At the Upper Grand D.S.B. Learning Fair today, Matt Arnold, 
Rob Robson & I presented a preview of the BYOD training that will be happening in the U.G.D.S.B. throughout this school year.  Check out this slideshow & be sure to ask your administrator if you are interested in participating in the training modules.  

Click here to view the embedded version of the slideshow.

If you follow me on Twitter, you have likely seen that I am at the UGDSB Learning Fair.  The Learning Fair is a great way to circulate around, hear what colleagues are doing & also get inspired for the new school year.  Here's a summary of Day 1:

Keynote Speaker:

Candy Palmater (@TheCandyShow) 

Candy spoke about her childhood, her background, her education and her life.  Her discussion was emotional, hysterical and interesting.  She made us think about the impact we, as teachers, have on our students.  

Session 1:  The Power of Blogging in the Classroom - Lisa Unger & Sarah Le (ODSS)

www.socrative.com - A great way to get instant feedback from students and to start a discussion.

#commentsforkids - Recommended hashtag to Tweet out links to students blogs

UGCloud Blogger - An application available through UGCloud.  Easy to set up, either setting up individual student blogs or setting up students as co-authors on the same blog.

Idea Site - Rhymes with Orange

Great Video for introducing Blogging to your students or staff:

UGCloud Blogger - An application available through UGCloud.  Easy to set up, either setting up individual student blogs or setting up students as co-authors on the same blog.

Session 2: 
Engaging Students and Teachers Through Inquiry
- Gina Betts, Andrew Cloutier, Kate Creery 
& Ashley Standen

Video Introduction:

Recommended Reading:

Capacity Building Series - Six Tips

Presentation Slideshow

Natural Curiosity Document & Website

Session 3: How do we move from collaborative learning to a community of learners? - Amie Willoughby

A great resource brought forward during the discussion - Regarding Accountable Talk:

Grand Conversations - Primary

Grand Conversations - Junior

Another Great Resource from Day 1:

Guiding Our Guided Reading Website 
Intermediate Teachers - Carrie Nethery, 
Shari Roberts & Catherine Andrews share their adventures in Intermediate Guided Reading

A few things to consider as you prepare for September!

Communication
How are you communicating with your parents and students?

Are you creating an online classroom to support your support your face-2-face classroom?

Remember that the website is not necessarily just for communicating with parents, it can be a place for students to go for extra practice and reinforcement of skills.

Here's a great collection of classroom websites.  Also check out our school library website for link or formatting ideas.

Think about what is important for you to share on your site.  
For example:
- homework assignments
- links and videos that relate to classroom study
-  curriculum updates
- important dates
- pictures or student work (with parental permission)
- discussion pages
- slideshows of pictures or lessons

Think about incorporating the web page update into your daily routine.  For example, update the website on your big screen as the students write in their agendas.

Check out our Weebly Resource Page for help creating a website.

Displaying Student Work
How will you display your student's work?

Are you creating an online way to show your student's work?

Students are thrilled to have their work displayed online.  Not only is it accessible for them to show their parents, they can also show it to friends and family across the world. Grandparents who live miles away can see their grandchildren's work.  That type of authentic feedback can be very rewarding for our students and inspiring!

Think about getting parental permission to create an online student portfolio or blog.  How about asking permission to post student work (pictures or typed)?  The possibilities are endless!

Here are some great examples displaying student work:

Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom
Our Learning Journey - from Mrs. Horst's Class Website
Create a class Twitter Account: Ms. Thompson's Class
Ms. T.G's Class's Website

These are only a few great examples of how to display student work online. 

BYOD
What is your classroom BYOD policy?

As we move towards a culture of students bringing their own devices into the school, what is your classroom policy?

When and how are these devices used?  Are they being used for research?  Skill practice?  Where are they kept when they are not being used in the classroom?  


Perhaps you want to start with BYOD days...allowing students to bring a device one day per week or per month, until you and your students are comfortable with the rules and routines.

These are all things to consider:


What is your school's policy?  For example, at my elementary school devices are allowed only during supervised instructional time.  Devices are not allowed on the school yard, in the halls or in the lunch rooms.  


How will you make your rules and routines clear to parents and students?


Here's a great example of how one junior class is approaching this topic.


Here's a great blog post about what to consider as you start BYOD in your classroom.


As always, let me know if you have any questions or things I can help you with!  Thanks for Learning EdTech with me :)