Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Is it me or are we having fun yet in our practicums? I can't believe it is now near the end of April, and it seems like I just got to know my little ankle bitters in the Kindergarten class. No really, they are sweet, but sometimes can have "demon days". It is sooooo true about children having bouts of mood swings. One day they could come into your classroom all smiles and willing to work. The next day, same kid, could enter the classroom with a very different personality ( and you thought Linda Blair was scary!) and whooosh! Step back, Nellie! Okay, I think that little Sammie needs time out! Eeeek! And watch out for those runny noses! AHHHHH! Oh, thank you for the great big hug little Barbie! I just bought that cardigan last week, and now I see that is nicely decorated with ...... AHHHHH! Did I just see you eat that glue? Why did you eat that glue? Response: I like the other glue better... This one tastes yucky (pointing at the white craft glue, as compared to a glue stick)Obviously little Harry had preference in his tastes. Uh, yeah. Teacher's are you ready?I mean, literally, are you ready for your own class next year? Be prepared! Oh, be sooooo prepared! That's all that I got to say, at least for today.
Names in post are not actual living students, if names of the above are similar, it is purely coincidence...

MMI

Monday, April 26, 2010

Section 6: Implementing Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum

This part of the document talks about developing Policy for Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum. Manitoba schools are required to implement ICT in grades K-8, beginning in 2006-2007 school year. Schools apparently, are expected to report on the progress of each student's literacy with ICT along the developmental continuum. Each school division is to develop a three year plan to implement Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum in a way that reflects the needs of thier community and the culture of thier school division/school. All K-8 classroom teachers are responsible for the development , assessment, and reporting of student literacy with ICT. I think that most teachers need supports to do so. I don't think I have seen this yet, at least not in our community school. Maybe through use of internet and for research purposes, but I don't know about the ICT, because I haven't seen it. I even asked some teachers if they knew about ICT Across the Curriculum, and they replied, "No, should I?". I guess our school leaders need to be provided with this information regarding ICT. If ICT is being implemented into schools, then we have yet to see this at our community school. ICT is supposed to add value to teaching and learning, and move students to higher levels of critical and creative thinking.
Perhaps we need to see the instructional strategies, classroom management and professional use of ICT in action in order to wake up our Director of Education. The school Board as well, since this would be beneficial to the present education of our children in our community.

Section 5: Developing the Continuum

This was how ICT began, in February 2004. There were 16 Manitoba educators who formed this . Kindergarten to Grade 8 teachers, were involved; including French and Aboriginal educators. It is interesting that they observed how students in their classrooms use ICT to learn. They observed and wrote down what they saw, throughout the curriculum. As they refined and formed the continuum, they came up with the two-dimensional matrix .They put their plan into action in June 2005, when they formulated questions regarding the research that was done. Eventually, the research was organized and guided by Manitoba Education in 2005-2006. They collected feedback to improve; along with a variety of strategies for ICT;
developed snapshots of how students af all ages are literate with ICT;
collected classroom based samples of student work with ICT;
designed professional learning strategies and tested theirm face to face and online;
set up networks of research teams throughout the province; and were supported from all school divisions in the province for the implementation of Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum.
I think that it will be good, but are all teacher's going to be willing?

Assessing, Evaluating, and reporting on student progress

Assessment is a tool that provides teachers with information about the evidence of student learning. Assessment allows the student, teacher, and parents or guardians to observe this. The ultimate goal is to teach students how to evaluate themselves in independent situations, and learn how to assess their own progress.The Developmental Continuum of Literacy with ICT is both a planning tool and works as an assessment FOR/AS/OF learning. Teachers do this by including their observations, portfolios, and conversations that they have with their students.
Teachers use the inquiry process to focus their instruction on one or more of the Big Ideas of the continuum.Portfolios are used to accumulate evidence of their literacy with ICT. These portfolios could be either product or process portfolios ora combination of the two.(Paper or electronic). All portfolio's accumulater variety of assignments that will illustrate about the student's learning.
Conversations: Assessing students with ICT involves not only assessments through evidence of learning like portfolios and observations, but also with conversations. Descriptive Feedback, criteria and goal setting are important. Teachers observe and listen to conversations that students may have in group setting, one on one with the teacher, peer conversations, and self-reflective conversations. Three way student led conferences involving parents may also be included.

