Explore my site before you start.
Welcome to my first Blog Post/Lesson Plan - always a work in progress.
The first thing I'd do with a new class is to get to know students' names quickly with WAY Cards. On these cards, students will see the seven Games of WAY. You mean we get to play games in this class, students will muse...
Blog Posts
Are designed in a Lesson Plan Format suitable for any teacher, student, or parent to learn the WAY Game. Join the fun. Learn to play, and play to learn.
AI
Artificial Intelligence is a game-changer; those who don't learn HOW to play will fall behind. There are many ways to use AI in teaching and learning; I'll show you my research on processing information - how to identify, process and play with daily lessons. I'll be giving you 'Gifts' along the way - Tools and Techniques that help you learn and play.
Holistic PD Makes this site Unique
a SMART WAY to Learn is a model for Holistic PD [Professional Development] - a unique approach that targets Educators, Students and Parents with common tools aligning school communities across grade levels and subject areas.
I teach you HOW to learn, not what to learn.
WAY Cards - Random Selection is Fair
To start a new year, a priority was to learn the names of students. I used WAY Cards. I told students how WAY Cards would be used in class to be fair and keep kids on their toes. But first, I'd begin with building relationships in class. At the moment, you don't know me. Relationships take time to build; I invite you to invest time to follow my journey to successful lifelong learning.
What You Get
We will build trust and relationships along the way through free Gifts and Stories you'll receive. There's a lot here; it's best we take baby steps together - Follow my Blog for instructions.
I'll Be Brief
I'll be brief to simplify things and to encourage innovation when things are unclear.
1. Focus Questions
What is a SMART WAY to Learn?
Outcome: Be able to identify where content is found at playway.ca.
How do WAY Cards work?
Outcome - Demonstrate ways to use WAY Cards.
What files are offered, and how do they work?
Outcome - Learn how to download and print what's needed.
2. Watch Video
Lesson 1 Video - WAY Card Lesson 3:21
3. Download Free Files
1. WAY Cards Template
2. WAY Game - Game Card Sample
3. PowerPoint - a WAY Game Sample
4. SMART Notebook - a WAY Game Sample
Steps
Discuss Focus Questions [5]
Watch the WAY Card Video. Make a large group Brainstorm web on the board on Video Content.
Print WAY Cards on Card Stock, one per student. Cut Out, Students fill in Name, Rank 7 Games. Return Cards to Teacher. Hole Punch. Bind.
Pass out WAY Card Game Cards. Students - write their name on the Game Card. This is your first card to start your collection. Think about how students will Bind their Game Cards.
Let's play. Choose eight students with WAY Cards to play two randomly chosen WAY Games from the Game Card students were given.
Speculate and innovate on the rules of play for two games. These will be your 'House Rules'.
Students reflect on this lesson and plan ways to summarize content using words, symbols and drawn pictures. This is CAP Note Thinking, which you'll need later
WAY Card Lesson Video
3:21
AI Demo
AI - make suggestions to rephrase and improve my first sentence, then make it persuasive.
What I wrote - There are seven games in the WAY Sample available on both PowerPoint and SMART Notebook.
Here's the rewritten version: Experience the excitement of 7 engaging games with the WAY Sample, now available on both PowerPoint and SMART Notebook! Get ready to be captivated by an interactive learning journey that will keep you engaged and entertained. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your learning experience.
Not my style, but it's effective.
Print a class set of WAY Cards.
Game Card Sample - Have a Game - Three Cards per Sheet
This is the first Game Card in your Game Card collection. Please print and cut.
PowerPoint - 7 WAY Game
Here's a sample WAY Game on PowerPoint.
SMART Notebook
Here's a sample WAY Game on SMART Notebook.
Teacher Stories
Times are tough: climate change, political division, attacks on institutions, especially teachers, the effects of Social Media, and the cost of living, but at the same time, there has never been more opportunity to teach and learn effectively. The problem is there is so much to choose from. After thirty-three years in the classroom and seven more in research and retirement, it's time to share my 'hobby' with others.
One of my many challenges is how to build trust with my audience. My solution - stories from my past that may help others with their teaching and learning challenges. Let me tell you about some of mine that you may find ironic, but G.B. Shaw was spot on when he said, "Those who can't do, teach." At least in my case.
There's something wrong with Brian, my mother once mused. As a result, I skipped Kindergarten because my mother felt I wasn't ready for school. In grade one, I was tested - diagnosis - He's a lazy boy. Maybe so, but there was something else. In grade four, I won the Library Prize, and my emotional intelligence side knew why. I was streamed into the 'slow' class for grades five and six. I liked my teacher in grade seven, but don't remember much. Grade eight was a turning point.
I grew up in Montreal in the town of Mount Royal, an affluent community, but you wouldn't know it in the halls of St. Joseph Elementary, with high ceilings everywhere except for the gym at maybe twelve feet in height. No matter; I was going to the modern Catholic High School just down the street.
No, I wasn't; this was during the FLQ crisis, police at the door, bombs going off in my neighbourhood, and armed soldiers protecting politicians' houses that I had to pass by on my way to school. Many English families left Montreal, and the high school I was to go to was converted into a French Girl's School from a neighbouring community. The catholic high school was to be moved to the nun's quarters on top of St. Joesph's Elementary.
My only saving grace and source of confidence in my early years was hockey; I was a good athlete. I transferred to Mount Royal High School, which had a real gym, a track, labs, an auditorium, and pillars in front of the school. Wow. Now, this was a real high school. My brother went there, but I was lost. After failing grade eight, I tried again the next year; I failed again.
It was suggested to my parents that I be sent to trade school. Instead, I went to Stanstead, a boarding school with a reputation [as I found out much later] of being for 'wayward boys.' I guess I fit the bill. A small town in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, with about two hundred boys from grades seven to twelve. It had a great sports program, especially the football team. Had I died and gone to heaven?
I remember sitting in my room and thinking that this was my last chance. If I messed this up, what was I going to do? It was at that point in time I stopped asking myself, "Why do I need to know this stuff?" To buckle down and do my best regardless of my challenges. You see, my B's became P's. Words at times were confusing, spelling was difficult, and math was just about impossible. I had to learn how to focus.
It was my second day at Stanstead; it was an Icebreaker day where you would meet the 'New Boys' as we were called. It was a sports day followed by a corn roast in the evening. Something happened that day that instantly changed my status at school. Or so I thought. The story continues in my next post.
Use the Immersive Reader Tool in OneNote to see and hear the words. Use more than one sensory input when presenting text to students.
What's Next
Meet Brian, your virtual guest teacher.