Communication

New "Meet My Bride" Video

Notes Plus

It has been a long year, but teacher's college is finally over.  Though I have learned so much, it is nice to have a bit of a break.  In my last practicum, I was so lucky to be in the York Region District School Board.  This board has really embraced the idea of having technology in the classroom and has equipped its schools with some amazing technology.  In my last post I discussed teaching with the iPad.  In this post I would like to talk about one awesome app for students but even more for teachers.  Notes Plus is an incredible app that allows the user to mark-up pdf documents.  Since discovering this app, I have become almost paperless in my teaching.  The students simply send me a copy of their work and I use Notes Plus to mark.  You can change pen colours, highlight (awesome for note taking), and insert pictures.  Often, I will take a picture of a student's work such as the time I had them write text messages using 1920s slang.  Instead of collecting the work, I took a picture using my iPad, marked it and sent it back to the student.  That way, their creative work remains original without having pen marks all over it.

Teaching with the iPad

Using technology in the classroom is an invaluable tool that should be incorporated as much as possible into the 21st century classroom.  There is no denying that our students are interested in technology, be it tablets or gaming devices.  Over the course of my last practicum block, I managed to successfully use several different technologies to create an interactive, fun and inviting classroom.  Of course, we have to be sensitive to the socio-economic differences found in today's classrooms, but if we are careful and smart, technology can be made available to all students.  The first thing I like to do is to hand out an info card to students asking them about their access to technology.  The info card is kept private and does not ask for student's names.  I ask things like, "Do you have internet access at home?", "Do you have a cell phone?", "Would you feel comfortable using tech devices in the classroom?"  Fortunately in the 21st century classroom, most students respond yes to these questions.  For those who do not, I make sure to accommodate for them to participate in things like live polling by passing around an iPad, asking them to share or making sure I am doing my lesson in a computer lab.  One of my favourite tools over the course of my last block was my iPad.  One of my favourite apps is the splashtop whiteboard which allows me to use my iPad as an interactive, wireless, whiteboard.  As soon as the students see me marking up the screen wirelessly, they are instantly intrigued.  Having just finished a unit on WWI, I am upset I only found this app afterwards but cannot wait to use it in my next teaching experience. The app I am talking about is actually a game called "Sky Gamblers" which is a WWI air battle simulation.  I love simulations in the classroom whether they are done using technology or not but I think students would gain a lot of insight into how difficult it was to become an air ace in WWI by playing this game.  

Practicum...Round Two

I am now three weeks into my second practice teaching experience, and so far its been awesome.  I am very lucky to be working with an amazing associate and I am getting tons of support and excellent feedback.  I am teaching two courses that I am absolutely in love with and my students have been producing some really great work.  Practicums are a time to try new things.  I have been so fortunate to be able to use so many amazing technologies in my classroom and I think the students have really enjoyed it as well.  Polleverywhere, what an amazing tool for the classroom.  You put up a question or a statement and students vote or comment (anonymously) allowing you to create an incredible diagnostic assessment in seconds.

These polls were from a Human Rights course discussing the Holocaust and the grade 10 History course from a lesson on propaganda.

Another awesome tool I have started using is Bitstrips, which I blogged about several months ago.  I showed this to my grade 12s and I have never seen a class ask to do an assignment.  They are creating comics based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Tomorrow I am going to try my first digital storytelling in the classroom and I hope it goes well.

I cannot believe that tomorrow I will start my final week and then its just two months till I graduate and become a full fledged teacher.  This experience has been truly incredible and I cannot wait to get back into the classroom.

Our African Adventure

Happy new year everyone and welcome back from your winter holiday.  I have just returned from almost two weeks in my homeland of South Africa.  This was my first time back since I was eight years old and what an incredible trip.  Of course this journey was made even better as I got to share it with my incredible wife Michelle.  We started our trip with a quick stop in Atlanta and then a 14 hour flight to Johannesburg.  It had been a long day but our travelling continued as we took another flight to Cape Town.  We spent the next week in Cape Town taking in the absolutely incredible scenery, food and ambiance.  Every turn you take in Cape Town meets you with another spectacular view of the peaks surrounding the city.  We visited Table Mountain and quickly realized that we better make another new years resolution to hit the gym because there was no way we were walking up.  We drove down the coast on our way to Cape Point and watched ostriches search for food at the Cape of Good Hope.  We next travelled north up to Stellenbosch and the wine country to take in the magnificent vineyards and flavours that South Africa has to offer.  We ended our stay in Cape Town on the day after new years, which we had celebrated with our new friends having a braii (a bbq).  Cape Town is a spectacular city and I cannot wait to return.

