Techteam+PLC

Place your cursor BELOW the three lines. Type in your Professional Learning Community Reflections below. Add your image - ** IT MUST BE OPTIMIZED **. Then place a line under your entry to prepare a spot for the next student's reflection. **BE SURE TO ADD YOUR NAME!!**
 * ECHTEAM PLC Reflections (8Y34 Lab 8: Wednesday 5-7)**
 * HINT: DO NOT post when others are posting. Be patient and wait till they finish. Likewise, post your information as quickly as you can as others may be waiting.**

Patricia Manning

====**I attended the Teaching with Technology Workshop at Brock University Hamilton Campus on Friday, January 28th, 2011. I attended three different sessions: (1) SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom, (2) A Gold Mine for Teachers: The Ontario Educational Resource Bank (OERB), and (3) Assistive Technologies. All of these sessions were very interesting and gave me many ideas which I can now incorporate into the classroom. Going into the SMART Board presentation I did not have much experience working with the SMART Board however this session explored many different ways a SMART Board could be used by both the teacher and the students in the classroom. The presenter in this workshop was excellent. He emphasized the importance of having the students being the ones who interacted with the SMART Board and reflected this through his presentation by having individuals complete various activities. He also noted that it is not just those who are touching the SMART Board who are learning it is also those in the group who are brainstorming and collaborating with others. I chose to attend this session because many schools are getting SMART Boards and teachers are trying to incorporate them into their classrooms without really knowing all of the possibilities they possess. I feel as though this session helped me understand a little bit more about what SMART Boards have to offer and I look forward to exploring what opportunities I can give my students with this tool. **==== ====

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Melissa Brown
On January 13th, 2011, I attended the Building Futures Professional Development Day. I participated in three separate workshops including the occasional teacher workshop, the special education workshop and the all-day kindergarten workshop. The picture below shows me with the speaker for the occasional teacher workshop. I choose to attend this workshop because currently the teaching profession is overflowing with capable and willing applicants creating a surplus of available workers for minimal positions. This, in turn, has virtually ensured that any teacher candidates will first be placed in an occasional or part-time position for some time before being offered a full time permanent position. Therefore my main reason for selecting this workshop was to become better informed on how to obtain and succeed as an occasional teacher. This was a very informative workshop where I was given many helpful hints, ideas and instructions towards entering the teaching position as a part time or occasional teacher. For example, the speaker informed us that although many teachers are well-prepared with lesson plans for the supply teacher, in many other cases the supply is left with nothing. Therefore she ensured that we were aware of how critical it was to bring additional but enjoyable work to keep the students busy. She told us that simple things like dice or a deck of cards can be used in so many different ways to bring learning and fun into the classroom. She also advised us that it is essential to ensure that you check in at the office, become quick friends with the secretaries and ask for the principal to set aside some time for you later on in the day. The speaker told us how important it was to use each and every opportunity within a school to network and get your name out there. Hopefully, these hints will help you as much as they did me!



I attended the Teaching and Technology Showcase 2011. The sessions I participated in were Assistive Technology, **SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom **, and **HyperStudio**. I found all three to be interesting and informative but I will highlight the session titled, “Create Digital Culture with HyperStudio”, presented by Kate Vanderhorst and Rod Rychliski. Part of the description for the workshop includes: “HyperStudio is a practical multimedia authoring tool that seamlessly blends text, graphics, animation, video, and sound into high impact presentations.”

As a classroom teacher I would use HyperStudio for a wide variety of purposes. The following are just a few examples: § I would use as a tool to create creative learning objects that students would enjoy using as a reference for their tasks. § Students could use it to create fantastic digital stories and multimedia projects for any subject. § This could also take the place of the usual power point presentation to use for any audience. § Using it for a Classroom Open House would really make students work stand out. § It could also be used during school wide assemblies when presenting a theme or a topic such as Black History Month or Anti Bullying.

One of the reasons I selected this particular workshop was the opportunity to learn a tool that engages students in multi-modal creative projects. With “Differentiated Learning” being an essential component in successful teaching, I believe that learning how to use technology in this interactive, innovative and creative format is valuable. Plus, it was a real bonus to walk away with a free personal copy of Rogers Wagner's HyperStudio software!

