My favorite app on my iPad 2 right now is Flipboard.  I am using it for my own blog reading, but it can be easily extended to students who could use an alternative way of reading.

I have had a difficult time finding age appropriate and engaging research material for primary and intermediate students at my elementary schools. I have recently found one useful website that helps engage students in possible research topics. It includes easy to follow tabs that include sound and audio, maps, easy printing features, photos, and facts.

Here is the website and I am focussing the study on animals:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/

Hope this helps! Please let me know of any other kid friendly research websites!

As my first entry of the year, I want to share a website that I have found useful for ages K-5. It is a project that PBS has begun as the people at PBS have recognized the need for engaging educational platforms that can be used across mobiles, tablet computers and SMARTboards. The link is

www.PBSkids.org/lab

Feel free to contact me about any more questions. I am currently using this website with grades 1,2 and 3.

– Mr. Shortreed

On snow day Mrs. Campbell’s grade 3 class worked together to create word webs about the words snow and cold.

Today I recieved a letter from the PAC in advocacy of the installation of a SMARTboard in the computer lab at George Jay Elementary.

Please read the rationale that the PAC has written for the advocacy of smartboards at George Jay

“Students are limited with their interaction with peers in a classroom. A SMARTboard allows students to discuss ideas and share learning in a wholeclass venue using a single computer. This technology therefore doubles the capacity of classrooms to be fully engaged with online experiences. This technology also allows the teacher to teach the class “from” the computer, taking advantage of online video clips, audio clips and other interactive sites. Students can come to the screen and interact with what is presented with the ability to write in “digital ink”.

The SMARTboard is an especially effective tool for teaching students in lower grades to navigate the many menus and hypertext environment of the screen before ever attempting the same operations on a laptop computer. In addition to being able to write on the screen, the user can also access an on screen keyboard which allows students to see all of the keystrokes performed, something which cannot be seen when using a traditional projector and computer.

A SMARTboard will enhance a classroom learning environment and support the “technical” development of our world.”

   Written by the PAC on Feburary 21st 2011

    Take a look at this article found in “T H E Journal” and online journal about transforming education through technology. The article below presents information about interactive collaboration for students through the use of online discussion forums and the use of tablet computers, such as Apple’s iPad. Click on the link below to read the article.

Tickle-Down Technology

Our grade 4s and 5s are writing digital storybooks for their little buddys this week. Check out a little bit of their ongoing work. This story was writing by Maxwell in Division 2. Well done Maxwell, your kindergarden buddy is going to love it!

I had the chance to teach in Mrs. O’Keefe’s room for the morning. She has a smartboard and we used “Storybird.com” to create a digital story together. Each student wrote a page of the book, choosing the art, the layout, and the language. Then each student read their page as we read the story to each other. Check out our story by clicking the link below!

Our Storybird

Today grade 3,4, and 5s are researching about a specific region of Canada and an athlete from that region and Skate Canada Section they come from. We assigned our classes Quebec to research and allowed our students to choose their own athlete from that region. It was great to research background for our Canadian athletes!

Today we worked in the program paint.net and drew straight lines between two points then painted it digitally.