Lessons Learned The Hard Way

Building a Website From Scratch WITH HELP!

In the early years of computer technology, everything done on the computer required knowledge of special programming languages. Websites were designed by people who knew how to program in html code, or hypertext markup language. With the advent of Java scripting, it became possible to acquire applications or programs that made making websites easy. I soon learned how to enable the creation of websites as a tool to display new knowledge acquired by students instead of oral presentations or written projects or similar such hand-ins. Over the years since those early days, this has only become easier. When we ask students to create in the classroom, they automatically become engaged. What better focus of their creativity than a website required to inform others in some way on some topic.

Proper Role of Government - Big VS Small / Rural VS Urban / Federal VS State or Provincial

An article in the New York Times earlier this fall prompted me to sound off on the central issue of our times........small versus big government. But this also is reflected in the divide between urban and rural school districts and federal versus provincial jurisdictions. Sadly, our systems of government have not kept up with the changes in society. Nothing today can be solved easily unless we come to grips with the jurisdictional issue. As long as there are these huge divides, problems will remain intractable.

Baking Cookies and Integrating Technology

The word technology does not have to always mean computers. Something as simple as baking cookies can lead to an activity with students where they integrate technology into their lessons. Think about using Google to find recipes, using a conversion application to convert Imperial weights to litres, millilitres and so forth. Think about taking pictures of the process and the finished product and sending them as emails to parents. Think about researching where all the ingredients came from and how they made their way to a supermarket. Think about what happens to the ingredients under heat and what the baking process is all about. Think about how much per unit it costs to make cookies and how much per unit it costs to buy those same cookies. All of those steps use technology in authentic ways. My video explains all of this in greater detail.

Going From Novice to Expert With Technology

One of the biggest fears my students learning to be teachers worried about was implementing the use of technology into their classroom teaching practices.  There are still a lot of teachers who are well into their careers afraid of using technology. What I have tried to convey to both kinds of teachers is that no one expects you to be able to turn on a switch and be expert at technology and all of the kinds of technology from the beginning. Just like learning a sport or how to play an instrument, you always start small, in this case, one or two applications or tools and practice with them until you feel confident enough to expand your repertoire.  Becoming an expert means learning one skillset at a time and expanding from there.

What Does Literacy Mean In The Age of Podcasting and Social Media?

From the dawn of the computer age, meaning way back before there was such a thing as the Internet and Java Scripting, educators and parents have obsessed about the impact of the technology on the Language Arts. First it was typing, then it was grammar and spelling and now it is reading itself that is under assault. I happen to believe that it is up to the teacher to use the technology wisely and it is still possible to teach literacy skills, especially things like point of view and bias, using podcasting for instance or writing skills using social networking sites.  I explore various ways to accomplish this essential learning in this podcast and truthfully, in light of all that is happening today, nothing is more important to our collective futures in a democratic society.

Using a StoryBook to Encourage Thinking, Writing, Speaking, Creating

There is a skillset involved in taking a picture book which you read to a child or a group of children and encouraging them to then think, write, speak, or create. I used to read the Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf to my teachers - in - training and show them how to use the words, pictures and elements of the story to encourage reading and geography and social and emotional learning skills and that was always a big success with my students.  The same can be accomplished using almost any storybook and with any group of students, or with your own child or children at home.  The intimacy of sitting around an adult reader provides one of those teachable moments to allow us to talk and learn.

Public Education As An Anchor of Democracy and Equality

One of the fundamental building blocks of democracy over time has been a publicly funded educational system. It has ensured that every student graduates with the same body of knowledge, toolkit of skills and attitudes about society which has contributed greatly to its success. Too often now, there are groups who believe that education should be privatized and that parents should be able to decide who teaches their children and what they are made to learn. While that might sound good in theory, what it results in is a lack of harmony binding the citizenry to one another and a lack of shared goals and purposes and understandings of what it means to live in a democracy. The Public has a right to share in the education of their children but society needs more not less public education resources to ensure a cohesive social polity.

Using Zoom to Link People For Almost Anything

I know that a lot of individual educators and parents still struggle with distance education and the use of Zoom to connect teachers and students or students with other students. Many have expressed Zoom Fatigue, but Zoom is on the most recent iteration of what began as teleconferencing and now has only blossomed and extended its reach. This short podcast is designed to help you overcome some of your hesitancy and become more comfortable with it. I hope you can see that Zoom can continue to play a valuable role in our teacher's kitbag of learning skills. In my books, it is a welcome addition to our repertoire.

Getting Started Teaching With Technology

One of the most important elements in a teacher's toolkit today is the ability to use technology effectively and meaningfully to advance teaching and learning goals. Technology refers to any tool, but now that has to include anything driven by the use of microchips in its functioning. Such tools and their use is something I learned early and like to think that I learned well. In this episode, I share just how I got started with using technology, which in the earliest days, meant computers which later became ICT (informational and computational technologies) and now is so much more than that. In the early days it was restricted to a single stand-alone computer or hand-held and today it is everywhere and in every aspect of the home and school. We educators have an obligation to be the masters of this technology and in this podcast, I give you some pointers on how to get started and what to do after you have taken those first steps.

Introducing Myself and What I Hope to Accomplish

In this, my first podcast, I am going to try and give some background about myself and what lead me into the classroom to begin with. I talk about how I had major problems when I first began to teach and how I overcame them.. I introduce the term grit as it applies to a successful life as a classroom teacher. I hope I convince you to want to listen to more podcasts by me about my "Lessons Learned the Hard Way."