Batter up!

I enjoy baseball.  I was able to see the Blue Jay's home opener recently with some great friends.  I even had the fortune to be interviewed on City TV. 
My dad's cousin, at least to the best of our knowledge that is the relationship, is a Baseball Hall of Famer.  Bert Blyleven was a major league pitcher for a few teams and he was a member of the World Series Pirates (1979) and Twins (1987). His best pitch was the curveball.  Many baseball analysts will still compare others pitchers' curveball to Bert's.  If you have ever played baseball, fastball, or slow pitch, it is always amazing to see how the baseball can move and quickly change direction.  I had the chance to pitch a little bit when I played fastball.  My best pitch was also a curveball.  Sometimes I could really confuse a batter by starting the pitch outside and moving it in or in the middle and then outside.  As a batter, I too was often fooled when thrown a curve.

Every once in while life throws us the occasional curveball.  Sometimes we have plans but our plans don't always work out the way that we had hoped for various reasons.  I guess I think that God likes a good baseball game.  I say this knowing that God has a plan for all of us.  These "curveballs" that we try to swing at are usually the things that we wish to do and God, sometimes with a slight curve or sometimes with a big swooping curve, reminds us of His plans for us.  I am reminded and often humbled by Jeremiah 29:11.


If you recall from my very first blog post I mentioned that I would be trying blogging and tweeting on a regular basis.  My curveball, or obstacle, I believe was that of time.  It is not that I did not have the time, however, it was how I was using my time.  I think it is important that I keep maintaining my blog.  I have just finished a very busy past three months - I have wrapped up some teaching at Redeemer and just this week finished a course that I was taking.  Each of these activities threw some curveballs at me.

In the Comm Tech class, it was the hope to have the students blog weekly as part of their presentations  of learning and reflection.  I can honestly say that it did not work as initially hoped.  Some of the class is still blogging, while others, are coming up with other ways to demonstrate and share their learning, one in which they have more say and were able to choose what they think will be an effective communication piece.  I will fill you in on this in a later post.  This was definitely a curveball for me as, in my mind, the student blogs were going to be awesome but to my benchmark and not theirs.  I am glad to say that the blogs and portfolios are still awesome and taking a different shape then what I had initially planned.

I look forward to see many of you this week at Parent Teacher Interviews where we can share more and have a chance to chat.

E-waste Collection - remember to bring in your electronic waste to Parent Teacher Interviews or drop by with it on Saturday, between 10am and 3pm as the grade 9 class collects electronic waste as part of a project.  There is a free BBQ starting at 11am!

Grade 9 Computers - BTT 1O
Report came out last week.  You may have had a chance to read the report and notice that there are not a lot of changes to it.  What are we doing?  The class has been busy of the last number of weeks as they work on their e-waste project.  We are just about finished our in class time for the projects.  I continue to be impressed with the ideas, planning and implementation of many of the group projects.  I, as well as the students, look forward to seeing this being completed and presenting our finished projects.  Mr. Brink and I are also using this course to help out with some of the foundational and fundamental elements of school.  The class has also been busy working on a research report about topics in online security and personal privacy.  These reports are also wrapping up this week.  The next step for the reports is helping the students develop these reports into presentation for the class.

Grade 10 Communication Technology

This continues to be an exciting course.  The class has been busy creating posters for the upcoming play, shooting and editing videos, creating podcasts and brushing up on their graphic design skills.  

Keeping it real!

I have mentioned previously about a course that I am currently taking.  The course delivery method is "on-line synchronous", this means that at a set time I meet on-line with my other classmates, who are in various parts of the world.  While this method of learning is new for me and I am enjoying the process, the title of this post, Keeping it real, it something that I am struggling with in this online context.  I have classmates, and we talk, however, I have only ever met one of them and that was at Technology and Education conference this past Fall.  So the classmates are real and our interactions are real but it just doesn't always seem real.  I miss getting to know my classmates and having conversations with them that are not necessarily course related - I feel that I am missing out a little bit on the community of a class.  I wish that I could really get to know the people with who I am working. I fully understand that on-line communities are very real, but I question if I am able to give all of the various communities, of which I am a part of, the real me?