In this session, I was fascinated by the 3D representation of all the types of projects students design using the HyperStudio software. Kate showed us a box that included a video reel, a scrapbook, and all sorts of other typical school assignments that tend to take up a lot of space and end up being stored in the basement or garage. What really hit home was when Kate mentioned that students’ multimedia projects that are published online can be shared with friends and relatives across the globe. This is personally meaningful to me because now that my parents live in the Philippines for half the year, my son would be able to share his projects with them simply by posting on the internet. HyperStudio has all the features that would captivate someone like my son and motivate him to produce quality work to share with a wider audience.
 * Alma de Jesus**



Mary-Elizabeth Grabowski On January 13th, I attended the Building Futures Professional Development day. I attended the Occasional Teacher Workshop that provided and highlighted useful information for me. The teacher provided us with many tips from brining your “trick” bag filled with hygienic products to different worksheets such as puzzles and games to keep the students’ focused. She also discussed websites with helpful resource material for all strands of the curriculum to math, science, and music. Her presentation that was filled with resources was helpful for integrating a variety of lessons into the curriculum and can be useful for all ages and grades. The teacher also discussed interview tips and how we should structure our answers, which is always a helpful hint. This workshop was of particular interest to me since we will be entering the supply list hopefully this September. Throughout the presentation, the teacher also discussed classroom management tips and shared a couple of ones that didn’t go as planned for her. For instance, she had an attendance sheet that went around one of her high school classes that every student signed the same name. She decided then and there that she would not have high school students sign an attendance sheet. This workshop provided me with many useful tips that I will definitely implement in my future classroom.

Jessica M. I attended the Building Futures Professional Development day Thursday January 13th. The workshop that I found most beneficial was the Occasional Teacher. Out of all the workshops I attended that day, the highlighted topic of the Occasional Teacher gave me the most practical and useful information. She gave us many tips including website with great resource material such as: OAME (for math), STAO (for science), and OMEA (for music). These resources are great for finding a variety of lessons you can take with you to a new classroom and can be adapted to suit different grades. I selected this workshop originally because I was very interested in learning about the various resources that can be utilized by occasional teachers. I also had heard that this workshop would provide tips on what to bring with you in case the regular teacher did not leave you a plan. One very helpful tip was to bring your own washroom sign out sheet and have the students sign and date it so you have a record of how many times students went to the bathroom to show leave for the regular teacher. Another really good classroom management tip was how to deal with two students arguing and both insisting that it is the other students fault. She suggested to have each student write out what the argument was about. This helps the students calm down, practice their writing skills, and you now have a record of the events in the students own words if you need it for the future. I really felt that this workshop was one of the best to date and I do hope there is more like this one.

** Marika Mendola **

Last Friday I attended the Teaching and Technology Workshop at the Brock University Hamilton Campus. The sessions I attended were on SMART Boards, the Ontario Educational Resource Bank, and on Microsoft. I found all three of these sessions to be extremely interesting, but the session I am going to highlight is the session on SMART Boards. Before attending this session, I had a vague idea of what a SMART Board was, but I was completely unaware of all the interesting and fun things you could do with it! I will admit that watching my previous teachers use SMART Boards in the past gave me feelings of doubt when it came to SMART Boards because things never went smoothly. The presenter of this session made it seem so easy to use! With the right knowledge and willingness to learn, it can be a great and beneficial tool in the classroom! It can do so many things, such as change your handwriting into text, read and spell words out loud (in different languages!), change handwritten math formulas into text, and so much more. I studied Linguistics and Languages in University so I found this tool be extremely interesting and personal to me. I would have loved to explore tool during my years of language assignments in university. You can create so many interactive lessons using this type of technology, which makes it fun, interactive, and interesting for the students. There is also a different type of SMART Board that is a tabletop and can have as many as 40 fingers touching it at once – great for group collaboration! Throughout the presentation, the presenter emphasized communication and collaboration between students. At one point he had four people at the front of the class completing a task he had assigned to them using pictures and moving them around. While they were doing this, he made us take note of the communication and interaction (and learning!) that was occurring between the students. He had proved his point! I think any of the types of activities I saw during the presentation could be used in the classroom, as well as for any subject area. I chose this session because most schools have access to SMART Boards and I would love to attempt to incorporate them into my lesson plans for my next teaching block. As technology is constantly changing, teaching and learning will continue to adapt and evolve with these changes. The possibilities are endless!

Here is a picture of some of my teacher candidate classmates and myself with the presenter at the SMART Board Workshop!



Claudia Amendola's Tech Showcase Review
Tech showcase was on January 28th and it was an interesting experience. This is the first time I saw workshops filled with really eager and excited individuals and it's for a good reason.

The first workshop I took part in was a Gaming Workshop. This workshop showed us a handful of history and civics games that can be used in the classroom (they can be found [|here]) and how they apply to curriculum. My reason for selecting this workshop was obvious: I am a gamer and I want to see intelligent ways to bring gaming into the classroom which won't be shunned by administrators. Students are obviously playing games and to ignore or shun this medium when it can be turned around and taught to teach would be simply absurd. Gaming was a part of my youth and I learned a lot of literacy skills, science skills and history skills from certain games I played as a kid. Education and learning was made much more fun with games involved. Disappointingly, this workshop didn't disclose that the workshop was geared for more senior and intermediate grades which, being a primary/junior pre-service teacher, would have been useful information. The majority of the workshop was spent browsing the links we were given and what grades would benefit from them. Sadly, this was of no use to me, but I do like seeing workshops promoting gaming in classrooms.

