Wow! People say that they don't know where the time has gone and for me that is partly true this year. I am sad to say that I have not really updated the blog in much too long, and I apologize to my readers. But I had some good reasons! First is that I started my M.Ed! For the next few years I am completing a M.Ed in Educational and Digital Technologies at UOIT. Then I decided to help out more in the school and became a Student Council Teacher Advisor, which takes up more time than I thought, but is very rewarding. And then I decided to organize and run a conference.
But now things have died down, and I can finally publish some blog posts that have been percolating in my head since September. Up soon posts on 20% with my Politics class, Google Camps and the Ontario Google Summit and getting PD going in my school.
So I hope that you check back because I will be posting, I promise :)
Showing posts with label 20%time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 20%time. Show all posts
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
Friday, 4 October 2013
Google Camp
Tomorrow, YRDSB is hosting their first Google Camp! I am so happy to be a part of it. I can't believe it was just this past April that I attended the first GAFE Summit in Canada with three of my colleagues. From that Summit, the idea for this camp, and my 20% project were born.
I am presenting the 20% project I ran in my Civics class as one of the sessions. The information is not much different from what I have shared here on the blog, but I am looking forward to the discussion with other teachers about the possibilities of 20% Time in their classes. I am also presenting on using Search features. I will post the presentations here next week.
I will be back to blogging soon. I have started 20% time with my Politics class, as well as a second Civics class with a new colleague. To make everything more seamless, I have also gone fully google; my class is now (except for tests) completely paperless and on GAPPS. I will be sharing this experience with my blog readers soon; I am still settling in to the semester.
If you are on twitter, follow #yrdsbgooglecamp or our G+ community (YRDSB Google Camp) for how the day went.
I am presenting the 20% project I ran in my Civics class as one of the sessions. The information is not much different from what I have shared here on the blog, but I am looking forward to the discussion with other teachers about the possibilities of 20% Time in their classes. I am also presenting on using Search features. I will post the presentations here next week.
I will be back to blogging soon. I have started 20% time with my Politics class, as well as a second Civics class with a new colleague. To make everything more seamless, I have also gone fully google; my class is now (except for tests) completely paperless and on GAPPS. I will be sharing this experience with my blog readers soon; I am still settling in to the semester.
If you are on twitter, follow #yrdsbgooglecamp or our G+ community (YRDSB Google Camp) for how the day went.
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Semester end review
My first semester doing 20% time finished about 2 weeks ago. It has taken me that long to digest and reflect on the project. I will be lucky enough to teach Civics again next year, so I wanted to look at the final self-assessment from the students to see how I could improve the next time.
The final self-assessment was broken into 2 parts: their reflection on their work and on the idea of 20% time.
I am glad to see that 79% of students found that getting time each week on their project was useful. This makes my decision to do 20% feel more validated. 96% also found that getting to choose their own topic was "nice" and "made them more invested in the outcome". I asked whether they would like to do this type of project in other classes and their answers where what I expected: 21% yes, 25% maybe and 50% depends on the subject. I completely agree with the 50%; I found that a Civics class had great potential for very open-ended (yet guided) inquiry, but I am not sure that other subject matters could. Any day now, the new Ontario Canadian and World Studies curriculum will be available. We are told it has a more Inquiry based approach, so I am already planning how to use 20% time in my Politics class in first semester.
So what I am taking away from this first experience is that it seemed to have worked. I have some refinements to make to forms, and in the setting up of the project overall, but I look forward to trying it again come September.
The final self-assessment was broken into 2 parts: their reflection on their work and on the idea of 20% time.
Did you find that working having time each week to work on the project was a good thing?
| 1 | 1 | 4% |
| 2 | 1 | 4% |
| 3 | 3 | 13% |
| 4 | 5 | 21% |
| 5 | 14 | 58% |
The scale was 1 =not at all and 5 = absolutely!
I am glad to see that 79% of students found that getting time each week on their project was useful. This makes my decision to do 20% feel more validated. 96% also found that getting to choose their own topic was "nice" and "made them more invested in the outcome". I asked whether they would like to do this type of project in other classes and their answers where what I expected: 21% yes, 25% maybe and 50% depends on the subject. I completely agree with the 50%; I found that a Civics class had great potential for very open-ended (yet guided) inquiry, but I am not sure that other subject matters could. Any day now, the new Ontario Canadian and World Studies curriculum will be available. We are told it has a more Inquiry based approach, so I am already planning how to use 20% time in my Politics class in first semester.
In terms of using GAPPS, it seems it was useful!
What is your thoughts on using GAPPS?
| I found it useful | 19 | 40% |
| It helped keep me and the project organized | 15 | 32% |
| I liked the comment feature | 5 | 11% |
| I would have liked to use word | 3 | 6% |
| I found it confusing and hard to use | 1 | 2% |
| Other 9% |
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