I am thankful that HDCH is a great community and that each class is its own smaller community. Being intentional about "keeping it real" is a challenge that I, and maybe some of you, struggle with as our use of social networking and our on-line communities continue to grow. The great part is that we are called to be a community, God has created us to be communities of believers.  As the word community continues to have new and various examples, it is encouraging, and reassuring, that God is present in all of our communities.

Grade 9 Computers - BTT1O
Hold on to your e-waste! The grade 9 classes are well into their electronic waste projects.  There are many incredible projects taking place.  Mr. Brink and I have challenged the classes to not only understand what electronic waste is, but to really do something about it.  There are many different ideas like; videos being made to foster an understanding of e-waste, a song that will tell people about e-waste through music, Sunday School curriculum being made, e-waste video games, groups hoping to visit other schools and give presentations, an e-waste collection day, a children's book, Facebook pages and other ideas!  I encourage you to have a conversation with your grade 9 student and find out exactly what they are doing!

The e-waste collection at our school will be during the week of April 17th to April 21st.  Have a look at the UKnight for more details about the event.
Concurrently the grade 9 students are also researching various topics about personal information, privacy and security in a digital age.  This activity has students researching, formal writing reports and then taking their findings and presenting them to their classmates.  We are hoping to video the presentations.  I will try to post some of videos here when they are complete.

Grade 10 Communication Technology
For the last two weeks the Comm Tech class has been working are developing and refining their video editing.  Some the videos involved stop animation, constructing a reality from a different perspective, reversing video and other techniques. The class is just beginning their second module.  I will keep you posted and provide samples of their work!

Welcome to Second Semester

Hi again everyone!

It has been a several weeks since my last post.  I must admit that I have been rather busy but I have indeed missed the opportunity to write and communicate with you.  For the parents that are new to this blog, the parents of the students in Communication Technology, welcome you to your first view of Taking Tech' in HD!  For the parents of my last semester students, or anyone for that matter, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list for the blog please just send me an email (hblyleven@hdch.org) and let me know that you wish to no longer receive the blog updates.  I will not take it personally  ;)

http://somenovelideas.typepad.com

Some of you may recall that I instruct a class at Redeemer, Technology in the Classroom.  This class usually is offered in January and February with two sessions per week. Over the last 14 years, I always enjoy teaching this course.  What I like the most is sharing teaching ideas with other educators and other soon to be educators.  This year, I had my students blog as part of an assignment.  For some this was an activity that met with some uneasiness, while others enjoyed the process.  Some people think that they have nothing to write about or that no one will care what they have to say.  My purpose for having them blog is be transparent with their ideas about teaching and also to begin to develop a Personal Learning Network (PLN) in which they can converse and respond to other educators.

The idea of belonging to a PLN, I think, is modelled very well by our students.  Most kids, especially those with cell phones, are constantly in connection with their network and freely call on "their network" for almost anything, including learning.  Aside from the "what u doing?" and the "where r u?" texts, I think that the amount of "local knowledge" and information shared by our students is quite vast.  However, I do believe that our students need some guidance about how to effectively use technology.  Recently, on the local news, there was a segment about how some high school students were making poor choices about how they used technology within their network and that the community was hurting as a result. The news reporter broke a story about how popular "sexting" was at this school. "Sexting is the slang term for the use of a cell phone or other similar electronic device to distribute pictures or video of sexually explicit images. It can also refer to text messages of a sexually-charged nature." (http://teenhealth.about.com)

Throughout our computer and technology courses at HDCH, we attempt to show students, not only the incredible things that we can do with technology but we also try to be open and frank about some of the dangers and lures of technology.  This current generation, Generation Z, which is;

• born after 1990
• highly connected
• carrying mobile technology
• readily sharing information online (often without thinking about future ramifications)

and has the tools, and the knowledge to work very well.  Making good choices, I believe, is a skill that needs to be discussed and practised.  I always enjoy the  impromptu class discussions about appropriate technology use, usually after a cellphone goes off in class. I would also enjoy hearing from you, the parents, about ideas and topics you would like to see included in the planned class discussions.  I invite you to please leave comments below or email me at the school. 

Grade 9 Computer Class

The grade 9's have been busy as of late. Looking at effective webpage design provided students a foundation to begin with, as they created their own websites using Google Sites.  Currently, the class is just about to wrap up a mini unit on Power Point. Using Power Point in a new and interactive way was our focus.  Using Power Point, the class created a five question multiple choice quiz on electronic waste.  This week we will be looking at having some fun with Power Point and create some interactive video games.  I will try to post videos of the games for the next blog.  