The second workshop I took part in was the Hyperstudio workshop. I took this workshop because I read that we'd be getting a copy of the product and learn how to use it, hands on; the copy was a trial and we didn't get any hands-on trial at all. In my opinion, this was the least beneficial of the three workshops I took. Hyperstudio is simply an animation creating program that children can use to make art projects, moving pictures based on stories being read or projects in social studies, etc. The entire presentation involved the two presenters clicking tools and using them in the program. I, personally, find it impossible to learn a program by watching someone do it in a 1.5 hr session but by getting my hands dirty and experiencing it first hand. You can't learn a program like Hyperstudio by watching them use it; there is no way someone can memorize what to click and when to click it. I can see the benefit of a program like this in getting students to create interactive images and projects, but I don't know that Hyperstudio, in particular, is necessary for this task. I am sure there are plenty of other programs that do a similar thing.

My third workshop was Epson BrightLink workshop. I took this workshop because I had researched the product and had some interest in it. Also, the other workshops that were available was nothing I haven't already had experience with. The Epson Brightlink is advertised as being "new technology" (while the 1991 Smartboard is rather old). The Epson doesn't require a special board; cast it onto any surface and it can be used. I really recommend looking up videos of the product as I don't think I'll be able to describe it well, but it is pretty impressive. One thing I really liked about the Epson Brightlink is the ability to select and add widgets. The widgets appear at the bottom of the screen and by selecting them, they immediately add themselves to the project. The widgets can include interactive maps, interactive graphs where you can add data, time widgets, etc. Another bonus to this product is that you can search directly in the program for multimedia additions and they add themselves to the display immediately as well. And while this is something people don't often think of, the projection uses rear project which means that the product does not cause shadows of the presenters to be cast and there is never a bright light shining in the teacher's eyes. Overall, the product is definitely a useful tool for classrooms, a different experience from the outdated Smartboards, but nothing too innovative and life changing. @MindShareLearn also concluded this presentation discussing technology in classrooms and innovative teaching and I had a photo taken with him:



Ignite Presentation: I had the pleasure of getting an invitation to present at the IGNITE presentation that @zbpipe decided to start. My topic was "Where it all started (and where it's taking me)" which was a 5 minute presentation about when I first got into all things nerd and where I'm at today. I also spoke about where it will take me in teaching and what kinds of things I can bring to the classroom with these "nerd skills". Despite having insulted Apple users in front of ~100 people, the crowd giggled and seemed receptive. I am happy with how it went. Everyone's Ignite presentation was engaging and fun to listen to!



Tech Showcase was definitely the best Professional Development day I've attended, and if this much tech was incorporated into our other PD days as well as having such passionate and engaging presenters, I imagine students would be much more excited to attend Brock's Professional Development Days. -Claudia Amendola


 * Lisa Smith **

The topic I am going to highlight from my experience at the technology showcase was the seminar held about using Google in the classroom. Coming into the classroom with a long list for what was on the agenda I was somewhat overwhelmed thinking about the new knowledge I knew I was going to be taking in. The first thing that we learned about in the seminar was about Google documents. I have heard so much about these amongst conversation with my colleagues and never knew what everyone was talking about. Sad to say, but I also never thought to ask, feeling too embarrassed as if I should have already known what it was. I found this seminar to be the most useful in the classroom environment. I also thought that it was the most user friendly. Also, the presenters Zoe and Erika broke down the information into terms that tech savvy people like can understand. I was fascinated by all that Google docs could do. I could not believe how the options continued pour out for what you could dowith this application. I thought Wiki spaces were an effective way to organize things amongst groups online, but since becoming knowledgeable about Good docs I can see that this is even more useful than a Wiki, in my own personal opinion that is. A variety of ways to use Google docs in the classroom were discussed during this seminar. One of my favourite suggestions was being able to create rubrics as a class on this application. As a teacher, I can create the outline of a rubric and send the url to everyone and everyone can fill out together in real time as a class or on their own time. Collectively, the class can work together design a variety of rubrics for different projects and assignments. I think this is an important tool to bring into the classroom because it not only uses technology but it allows children to work together collaboratively in the classroom and at their own leisure. Having Google docs not only allows children to access the document from the school but in their home, the library and Aunt or Auncles, wherever a computer is accessible. This is an important featureto keep in mind considering some children do not have computers at home. Also, some classrooms only have one computer and receive very littler computer lab time, so if necessary a teacher is also able to scribe for the students if necessary.

