“Why are we learning outdoors? … To wake up our brains” is the loud chorus from my Grade 2 students at Little Falls Public School. Outdoor learning is an integral part of their daily lives. These students come to school prepared; dressed in layers, with their water bottles, hats and splash pants, they are ready for a day of active learning.
Project Overseas. These words hung in the back of my mind for almost a decade. At the Thanksgiving table in 2007, I explained to my family how PO, as it is affectionately called, sends Canadian teachers to work internationally to deliver in-service to untrained and undertrained teachers.
In July of 2007, my life changed forever – by attending a workshop. I remember reading the flyer. “Best workshop I’ve ever taken,” raved one teacher. Really? I wondered how they could spend three days talking about one thing – the monarch butterfly.
Technology has as many uses for learning as ketchup does on food. Heinz would tell you it's endless. I'll tell you the same (excluding the ketchup analogy). Boosting engagement, eliciting smiles, commanding attention and increasing efficiency through technology at the points of instruction and learning are effective. But why not use technology creatively at the point of assessing?