After our stay in Cape Town, Michelle and I hopped on a flight heading to Hoedspruit where we then took a two hour car ride to the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. We spent the next three days on safari where we met some incredible people both locals and tourists.  We have made some lifelong friends.  We stayed at the Arathusa Lodge and were treated like absolute royalty.  The accommodations, food and service was phenomenal.  Not to mention, the game drives, which happened twice a day, were amazing and our guide and tracker, Ryan and Debeer, were knowledgeable and friendly and made sure that we saw everything we wanted to.  

Our trip ended in Johannesburg where our experience was very different.  I was born in Johannesburg and moved to Canada at the tail end of the apartheid years.  Though we had learned so much on our trip already about the people, the food and the animals in South Africa, Johannesburg showed us some of the darker side of what is truly a beautiful country.  Apartheid ended in South Africa in 1991 and we were fortunate enough to visit the Apartheid Museum and learn about the history and how it shaped South Africa today.  I know it was especially significant to Michelle because growing up in Toronto, she had never experienced anything like apartheid.  The separation of everything from transportation, to park benches really hit home for her and me as well.  We learned so much from touring around Johannesburg and seeing the dichotomy that exists between the rich and the poor and we have both agreed that we would like to return to Africa one day and perhaps do our part to help those who are less fortunate.    

Overall our trip to South Africa was a really special and educational experience.  I went to South Africa to have a relaxing vacation and came back with so much more.  I cannot wait to share my experiences with my students and colleagues.  

Digital Dummies?

After two early morning classes I returned home today to take what I felt was some well deserved relaxation time.  Like many people I often watch my favourite television show or movie while laying in bed.  However, these days I find myself using my computer more and more to stream television.  Today, I don't know why, I was too tired to even open up my computer so I reached for the remote and turned on the television.  As I am flipping through the channels I started to notice a trend in the topics that I was seeing.  Turning to CBC, I came across a documentary called Digital Dummies. Flipping to the local news channel, there was a report on childhood obesity and its relation to technology/gaming, and finally a talk show was discussing the generation gap between the boomer/echo generation and generations X and Y's ability to use technology.

As you can guess form the title, the documentary explores how the technology we use everyday is affecting our lives. I am a great advocate and believer in the use of technology in the classroom but I found myself agreeing more and more with some of the issues brought up in this doc. As a teacher of adolescents, my biggest concerns are with the growing problem of childhood obesity, the lack of face to face social interaction and literacy.  Technology has changed the way we interact with people.  No longer do we write letters or read books made of paper.  We really have to question how these changes are affecting the future generation.  I have found from my experience in the classroom and during my volunteer work that children do not read or write as effectively as they should for their respective ages.  I grew up in the technology age yet I remember loving to read and I read constantly.  Recently, a report came out discussing this very issue. How is it that literacy scores on provincial tests are going up but kids are reading less and less?  I don't know the answer but this article from 680 News suggests that students are being coached to pass the literacy tests but are unable to transfer their skills to other things.

Back to the television, the first commercial that came on after the report on childhood obesity was for a smart phone and tablet.  "Isn't it ironic...don't ya think?"  For me the most important skill someone can have is the ability to communicate effectively through reading and writing.  Technology, including many of the things I have discussed in this blog can be amazing tools to educate our students.  But I think we have to remember to remind them that there is more to reading  and interacting than a Facebook chat or team speak in World of Warcraft.  The skills we learn from face to face interactions such as non-verbal cues and the ability to analyze and interpret body language are vital to our success in going through life.  I really hope that I am able to mix new technology with traditional teaching methods to create well balanced lessons for my students so that they develop the necessary skills to help them succeed.  

VAT, Livescribe Pens and the end of the 8Y59 Tech Era...or is it???

A few months ago I was paired up with a Virtual Associate Teacher to help guide me in learning about how to effectively use technology in the classroom. I searched and searched through the list of names given to me and when I finally picked one, I got really lucky and picked Lisa Neale. Lisa is a system principal in the HWDSB and works towards teaching both students and teachers how to safely and effectively use technology in the classroom. Unlike many of my classmates, I was lucky enough to get to meet Lisa when she came to our class and gave us a presentation on Web 2.0 tools. Unfortunately, after this awesome experience, I went into my first practicum block and got so swamped with work and stress that I neglected to keep in contact with Lisa. I would send her the occasional tweet - look Zoe, I used lingo - but as Lisa is very busy our contact would sometimes be a few days apart leaving at least one of us to forget to write back. Fortunately, Lisa's blog is an incredible tool and I could keep up to date with her by checking out her posts. Over the American Thanksgiving I bought myself a Livescribe pen for a great price and have been looking for some guidance on how to use it. I looked no further than Lisa's blog. Going back to June, I found a post about using the Conscructivist approach to teaching using the Livescribe pen. The posts talks about an upcoming professional development day for Lisa's network to participate in. In a few weeks, we at Brock will be having our own technology showcase and I hope to get some new tips on how to use my new pen.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank Zoe, our amazing instructor, for all her patience and advice over the last few months and I am so excited to use all the tools she has given me in my classroom.

