Langwitches Blog http://langwitches.org/blog The Magic of Learning through Technology. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:47:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Teacher2Teacher Conference http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/14/teacher2teacher-conference/ http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/14/teacher2teacher-conference/#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:47:28 +0000 Langwitches http://langwitches.org/blog/?p=5987

I am ready to head out this week to present at the Teacher 2 Teacher conference in Bow Island, Alberta. I am especially excited since it will be my first time visiting Canada.

Some of the other presenters at the conference include:

I have been tweaking my presentations for the last few weeks and am very happy with the results. I can’t wait to share them with educators in Canada on Thursday (March 18) & Friday (March 19):

70 Tools in 70 Minutes

Digital Storytelling for Educators

Blogging in the Classroom

Around the World with Skype

Geography is All Around Us

]]> http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/14/teacher2teacher-conference/feed/ 0 Empower Student to Be Lifelong Learners NOT Dependent Learners http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/12/empower-students/ http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/12/empower-students/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:24:02 +0000 Langwitches http://langwitches.org/blog/?p=5967

Through a  Tweet from @HeidiHayesJacob, I found the Ning of the Curriculum 21 book, I recently recommended.

One video uploaded by Heidi of Alan November, a contributor to the book, immediately caught my eye.

He says:

We have to stop spoon feeding kids curriculum tests and homework. They need to be self directed. They need to be life long learners., which means they need to be empowered to manage more and more and more of their own learning.  [...]

It is not about adding technology… because we add a lot of technology that improves teaching, but it does not improve learning.[...]

The biggest barrier is not technology, the tools or money. The biggest barrier is a culture of the shift of control from the teacher managing learning (creating dependent learners by the way) to a culture of students being inter-dependent while they are globally connected and contributing content, tutorials, to the whole classroom.

From reading the  Curriculum21 book , listening  in on streamed conference presentations to video clips like the one from Alan November below, I am witnessing the shift towards  globally connected students at my school right in front of my eyes. IT IS a shift of culture. IT IS a shift of what a “classroom” means. IT IS about empowering students AND teachers by exposing them to all the possibilities that are within reach through available tools.

I especially am in agreement with Alan about the role tutorials can play. Our Middle School students are continuing to work on on their Math Wiki, which is filled with tutorials, 5th graders are about to create SmartBoard Notebook files for first graders with tutorials and practice lessons about contractions (I + am= I’m/ will +not= won’t, etc). I can’t wait to continue observing the shift taking place in our school as a result of it.


Find more videos like this on Curriculum21

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]]> http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/10/links-for-2010-03-10/feed/ 0 Sowing the Seeds for a More Creative Society http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/09/sowing-the-seeds-for-a-more-creative-society/ http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/09/sowing-the-seeds-for-a-more-creative-society/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:50:35 +0000 Langwitches http://langwitches.org/blog/?p=5922

I am thrilled to be publishing a guest post by Andrea Hernandez, cross posted from EdTechWorkshop Blog on Langwitches.

http://www.edtechworkshop.blogspot.com/


In an earlier post, The Science of Play, I shared my ideas about the importance of playful learning, the type of learning observed in very young children. In my personal experience as a teacher, I have seen that as children mature they often lose some or all of their natural comfort with learning through spontaneous and playful exploration.
Think of a toddler with a big pile of blocks. Does the toddler ask an adult, “What should I do with these blocks?” or does a toddler start with a “product” like a big tower in mind and ask, “How do I stack these blocks to make a tower?” No, the toddler jumps right in and begins to explore, trying whatever he or she wants to try. Does the toddler feel upset and frustrated when the tower of blocks topples over? Doubtful. It is more likely that he or she is delighted by this and may knock it over and rebuild it again and again.
MIT recognizes the importance of the creative exploration of early childhood to the extent that they have created an entity called The Lifelong Kindergarten group.

In the Lifelong Kindergarten group, we’re trying to change that. We believe that it is critically important for all children, from all backgrounds, to grow up knowing how to design, create, and express themselves. We are inspired by the ways children learn in kindergarten: when they create pictures with finger paint, they learn how colors mix together; when they create castles with wooden blocks, they learn about structures and stability. We want to extend this kindergarten style of learning, so that learners of all ages continue to learn through a process of designing, creating, experimenting, and exploring.

