The Beginning of a New Year!!!

How did it get here so quickly? I'm overwhelmed to say the least. The school year snuck up on me. I'm sitting here at my kitchen table reading my emails and realizing I have less that 48 hours left before work begins again. So I thought I might as well get the first blog entry of the year over and done with. That's right it's Saturday night, at the end of August and I'm blogging about work. You are allowed to shake your head and call me a geek. I don't mind.

I learned something interesting over the summer. I like most people believed that the summer school holidays were created to match the Victorian Era farming harvest. Well that's a myth. Check out this link to The Independent to find out about holiday myths. It turns out there are all kinds of reasons for the long break including pressure from the tourist industry and parents changed the school calendar to create a longer summertime break for the benefit of families. Other articles state that concerns for the spread of disease through insects in the summer heat may be behind the summer vacation. Read up about it. Here's another link.

So what did I do with my summer? Everyone says we have so much holiday time. They're right I do have holiday time. Technically, we're unemployed during the summer but that's not what's important. It's precious time. I didn't get into teaching for the summer. It was never even on the radar, it didn't occur to me that it would be a really great thing.  In fact the time didn't become special until I had kids. I am extremely lucky to get the time and I spend it with my kids. What a gift! I have two months to bond and share the world with my boys. It's a dream come true. I hope my kids realize how lucky they are, not every mother gets this kind of time with their kids.

I haven't really been clear about summer activities though so here goes.... I don't think I really stopped once and took a good long break. We took a bunch of day trips in and around Bruce and Grey county (mostly hiking and canoeing). My husband and I took a three day holiday where we backpacked and camped in Bruce Peninsula National Park. Nope sorry no grand world travels, just simple affordable little vacations in and around our lovely province. Oh, and I experimented with underwater photography!!! Finally, I also did an extraordinary amount of home renovation. You are now reading the words of a laminate flooring master. My kids are masters with a hammer after a summer of practice.




Summer also included reading a collection of books and book reviews so I can go shopping right at the beginning of the year and fill the library with some new titles for the kids. My son helped me with the reading, he's 12 this year so right smack in the middle of the RHL cohort. I read a great many articles on technology. Here's a link to just one of them. "Critical mistakes made with iPads". I spent a good amount of time running over my plans for both the library and our technology program.

I've spent part of the summer emailing ideas back and forth with our new Principal Mrs. Neela Zinn. I still need to work out some details but our technology should be more innovative than ever and well the RHL Library/Learning Commons will be even more dynamic than last year.

I also plan to add a photography club and an outdoor adventure club to the mix this year. What am I thinking, this sounds like an awful lot of work. The answer is it is but it will make my year fly by and I get to do things I love with a bunch of people I love being around, namely kids.

Music Class on the iPads

Recently I have been working with Mrs. Caroline Singh on a music project that utilizes the app Garage Band.   We worked together to plan the project. We discussed timing and coordinating use of the iPads, along with how many periods students would need to complete their work. We also discussed the actual use of the iPads for making music.

Caroline and I decided that it would be best to stay simple for this first project. We decided to focus on teaching students how to use Garage Band rather than the actual musicality of their songs. The plan is to have them master the app itself and then next as a progression students will begin to focus on creating music that focuses on rhythm, chords, etc.
Students were very enthusiastic to learn about Garage Band. They were curious about all the different features available and spent a great deal of time experimenting with the app. They have  created some very short but interesting songs.
I've upload a few here.

Gen and Taylor song

Caroline's song

Matea's song

Nishaans song

Our plan is to take these songs and upload them into iMovie then students will utilize iMovie to edit and create music videos for their songs. The focus of the project is more on creativity and learning the apps then it is on the actual musicality of their work. We will upload some of the music videos once they are completed.

Education Week and The Canadian Raptor Conservancy

As part of our education week activities we had James Cowan from the Canadian Raptor Conservancy visit us here at Lagerquist. All Lagerquist students attended the performance. We were able to get all 600 students into our gym and seated comfortably for the presentation.

James brought five different birds of prey with him and students learned about the birds and James also flew the birds for the students. One of our teachers, Mrs. Dwyer got to hold the Harris Hawk as a present from the students for her birthday. It was an interesting and engaging performance, both students and teachers had a lot of positive things to say about the birds, James and all of the information they learned yesterday.  

Here are some examples of the information they received from the presentation.

1. A Harris Hawk can land on a cactus so it wouldn't hurt if one landed on your head.
2. Great Horned owls like to hunt skunks because they don't have a sense of smell.
3. The Red-Tailed Hawk is on the list to become the Canadian National Bird. 
4. Canada does not have a Canadian National Bird.
5. Turkey Vultures have bald heads so that when they eat carrion it doesn't get all over their feathers.
6. Bald Eagles were extinct in Ontario up until 15 years ago.

