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Dinner Time!
I recently saw on Twitter a superintendent from Virginia who paraphrased a high school student’s perspective on teacher-centered classrooms versus student-centered ones. They described it in a food analogy, so I was immediately hooked! The student said that teacher-centered classrooms were like having a meal where the…
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Educational Technology Tightrope
In today's digital era of ubiquitous technology we teachers need to walk the tightrope of what is educationally appropriate. I recently saw on Twitter a photo from a local IU training session that was spot on in terms of how we should handle technology in the classroom: "Learning is King. Growth is Queen. Cool is the court…
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Reading logs, discussions and K-2 classes
Today I worked with some teachers of K-2 students. They did not want students to have to log on individually and they have about 1:5 ratio so the workload in logon/off management would be quite high and a barrier to using Canvas. I suggested keeping reading logs using discussions. We set up a group set where each student…
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Nobody slept through PD this afternoon!
This is more for schools in NSW, but may help those delivering data analysis. Tell Them From Me survey results are in - have to do the data analysis for the staff. After a while, there are usually some serious head nodders, and heavy eyelids. Who can blame people - big day at work followed by a PD session after school. So…
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Discussions and ePortfolio
Our system has not opened the Parent app yet, so I have been looking for a way to show student work to parents, while staying in the Canvas environment. I have been investigating the idea of using a discussion - set up using groups, so that there is only one student and the teacher in each group. Students then have a…
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State of the Union
The State of the Union is strong! We have had a great 1st quarter with Canvas and Chromebooks. I thought I would take this week to highlight some of the great features teachers have been using and absolutely love! Although we have a long way to go our level of buy-in at all levels is rather impressive and speaks to the…
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Pure PBL - Can do, Can achieve, Canvas!
I am backward mapping this blog post - starting with the end in mind! This photo (and banner) is of some of the happy faces of students at Callaghan College and De La Salle Lipa - Philippines (on the Promethean) after the final judging of their Sustainability Project which was organised by Instructure's Deactivated user…
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Assessment and the little people - Part Two
I've been pondering the many ways we could use assessment within Canvas.So many people ask for ideas. So I thought I'd get you guys to help me. PLEASE feel free to add ideas. Assessment ideas within Canvas in Primary Schools Reading * Record students reading as an assignment. Use it for running record, or just record of…
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Unique Uniformity
After almost a quarter of the school year under way, we are starting to see trends. The ability in Canvas to really do whatever you heart desires with your course is a blessing and a curse. With so much autonomy how do we develop best practices so that the students aren't confused and know what to expect while surfing our…
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Previously Beetroot Laden (PBL) Task – it’s a wrap!
Last term my faculty and I embarked on the first Project Based Learning ( the real PBL to be talked about here) task for Year 7 Japanese learners. Year 7 are 12-13 years old and in their first year of high school. We have always done PBL tasks with smaller elective classes, however with ten Yr 7 classes; this was going to…
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The Dog Ate My Chromebook
As we continue to work with all this new technology, the number one priority will be to make sure our students come to class prepared. We obviously cannot pack their bags for them, but by having expectations with accountability we can avoid the phrases of "I left it at home" or "I forgot to charge it". We should not accept…
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Consistency is Key
One thing my school as Tech newbies will have to consider as we move forward with Canvas, or really any LMS, is consistency. Consistency for our students and parents within our course design to easily find important information quickly. That is one of the main reasons behind adding the digital nature to what we do. The…
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Showcase Student Work
I have been thinking about ways to showcase student work in a Gallery Walk type of experience in Canvas. I have had several teachers ask about solutions for this. Sway via Office365 - you can upload images or videos and add text if required. The sway can be embedded in a course and students could move through it at their…
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Printing Rubrics
We found a roundabout way to print out rubrics - In the mark-book select a student then select marks from their Activity card. This brings up a list of all their assignments. There are icons next to the assignment and these will expand score, feedback and rubric. If you expand these you can then print out the whole list of…
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If you do what you've always done...
Change is hard. Time is limited, but I truly believe we are on a good trajectory toward real change in our school. I have been telling the students in my demos that all this new tech is like the Cheesecake Factory Menu...Its massive and awesome with a few undesirables on the menu pending one's tastes. And just how one…