Don't Cry Because It's Over; Smile Because It Happened

Well, the New Year is almost upon us which means time for a reflection of 2009 as the year gone by. Often people reminisce with warm, fuzzy feelings of the days of yore as we look ahead to the coming year.

Not JibJab however. One of my favourite sites for a laugh, they always put on a spectacular year-end review in classic JibJab style -- funny, sarcastic and pushing the limits.

Enjoy!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Happy New Year everyone!
Vanessa

Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas

In the spirit of giving this holiday season, I thought I'd share a cute story about how students at a school made a difference in the lives of some of those in their community. I know, I know, Christmas is over (is it just me or does time go faster every year?!?), but I just couldn't resist. Being a former Social Studies teacher I love hearing the different ways that "responsible citizenship" (a cornerstone of the Alberta Social Studies curriculum) is promoted within schools.



This story begins with the boom of the Nintendo Wii Console that revolutionized home gaming systems in the fall of 2006. Children and adults in touch with their inner-child clamoured to get their hands on this new technology. A video game that promoted, no, required physical activity? What a shift in thinking in a society that had previously witnessed an entire generation grow up preferring to watch Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and Wonderboy jump, spin and run rather than jumping, spinning and running outside. Despite critics' reviews that this was "fun for all ages", the Wii was still initially viewed as a video game system for children, teens and young-ish adults.

Enter the thoughtful minds at a charter school in Calgary. Many students had delighted in teaching their parents the user-friendly Wii games and it sparked an idea -- if their "out of touch" parents could easily operate this system, why not their grandparents? Better yet, what if students could bring the fun and enjoyment to senior citizens by playing basic Wii games with them?


And so began the feel good project of Fall 2007 -- fundraise enough money to purchase a Wii console, extra remotes and various games for a local seniors' home. The school succeeded in their efforts, and were actually able to donate 2 complete systems to a partnered seniors' home. In December 2007, students proudly delivered these consoles as Christmas presents to the residents living there. Even better, they spent the afternoon helping teach the seniors how to use the systems, how to make their "Mii" and challenging them to endless games of virtual bowling, tennis and baseball. The students, teachers and seniors had a blast playing, learning and getting a bit of exercise together, and it was so successful that many students now volunteer on a regular basis to come play Wii with their older counterparts.

What a great example of how technology, education and responsible citizenship can come together to bring joy and happiness to those young and old!

No One's Safe from Technology -- Not Even Christmas.

There's no disputing that technology has revolutionized nearly every aspect of our lives in the past twenty years, and Christmas is no exception. Being a former Social Studies teacher, I thought I'd use editorial cartoons to comment on this topic for me:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Corrigan - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Here are some links to funny cartoons that didn't let me embed them directly onto this website!

GPS

Posted using ShareThis


(Scroll down for this one:)
iPhone

Posted using ShareThis

Facebook

Posted using ShareThis

Happy Holidays everyone!
Vanessa

These Are a Few of my Favourite (Tech) Things

With Christmas fast approaching, I feel like I need to do something to get this blog (and myself) in the holiday spirit. What better way to accomplish this than to compose my own version of the classic "Sound of Music" song -- These Are a Few of my Favourite Things.

Since you're already singing the song in your head, just sing the following lines to that tune. Feel free to add your own verse or two in the comments section!


Tweeting on Twitter and New Waves on Google
SMART Notebook files made for students to oogle
Connecting with teachers on various Nings
These are a few of my favorite things

Document cameras and the new Magic Planet --
it's a cool thing to look at, click here if you haven't
Wikis and Moodle and learning 'bout blogging[s]
These are a few of my favourite things

SMART's newest Math Tools and making fun Flash files
Delicious and YouTube and fun Facebook profiles
Songs on your iPhone that you just want to sing
These are a few of my favourite things

When Firefox is slow
When my Gmail quits
When my MAC makes me mad
I simply remember my favorite tech-bits
And then I don't feel so bad



Happy Holidays everyone!
Vanessa

Why is Interactivity Limited with Interactive Whiteboards?

Since I present professional development workshops to a wide variety of participants -- administrators, tech leads, teachers -- I always send out a pre-workshop survey. My goal with this survey is to ultimately figure out where my participants' knowledge falls along the technology continuum...are they aware of basics such as 'save' vs. 'save as', do they understand audio/visual components of their computers, how SMART Notebook savvy are they, etc. The feedback is extremely valuable to help inform me what examples, websites and lessons is most appropriate to show during the instruction portion of these sessions.

What I didn't expect to discover is that amidst the hundreds of filled out surveys that I've received thus far, one glaring commonality is hidden within the results: the vast majority of teachers aren't using their SMART interactive whiteboards for much student interactivity. Why is that? Since I don't currently have a comments section in this portion of the survey, I can only speculate from my own past experience as well as informal dialogue with my colleagues. Perhaps it's the fear of not knowing how to manipulate the software to produce interactive components. Maybe teachers with SMART Boards never really asked for them in their classrooms in the first place. It could be the lack of professional development workshops that address adding student interaction -- it's sometimes hard to visualize how to get students using the SMART Board outside of the standard 'one student at a time while the rest of the class watches from their desks' scenario. Maybe, just maybe, it's the lack of prep time that teachers have, and the thought of adding just one more thing to their plate of marking, prepping, student discipline, maintaining contact with parents, coaching and meeting PLC requirements makes most teachers' stomachs turn.

I suspect that while it may be a combination of the issues presented above, it is the final description that most teachers identify with. It is a shame that adding interactivity is viewed as an enormous task that only the most tech-savvy teachers with an abundance of time on their hands can accomplish. What most don't realize is that pre-loaded templates in the SMART Notebook Gallery can quickly be edited to fit their own curricular content, or that there are an infinite amount of websites dedicated to adding interactivity to a lesson. This interactivity also doesn't need to be some massive 90 minute activity with all students manipulating content throughout the duration of the lesson; sometimes all it takes is a brief excuse for students to get out of their desks and have a bit of control over a portion of the content explored as a class. I can't tell you how many teachers have commented on how quickly their mindset changed after they were shown a simple demonstration of some quick and easy interactive elements that they hadn't previously been aware of.

What hurdles do you feel are the largest for teachers to overcome to increase student interactivity in their classroom?

How do you incorporate student interaction with your interactive whiteboard?

The First One!

Here it is...my first official venture into the world of blogging. Welcome to all those who have taken the time to read this post! I hope you will find this a place to come back to for tips and tricks on integrating technology into the classroom. I'm an Education Consultant with Sharp's AV in Calgary, AB. and my primary role is to help assist teachers, administrators and school divisions with getting the most out of the technology that they've purchased for use in education [unabashed self-plug: check us out at www.sharpsav.com]

I'm a huge fan of SMART Boards and am constantly learning, demonstrating and facilitating the link between interactivity and pedagogy (a word that garners a look of bewilderment from all of my non-education colleagues!) All constructive comments and open dialogue on best-teaching practices is thus encouraged on this site. Learning from one another in the education community is the best way to grow!

Once again, welcome and happy reading!
Vanessa