As an opportunity to bring technology into the classroom, I chose to take my students on a virtual field trip to the San Diego Zoo. It was a fun way to review some of the learning that we did in the fall. It also allowed me to introduce a new way of experiencing the zoo and a field trip to the students. We used several of the zoo’s live cameras, and actually observed the animals, and then used the videos and web pages to discuss mammals, amphibians, birds, arthropods, and reptiles. Students had a snack, and brought a stuffed animal that they used to share the type of animal, the interactions with humans, and the life cycle as well as the habitat and diet of their animal.

This activity deals with teaching kids to deal with stress.
1. Kids write what is causing him or her stress on a white sheet of paper.
2. They crumple it up.
3. What do we want to do with stress? Get rid of it! Throw it! Kids have a snowball fight.
4. Pick up one ball after the fight & share it. Discuss how to help that student.
5. Reflect at the end.

This resource examines what deeper learning can actually look like in a classroom. Helpful diagrams of what you will see in a classroom along the way are included.

INTRODUCTION
INSIDE THE CLASSROOM
• Applying Content Knowledge
• Working Collaboratively
• Communicating Clearly
• Thinking Critically 1
• Developing an Academic Mindset
• Learning Independently
GLOSSARY
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

This video defines PeBL and explains the goal of the PeBL philosophy at Sun West School Division. This video was created in 2017.

My plan for my 21st century competency dealt with critical thinking and collaboration in
my Physical Education 9 class. The assignment I had students participate in was in designing a
game that involved offensive and defensive strategies. The students also had to brainstorm
game objectives, physical skills being used, teamwork skill, game rules, penalties, and scoring
system. Before we began developing our games, we looked at the evolution of sport. For
instance, we looked at how volleyball and badminton scoring systems have changes in the past
20 years. We also looked at sports like hockey and football and the rule changes from the early
days of the sport to what we see today. Finally, students developed a game and taught it to the
class. They thought about what worked well and what did not and adjusted their games
according to their findings.

My goal was to create a booklet of creativity challenges to use with Grade 1 to 3 students.
Based on the model of Destination Imagination, I planned challenges that were relevant to the
curricula we were studying at the time. All challenges were chosen from Entry Level activities. I also wanted to foster collaboration, so all challenges were planned with that in mind. My final
artifact is a collection of challenges that I have housed in a duotang. Contact me if you would
like more information. I have included a few sample challenges that were adapted from the
Destination Imagination books, as well as a list of all the activities I collected, at the end of this
document.

For the past two years, Dinsmore Composite School has been developing a mentorship program for K-8 as part of the school timetable. The purpose of the program was to provide opportunities for older students to develop leadership skills and to foster collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills among all students. The planning and implementation process as well as an overview of the learning outcomes and activities will be highlighted. Participants will be invited to share their own experiences with mentorship in their schools and classrooms.

The following is a Professional Development on Differentiated Instruction & Personalized Learning following the PeBL Philosophy.

The PowerPoint presentation is narrated. Please look in the bottom right of each slide for the speaker icon and click it to hear the narration. The presentation will take approximately an hour to an hour and a half to go through depending on if you take time to do the activities within or not. Please allow at least one hour to work through it.

The presentation covers: differentiation, personalization, content, process, product, REORDER, pyramid of growth, transfer of responsibility, and much more!

There is also a note-taking outline available to download and print below. It is suggested that you do this before working through the presentation.

Digital Passport is an interactive learning tool for grades three to five that teaches
and tests the basics of digital safety, etiquette, and citizenship. Students learn
foundational skills from online games and videos, while deepening their learning
through collaborative offline activities. Digital Passport has interactive games for
students, a comprehensive teacher dashboard that includes student reporting,
additional downloadable classroom materials and module guide. Digital Passport
consists of five topical modules: (1) Privacy, (2) Cyberbullying, (3) Communication,
(4) Creative Credit, and (5) Search.
*Digital Passport follow the policy guide for Digital Citizenship Education in
Saskatchewan Schools

17 great tools for assessing your student's understanding online!
You could easily provide this list to students and have them select their own formative assessment or have them build one to share with the class using the PeBL philosophy.

