What I learned at the GAFE Summit

I had a wonderful opportunity last weekend to attend the GAFE (Google Apps for Education) Summit.
I must admit going into this Summit I thought that I knew quite a bit about Google Apps, after all I use collaborative Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms and on top of that I have been a member of Google+ and have led many Google Hangouts for my Movies as Literature class.
GAFE however opened up a whole new world of add-ons, extensions and apps that I hope to start applying soon!
 
More than just apps, this conference was about changing thinking and learning to look at education (and life) in a different way. Learning to think and respond to others ideas in the context of Yes...and rather than Yes...but. Learning how to explore design thinking. Learning how one app can change an experience of learning and meet the needs of a variety of different students. 
 
One of the things that struck me was how visual we have become. The medium that impacts students is experiential  - mainly with video, but also with social media, artistic expression and hands on explorations.My own problem solving and critical thinking skills were challenged in many of the "learn by doing" sessions. I loved this! 

The icing on the cake was learning about some very cool apps! Here are just a few ;)
Kaizena- a program to use along side with Google Docs to be able to add audio feedback, links and much more. Very cool!
Ed Puzzle - to take video and add quizzes embedded in the video itself.
Jamendo - music that is in the public domain (please use caution - there is a wide range of music you may not want your students to listen to)
Geogussr.com - a very fun game for learning Geography 
I hope to share many more great resources over the next few months as I use them and apply them! 
 
Thank you GAFE Summit team! 
Blessings, Natalie

Jane Eyre - Movies as Literature Google Hangouts

Our final Google Hangout for the Year! It has been wonderful to have this experience with these inspirational students!
Today was Jane Eyre. There was some controversy this session and not all the students agreed in their answers to the questions. We used this You-tube version of Jane Eyre as our movie, though some of the students had read the book or watched a different version as well as this one.
Questions with bigger themes about love, conscience and faith are bound to have some differences of opinion. It is great to see the students back up their answers. 

It is also wonderful to see them laugh together and learn together!
I am finding more and more that I will need to be prepared with extensions for each of the questions in order to stimulate more discussion. This is something I will be mindful of for next year. 
The questions for Jane Eyre are here.
Blessings! Natalie

The Detective aka Father Brown Google Hangouts

Well, it was a great morning with another one of our Movies as Literature Google Hangouts classes! 
We switched gears from Sherlock Holmes this session and watched The Detective: AKA Father Brown. We certainly had a different hero here! 
Our students answered the questions well. Several of the questions they didn't agree 100% on - which to me is a beautiful thing. I want them to stand for what the believe in and be able to defend their answers! We will continue to work on that next year. 

I am impressed by the writing that is happening in this class and how the questions are being answered. With thought, creativity and the students backing up their point of view up with analogies and examples. 
Father Brown and Flambeau were interesting characters that allowed for some great questions. You can download your own copy of the questions here.
If you have any questions about leading your own Movies as Literature class, don't hesitate to ask!!
Blessings! Natalie

Movies as Literature - Sherlock Holmes - The Red Headed League

Another great session in Google Hangouts with “the gang”! 
It was a little frustrating because I misunderstood that in order to have 15 people in Google Hangouts you needed to purchase a domain and a Google Business account. Good to know!! 

We were one too many, so I know that it was frustrating for our students that kept getting bumped out!! They were very patient! I have now purchased the necessary account and so all should be well!! 

The Red Headed League though a great mystery to explore, didn’t have as much action or tension compared to The Hound of the Baskervilles, so I don’t think that it was a favourite of most of our students, however in the Google Doc and then in class they explored foils, different Sherlock personas, Arthur Conan Doyle’s life and much more. 

I especially appreciated their answers and discussion on the question about blessings vs things being too good to be true and the question about our attraction to crime both as spectators and participators all the way back to biblical times. The questions for the Red Headed League are here.

Our next mystery is Father Brown AKA The Detective in May.. there are many great life messages in this movie and I am very much looking forward to the discussion. 

Blessings! Natalie

Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles - Google Hangouts

We had our next Movies as Literature class in Google Hangouts. The Hound of the Baskervilles is beginning a series over the next few months of mysteries from different authors. What better mysteries to start with than Sherlock Holmes!

I had the students once again watch the film at home and share a document answering these questions. Then we got together and discussed their answers! I love how each time these students do a session they dive a little deeper and express their opinions just that much clearer! I have been challenged by bible verses that I wasn't aware of, by opinions that differ from my own and by the great sense of confidence that these students possess! 
Another wonderful session! 
A bonus to these sessions is afterward I give our students 15 minutes or so to just chat together about anything - they have fun together, are very animated and genuinely enjoy each other's company. It is definitely an opportunity for social interaction!!
Next session - Another Sherlock Holmes- The Red Headed League. I can't wait!!
Blessings,
Natalie

Google Hangouts - North and South #4 Final Session

Well, I must say, Google Hangouts was a wonderful experience for our North and South Movies as Literature class! 

I think that the value of learning together, collaborating together on documents, and learning how to use Google Hangouts with ease was a real addition to our homeschool experience. 