Section 3: Reading the DCFL with ICT

What you really have to do is study the developmental continuum poster ( sorry, can't help thinking about "Q" on Star Trek: The Next Generation when I hear about the Developmental Continuum)to really understand what is said about this.It's divided into two parts: Cognitive Domain and Affective Domain. In the Cognitive Domain therre are horizontal axis of it and is a sequence of three stages of thinking.(Bloom's Taxonomy).The first stage,Knows-Comprehnds-Becomes aware, describe the skills and knowldedge learners have already aquired. They become to think about what they already know. There are two kinds of knoledges. Declarative Knowledge and Procedural Knowledge. Concepts of a community, rules of a game (Declarative) and learning the steps and procedures in a process such as doing long division, or following the steps to capturing an image and putting it into a text document.Stage two is analyses-Applies-Believes, involves skills and knowledge with teacher support, to new learning and experiences. These includes comparisions, classification, recognizing patterns, inductive reasoning, decuctive reasoning, formulating opinions, persuasion, and arguing pro and cons. Deeper Thinking.
Stage three, is Syntehsizes-Evaluates-values which describes more complex thinking behaviours.Learners engage to create products and representations through developing independence. Learners end up asking more critical essential questions, and solve problems, and create original representations that express ideas, feelings, and understandings for specific people,other than the teacher.In the Coginitive Domain there are five Big Ideas: Plan and Question, learners follow directions, modify given plans, and learn to develop their own ideas accordingly to initial plans. Gather and Make Sense: Learners find and collect information through electronic and media source; make notes, record data (primary data) Using ICT. They have to make sure that they assess the information, to ensure that it is relevant to use.
Produce to Show Understanding: Learners use digital devices to record, sketch out images, compose text, and graph data/or create video information based on what they have done in class, or with teacher modeling.
Commnicate: describes learners who share and display information and ideas from their electronic work with face-to-face audiences.They discuss information, ideas, and use electronic devices to present their findings. Communicaiton is also based on feedback from their audiences.
Reflect: describes learners who use guided conversations to think about ICT that extends their learning. This also builds upon critical and creative thinking skills.
In the Affective Domain, There are also three stages.Knows-Conprehends-Becomes aware, Analyzes-Applies-Believes and Synthesizes-Evaluatess-Values.
The Affective Dpomain consists of four Big Ideas along the VERTICAL AXIS.
Big Idea: Responsibility and Ethics: knowing about, demonstrating beliefs about, valuing policies, guidelines, and behaviours for using ICT ethically. Not to mention responsibly and safely.
social Implicaitons: being aware of and believing and understanding values with the use of ICT in society.
Collaboration: students learn how to work in face-to-face groupings. They learn how to work together but from various distances; on line, cyber group networking, and they learn how to lead collaborative groups through ICT.
Motivation and Confidence: Students' interest, persistence and engagement in using ICT for learning purposes. They learn how to solve problems by using ICT.
There are coded skills on the ICT Developmental Continuum, which are divided into four categories. Access and Communication Skills, Input/Output Skills, Tools and Text Skills and Vocabulary Skills ( recalling, reciting ICT vocabulary in context)

ICT: Supporting Principles

Isn't it interesting to see how the seven concepts: inquiry, constructivist learning , higher-level critical and creative thinking, reaching a deeper understanding, gradual release of responsibility, digital citizenship and mulitiple literacies for the 21st Century have been 'embedded" in this ICT Developmental Continuum? I like that ICT is infusing itself throughout the curriculum, and I take it, K-12, not just K-8 students. Remember, use of ICT can have it's teachable moments. Without our diverse learners we would not forget our learning theorists.ICT formultates a constructivist teaching and learning from Marzano.Knowledge must be internalized, and transformed, and applied in new contexts. This explains why Marzano's framework works well in ICT. We are always trying to keep up with new ideas, and trying to motivate and boost our student's in new ways of learning, especially when it comes to higher-level critical and creative thinking processes. Its good to see that literacy is developing in more meaningful ways with ICT, and the students are able to extend critical and creative thinking across the curriculum. NOt in just one area, like in computers prior. Once teachers learn how to use ICT effectively and at their own discretion, ICT will be an effective learning tool for all educators. I like how teachers help students enable themselves to become more responsible for their work, and become self-directed learners. Modeling, sharing, guiding are also effective tools. Digital Citizenship is a good concept in showing students how to be safe and efficient when it comes to learning about standards within a technology approach.Finally, our students have to learn that everything put out on the net may or may not be genuine information. I guess the bottom line is, please use computers and the information wisely. With multiple literacies for the 21rst Century, there is so much information out there, and most of it is unfiltered. students have to learn how to search the information, and learn how to manage data, manage information and communicate their ideas from that research.

Birch Trees and Weather Blues

Tansi, Hello,

So here I am at my last practicum. When we began, it seemed like it was beginning to warm up eh? Then it got cooler, and BAAAM! We had a mini-blizzard here in Nelson House this weekend. Oh, and guess what? I have been tapping birch trees just recently with my mom and dad out in the bush. Seriously, I know... What the hay are we doing tapping trees... Well, if you must know we are making some birchtree syryp. Yep. Birchtree syrup. But since it's been so dang cold, we haven't had jack since last week when it was warm. The sap is running now, and I haven't made syrup for years. We decided to go and try and got over two icecream pails full, but we need at least a few gallons to make a few jars. Birchtree syrup is good. It has some healing properties too. We went out to check our pails, and found some with some bugs and squirrel ---- in it. Yuck! omit that pail, good thing there was only less than a quarter of a cup in that pail. EWWWW! Anyways, I hope that your days are going well, with the weather and all. Funny thing too, I'm doing a weather unit with the Kindergarten Cree class in Nelson House. Kisinaw? Kisitew? Misponthotin?Aww, it's so neat to hear that they know their weather terms in Cree. And what's up with those runny noses and colds? Again dang weather! Hey, quit making the kids sick! Poor kids sometimes don't know what hits them.And I don't know about this weather, I mean, is it winter or is it spring? We see mosquitoes flying around here with fur on their backs. Look out everybody! I think they have adapted to Northern Living!