Learning to Speak & Listen

We’re often told that using our voice is one of our most powerful qualities. We are taught to be careful with our words, to problem solve with our words, and to even express our emotions with our words so, needless to say, learning to speak clearly and with intention is an important educational focus. Oral communication skills are an essential aspect of any student’s education because of how our words shape our identity and influence how others perceive us.

 

The Kids Should See This

As teachers, we’re always looking for video content to show our students that is both engaging and reflects the curriculum, which is why I want to introduce you to a fantastic resource called The Kids Should See This. Founder and editor Rion Nakaya, describes the site as a library of videos not made for kids, but perfect for them. Teachers will appreciate how organized, accessible, and just plain interesting these videos are.  

Learning to Listen

Incorporating videos into your classroom is a great way to inform students on a number of topics in a way they prefer or enjoy most. Asking students to listen to videos is an excellent opportunity for them to practice their active listening skills. The Ontario curriculum expects students to be able to “listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes” (119). There are many opportunities for students to practice their active listening skills throughout the day, incorporating video content is just another option for teachers.

Before introducing video content it’s important for teachers to understand how to introduce media in a way that engages students, not distracts. Below are suggestions to keep in mind so students can effectively practice their active listening skills:

Tips to encourage active listening:

·         Have a list of questions for students to answer while/after watching the video (provide and review questions beforehand)

·         Stop, pause, and rewind the video at important points to remind students to listen

·         Accessible - provide the link for students who wish to rewatch at home or on their own device

·         Videos should be short and interactive if possible

Learning to Speak

Active listening skills are just one half of a student’s oral communication skills. Teachers are also expected to foster effective verbal communication skills in their students. Videos and podcasts are perfect opportunities for teachers to expose their students to powerful and engaging speakers and presenters. Under the oral communication strand, the Ontario curriculum expects that students will be able to “use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes” (119). TedTalks is another excellent video resource for teacher to use as well. These videos are both informative but also great ways to model presentation and speaking skills.

 

If you’re looking for ways to use videos to support the development of your students’ speaking skills, check out the suggestions below:

Tips to help improve speaking skills*:

·         Choose videos that could be the foundation of a debate topic

·         For videos without dialogue have students write a script and record their voices

·         Show videos of effective and ineffective speakers, have students discuss what makes an effective, engaging speaker

 

*As always, these lists are in no way comprehensive. I invite you to carry on the conversation in the comments section to share your own tips and tricks.

 

References:

Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8: Language. Ontario: Queen’s
Printer, 2005. Web.

Apps to Help Teach Writing

These days it’s not a question of if technology should be used, but more specifically, how technology should be used in our classrooms.

The conversation around technology has shifted from “should we do it?” to “how should we do it?”. Fortunately for teachers today, online teaching resources are everywhere. Most educators understand technology’s role in the classroom is to supplement lessons (and not be the lesson), however, it's the process of effectively incorporating technology into lessons that is sometimes tricky.

Writing is of course an essential skill our students need to learn, and with most new skills, practice is often what leads to success. Using tablets and apps in the classroom is a relatively new concept, so naturally we’re faced with some new challenges and lots of questions. The appropriate use of educational apps and their place in the classroom is new conversation surrounding technology in the classroom.

Many of the apps for writing nicely support Ontario curriculum expectations, a huge bonus for educators of course. Ideally, if we're going to incorporate the use of apps in our classroom they should support our learning goals and expectations.

Using Apps to Teach Writing

Skeptics might be questioning the shift from pen-to-paper writing exercises to online writing lessons. After all, online writing birthed the notorious misspelling of “ur” and “gonna”. But I promise you there is hope. Young learners can benefit greatly from spending time practicing their spelling and grammar online.

Here are 3 examples of apps that do just that:

Toontastic—provides students with a set story arc or narrative from which then can choose characters, create dialogue, and add images.

GrammarJammer—teaches grammar skills in a game format. The usefulness of this app is pretty straightforward, we know that proper grammar is essential to developing good writing skills. Below is a short tutorial video of the GrammarJammer app (see, grammar is fun!).

SuperDuper StoryMaker—Students can craft their own stories using text, images, and sounds.

Each of these apps support the four curriculum expectations for language in Ontario. These apps require students to generate ideas, revise their writing, and write using a variety of stylistic forms for a specific purpose or audience, which is a direct reflection of Ontario's curriculum.

Strategies and Tips for Effective Use

Now that I've (hopefully) convinced you that apps do have a place in your classroom, let’s take a look at some practical ways you use integrate them into your lessons.

Tips & Tricks:

·         Allow students permission to use a tablet or iPad during downtime or if they’ve completed a test or assignment early

·         Set up rotating stations – break the class up into groups, have them rotate between stations (each station focuses on a minor writing task, have one station use the ipads)

·          Have students take turns "testing" certain apps and report their findings to a the class or small groups 

Of course, the above recommendations are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to online writing resources. My hope is that I’ve offered a jumping off point for those of you unfamiliar with using apps for teaching purposes. I encourage you put these methods to test in your own classrooms in order to see what works best with your students and classroom dynamics. As well, feel free to pass along this list to parents looking for ways to practice with their children at home.

If you have any further questions, or suggestions, I invite you to leave a comment below!

 

 

Teaching Kids to Read

Do you remember when you first started learning how to read? How did you feel about it growing up?

Reading Horizons. (6 July 2012) [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1Hcy1Av

Depending on your personal experience, learning how to read either felt effortless or challenging. For some students, the process feels natural and gradual. While other students are faced with certain barriers that make learning to read a more complex process.