deaner
brought to you by Livescribe

Mr. Rabie Teaching - The Website

Over the course of my time at Brock and through my first practicum, I have been building a Google Site where my colleagues and students can access a variety of information.  My website, Mr. Rabie Teaching, is accessible to anyone.  The site is broken into several sections and includes a calendar of upcoming events, a forum for discussion and questions, a link to this blog, a daily posts section where students can see what they missed if they were away or just clarify something from that day, and of course links to the current courses I am involved with.  Over the course of my first practicum I taught Ancient Civilizations and Canadian History.  Students from these courses can download all relevant handouts, they can link to videos used in class and they can see pictures from my travels to many of the places we discussed.  The site is easy to navigate as it is broken into specific sections for each course and topic and materials are easily downloadable.

The obvious purpose of having a site like this is to have a connection to my students outside of the classroom.  A student who cannot make it to school or who has lost something, can easily access another copy from the site.  They can see what they missed and find out what is coming up so they can prepare.  I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to put up a forum that works but I finally did it and I hope my students will take advantage of this to ask me questions and make NICE comments.  The other great thing is that it all totally public and therefore safe for everyone to use.

Prezi on the website

Digital Storytelling

This was our first week back at Brock and it was really nice to see everyone again and share our stories from our practicums.  In tech class today we had an incredible presentation from Alan Levine (http://cogdogblog.com/) who is leading the charge in the use of Digital Storytelling.  Alan presented to us through another awesome Elluminate live session and we discussed several different ways to tell a digital story, many of which Alan lists on this wiki site, http://50ways.wikispaces.com/.  We discussed where you get inspiration for telling a story and it was really interesting to see different peoples ideas.  Some told stories about historical figures or their last vacation.  I know for sure as a history teacher I will be using Digital Storytelling in my classroom.  During my first practicum I told the story of the Illiad to my students. We sat in a circle and each read parts of the story in a traditional storytelling setting.  However, I am sure if I could create an amazing Animoto video or Bitstrips story, the story of the Illiad would come alive without having to show them Brad Pitt's abs.  Alan has also created some really cool games by using Flickr.  My favourite is Pechaflickr where you get random pictures and need to tell a story based on the pictures.  I can think of so many uses for this game in the classroom as well as at home.

Thanks again Alan, you have really opened up my eyes and given me a great set of tools to help make learning a more interactive and fun experience!

The Independent Learning Centre

During my first practicum, I volunteered in the Independent Learning Centre (ILC).  I worked mainly with an amazing student who was having some trouble with her English and History credits.  During my volunteering before I applied for teacher education, I had worked with some special education students and I had forgotten how truly rewarding it can be.  The student I worked with was a very bright girl who just had some trouble focusing.  Reading and writing together, she managed to push through most of her English credit and completed several history assignments which may not have been otherwise completed.   Going in, I must say I had my preconceived notions about the abilities of students in the ILC to analyze and comprehend certain concepts.  I was pleasantly surprised at how with a little bit of guidance, my student was able to not only comprehend but truly analyze and apply the concepts to the real world.

Of course I have to give amazing praise to Mrs. P and Mr. B who are the supervising teachers of the ILC.  Their guidance and kind words are really inspiring and I was so fortunate to have spent even just a little bit of time with them and view the amazing work they do to make sure all their students succeed.

I was very sad to leave and was thrilled at the little surprise party that the students and teachers in the ILC gave me on my last day.  To the students that I worked with, I know that you will succeed if you just keep on the path that you were on when I left and remember I am always here for extra help or questions.

My work in the ILC has truly inspired me to continue working in the area of special education and I hope to work alongside more amazing students and teachers in the future.  

To SMART board or Not to SMART board?

