Here’s a presentation I’m giving this Wednesday to the teachers at my school on Connecting your Classroom. After viewing William Eaton‘s presentation last Friday at the CUEBC conference I decided to present on a similar topic to my own staff, using a couple of his ideas (which I’ve referred in the presentation). The idea is that every classroom can be connected in various ways, and I’m showing 5 of the ways we can connect based on the domains of curriculum, community (in this case experts), student work, and the world. Check out my presentation below.
Heather Durnin says:
Dave,
You chosen a great topic to bring to your teachers.
In the few years, I’ve had many amazing opportunities to connect my students with others. We began by connecting our students as they worked with a local school to complete a project using Google Docs/Presentations. Last year, my students here in Ontario completed another project with students in Virgina. This year, we’re connected in a year-long project with Clarence Fisher in Manitoba. Just today, my kids connected with students from a school in Texas, comparing our cultural differences. Tools we use to connect include Google Apps, Skype, VoiceThread, and Blogs.
Yes, there is work that goes into making and organizing these connections, but the payoff in terms of learning and student excitement is so worth it! They rise to the occasion.
My previous statement addresses the “why” – and that’s probably the most important part that we need to communicate as we encourage other teachers to connect their students.
October 26, 2010 — 7:27 pm