Saturday, October 24, 2009

C'est l'Halloween

My Grade 7 class works every week with a Grade 1/2 French Immersion class doing paired reading and tutoring. This week is our last session before Halloween so I made up a SMART Board activity for the students to learn a simple Halloween song in French. It is a favourite amongst French Immersion students; "Ces't l'Halloween" by Matt Maxwell. I also used the slides that I made for the SMART Board to make a video. If someone else would like to use this activity, feel free.

Here's the video:


Here's a link to the SMART Notebook file I created to make my video in my Dropbox: C'est l'Halloween

Friday, October 23, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Reasons to contribute to Creative Commons on Flickr


When uploading some photos to Flickr today, I noticed that I had a message. As someone who is not necessarily known for my photography skills, I was thrilled to read this message:

_________________________________________________
From: Emma J. Williams Emma Williams
Subject: Schmap: Washington DC Photo Inclusion

Hi Joanna,

I am delighted to let you know that one of your photos with a Creative Commons license has been selected for inclusion in the newly released ninth edition of our Schmap Washington DC Guide:

12th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue
www.schmap.com/washingtondc/activities_allwashingtondc/p=374272/i=374272.jpg

If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this same link will take you directly to your photo in the iPhone version of our guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see exactly how your photo is displayed and credited in the iPhone version of our guide at:

12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=washingtondc&sid=activities_allwashingtondc&p=374272&i=374272

Finally, if you have a blog, you might also like to check out the customizable widgetized version of our Schmap Washington DC Guide, complete with your published photo:
www.schmap.com/guidewidgets/p=35093198N06/c=SM20051091

Please enjoy the guide!

Best regards,
Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides
www.schmap.me/emma.williams
________________________________________________

Even if I'm not the world's best photographer, it is always exciting to have something published, even if it was unintentional. I also think that it is funny that a Canadian can take a photo that later appears in a map program for the US Capitol.

Storytelling through Social Media: The Modern Narrative Defined

Check out this SlideShare Presentation. It is aimed toward business but could easily be adapted to teach about modern storytelling in the classroom. I thought that some people might find it interesting.

Friday, October 16, 2009

A vision of students about learning in the 21st century

After showing my class a number of videos about learning in the 21st Century, I asked my Grade 7 students to come up with their vision of learning in the 21st Century. They came up with some fantastic ideas related to a changing world, using technology and becoming life-long learners. They decided we should produce our video in a bilingual format so that they can showcase their English and French skills. We wrote a collective script in French and then translated it into English. Here's their video. They are so proud of their group effort! Please let us know what you think.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Friday Funny - Seniors Twittering

I thought that this segment on the Jay Leno Show last night was funny. I thought that it would also be a good video clip to show when giving a workshop on Social Media. I told some of my co-workers about it at lunch and I promised to post the link. Thanks to one of my friends on Twitter (ChavesH), I was able to get the clip. Here it is! You can follow this link if the embeded version doesn't work: Jay Leno