The E-waste quiz also allowed Mr. Brink and I to have the students think again about the topic which will be our main project for the next semester.  We look forward to having our students wrestle with a topic that can have such a negative affect on God's creation.  We will keep you posted.

Grade 10 Communication Technology

It is my pleasure to again have the opportunity to teach this course.  For me, this is one of the most exciting courses that our school has to offer.  This semester, the class in divided into four Project Based Modules in which students, and/or groups of students, take the skills that this class provides and uses them to develop tangible productions that others need, i.e. logos, graphic design work, audio productions, video productions etc.  

Below is a group's first production.

If you are not sure what this course is all about then have a look at the picture below. It represents the thoughts, ideas and words that this class determined were important.  We liked it so much that it is now a poster hanging on our classroom wall!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a good holiday season and that you were able to celebrate with friends and family. The holiday time was great for me.  It provided me a chance to relax, refocus and recharge.

http://www.ehow.com/

I am thankful for the two week break and the time I had to help me prepare for the next two busy months.

This past week I started taking a new course through the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.  It is called "web based learning tools." As it has only been one week, we have just been introduced to the topic and have been getting to know some of the other students in the course. 

My small group defined web based learning tools as:

Internet based activities that complements the curricular expectations and allow students to investigate ideas at their own pace, while assessing their understanding before moving forwards. The spectrum of optional learning activities allow the interaction of ideas outside of a classroom and facilitate the use of a wider pool of resources and learning spaces.

We will find out next week if our definition is close as we were asked to resist the urge to Google it - so far, so good!

This course has a different structure than any other course that I have taken.  The course format being used is called Synchronous Learning and there are some activities which are completed through Asynchronous Learning.  Synchronous learning has all students, 23 of us, on-line at the same time.  We all need a computer with a microphone and speakers or headset, so that we can communicate with the instructor, other students and our "breakout groups."  

I am excited by this course for a number of reasons:

• I like meeting people. Even though it is likely that I will not meet these people face to face, I have an opportunity to engage with other people about educational topics and resources.
• I look forward to learning about new resources for students and teachers.
• Online learning adds an interesting component to education.  There are several different types of blended learning, ranging from traditional to completely on-line.  On line learning intrigues me with its many possibilities, and honestly, kind of scares me because of its many possibilities.
• Learning spaces (where one learns), through the use of internet learning, are quickly becoming blurred with the rest of our "spaces"
• I am excited by how I can help use and incorporate new thoughts, ideas and possibilities at HDCH

Over the next few months I will try to share some of the key ideas and thoughts about the learning experience and materials from this course.

This past week I also started teaching an evening class at Redeemer University College.  For many years I have been working and learning with pre-service teachers in a course called Computers in the Classroom.  The title of the course is a little misleading as we spend much of our time looking at technology and its impact in the classroom upon; teacher-student relationships, learning, and some of the concerns in education.  As a class we have great discussions and discover many resources.  It is exciting to see and hear the energy and enthusiasm that new teachers bring to teaching and learning.  We may not know what our schools might look like in the next 10 years, but, we can feel confident that we will continue to be blessed with good educators!

ICS3U - Grade 11 computers

The grade 11 computer class has been working on summative assignments since they have returned from the break.  There are many great ideas for programs that the students are working on such as; word guessing games, fuel consumption and efficiency, connect-four, various text based word games and other ideas.  View a more complete description of the summative assignment.  The summative assignment, while challenging, allows the students to challenge themselves in their programming ability.  Students also have indicated what assessment level that they hope to achieve.  

BTT1O - Grade 9 computers

The past week has been exciting for me in this course.  The students have been researching and defending various topics through debates that we have had in class.  The topics have been about copyright laws in a digital world, the purpose and use of cell phones in schools and education, and the pros and cons of each student at HDCH having a netbook or tablet device.  Students have also responded to various articles about each topic. Here are the articles that they have responded to:

Boston Student fined for illegal downloading

Toronto District School Boards to lift cell phone ban

iPad Pilot puts the touch on independent learning

If you have any thoughts on the post or the articles listed, as always, your comments are most welcome!