On Wednesdays I highlight some of our amazing MVSD staff on our social media pages. Everyday our staff are using tech in new and exciting ways, are learning new skills, and are sharing ways in which ed tech is assisting them in their practice. I had an opportunity to visit Smith Jackson School yesterday as part of a broader school-sites tour in Dauphin and was welcomed by Tegan Zacharias and her Grade 3 team. During my observation I was thrilled to see one of our EA team, Michelle, move unobtrusively through the room to assist with translation services for new students joining… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Microsoft Educator Center
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. This is a FREE online community platform in which educators can participate in Microsoft-based professional development, connect with other educators, access virtual field trips, find shared resources and more! With so many topics to choose from, this is one of my go-to resources to share with educators who are looking for support in the Microsoft realm. For those new to Microsoft I also recommend starting with the following “learning paths” that offer asynchronous, self-paced guided professional development… Read More
The Role of Administrators in Ed Tech Integration
On Mondays I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. With this week playing host to our divisional admin council meeting I wanted to focus on a quote geared towards school and divisional leaders. The following is a repost of a 2017 post entitled, The Role of School Administration in the Success of ICT Program Implementation: Traditional vs. Distributed Support Models. An administrator’s role in their building or district is becoming increasingly complex as today’s education system involves multiple stakeholders and programming needs. One such role includes the development and implementation… Read More
Follow Friday – Manitoba School eSports Association
On Fridays I share what I believe to be a notable person/organization/school on our social media pages to assist our staff in the development of their online Personal Learning Network. With this week playing host to National Video Games Day I thought it was only fitting to showcase the newly established Manitoba School eSports Association (MSEA) for this week’s Follow Friday. ” Manitoba School Esports Association is a not-for-profit organization committed to connecting, informing, and supporting competitive gaming in schools across Manitoba. MSEA is an amalgamation of the former MYEMB (Middle Years Esport Manitoba) and MHSeA (Manitoba High School eSports Association). With the expansion of esports in… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Summer PD Participants
On Wednesdays I highlight some of our amazing MVSD staff on our social media pages. Everyday our staff are using tech in new and exciting ways, are learning new skills, and are sharing ways in which ed tech is assisting them in their practice. Ahead of the start of our school year, tech PD was offered here at Division Office for any staff members who wanted to fine tune their skills before stepping back into their classrooms. Spread across three days, these sessions incuded a variety of topics including: August 29th – Secretarial PD all building secretaries from across the… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – PowerSchool Resources
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. In MVSD we use PowerSchool as our Student Information System (SIS). This means that this platform is the go-to program for our staff when it comes to student records, assessment reporting, daily attendance, etc. There are many different elements of the program that are applicable depending on your role within the division. While this means that all stakeholders have easy access to the information that is needed for their position, it can also make PD… Read More
National Video Games Day
On Mondays I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. With today marking National Video Games Day I couldn’t think of a better quote than this one from Melissa Burns. Did you know that Manitoba is a Canadian leader when it comes to eSports? eSports (electronic sports) involves competition using video games and MVSD currently has an eSports presence at both Ecole Macneill & Mackenzie. Today’s post has put together a trove of resources including: Why eSports? introduce yourself to the field and get an overview of what role it can… Read More
Follow Friday – School Board Trustees
On Fridays I share what I believe to be a notable person/organization/school on our social media pages to assist our staff in the development of their online Personal Learning Network. Manitoba is entering into a round of elections for school boards and the past and current members of the MVSD board have decided to harness the power of social media to share about this opportunity. During the last election of 2018 MVSD had just started their journey on Twitter but this continues to be a relatively under-utilized platform among our stakeholder groups. However, I was fortunate enough to work with out board… Read More
EC&I 833 – Introduction Post
*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina. Welcome to all of my peers joining as part of our journey in EC&I 833. My name is Kirsten Thompson and I serve as the divisional Coordinator of ICT for the Mountain View School Division; overseeing technology programming and purchasing for approximately 3000 stakeholders. I am a Microsoft Education Trainer as well as a Level 1 Google Certified Educator with over 200 hours of combined professional development on how to assist educators in the use of these tools. Prior to this, I… Read More
WOW Wednesday – MVSD Secretarial Team
On Wednesdays I highlight some of our amazing MVSD staff on our social media pages. Everyday our staff are using tech in new and exciting ways, are learning new skills, and are sharing ways in which ed tech is assisting them in their practice. Earlier in August our divisional secretarial team from across all 16 MVSD buildings came together at Division Office to participate in a full day of tech training. This was our first time meeting as a group since early March of 2020 and it was so fantastic to have everyone back to together again. This day was… Read More