Internet Search Tips

Whether you teach students who are ten years old or forty years old there will be times when they turn to you and say, "I can't find anything about this" while they are researching. In most cases the problem isn't that the Internet doesn't hold any information for them. Rather, the problem is that students don't know enough strategies to help them dive deeper in their Internet research. In the slides embedded below Richard Byrne shares his favorite search tips. The slides also include some videos that demonstrate how to use the methods he has mentioned. Good tips! (From freetech4teachers.com)

The fourth slide refers to the keyboard shortcut that enables you to search for key words in a document or on a webpage. On a Mac, it is Command + F. A Google survey found that only 1 in 10 computer users are aware that this feature exists. Are you part of the 10%? For more handy keyboard shortcuts (which are huge time savers), click here. 

Showcasing Student Work

As students are completing both long and short-term projects, the opportunity for them to present to audiences beyond just their own teacher and classmates is extremely valuable. This week, Jo Denley's IB Language and Literature students enjoyed hearing feedback from a variety of SAS staff members, and all month long, adult panelists will be on hand in Blake Brown's AP Capstone Research classes to hear student presentations and oral defenses.

IB Language and Literature

Jo's year 1 Lang & Lit classes have been working on a project attempting to answer the driving question: How does media influence audiences for the purpose of education, politics or ideology? They chose their own media category to focus on (e.g. political propaganda, condom ads, road safety directed at teens, how the Ebola virus was represented by the media, etc), developed a research question, and created some type of a product which demonstrates their understanding of how media influences for different purposes. Visitors participated in a gallery style presentation of the final products (websites, documentaries, infographics, etc) and had the opportunity to ask the students questions about the project and their learning. 

For those of you unable to attend in person, here are a few of the finished products:

Websites:

Transport for London: promoting safe driving and road safety

Seeds of Thought: an analysis of the impact of Disney animation 

Is There Anything Wrong with PETA? exploring PETA's use of media tactics

Infographics on Political Satire:

Statistics/Content

Political Satire & Humor

Bias in Language

AP Capstone Research

In Blake's course, students have worked all year on their Research project which culminated with a 20-page paper submitted right before Spring Break. The paper comprises 75% of the AP score, while the additional 25% is their score on their POD. Each presentation/oral defense is 20 minutes max., and only 2 students can present any given period. The presentation portion is the first 15 minutes, where the student presents their research before a panel of a minimum of three adults. The defense portion of the POD (5 min) begins immediately after the presentation, and is basically when each of the 3 adults asks the student one scripted question about their research. Additional follow-up questions can then be posed by the adult panelists or other students. Some of the topics that were presented this week include a Novel Intra-City Freight Transportation System, an analysis of the impact of attending a small Liberal Arts college vs. a Research University, and an examination of the growing entertainment phenomenon of eSports, or professional gaming. If you are interested in hearing students present their research, talk to Blake - additional audience members are always welcome and the presentations are certainly interesting!

Tech Tip Tuesday: Tools to Use with Instructional Videos

Whether you are "flipping instruction" or using video to spark discussion, these two tools can help to engage your students while also providing you with formative data about their level of understanding. 

Annotate Already Existing Videos
Using VideoANT, anyone can add annotations to any publicly accessible YouTube video. To do this, copy the URL of a video and paste it into the VideoANT annotation tool. Then as the video plays, click the “add annotation” button when you want to add an annotation. To have others annotate the video with you, send them the VideoANT link. You are the only person that has to have a VideoANT account. Your collaborators do not need to have a VideoANT account to participate in the annotation process with you. Nathan Hall wrote a complete run-down of all of the features of VideoANT. He also posted a how-to video. Read his post and watch his video here.

Incorporate Online Discussions of Videos

Vialogues is a free service that allows you to build online discussions around videos hosted online and videos that you have saved on your computer. Registered users can upload videos to Vialogues or use YouTube videos as the centerpieces of their conversations. In the video embedded below, a short overview of how Vialogues works is provided.

Content in this post adapted from Practical Ed Tech with Richard Byrne

Lifelong Learners

A recent post on the ASCD Inservice Blog, "We Have to Find a Way: Five Strategies to Help Educators Learn for Life", highlights some "simple ways to keep your own professional development and learning seamlessly integrated into your daily life." At Puxi High School, there are a variety of opportunities that align with the author's suggestions.

Resources available in the mail room!