Overall, I found the seminar on Google to be the most informative one that I attended all day!

Excuse my ugliness! lol

Stephanie B.

The Brock Technology Showcase was a very interesting event. The major topic highlighted was, for the most part, integrating technologies of all sorts into the classroom. The sessions I went to one about Livescribe pens, and integrating web 2.0 tools, both were very valuable to me as a teacher. They gave me not only a lesson on how to use the product, but also, examples of ways to use it in the classroom.

I really enjoyed the web 2.0, so I am going to highlight most of that session. It talked about collaborating with other classrooms across the world, very interesting and useful stuff. I really enjoyed the Livescribe session, but I was already aware of its benefits. Integrating web tools 2.0, introduced me to a new form of computer communicating, Adobe Connect, instead of Skype. The teacher showed us an example of an activity she did with her grade six class using the book Machinto. Her class used this to create an iEarn project, where they sent art work to schools around the world, and the other schools added work and sent it back. They also spoke with the classes via Adobe Connect. I really see a value in using this strategy. You can connect with classes around the world for other subjects as well, for example, in math, doing grou p problem solving, or social studies, plotting out the route of travel in a book, for example using the Underground Railroad, students around the world can have a chance to learn about some North American history, then in turn, we can change books to represent another culture and research that.

I really feel it was a valuable session and a very usefu l showcase. I decided to use a photo with the Ignite presenters. It was a really great experience and I was really glad to be a part of it.





Renata B. The second session I chose for Teaching and Technology Showcase 2011 was an introduction to BitStrips for Schools showcase. BitStrips is a Ministry-licensed, online comic maker where all students can demonstrate their knowledge of any curriculum area in a very creative way. The teachers are able to create their classrooms, and assign their students to the appropriate ones. It could be used in any subject, and can help ELL students to demonstrate their knowledge. Since students have a great interest in technology, this is one way to be creative and still learning. This can really involve students in the creative process of making valuable information for the whole class. In addition it is possible to assess their work (if they displayed enough information?) I have selected this workshop because I wanted to learn more about different technologies and ways of incorporating computers into the classroom. I really liked this idea of making comics and presenting the knowledge at the same time, plus teaching other students through the creatively presented little stories. At the beginning of the workshop we thought that only working teachers can use this program (because we have to sign in with the appropriate school board), but in fact we can sign in with our Brock account. After all, we can use BitStrips on our second block. Have fun.

__ Get "SMART" with SMART Boards! __ <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">On January 28, 2011 I had the opportunity to attend the Technology showcase held at Brock University in Hamilton. Out of the three presentations I chose to attend, the SMART Board presentation was one that appealed to my interest most and found most constructive!

Besides the obvious, the SMART board being a kid magnet (for both the young and young at heart) there are various educational purposes for integrating a SMART board into ones classroom. As a future educator, this interactive electronic whiteboard is great for demonstrations. The board accommodates different learning styles, especially those students with limited motor skills. With a touch of a finger, students can control applications; navigate the Internet; and write, change, move around and save content. Children are listing, hearing and are engaged during a lesson using a Smart Board. Smart Boards also have the ability to save previous notes and can be used to refresh a student’s memory on prior lessons. This is also beneficial for students that cannot keep up with note taking or those who have messy handwriting. The importance of the lesson is that the student understands the material being presented. I learned that the SMART Board is capable of numerous things; such as handwriting, pulling words and images, graphing, and even audio (yes, audio in a multitude of languages). The SMART technology allows for multiple students to work on one surface, to enhance inquiry based learning, critical thinking and collaborative learning.

I chose this presentation because I am a firm believer the SMART board is a high-class tool that enhances student’s learning and heightens their overall learning experience. The use of SMART Boards I believe limits opportunities for distracting by focusing students’ attention on lessons. The SMART Board hits a wide variety of individual student learners. For example, visual and tactile lessons can lead to multisensory engagement in the learning process of students. SMART Technologies also offer a wealth of pre-designed lessons online, searchable by grade, standard; lesson type making it very easy to quickly download a lesson in an instant and either use it, or modify it to meet your specific needs.


 * AMANDA ROSSI**




 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Maya Zehairi **

On January 28, 2011, I attended the Teaching and Technology Showcase at Brock University in Hamilton, Ontario. The sessions I attended were: SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom, A Gold Mine for Teachers: The Ontario Educational Resource Bank (OERB), and Integrating 2.0 Tools into Classroom Practice and Collaborative Projects. Of the three sessions, I found the presentation on SMART Boards to be the most interesting and informative one!

