tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65681458348813788662012-01-18T11:57:39.134-08:00Sharing passion for learningRyan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09340789073233311703noreply@blogger.comBlogger381100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-89666211504230940952012-01-17T09:51:00.000-08:002012-01-17T09:51:50.027-08:00

So here I am sitting in a staff meeting talking yet again for the umpteenth time about our School's Hat Policy. Apparently we voted on it (must have missed that) and decided that students could wear hats on special occasions but that was it. This all stems from a surprising student push that happened at the beginning of the year. Students, mainly our grade 10's, like to wear hats. They feel

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08180289258775181401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-81947421203044439852011-10-04T13:08:00.000-07:002011-10-05T08:54:24.231-07:00

I love Malcolm Gladwell. I was completely blown away by his book Outliers.  It was one of those books that changed my perspective; it started in motion a huge paradigm shift in how I view success.  Not long after, I searched his name on TED.  Recently, I had my high school ELA students watch his presentation: "Malcolm Gladwell on Spaghetti Sauce".  I was intrigued by what they came up with and

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08180289258775181401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-35400501641031546472010-08-26T20:55:00.000-07:002010-08-26T21:12:27.121-07:00

I have been on facebook for quite some time now. Actually, I think I was one of the first people I know to join. It didn't seem like much of a social networking site in the beginning simply because there were not many people I knew using it. I didn't even use my real last name. Since then I have learned to use my grown up name - to be myself and manage my online identity. I learned that this

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08180289258775181401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-42282923073327500312010-05-26T21:48:00.000-07:002010-05-26T22:21:17.677-07:00

I just finished watching My Sister's Keeper. Talk about tough. For those of you who haven't seen it, be prepared to cry. The storyline centers around a girl with cancer (leukemia to be specific). She is a daughter, and a sister.Cancer. I don't know if there is a more powerful word in the human language. It is a word that strikes fear and emotion deep into the heart of everyone that hears it

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08180289258775181401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-53251600554240310612010-05-01T21:29:00.000-07:002010-05-17T21:33:42.309-07:00

Not too long ago I found myself involved in a conversation with another educator about extra-curricular activities. This educator was under the assumption that as we become more experienced educators we devout less time to students. I do not know if this is true, so I took a look at my extra-curricular hours.Internship: 200hrsYear One: 432 hrsYear Two: 500 hrsYear Three: 567 hrsYear Four (

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08180289258775181401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-40516686672905540312010-03-04T20:17:00.001-08:002010-03-04T20:34:47.263-08:00

A few weeks ago I went to the local watering hole with some teammates after one of our hockey games. We got into an argument over who was the NHL's all time winningest coach. I remembered that Extra gum aired a commercial last year that featured Pat Quinn chewing gum on the bench. A fact popped up on screen that had the words "winningest coach" and then "must be the gum". After a few minutes

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08180289258775181401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-60056689377107919512009-11-04T09:35:00.000-08:002009-11-04T09:46:17.132-08:00

The other day Alec Couros Tweeted about facebook and its weird new "tool" that allows you to reconnect with people you have not connected with in a while. He pointed out that people were angry because facebook was asking them to reconnect with people that are now dead. Well, this happened to me yesterday. This last August one of my former students passed away in a car accident. She had just

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08180289258775181401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-85293807752864138162009-11-04T09:12:00.000-08:002009-11-04T09:21:44.798-08:00

We've all heard it..."it's the new bandwagon". Odd statement. What does it even mean? Well, at least in education, here's what I think.We educators use this term a lot. Maybe because there are a lot of new "bandwagons" to jump on. But what are we really saying? Yes, the term is used to describes something new. But it is more than that. We use it to describe new things that we are not yet

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08180289258775181401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-87309815180201098502009-09-06T21:15:00.000-07:002009-09-06T21:36:01.992-07:00

What I am about to say hear is not anything new. It is not anything even remotely new. It is just me working through my own thoughts. A process of reflection if you will. I have been thinking about this post for a while now. I guess it's finally time.Betcha thought this was going to be something controversial, something interesting. You were wrong. Anyway, I am a teacher that uses

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-35276903880963542622009-06-18T20:43:00.000-07:002009-06-18T20:53:32.079-07:00