The kids really loved how James flew the birds. He made a point of moving all over the room and ensuring that the students got a very close encounter with the birds. In all it was a great morning here at Lagerquist check out our photos. 

A Fall Report on our Library

I just wanted to write up a little progress report on the activities occurring here in the library over the fall term. There’s been a lot and I’ve learned a lot. We have a lot to do still to keep building this place into a learning commons.

My Goal to build this library!!!

1. A welcoming, service-oriented, tech-rich environment that is open on a regular basis and that invites students in to find resources and services that support their work.
2. Comfortable reading areas that attract students to books and to developing the lifelong habit of reading.
3. Comfortable working areas that enable different groupings of students to work, from independent learners, to pairs and small groups to whole-class instruction.
4. 24/7 access to digital resources as well as a collection of dynamic print resources all supporting curriculum and reading.
5. An area that would invite teachers, and guests to work with a class or group, with the support of the teacher-librarian to present multimedia or other performances.
6. A place that would provide students and teachers with opportunities to learn more advanced technology skills and create more complex digital products.
7. A place that is available for teachers to work in groups in workshops/lunch n’ learns to build new skills or collaboratively develop new resources, tools, etc.
8. provide a multitude of literacy initiatives and reading programs

Total number of Forest of Reading Books - 160
Total number of students participating in Forest Voting - 194 signed up
Activities for Forest of Reading

• Book Club
• Award Design Contest
• Talks with Expert Teachers
• Voting
• Imovie for the blog

Library Helpers
Currently 17 students come to the library regularly to shelve and restock books and help with maintaining the library

Study Hall
This runs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - 99% of the time I’m full and have to turn people away


Total number of checkouts to date - 2971
grade 6 total = 567
grade 7 total = 847
grade 8 total = 784

Total new items purchased by year
2011 - 503
2012 - 788

Total number of items in the library
Books - 2594
easy read/picture - 246
Graphic novel - 210
Magazine subscriptions - 8
Prof reference - 334
encyclopedias/reference - 180

Age of Books
Average age of books is 11 years old by publication year
2004 - 1111 total books published this year these are fiction and non-fiction
2001 - 887 total books published this year these are fiction and non-fiction
2008 - 442 total books published this year these are fiction and non-fiction

Graph Age of books by Dewey system

Teacher Research/Collaboration

• grade 6 research for Biodiversity - students researched and created presentations using poster board or prezi or powerpoint
• group research on Aboriginal peoples - students created a presentation for class on a specific group of native people
• completed Dare Arts cards
• research for grade 8’s completed Island City project
• grade 7 french project to create comics using Bitstrips
• utilized Tumble books
• website creation with live reenactment utilizing twitter for confederation
• recording radio advertisements in french for restaurants
• utilizing ipads and screenchomp for explaining websites for a charity “Shattered” novel study
• utilize computers to work on gizmos for science
• utilizing Imovie to create TV ads for a French Restaurant
• utilizing Ipads to film skit for french
• research project on mixtures and solutions end product was powerpoint or prezi
• research project with students on Canadian Artists
• research project on famous musicians students create a presentation for the class, like Prezi, powerpoint, frames 4, or jeopardy
• research project for migration students are creating photo essays on push and pull factors
• robotics project
• collaborating with me to train students on premier

Upcoming Projects/Plans

• using both the cart in class and the lab students will do research for cells
• will use Imovie to create trailers for the book the Twits - we will split the class and do storyboards then alternate filming times
• students will research water then create children’s stories about water utilizing Storybird
• utilizing audacity to make podcasts in music

6 Teachers bring their classes for regular book exchange

Fundraising

• Book Fair - 250$ - store credit
• Chapter’s night - 400$ - gift card
• Dare Arts - 95$ - cash
• Adopt a School - 500$ - gift card

Major Expenses for library budget

• Purchasing Fiction titles appropriate for grade 6’s - 1500
• Purchasing Graphic novels - 500
• Purchasing replacement book tape - 150$
• Repair books - 195$
• Magazine subscriptions 275$
• Incidentals like barcodes, magazine racks and board games took up the rest

Lessons learned from this year so far

• I can’t let teachers book regular weekly periods for computer use. There isn’t enough flexibility to schedule around them in 4 period day
• I needed to purchase more than 8 copies of Red Maple for Forest - they’re very popular
• The cart is a huge maintenance issue - reliable students should be trained in September to help with upkeep
• Cell phones are too small for BYOD to be useful awkward for kids to read
• The cart needs to monitored every period to ensure everything is back
• If Ipads are constantly plugged in to charge the battery dies
• Netbooks must be shut down with each new user or you can’t get on the network
• Each Wi Fi hub has 30 logins
• The cart is heavy
• Not everyone knows that you can sign out books from the library
• Not everyone knows that they can bring kids to the library to do research and collaborate/team teach with me
• Many teachers aren’t aware of the need to scaffold research so students of all levels are successful
• I have a lot to learn :))))