The topic highlighted in this workshop was about the use Smart Boards in the classroom. The presenter, Giancarlo Brotto, shared the many ways we, as teachers, could use the Smart Board to enhance children’s education learning experience. He also emphasized why teachers love the SMART Board, the benefits of it, as well as the many resources and software available to help support teachers.

As a future educator, I would use the Smart Board in my classroom to foster an environment of interactivity and collaboration through active hands-on learning. The SMART Board, using Notebook Express, can allow me to download and edit lesson plans right in my own home for use in the classroom the very next day! Also, this environmentally friendly device is equipped with collaborative learning software add-ons that can provide me with the content and resources needed to teach certain subject areas (e.g., Notebook Math Tools, SMART Response PE) as well as software for students with special needs. With the integration of a document camera, the SMART Board can allow me to instantly capture, create and share images and content with my students and be able to manipulate them on the whiteboard. The SMART Board can also be used to allow my students to navigate the Internet, computer applications, movies, and even educational games as an entire class. Lastly, the SMART Board combined with interactive response systems (clickers) is an extremely beneficial assessment tool that will allow me to create tests and quizzes as well as instantly track and evaluate assessment results and overall student performance.

The main reason why I selected this presentation is because I wanted to learn another way I could improve learning outcomes for all students. I believe that technology, primarily the SMART Board, is a fun and effective way to help teachers create interactive and engaging lesson activities to meet the needs of our digital learners in today's high paced technological world. As a future educator, I will apply all the tools and strategies I learned from this session to accommodate the different learning styles of students (visual, kinesthetic, limited motor skills) and to ensure that students are active constructors of knowledge, not passive recipients of information.

// “Every kid has the opportunity to become someone greater than they think they can be!” – Giancarlo Brotto //



**Rebecca Kowal**
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Over the course of the school year, I have had the wonderful opportunity to take the Tribes TLC 24 Hour Basic Certification<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> course on October 7th, October 8th, and January 20th. This training program is founded on the philosophy that creating a positive school or classroom environment is the most effective way to improve behavior and learning. This approach emphasizes the need for students to feel included and appreciated by peers and teachers. Students also need to be respected for their differences in abilities, culture, gender, and personalities. It is also very important for students to be actively involved in their own learning. The Tribes process helps to ensure the healthy development of students’ knowledge, skills, and resiliency. Tribes is based on four agreements: attentive listening, appreciation/no put downs, mutual respect, and right to pass. Students learn a set of collaborative skills that focus on helping each other to work on tasks, monitoring and assessing progress, setting goals and solving problems, and celebrating their achievements.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; margin-right: 36pt;">As a classroom teacher, I would develop a Tribes learning community within the classroom by teaching students about and implementing the four tribes agreements. I would also engage students in collaborative activities in order to help students to learn strategies for working together as a team.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; margin-right: 36pt;">I chose this presentation because I learned that schools in the Halton region have aligned their teaching practices and philosophies along with those of the Tribes TLC. So I thought it would be a good idea to take this course in order to become familiar and certified within the program, especially if I am doing my placements in this region. I will also be able to share this philosophy with my colleges in and outside of the Halton region.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; margin-right: 36pt;">I will definitely adapt and implement the strategies that I learned through the workshop to my future classroom and school. This will be accomplished through the use of the knowledge that I acquired in the workshop, and through the use of the helpful guide that was given during the workshop. This guide outlines ways to teach the four agreements and provides activities for building a strong sense of community within the classroom. There is definitely a real need for this type of strategy in the classroom due to the many differences in learner’s abilities, learning styles, culture, and personality. If a community has not been established within the classroom, there is likely going to be more conflicts and behavioral challenges due to the many differences among students. With the implementation of a community within the classroom, students will learn how to be respectful of others differences and accept each other as a unique individual.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; margin-right: 36pt;">Although there was minimal use of technology for this workshop via the use of PowerPoint and videos, I feel that the workshop could be adapted to incorporate the use of more technology. Perhaps the instructor could incorporate the use of a smartboard, prezi, wiki, or a webquest next time.




 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Laura Neill **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">On January 28th, 2011, I had the opportunity to attend the Technology Showcase at Brock University, Hamilton Campus. Although I attended three workshops, I found the smart board presentation workshop to be the most effective in terms of my professional development. This workshop focused on introducing the smart board to those who have never had experience with one and to show different programs that are effective to use in the classroom.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">As a future teacher, I would use this information for instructional purposes to know how to integrate technology into my regular lessons. Integrating the smart board into lessons is effective because it addresses specific needs of the students and their multiple intelligences. For example, the smart board allows for audio for auditory learners, visuals for visual learners, hands on learning for kinesthetic learners, etc. Since the smart board can be used for all types of lessons, it will be a way that will help to engage students in the learning process. As well, the smart board allows for group work and collaboration. More than one person can be up using it as a time so everyone is able to show their thinking for everyone to see which can promote inductive learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Until this session, I had never used a smart board before which is why I selected this workshop as my number one choice. Before attending, I hoped to learn how to use one so that I would feel comfortable trying to use it successfully in my next block. During this workshop however, I was able to come up and become active in my learning. With other teacher candidates I was able to demonstrate to the rest of the observers how to form sentences on the smart board which could very well be an activity that I use in my classroom one day. By learning how to use one and become aware of the programs that could be used with one, many opportunities will open up which will engage these 21st century learners.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">**Teacher Candidates and Smart Board Presenter** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">**Smart Board Workshop, January 28, 2011** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">