Last week we took our Outdoor Ed class to Kananaskis and Banff. We went hiking, tented in below freezing weather, endured a snowstorm and went whitewater rafting. One of the teachers who helped (and by helped I mean did most of) with the hiking plans had lived in the area. She is a maniac. We nicknamed her little Hitler. Her hikes were hard. The first day we hiked through 2 - 3 feet of snow

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-90880660642630779702009-06-01T21:37:00.000-07:002009-06-01T21:44:33.780-07:00

This goes with my last post.  It is a question I have.  Is there such a thing as summative assessment?  And if the answer is yes, are we looking at education all wrong?  An idea: there is no such thing as summative assessment.  Or at least there shouldn't be.  Isn't it our hope that students will continue to learn...and expand upon and deepen their skills?  Then isn't all assessment, in terms of

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-15292451683331682992009-05-31T10:57:00.000-07:002009-05-31T21:22:54.360-07:00

If somebody asked me "what is one thing you need to work on as a teacher" I would probably say assessment.  Most teachers might agree - assessment is a very difficult area.  I was talking with Gary Ball a little while ago about the benefits of PD.  One of the questions among our division seems to be: how do we, as teachers, grow through PD but not be out of our classrooms too much?  I am not sure

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-47964296383106639132009-05-27T20:39:00.000-07:002009-05-27T21:24:39.837-07:00

There is something I have been wondering for some time now.  It is something that I have tried writing about, have had conversations about, and still cannot come to a conclusion.  Everytime I have had a conversation or tried writing about this topic, I could not seem to figure out what I was trying to say.  I guess it's more of a questions - are we really the experts?What I mean is, are we the

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-45358667316518346772009-05-21T20:47:00.000-07:002009-05-21T21:29:55.412-07:00

9:10 a.m. - Everyone in the gym can feel the excitement building.  Students quickly shuffle back and forth from side to side.  Suddenly everyone seems to move fluently with the sound of the basketball dribbling down the court - everyone except me, I do not move fluenty.  In comes a student half my size - here's my chance, I go for the block but he fakes to my right.  Luckily I stopped his elbow

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-87181535010050448222009-05-20T10:25:00.000-07:002009-05-21T20:45:47.745-07:00

This video was apparently shown at the last admin council meeting.  It was brought to my attention by my administrator.  The first thing I thought was "this kid is awesome".  Then I thought how valuable it was that he was being coached and taught these skills.  Then I was amazed at his message to teachers - here was a young boy telling us teachers what students need from us.  And this seems to be

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-25279569435416370342009-05-11T15:43:00.000-07:002009-05-11T16:00:37.908-07:00

In my last post I questioned our approach (as educators) to what we believe to be acceptable use (in terms of technology).  Basically, I am not quite sure that we are "on the same page" as our students - that we are missing amazing educational opportunities.  I used an example in which a teacher asked a student in my class to get off youtube.  That teacher was Gary Ball.  Now Gary and I have a

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-32628445478876448422009-05-05T13:32:00.000-07:002009-05-05T19:23:21.333-07:00

Bell rings.  Social Studies 30 filters out the door.  And I am confused.  Why?  Glad you asked.  I showed my students a program they can use to create their own myths and legends (thanks Donna DesRoches!).  We have been learning about sweatshops etc.. and I thought this online program would be a good way for students to demonstrate their understanding of the issue.  So, we started making an

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-47265158584756499932009-04-29T20:47:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:27:40.998-07:00

What if...our curriculums are wrong?our concept of traditional skills, standards and content are wrong?what I learned about teaching English in university only 4 years ago has drastically changed?kids can communicate just as clearly through shorthand text messages as I can in a formal essay?we refuse to acknowledge any of this as plausible?What if...we are too self-centered and egotistical to

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-88430184610371796032009-04-24T21:26:00.000-07:002009-04-24T22:04:42.102-07:00

This video has been circulating for some time now - for those of you who haven't seen it it is a video that captures an extrodinary set of events. I had heard that it was going to be made into a National Geographic documentary and I guess that is true (look here). If you haven't yet seen the video, watch it first before reading on.Wow! A complex video, and story, in so many ways. Not only are

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-41901717068359180502009-04-09T13:43:00.000-07:002009-04-09T13:49:07.463-07:00

Well, I have been playing around with the idea of podcasts for some time now.  I finally figured out how to use them in a meaningful way...here is a short clip of the first Pow-Wow mix my students ever made...they did it in about 15 minutes.  Now, I can either embed a player for everyone to listen to...like here -  Powered by Podbean.com Or...I can embed it to be downloaded (or so I think).

