debor002

“... Young people as a whole have enthusiastically integrated a variety of networked media into their daily lives, and can text, upload photos and blog with relative ease. However, using media effortlessly isn’t necessarily the same thing as using it well. Young people are mistakenly considered experts in digital technologies because they’re so highly connected, but they are still lacking many essential digital literacy skills .” [1] Classrooms are now filled with students that, from a generational standpoint, are coined, digital natives ; born into the age of digital technology and familiar with computers and the internet from an early age. [2] Does an increase in digital experiences, however, directly translate to a strong understanding of digital literacy and citizenship? Unfortunately, many teachers are assuming yes. Internet access has increased exponentially over the past decade and statistics are reporting that, within Canada, only 7% of students have no form of internet access...

     On Friday all of "T-Division's" teaching staff and EAs had the opportunity to attend a PD session with Charlie Appelstein ; a youth-care specialist, author, and father. Being that we are now into December, and only have a short ten days until the Christmas break, I was apprehensive about attending a PD session when there is so much to do in so little time left. On the other hand, classroom energy is always high at this time of year so it was nice to have a day away to think and recharge! Mr. Appelstein was an incredibly entertaining presenter and shared a lot of helpful information while infusing humor and "random bursts of positivity", as he called it. Fun times at our PD today with Charlie Appelstein. He spelt out Macfarland... then macdonald... here's the last one! #mbedchat #TRSD32 A video posted by Kirsten Thompson (@misslwbt) on Dec 12, 2014 at 3:13pm PST      Our 5.5 hour session focused on how to understand and respond to students who are livi...

     Last year I used Interactive Notebooks with my Grade 8-10 Math classes with some success. My Grade 8 and 9 students used them the most but my implementation lacked direction and I don't feel my students got as much out of them as they should have. I still taught my lessons regularly and then we would do an Interactive Notebook entry at the end of that topic as a type of review activity. So, while useful, I wasn't using them to my full potential and my students could pick up on that,      This year I was much more prepared and had class sets of notebooks for all student ordered before summer break even started! While I found lots of great ideas through basic Google searches and Pinterest, I spent the majority of my time scrolling through the great resources offered by Jennifer at 4mula Fun ! Here is what I recommend: - Introductory I.N.B Blog Post - Webinar Video Page (Over 2 hrs of video explanations!) - The 4mula Fun Teachers-Pay-Teachers store (I ...

If you haven't encountered a " Currently " post before, it is just a fun post at the beginning of each month that serves as a way to share what is Currently going on in your life! You can link up and share your own " Currently " post by visiting the wonderful  Farley  over at  Oh' Boy 4th Grade .      I can't believe it is already December! The last currently post I did was ALL the way back in September and it seems like everything has just flown by since then. Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year and I love getting together with friends and family that we don't see very often. From a teachers perspective, however, this time is extremely chaotic!      One awesome thing is that December brings back hockey season and I am my husband's number 1 fan! I usually drag along my mother-in-law or friends as well so it is the perfect social outing :) It's that time of year again! Awesome way to start off the year Mustangs 🌟 #hockeywife #M...