It is good to be writing again in the SAVMP community. Thanks Amber for giving us our first prompt. “What are some ways you connect with your school community?”

I have just come back from a great Ontario conference – ECOO 2014 in Niagara Falls.  The conference was wonderful and I learned a great deal.  I think what was most important however was connecting to the learning community that I have developed through working on the organization of the conference.  I also connected with people I follow on Twitter and again I was touched by the power of connecting to others.

At ECOO and earlier at the GAFE Summit here in Ottawa, I had the chance to listen to keynotes by George Couros.  I really like George – he knows lots of cool stuff and gives excellent talks.  After listening to him a bunch of times over the past month, my main take away from his talks is the importance of connecting to others.  He has this wonderful video where a retiring teacher is celebrated by generations of students.  It is really touching, no one talks about how many apps they learned from this teacher or even the way she taught.  They all talked about how she had touched their lives in unique ways.  One woman told a story  about singing a song in her class when she was a child,  her teacher loved it so much she encouraged her to visit the other classes in the school to share her wonderful song – what a great story!  Real connections remain strong always.

Connecting to your school community can be done through social media, but that is such a small part of the story.  I think I am known for being a strong proponent of digital forms of communication and I certainly spend enough time blogging, tweeting and googling.

But, now I am in a new school community and I am thinking every day on how I can connect to this wonderful community.  While all the forms of social media are important, I know that what is most important.

It is most important to get to know everyone in our community – the staff, the students, the parents and the wider community.  I know I am doing my best work when I am simply being with other people, learning their names and learning more about their families and their lives.

A very wise principal once said that every day he started out by talking to each staff member in his building.  That is how he started his day.  Whatever else happened for the rest of the day, everyone would know that they had a moment to connect to another person.

This will be my centering question for this week.  I have been away for four days and I really need to get back into the school and really reconnect.  What will be the quality of my connections with people in the coming week?  Will I make it a priority to reconnect and listen to people?  Will I put aside the mounds of paperwork that has accumulated during my absence and make it my priority just to be with all these great people?

These are my questions to myself this week.  Focus on the person, focus on the building of relationships – everything follows from that.

Have a great week everyone!

St. Anthony this week

Monday, November 10

Aviva Community fund voting ROUND THREE starts today!!

Squirmies

Waste Walkabout

Cathleen O ‘ Connell visits Mrs. Rupnik’s class- NEW volunteer

 

Tuesday, November 11

7:30 AM Staff Meeting – please add to the agenda here

10:15 – Remembrance Day ceremony

Chess Club

Wednesday, November 12

Opera Lyra at St. Anthony

Each fall, Opera Lyra Ottawa produces and tours an opera designed to appeal to young audiences. They bring the complete package, including costumes and colourful sets, to any school. We send you a CD ahead of time and a teacher’s guide ! The opera set fits easily into your gym or auditorium. The 45-minute production is sung in English and brought to life by high quality professional opera singers from our Studio Programme.

Waste Walkabout

3:00 PM meeting with Bev Wilcox with FDK

School Council – 6:00 PM

Thursday, November 13

Parent-teacher Interviews 3:30 – 8:30PM

Friday, November 14

Waste Walkabout

Ideas for Using Minecraft in the Classroom

I learned lots about this program last week – I think it has huge potential for our students!

As is the nature of sandbox games, players can roam free, choosing objectives as they go. Because Minecraft has such open possibilities and potential, the teacher can choose how he or she wants to use it. Just as the student has the ability to be creative, the teacher has the same. That can be overwhelming, but luckily, there is a tool for using Minecraft created by teachers for teachers.

MinecraftEdu provides a custom mod, basically a customized modification of the game, that helps facilitate organization and focus for teachers to use Minecraft effectively. In addition, Joel Levin, the founder of MinecraftEdu, provides ideas and updates at The Minecraft Teacher blog.

For those noobs out there that need a push in the right direction, here are some introductory project or lesson ideas.

1) Explore Real Life Buildings

There are many already-created structures that you can import into the game and have students explore. From the Roman Coliseum to the Globe Theatre, they can wander through and literally see three-dimensional replications of buildings that are no longer there. You might have students identify aspects of a theater, or use it as a tool for presentations. If you really want to go nuts, have students create these models themselves.

2) Practice Ratio and Proportion

Minecraft allows students to build whatever they want, so use the opportunity to have them create scale models when you need a practice unit about measurements and proportions. The building of scale models might integrate social studies content to allow for cross-curricular connections. Coupled with in-class lessons and activities, Minecraft can help students apply the knowledge they have learned in technological and playful ways.

see more applications here