Tag: blog

Posted on

Vivian Maier Slideshow

(Originally posted )

Last week I visited an exhibition of Vivian Maier’s photography at the Chicago Cultural Center. I had learned about Vivian Maier earlier through the Kickstarter website and blogged about it here.

To say I was impressed with the exhibit is an understatement. The whole story about her work being discovered and shared with the world is incredibly fascinating and inspirational, so much so, that I decided to visit Chicago to see her pictures in person. Continue reading “Vivian Maier Slideshow”

Posted on

ETFO Online AQs for Teachers – Summer 2017

I’ve gathered up all the ETFO online AQs listed on the OTF PD Calendar  that are being offered this summer. Please let me know if there are any omissions or mistakes.

  • Adapting Curriculum for Second Language Learners https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-adapting-curriculum-for-second-language-learners/
  • Education Law https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-education-law/
  • Environmental Education Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-environmental-education-part-1/
  • French as a Second Language, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-french-second-language-part-1/
  • French as a Second Language, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-french-second-language-part-2/
  • French as a Second Language, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-french-second-language-specialist/
  • Geography, Grade 7 and 8 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-geography-grades-7-and-8/
  • History, Grade 7 and 8 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-history-grade-7-and-8/
  • Inclusive Classroom, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-inclusive-classroom-part-1/
  • Inclusive Classroom, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-inclusive-classroom-part-2/
  • Inclusive Classroom, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-inclusive-classroom-specialist/
  • Integrated Arts https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-integrated-arts/
  • Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-integration-of-ict-in-the-classroom-part-1/
  • Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-integration-of-ict-in-the-classroom-part-2/
  • Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-integration-of-ict-in-the-classroom-specialist/
  • Kindergarten, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-kindergarten-part-1-online/
  • Kindergarten, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-kindergarten-part-2-online/
  • Kindergarten, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-kindergarten-specialist-online/
  • Language, Grades 7 and 8 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-language-grades-7-and-8/
  • Mathematics, Grade 7 and 8 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-mathematics-grades-7-8/
  • Mathematics, Primary and Junior, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-mathematics-primary-junior-part-1/
  • Mathematics, Primary and Junior, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-mathematics-primary-junior-part-2/
  • Mathematics, Primary and Junior, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-mathematics-primary-junior-specialist/
  • Media, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-media-part-1/
  • Media, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-media-part-2/
  • Media, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-media-specialist/
  • Music – Instrumental, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-instrumental-music-part-1/
  • Occasional Teaching https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-occasional-teacher/
  • Primary Education, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-primary-education-part-1/
  • Primary Education, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-primary-education-part-2/
  • Primary Education, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-primary-education-specialist/
  • Reading, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-reading-part-1/
  • Reading, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-reading-part-2/
  • Reading, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-reading-specialist/
  • Science and Technology, Grade 7 and 8 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-science-and-technology-grades-7-and-8/
  • Science and Technology, Primary and Junior, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-science-and-technology-primary-and-junior-part-1/
  • Science and Technology, Primary and Junior, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-science-and-technology-primary-and-junior-part-2/
  • Science and Technology, Primary and Junior, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-science-and-technology-primary-and-junior-specialist/
  • Special Education, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-special-education-part-1/
  • Special Education, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-special-education-part-2/
  • Special Education, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-special-education-specialist/
  • Student Assessment and Evaluation https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-student-assessment-evaluation/
  • Teacher Librarian, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teacher-librarian-part-1/
  • Teacher Librarian, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teacher-librarian-part-2/
  • Teacher Librarian, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teacher-librarian-specialist/
  • Teaching and Learning Through e-Learning https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-learning-e-learning/
  • Teaching Combined Grades https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-combined-grades/
  • Teaching English Language Learners Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-ell-part-1/
  • Teaching English Language Learners Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-ell-part-2/
  • Teaching English Language Learners Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-ell-specialist/
  • Teaching First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Children https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-first-nation-metis-and-inuit-children/
  • Teaching Students with Behavioural Needs https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-students-with-behavioural-needs/
  • Teaching Students with Communication Needs (Autism Spectrum Disorder) https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-students-with-communication-needs-autism-spectrum-disorders/
  • Teaching Students with Communication Needs (Learning Disability) https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-teaching-students-with-communication-needs-learning-disabilities/
  • Use and Knowledge of Assistive Technology https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-use-knowledge-assistive-technology/
  • Visual Arts, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-visual-arts-part-1/
  • Visual Arts, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-visual-arts-part-2/
  • Visual Arts, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-visual-arts-specialist/
  • Writing, Part 1 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-writing-part-1/
  • Writing, Part 2 https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-writing-part-2/
  • Writing, Specialist https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/pd-calendar/events/etfo-writing-specialist/

