Technology and Revival iTSummit14 -Keynote Day2

Technology and Revival 

R.Hurley iT Summit - Keynote Day 2 - May 6/14

What really matters is the nature of conversations. What types of conversations are you having in your staff room? People need to focus on positive things, and find common ground. That is how revival will happen.

Find the fun.
If you didn't think you need fun, then you definitely NEED fun!
Use your imagination. We always remember the teachers from our own years in school, who had fun. We need to inspire kids with our joy.

If school is predictable, then it CAN be boring. If we change things, it CAN be different. It can be better and more inspiring.

Neat Video
LEARN by Rick Mereki on Vimeo 
Learning comes from risk taking
You don't need to be in a school to learn
Powerful learning can be from doing something physical
Self-direction and authenticity

GENIUS - Google Search
filetype: ppt 
All results will be a powerpoint
filetype: pdf
All results will be a pdf

nextvista.org/resources

If you think about the moments of learning you remember. What was happening? Change the way you are teaching. Instead of 'more time', we need more 'good' time.

Caine's Arcade 
A cardboard arcade made by a 9 year old boy.
Try the cool ideas. Get in the space and try it!

Every teacher should do one good PR assignment for your school each year. When kids have an audience for their work, they do better. Have them get into their community and make a difference, and reach their potential.

Will Richardson - Book:Why School?

My Name is Michael - Video about a child with Autism - from his perspective. Inspiring, touching.

Get Interested!!! iTSummit14 R.Hurley-Keynote May 5

R. Hurley - Keynote iT Summit 2014 - May 5

Don't let the steps stop you from following and finding the broader process. Everyone likes to follow steps with tools but it doesn't help students.

AUDIO
Audacity Ideas - From todaysmeet.com/RHSK

Podcasts for teaching persuasive writing- creating 'hot topic' radio style talk shows

Audacity-fractured fairy tales picture book. Record voice parts and change for each character. Use PowerPoint to display.

Made news articles about Macbeth/R+J/Hamlet

Used audacity for Foley recording (record sound effects for video production)

Soundation is free online software where students can create their own songs. We then imported the songs into audacity

I have been using Mobile devices to collect sound files with the kids. Then editing using audacity.

Storyrobe is a great app for using audio with a digital photo story.

Use Audacity to record a seasonal poem or song and add sound effects for interest. 

Ex. "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Audacity linked to Inspiration webs

Radio Advertisements

IMAGES
Flickr
Not always wanting to hear the 'right' answer, make sure students are given the chance to share without consequence and keep them asking questions to be engaged, and not worried about other students' reactions.
Images are a way to connect without words. Show them INTERESTING things to think about - i.e. bicycle herding camels. It is as simple as choosing a topic like bicycles and finding neat/unique images to create a neat dialogue.
Find legal images: search.creativecommons.org
Cite sources with images as well as their information
tinyurl.com/NVcitingsources
From Today's Meet Participants: 
Key concepts of intellectual property: http://mediasmarts.ca/intellectual-property/intellectual-property-key-concepts
Grabbing copyright friendly 
images.http://nextvista.org/projects/Project-Citing_Copyright-Friendly_Media_from_Online.pdf
Fair Dealing for media education: http://mediasmarts.ca/intellectual-property/fair-dealing-media-education

SLIDESHOW VIDEOS
Narrable.com
VERY COOL--call to record - the kids can enter their phone number, it calls them and they can record their voice through their phone
"Narrable ... to engage students and to draw out important higher order thinking skills." It's not the tool, it's the application.-Alan Stange(from today's meet)
ex: voiceover of sports commentating, kidsnippits, record a conversation from a photo of historical figures in a meeting possibly discussing world decision (ex: Winston Churchill, Stalin, etc), narrate students critiques, "Bad lip reading" - http://bit.ly/1mvdEF5 watch this video later! a sample of bad lip reading videos! Very entertaining!
Teachers want the video to be good, but students want it to be "good enough". If you tell them that others will be watching it (audience), then students typically put in more effort.
Give them a 45 second time limit. If they want more, tell them to show you the script. Up it to a minute and a half. Go from there.
Implementing a Video Project
-time frame
-script
-audience
-poster option (they won't want to)
-partners
-time limits
-other rules (no violence!)
-links
Fostering Quality
-Look at other student projects ex) tinyurl.com/NVcareers No matter what your project is about, show them some other student examples and they will know what they like and what they don't like (strengths and areas for improvement) - how can these things be fixed - different approaches