Finished Aboriginal Projects

I would like to display some of our finished projects from the grade 6 aboriginal peoples unit. Please see the blog entry entitled The Actual Assignment Pages to refresh your memory as to what the assignment entailed. Students were very enthusiastic about the assignment. They worked hard to complete the assignment and worked well together. Mrs. Camarda and myself worked hard to have to students conference with each other in order to ensure that each part of the assignment was completed. I have included samples of the students work below.

1. The Cree - this is a power point presentation which has been uploaded to a Google drive file. 
2. The following images display the models of traditional aboriginal wigwams, teepees, longhouses, etc.

Wigwam

A Salish house

A Longhouse

A teepee

Salish Longhouse

A Wigwam

The whole collection

The following images show some of the display boards that students created for their presentations.

A Story board for an Iroquois Creation Story

A presentation board on the Blackfoot

All about the Iroquois

A drawing of a teepee that explains different parts of the structure

All about the Salish

Mrs. Camarda and I consider the project to have been quite successful. The students have learned a great deal. They were able to be creative and  appeared to enjoy the work. They were enthusiastic and confident when they presented to their classmates. This is the first time that we have run this particular project with the students and Mrs. Camarda and I will discuss some things that we plan on changing in the future. This however is what teaching is all about. We learn just as much as the kids do each time we prepare and present a unit. Sometimes the manner in which a project is introduced is changed or the order in which the background information is changed. Each time a unit is taught there are always little changes or tweaks for the better. Teachers analyze and assess the effectiveness of a given unit and then work towards building it into something better each time it is taught. 

Chapters Night

I'm very excited for next Tuesday night. Chapters will be hosting a fundraiser for us and helping to support us as we build the library collection. On Tuesday the 20th, the Chapters at the corner of Bovaird and Hurontario, in Brampton will host an artwork display by our students. Families are invited to visit the display and to purchase items from the store. 15% of the sales from that evening will be donated to Lagerquist in the form of a Chapters gift card. This is so important for us we really need to build up our collection. Here's the link to our adopt a school . This site gives all the information about our library collection, its age and our need to build the collection we have. Families can also purchase e-gift cards from the site that will also contribute to donations from Chapters.


Hopefully, lots of families will come out that night and help support the library and the work we're doing. I've been going over the artwork and it's fantastic. I'm sure parents will be impressed with the quality of work we'll put on display that night.

See everyone there!

The Actual Assignment pages.

Yesterday I posted a description of a collaborative project that I completed with some grade 6  students and their teacher Mrs. Camarda.

Today I've pasted in the assignment pages for our First Nations Assignment so that you can see the roles that we supplied to the kids. Hopefully, this gives you an idea of the structure we have created for this assignment. Please see the Two Heads are Better than One post for more info on the assignment.

Aboriginal Unit:  Culminating Task

You will be placed into groups.  Each group will have the task of researching one of the following Aboriginal Groups:     

Cree (Subarctic Region)

·         Haida (Northwest Coast Region)

·         Interior Salish (Plateau Region)

·         Inuit (Arctic Region)

·         Iroqouis (Eastern Woodlands)

·         Blackfoot  (Plains)

As a group you will need to complete the following tasks that will be presented at our Potlatch at the end of this unit.

Task 1

Find a myth/story from the group that you are studying.  Create a four square sketch of the stories important scenes. 

Write a paragraph on why this story would be important to your tribes culture and what message or lesson your group thinks it is trying to teach.

Task 2

Research the art and culture of your tribe.  Look at the fact sheet provided and decide on an individual and art form that you would like to research and describe in your report.

Task 3

Describe the lifestyle that was lived by these tribes before contact with the Europeans.  Look at the fact sheet provided for key words that you could use to begin your research.  Look at what their homes looked like, what tools they used to gather food and survive the harsh climate, how they travelled or transported goods.

Task 4

As a group, once you have researched your tribe, you will come together and design a flag that represents the people of your tribe.  Also, you will need to share a dish during the potlatch that you think best represents these people that you can share with the rest of the class.

That was page 1. Here's page 2.

The Story Teller  Checklist

1.       Your task is to find 2 myths from the particular tribe you are researching. 

2.      Create a four square sketch for each story. 

These should be drawn neatly and coloured in.        

3.       Write one paragraph on the importance of one of these stories. 

What is the main idea of the story?

What is the theme? 

