Why is Fire Hot?
Lee, Owen, Kadyn, Andrew C.

In fire there is heat, oxygen, fuel and a chain reaction. There is carbon monoxide in the oxygen that makes it combust with the fuel that create heat. This is what causes the chain reaction. Fire can combust at any time, it just needs the four things to make it happen.

How do you put caramel in chocolate like in  Caramel Bar?
Abi, Alisha, Skye

They have a machine that does it for them. It makes the chocolate hollow and then the machine uses a syringe to put the caramel in. The chocolate solid is made from cocoa, butter, sugar and milk.

What is the best medicine for allergies?
Dora, Andrew W., Nick, Curtis

The top 10 medicine's to help with allergies are:

Advil Allergy and Sinus
Advil Cold and Sinus
Alavert
Alavert B12
Aleve
Aleve Sinus and Headache
Alerga Allergy
Allerga 12 hour
Benadryl
Tylenol Sinus

A natural remedy also works. 1 tablespoon of honey a day will soothe your throat.

In conclusion there isn't one that is a best medicine. All of our bodies are different. Advil might work for one person and Tylenol for another.

Who was the first person to get to the North Pole?
Cameron, Caden, Emily, Denyce

Robert Peary was the first person to get to the North Pole. He reached the North Pole on April 6 1909, along with his employee Matthew Henson. Peary was born on May 6 1856. He died on February 20th 1920.

Mission Statements

Today we worked on Mission Statements. At first it was confusing for them as they wanted to tie their mission statements directly into projects they want to develop. After coaching them through their ideas they got the drift of it.

We will show the kids how good SOLE is to use. Then we will talk about technology and how it can improve their lives.

Our Mission is to encourage kids to use SOLE to discover the world around them. We will do this through encouraging them to use technlogy.

We will talk to other kids about how awesome SOLE is and why technology make learning easier. We want to teach them about technology and SOLE.

We want to help kids around the world learn the benefits of technology.

Kids Got SOLE will help kids around the world to improve their education through learning about SOLE.

We would like to help kids communicate with each other. We will teach kids to use SOLE and technology effectively.
We would like children to have a better education by using SOLE and to learn about Google products We want to teach kids how to use SOLE so they can be more educated.

We will be taking these mission statements and combining elements of each to make an effective mission statement.

Vision

Today Anthony Schembri came in and talked to the kids about Vision and Mission statements. We then started working on some vision statements for Kids Got SOLE. Here are the first drafts.

Our vision is to use technology to help students research and perform better at school.

Using SOLE will help kids around the world become better educated.

So kids can learn by themselves or in groups.

Our vision is for students to become more educated using SOLE.

Our vision is to give a chance to the less fortunate to get an education by using SOLE and technology.

Kids Got SOLE makes learning more fun and fascinating.

As you can see they are great places to start off.

We also started on some mission statements. They soon discovered that their Missions Statements were great for projects they want to work on. We will work on creating one from their ideas soon.

I am wondering if any other teachers who are reading this blog are using SOLE in their classrooms. I am looking to find other people who have tested the reading levels of their students and noticed an improvement. Please contact me so we can discuss this further.

This morning Andrew Greig and Daniel Nadeau fromVizzeco came in to talk to my class. They taught the kids about Google Hangouts, using advanced search features, sharing documents and a number of other topics.

In reading Michael Fullan's book Stratosphere, thank you Director of Education, he talks about using Empathy,  Focus, Impute, creating a magnetism,  and Challenges as the cornerstones of building a successful program. 

SOLE needs these four pillars in order to have students be successful.

 

Empathy: It has to meet the needs of the kids, reducing the stress in their lives. It has to be of direct interest to them which makes their learning more personal and relevant. It means they need to take charge of their learning.

 

Focus: Topics developed by the students need to expand and challenge their minds and abilities. Their coming up with their own topics is the first step. Leading the students towards understanding and solving social issues is the second focus. It provides real life problems that they can examine, care about, and follow.

 

Impute: It is a simple process the kids must follow. Learning, on one hand, should be all over the map using this process but at the same time it must be as simple as possible so that ideas flow around the main focus. Students need to be shown that learning is fun and that they are capable of learning anything they choose to learn. It must be based on the needs of the kids, always building on their skills and knowledge. The kids need positive reinforcement and discussion to grow.

 

Challenges: Need to be anticipated and developed so that the focus continues on it's trajectory. One of the main challenges now is engaging students more, especially those who tend to be reserved or lazy. The need to prove, with evidence that this is working is also a concern. Too many people will write it off without the necessary proofs of it's value. Working with but also keeping a few steps ahead of admin is necessary because I do not like to be surprised  by their support or criticism. In the end to me it is irrelevant because doing what is best for the students to get optimal learning should be the focus, not drawbacks.. Anticipating challenges to what we are doing because it challenges the status quo.  Again people are not ready to move past what they know until they see it working. Developing professional and societal support for the project is a must. I am pretty sure that from the response to this by parents that they are in support. The judgement will be out on what society thinks because it is not traditional in the box, this is what I went through, learning. 

 

The ultimate goal is engaging the kids. This means their behaviours are more in line with what societal expectations are or beyond them. This results in less bullying, drug use, antisocial behaviours and crime. Students make better use of their time. The more they become immersed in projects the happier they become. More learning takes place and with that everyone is happy.

 

It sort of sounds pie in the sky but the fact that most of what is here is already happening in my class over the past two months leads me to believe that we are on to something. I expect bigger and better things before too long. 

Testing

I am not a big fan of testing. I don't believe it gives an accurate portrayal of what a student knows or can share. That being said I face the conundrum of having to test the students in my class in order to demonstrate their growth in numeric terms. Recently we tested their reading levels. There were some amazing discoveries. The first is that everyone, yes all 19 Grade 4's tested out at Grade level or above. Now you are wondering, "Isn't that what is supposed to happen?"  Yes it is what is supposed to happen. However the reality is that some students will be below grade level, some way below grade level with some at and a few above. To have them all test at grade level or above is a first in my career.  What is the difference? I am glad you asked. I attribute it to my class using SOLE for the last 2 months. With everyone engaged in their learning and contributing to learning of others I believe it has made a huge difference. Starting in September I will be able to prove this difference as I have most of my grade 4 students again next year. With a full year to study and use SOLE I am hoping to see a huge difference. The participation level of my weaker students has increased dramatically. They are working closer to on par with their fellow students than they ever did. The behaviour problems I encountered from a number of them through the year have disappeared since we have been using SOLE. One student who did everything he could to disrupt the class now sees himself contributing in a huge way. I have to speak to him very little about his issues.