This discussion centred around the questions of change in characters, fair representation of both sides of the “labour battle” and then we had a great discussion on business and risk. It was also great to hear the opinion of the students on how they enjoyed the series.

The questions for this session are here.

After our session on North and South I had the students do a survey in Google Forms based on which films they would like to see us cover in our next sessions. We have limited sessions and many ideas, so I had the students decide on what they would like based on a rating system. 

Google Forms is a wonderful way to take a survey in a class. You can see the results “real time”. I added up the tally’s and we have a tentative plan for our next sessions.

I love to see our students do this kind of work. Whenever they have to give their opinions it is a great learning experience - and in this case they could not see the other’s response - so it was their opinion and their's alone.

For the month of February we will be doing Pride and Prejudice together (in person) and so we will take a break from Google Hangouts. I look forward to the sessions in March and beyond. 

I just want to say a special thanks to these amazing students that make it so worthwhile! It is a true highlight of my week to meet with you all!

If you know a great group of young people and you need any help getting your Google Hangouts class started, just let me know!

Blessings, Natalie

Google Hangouts - North and South #3

                            

Another great session on yesterday with our North and South Literature through Movies Google Hangout! Our North and South hangouts for Episode 1 is here and Episode 2 is here.

There is such enthusiasm from these students and I was so impressed by their willingness to think about many sides to any question. This week was especially challenging as we talked about many topics including hate and lying. These are not small topics to talk about! 

I appreciate the way that they can apply the questions to themselves with ease. "What would you do?" questions really bring out two sides of a dilemma. It is one thing to understand what someone else did, but I think it is much more challenging to think about what you would do!
I don't have all the answers either and one of my joys in this class is that I get to learn too! My assumptions are very often challenged by this amazing class!!

We continue to use Google Doc's to share ideas and answers to the questions. The students answer ahead of the class and we collaborate on the Google Doc. I love the way the students are beginning to read other's answers and add comments! Each week this just gets better and better! Episode 3 discussion questions are here. 

Next week is our last North and South Hangout. These students have asked me to carry on with more Literature through Movies, so I am making choices and watching a lot of great movies!

I have used Pinterest to sort through the choices and then a spreadsheet to keep track of the main questions I would like the students to explore about the films. 

I look forward to exploring many great movies with these students! It is a joy!! I would love to hear film suggestions that you have!
Blessings,
Natalie

Google Hangouts - North and South #2

Our second session of Google Hangouts went so much more smoothly. All of the students were much more comfortable with the technology and many of them had completed the work on the Google Doc and were prepared for the session. 
We were able to dive right in!!

Episode 2 of North and South questions I was using are here. For this session I also had our students watch this short video on child labour and I read a short exerpt from the book Factory Girl by Barbara Greenwood.

We spent alot of our time talking about the dilemma of taking away child labour and leaving those families with no source of income. Many of our students had great points about the age of children, the type of labour they would do, aid that we could give and ways that child labour could be regulated. 

We also talked about Mob mentality and how mobs can be formed by desperate people, people not in their right mind (through starvation, drugs or alcohol) and that one person could get a whole group of people worked up. We tied in the French Revolution and why people rebelled through mobs. It was a great discussion. 

I am ever amazed at these students and their thinking! It gives me an amazing amount of hope for our future! These are our future leaders and they are learning that there are not always easy answers!! They can be serious but they also love to have fun!!
Blessings,
Natalie

Google Hangouts - North and South Class #1

We have an amazing class in Google Hangouts, with students grades 7-9, based on the BBC production of North and South. This class combines several things that I have really wanted to explore this year. 

First Google Hangouts - this is an incredible platform to lead a small class. What a joy it is to see the students collaborating in the Hangout. 

The second thing I wanted to explore was a Literature through Movies class (you can check my board on Pinterest for ideas) where I would have the students watch a video and then discuss it! I didn't realize how much literary value I could pulled out of one video. It has been wonderful!!! 

I chose North and South for several reasons: 

#1 - We are studying the Industrial Revolution in our Co-op this month and the time frame is perfect to explore Strikes and Unions, Working Conditions, Social problems, Child Labour and so much more!

#2 - It is readily available on both Netflix and You-tube so I knew that it would be fairly easy for the students to access.

#3 - It has very vivid characters and there are several dillemmas that they must face. Based on that it was a good one to present those dillemma's to our students. 

#4 It was a story both girls and boys could relate to! This is important because our class is mixed. 

First I started a circle in Google+ and asked students if they would like to join in the class. This has been an adjustment for me, as well as some of the students, as we had not used Google+ fully before. We had a few kinks to start with, but now we have it running smoothly!

Google doc with the questions here. 

They then collaborated in the Google Doc throughout the week. Adding their responses and reading other's responses as well. When we started the class, they put up the document and we went over the questions. I had extra questions that I asked in the session that were not on the Google doc... just to spur on more discussion.

After our discussion, several of the students left the Hangout, but others decided to stay and chat. They started playing around with the special effects and other features! What fun!

Blessings,
Natalie