Geek Squad Presentation at #DLAchat Conference

Today, 10 Rainbow Eggheads who have been contributing to the Tech Times newsletter over the past two years were asked to present at the Digital Learning Advisory OCDSB conference. We decided to live stream the workshop through Google Hangouts Live on Air. As before, we struggled to get this working perfectly! A great example of having to be flexible when using tech!

Below are two videos showing MOST of the workshop. Unfortunately, the Chromebook's batteries ran out during Hannah and Madi's Skype presentation. Hopefully, they'll be willing to film themselves doing it and we can share it on here!

Daybook by Vickie
Google Apps  by Hunter
Assistive Tech Through My Eyes by Skye
iPads by Gabby
Social Media by Camden, Johnny
Using Tech for Charity in the Class by Pat
Madi, Hannah did theirs live and of course I didn't catch it!
Maker Movement by Fiona



We hosted a "Today's Meet" for our presentation. Check it out here.

Some feedback from participants
-The student presenters are proof that tech can support oral communication, reading, writing (and even drama!!!)
-I am very impressed with how engaged all the students are with the use of technology. They are all so knowledgeable as well!
-Skye, your story is inspiring. Thank you for sharing it so eloquently.
-Wow! Blowing my mind with all the fantastic initiatives you've got on the go. Eggheads Rock!
-Current tech experts here, future tech leaders!
-I'm so impressed! Thank you. I am leaving here with many great ideas for my classroom.
-I wish my high school students made slideshows that looked like this, keep doing them like that (less words, more images)!

We only wish that more educators had joined us. I could not be prouder of these Eggheads and their peers for the work they've done this year and the incredible way they're willing to mentor and share with others within our school and the world beyond!

Chromebook Workshop: Collaborative Spring Poems with Heather C’s Class

Aargh! I wrote this post yesterday during EQAO testing and then promptly deleted it this afternoon! I have tried several ways to revert to the earlier post, but can’t figure it out.

Heather C's 1/2s joined us for a Collaborative Poem writing workshop. In Room 209, we love writing poems together, especially on the Chromebooks!

The steps for writing collaborative poems were as follows:

1. Big Buddies from Room 209 paired with Little Buddies from Heather C’s class.

2. The Big Buddies became “Co-Pilots” and the Little Buddies became “Pilots”, in charge of what was going on

3. Pilots selected a topic related to spring

4. Together, Pilot and Co-Pilot began writing a poem on the Google Drive, focusing on using sensory information, alliteration and rhythm to make their poems very powerful

5. After five minutes, Pilot and Co-Pilot virtually “passed” the poem to another group by sharing the doc on the Google Drive

6. Pilot and Co-Pilot then took five minutes to read and continue the poem they received

7. Poems were passed five times

8. After adding to a fifth poem, Pilot and Co-Pilot returned to their original poem and edited and revised it, making sure they liked the sound and feel of the poem

9. PIlot and Co-Pilot then formatted the poem, changing the font if they wished, adding a photo to enhance the poem, and adding an optional photo of the poets who started it.

Please enjoy their work!

Butterflies, a poem started by Hunter and Noah

Butterflies, a poem started by Laryssa and Amira

Blowing, a poem started by Camden and Grayson

The Ceiling, a poem started by Jack and Charlie

Trees, a poem started by Ellis and Orayo

Hello and Goodbye, a poem started by Johnny and Trey

Spring Makes Me, a poem started by Molly and Ava

Spring Flowers, a poem started by Nat, Mackenzie and Annika

Spring Flowers, a poem started by Erika and Rowan

Spring, a poem started by Aaron, Madi and Ian

Sun, a poem started by Vickie and Frances

These workshops have been so valuable for the Rainbow Eggheads. It’s been great to share  our skills and resources with other classes and collaborate to create interesting projects.

Chromebook Workshop: Collaborative Poems with Erin's Class

We led a Chromebook Workshop for Erin's grade 1/2s. This is a class of poets who just had an Evening Coffee House for their families. We helped them to work on poems using the Chromebooks, sharing them every five minutes.

For details on the process, see this post.

Enjoy our collaborative poems:
Butterflies, started by Hannah and Kaia
The Ceiling, started by Charlie and Jack
Tiger, started by Alia and Yaro
Radioactive Underwear, started by Pat and Felix
Dogs, started by Dia and Gabby
The Trampoline, started by Nils and Stuart
Playing, started by Fiona and Sarah
Peacocks, started by Addie and Madi
Trees, started by Olivia and Vickie
Monkeys, started by Nat and Dilan
Cats, started by Kaleigh and Mia
Soccer, started by Alex and Emmett

Star Wars, started by Jackson and Keenan
The Magical Bunny, started by Clara and Sonia