With both types of experiences in mind, teachers should be sensitive to the different and many needs of their young learners. Since reading is such an essential life skill it can be a daunting subject for teachers. Fortunately, teachers have access to tons of reliable teaching resources!

For those of us new to the profession, I can certainly say that the level of teaching support Ontario curriculum offers is fantastic. We are given access to so many new and traditional sources for lessons. Yay Ontario!  

 “Don’t feel like you have to reinvent the wheel”

As just a Teacher Candidate, I’m constantly turning to more experienced educators for guidance on these topics. After all, reading is such an important skill. I don’t want to be that teacher who ruined their students’ experience of learning how to read (dramatic perhaps, but an honest fear nonetheless). My Associate Teacher passed on an incredible piece of advice recently, which was simply “don’t feel like you have to reinvent the wheel”.

Seems like that would be obvious right?

Of course! Yet, many of us feel the added pressure to recreate traditional models. This pressure is not necessarily a negative thing, our society does praise better, newer, bolder. However traditional teaching approaches still hold merit.

Now is a good time to take a sigh of relief. Let me introduce you to a fantastic resource called “Guide to Effective Instruction”. For the purpose of this post, I will focus on the Reading section of the Guide to Effective Instruction series.

 

The Guide to Effective Instruction series exists for all subjects and is an additional document that supports Ontario curriculum. It is meant to equip teachers with strategies for teaching that will directly support all four of Ontario’s curriculum for reading expectations.

For new teachers, I consider this basically a document to live by. The reading guide clearly outlines instructional approaches to teaching reading that are directly applicable to the classroom – simply put these strategies into practice and you’re good! Equally important though, the guide includes assessment guidelines and expectations to ensure we are matching curriculum requirements. These strategies are tried and true so as a beginner teacher don’t feel guilty about sticking to the book at first. These instructional approaches are specifically designed to meet curriculum expectations.

The Gradual Release of Responsibility

The model outlined in the Effective Instruction document is called the gradual release of responsibility.

This strategy moves students from full teacher support to independent reading through a series of steps.

Experienced teachers will be very familiar with this model. If you've been teaching for awhile you might think a lot of this information is obvious, but for us newer teachers this is a concept we must wrap our heads around. Yes, it’s been around for a while but that's for a good reason. Trust that there are some traditional approaches to teaching that are just as valid as the newer, more experimental approaches.

The website ReadWriteThink is another great resource to take a look at for more instructional approaches. It's very similar to the effective instruction series but offers even more detailed lesson plans and instructional activities.

If you have a few minutes, check out the video below! It's a brief introduction on how ReadWriteThink can help you in the classroom.

 

For the newer teachers reading, I hope I've offered some relief! It can be overwhelming sifting through the vast online information available to us but know that there are some solid and well-respected traditional approaches too.

On that note, happy reading!

References:

Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8: Language. Ontario: Queen’s
Printer, 2005. Web.

Ministry of Education. Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction Grades 4-6: Volume Five. Ontario: Queen’s Printer, 2008. Web.  

Digital Storytelling

The act of storytelling is considered one of the most effective ways of teaching. Why? Well, we often use stories to make sense of our world and who we are. At our very core we are a collection of stories, we are built from stories, and we learn from stories.

However, how we tell stories to our students has evolved over time to reflect the changes in our world. With the rapid rise of digital media and technology it is no surprise that our stories are being reinvented using digital media. Digital technology allows for a new kind of collaboration and creativity we haven’t seen before. To put it simply, digital storytelling is a term used to describe this new way of storytelling using digital technology. Digital storytelling is sharing and creating meaningful media, collaborating, and transforming stories with technology.

Why Teachers Need to Know about Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling can be used as a tool to enhance lessons, to spark creativity and motivation in students, and to deliver abstract concepts in a more relatable form for students.

Digital storytelling engages students in a process of researching, sharing, designing, creating, and more. The learning goal is not the outcome or the tools (technology) used but the creative process involved for students.  According to Ontario’s curriculum, to be media literate means to construct meaning through various “languages” – images, sounds, graphics, words (14).

Ontario curriculum expects that students develop media literacy skills by having opportunities in the classroom to analyse and discuss a wide variety of media texts and then be able to relate them to their own experiences (14). Digital storytelling is a prime example of how students can creatively blend personal experiences with technological tools already available to create their own, unique stories.

This video below is a great example of how the Internet can facilitate a rich collaborative environment.

 

Integrating Digital Storytelling into your Classroom

By now you probably have a good idea of what digital storytelling is but if you’re looking for some real-life student examples, check out this link.

Since the topic of digital storytelling seems like such a broad and encompassing topic, as a teacher, you have a lot of options.  Ways to incorporate digital storytelling into the classroom are almost limitless. To get started here are some project ideas:

            Language Arts (English, History, Geography, Drama) and Technology

·         Have your students write and design an alternative ending to a book studied in English class

·         Ask students if they can communicate their life story (or their family’s history) using words, images, sound, etc.

·         Have students collaborate in groups and recreate a story – either historical or fictional (similar to the video above)

Of course, this list is just the start to the many directions teachers can take when designing digital storytelling projects. Remember though, digital storytelling is not just about the tools your students use but about the process of creation and collaboration. Provide your students with the tools they need but keep the focus on the process. The beauty of digital storytelling is that it enables students to challenge storytelling conventions so, as a teacher, it can be helpful to turn to your students for more ideas and inspiration as well.

On that final note, good luck and happy storytelling!

Reference:

Ministry of Education. The Ontarion Curriculum Grades 1-8: Language. Ontario: Queen’s

Printer, 2005. Web.