It was yet another spectacular week of reading this week in Ontario Edublogs. Here’s but a bit of what I enjoyed.
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Do My Thoughts On Awards Change When I Win One?
I have to be careful that this blog doesn’t become the Aviva Dunsiger fan club site but a recent post from her is certainly worthy of sharing to anyone who drops by here. Aviva has been recognized with a Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. It’s an incredible honour and I’m so happy for her. And yet, there’s the shadow of current comments in vogue speaking against the concept of awards As I noted when I commented on her post, I hope that doesn’t spoil the moment. In the meantime, I’m pleased to note that I knew her when she was @grade1. Congratulations, Aviva.
She summarizes her philosophy in blue!
I do what I do because I love kids! I do what I do because I believe in the power of education. I do what I do because I want to see ALL kids succeed, and I know that they can. I do what I do because nothing makes me happier than teaching, and I’m thrilled that I get to do what I love every single day.
The complete listing of all the Prime Minister’s Award winners is located here.
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So What Do We Do With the Information?
Sometimes, we just take our knowledge for granted and move on. It’s only when we step back and look at how students witness information for the first time do we get things put in perspective.
Recently Brian Smith did this activity with students. Using Padlet, students posted their understanding of domain names. It was interesting to scroll through the board and see their interpretation.
The next step was to evaluate some resources for trustfulness. He collected the information via Google Form. There was a whole lot of technology infused into this activity.
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Bullying, Violence, Pictures Books – Oh My!
There’s so much in the news about bullying and cyberbullying these days. Debbie Axiak takes a moment to reflect on recent events that she experienced and makes a promise to look more critically at resources. It’s good advice for all!
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School Based EdCamp for Professional Learning
David Fife muses over a different model for professional learning within his school. He’s thinking about an EdCamp model rather than the practices of the past. We’ve all experienced the “sit ‘n git” model and we know how effective that can be. EdCamp involves an active model of learning by following your needs. Traditionally, it involves a group of people who make a conscious decision to be at a particular place and time for the learning. It will be interesting to see if this model works onsite at a school. He promises a followup post to share the results.
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If you’re able to make it to London on December 5, you’ll absolutely get a great day of Professional Learning at the Western Regional Computer Advisory Committee’s Annual Symposium. It’s just one day in length but you’ll get a chance to hear two inspirational keynote speakers – Travis Allen and Gary Stager – as well as attend sessions from educational leaders from the Western Ontario region.
Oh, and you’ll have a wonderful Christmas dinner.
Full disclosure – I’ve been asked to co-chair the conference again with Doug Sadler. It’s been a local event that I’ve been so passionate about since my first year as a consultant with the Essex County Board of Education. I always used to bring my superintendent and key principals to hear what’s happening in other school districts just up the 401. Every other school district would do the same thing and we would serve to push each other to greater and greater things. It’s a full days of ideas and inspiration.
As Rodd Lucier notes:
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Once again, I thought this was a nice collection of thoughts and publishing from colleagues throughout the province. Follow the links to the original posts and share your thoughts.
My collection of Ontario Edubloggers can be accessed here. If you’re an Ontario Edublogger and not listed, just complete the form and you soon will be!
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doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.