Week 3 thoughts

Once again, lots of food for thought in the articles for week 3.  I was drawn to the wording offered by Fullan for the criteria for integrating technology and pedagogy (which then made me remember last week's article that talked about "minding our language and buzz-words".) 
Irresistably engaging seems to be key for any type of teaching.  A quote that I used to use under my email signature (until we weren't allowed to have quotes added there), by Alfred Mercier, was "What we learn with pleasure, we never forget".  Although teachers aren't expected to "put on a show", presenting new learning in an engaging manner can make all of the difference for some students.
Elegantly efficient and ensuring that the addition of technology does not complicate our lives seems to be a given as well.  Keeping in mind, that there will be a learning curve while learning the technology.
Technologically ubiquitous - technology does seem to be "the norm" and is available to many of us (students and teachers) 24/7.
Steeped in real-life problem solving is a work in progress, from my perspective.  This is where the real learning happens.  I will be bringing this point back to my staff so we can think about ways that we can offer authentic and purposeful learning opportunities to our students, even at a young age.  I know it is doable, we just need to think outside the box of what we currently do. Problem-based learning seems to be a great way to get started on this.


I liked how Fullan referred to Hattie's work about the effect size of instructional practices.  If you haven't read any of his Visible Learning books, here is a link to at least see all of the practices that he rated https://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/  I was happy to see that Jesse talked about the "low floor, high ceiling" tasks.  This has been a focus in my building this year for lesson planning and learning activities. 
When Jesse mentioned the Literacy with ICT framework, I remembered receiving a copy of the continuum in one of my first years of years of teaching in Manitoba, possibly when it had first come out.  There was a big push for a couple of years to refer to that document regularly, but to be honest, I haven't thought or heard about it in the last 7 years or more.
  
If you aren't able to read the entire Stratosphere book by Fullan, I found a link to a good review that summarizes the entire book https://mindsharelearning.ca/book-review-stratospher-by-michael-fullan/


The Learning First, Technology Second article seemed to reinforce many of the ideas we had previously read about.  The quote that resonated with me was, "Teaching with technology is about the learning first and the tool second".  I found the Triple E Framework to be interesting to read and I appreciated the table that connected the framework to the ISTE standards for students. 
Our division has jumped on the SAMR model bandwagon, and one of my favourite graphics to share with teachers provides detailed information on the types of apps, activities and action verbs that teachers can use as a guide.

I found a great article that made me think about what type of technology we should have in our classrooms to provide creative spaces that better support student learning and engagement in the 21st century  https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/8-high-tech-gadgets-that-are-making-classrooms-sma/  A couple of the quotes that spoke to me were, “Stuffing schools with high tech tools isn’t the answer to offering dynamic learning experiences,” and “new learning needs new environments.”  Flipped classrooms is one of the topics mentioned.