"Am I done yet?" - want to hear "How can I make it better?" Make it a contest!!!Send feeback to the students

Great presentation - lots to learn no matter how long you've been teaching, what you teach, how old you are, how young you are, or a number of other factors. Keep trying new things!!!

Creative Writing with Rory's Story Cubes

A Creative Writing Activity

I just used Rory's Story Cubes with my grade 12 students in ELA today. They are always complaining we have so much boring work, and they never get to do any fun things in class anymore including just writing. So, I was in Indigo last week and I came upon this little game called Rory's Story Cubes. Basically it is a little box that contains 9 cubes (die), and you roll them all. Each cube has a image on it and the random 9 things that are face up, you write a story linking all 9 together beginning with Once Upon A Time...
There are a few variations to the game and how you can play it. You can use it to create superheros, you can use it in groups of 3 and have them write a story together, or you can do it this way. I'm sure there are plenty more ways but these are 3 that are on their website. I love this game because it is not just for little kids, it can be used for older students as well. It spices up my classroom and anything that does that, I'm into. Check it out! It was only $10!
Did I mention there is also an APP for this????  - iTunes store!

Making Connections....huh?

I started watching House of Cards on Netflix last night. I enjoy the fresh perspective given by the main character (who plays a governor in the US) when he looks directly into the camera and talks to the viewer during the show. It really makes connections to the audience (obviously!) when he speaks to you like you are now a part of the program. You become privy to the insider information, you are inside the character's head. Sometimes this makes the show more predictable, other times it shows you just how much you do not know a person. I try to encourage my students to make connections in all areas I teach to my students. Whether it be me telling them the connection ahead of time, or telling them to create connections to their audience in their own writing. 
Students really do struggle a lot of the time with making connections. I find this to be an especially difficult problem in smaller communities. Now don't get me wrong - I LOVE teaching in a small community, I came from one and I went to school in one. But, the problem lies in lack of experience, and lack of knowledge of the outside world. We don't see as many socially or culturally diverse situations in a small community as someone would in a larger one. When (as they say on CHEERS), "everyone knows your name" (and your business usually), it becomes more difficult to have unknown and unexpected experiences. Daily lives are much the same and the students tend to stick to their 'bubble' of friends, hangout spot, activities or lack-of activity, without much change to the schedule. I encourage students to read non-fiction books, to read on the internet and to watch programs on television that isn't Gossip Girl (I know, that is so 5 years ago) or Family Guy. Even if they can make connections with fake characters in a tv show, or connect to a video game, I feel like I have succeeded. Sometimes they need to be pushed. Sometimes it needs to come from home first. If the parents are globally aware (ie watch, listen or read the news daily), or have been fortunate enough to travel, I find the student to be more able to make connections in learning. If the parents are not, then the modelling that should happen to make the student more aware, do not occur as readily/easily. It can happen - the student can be the one watching the news and being aware - but it doesn't happen often if it isn't a priority at home. 
I digress. 
Everyone wants to feel connected in some way, to some thing. HOW to create connections can be extremely difficult. It is difficult to teach, it is difficult to understand and it is difficult to do. I always tell my students to pretend they are talking out loud to their audience in their writing. How would YOU tell someone how YOU felt in that situation? How would YOU explain the hurt/anger/frustration/joy/happiness/wonder/ excitement of that character and/or what you just wrote about? Empathy is almost impossible to teach as a separate or isolated subject because mostly experience can teach you empathy. So when a student needs to put themselves in others' shoes and explain it, confusion typically happens. Do any of my readers have any good suggestions for teaching how to make connections? Let me know!