Research Skills 2013 Homeschool Workshop

Here is my recent workshop on research skills and digital citizenship, at the Tradex Convention Centre in Abbotsford June 2013.

Research Skills 101 Homeschooling Convention June 2013 Tradex Lower Mainland by Pippa Davies

Camino in 2 weeks!

After a glorious two weeks in northern Spain walking parts of the Camino De Santiago,  I am home resting my weary feet,  and appreciating my comfortable bed and family.  It was hard leaving beautiful Spain and the memories created with my friend Nic, but I hope these images will tell their own story, one shared by many other pilgrims who complete the 850 km pilgrimage, from the Pyrenees in France to the coastline of Spain.  This trip was something I had wanted to do ever since turning 50, and although I did not have enough time to complete all 850 km's, the blessings and spiritual journey along the way were profound!  Please note I used my iPhone 5 camera,  so the pictures were not perfect, but it sure came in handy for internet, and easy access along the way. 


The immense beauty of mountains, rivers, villages, churches and community along the way, builds to an intensity at the end point of Compostela de Santiago, where all pilgrims complete their journey and receive their certificate if they have walked the official last 100 kms.  Pilgrims from all over the world then attend mass in the stunning cathedral/basilica in Compostela, and if they are lucky will experience the spiritual blessing of the Botaparfumerie. 

Our journey began in Vancouver via London, Barcelona, and then on to Roncesvalles in the foothills of the Pyrenees.    Neither my buddy Nic nor myself had done any hard training for this walk, but we did meet once a week for a longer walk to get our legs and backs stronger whilst carrying a backpack.  We had no idea that we had packed too much for our journey,  and discovered all too quickly that walking with over 20 pounds was way too much!  As you can see in the beginning we had huge backpacks! 

Arriving in Barcelona we were overwhelmed at the beautiful architecture,  and radial symmetry in the city which seemed to ensconce old and new in a wonderful sublime reality.  Community thrives at the heart of each city, town and village,  as cars are rejected for pedestrian walkways and plazas,  and families meet to drink cafe con leche, and catch up on the day's events.

After a day's sightseeing we caught the train to Pamplona, and met our first pilgrims en route to Roncesvalles by taxi.  We were so excited to get started,  but there was a lot to take in in the small town and monastery of Roncesvallez.  We were to experience our first Alberghie, our first mass in the cathedral,  and enjoy hospitality in the first pilgrim restaurant along the way.  Our first night I was transported back to my youth with hostels, sharing bunk beds, and friendship with strangers, all unified by a common cause- a pilgrimage across Spain started by the apostle Mark from the Bible.

 I would become immune to sleep deprivation, weary limbs, and outdoor temperatures as the way beckoned me to explore deep within.  At that first mass I experienced God saying being still and take in all that you observe, including the blessings,  and you will start to understand your Camino.  The next morning I learned my first lesson about being observant, when I fell straight from the patio onto the ground before I even started my walk.  Nic and I both had a good laugh at my splattered body on the ground and then it was onwards to start our trail.  We were to look for the yellow Jacobian
signs that would become our beacons to lead us along the way. 

Pilgrim signs.

Arriving in Zubiri that first day our bodies were exhausted,  and our backs sore as we contemplated how to lose that extra weight.  Out went any incidentals like makeup, ablutions, spare clothing,

and finally we could walk without strain.  Vanity and extra clothes were not required on the way.  I would live in two sets of clothing and enjoy the simplicity.  The Leki poles really came in handy for stabilizing our weight.

The natural and man made beauty of old Roman bridges, churches, cobbled roads and pilgrim sights including the comedic Stop sign kept us motivated as we examined the reasons we were doing this trip.  I was hoping to hear stories and see some of the blessings I had read about in Paul Coelho's book  The Pilgrimage,  and in the movie The Way.  I knew this was a lot to ask when only doing a small section of the trail.  Yet we were already hearing encouraging and moving stories from other pilgrims, as we sat around the communal tables at dinner, and enjoyed our pilgrim menu.  I was meeting people from all over the world, and loving the camaraderie so quickly established.  It did not matter which denomination you represented.   Everyone was identified by their pilgrim shell and common goal; to reach Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of St James were buried in the Basilica

Zubiri to Pamplona will be shared next week.  Thanks for reading my journey.  God bless you!

