Createch-ing

This week I had planned to participate in the  #hourofcode with the school. I had everything organized but, boom! The Flu came in the way and we ended up doing two days instead of four. Two days were enough though to get a glimpse of the interest amongst students about coding and computer science. It turns out that the opportunities for jobs in computer science is not levelled with the amount of students taking computer science as a Career.  The hour of code is an event that tries to bring this our attention and encourages more presence of computer science in schools. Because, actually, everywhere we go and almost everything we do has a computer software behind. The need is huge and the possibilities are endless.  As a math teacher also, the connections with computer programming are tremendously strong. The designers behind the hour of code also did a great job to present it in a game-like way. For instance, in the Frozen tutorial, our first two math units this year in grade 7 got

Esta mañana he presentado en las jornadas de orientación para los profesores visitantes de Alberta hoy en Telus Science Park, Calgary. Ya no estoy en el programa de PPVV pero continuo trabajando en una ISA y colaborando con Alberta Education de vez en cuando. Animo a los nuevos profesores!

Teaching Inquiry through a second language? Yes, we can! Very often, us , bilingual teachers, debate about the ease of teaching in an inquiry environment while teaching Spanish ( or any other language) at the same time. Well, it is not an easy one, but we can do it. Take a look at this slideshow !

Our class went to  the Microsoft Youth Sparks workshop to learn to code and to create their own apps. At the beginning they were not sure about what to expect but soon they started to discover what it was about. The students used the new Surface pro3 to learn how to code. They enjoyed the useful pen and soon started to create beautiful designs that moved all over the screen. They created a simple pattern that looked like a caleidoscope and discovered and app that they can use to create their own games at home. After, they used a special xbox to design their own video game. They chose their world, the setting, the characters and started to create their own adventures. I recognize that there was an element of literature since they had to figure out the 5 w's and also create a beginning, middle and end to their story ( game).It was really simple and the most important thing is...they can also do their games at home if they purchase that feature. In their free time, they got to pl

Yesterday, Sra. Hernandez taught our class and Srta. Palma's class a recipe from El Salvador: "Pupusas" . We started by washing our hands properly, like Mrs. Larsen taught us, everybody came ready to be cooks. Mrs. Hernandez had all the ingredients ready when we came to the kitchen. First our students  measured using fractions ( 1/2 cup, 2/3 cups...) , after the dough was done, students split it in two parts and made two balls. They flattened the dough using a dish, after they put the filling inside. Finally, they covered the pupusa with the other layer and put it on the pan to toast. They were ready in a few minutes. While a group was cooking the other half were playing a fraction game in spanish.  The pupusas were so yummy! Everybody had so much fun while learnt more on practical use of fraction in our everyday life and learning a recipe from El Salvador. Thank you Sra Hernandez! PS Every student got a copy of the recipe in Spanish, please let me know if you try it

We are working this year around our inquiry question "How do stories connect the past with the present?" , our focus is to have a strong literacy base that allows us to connect all the core subjects and enhance reading comprehension. At the beginning of the year, we started reading the book "The Witches" , by Roald Dahl. I enjoyed reading this book aloud everyday, it allowed my drama side to happen in the class. We had lots of fun and now I have a group of students that have turned into Roald Dahl fans and are researching, reading and making power points about him ( still, three months after) . The plan was to connect art and Spanish with this story , and based on the chapter where the children disappear, we designed "Missing" signs that were displayed around the school hall. We worked the self-portrait technique following "that artist woman " blog guidelines. 1st.- We used a recycled paper as background , with white paint and a roll