**Amanda Pembleton﻿**
<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">﻿Through my experience at Brock, I had the opportunity to become certified in Tribes training facilitated by Gail Phillips (sessions took place October 7th, October 8th, and January 20th). The Tribes Learning Community is a program created by Jeanne Gibbs to encourage a sense of community and cooperative learning in the classroom as well as to promote a healthy and safe learning environment for the students. The program is based on four main agreements that all participants (including teachers and administrators) must follow; attentive listening, mutual respect, appreciations (no put downs), and the right to pass. The program was created to give the teachers, students, and administrators the tools to work together to solve problems inside and outside the classroom as well as to create a safe and comfortable place to learn and share. Through the program, the students learn collaborative skills with a focus on helping each other to work on tasks, setting goals, solving problems, monitoring and assessing their own progress, and celebrating achievements. I would use Tribes in my classroom to create a sense of community where the students feel comfortable to work and learn. I believe that students will have a higher rate of achievement if they feel included, are appreciated, are respected for their differences, are actively involved in their own learning, and have positive expectations from others that they will succeed (which are all important lessons created, taught, and modeled through Tribes). Through the Tribes agreements and activities, teachers learn and use various methods based on multiple intelligences, cooperative learning, and social development to encompass all students’ needs and learning styles.

The main reason for selecting this workshop is to share with my colleagues the importance and usefulness of this program. Through the program, I have grown personally and professionally and believe that creating a Tribes classroom will make a positive difference in the lives of your students. Although there was not a lot of technology incorporated in our training, I think that there are multiple opportunities to incorporate technology into the Tribes program that would enhance the experience.




 * Diana Gatti**

From my time at Brock University I have been lucky enough to participate in several Professional Development days which have helped to increase my learning. One Professional Development Day in which I attended was February 4, 2011 and it was on Classroom Management Strategies as well as how to effectively teach a split class. I really enjoyed this workshop and found it to be very insightful. As well I really enjoyed the presenter of this workshop. I found that he was very passionate about what he was teaching to us, and he was very interactive with the audience. I also found that he kept the audience very engaged which is a really important thing for a teacher to do. In fact this was one of the management skills in which he taught us.

When I left the workshop I felt as though I had further knowledge. I felt that this particular workshop was really beneficial because classroom management skills is something that every teacher needs to have in order to be an effective teacher. If the teacher does not have effective management skills then the classroom would be chaotic which could really effect the way students are learning within the classroom, therefore I found that this was definitely a good workshop that people should have attended.

From this workshop I would say that I can take a lot of strategies away with me. I looked at differant situations and have drawn some great ideas and strategies out of the things that I learned. The instructor definately offered some very helpful suggestions such as get students engaged, learn what your students like and enjoy, offer positivie reinforcement, choice, make classroom rules, restorative justice, competition for a free period at then end of the day on Friday etc. There were so many good ideas which I will definitely use and thought that this was a great workshop.

I will definitely adapt the startegies that I learned in my classroom, for they will help me with effective instruction. I would definitely say I will incorporate the things that I learned in my classroom. Technology was included in this presentation but not in an exciting way. There was a mini power point presentation and an overhead was shown. However, this was not hands on for the students and it was very simple so it was not a fun way of learning technology.



Sarah McLaughlin

In Social Studies, I was fortunate enough to participate in a fieldtrip workshop at Battlefield House in Stoney Creek. I learned that it is a popular site for kindergartens, grade 3's, and grade 6's to learn about the Ontario Curriculum expectations of historical Christmas celebrations, pioneers, and the war of 1812. The main building, which is the house itself, is over 200 years old and provides an interesting example of how life was lived that many years ago. Rich in history, this site played an important role in the war of 1812 and in Canada's independance from the United States. It was neat to experience what children learn on these trips since it has been so long for me, and to experience it with my peers was an even more enjoyable experience.