In your opinion, how do you think this story was used by the tribe in

order to help them survive?                                      

Cultural Attaché

1.       Research an art or musical style from the particular tribe you are researching.

2.       Find 2 examples of your art or musical form.  This can be a photo, a music video

or an audio file.

3.       Create a paragraph about the artist who created these pieces of art work.

Who is the artist?

When did they begin drawing/singing/sculpting, etc?

Where did they learn this art form?

What type of message are they trying to send with their art?

What is your opinion of this art form.  Do you like it?  Why/Why not? 

Life and Style Reporter A

1.       Research what it was like to live like the tribe you are researching.

Start with researching the types of homes they lived in.  Ask for a

“Constructing a Model of an Early First Nation Home”  Sheet  from Mrs. Camarda.

2.      Create a good copy drawing or a 3-D model.

3.       Write a paragraph describing the home.

What tools and materials were used for construction?

What items could be found inside the home?

Who was in charge of the home and what were their jobs? (ex. Mom’s were in

Charge of cooking meals, dad’s hunting and gathering food.)

Life and Style Reporter B

1.       Research the clothing that the tribe you are looking at wore. 

2.       In a paragraph, describe what they wore on an everyday basis and if

there were any pieces of clothing used for special occasions or ceremonies.

3.       Provide at least two examples of everyday wear and two examples of

ceremonial dress.

The Food Critic

1.       It is your task to find any interesting facts about how the tribe you are

researching found their food source. 

2.       Write a paragraph about how they were able to feed their tribe.  Think about the following questions.

How did they find food?  Were they farmers, fishers, hunters, etc?

How did they prepare their food to eat?

What tools did they use to prepare their food or kill it?

3.       Provide at least three pictures of how they found and prepared their food.

Hope this gives a good idea about what the project was all about. 

Two Heads are Better than One: The Advantage of Collaboration!

Today I would like to discuss the beginnings of a great collaborative relationship with one of my colleagues, Mrs. Clara Camarda.

We have worked together to create and structure a research project for her grade 6 classes. Collaboration is important and so is structuring the research for students.  It's not good enough to say to students, "Here's your topic! Here's your due date! On your marks get set go." In almost every case releasing the hounds, so to speak will not result in effective research.

Lets begin with collaboration.... The old saying two heads are better than one is absolutely correct.

Research projects can be complicated, time consuming and overwhelming for both a teacher and the students, having a second set of hands to assist with the whole event is very important.

Today at school Mrs. Camarda and I engaged in collaborative teaching with her grade 6 classes. The students are beginning a research project on Canada's aboriginal people's. Students are being asked to learn about their history, culture and the lives of modern First Nations people, here in Canada. Students will present their learning at a potlatch type event later on this month in class. The kids are looking forward to the event.

Over the past few weeks Mrs. Camarada and I have discussed the project thoroughly, planned out a schedule for research in the library and created a structure and set of guidelines for the students. We then discussed what I would cover with the students and how I would guide them at the beginning of the research. Mrs. Camarda created the task checklists and daily work summaries for each group to fill out, along with a list of resources to use. Mrs. Camarda searched and found some resources. I also assisted by finding some of the resources and websites we would supply the students in order to help give them direction. I also pulled a large number of print resources from our shelves that have been reserved solely for here classes use in the library.

On the day when we introduced the project to the students Mrs. Camarda and I took turns explaining different elements of the project and we also worked together to meet with each group and help them to consolidate each person's role within their groups. Kids seemed to be focused and confident.

Students decided on their roles and negotiated with group members to resolve conflicts over who was going to complete which tasks. Rock, paper, scissors was used occasionally to rectify disagreements. :)))

At that point we began our preview of available resources. Students perused the print resources and made quick notes of page numbers and book titles and myself and Mrs. Camarda circulated throughout the room assisting students in using the index and table of contents to help them find  information on their topics.

Then students were introduced to the online resources in the same way and we discussed using Boolean terms to help narrow down their searches. They were given about 20 minutes at the end of the period to begin their research. Here's a link to the digital library we introduced to students today. It's one designed solely for Peel students. Library eResources


During all this activity Mrs. Camarda and I worked to help students we would make comments about each other's suggestions and the discussion with the kids was very much a give and take between the two of us neither of us led the lesson while the other was silent. We had a conversation with the kids. When one of us forgot to mention something the other would jump in.  It worked very well.

I hope that we have provided the students with an example of good collaboration that they will use with their groups and that we have enriched their learning by having two of us available to assist them with their learning.

So I will end here by saying I will definitely post samples of student work when they finish up their projects and I look forward to working with Mrs. Camarda again this year. It was a blast and we're not even finished the project yet.

I've included the assignment pages here.

As a side note here's a link to another project I'm currently collaborating on with 4 other teachers.
The motivation tap