Category: Uncategorized

Q&A session 3 – apps for English

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

A few teachers got together at Reservoir Neighbourhood House in May, to explore iPad apps for teaching and learning. This was the second session we had at the RNH. Apps worth looking at: Spell better,  Dragon dictate,  Google translate – lets you add words by handwriting,  Park stories (Link??) Apps we’re not so sure about: A few apps got the vote of displeasure because of their hidden cost. There might be a free basic version, but if you want the full app, you could be looking at over $150 for Read More …

Copy a presentation file from iPad to laptop

Michael ChalkLeave a commenthow to, Uncategorized

Faye, one of the amazing teachers at PRACE, got her students to make slide presentations using Keynote on the iPads. The students showed their presentations on the big screen with Airplay,  and then sent their files to Faye via Airdrop.  Then we wondered how to get all those presentation files from Faye’s iPad to her laptop. One way to do this is to share the Keynote file with google drive.. you can then get to the files on your laptop or desktop, at drive.google.com in the web browser. This is Read More …

Great session at RNH – many iPad questions!!

Michael Chalk1 CommentUncategorized

We had a terrific session down at the Reservoir Neighbourhood House the other week (21 April). Four teachers, 4 iPads, 1 windows laptop and one projector. Here are the questions & topics we started with. So many questions, some still unanswered. PD register on the google drive, and other forms People were having trouble with the PD register, but we found out that Peter has put iPad-friendly link on the intranet. Thanks Peter!! * The TV and the iPad  Yes, we do need the appleTV to broadcast to the TV. We’re Read More …

Pairing remote control with classroom television

Michael ChalkLeave a commenthow to, Uncategorized

Recently teachers at PRACE have relied more and more on the big classroom televisions to broadcast what’s on their iPad or laptop screen. Unfortunately we’ve had a weird situation at Spring St where the remote control for the TV doesn’t work. Last week I visited Jan down at the new campus, and this was one of the issues arising. So we called Fraser and discovered the solution.  Here’s what you need to do if this happens to you: Find the small USB dongle marked “RF” – attached to a cable – hanging Read More …

What’s the deal with copyright photos?

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

..or: “learning to love the Creative Commons license“. Photos can be so useful in class – images get people talking and writing, and can help to find common ground quickly. These days, teachers are expected to reference and cite every image, especially if used in an assessment task. However, photos on the internet are copyright the photographer – unless otherwise marked. Probably. To use an image legally, you either need to get permission from the photographer or author (if “All Rights Reserved”), or find an image that is licensed under Read More …

Compile student work into a booklet they can take away

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

Pages from Carmela’s students’ Recipe Book Create a book from the students’ work.  Here’s a good story for the end of the year. Carmela just came into the office and showed us all the booklet she’s compiled from her students’ writing and multimedia work. Carmela’s students wrote up their recipes and took photos when they made each dish. Carmela then compiled the recipes and photos into a publication that students could take away with them at the end of the year.  The technology they’ve used includes:  Microsoft word,  digital camera,  Read More …

Students and teachers embrace the new iPad experiment

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

This year has been full of technological excitement at PRACE, as teachers and students have embraced the new iPad gadgets. VCAL students began the experiment, being the most likely to explore new things. They are now sharing files via a combination of google drive and showbie, submitting their work via airdrop, and more. Teachers broadcast polls and surveys straight to the big screen wirelessly, and any student can also share their work with others via the big screen. Thanks to the heart-warming success of the initial iPad explorations in the Read More …

Notes from August sessions

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

Plenty of great discussion at our recent group session on 29 August.  We covered a lot of ground in this session: talking about the potential of using tablets in the classroom different ways to store passwords what to do with the teacher resource wiki the network drive for students is UP an idea of using google+ communities to connect different groups of students Tablets How to choose (android vs iPad vs microsoft). Criteria could include, for example: battery life, apps, fitzroy readers (available on iOs only). What could we do Read More …

Digital storytelling – can it be useful for ESL classes?

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

Had a great session (back in June) with Betty and Ourania. We compared 2 different tools for creating a digital story: powerpoint vs movie maker*. Essentially the process is the same for both: create your idea and a short script collect photos and audio files (media) import your media into the program editing area (stage?) add effects or animation, tweak the timing, add credits etc export the movie In favour of powerpoint:  teachers and students are more likely to already know the program you can add text to the screen Read More …

Let’s make the teacher wiki even more useful..

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

At the group session on 04 July’14, we talked about ways to re-work the staff wiki. Teachers at Lalor have put PLENTY of effort into sharing ideas and resources, and these resources are all shared under teacher names. However, when we look for useful ideas & activities, we’re more likely to search by theme, certificate module or language skill.So we thought, let’s try collecting resources by theme, and see if that could be more useful. We decided to start with just one theme, and thought that FOOD would be the best Read More …