 * Courtenay Fleet**

On January 28th, 2011 I attended the Technology Showcase at Brock University in Hamilton, Ontario. During this showcase I had the opportunity to attend 3 seminars. I was really intrigued by the presentation done on Facebook. I found this one so interesting because it is such a controversial topic. Before attending this seminar I had absolutely no idea that Facebook actually requires members to be at least 16 years of age to join. Before this presentation I don't know if I had thought seriously about many of the ethical issues surrounding facebook in general and in the classroom. This seminar opened my eyes to how technology is changing our classrooms. While many school boards are shying away from networking sites like facebook, there is no denying that it has the attention of most students in our classrooms. During this presentation we actually had a video conference with a member of the Waterloo board which has actually begun to allow facebook in their schools. He provided some interesting insight into the board's views and why they have taken this controversial step.

After this seminar, I view facebook much differently. Something that I use everyday has made me a little more cautious. I am also now more aware that we have to consider the use of these popular networking sites in our classrooms, as they vastly increase the potential for student learning.



Janice McDonald-Sulymka

On January 20th, I attended the "Story Telling" workshop by Cathy Miyata. It was fabulous to feel comfortable, laugh, have fun and learn something so valuable for a teacher to utilize in the classroom. As a child going through elementary school, I was a shy, quiet child. To have to speak in front of the class was always intimidating, embarrassing and threatening. This is one thing as a teacher, that I hope to conquer for other students that may feel the same. I want to help students feel comfortable and confident to public speak and flourish in front of an audience.

Cathy is an amazing story teller, as many of you may recall from her engaging 'key note' speech way back in our first few days at Brock. She captivated all of us with some personal stories from her life, provided us with encouragement and strength for our upcoming year at teachers college, boy she knew exactly what we were in for! She has perfected her craft and I hope that by taking this workshop I will begin to accomplish the same. Children love stories and they learn from stories when they are captivated by a good story teller.

The story telling workshop gave us strategies and ideas to implement story telling into our classrooms. We had fun, laughed and the time flew by with many of us wanting a Story Telling Workshop part 2!




 * Melanie Medeiros**

====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">I attended the Building Futures Workshop in January 2011. I had the choice of attending several workshops and I chose the Occasional Teacher, Special Education and Full Day Kindergarten workshops. I enjoyed all of the workshops however; I felt the Occasional Teacher was the most beneficial. The instructor was really informative and engaging. She discussed many things to expect as a supply teacher, what we should bring when we are supplying such as a “survival kit”, proper etiquette in schools and to always be presentable. She even suggested bringing a toothbrush! I am going to use all of this information and refer back to my notes when I become a supply teacher. The reason I selected this presentation was because I heard a lot of positive comments after people left the workshop so I joined it last minute, and I am very happy I did so! ====

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I attended Cathy Miyata’s January workshop “Storytelling in the Classroom P/J/I” and it was great fun and I learned a lot. We learned about presenting and performing stories. We worked on stance, facial expression, eye contact, gesturing, voice, improvisation, interpreting, remembering, positive critiquing, and supportive feedback, and I purchased Cathy’s book //Speaking Rules!// Communication is absolutely critical in our lives – both interpersonally and intrapersonally. Yet, do we teach it or just expect that it is an innate ability that children will just pick up eventually through his/her experiences over time.
 * Liana Henkel **

The traits that we touched on today – stance, facial and body expression, voice, improvisation and imagination, interpreting, memory, and positive feedback/critique are all important but the one trait that really stands out to me is ‘voice.’ Voice is an especially important storytelling trait – actually, it is a dual trait. It is not only your physical voice and the expression that you attach to it, but also voice defined as perspective. To be able to articulate your perspective and also see others’ perspectives is important to nurturing relationships and empathy, and must be taught in the classroom. Along with ‘teaching’ perspective is teaching how to give feedback in a way that doesn’t undermine each other.

Children love to tell stories – fiction or non-fiction, and what better way to improve their communication skills and have a lot of fun than to facilitate their sharing of stories either orally or through writing. Whether they are presenting live or writing in a blog, strong communication skills will build better sharing. Absolutely, technology can be used to enhance a story or a presentation to a classroom of students, but without the communication piece, there might not be much substance to it. We talk about critical and creative thinking, and problem-based learning as key concepts in education today. Teaching children to confidently share their stories and communicate with clarity and compassion encompasses all of these concepts.



