Conversations In Ed Series #1: Advocating For Co-Ed Sports Teams:

 

 

This post is the start of a series of postings which are designed to create conversations on a variety of educational topics. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section.

I have been thinking about this topic for a couple of years, because I have yet to hear valid reasons for segregated our students when they play on school sports teams?  Is it really necessary to separate girls and boys for team sports, at the elementary level?

Developing co-ed sports teams at the upper elementary level can create more harmonious classroom relationships between girls and boys, and may even lead to a deeper sense of gender equality later in life.  Those that play together learn to live together. I have often been dismayed by the lack of respect boys and girls show each on the playground, occasionally in the classroom, and frequently on the field of play. These offences are usually gross-generalizations passed down through generations. I have lost count how many times I have heard these quiet murmurings on and around the soccer, “They are just girls,” “We should score lots of goals today, they have girls on their team,” “You can’t skip with us you’re a boy.”

I have heard the argument that the physical differences between boys and girls should be reason enough to separate them, but I disagree.  In my experience, boys and girls aged 10, 11, and 12 (the age which students in my school district typically join sports teams) are very similar in bodyweight and height. Sure, there are times when the opposition towers over my smallest boys and girls, but they know its safe to play and nobody will intentionally hurt them.

Playing on co-ed teams teaches children to be more socially responsible.  One of our school’s goals is social responsibility. We learn social responsibly in different ways throughout the day, and one way is through play. What better way is there to learn these skills, in a truly authentic way? The power of a great play between a boy and girl on the soccer field cannot be understated, especially when that moment of mutual respect is later transferred to the classroom in terms of working together in harmony. I would even go so far as to say that later in life that single moment could lead to a deeper sense of gender equality.

Our schools should mirror society’s move towards greater gender equality.  We don’t have public schools for boys and public schools for girls in British Columbia.  In fact, we activity encourage our students to work in mixed gender groups in the classroom, so why not on the sports field?  Working and playing with the opposite sex is a skill and a necessity in life.  The sooner we close the gap by developing co-ed teams at the elementary level the better.

Is it really necessary to separate girls and boys for team sports, at the elementary level?  Co-ed teams foster a sense of mutual respect, they teach social responsibility, and they mirror what happens naturally in the classroom.

Further reading on gender bias’ in education:

• Gender Bias in Education
• Education and Gender Equality
• Gender and Sport
• Women and Sport

View of single sex public education:

• National Associate for Single Sex Public Education

Could We Have Done Better?

Could We Have Done Better?

I work at the best school in the District.  In fact, I would go as far as to say that my school is the flagship school in the District.  Aside from the completely renovated heritage-style three storey school, the grounds are tastefully landscaped, and the exterior has been beautified in recent years with colourful murals which reflect our diversity and our community spirit.  The brand new enclosed hockey rink combined with a relatively new soccer field makes me proud when I arrive at work each day.

You can imagine how I felt when, on Tuesday morning, I arrived at work at 7am to find three separate messages spray-painted on the concrete at the south entrance to the school.  I was outraged!  The messages read, “@#$% the world 666”, “We rule this town,” and “Ho’s legs are as wide as the hallways.”  I could not stand the thought of students seeing the messages when they arrived at school, so I covered them up with garbage bags and masking tape.  Shortly after school started, I used the experience as a circle discussion in class, which led to a writing assignment.  A selection of student writing can be found below.  I assumed that someone would be on their way to school soon to remove the paint.  I was wrong.  72 hours later, two of the three messages remained.  Not only that, but since Tuesday afternoon when the first message was cleaned, the other messages were uncovered and left visible for all to see.  Could we have done better?

There exists an unfair stigma attached to my school.  Some people call it an inner-city school, others call it the downtown school.  In non-educational circles, it has been described as the rough school, and the troubled school.  It is a myth.  Granted, my school has its challenges, but the labels are unnecessary and unfair.  By not acting swiftly enough, have we perpetuated the myth?  A local elementary school visited our school twice this week for soccer games.  On both occasions parents, teachers, and students from the visiting school have accessed the south-entrance and encountered the disturbing messages.

Students at my school are some of the most socially conscious students I have encountered in the District.  We engage our students several times a day on the topic of social responsibility.  It is even one of our school goals.  We use restorative circle practices, teach and reteach our school matrix, and have committed to a year-long program called, “Play Is The Way,” which teaches children social responsibly through play.  In a nutshell our students, and in particular, our grade 5-6 leadership students, have a good sense of right from wrong.  Could we have modelled a socially conscious attitude ourselves and worked to remove or cover up the messages so our students were not exposed to such filth?  Could we have done better?

