This week's new exploration is a bit of a catch-all because I realized that the students are working very hard, but are often hampered by the often slow process of putting their ideas down on paper.  I'm always looking for efficient ways for the kids to produce work on their projects and the old 'hunt and peck' computer skills are clearly not fast enough to avoid frustration.  In our school board, typing and keyboarding skills are not offered any longer, so the students may never learn to touch-type.  I think my old grade ten typing course was one of the most useful educational experiences I've ever had.  Add all these ideas together and the solution seems to be that we need to slow down to speed up.  I need to take the time to encourage keyboarding skills, so every day for the next few weeks we are taking forty minutes to practice the basic touch typing techniques.  The kids are encouraged to practice at home and I will run a contest for most improved (not necessarily fastest or best) typist.  In the end, they may avoid the bad habits and inefficiencies of hunt and peck.  One of the challenges is going to be to make it fun.
The rest of this week is devoted to learning all sorts of communication skills.  Here's a short list:  creating podcasts, making iMovies for 'how to videos' similar to those seen on YouTube, writing stories using the voice dictation program Dragon Dictate, and blogging.  I'm afraid to go to lessons on Facebook and Twitter just yet until I have a good feel for safety and online security.  We intend to debate the value of texting versus talking on the phone.  Wish me luck.

The art exploration worked beautifully. We started the week with a great discussion about what art means to humanity, how modern art has changed people's expectations of what constitutes art, and what is the value given to artistic expression.  We then explored a wide variety of art forms and participated in all kinds of project work. Luckily, I was able to have a local modern artist come in and display his work for the kids.  The experience was truly memorable as the kids had a chance to ask all kinds of quirky and fun questions.  The works displayed were really challenging and it made for an engaging activity as they tried to figure out what the artist was up to in the piece, and then be able to ask him directly!  I bought three canvases each for the students and purchased a wide variety of acrylic paints.  The students were challenged to create three pieces: an abstract, realistic and self-portrait. They dove right in and made some beautiful canvases.  Next, we walked to a local art gallery that has formed a collective of local artists.  Here the students got to practice their newfound art appreciation skills and to work with another local artist on clay sculptures. The gallery even sent us home with a box full of paints to finish their sculptures in style!  By this time the students had really caught the bug, so we invited a professional photographer in to run a workshop on taking great pictures.  He displayed his amazing large-scale photos, discussed how he sets up shots, and told stories about working safely with wildlife.  We met him a few days later at a local lake and took pictures using his techniques.  All in all, it was a superb experience for everyone involved. 

We are in the middle of an art exploration unit this week that is ideally suited to inquiry based learning because it allows the students to really examine their own tastes and respond to conscious and unconscious motivations.  The week began with techniques suggested by Eric Jensen to stimulate the brain and get it into a state of readiness.  I began the lessons with games and physical activities to get the kids up and moving and thinking.  My experiences at the ASCD conference were profound in that I learned you really need to monitor and adjust to the the states of your students.  You need to have a handful of simple techniques at your disposal to deepen their thinking and learning.  I liked trying them with the class because it made my teaching much more self-reflective and forced me to constantly put myself in my students' shoes and anticipate their needs.  One great way to further comprehension and long-lasting learning is to consistently provide a sense of ANTICIPATION in your class.  When the students are constantly wondering what's going to happen next, they tend to pay much more attention and their retention of material is greatly enhance.  Superb stuff and it really works beautifully.

My Take on the ASCD Conference can be summed up best by stating that we are definitely on the right track with inquiry based learning.  I learned an amazing amount in a short time at the conference and was able to immediately apply the concepts to my classroom when I returned.  Grant Wiggins reinforced the idea that students need lots of timely and effective feedback to move their skills forward.  Being present and vigilant in the classroom and constantly letting students know how they're progressing with the learning is crucial to moving them efficiently forward. Nancy Frey outlined practical and supportive group work strategies that are crucial to developing a classroom that puts problem solving at the forefront of learning.  My favourite session was led by Eric Jensen who provided an outstanding activity-based workshop on techniques you can use RIGHT NOW to enhance learning in your students by stimulating their brains constantly and reading their STATES in the class.  Again, knowing your kids is absolutely critical to good teaching.  Finally, Louise and I attended a session on using technology with classroom instruction strategies that work.  Elizabeth Ross Hubbell's presentation highlighted great great iPad apps. The conference was an amazing experience, to say the least.

Pete and I attended the ASCD fall conference along with our principal Judith Gatt. The opportunities for learning were tremendous and we came back to school inspired and rejuvenated. Some of the speakers we heard from were Carol Ann Tomlinson, Robert Marzano, Grant Wiggins just to name a few. Two sessions I enjoyed the most were by Elizabeth Ross Hubbell and Alfred Solis. Elizabeth talked about using technology with classroom instruction that works. The potential to change our classrooms into dynamic and differentiated learning environment depends on our understanding of how iPads can be used to enhance the use of research based instructional strategies. Some of the apps she shared were: Infinote- for K-W-L chart, Idea Sketch - to create graphic organizers, eClicker, Mind meister, puppet pals...Amazing info all in two hours. Next Alfred Solis talked about Project-Based Learning. He is from the Buck Institute for Education. You can check out their website - www.bie.org/ for FREE material and resource for teachers.