This Week in Ontario Edublogs

School’s back in!

And the blogging in Ontario continues.  Here’s some of what caught my eye this week.  As could be expected, it all revolves around getting back at it.

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Who Says You Can’t Go Home

Colin Jagoe has traded the coffee and donuts of the board office for a classroom of his own.  He seems excited at the prospect but also seems a little perturbed at those who question his return.  I may be one of them asking the question as to whether or not his district has limits on the time that people can be plucked from the classroom to assist colleagues.  Given the distance in driving, I’m not surprised at making this decision.  He’s not alone…read the comments.  The classroom picture looks great.  You can almost smell the fresh wax.

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Daily Shoot:  Miss Dunsiger Class Day 2

I need a nap just reading and looking at the activity that’s happening in Aviva Dunsiger’s Grade 5/6 split.  But there’s no doubt that the kids in the photos are very nicely engaged in the activities!  While you’re there, poke around at the various other menu items on the class blog.  It looks like there’s going to be a tonne of information posted and shared for students, parents, and US who want to come in and look around.

Check out the video.  More fresh wax.

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New Year’s Resolutions

Ever wonder if your browser is broken or outdated?

Look for a post called New Year’s Resolutions at the end of the summer.  According to Brian Harrison, this is what he and his family do.  It does make some sense when you put the spin on it that he does.

This looks like a great start to the year for Park Avenue Public School.  Does your principal make, and more importantly share, personal resolutions for the new school year?

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Do You Tweet?

I know that I may be biased but this is the sort of post that every teacher should make on their blog or wiki going into the new school year.

I see three important things in Stephen Wilson’s post.

• An acknowledgement that he has a Twitter account.  Not that that’s a big deal these days for the enlightened educator but by putting it in writing, he’s making a commitment to using the technology;
• Right up front, he’s given an indication of what hashtags he’ll be using to convey the information so that interested parties can prepare themselves now (students, teachers, colleagues, administrators, us, …);
• He’s extended an invitation to anyone who needs help to drop by for a lesson.

What stronger message could someone send?

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Start of the Year Survey

Royan Lee is starting the year by getting to know a little bit more from his students right up front.  As I look through the questions that he posed on the survey, he would eventually get to know the answer through observations.  However, this seems to be a pretty smart way to straight line the process.

The real test will be to see how closely the self-identification by the students holds up to the dynamics of the classroom.  Things could change; students could be inspired by classmates; etc. and a million other things.  I’m sure that this will just be a starting point.  It might be a nice activity at the end of the year to give each student access to what they thought they were at the first and an opportunity for them to reflect on their growth.

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These are but some of the great posts designed to kick off the new school year.  Follow the links to read the entire post.  For these and all the rest of the Ontario Edubloggers that I know about, click here.  If you need to be added to the list, your first stop when you click will be to a form where you can submit your details.