Debating on a Topic

I am working on my Exhibition Project and as a year level, we needed to come up with a topic.

Image by Nick Youngson

To do this, we went through the following process...

Book Creator

Book Creator app is an amazing tool that allows your students to publish all kinds of work. 

If you have enjoyed using Book Creator app with your students, you will love the new version of Book Creator for Chrome that was launched in 2017.

Gr3A Poetry Anthology 2017

Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

https://read.bookcreator.com

The Role of ICT in the PYP Classroom

ICT is here to stay.    There's no going back to this.    It has permeated all areas of our life, from things we do everyday at home, to work, to learning, to how we interact socially.   So, if you can't fight against it, you might as well join it and use it on your behalf.

The PYP states that ICT provides opportunities for the transformation of teaching and learning.   The PYP views ICT as integrated into the transdisciplinary program and subject areas and should not be taught in isolation.    Though ICT, students learn life long skills as they investigate, collaborate, create, communicate, organize, and learn to be responsible digital citizens of the world they live in.   When ICT is carefully and meaningfully integrated into the curriculum to enhance learning,  students need to to be critical thinkers to apply their understanding and learning into new, real life situations.   When given the chance to be creators, the sky is the limit for students and you'd be surprised at what they can do.   

The SAMR model created by Rubén Puentedura shows us at what level we are integrating technology in our practice and at the same time allows us to visualize if we are taking our teaching to a higher level to reach our students' highest potential to develop higher order thinking skills.

CC Lefflerd in Wikimedia Commons

How do you evaluate your ICT integration practice?  What could you do to reach the higher transformational levels of the SAMR model?

Skype in the Classroom

Gr5 students have recently started the new unit of inquiry Where We Are in Place and Time.   The central idea is Exploration is a response to human circumstances and curiosity which impacts people and places and students inquire on it in the context of history.   Students are wondering what motivated explorers to leave their comfort zone in search of something.  What is it that drove so many men and women in history to take on sometimes dangerous trips to the unknown?  What were the consequences of their adventures and findings to the rest of the world?

In this context, our students today had the chance to ask some of those question to a real modern day explorer.  How do you wonder?  Well, ICT is what made bringing the world into our students' classroom possible today.
Juliana, one of our Gr5 teachers contacted her personal friend Alexandre Socci to ask him if he was available for an interview from Santiago College students via Skype all the way from Brazil.   After he agreed, students prepared questions to ask him and the representatives that would address him during the interview.

Active listeners carefully taking notes of the stories Ale told

There are many ways Skype can be used in the classroom.  This is only one example of what you can do with Skype in the classroom.  You can now have guest speakers from anywhere in the world without having to leave your classroom.

Each speaker took turns to come to the computer, present themselves and ask something on behalf of his/her classmates

Alexandre shared some of his most dangerous experiences with the students, some of the places he's been to, his motivation to become a photographer, and how his contact with nature has changed him to appreciate it more and take better care of the earth.   

All in all, it was an excellent experience for both students and teachers who attended the interview.  We are all very grateful for this contact and experience that allowed us for a minute to look at the world through the lens of an adventurer and explorer.  Thank you one more time Alexandre Socci!

Who would you invite as guest speaker for your students?

Blogging Buddies

My name is Cristina Alvayay and I work in Santiago College, Chile since the year 1999.  I have moved around the school a bit in all these years.  I started out as a bilingual Gr4 teacher, moved to the English department where I spent 10 years, and now I belong to the Educational Technology team.   For the last 3 years, I have been an EdTech Coach for grades 3 through  5.   All this moving around has allowed me to meet many people, learn how the different areas of the school work, and made me (I believe) a more flexible person.  

I have been invited this year to participate in the Blogging Buddies, ISTE's EdTech Coaches PLN this year.  I feel it will be a great opportunity to learn more not only about tech integration, but also about the challenges we face as EdTech coaches.  I am also very excited about meeting new people through here!

Feel free to follow me on twitter and instagram where I share some of the things I do with my students.

Trabajo de mis alumnas en clase de tecnología y diseño

El desafío para este grupo de alumnas en clase de tecnología y diseño era dar un valor agregado a un taco de Post-It notes. ¿Puedes identificar qué valor agregaron a los Post-Its?    Vean, disfruten y por favor dejen sus comentarios.

Google en Chile

Hoy ha sido un día intenso.   Participar en una conferencia de Google ha sido una oportunidad y un privilegio.   Presentar en ella... ¡no me lo imaginé nunca!   Estaré "al aire" en alrededor de 45' y ahora que veo la hora, me da cosquillas en la güata...  La adrenalina y a emoción me inundan.   He conocido gente diversa y muy interesante de Chile y del mundo, y algo entretenidísimo fue probar Google Glass.