I wonder if parent pressure in a different school might have resulted in a quicker clean up effort of these disturbing messages.  If parents are not advocating for such things at my school, surely the school and the school district needs to be.  I am not aware of our District protocol for such events, but I would like to see it reviewed.  Disturbing messages need to be covered up before they are cleaned.  72 hours and counting, is too much time to deal with such issues.

Letters written by our students:

Vandalism
Vandalism is impacting kids in many ways, and what just happened at our school is no acceptation.  Some of us think of school as home.  Meaning we’ve been here for a very long time and we feel safe here.  It gives the school a bad reputation.  When parents come to school with their kids, who are still very young, and it makes them think “wow what kind of community  would do something like that.”  It doesn’t feel very safe when you read some of the comments.   As in “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ was here” or “I’ll be back”  it scares kids.  And even for me it just doesn’t make the school feel like a safe place, like it should.  When I come to school and see nasty or rude or inappropriate writing somewhere where lots of people ( youth, elderly, etc etc…) can see it, I feel disgusted.  >:( – Bryanna

Vandalism needs to STOP!
Vandalism needs to STOP!  Vandalism is impacting our community.  They are writing nasty things to our schools.  Vandalism is a crime. It’s wrecking property.  It’s making other people want to do vandalism as well.  If you see someone do it then sometimes you feel like doing it to. it makes me feel mad. – Andy

Vandalism needs to STOP!
This “vandalism” needs to stop, because some people care about these places!Some people stayed at Central Elementary school for along time. kids don’t need to know these kind of words. That’s one of the reasons I don’t like school vandalism. I don’t like the idea that our school district has to pay for this “vandalism”. I think the people that did this, should pay for it, also pay the time for cleaning this mess up. I would be delighted, to know people are amazing enough to stop, this Vandalism! =:) – Jessie

Dear Mayor Sharon Gates

When I came to school and saw vandalism on the cement I know lots of people where impacted.  The children were impacted they see the things that were written.  If you think about it what if the little children see the vandalism and they say the words that they see.  Our custodian is impacted be cause he has to clean the it.  How do you think he feels when he can’t clean it because of the paint they used?  And the parents get impacted because their children go to the school that has vandalism on it.  The parents probably feel like something could happen to their children.  The vandalism makes me feel angry and it needs to stop. – Taylor

Vandalism is wrong.  Little kids will be affected.  If it says bad words, little kids might say those words.  Vandalism makes the world look horrible.  Less people will want to go to that place.  Parents will be more protective of their children.  Parents won’t let their children to go outside very often.  Vandalism does not belong in this world. – Sereena

Two Ways To Engage In Creative Writing

 

1. The Progressive Story Project:  My teaching partner, @missbartel, stumbled upon this project last year.  Both our grade 5/6 classes participated with enthusiasm in the spring, and engagement levels were high throughout.  The Progressive Story Project was developed by Karen Ditzler, an instructional technology specialist, from Pennsylvania USA.  Groups of 5 classes, in schools around the world, work together to write a complete story.  Here’s how the project works:

• The first class brainstorms and writes the intro paragraph(s).
• Then the next class reads the paragraph(s), brainstorms and decides how they want to continue the story.
• This will continue until the last class on the list writes the ending and gives the story a title.
• Classes can edit their section of the story on the Wiki.
• Once your class has finished the writing part, students can choose scenes to illustrate from their writing.
• Once all illustrations have been submitted, a VoiceThread is created of the entire story.

This is a link to the story my grade 5/6 class created last spring.

 

2. QuadBlogging:  The primary goal of QuadBlogging is to increase the flow of traffic to a class blog or a number of student blogs in a particular class.  The project creates opportunities for classes, in different school across the globe, to develop their blogging and commenting skills.  If you are familiar with the Twitter hashtag #comment4kids, then QuadBlogging achieves a similar outcome but in a more formal way.  Here’s how the project works:

• School A becomes the focus school for an entire school week
• Schools B, C, D spend the week visiting school A’s blog(s), leaving comments and interacting with the content of the blog(s)
• In the second week of the project, school B becomes the focus school
• Schools A, C, D spend the week visiting school B’s blog(s), leaving comments and interacting with the content of the blog(s)
• During the third week of the project, school C becomes the focus school for the week
• Schools A, B, D spend the week visiting school C’s blog(s), leaving comments and interacting with the content of the blog(s)
• The cycle continues until all schools have had the opportunity to be the focus school.