Author: by Lee Watanabe-Crockett

The Issue: How should the land around water systems be used?
Imagine you live in a town near a lake in Saskatchewan. For drinking water, the town uses
ground water from a local well. The ground water comes from an aquifer that sits below land
that is being developed for a feedlot.

The goal of Genius Hour was to get students more engaged in the learning process and to help instill the idea of lifelong learning. Students were asked to brainstorm what their passion was. Students then had to develop an inquiry question related to their passion. Then they had to decide how they would like to show what they learned. Then, students spent time researching about their projects. They were given one hour each Friday to work on their projects. It was an exciting project that students looked forward to working on each week! Because these projects were quite large, they did not all finish at the same time. As students complete their projects, they were able to present what they did to the class.

Information for both the teacher and student that can be used to guide and develop instructional plans and sequencing which leads to personalized learning opportunities based on choices of path, pace, place and time .

"This report outlines strategies to increase authentic student voice in education at the school, district, and state levels."

STEM is everywhere—from businesses and organizations to the products that power our daily lives. That’s why it’s important to build the first fully STEM literate generation. Endeavor is a first-of-its-kind interactive program designed for middle school students built to empower learners with the knowledge they’ll need to build their career pathways. Learners engage with interactive content that reinforces key STEM skills while discovering some of the exciting STEM opportunities that await.

This Course Covers
The Careers Powering STEM Industries
Big Data and the Internet of Things
The Future of Manufacturing and Design
The Algorithms Behind Recommendations

Throughout the year I have used this as a review for the end of each unit. I create five or six critical thinking questions that apply what we have been learning about. I print them on color paper and spread them around the room. I pair the students up, and have they move about the room solving the questions. I only have ten students in my class so I’m fortunate to have only five pairs at a time. I usually pair them up as sort of a strong and weak combination. This is an attempt to have them collaborate on the problems while using critical thinking.

The Global Digital Citizen Foundation is a fountain of resources for teachers that are trying to stay current. There are videos available and you can download the guides. Included are full lessons/handbooks for the following fluencies:
Solution
Information
Creativity
Media
Collaboration
Global Digital Citizenship

You've heard of choice boards, but explore boards are different, and I really think you'll want to give them a try!

Explore Boards are great to introduce a new unit of study to develop background knowledge and vocabulary. They can also be used for studying, becoming an expert in an area to share back (like a jigsaw), support inquiry or research projects, provide context, etc.!

These boards promote personalized learning - student voice and choice as well as autonomy. You can let the students free for 20-30 minutes to explore the options as they see fit, or assign a few options to a group to share back, and students can refer back to these Explore Boards during the entire unit to build a deeper understanding. The only limit on how to use these boards is your imagination!

(But don't worry, this article provides many examples!)

Example Explore Boards are included for: The Outsiders, Risk & Exploration, Global Issues, Ben Franklin, Tomorrow (a sequel to Annie)

Through Problem based learning the students will take the perspective of a fictional character from the mid 1800’s to gain a perspective on the external forces that pushed Canada towards Confederation. The students will be given disclosures that guide them to further enquiry regarding topics like the U.S. manifest destiny, the British Corn Laws, the Treaty of Reciprocity, the U.S. Civil War, and the Fenian raids into Canada. Through this enquiry process, the students will be challenged to use the historical thinking concepts of: historical significance, continuity and change, cause and consequence, and historical perspective. Once the students have completed their research around all of the disclosures they will then need to write a speech that outlines what they believe to be the best course of action for the elected assembly of Canada to take, considering all of the external pressures that are on the British colonies of North America at this point in history. The students are required to be creative in their speech as they do not have any information in the disclosures that tells the students that these events would contribute to Canada’s Confederation in 1867.