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-28278315444317679172009-04-09T10:53:00.000-07:002009-04-09T11:01:13.824-07:00

Here is a video one of my students made about a game called "Pos or Not".  I am beginning to see a huge advantage to having students do things like this.  It is interesting to see that while she guides us through the game she also engages with the material.  As she addresses topics she points the mouse to the part where she is talking about - too bad Jing doesn't let you highlight and draw on the

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-22406985912001442082009-04-08T09:25:00.001-07:002009-04-08T10:31:52.533-07:00

Just came across this sweet video!  Haven't watched it all yet as our internet connection seems to be getting slower by the day...oh well, check it out and let me know what you think...chances are you will be able to share your opinion before I can even finish watching it!http://creativecommons.org/videos/a-shared-culture

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-6534979764968237972009-04-06T21:01:00.000-07:002009-04-06T21:38:45.594-07:00

I've noticed that as I get more and more involved in collaborative communities I have more and more meaningful conversations.  Well whoop de doo and la de da!  But just hold on a second, they are more than just conversations - they are enthusiasm generators and shift initiators...meaning that they get me excited about learning and teaching, and force me to think about myself - what I believe, if

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-51116975505769844842009-04-06T16:01:00.001-07:002009-04-06T16:29:04.186-07:00

This blog is brought to you by a blog posted by Gary Ball...oh, here, and the number 5 (enter the Count from Sesame Street).  Okay, so Gary basically talked about life long learning and posed the question: "do you learn, or do you just teach?"  He stated how it is sometimes too easy to just put off that job related learning.  The ideas and questions that Gary pondered raised some questions of my

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-16260598965135711822009-04-01T21:28:00.000-07:002009-04-01T21:35:49.605-07:00

So I am in the process of getting all of my students to start blogging. Their first task - assess some of the online educational video games David Warlick pointed out in his session during the Emerging Learning Summit. You can find these games here. I posted a video to model what I want student to do. They have started looking at the games and the response has been very enthusiastic.

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-71351130720953337242009-03-25T21:33:00.000-07:002009-03-26T19:54:26.531-07:00

So I had more to write about on my last blog but...well, frankly, you are more likely to read two shorter blogs than one long one, so I guess I got you good sucker! Anyway, collaboration...it is exciting. And I don't mean like sit around the table every now and then or drive in your car pool and talk about students collaboration...I mean like authentic, learning centered, high energy, task

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-29432225357638966392009-03-25T20:54:00.000-07:002009-03-26T19:53:55.651-07:00

I recently attended the Emerging Learning conference in Saskatoon. I went as part of a division created Ejournalism team that had students cover the who's who and what's what of the conference. While I was able to sit in on some sessions (Yay David Warlick), my emerging learning came from being part of a truly collaborative environment19 students, 6 teachers, 1 Learning Consultant, and a whole

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-70276275154151644962009-03-15T21:09:00.000-07:002009-03-26T19:55:08.763-07:00

One of the last speakers I heard at the PLC conference in Phoenix was Robert Eaker. He talked about what it means to "be" a PLC. His words, I believe, summarized the challenges of becoming a PLC community...but they are challenges worth tackling. Just as Anthony Muhammed suggested at our division PD event, Eaker stressed that we as the educational community need to move away from traditional

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-72322623400979181192009-03-05T20:17:00.000-08:002009-03-26T19:58:14.337-07:00

Here is a video that does not go well with my last post! Our intern from first semester had to make a video for his class. He chose the topic: "Are Teachers Stressed?" Apparently we are...keep in mind that much of our demotivational and cynical behaviour was deliberate. Well, that's our story and we're sticking to it! Note the part where I talk about PLC's (e.g. I think they're garbage). Oops.Are