Planning on Walking the Camino!

With great trepidation and excitement,  my friend Nic and I start our shortened version of the Camino de Santiago today in Spain.  Spring has really welcomed Vancouver this week with gorgeous sunshine, but I cannot wait to see the foothills of the Pyrenees in Spain,  where we start our journey in Roncesvalles.

My hubby John is the hiking expert, owning a mountaineering store, in Surrey BC , so as you can imagine I did not have far to go for my supplies.  Here is a short packing list we have devised, with his loving care!

• Sleeping bag and insert camping sheet
• Backpack 30 l.  Osprey.
• Leki walking poles.
• Pillow case (stuff with vest)
• Hiking Boots.  Love my Teva's.
• Flip flops for evenings.
• Runners in case of blisters.
• Med kit- including blister kit, Melatonin, Ibuprofen (lots of aches and pains), Facial wipes (lots as can double on the walk for emergency situations;), sterile wipes, small tube antibiotic ointment.
• Ablutions- comb, sun screen, camping soap x2, small bottles for shampoo and conditioner, sample size toothpaste and toothbrush. Snik lip balm.
• Cutlery- small camping bottle, plastic spoon and knife to eat along the way.  Swiss army knife with all the little attachments one needs.  
• Compass, pedometer, tiny notebook/pen, dictionary app on Iphone, plus charger and adaptor for Europe.  Cell phone plan.  Google Translate app or small dictionary.
• Wicker based clothing made from Bamboo- one long sheet and one short sleeve shirt.  Two Lululemon shirts (built in bra).  Short shorts and longer cut off shorts easy dry and one long sleeve easy dry shirt to keep sun off arms.  Fleece sweater and vest,  and goretex raincoat, rainpants and wide brim hat. Leggings for wearing underneath rain pants if cold.
• Two changes of underwear.  Oh No!
• Three pairs of hiking socks- one thin, two thick.
• Compression bags to squish all resources into tiny balls.
• Waterproof inserts to protect objects in backpack if rains.
• Tatonka money belt to carry cash/wallet underneath shirt.
• Water sac to attach to backpack. Ultima Replenisher for hydration.
• Sunglasses and a good book to read.  Of course!
• Prayers!!

I will try and keep you updated along the journey!=)
Until then Buen Camino!

Learning to balance Digital Citizenship, Research and Publishing!

To protect or not protect our students from the net, that is the question?  Does censorship,  or  continuing education work?  I believe that the more we help guide our students online, the more likely they will,  by osmosis,  become excellent purveyors of online content, and creators of their own digital identity.  They will learn to value what is true, worthy, current and reliable online!

At what age does critical thinking begin; when do we as parents, or teachers help our students learn the critical thinking that goes with the territory of being online in the 21 century?  We used to think that around 11/ 12 years of age was the age of logic according to educational theorists like Piaget.  However university professors can attest to the fact, that many graduate students still do not understand Bloom's taxonomy of higher level thinking when publishing their first hypothesis.  So how do we expect children as young as six to assimilate, adapt and formulate their own opinions on what they are reading online?   We see toddlers consuming content already on iPads, and we know the research shows that reading digital content is all part of improving literacy skills at younger ages, but again where are the parameters?

Here are some suggestions to help your students incorporate critical thinking skills, and be able to learn  how to evaluate online:

•  Parents need to be involved in providing guidelines for their  students,  with tools to help them assimilate content using computer filters, curation, and organizational apps to help collect websites that pertain to education and their interests.  (Bookmarking tools such as Symbaloo, Mentor Mob, Scoopit, Diigo, and RSS feeds, or apps like Flipboard, are all excellent ideas for helping your students traverse the net and share with others).  But for younger students, starting with resources like Commonsense Media, or Media Smarts, and our HCOS linking library to help find quality authoritative resources, are also useful.  Remember those great,  child friendly search engines too, like SweetSearch and Google SafeSearch for Kids.  Set guidelines for Internet time that are appropriate for your family's needs and balance.  Teach digital citizenship lessons using online games for younger students,  and for high school students encourage the creation of a digital dossier!  