As part of their mission to “sow the seeds for a more creative society,” the MIT media lab has developed a free program called Scratch that encourages the kind of open-ended exploration and creative problem solving that is not on the test, but that promotes the trial and error learning that is the heart of math, science and technological innovation. The beauty of Scratch and similar applications is that while the processes they engage are complex, most children are naturally drawn to them and find them fun. Kids ask to “play Scratch.”


In my STEM classes and, to a lesser extent, my weekly lab classes I attempt to provide students with the time and space to engage in this kind of exploration using freely available resources. In my role as the teacher I model possible approaches, support students in their attempts, validate and encourage them as they proceed, and open the door by introducing them to what’s out there. When appropriate, I push students to go a little deeper. Some students are more inclined than others to enjoy the open-ended, for those who require more structure I can help by defining a problem or assignment for them. I can also help them to reflect on their learning styles so that they grow in an understanding of their own abilities. Some students can’t wait to get to the computer and play, others prefer a tutorial (there are many tutorials online for most applications. It can be great practice and reflection to have students who are more advanced create tutorials for others), some students are more comfortable watching first before trying. Any and all approaches to learning are valid as long as students understand the process and challenge themselves.

In addition to Scratch, here are some other recommended resources for open-ended, creative exploration:

Whizzball -from Discovery Education, whizzball is a puzzle creator. Students can design puzzles, submit their puzzles for others to solve and solve puzzles created by others. I have found this to be challenging and fun for grades 1-5.

Fantastic Contraption- physics challenge. Use the materials provided to create a contraption that solves the challenge of getting something from point A to point B. There are multiple challenges and endless solutions. I am using this with a first grade STEM enrichment class, and they LOVE it. I could see it being popular with older students as well, although I haven’t introduced to other grades yet.

Lego Digital Designer – design tool using virtual legos.

PHUN – 2D physics sandbox. This one is more advanced. I recommend viewing at least one tutorial before jumping in to play. I used this with 5th grade, and it was fun (phun) at first, but many of them became frustrated quickly.

]]> http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/09/sowing-the-seeds-for-a-more-creative-society/feed/ 0 Lino It http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/09/lino-it/ http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/09/lino-it/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:24:14 +0000 Langwitches http://langwitches.org/blog/?p=5914

I just stumbled upon a great new tool called Lino-it. Thank you @shannonmmiller. It reminds me of Wallwhisher.
It looks like you can create Screens with different levels of privacy by inviting others to see the stickies only or having them contribute as well. It is very easy to add text stickies, attachment, image or video (that play directly on your wall) stickies.

Editing Options


There are several backgrounds as your canvas available or you can upload your own image.

Canvas Options


The possibility of creating “Groups” and sharing them with friends sounds like an interesting options for educators. An RSS feed is also provided for all Canvases, which would come in very handy for a teacher to keep tabs on student additions.

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  • Packrati.us = Twitter + Delicious
    This site provides a simple bookmarking service. We follow your twitter feed, and whenever one of your tweets contains URLs, we add them to your delicious.com bookmarks. Optionally, bookmark URLs in @replies to you. We'll even add a delicious tag identifying the sender if you like.
    (tags: twitter tools del.icio.us bookmarking)
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]]> http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/08/links-for-2010-03-08/feed/ 0 Wiffiti Screens http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/07/wiffiti-screens/ http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/07/wiffiti-screens/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:38:05 +0000 Langwitches http://langwitches.org/blog/?p=5904

Wifitti looks like an interesting tool for the classroom, but also for presenations and conferences.
You can add up to 5 tags to be pulled in to your Wifitti wall from Twitter and Flickr. Contributors can text messages to the wall or enter them on the web.

Wiffiti publishes real time messages to screens in thousands of locations from jumbotrons to jukeboxes, bars to bowling alleys and cafes to colleges.

You will receive a URL for the wall or can also embed it on your website with html code. The Wifitti I created below has the “@langwitches”, “langwitches”, Around the World with 80 Schools” and “Silvia Tolisano” tag.

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