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. Over the course of the past two weeks we have seen all seven of the schools located in the city of Dauphin transition into remote learning due to an increase in Covid-19 cases. As such, our staff are working to re-establish our remote learning routines for themselves, students, and our MVSD families. Some of our schools, such as the DRCSS, have been in a blended-delivery mode all year which has made this transition quite smooth.… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Winnipegosis Collegiate
Every Wednesday 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. This week I had an opportunity to visit Winnipegosis Collegiate, in person, to work with their Grade 10-12 students in their ELA class. At the request of their teacher, our topics included intellectual property and copyright. what is it? what does it look like across different mediums? why is it important? what role does it play in… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Create to Learn
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. A few weeks back I saw a Tweet posted by the Seine River Technology account sharing about the new books they distributed: Create to Learn. I was immediately intrigued as I do not have anything in my professional learning series that approached digital skills from this perspective. When I shared my enthusiasm, SRSD Ed Tech was quick to offer a copy to myself! I am so thankful to have this resource that highlights both digital… Read More
I’m Vaccinated!
Today was a very exciting day as I received my first round of the Pfizer vaccine for the prevention of Covid-19! I was the last adult in our family to receive my dose as everyone else became eligible before me due to their age or status as a first-responder. When I moved into this position I received advice from many long-time administrators & coaches about the importance of being visible and available. “Set up shop for the day in the school library, auditorium, or cafeteria” “Do walking tours of each school regularly” “Participate in school spirit events, attend productions/sporting events/etc”… Read More
AR/VR in the Classroom
If you walked by my office this Friday you most likely had this thought: Today I spent some time formatting our new virtual reality headsets from Class VR. If you are a regular reader of the blog you know that one of my areas of focus during my M.Ed was looking at ways that technology can increase educational opportunities for rural and remote schools. Whether it is decreased field trips and guests speakers due to geographical constraints or lack of lab and immersion activities due to limited budgets; rural and remote schools often face a more narrow scope of experiences… Read More
WOW Wednesday – MVSD Video Conference & Asynchronous Programming
Every Wednesday 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. One of my roles in MVSD involves the organization of our divisional video conference schedule. As of 2021 this also includes asynchronous programming. This includes planning with participating schools, communication of schedules, maintenance of required equipment, and professional development for staff. Each of our 6 senior years schools is identified as a subject-specific hub and specializes in… Read More
Online Programming for Community & Engagement
*Reposted from Monday, January 11, 2020 Every Monday I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. This week’s Mantra is: As I work with educators I am finding that it can be easy to get hyper-fixated on a particular tool (Teams, Seesaw, Forms, etc). This focus can create a tunnel-vision where educators are only seeing the features of that particular tool and end up designing their lessons around that tool rather than focusing on pedagogy and how particular tools can help address their learning goals. Even though our teaching environment may… Read More
Riding the Wave 2021 – A Conversation with Danny Michel
For the second year in a row the Riding the Wave conference that is traditionally held in Gimli is moving online! (You may remember that last year saw the Making Waves series of sessions). This year Riding the Wave chair, Andy McKiel, has arranged a session with Danny Michel! In an effort to be accessible for all educators, this session is: FREE (no cost required) outside of the school week (no coverage needed) plus there are prizes! “Danny Michel is an award-winning Canadian singer, songwriter and producer who has amassed a dedicated fanbase over the last couple of decades. We’re… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Ed Tech in MVSD
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. When I moved into this position I noticed that there were reoccurring concerns from administrators and teachers from many of our schools: families were unfamiliar with a variety of technology-related aspects of their children’s’ lives. This may include how to utilize school-related tech tools, how to help their child navigate social media, how to guide their child’s use of screen time, etc. With the shift to remote learning in the spring of 2020, this concern… Read More
Happy May!
This school year has seemed to fly by. It seems like every few weeks there have been new guidelines or projects to explore and all staff are consistently reinventing their practices to adapt. An excellent example of this came literally 30mins after I filmed and sent out this video: new health guidelines mean that I will not be in schools as much as in-person visits are limited to help reduce spread of VOCs in our communities. We just keep rolling with the punches and trying our best! With the start of a new months comes a new monthly ICT newsletter.… Read More