Our Opera Lyra stars

This my second blog post for the #SAVMP project.  Thought it would be good to share with all of you

Paul

What are some areas of teaching and learning that you can lead in your school? #SAVMP Blog Post

The November question is What are some areas of teaching and learning that you can lead in your school?

Always good questions come from SAVMP! What can I lead in my school?

That is a bit difficult to answer. When you are new in a school I think the question becomes – what teaching and learning can I pick up from the staff. At this point, this is a much more interesting question for me to reflect on.

What can I say so far?

our staff connects with its community – parents are in all the time to meet with teachers and discuss concerns – face to face beats the phone every time.
people here are all about empowerment. This is a poor community, many parents speak a language other than French and English at home. Our teachers challenge our students and they have very high expectations – this is so visible to me! Our students rise to these expectations and they perform better as they get older on our standardized testing.
our children love our school. There is a great deal of affection amongst the students and parents for our school. This is, I believe, is because our staff provide a nurturing environment, a place where children can thrive and grow.
our staff are willing to experiment – we are introducing e-portfolios, new math and language on-line programs, a makerspace, a national campaign to transform our asphalt yard – the staff accept and embrace all of this and much much more. They are for the kids and are willing to try new things all the time.
there is a strong spiritual sense about the school. We celebrate together and we pray together. Today, I witnessed one of the most moving Remembrance Day ceremonies I have ever seen. The kids all know how important these moments are and treat these ceremonies with great respect.
People come to our school and they say it has a special spirit. I am the newest member of the staff and I agree with them. There is a special spirit here, it makes you want to do your best and contribute what you can to make the community even stronger.

What areas of teaching and learning can I lead? Right now I can lead best by following the staff and learning the culture of our school. I can learn to become part of a vital and caring culture.

 

 

This is a brilliant resource!  I suggest you dave it and refer back to it all year – there is soooo much good stuff here – I have made sure the links work to all the articles referred to in the article.  I have also shared this with you on Drive.  Please bite off a little morsel at a time!!!!

 

 

 

 

Ambassador Phase 2: Event 1- Communicate Resource Doc

 

Greetings DEN Ambassadors!

 

Welcome to phase 2 of the program. The purpose of this handout and corresponding video is to review 3 “Communication” tools you can use with your students, your peers and your community. As you watch this video, follow along using the resources below. There will be several pauses in the video which will allow you some hands-on time to try out these tools. Click on the blue underlined resources to explore the links. We encourage you to use the comment feature to add your own thoughts or additional resources throughout this document.

 

Video: Ambassador: Communicate

 

Use the following resources to dive deeper into these different communication tools.

 

Edmodo
Twitter
Skype

 

As you explore feel free to insert comments with additional examples and resources to support each of these tools.
Edmodo

 

Edmodo is a microblogging system designed specifically for teachers and students. It provides numerous ways to communicate with your students, and it extends the learning outside the 4 walls of the classroom. By posting questions, polls, notes, quizzes, and assignments, you and your students can communicate from anywhere, anytime.

 

Student Communication

 

If you don’t have an Edmodo account, go to Edmodo and create a teacher account.
If you need help getting started, explore these how-to sites:
Edmodo Teacher Home Page
Edmodo’s Getting Started Video Tutorials for Teachers
Create a class group by selecting the “Plus” icon next to “Groups” on the left side panel of your Edmodo home page. Enter a group name, click “create”, enter a description of your group, and click “finish” to receive your 6-digit group code. You will need to share this code with your students so they can join your group.
Explore the following websites to better understand ways to use Edmodo with your students. As you view these resources, begin to make a plan to implement Edmodo in your class.
15 Things Teachers and Students Can Do with Edmodo
Edmodo The Total Class Solution
20 Ways to Use Edmodo
Connect with Discovery Education’s Edmodo Community:
Discovery Education Edmodo Page

 

Twitter
Twitter is a powerful social media tool you can use to communicate with your peers and grow your Professional Learning Network, or PLN. There are thousands of passionate educators from around the globe who are sharing helpful resources on Twitter. It’s a great place to go for your own professional growth. By spending just a few minutes a week on Twitter you can walk away with dozens of helpful tools and resources.

 

Peer Communication

 

If you don’t have a Twitter account, visit Twitter and create your profile.
To better understand the various components of Twitter, read this blog post:
Twitter + Education
The following resources will help you better understand how to use Twitter to develop your PLN. As you explore these resources you will begin to add to your list of followers. Think about what questions you want to ask on Twitter as well as what you want to share. Try sending a tweet, replying to a tweet, and searching for specific hashtags.
7 Ways to Find Teachers on Twitter
3 Reasons Why School Principals Need to Tweet
Chatting with Connected Principals: Twitter Tools and Top Ideas
DEN Chat
Tweeting for Schools
Twitter for Teachers: Establishing Your Personal Learning Network
50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom
Using the search option on Twitter, explore some of the popular education hashtags such as: #DENchat, #edchat, and #spedchat
Click on the links below to connect with Discovery Education and DEN STARs on Twitter:
Discovery Ed Twitter
DEN STARs Twitter

 

Have an idea to share? Go to “Insert” then Comment” and add it to the side bar.
(Thanks Baldwin for sharing this one)

 

Skype
Skype allows you to make voice and video calls to anyone else with a Skype account, for free. This is a great tool to use to communicate with the community, empowering you to bring guests into your classroom virtually. With the click of a button you can connect your students with an author, a scientist, or a historian. You can share class projects with other classes from around the world and in turn your students get to know people from different cultures.

 

Community Communication

 

 

If you don’t have a Skype account, visit this link to download Skype to your computer or mobile device.
Once you have installed Skype, create a profile. You will need to register using your email address to create an account with a username and password.
You will need a webcam and speakers to complete a video Skype call.
Explore Skype for Education to find out how you can communicate with others. Collaborate with other classes, find guest speakers, or take a virtual field trip.
Skype’s Education Home Page
The Complete Guide to Skype in the Classroom
Skype’s Mystery Skype
The following links provide examples of using Skype in the classroom.
DEN STAR Mystery Skype
Skype for Educators Wiki
Graphic organizer of student roles and descriptions
Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom
Skype App for the iPod Touch/iPad

St. Anthony This week

Monday, November 17

Bully Awareness Week all this week – please make sure your Digital Citizenship lessons are completed this week – thanks!

Sabina in all this week

Squirmies 11:30

Donna Clark in today

Waste Walkabout

Tuesday, November 18

chess club – Paul and Wayne 11:30

Cathlee O’Connell to read with Mrs.Rupnik’s class

Young Rembrandts – week 2 – 3:35 PM

Wednesday, November 19

Waste Walkabout

Thursday, November 20

Kathi, SLP, in Mrs. Rupnik’s Class

Boy’s Volleyball at St. George

Monthly Assembly – please let me know what you have for the assembly

TGIF at Pub Italia – first appetizer on the social committee!

Friday, November 21

Christian Community Day

What’s coming up??

• Big Kid Entertainment – whole school activity – Nov 25 PM
• First pizza day – November 27th
• PD sessions on e-portfolios – December 1st
• Staff meeting with St. Luke Catholic – 3:45 in Learning Commons – focus on makerspaces with
  Maker Junior Alison Evans Adnani – December 9th (catered, Wine, beer)