Our Simple Ebooks!

In September, we produced our ebooks with Book Creator using the iPads. We never got to publish them online until now. If you have an ebook (epub) reader (tablet or computer), you can download the books directly from here:

 Ms. Yee's class

Ms. Bojeczko's class

If not, you will need the Google Chrome browser for this and you can download it HERE. Here are instructions on how to open these on your PC / Mac:

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One of the ways to view books online is to use Google Chrome + Readium

1. Install Google Chrome
First you need to install Google Chrome on your PC or Mac – www.google.com/chrome.

2. Install the Readium app                                                                 Readium is an app for Google Chrome that can display ePub files including those made by Book Creator.

Open Google Chrome and visit the Google app store to install Readium.

3. Add your books to Readium                                                               Once installed, open Readium and click on the add book icon to upload your ePub file from your computer or the web.

- from Red Jumper Studios

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If you learn by watching videos, here's how to open the books with Readium on Google Chrome (applies to PC and Mac):

Cereal Boxes Are Almost There!!!

After working on MS Word (putting their cereal names, slogans, etc.), it is now time to draw mascots, games and colour the cereal boxes! Here are some that are about to finish!

Abdulhaqq's Before:

and After:

My favourite cereal name: Froot Fakes by Danna

Manha's Blue O Straws

Blogs and Links I Follow

Canada Food Guide Radio ads

...and we finished our radio ads!

The original plan was to use GarageBand on the iPad. Unfortunately, we were time bound and we decided to finish off on GarageBand with the Mac.

Students created the scripts.  The groups dictated to me what they wanted to say for their ads. They got to practice reading their scripts through Google Drive.  Students also had to think of where the ad was happening (eg, home, grocery, etc.)  I laid down the tracks, effects and music. Students got to practice reading their scripts when they explored GarageBand on the iPad.  Students were assessed on their voice projection, their knowledge of the food guide and how it can be conveyed to their target audience.  I did the editing, laid down the music and the sound effects based on their input.

We will soon be playing the radio ads during our morning announcements!

Here are our final products on Sound Cloud:

How Technology Trends Have Influenced the Classroom

I am currently doing a course called: Integration of Information and Computer Technology and one of the things we have been learning is the flipped classroom.  Doing some reading, here is an excellent article that explores how technology has influenced the classroom:

How Technology Trends Have Influenced the Classroom by Carl Hooker on http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/

Google Apps

I've started using Google Drive and Calendar and I must sy that they are a lot more than what I've expected! For free apps and services like this, I feel like I (and tons of other people out there) hit the jackpot!  Our Board is slowly integrating into Google (yippee!) and I now understand the move. As part of te team that works on our school website, I got to embed Google Calendar into the site. In addition to that, it syncs well with the iPhone, which I use and really like!  I hope that when our new site goes up, readers get to see the convenience of Calendar.