Re-thinking learning for the 21st Century
Written by Jennifer Weening
When it comes to assessment, traditional pen-and-paper tests are pretty much as far from authentic as you can get: one student, performing in a singular modality, with the teacher as the only viewer. Projects can be more authentic, but until there is an audience outside of the classroom, it can be hard to get students … Continue reading “Tis the Season: on authentic assessments”
Written by Jennifer Weening
Last year, my action plan centred upon restructuring my Communications Technology class in order to allow students to spend more time focusing on their own areas of interest. While this is still a work in progress—so far, I’ve revamped my first two units to try to cover a broader base of basic skills—my hope is … Continue reading “Learning Management and the Student UX: My 2016-17 Action Plan”
Written by Jennifer Weening
This week, I had the chance to work with the grade 7 French teacher, helping her get her classes set up on Duolingo, a web-based program that allows students to work through language lessons at their own pace. The teacher dashboard allows you to create classes, and students join the class with a six-digit code. … Continue reading ““You didn’t test out of any skills.””
Written by Jennifer Weening
I am sitting in silence for the first time in two days. My brain has been begging for it after two busy, high-energy days of presenting and learning at the Summit previously known as GAFE (now GSuite) in Vernon, BC with the EdTechTeam. Two full days jammed packed with tips and tricks, inspiring keynotes, and … Continue reading “You are who you say you are”
Written by Jennifer Weening
Wow. Il est difficile de croire que l’on est déjà en octobre, presque arrivé aux congés d’Action de grâce. Le mois de septembre s’est passé vite; c’est comme ce que l’on dit: le temps file quand on s’amuse! Pour les enseignants et les étudiants, le mois de septembre représente toujours un nouveau départ. Tout le … Continue reading “L’éternel recommencement”
Written by Jennifer Weening
Sometime in mid-July, I finally finished reading Tony Wagner’s book Creating Innovators, which had been recommended to me by several Cohort 21 members as a starting point for re-imagining my classroom. While I planned to write a full review of the book, Garth beat me to it (see his review here). Instead, I began copying … Continue reading “What Olympic diving judging has to do with grading in schools”
Written by Jennifer Weening
Distraught at the idea that the Cohort 21 F2F on April 22 represented the official end of the year for this incredible professional development experience, I signed up for an online AQ course on Technology Integration with Queen’s University which began this month. I figured it would be a natural follow up to the growth … Continue reading “A Blended Learning meta-exploration”
Written by Jennifer Weening
When you break it down, my action plan can be summed up with this: Restructure Comm Tech to provide more and better opportunities for personalization and project-based learning. It’s amazing how simple it can seem when you break it down to its essence, isn’t it? Even too obvious? And yet it’s incredible the amount … Continue reading “Lights, Camera, Action Plan!”
Written by Jennifer Weening
Although it’s possible that I haven’t yet articulated it as such, my action plan is centred around the idea of implementing project-based and personalized learning in my Grade 11 Communications Technology class. I realized after our third face-to-face session in January that my plan of attack was a bit misguided (see “Keeping the cart behind … Continue reading “Taking the first step toward personalizing learning”
Written by Jennifer Weening
Back in the groove again. It didn’t take long, did it? March Break is already a distant memory, and for me, it seemed like the benefits of the break, and the feeling of being rested and caught up, were quickly swept away with the first bell last Tuesday. That said, despite the third term busyness, … Continue reading “Be better than you were yesterday: words to live by”