• Once your students are old enough to enjoy more time online provide some critical thinking lessons.   Project based learning will help create an environment to substantiate the kind of cognitive concepts you want to see in place,  to ensure your students can gravitate towards aggregating data online.  Teach your students to research projects that relate to their passions and interests, which in turn will lead to engaging discoveries!  

• Teach your students about brainstorming a topic using keywords.  Discover lessons that help with keyword search in Google Lesson plans.  Create  topics which  include basic questions that include what, when and where, as well as more open ended questions,  why, and how?   

• Assess their work based on how they went about the research process, as opposed to the content they listed, copied or shared.  Give good marks for a qualitative bibliography, where students have researched links from wiki's or other references from websites.  Share tools like Bib me  to make their bibliography stress free!  Make sure students have gone beyond Google to find their sites, using educational indexes, following links, wiki's and academic databases like Ebscohost.  Applaud if they have used different means for sharing their projects like video, podcasting, animation, virtual worlds,  infographics or blogs.  All of these online tools teach 21 century skills, and help students create a digital identity which is true to their learning style, and can be collated from Kindergarten through graduation as a reflective tool for online learning and also for a life long digital portfolio!
• Help your high school student create their own blog to share their academic authority or hobbies, and if you have a younger student teach them how it blog on moderated sites like Kidblog

• Plan the research process using Big Six skills, mind mapping like Popplet, databases like Webspiration, and research/writing websites like Owl of Purdue.   Encourage and teach your students to learn how to research what makes an infographic appealing, and then suggest they make their own infographic using tools like Piktochart.  

• But most important before your student has been give the freedom to explore the net on their own, expand on how to evaluate a website.  Kathy Shrock's website has a plethora of lesson plans for you to share with your students on web evaluation.   Teach copyright and creative commons to your students if they are already publishing.  This should be all part and parcel of a middle school journey into becoming an educated, and discerning producer of content.

Once your student understands how to evaluate websites, blogs and infographics, they will be more critically attuned to sharing a digital identity, understand how to assess their own presentations, and be safer online for life.

Engaging Students in the Learning Commons

For those of you who missed my presentation at the recent #edtechbc conference here is my SlideShare presentation.  If you would like notes please contact me and I will share with you.

Engaging students in the learning commons in the 21 century from Pippa Davies

Takeaways #edtechbc

HappyValentines day to you all!

This weekend several of our HCS team descended on Vancouver to the Coast Plaza hotel to enjoy the start of the #edtechbc conference,  all things techie and distance learning.  It was great to commune with other digital leaders and hear their stories and glean from them.  Here are some of my takeaways!

Social media continues to drive  all learning, which is relevant to our students' 21 century needs.  Encouraging our students to become creators, and producers as opposed to consumers was the name of the game.  Follow our keynote Bradley Shende @b_radley to catch up on all things technology.  His motto is "I Click".  

The ministry gave us a heads up that the learning outcomes will be changing in the next year or two to reflect the 21 century challenges!

Digital citizenship is still on the top agenda for students to create their own digital archive of learning to take with them into adulthood.  Another reason to blog ℅ George Couros our second keynote.  Follow him on Twitter @gcouros.

Researching tools, new on the net,  and teaching students how to evaluate online was also discussion worthy!  

Blackboard Collaborate is working on resolving issues that have caused some issues lately in the virtual classroom.

Gord Holden, April Mcleod, Richard Bitgood, Greg Bitgood,  and myself shared on all things techie and wonderful happening in our school!  I made sure to do a shout out for all things Ning, E Books, research, blogging and social interaction in our learning commons.  There was lots of great feedback and discussion about new trends and old trends in education, and how we are keeping abreast of changes.

To catch up on some of the story in tweet language read my Storify.

If you need some updating in your ed tech language check our this great infographic to see if you are on top of all things ed techie!

Blessings to you:)

Pippa

Do you need a Pep Talk?

This video was share in a learning commons workshop I have been attending.  Great encouragement from a young tyke about community and loving our neighbours. Go Kid President!