Going into my first practice teaching block, I was very excited to use some of the tools I had learned in 8Y59 (my technology class).  One of the things I was most excited to use was a SMART board.  Unfortunately, the classroom I was working in did not have a SMART board, only a regular whiteboard.  I was upset because I had all these amazing ideas for interactive lessons and I wanted to show the students somethings they probably had not seen before.  Instead of giving up, I improvised.  I created presentations where I would use the whiteboard as the interactive SMART board.  Of course this had its limitations in that I could not do things like "erase and reveal" and some other fun stuff you can do on a SMART board. However, matching games, timelines and brainstorming (mind map) activities worked just as well with a slide template and having the students come up and write on the board using dry erase markers.  I did several lessons like this and the students really enjoyed them.  I am still waiting for my chance to use a SMART board in the classroom.  I am really starting to realize how amazing technology is for learning and how important it is that we as teachers adapt our teaching styles to meet the needs and wants of the new generation.  

Practicum finis!

Last week I finished my first practice teaching block.  The experience that I had in the classroom is so different from what I was expecting after my first two months learning about the theory of teaching.  Though I felt I was prepared in some areas, I quickly realized that it was in the schools where I was going to really learn how to be a great teacher.  Though there were many "ups" and "downs" during my four weeks, I think in the end I came away knowing what I did well and what I really need to improve upon.  For all those people out there who think teaching is a job where you start at 8 am and are done by 3 pm, you are WRONG! Although I know as I go a long I will get better, lesson planning during my first block took more than several hours a night and that is after an entire day of school plus the daily grind of fighting Toronto bound traffic.  There is no doubt by my fourth week I had improved significantly from my first week and my lesson planning times did decrease, though I still need a lot of work.  The biggest thing I learned about lesson planning is that you really need to understand what you want your students to know by the end of the class.  It needs to be clear and concise and totally achievable in that time period.  When I first started, my lessons were fun and interactive but were way too packed with information that the students did not need.  When I was living in Israel, I gave some tours of the Old City of Jerusalem and I think I brought some of that tour guide style with me to my teaching practice.  I thought that the students would need to know everything about a topic rather than just the most important points.  However, I have learned a valuable lesson and I now know how to streamline my information and to wait for the students to ask questions if they have a deeper interest.  

Crash and Burn

After the success of my first lesson and using Ms. B's advice, I was really excited to present my next lesson, which I felt was a really fun and interesting lesson.  Students had come up to me during the day and told me that they really enjoyed the lesson from yesterday and were excited for class.  I was happy to hear this but also nervous that I would be letting them down the first time class wasn't fun.  

I did not teach till fourth period and I spent most of the day fine-tuning my slideshow.  Again my slideshow was going to be interactive and included check-ins where the students answer questions or perform an activity. I entered the class and handed each of the students a word search I had made on the Great Depression to keep them busy while I setup the projector.  However, somehow I had deleted my slideshow.  I am so happy I had given them that word search because it gave me time to both freak out and then to relax.  When they were done their word search I went over their Exit Cards from the day before and addressed some of the issues they had brought up.  One of the students had asked to know more about “buying on margin” so I created an example for them and had students come and help me on the board.  After the example was finished I gave the students time to work on their 1920s skits, which are being presented tomorrow.

            

Having something go wrong, especially with technology has taught me some valuable lessons.   I had a similar problem during my microteaching and because of that, this time I was ready for it.  I can’t say I handled it perfectly, as I definitely stumbled a bit.  However, in the end I feel that I managed to review something from the day before to solidify the concept.    

  

My First Teaching Experience

Yesterday was my first day teaching at North Park.  North Park is an amazing school and all the faculty and students have been so welcoming.  My associate teacher Ms. B is awesome.  Her relaxed style and humour have made me feel so comfortable, but not too comfortable.  After my first lesson, Ms. B gave me some really excellent advice and I appreciated how she can be both fun and serious.  As for my lesson, I think it went pretty well.  The students really enjoyed my use of technology and the interactive presentation.  They responded well in their Exit Cards and some even gave me some great feedback on things they want to know more about.  Its really amazing how curious they are about me and who I am.  I hope they are reading this blog to find out.

This past Saturday I earned my SMART board level One and cannot wait to use it in the classroom.  I am not sure how I am going to develop a lesson on WWII yet but I hope that it can be something the students are really wowed by.  Any suggestions?  

A Month in Review

I cannot believe that a month has passed since I started in the Teacher Education program. I knew this year was going to be a lot of work but no one told me how much.  I feel like I have 8 million things to do everyday and there really are not enough hours in the day to do it all.  Despite complaining about my work load, I feel like I have learned so much and have had great experiences with some amazing people in this short time.