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-22719364738210227622009-03-05T19:52:00.000-08:002009-03-26T19:58:39.117-07:00

Timothy D. Kanold: Becoming an Authentic Learning Leader: Whatever you Do, Inspire me! Sounds exciting right? Well, it was. This was one of the last sessions I went to and perhaps the one topic that I was most familiar with. i am a huge believer in motivation, positive energy, and inspiration. However, Timothy asked the audience how many people believed that their leaders must be

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-41059160485772500332009-03-05T19:32:00.000-08:002009-03-26T19:59:27.987-07:00

Now that I am no longer in Phoenix and back to the ol' routine I can once again close my door and teach...pretending that the PLC conference never happened. Just kidding Tammy. Actually, one speaker did touch on this aspect: this conference I went to was by far the best professional development event I have ever attended. It came at the perfect time for me (I give credit to my administration and

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15562089591250761189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-89284877451078119582009-03-02T20:09:00.000-08:002009-03-26T20:00:49.142-07:00

So Fullan went over his time limit...oh well, he must be Canadian. It was off to lunch for some more pink mustard (won't get fooled again). However, the joke was on me...Chicken and pesto...I wonder what this wrap is like? The lady beside me, sensing my curiosty, leans over and whispers: "It's really good"...like it's some big secret that she has just let me in on. It must be good. Well, although

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09340789073233311703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-2057184390512478212009-02-28T07:38:00.000-08:002009-03-26T20:01:44.429-07:00

So I am here at the last day of the PLC conference listening to Robert Eaker, who is hilarious. He is the first of two speakers we will see today.  Yesterday was another great day.  In addition to Richard DuFour we saw Michael Fullan, Lisa Carter, and Timothy D. Kanold.Michael Fullan began his session by talking about implementation.  He stated that, to nobody's surprise, in the first stages of

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09340789073233311703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-59471039714830827602009-02-27T14:54:00.000-08:002009-03-26T20:01:21.855-07:00

I have never had someone's words ring so true to me as did Richard DuFours today.  After my conference today I thought o myself, self, why are you at a conference in Phoenix and not going outside.  Well, self, I guess this conference just has me too engaged.  However, I have gone outside briefly - twice, and here was my experience: two homeless men were eating lunches out of the garbage can - our

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09340789073233311703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-73596699435220306512009-02-26T17:55:00.000-08:002009-03-26T20:02:02.832-07:00

Just got back from today's sessions...and by back I mean back to my hotel room.  So far I have only travelled vertically...I have yet to go anywhere that requires horizontal movement.  This conference could be in Big Beaver and I wouldn't know the difference...but that's okay because the conference is proving to be really interesting.This morning we listened to Thomas Many, whom I've already

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09340789073233311703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-47957438028266891932009-02-26T12:32:00.000-08:002009-03-26T20:02:18.033-07:00

Our conference roomWell Thomas Many is done...and he was pretty good. He talked in length about how to successfully implement PLC's...lots of which I will inform everyone on later. But to respond to Palaniuk's comments, Many said that there are some aspects to PLC's that are non-negotiable: that teachers will work in teams, focus on curriculum and focus on good assessments. The rest is pretty

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09340789073233311703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-22266790031544051352009-02-25T20:51:00.000-08:002009-02-26T13:59:09.091-08:00

I just got back to my hotel room after listening to Rebecca Dufour talk about the power of PLC's and am really wishing that there was someone here with me.  The main topic up for discussion, after all, was collaboration.  Now I have all these ideas floating around in my head and nobody to bounce things off of.  Thank god for the wonderful world of blogging!  So Rebecca lead off with a brief

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09340789073233311703noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568145834881378866.post-21998750038664574922009-02-25T13:28:00.000-08:002009-02-26T14:00:21.101-08:00

Well I just arrived in Phoenix...here is the view from my hotel room, or is it...perhaps I just found this picture on the internet and am just pretending to be in Phoenix...perhaps.  I flew to Winnipeg, transferred planes and then came straight here.  I met a couple of good old farmers on the way here and learned about cutter bees (apparently they are worth $.001/bee...which is a great price).  

Ryan Nickellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09340789073233311703noreply@blogger.com3