**Emily Hamilton**
On February 4, 2011 I attended the classroom management PD workshop run by Jim Giles. This workshop was very engaging and interactive. I thoroughly enjoyed the way he ran the workshop. The main topic that was highlighted in the workshop was classroom management. This information is very valuable to me as a classroom teacher for several reasons. Without proper classroom management, you cannot teach effectively. I took away several classroom management strategies as well as behaviour management tips. The strategy I liked the most and found the most valuable was the “Problem Solving Sheet”. Anytime there was a disagreement in Jim’s class he would hand each student a Problem Solving Sheet. On that sheet they had to record what they were doing, what happened, what they should have done to resolve it, and provide an appropriate solution. Each student had to sign their copy. Jim photocopied a copy for himself and sent the original home with the child to be signed by the parent. If a student had to fill out 3 or more of these throughout the year, that was their third strike and they were sent to the office. This management technique was not only effective but provides the teacher with documentation to back up the behavioural problems. I selected to attend this workshop because classroom management is something that is ongoing. It is my belief that the more strategies you can gather, the better your classroom will be. I was very happy that I attended this workshop because I learned a lot and was able to leave with a handout that contains key elements for classroom management. There was not much use of technology in this presentation, he actually went old school and used an overhead!




 * Briana Roberts**I attended Federation Day at the Hamilton Campus on November 5th. The seminar was an introduction to the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Teacher's Federation (OTF). It gave us an idea of what the federations do for us once we are members. This information was useful in learning what we need to do as members as these federations. ETFO has many great materials that can be used in classrooms, including a great Introduction to Arts resource, and some resources that integreate technology. I really feel that the resources that can be purchased from ETFO can be used in an excellent way. One of the social studies resources incorporates websites, sound clips and video, which I could definitely use in my classroom to interest students.



Keri Verge I attended the Tech Showcase on January 28, 2011. The best presentation, and most useful I felt, was the Word Q presentation. The demonstrators showed and let us experience the Word Q and Speak Q. This program is in all the schools and Word Q is available to any student at home. It helps students that have a hard time putting thoughts on paper, giving hints for words, spelling, thesaurus and themes. The program quickly recognizes the students style and will suggest those common words first. I really liked this and downloaded the free trial at home for my own son, who actually enjoys having Language homework now! I have learned a lot during these presentations and look forward to continuing my Tech learning!



<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ann Craig

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The topic highlighted at this particular workshop was special education. Specifically, the workshop leader discussed the variety of different needs an educator will encounter in the classroom and the ways to differentiate instruction for these specific needs. The most meaningful aspect of the presentation that helped me understand the diversity of needs in the classroom was a video called “Animal School.” In this video the audience comes to understand how each animal has different strengths and it is important to recognize and value those individual strengths.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Review of Building Futures Workshop on Special Education **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">A classroom teacher can use the information presented in this workshop for instructional purposes because they can learn the importance of differentiating instruction and strategies for differentiating. One reason I selected this workshop was to learn new and fresh strategies for helping students with special needs learn in the classroom setting. The content displayed through the video was fascinating to me from a personal viewpoint, because the animals in the presentation and their needs reminded me of various children I have interacted with in the past. I will definitely strive to differentiate my instruction in everything I teach because I have become more aware of how each of our students is so unique. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 0px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; overflow: hidden;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">

Jennifer Causer
On February 4, 2011 I attended the PD workshop "It's All Up to You" workshop on classroom management run by Jim Giles. This was one of the most engaging and thought provoking speakers I had the opportunity to listen to in a long time. He did not focus on what to do if you have problem students, but rather focused on ideas of prevention. Behavior prevention is the number one solution to classroom management issues. He gave many practical and beneficial tips which greatly benefited me. With out having classroom management skills, its very hard to be an effective teacher. One of his main things was to plan engaging lessons, when students are engaged its hard to misbehave. I also really liked the following quote from Jim: "Model what you want your students to become." It is so key for us as teachers to model the behavior we want students to have. This is in essense a teachers lifes work. How will students learn how to behave unless we show them or model it for them. I am very thankful I gave up one of my reading days to attend this workshop, well worth it. Would love to hear Jim Giles speak again in the future!



<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Elisa Haddad <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I attended a bullying awareness workshop in Peel District School Board. It was facilitated by representatives of Bully Help Initiatives. They are the official coordinator of International STAND UP to Bullying Day. The workshop was intended to raise awareness about bullying and teach preventative measures that teachers, principals, and other staff members can do help prevent bullying in our schools. The speakers gave a lot of current information and data about bullying in our schools today including bullying among boys, girls, teenagers, adolescence, and children. Some teachers had the opportunity to share some personal stories they had about their students and bullying. Pamphlets and books were given at the workshop that provides teachers with information about bullying and strategies to use within the classroom in order to prevent it from happening. <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A lot of the information presented at the workshop was very resourceful and beneficial for teachers to use within their classroom. Teacher can make students aware of bullying awareness and to join anti-bullying campaigns by not being a bully, to stop it when they see it, and supporting international STAND UP to Bullying Day by wearing pink. Teachers can introduce the website [|www.standupday.com], which is an excellent resource for teachers to use. It has personal stories, videos, strategies for teachers and students, and events that happen in North America that promote anti-bullying.