On Tuesdays, 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. Earlier this spring my friend Troy shared this resource with me and I thought it was time it had its place as an official tech tip! CTRL-F is a digital media literacy resource, sponsored by the Canadian government, that supports educators and students in middle and high school. This resource is a branch of the CIVIX charity which is focused on, “building skills and habits of citizenship among school-aged youth”. In their own words, CTRL-F… Read More
You Think Halloween Is Scary?
On Mondays, I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. How many Terms of Service agreements do you think you have clicked, “I Accept”, on as part of the requirements of accessing a digital service? How many times did you actually read the full agreement before selecting, “I Accept”. If you did read it all (good for you), did you understand everything? Terms of Service (TOS) agreements are notoriously difficult to understand and, although some platforms have made their information more accessible, most are full of jargon specific to that field. If you are guilty of… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Break the Fake
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. As October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, all of the tips shared this month will tackle common cyber security concerns (both student-related and workplace-related). If you missed our previous cyber security tips you can check them out below: secure passwords phishing emails email security With that being said, today is not only part of Cyber Security Awareness Month but also Media Literacy Week! As such, today’s tip blends both of these topics as we address “fake news”… Read More
Teach and Learn in a Digital World 2023
I’m kicking off my Spring Break with a roadtrip to Regina to take in the Teach & Learn in a Digital World Conference! Hosted by the University of Regina Faculty of Education, this 3-day hybrid event is designed to, “equip you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to implement digital skills in your classroom.” I am attending as both a participant and presenter and want to extend my thanks to Dr. Ehsan Akbari for asking me to join! The following post is a summary of my experiences: Masters of Makerspaces: Perspectives from Teachers in the Field “Join us for a… Read More
Follow Friday – EverFi
Every Friday 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. EverFi has been a FREE digital resource that I have utilized throughout my education career after hearing about them at a ManACE event in 2014. If you are new to their programming I suggest starting at their K-12 introductory webpage. A “How It Works” video is also embedded below from their YouTube page: EverFi offers multiple digital courses across a variety of subjects but my go-to courses for the area of… Read More
Are Schools Changing?
On Mondays I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. The first quarter of the 22/23 school year is coming to a close with many schools focusing this week on the distribution of report cards and parent-teacher interviews. Not only is this a time to ensure that students and families understand where one’s current understanding is as it relates to curricular content but it should also be a time for school teams to reflect on their practice. Speaking from a tech perspective this could include things like: how are we sharing… Read More
You Think Halloween Is Scary?
On Mondays I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. How many Terms of Service agreements do you think you have clicked, “I Accept”, on as part of the requirements of accessing a digital service? How many times did you actually read the full agreement before selecting, “I Accept”. If you did read it all (good for you), did you understand everything? Terms of Service (TOS) agreements are notoriously difficult to understand and, although some platforms have made their information more accessible, most are full of jargon specific to that field.… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Break the Fake
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. As October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, all of the tips shared this month will tackle common cyber security concerns (both student-related and work-place related). If you missed our previous cyber security tips you can check them out below: secure passwords phishing emails email security With that being said, today is not only part of Cyber Security Awareness month but also Media Literacy Week! As such, today’s tip blends both of these topics as we address… Read More
MVSD People of Dance
On Thursdays I usually use our social media platforms to share using the #ThrowbackThursday trend where users participate by sharing a memory (recent or distant). These posts don’t usually make it to the blog but when a memory popped up today I was surprised to see I hadn’t placed it as a feature on the blog in the past. Given the Covid-19 pandemic, we wanted to find a way to offer technology-related professional development to staff while having fun and staying safe during the 2020/2021 year. This project saw staff practice their understanding of collaborative documents and cloud-based storage systems… Read More
Media Literacy Week 2021
Every Monday I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. In honour of Media Literacy week, which runs from October 25-30, this week’s Mantra is: If you are new to Media Literacy Week, Media Smarts describes it as: “Media Literacy Week is an annual national campaign hosted by MediaSmarts and the Canadian Teachers Federation to promote digital and media literacy, with activities and events taking place in classrooms, libraries, museums and community groups from coast to coast to coast.” Media Literacy Week Resources Break the Fake resources Media Literacy Week newsletter Media Literacy Week Teachers Hub… Read More