 

Posted on

AML EULAs in Plain English

I recently had the pleasure of being in the audience for a presentation from Carol Arcus, Vice-President, The Association for Media Literacy (AML).

AML has many amazing resources for teachers at both their website and their YouTube channel.

One of the highlights for me was their “EULA Project”, where they have taken many social media end-user licence agreements and converted them to plain English posters that can be displayed in your classroom for your students, all for free.

Here’s an example, posted in low-res only (see the link below for full-sized PDFs):

Snapchat EULA
Snapchat EULA in Plain English

To see AML’s EULA Project in its entirety, visit http://www.aml.ca/i-agree/ where you can download PDF versions of each EULA poster.

(Also see http://www.aml.ca/agency-and-privacy/ for additional information about this project.)

Posted on

Popup HTML Generator

I recently had some discussions about updating a webpage to include popups for a number of organizations that were listed on a page. It got me thinking about how I could write a program that would efficiently generate the HTML instead of having to manually code it.

I’ve also been thinking lately about getting back into programming with Delphi, a language I used many years ago that is perfect for quickly creating little utilities.

Here’s the result:

Popup HTML Generator

It’s nothing fancy, but it will suit my needs should the task come up again.

If you’re interested in downloading the program for yourself, it can be downloaded from here. Because it’s written in Delphi, there’s no setup required and the program should run portably on most systems (Windows only).  Just save it to the folder you’d like to run it from, like your desktop.

If you’re interested in the source code, shoot me an email and I’d be glad to  share it.

Posted on

Use of Diigo for Sharing Student Website Reviews

Diigo Student Reviews on Diigo

One of the things I like to do in class is to ask students to find supplemental resources on the web for the topic we are covering, especially tutorials.

To share what they find, I normally create a shared Google Doc where the they write a review of the resource. For each review, I ask them to concentrate on the following criteria:

  • Educational value
  • Organization of website (or page)
  • Suitability to our class
  • Aesthetics

These reviews have always been private, for good reason, since the document includes the students’ names.

This morning I received an email from a teacher requesting access to one of those documents. I can’t grant the teacher access to the document because of the privacy concerns, but I do want to be able to share the content. So what to do…

I’ve been using Diigo, a social-bookmarking site, for many years.  It now has somewhere around 10,000 shared bookmarks in it, with bookmarks for many of my classes, including Communications Technology, Computer Studies, and Computer Technology, as well for general interest topics such as Cool Tech. Why not put the students’ website reviews on there as well?

So I started with the specific reviews that the teacher wanted access to: Flash. I simply visited each site the students had found to confirm it still exists, bookmarked it by using the Diigo Chrome extension, and added the relevant tags (like “Flash” and “tutorial”) along  with a new one: “Student Review”.

So now if someone wants to see resources my students have found, they can simply visit my Diigo account and enter “Student Review” in the search bar at the top. If they want to drill down further, they can click on the additional tag on the left to focus the search results to a certain class or topic.

I’m not going to immediately go back into all the previous reviews my students have created to update my Diigo account, but certainly going forward I’ll make it part of my protocol.

I hope this encourages other teachers to check out the resources I’ve bookmarked on Diigo (there are many!), but I also hope it encourages others to do something similar with the supplemental resources they find or use in class. I often say we’re all behind closed doors essentially doing similar things, so why not learn from each other by sharing?

Do you have a Diigo (or del.icio.us) account you’d like to share? Do you think this tip is useful? Any suggestions for making this process better? Any other comments?