Of course, my favourite class so far is my technology class where I am learning how to integrate the latest technology into the classroom.  The class is amazingly interactive and I have learned things that I never knew existed.  Two weeks ago we had a presentation by Lisa Neale who is a 21'st century system principal helping to make sure that technology is used, and used appropriately in the classroom.  But whats crazy is that she's a grandmother.  It takes my father about an hour to send me one email!  Anyways, Lisa's presentation was amazing and incredibly useful.  Zoe, our instructor setup an Elluminate Live chat, which, allowed us to be interactive during Lisa's presentation. We could chat with each other and post things we liked and to my surprise I was able to both listen and follow along with the message board.  If someone missed something, someone else posted it so we could all have the notes from the session.

At the end of the presentation, I got to meet Lisa, which, for me was really special as she is also my Virtual Associate Teacher and my partner in learning about 21'st century technologies for the classroom.  I asked Lisa about Web 2.0, something she mentioned during her presentation and she told me to research it and report back to her.  Luckily, Zoe went over this in the next class and I figured out that Web 2.0 is a name given to the type of interaction one has with a website.  In Web 1.0, a user creates a website that gives information but cannot be commented on or responded to.  On the other hand, Web 2.0 allows a website viewer to respond to information on a website such as blogs or comments on a newspaper site.  

We also learned how to create google sites (Dean's Site), docs and calendars, and learned how they can be useful in the classroom.  I wish that this stuff had existed when I was in school.  The interactive classroom to me, is so important and I hope that I will be able to use technology successfully alongside my students.   

Why should I travel, I get the History Channel?

Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt

Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Jordan

As you can tell from my first post, I love to travel. For me there is nothing better than taking a backpack and going off on an adventure that is mostly unplanned. Showing up in a country not knowing where you are going to sleep may sound like a terrible idea to most but for me it makes the trip that much more exciting. Though trip planning is of course incredibly important if you have time constraints, a spontaneous adventure is what I dream about. If you are like me and you love history then travelling is important but the truth is that if you don't love history then travelling is even more important. Seeing a site where an epic battle took place or visiting the remnants of what is left of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, will surely inspire even the biggest critics of learning history. When you stand in front of the Pyramids at Giza or the Temple of Artemis in Turkey, you feel like you have been transported back in time.And if you have a good guide or friend to enlighten you with the truths and myths that surround historical sites, the experience really comes to life. For me, there is no better way to learn any subject that truly experiencing it. For those who love politics and law you can visit the birthplace of democracy in Greece. For those scientists and lovers of medicine you can visit the ruins from the temples dedicated to Ascelpius, the god of healing and medicine. For those engineers, all the incredible building projects of the ancient and modern worlds collide like in Egypt where you can see the bustling city of 12 million in Cairo and within a few kilometres stand in front of the Great Pyramid, in my opinion the most amazing building ever erected.My point is that there really is something for everyone, even if you don't really know it. I cannot imagine teaching students about anthropology, archaeology, religion (Judeo-Christian and Islam) without taking them to Israel to walk in the footsteps of the stories they have grown up on. Not to mention learning a new language or a skill like how papyrus is made. Teaching was not always my passion but after giving tours of the Old City of Jerusalem to friends and family and seeing their reaction and awe to my knowledge and love for history, I cannot think of a better profession for me to be part of. I truly believe that to truly learn something, especially history, you have to see it and experience it, otherwise it is just something someone else told you about, not something you have learned for yourself.

Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

The Treasury at Petra, Jordan

Cities I've Visited!!!


View My Travel Map in a larger map

About Me

Hey Everyone,So this is the first blog post I have ever made and I guess I will use it to share a little bit about myself with you. My name is Dean and I am a candidate teacher at BrockU. I moved to Canada in 1989 with my family from South Africa and now I reside in Hamilton with my wife Michelle. I recently returned from living in Israel where I learned to speak Hebrew and Arabic and travelled to many countries all over the Middle East, Africa and Europe. I love travelling and I hope that this blog can be a forum for discussing some of my amazing trips and hearing about some of yours. I am also a DJ and I currently work for Magen Boys Entertainment where I DJ and Emcee weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and any other event from birthdays to corporate events. I just finished my first week of teacher education and I am already inundated with mounds of work. Who knew being a teacher was so hard??? So far its been great and the people, both teachers and my peers are fun and interesting and have a lot to offer. Again, I hope this blog will be a place where anything can be discussed. I love talking about history and politics but anything from travelling to music is welcome. I have posted a video that was shot at my wedding back in February. It is a song I sang to my wife instead of making a speech. My then fiancee planned the entire wedding while I was away and I felt that I needed to do something. So about two months before the wedding I started thinking of something to do and eventually with the help of some of my amazing friends Scott and Daniella from Flasharilla and my amazing groomsmen, we came up with "Meet My Bride." My very own rendition of "Be Our Guest." I hope you enjoy it but please note there is some inappropriate language. Thanks and looking forward to your posts.