If you are aware of other ongoing projects, which attempt to connect teachers and students across the globe please feel free to add a link and the title of the project in the comment section below.

Tech Integration Post #10 of 10: Using QR Codes in the Classroom

QR (quick response) Codes are like barcodes on steroids!  They enable anyone with a QR reader app on their smartphone/tablet to scan the code using the device’s onboard camera, which then creates a shortcut to a variety different links.  Shortcuts may include links to website address, email accounts, pictures, videos, audio files, maps etc…

This QR Code links to a very informative Common Craft video which further explains QR codes:

Before you can use QR codes you need to visit a website to build it.  Here are a list of sites used to create QR codes:

• Kaywa
• ZXing Project
• QR Stuff
• BeQRious
• Azonmedia

Once you’ve created your QR code you should test with by using any of the free QR reader apps below:

• Kaywa Reader
• QR Reader for iPhone
• Lynkee
• Mobile Tag

When I saw the picture below, on a remote stretch of northern California highway, I realized the true impact QR codes have on our society, and how useful they can be to develop a deeper understanding of a subject:

Using QR Codes in the class:

1. Self-guided tour of the school or the classroom:- QR codes could be place at key locations throughout the school and linked to an audio file which further explains the location and what should happen there.  For example, my school follows the EBS/PBS model for discipline, and one of the major components of EBS is the school matrix.  The school matrix outlines our code of conduct (Safe, Helpful, Awesome Attitude, Responsible, and Kind) and how it should be applied in various areas of the school (classroom, transitions, playground, assemblies etc…).  At the beginning fo each school year, or when new students arrive, QR codes could be placed in the above locations and linked to an audio files which would explain the matrix in detail.
2. Student art gallery walk:- Any visual art lesson can be converted into a multimedia gallery type exhibition using QR codes.  For example, if my students are working on examples of op-art,  they can transform their 2-dimensional drawing into multi-sensory displays by attaching a QR code to the picture.  The QR code may then link to an audio file, which further explains the artwork.  In the audio file students can reflect on their work and use metacognition to express what was easy/difficult about the process.  They can also link their work to additional text and videos on the subject of op-art to encourage others to develope a deeper understanding of the concept.  Finally, students could assess each others work by recording feedback, creating a QR code and attaching it below the artwork.  Thus creating a comment section similar to a blog.
3. QR Codes attached to homework:- Attach a QR code to your student’s place value homework which links to a video you made using Explain Everything (A video creation tool for the iPad).  The video can reinforce the skill of understanding the value of each digit in a number.  This has huge potential for occasions when support at home is not available.
4. Guest Teachers:- Guest teachers who substitute in your room may feel more comfortable if they can follow some of the existing classroom rules/expectations.  QR codes could be place on the mobile computer lab, for example, to explain the rules of using the equipment.
5. Student jobs:- In my classroom we share the responsibility for keeping the classroom clean and tidy.  QR codes could be place at various points in the classroom to reinforce what steps should be taken in order to make sure the bookshelf is fully cleaned, or to explain how to take attendance and where to take it when it’s completed.

I would welcome any additional ideas you have on how to use QR codes in the classroom.

Tech Integration Post #9 of 10: Create Concept Review Videos For Students And Parents

Throughout the whole of the previous school year, I often wondered how to reach more of my student’s parents and engage them (directly) in classroom concepts. I wanted to somehow have the ability to connect parents with what was happening in the classroom, and at the same time offer parents the opportunity to practice fundamental math concepts with their children, based on materials I had created for them.

Originally I had planned to video myself explaining math concepts such as place value, number sense, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division. When I first tried to video myself I had to consider things like lighting and position of props. It turned out to be time consuming and somewhat difficult.

Recently, I found a solution, and want to share it with you.  I use the iPad app, Explain Everything to create math review videos.  Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design tool that lets you annotate, animate, and narrate explanations and presentations.  It’s like an interactive whiteboard for your iPad! You can easily create dynamic interactive lessons, activities, assessments, and tutorials using Explain Everything.  It is possible to record your voice, add images, change pen colours and vary the thickness of your pen lines.  Not only that, but you can easily edit your video, and export to several different formats including, YouTube, Evernote, and email.

The intermediate division of my school is going to be focused on improving math skills this year, and it is my goal to email or host these videos in a place for my student’s parents to view before school starts, during the first few weeks or school, and at any time a review is needed.  So, the next time a parent of one of your students asks, “What can I do to help my child with math?” send them a link to one of your newly created math review videos.  It’s that easy!

