The Grade 7s used Book Creator to present their Diseases projects

The Grade 7s worked on a Diseases project in class and presented their individual research as a hand-drawn project. I thought it would be great for them to take their research and use it to create digital books in Book Creator.  The final step would be for them to also narrate their projects in Book Creator. 

I have written a post about how to use Book Creator in another part of this blog: https://bit.ly/3xx24Vt .

The Diseases projects turned out well in Book Creator.  You can visit our Grade 7 library on this link, https://bit.ly/3FY3Fqj and read (and listen to) some of the books.  

Our Grade 2 'Dot' map stories to celebrate International Dot Day 15th September 2021 -

I am always excited about Dot Day on 15 September. What is Dot Day? It is HUGE around the world! Dot Day was inspired by Peter Reynold's story 'The Dot'. The message is simple but profound: “Start with a dot and see where it will take you,” It is an encouragement to children to find their gift and make their mark in their community. I love this positive approach. Children all over the world love celebrating International Dot Day.

Dot Day in 2019 was especially exciting. My classes were part of a Team blog made up of students from four different continents. (The Team blog can be found at https://dotday.edublogs.org/) We did activities together and the teachers and students loved every minute. I wrote six posts about it on my blog here: https://bit.ly/3EKK0KY 

This year My Grade 2s participated in Dot Day. First we read Peter Reynold's famous and lovely story, 'The Dot' online and discussed it. Children love this story. So do I. Here it is below: 

Our map story activity

1. After reading and disussing the story, we used our imaginations and wrote about a dot taking us on a trip around the world  I gave them maps of the world.  You can find the template here: https://bit.ly/3o355dx

2. The class copied and pasted textboxes and arrows at various places on the map,  and wrote about their journey around the world. 

Examples

Here are some examples of their work.

The Grade 3s researched endangered animals - usng www.kids.kiddle.co

For this lesson I wanted the Grade Threes to research an endangered animal, and to try and rephrase what they read in their own words. This is a task one needs to start as early as possible at school so that students don't get into the habit of plagiarising by copy and pasting.

How did we go about the lesson?

1. After finding out what the students already knew about endangered animals we watched a video and answered questions about them. The video was the engaging, short video entitled ‘Endangered animals’ by the SciShow Kids: https://bit.ly/3Ed7hUU.

2. The class was then given a selection of animals to choose from - gorilla, leopard, rhino, sea turtle, giant panda, tiger, or blue whale, - and they found out more about the relevant animal using the search engine Kiddle: https://kids.kiddle.co/.

3. After reading about their selected animal using the Kiddle browser, the students opened their template downloaded from Oakdome.com entitled ‘Animal Research Paperless Graphic Organizer’ https://bit.ly/31aajdZ . They then filled in their answers as far as possible in their own words by researching the key words in the template.

4. Finally they turned in their work so that I could take a closer look at it. They did well I thought,

Here are some examples of the finished product

Congratulations! You've been accepted into the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert Program!

My heart jumped when I received an email yesterday, 2 September 2021, with the header: 'Congratulations! You've been accepted into the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert Program'.  This year Microsoft made it especially difficult for teachers to enter the program, so I was totally delighted when it happened. 

What did the email say?

"Dear Fiona Beal
Congratulations on being selected as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert for 2021-2022! Each year, Microsoft selects Innovative Educator Experts to be part of this exclusive global community paving the way for their peers to share ideas, try new approaches, and learn from each other. We are inspired by your achievements and look forward to working with you throughout the one-year engagement, and beyond.

You will be joining a group of some of the most amazing educators who are empowering the students of today to create the world of tomorrow. At Microsoft, we believe that technology alone cannot build 21st century skills for students. It is an accelerator, but the power of change lies within educators. That is why we bring changemakers, like yourself, together to recognize and grow your achievements.

You have been chosen as an MIE Expert because you are self-driven, passionate about your work, have true collaborative spirit, and strive to inspire students with outside-the-box thinking on technology in education. We appreciate your resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit. As agents of change, you have achieved excellence in education, using technology and social media. We are grateful for the opportunity to tap into your enthusiasm and enable others to benefit from what is clearly your passion."

The coveted badge has arrived

This is my seventh year of earning this badge. The words accompanying this badge say: "Earners of this badge are educators who have been selected as Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Experts for 2021-2022. They are self-driven educators who are passionate about teaching and learning. They inspire students with creative thinking, and work in a collaborative spirit to share their learning with the world. Resourceful and entrepreneurial, they relish the role of change agent, and work to achieve excellence in education using Microsoft technologies paired with innovative teaching."

The year will be very exciting. Microsoft will see to that! I think teachers love to be appreciated. They love earning badges taht have a lot of meaning. Added to that teachers enjoy being linked to a group of like-minded educators around the world in various events. They are notified of new ideas, new programs and have a wealth of free courses to upskill themselves in. I enjoy all of this so much. 

I am looking forward to this year with Microsoft!