June 05, 2015
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Elementary Schoology: a bit of background…

Posted by | Schoology | No Comments

I am so very excited to be piloting Schoology portfolios for the elementary department of TCIS. I am documenting this experience and the thinking behind each step so that I can make informed reflections. First, a bit of background…

I have been using Schoology for about a year. In the elementary, we mainly use it as a communication tool: keeping up-to-date with school events and our fellow teachers across our PreK-12 campus. In the second half of the year, after trying a few other options, I started a ‘group’ in Schoology with all Grade 1 students and teachers (homeroom and single subject) as members. It was really a trial run for next year.

This group is like a digital bulletin board hanging outside our classroom that communicates our learning to interested parties. Yet unlike a bulletin board; it is never stagnent, it has multiple authors (all members can post), it is interactive (people can comment or like an update), it can include video and audio media, and it is accessable from any connected device.

I would of preferred simply having a wordpress or blogger blog as the school has previously done but  student security has been increased ten fold this year so that is currently not possible.

UPDATE: As of September we have been asked to use courses rather than groups in Schoology. I have archived 14-15 year group to use as reference during future discussion. So – I am using the Grade 1 course with all specialist teachers as admins i.e. they can post also.

FURTHER UPDATE: As of September 20 there is now a Class of 2027 group created where we can post blog like posts. Now the blog will continue across grades and can be viewed by other teachers no necessarily teaching the course (much better!).

Next post: next years plans including ePortfolios

June 02, 2015
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Our Classroom Environment

Posted by | Reggio Emilia | No Comments

At the end of the year our classroom has truly evolved into something beautiful. I love these pictures of all the student work on the walls and windows. I love my “Reggio sticks” (as my Principal calls them) handing from the ceiling, the lamps, and fairy lights. I wonder what next year will bring…

April 27, 2015
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Academic Honesty and Creative Commons

Posted by | Big6, Inquiry, PD, Student Created Content, Super3 | No Comments

A few years ago in connection to a presentation Samuel was giving, we made a digital booklet of how to find media teachers/students can use without infringing copyright. As I have started working with my students to create media products this year I have wondered how this might look in a lower elementary classroom and what apps/sites can help students use other people’s work honestly.

Academic Honesty is a big deal in the IB. Most particularly in the DP program yet what are the lower grades if not a preparation for the higher? This presentation from the IB site covers the topic very well.
This week, the students and I have been finishing there 3 part summative assessment for their 5th UOI. It was a long term project that included researching their animal, creating an artwork of their animal, and combining all their work into an illustrated, narrated documentary using the iPad app Explain Everything.

We use the Super3 (modified Big6) Information Seeking Process (ISP) so I broke the assessment into three stages.

Plan: Define the task, research the animal starting with generic questions, and write the script.

Do: Record the documentary and find pictures (Creative Commons images from Flickr).

Review: Reflect on the experience of making the documentary.

Here is one example, stored on Dropbox

April 27, 2015
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Inquiry Cycles

Posted by | Inquiry, PD | No Comments

We are discussing inquiry cycles at school at the moment. We have adopted the Big6 and Super3 school wide for our student Information Seeking Process (ISP) but I think inquiry needs more… more something…

Carol Kuhlthau has a guided inquiry cycle which I really like (I actually started summarising the book before we moved here – pervious post here but know I have bought it on Kindle). Here is a completely brilliant presentation about inquiry. Note page 36. These are Kuhlthau’s stages of inquiry.

 
I have used this terminology in my latest unit but I combined Immerse and Explore. I am looking forward to discussing this further with our Elementary department.
March 29, 2015
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Montessori Grammar – Research and Resources

Posted by | Language Arts, Montessori | No Comments

This is a working post on what I am doing for Grammar in Grade 1. I have both level 1 English language learners and very capable students functioning two grade levels above so the resource can be used for students of varying capabilities.

