Aug

26

Five Steps to Improving Test Scores

August 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

It’s the first week back for teachers in most parts of New Brunswick. With students returning next week, schools and districts are busy preparing and PDing teachers with the newest strategies and ideas.
I am lucky this week, as I have been invited by my district to attend the Professional Learning Communities at Work Conference [...]

Aug

21

Cool Tools…

August 21, 2008 | 1 Comment

Sometimes the array of powerful web tools available for schools is overwhelming, with more being added every day.  Part of my job is to track new tools and act as a filter, introducing them to teachers and students as learning needs dictate, but even I find it difficult to keep up.
Now, from the twitterverse (one [...]

Aug

14

The power of free…

August 14, 2008 | 1 Comment

In his documentary “Bowling for Columbine”, Michael Moore visited a bank where clients received a gun for opening an account. Today a courier brought me my free gift from my bank for opening an account, something far more powerful – a micro-laptop.
The Royal Bank here in Canada is offering new and existing clients who [...]

Aug

8

The end…or a start?

August 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I am sitting in the closing keynote of CONTACT, a joint conference of teachers from the four atlantic provinces in Canada, listening to Betty-Jean Aucoin.
This is NOT a technology-oriented conference, kind of a change for me.  I wasn’t sure what to expect coming in, knowing that I was invited to speak on “Creating Flat Classrooms [...]

Aug

6

Change…on the Fly…

August 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Brenda MacIsaac’s session this morning at CONTACT on the shifting nature of our kids and the increasing disconnect between schools and their learning needs was wonderful.  She presented a great snapshot of the research and personal anecdotes, painting a picture of today’s youth that captured just how important it is that teachers recognize how kids [...]

Aug

6

From Hopscotch to Hypermedia (live blogging)

August 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Live blogging morning session at CONTACT2008 conference.  Please excuse typos and grammar.
“From Hopscotch to Hypermedia: A Vision of K-12 Students Today: Growing up Digital” – Brenda MacIsaac, NSTU
———–
This is not a workshop on technology, this is a workshop on students and learning.
Technology transformed my practice, I couldn’t teach like I did before.
Have our students changed?  [...]

Aug

6

CONTACTing on the East Coast…

August 6, 2008 | 1 Comment

My wife and I enjoyed a leisurely drive yesterday, turning what would normally be a five hour drive into a ten hour tour as we drove along Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore on my way to the CONTACT conference at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.
Taking in a winery tour at the Jost Vineyards and [...]