By-passing Proxy
Here is a video tutorial on how to by-pas the proxy.
Download the .flv file here: proxy
http://blogs.wsd1.org/southdistrict/files/proxy.flvImporting Bulk Users
There is a nifty plugin for uploading and configuring a lot of users at once. It’s called DDImportUsers. Essentially it uses the pipe character (|) to separate user properties like username, password, role etc….
I have not had an issue with this plugin in the past, but as I was using it the other day I had nothing by trouble. I thought I had formatted things correctly (ie in the correct order and wit the appropriate pipes, but it kept giving me an error. Apparently the username was an issue. After trying a number of different things, I consulted Patrick Logan and it was he that hit upon the solution….
All characters MUST BE IN LOWER CASE!
I had type some of the username in UPPER Case and that was where the issue was. Sometimes it the small (or in the case big) things that mess you up.
South District Inquiry Reflection 2009
Intents:
- Opportunity to reflect personally on inquiry in your classroom
- Opportunity to look at blogs as a means of sharing and collaborating with peers
- Determine what aspects of Inquiry you did well this year
- Determine goals for further inquiries – next steps
The time has come to spend some time reflecting on what’s happened during the South District Inquiry project this year. Please take a moment to respond to the following questions in a blog post. Ensure that you leave your first name and e-mail when you post.
- What does Inquiry look like in my classroom now? What do you want it to look like?
- What are your next goals in Inquiry and your next steps to meet those goals?
- How will you know that Inquiry is embedded in your classroom practice? What are you doing and what are your students doing?
- What steps do you need to take to ensure that meaningful Inquiry happens in your room over the course of the year?
- How might or did you use the blog to enhance the Inquiry process?
Changing Header Graphic in Atahualpa Theme
South District Gallery Walk invitation
Needs for Gallery Walk
Find the link to the “needs” form below. This will need to be completed by teachers in the project. I want to be able to have everything teachers need to properly showcase their student’s inquiry projects. Please consider your needs, complete the form and return it to me at Rockwood, or by e-mail or by commenting on the this post. I will need some lead time to collect the equipment you may request so please get these forms completed by the end of April.
Download the needs form here… Gallery Walk Needs
Inquiry Project Report
Each individual teacher involved in the inquiry project will have to submit a final report by April 24th, 2009. Even if the inquiry was planned as a group within your school, the report should be completed individually. The report format is attached and is also posted on the Virtual Office site. The due date of Friday, April 24th, 2009 is very important as it will allow me to make copies of the reports for the Gallery Walk Day! On the day of the Gallery Walk, teachers will be asked to hand out and talk about their report to people that visit their station.
Please download, complete and submit the report to me via e-mail or at Rockwood school by April 24th, 2009.
South Dsitrict Inquiry Project Report master
Grade 4 Science
Media Literacy & Image Manipulation
Image manipulation tutorials
Digital wizardry Powerpoint
Irfanview Tutorials: image-processing
South District Inquiry Book Study
Professional Book Study - PDF (from http://www.benchmarkone.com/freebies_main.asp)
We will be looking at the following two books.
Student Inquiry: Conducting Real World Investigations In Your Classroom by Maureen McQuerry
Planning for Inquiry: It’s Not an Oxymoron! by Diane Parker
The day plan… South District Inquiry Book Study
Something to think about…
“Students learn best when they profoundly want to know. Their learning efficiency is in direct proportion to their motivation” – Dr. Joseph Renzulli.
What a powerful way to begin a book about inquiry! As difficult as the transition may be, teachers need to look at their current practices and review how engaged the students are in their learning endeavors, and then make the changes necessary to hook every learner. Inquiry is a style of teaching and learning that allows for differentiation among the various learning styles that exist in every classroom, and engages the learner at new levels of intensity. This simple idea, fostering learning by allowing students to pursue an area of interest in depth, isn’t particularly new. Educators have been working towards this idea with every new pedagogical “fad” that comes along.
So what makes inquiry different? Why does it seem to work consistently? Let’s take a look at the world of a student. They are bombarded with information! They’re well connected to varied sources of this information – it’s readily available in staggering amounts. Being able to filter this rapid flood of information is essential. Educators will not be able to keep up with the massive amount of content that a student may need to know. Teachers cannot teach content alone! They need to provide their students with an effective process and the appropriate tools to locate, make sense of and use the information they come across, and use this information meaningfully in their world. This is what it means to be information literate and is critical characteristic of a well-educated individual… inquiry is an effective way to build that literacy!
The goal of teaching in an inquiry class is to teach skills that students can apply to any project, any time. There should be a shift on the teacher’s part to that of a guide or project manager overseeing a research project. To accomplish this teachers and students will need to create a culture of inquiry! When the learning is student-centered; when the class is engaged in authentic learning, determining authentic problems, creating authentic products for authentic audiences with connections to the real world or the world of work, a culture of inquiry exists!
This is what Jeffrey Wilhelm and Paul Friedman mean when they say… “What’s essential is that students learn how to learn.” It behooves us to provide this for our students.