I am still discovering how the Montessori Method teaches Grammar – there are cards, boxes, and symbols. Here are a few books and articles that I have collected and are currently deciphering:

  • Above I have embedded  The Montessori Elementary Material book. This book is written by Maria Montesorri and translated by Arthur Livingston. As is outlined in the introduction, the text has been modified to accommodate the differences between Italian and English grammar yet retains the sections not pertaining to English.
Based on these reading I am making some resources for teaching grammar using this approach. I have saved them all to Dropbox so you can just download them. Here is a working list that will be added to a modified. All the files listed bellow are prefixed with “Montessori Grammar”.
  1. Grammar Symbols poster
  2. Symbols stencil
  3. Word Study Cards
    • prefixes and suffixes
    • compound words
    • word families
    • singular and plural.
  4. Parts of Speech Cards
    • Noun
    • Article
    • Adjective
    • Verb
    • Adverb
    • Preposition
    • Conjunction
I have proof read it once or twice but there may be mistakes – if you find anything, please send me a message, I’d really appreciate it.
March 28, 2015
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LEAD goals and the Reggio Emilia

Posted by | PD, PYP, Reggio Emilia | No Comments
My first go at documenting student thinking: The Great Suitcase Mystery.

We have a new teacher system at our school called LEAD goals – as I have been focussing on the content of these goals I haven’t actually researched the acronym but it involves formal and informal teaching observations with reflection time, and also the setting of professional goals both personal and organization orientated.

For my personal professional goal I want to focus on; documenting student thinking and learning, and creating an inspiring student centered environment. Both goals are focused on the work of early childhood educators in the Reggio Emilia Italy. To show my research and implementation of this thinking/practice I set up the following;

Reading
If you click on the Library tab at the top of the page I have created a visual database of the books I have on these topic – some are on my Kindle account, some are on iBooks, and some are hardcopy. As I read these I will be making notes and posting them to the blog. I also have a collection of journal articles from JSTOR academic database that I have on my reading list.

Collecting
On Pinterest I have created three boards connected to this;

  1. Documentation: a board of examples of thinking and learning documentation from around the world.
  2. Research: articles and websites that support my understanding of Reggio inspired documentation and learning
  3. LEAD Goals: my own examples of documentation.
  4. Environment as the Third Teacher: examples of classroom and school environments that exemplify the philosophy behind the Reggio Emilia Approach.
Connecting
I need to connect with other PYP educators to see how they integrated this approach into their teaching and learning with the ultimate goal of finding a type of mentor on the subject. I have found this a little difficult but through blogs and Twitter I am slowly finding like minded people and will hopeful find a Sensei on the subject.
These goals are projected over a five year span and will hopefully culminate with a graduate research studies but at the moment I am simply focused on understanding the practical elements of documentation. I am so grateful to the admin at my school for supporting me in this.
March 15, 2015
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What do you already know?

Posted by | PYP, Sharing the Planet, Student Created Content | No Comments

At the beginning of a unit we pre-assess students of content knowledge. In our new unit based on the transdisciplinary theme of “Sharing the Planet”, I got the students to watch this short clip of many different animals in their natural habitats. The student and I created a very rough mind map of what they already know, or at least think they already know, and what they would like to know. As time became short this second half of the discussion will have to wait for tomorrow but I was actually really impressed with their poor knowledge of the topic. Here is our very rough mind map.

March 15, 2015
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Student-initiated Action

Posted by | Action, PYP, Who We Are | No Comments

When our Librarian gave me this book it was just one of many in a pile of resources; books about caring for little sisters, being kind to friends at school, and helping older people… All important topics and the students did enjoy them but… then I pulled out “Boxes for Katje” by Candace Fleming.

We are in our fourth unit based on the transdisciplinary theme of “Who We Are” from the PYP curriculum framework. Our central idea is “Families and other groups work together to care for and serve each other.”

Read-alouds are an important part of our inquiry process and we try to have at least one per day. I read and the students doodle so that their hands don’t distract their ears from listening.

I read the book to the class and was not interrupted once. I closed the last page and place the book on the ground.

“You are all so quiet, what are you thinking” I casually asked by first grade class.

“We should do something for the Dutch!” (Hannah)

“Uhhhmmm, I think the Dutch are okay now, this story is set before your grandma’s where even born,” I said.

“We should do something though” (Jeana)

“What about that Lady you met… from Africa… she might need help” (Joshua)

“It was at the teacher meeting (conference)… Mrs Martin… she lives in Ethiopia.” (Hannah)

“We should send something to her.” (Jeans)

So the students decided to make and sell cookies during recess. They made posters, cookies, made a banner, asked that it be in announcements, and sold the cookies.

At two cookies for W1000 ($1) we made W248000!

The money is going to Mrs Martin in Ethiopia to buy school supplies for a sister Ethiopian school down the road from her international school. Her class actually just gave this school a supplies set for each child and our donation will pay for supplies for all next year!

So proud of them!