Monday, October 7, 2013

The Learning Commons Evolves! Last week I started reflecting on how far the Learning Commons has come. What occasioned my thoughts was looking around on Thursday afternoon and realizing that I had not only two gade two classes in with their teachers for collaborative project, but also UBC student teachers observing, kids trickling in for book exchange, a parent volunteer shelving, and a teacher using one of the computers! Everyone was on task and using the space harmoniously: the Learning Commons operating at full steam! The grade two classes were working on a way for everyone to show their thinking simultaneously and in real time using padlet, the Scan app, Apple TV and their knowledge of bees! This project is a great example of the evolution of the Learning Commons because it started with one teacher approaching me and saying she'd heard of another teacher in the district using the iPads and a scan App to write on the same virtual blackboard together and she'd like to try it but didn't really know how it worked. I didn't either but did some research and figured out how we could do it! Then another grade two teacher heard about our plan and asked to be involved. &nbsp;So I set up a "wall" using the Web 2.0 tool padlet (it used to be called Wallwisher- I'd explored it a bit in its previous incarnation). I labelled it What I Know About Bees and projected it using Apple TV. Then kids came up in pairs and scanned the QR code that padlet generates for each wall which brought up the same wall for everyone to write on. We had to talk about what happens if you write silly things, but that was a good lesson too! The picture is of our second session on What I Wonder About Bees. The Learning Commons continues to evolve and flourish.</p>



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