It’s going to be a cooler Friday than most over the past while. So, warm yourself up by your computer and enjoy these terrific blog posts.
Entangled Pedagogy
- Peter Skillen – @peterskillen
- https://theconstructionzone.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/entangled-pedagogy/
As Peter notes in this post, there are often two sides to the discussion about technology in the classroom and how it’s implemented.
- It’s all about the pedagogy
- It’s all about the technology
I mentioned on the TWIOE show on Wednesday that it find it interesting and frustrating – how many times do you have the discussion in music or hard technology classes? It’s a matter that those pieces of technology exist and we just appreciate it.
So, why does it come up when we talk about computer technology? Is it truly a discussion or is it a way to avoid using the technology to its fullest? I’ve mentioned it many times; one of the frustrating things for me is watching a child type out the Great Canadian Novel, two fingers at a time, and call it an effective use of the technology.
In the show, we talked about the meshing of roots from trees and likened it to the meshing of things in the classroom. It’s stronger because of the mesh (and more difficult to separate).
Peter takes on a journey to a discussion and a recent book by Tim Fawns and the concept of entangling technology. I love Peter’s recommendation that we step back and then zoom in on what’s happening.
This is a short post but Peter promises that it will be featured in a future Minds on Media event – whenever or wherever it happens.
September in the Classroom
- Elizabeth Lyons – @mrslyonslibrary
- http://thelibrariansjourney.blogspot.com/2022/10/september-in-classroom.html
Slow down and read to really consume the content from Elizabeth as she shares her September with us. I have no option as I find her style really does grind me to a halt!
There’s a bit of an apology here – so many of us are curious as to the transition for her from the Library to her own classroom. She had promised to blog about it in September and she did blog and it came out in October!
As she notes in the post, she was reorganized and now has a different assignment than what she had previously. Many teachers have told me that they wait until re-organization day before they get serious anyway. I can see why.
I like the fact that she acknowledges that it’s different for students after coming back to the classroom after some different realities in the past couple of years and is spending time and organizing the student day around building community.
I really like the fact that she’s enjoying teaching Mathematics. I can’t help but think that many would have passed that off until later.
It’s interesting to read her approach to this year and there are lots of pictures here and way, way more on Instagram.
Confronting uncertainty with Truth OR Why use metaphors?
- Dave Cormier – @davecormier
- https://davecormier.com/edblog/2022/09/28/confronting-uncertainty-with-truth-or-why-use-metaphors/
Ever since there were teachers, there were people looking for that magic bullet to make it all good. Stick with a job in education and you’re bound to work your way through the next big thing. Stick for it a long time and you’ll be exposed to many of these bullets.
I had to smile when Dave said that this was going to be a reply to a Twitter message that ended up being a blog post.
It was a fascinating response that he generates and he takes a look down the hallway at his colleagues.
I found the post to be interesting and very thoughtful. He makes reference to Martin Weller’s book about Metaphors of Edtech which you can purchase or read online as PDF.
This really should be a good read for all and provoke some thoughtful reflection by all.
How about you? Do you follow the latest “myth” because everyone else does?
A Multi-pronged Approach to SEL
- Lynn Thomas – @THOMLYNN101
- https://wordsgrow.com/2022/09/29/a-multi-pronged-approach-to-sel/
A lot of people pay lip service to social-emotion learning (SEL) but Lynn takes it all on here with a rather long post.
The core competencies are:
- Self-awareness
- Social awareness
- Relationship skills
- Self-management
- Responsible decision-making
She goes in-depth with this and discusses the structure, policy, check-ins, community building, targeted teaching, and teaching methods.
The one big takeaway for me was the use of technology in this. Lynn uses Microsoft Teams and the Reflect Together application for students to check in.
I’d never seen this before and so was particularly interested in it and how she uses it.
S4E8: “Global Legends – The Manananggal”
- The Ward Stories – Mary Ward Secondary School
- https://www.spreaker.com/user/voicedradio/s4e8-global-legends-the-manananggal
Stephen and I have added a podcast for the radio show and this week, we took a listen to this relatively short (7 minutes) recording from a Grade 9 class at Mary Ward Secondary School.
There were a couple of things that leapt at me as I listened to it…
First, it’s the content as created by 14-year-old students as only they could create it. Informally, it might have been more disjointed but knowing that you’re going to be picked up by who knows who makes you want it to be perfect. I didn’t find any mannerisms but enjoyed the story and the sound effects. They performed well for this audience.
Secondly, I know how much goes into the creation of something like this from a concept to brainstorming ideas to sequencing and all that before you ever get near a microphone. Then, there’s the production value and desire to make it perfect. Where else do you assign a piece of work where students demand perfection from themselves?
It makes you wonder why this format isn’t used more often.
4 Ways to Welcome Students from Refugee Situations
I found this post really interesting because I was never in the situation of having a refugee student in my classroom. There’s so much to consider – background in the subject area, emotional mindset, desire to work, communication with parents or caregivers, the ideas go on and on.
I thought that Colleen did a marvellous job of identifying four things to consider;
- Learn the Background of the Student
- Support Learning Across Languages
- Be Trauma Informed
- Use the Steps to English Proficiency (STEP) Continua to Provide Appropriate Program Adaptations
Each of these is fleshed out nicely and I’d heartedly recommend anyone who finds themselves in this situation read this post among all of the things that need to be addressed.
Math Links for Week Ending Oct 7th, 2022
- David Petro – @davidpetro314
- http://ontariomath.blogspot.com/2022/10/math-links-for-week-ending-oct-7th-2022.html
I’m a fan of David’s blog and enjoy his math links summary and it’s a launching point for a bit of recreational mathematics for me. It’s nice to be alone in my room by myself and work through them. In this case, what got me thinking and smiling was these two videos.
And, I’d echo one of the replies … I’d wear a shirt like that. Would you?
I hope that you enjoy these resources.
Now, follow these folks on Twitter.
- Peter Skillen – @peterskillen
- Elizabeth Lyons – @mrslyonslibrary
- Dave Cormier – @davecormier
- Lynn Thomas – @THOMLYNN101
- David Petro – @davidpetro314
This Week in Ontario Edublogs
This is a regular Friday morning post around here. You can check them all out here.
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.