Here’s a couple I made today.  Feel free to tell me what you think:

iPad + Blogsy: A Match Made In Heaven

Updating your WordPress.com blog on your iPad, while travelling, has never been easier with Blogsy. There are many applications you can use to manage your blog on the go including, WordPress, Blogpress, Evernote, but I really like Blogsy and its ease of use.

Before you begin blogging, you will need to purchase some additional hardware if you fo not plan to use the iPad’s built-in video and camera. If you have an additional camera you use to take pictures for your blog, or a video camera with more options you’ll need to purchase the Apple iPad Camera Connect Kit. This allows you to connect an external micro SD card or a USB device to your iPad. Once you connect the camera kit, the iPad will automatically import all video and images based on your preferences. It’s as simple as that. Once your media is stored on the iPad, you are ready to blog. It is also possible to add media via cloud picture albums such as Picasa Web Albums and Flickr without the camera connect kit. I’ll explain this later.

Once all the media (pictures and video) which you intend to use in your blog posting has been transferred to the iPad you can begin to interact with Blogsy. Before you create your first blog you will need to customize Blogsy. It doesn’t mater which of the three main blogging platforms you use, WordPress, Blogger, or Posterous. You will be able to use Blogsy’s easy to use interface to post content to your blog. Here is a useful video that explains how to complete Blogsy’s ont-time set up for your blogging platform:
 

 
Assuming, when about to blog on the go, that you don’t have access to cloud photo albums, Flickr and Picasa Web Albums, you will to transfer media (both still pictures and video) from your SD card to your iPad. This short video explains how to do this with the aid of Apple’s Camera Connect Kit:
 

 
Once you have transfered all your media to the iPad, you can write your post in full and publish to your favourite blogging platform. This short video explains how to add media to your post, apply appropriate categories and tags, and publish to the Internet:
 

 
I recently created a blog on the iPad using Blogsy. It’s as easy to blog on the iPad as it is on a laptop or desktop. By clicking on the link you can see the quality and variety of the postings on my summer cycle tour along northwestern coast of the U.S.A. All posts were created and published on the iPad.

21st Century Professional Development: Edcamp Fraser Valley

If you are a new teacher, veteran teacher, parent, student, administrator, or hold a job directly/indirectly related to the education profession, edcamps offer an alternative to traditional professional development opportunities.

Edcamps are modelled after Barcamps.  Barcamps are user-generated conferences hosted by programmers, open-source developers, and techno-geeks, and are designed to develop new skills, share best practices and maintain an open dialogue about the development of the computer industry.  Edcamp was started by a group of dedicated educators, in Philadelphia, USA who saw a need to improve traditional professional development, and who saw the opportunity, and need, for an unconference model in education.

Edcamps are now offered in every major city in North America as well as England and other countries in Europe.  This December an edcamp, Edcamp Fraser Valley (edcampfv), is being offered close to where I teach and I’m excited to be part of it.  Chris Wejr organized Edcampfv with help from David Wees and Grant Frend and a  small group of volunteers.  Here are the details:

• When: Saturday,December 3,2011 09:00AM to 04:00PM
• Where: Garabaldi Secondary School,(SD#42) 24789 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge,BC
• Cost: Free

What is the format of an Edcamp?:

Edcamps try to capture the best features of traditional professional workshops, which tends to be the conversations that pop up in the workshop itself, or the conversations between educators at lunch or between sessions.  With that in mind, an edcamp can best be described as a gathering of individuals with strong interests in the field of education with the intention of exchanging ideas, sharing their experiences, and learning from others in a hierarchy free setting.  Everyone has a voice in an Edcamp!  There are no expensive keynote speakers, no preset workshops, and no cost.

On the morning of the event, all attendees have the option to lead a discussion by placing their name and the topic of their discussion on a large board for all attendees to view.  Once all discussion topics have been displayed, attends vote on which discussions they would like to contribute to and attended.  Once the discussion begins, others are actively encouraged to contribute and share their experiences in order to maintain or move the discussion forward in way that the groups sees fit.  Best of all, if the discussion doesn’t suit your needs, just move to the next one.  No one will judge you to be impolite.

Who can attend?:

Anyone with strong interest in the education professional.  For example, teachers, support staff, administrators, school board employees, parents, students, etc…

Taking A Break

Roaming Educator will be away from the blog for a month. I’m cycling touring down the west coast of the northern USA.

