini BreakoutEDU about their ‘spark’ that shapes who they are as a learner today. Once the box is opened, students shared their 3-minute Signature Story emphasizing how their life experiences change us and how we use that to drive positive change in our learning.

The results?
There were cooperative group student planning, going through several iterations on how they want to design their BreakoutEDU session. Also, discussions and ongoing collaboration between groups on various strategies for creating clues and selecting riddles to challenge their peers. Students’ excitement as they were looking forward to trying peer-created BreakoutEDU games. And, most importantly, understanding and recognizing that all our peers, kids sitting next to us have their own life experiences, experiences they come with them to school with each day that are set aside or used to shine.

With permission from a reluctant learner to include in my post, this reflection captures his true ability as a learner:
What was the focus of the learning task? 
**The focus of this learning task was to find out who we were as class community members, what we bring to the learning and find out what inspires us the most.
What new learning did you gain and how would you use this new learning? 
**I gained the ability to step up and present without fear to explain my story. I would use this in new learning experiences by being able to create a puzzle and presenting my signature story in an interesting way. I realized that I enjoy coding and that it is valued at school to build on my understanding in other subjects.
How might you further build upon your ideas or overcome challenges you encountered? 
**This will help me build ideas that could maybe help people/the world. For example, coding/programming could maybe make a difference in people with disabilities. We could make a robot or something to guide them and play with them.  This help me overcome my fear which is talking to a large group of students/parents/teachers.

My reward?
Helping students find or identify their own spark and supporting them into transferring that across other learning experiences to persevere and strive towards their goals in and out of the school. The many “thank yous” from students followed by them asking for more opportunities to plan, design and lead sessions.


Here’s a link to the Storify of students leading their BreakoutEDU sessions: https://storify.com/ZeliaMCT/students-breakoutedu-signaturestory

Outline of the student assignment:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TVF476QyA8xuMYG-vqq1t_QuQqy5DYpzmq3FLckpD3c/edit?usp=sharing


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Monday, January 2, 2017

#OneWord2017

This time last year, I shared my #oneword: POTENTIAL. Taking the time and strength to step aside and let students share their spark, their abilities, their talents that would not otherwise be displayed in daily, high-structured learning environments. When I asked my students at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, 'others seeing potential in them' was a common feeling where many of the students did not see how they 'fit' into a school/class environment. I learned so much from these students and together we accomplished many personal and class goals.
This year,  I want to PERSEVERE.


I want to continue on respecting and supporting students' sharing or discovering their spark. I also want to continue taking on new learning challenges, rethinking my approach to building a strong class community of learners, as well as a providing students the opportunity to have a say in what this might look/feel like. I want to persevere and take our daily learning making it visible for parents to follow along via our class twitter account @McM_MsT and class blog: Room 308 in Action. Thus allowing for discussions and making connections to student learning beyond the school day.

I am learning to navigate through various social media forums to connect, discuss and share ideas, teaching moments of successes and fails. Definitely, trying to persevere, follow thru and keep up with discussions within Twitter, to Slack, to Hangouts, and FaceBook.

The past several months I have had the honour of learning with and from my growing Twitter PLN who provide ongoing encouragement, direction and push me to consider my own biases. This also includes the many inspiring and innovating educators via Google for Education Certified Innovator family/tribe #GoogleEI, #TOR16, my journey as an #MIEExpert, #FCLedu, developing a culture of makers/makerspace (it's not about a space) #MakerEdTO, sharing as a TDSB Digital Lead Learners #tdsbdll, refining my lessons thru the Design Thinking Process via #FDSInnovates and so much more.

I must persevere:
Be optimistic
Find a life/work balance
Grow as a life-long learner
..... because my boys are watching
.... because my students are learning
... because I must take care of me to be ready to support others
.. because living life to its fullest can be hard and requires some sacrifice
. because giving up is not an option

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