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Celebrating Father's Day

Sunday, June 16, 2013

It truly is incredible the number of inspiring educators there are that openly share their knowledge, ideas, expertise and work through the use of technology. Twitter, blogs, and other forms of social media certainly act as a catalyst for bringing educators, parents, friends and school communities together and I'm so grateful for all that I've learned, continue to learn and continue to feel inspired by as part of this professional learning network!

Today's post highlights a particular inspiration I had from a wonderful colleague, Angie Harrison (http://techieang.edublogs.org). Having been a regular follower of her blog, I particularly enjoyed her "Special Someone" post and the idea of recording a sentimental message for someone special in our students lives. Since our students created an artistic piece for Mother's Day, my DECE (Heidi Theis) and I decided to utilize our class' technology to follow in Angie's footsteps for Father's Day.


After sharing the idea with our class, they were thrilled to be able to share with their Dad's all that they love about them and why they're special and especially with the use of our class iPads. Since Angie had posted some of the challenges of this activity that she experienced with her class (e.g. some students struggled with talking and drawing at the same time and finding a quiet space for students to record their ideas), Heidi and I took this into account when planning for this special Father's Day surprise.


To begin, we had each student create a plan of what they want their drawing to look like on the iPad. This helped students get used to talking and drawing at the same time because we would dialogue and ask questions as they were drawing (e.g. why their Dad is special, what they like doing with their Dad, etc.).
Next, we modelled the use of the app "Explain Everything" for students individually so that they could see how it works. Finally, we took students out into the hallway one at a time to record their special message! Voila! Once exported, we sent individual personalized emails to each of our students' families with specific instructions to only open on Father's Day!


Here is a few examples of some of our student's special Father's Day messages. Thank you to these families for letting us share these sentimental messages on the blog and we hope you feel inspired just like Angie inspired us! 

T.B.'s Father's Day Video

S.M.'s Father's Day Video

I.D.'s Father's Day Video

W.F.'s Father's Day Video

To all of the incredible father's of our students! We would like to thank you for being your child's biggest fans and for encouraging them to be the best they can be! Your support, interest and involvement in their education is wonderful and we truly hope you enjoyed your special message and secret envelope surprise! 

We would also like to wish all of our followers, colleagues, friends and family members a Happy Father's Day! 

To my Dad, thank you for being my biggest fan, supporter and endless inspiration and example of what hard work looks like. You always encourage me to follow my dreams and I am so grateful to have you as my Dad! 


Our Father's Day was spent at Paintlounge creating a collaborative piece as part of their Father's Day Workshop! I think my wonderful brother and Dad are hooked already! Safe to say, they'll be coming back with me again!

5 comments:

  1. Thank you! I love the little voices in the projects. I feel these are special keepsakes that will be enjoyed for,years to come. I'm glad you took the risk and gave it a try.
    Angie
    @techieang

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    1. Hi Angie,
      Thanks so much for the comment and for the inspiration!
      I couldn't agree more that these are special keepsakes. The feedback I got from parents was extremely positive and many of our "Dad's" said that this is the best thing to have when needing a "pick-me-up" on a bad day!
      Thank you for continuing to inspire me with all that you do!
      Jocelyn

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  2. What a great project and what a lovely message! I especially enjoyed how you used Angie's reflections to inform your use of the activity. One of the things that I love about Twitter is how we can learn so much from others and try so many new ideas. You've proven that here!

    Now that you've given this a try, I'd love to know your thoughts on the project. Is there anything you'd change the next time?

    Thanks, as always, for sharing!
    Aviva
    www.weinspirefutures.com

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    Replies
    1. Hi Aviva,

      Thank you so much for taking the time to read and post on my blog! I truly love hearing your ideas and insights.

      With regards to your question, it was definitely helpful reading Angie's reflection on the learning process since I knew what challenges could arise and thus I could plan ways to avoid them. In terms of changing anything for the next time, I would have students practise more on the iPads so that their comfort level and confidence is greater when using it. A lot of the time, my DECE and I found that they needed prompting questions to share their thoughts while drawing as opposed to doing so independently. That being said, perhaps using this tool when doing Reading Responses, story-making or through imaginative play would help students practise this skill thus making it easier and more of a smooth process. Furthermore, I found the format of the app easy to use and kindergarten-friendly so I definitely wouldn't change the app for this type of message. It was also very easy to export and send as an attachment which was great!

      Thanks so much for always encouraging me to reflect on my practice and for pushing my thinking in so many ways!

      I hope you're having a wonderful, restful and relaxing start to the summer holidays!
      Sincerely,
      Jocelyn

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