You can follow my trip at http://cyclestories.wordpress.com

When I return I’ll be taking about Edcampfv (edcamp Fraser Valley.) You can follow tweets at @edcampfv

TED Talks for Kids in B.C.

As an elementary educator who encourages student involvement in many aspects of the education system, not just in the classroom, I am incredibly excited about the  independent TED event coming to Vancouver in September of this year.  TEDxKids BC is scheduled for Saturday September 17th, 2011 in Vancouver and will showcase student achievement and celebrate empowerment of students in our education system.  In a similar fashion to the larger and more prestigious TED Talks, TEDxKids BC showcases ordinary students and allows them a platform to share their experiences and inspire others to follow their dreams.

The organizers of TEDxKids BC are still looking for awe-inspiring kids who meet some of the following requirements:

• Someone who has created a project that has made other people take notice and say: “Wow — what an amazing thing to do!”
• Perhaps a kid who has helped others without thinking of him or herself — someone who just jumped in to lend a helping hand — and then perhaps the project grew and others liked the idea so much, that they too wanted to get involved.
• Or maybe a speaker has a talent that they would like to share. They could tell the audience about how they developed this talent — or the effect they see in others when they perform.

If you can have a student in your class already, or know of a student that would fit well into some of the categories above, and would like to nominate himher then please fill out the this form.

You can also follow and promote TEDxKids BC through the following social media sites:

• Twitter – @TEDxKidsBC
• Facebook

Tech Integration Post #8 of 10: Live Streaming

This post was inspired by @gcouros and Forest Green School in Alberta.

Broadcasting live feeds to the Internet, or live streaming as it’s known, and allowing other students and professionals to watch events is guaranteed to increase engagement levels in your classroom, tenfold. There are many Internet broadcasting options available completely free of charge. Here’s a short list:

1. USTREAM
2. Livestream
3. Veetle
4. Freedocast

I like to use Livestream because it allows broadcasts to be streamed with increased quality when using the Procaster rather than the online webcast option. Livestream like many of the above has its downfalls.  Perhaps the most frustrating of these downfalls are the advertisements which pop up at the most inopportune times.  If you streams are fairly short you may gat away with it but if you stream live for any length of time you have to deal with the advertisements.  The free version of Livstream doesn’t allow you to transmit HD quality images even if you have a HD webcam which is somewhat disappointing, but I’ve learned to live with it.  I’m sure you will too.

This term, I’ve used Livestream in the following ways:

1. Present a weekly student news broadcast once a week: CETV News

• You can follow the broadcasts live at 1pm PST on Friday’s here
• I have a small broadcast-journalism news team of 5:
• 1 technician, 2 newsreader’s, 1 script writing, and 1 researcher
• On Monday morning I allow the researcher to research 5 segments including international, national, community, school, and sports news stories
• Once the news stories have been identified, the researcher fills out a Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How table
• On Tuesday and Wednesday the script writer uses the above table and adds his/her own unique touch to the stories.  It’s important to use a script writer who is comfortable using powerful language.  The script writer hands the final script to both newsreader’s by Thursday at recess.
• This enables the newsreader’s to practice pronunciation and fluency in preparation for the broadcast the following day
• During the broadcast we use hand signals which encourage the newsreader’s to slow down, speed up, smile, and speak louder. The cycle repeats itself again on Monday
• Student engagement is high with this activity, and the fact that the broadcast may be viewed by anyone with the link means there is an increased level of professionalism from all involved.

2. Streamed live presentations of political candidates in the electoral riding of Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon

• To coincide with the Canadian General Election which took place on May 2nd, 2011 my teaching partner and I invited all 6 electoral candidates for our riding into school to present to our grade 5/6 classes
• The plan was to have candidates deliver a kid-friendly synopsis of their party platform to our students, and our students would then vote at the end of the week.
• After further consideration we decided to invite other schools in our district to join us in the voting process.
• Livestream enabled us to stream the presentations live to eight elementary schools in our district.  The live presentations offered an additional sense of authenticity for students, and resulted in a higher voter turn out.
• Presentations can be view here: Central Election

I experienced several challenges along the way, but I persevered and was pleased by the end results.  It is critical to hardwire to the network rather than use a wireless connection when streaming.  We found that it is best to stream in a room as small as possible to get the best audio results.  I also found it was better to use the microphone built into the webcam rather the microphone built into my computer.  Finally, it extremely helpful to conduct several tests before going live to ensure audio levels and video quality were optimum.

If you plan to try this please feel free to contact me for help if needed.