1. Get connected: There are lots of SAS teachers on Twitter, sharing resources and learning from each other and other educators around the world. Follow the hashtag #saschina, check out this list of SAS staff on Twitter, and start building your PLN (personal learning network) today! Not sure how to get started? Your instructional coach can help. :-) 
2. Read, read, read: This school year, there were two book study groups that met monthly, starting in October and wrapping up in April. If you feel like you don't have the time to tackle a whole book, a study group is a great strategy for breaking it into chunks and keeping you accountable for reading. If you have a suggestion for a topic or title for a group to read next year, let me know! Also, keep an eye out for more information about a possible summer book club. For shorter reads and quick strategy ideas, check out the articles that are posted on the new bulletin board in the mail room.
3. Get involved & Make it a priority: The third round of learning walks kicks off next week: these include schoolwide walks, Chinese department walks and counselor walks. While I know that giving up your prep time is a sacrifice, participating teachers say that the opportunity to take time out to reflect is worth it and can even help to re-energize and inspire you. Opportunities to spend just part of a release period observing a lesson or activity can also be arranged. Do you have a strategy or activity that you've had success with? Consider hosting a "Lesson Study" this Spring. All you have to do is let me know what it is and when it's happening (if possible a couple of days in advance), and then I will arrange a visit with any available and interested teachers. No extra prep - you just do your thing and let the learning happen!
4. Associate with like-minded individuals: With the start of construction this spring and more sharing of spaces, there are additional opportunities to engage in spontaneous conversations, to collaborate with others, and to see colleagues in action. If you see me at work in the teacher's lounge, I am there to make myself available to you. I have time if you want to talk through an idea, share a success, get another set of eyes on something, or need a resource. The "Coach's Corner" is always open for business!

1. 

Tech Tip Tuesday: App Provides 3 Sides to Every Story

This tip is brought to you by Richard Byrne at Free Tech 4 Teachers:

"Perspecs is a new app that aims to provide users with three sides to every news story. On Monday through Friday the free Android and iPhone app offers a selection of articles about current topics in the news. The topics could be breaking news or they could be topics of a more evergreen nature like national education systems.

I tested Perspecs on my Android phone by selecting one of Friday's topics which was 'Is China Best for Education?' The app then presented me with three articles on the topic. Each article took a different position on the topic. I was able to read all of the articles within the app."

You and your students can use Perspecs to easily find a balanced selection of news sources and multiple perspectives on current events. 

Tech Tip Tuesday: Google Drive 101

For those of you who are relatively new to using Google Drive, I have compiled a few links to help you master some of the basic functions and features.

Five Essential Google Drive Skills for Teachers

How to Make Copies of Google Docs that Aren't Directly Shared with You

Three Google Drive Features that Impress New Users

As always, if you would like personalized support, I am happy to be of service!

Project Launches: Grade 9 English and Grade 10 Innovation

Two exciting projects were launched this week. Here is a quick overview:

Romeo and Juliet: From Page to Stage

Mrs. Alden's students receive their role assignments.

Our Grade 9 English teachers launched their final unit of the year by "setting the stage" for an in-depth study of Romeo and Juliet. This was, for most students, their first interaction with Shakespeare and Elizabethan English. The students spent the launch day in the PAC, and each class was assigned one of the five acts from the play. In the morning, parts were assigned and students read through their act, making decisions about movement, delivery and blocking. They had time to practice and decide on costumes and props, and then after lunch, a rough but entertaining first run-through of the play was performed. Now with this groundwork complete, students will be able to go deeper into how a production of the play would take shape moving from the page to the stage.

Jo Denley, who designed the project with Margaret Haske, explained that "the PBL spans over the whole 4th quarter and has students taking on various production roles (i.e. director, actor, public relations, props, costumes) and then envisioning different takes on R+J. In the past we have had Civil War era R+J, Puxi vs. Pudong R+J, Modern day R+J, and Undercover spies R+J. Essentially, students are encouraged to look at the play through a different lens without losing the thought and meaning behind Shakespeare's original text. Students study passages in depth, discuss, analyze and ultimately, they 'pitch' their final plan to our (the teachers') production company!"

Branch's students do an initial reading of their act.

Back to the Future: A Dockumentary

Contemplating what the future might hold.

The Year 2 Innovation Institute's final project of the year will engage students in answering the question: What is the story of the future? At the launch, students participated in paired and small group conversations in response to a series of prompts addressing a variety of factors (economic, environmental, technological, etc.) that have the potential to significantly impact what our world might look like in 50 years. For each question, several students shared out their predictions with the class, and then a film clip was shown that illustrated one possible interpretation of how the future might look. After engaging in research and developing their own guiding question, the students will create short documentary films that depict their group's data-driven prediction for the future. The 3-5 minute shorts will be screened at an evening Film Festival on Friday, June 3rd in the PAC. Mark your calendars - these films are sure to be ahead of their time!

We'd love to hear about other projects that are happening! Feel free to add yours in the comments, or let me know and I'd be happy to write it up.