Touch the firehose of ds106, the most recent flow of content from all of the blogs syndicated into ds106. As of right now, there have been 92792 posts brought in here going back to December 2010. If you want to be part of the flow, first learn more about ds106. Then, if you are truly ready and up to the task of creating web art, sign up and start doing it.

  4. Brian Metcalfe

    “Petals Around the Rose” – Problem Solving

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    | Syndicated
    April 27, 2015
    I believe that problem solving is one of the most important skills that our students can acquire in our classrooms today. In a recent post, entitled “Problem Solving with ‘Aunt Emma’”, I described an engaging activity which helps students look at problems from a variety of different perspectives. Today, I want to share with you […]
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  5. Brian Metcalfe

    Teacher Feature #46 – Sharing the Light

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    | Syndicated
    December 27, 2014
    As the current year draws to a close, I have been pondering what message I might include in this month’s “Teacher Feature” remix. I must thank Kevin Hodgson, a talented Grade 6 teacher, for inspiring me. Yesterday, Kevin entered the following comment in my previous blog post: This is the kind of reflective practice that […]
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  6. Brian Metcalfe

    The amazing power of 140 characters

    by
    | Syndicated
    December 25, 2014
    With the initial release of Twitter, I couldn’t see how this application could act as an effective way to communicate when each tweet was limited to only 140 characters. Those who have followed my writing over the past three decades know that I am severely challenged whenever I try to share educational information in a […]
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  7. Brian Metcalfe

    Engaged Learning Is Authentic Learning

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    | Syndicated
    December 13, 2014
    For me DS106 was an amazing learning experience. I enrolled in this free, online Digital Storytelling class, hosted at the University of Mary Washington, in the Spring of 2012. Jim Groom and Alan Levine (aka “cogdog”) were the instructors who introduced me to a completely new style of authentic learning. Having conducted numerous workshops for […]
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  8. Brian Metcalfe

    Teacher Feature #33 – What was war?

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    | Syndicated
    November 9, 2013
    Today’s “Teacher Feature” focuses on remembering. I have been reflecting on which moments in my life have left me with an indelible memory. For me, there are important images that come to life such as when I first met my wife, being present at the births of our sons, certain classroom “teachable moments”, outstanding family […]
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  9. Brian Metcalfe

    Photos, Passion, and Pedagogy

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    | Syndicated
    October 21, 2013
    This past summer I attended a funeral. When one reaches their retirement years, it seems only natural to attend more funerals of friends and loved-ones. However, as friends of his grandparents, my wife and I attended the funeral of a 19 year old youth. Scott Wachal left his family and friends much too early but […]
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  10. Brian Metcalfe

    I’m “standing on the shoulders of giants”.

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    | Syndicated
    July 2, 2013
    Over the past two years, I have been inspired by the creative activities, sharing, and reflective feedback of members of an important learning community. Digital Storytelling (or DS106) is a free, open online course hosted at the University of Mary Washington. It is an unique learning environment. One may join and leave whenever one wants […]
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  11. Brian Metcalfe

    “Sharing Is Caring” – A story worth re-telling!

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    | Syndicated
    February 6, 2013
    Although this tale has already been documented in my earlier posts, this powerful, inspirational story needs to be regularly shared with educators and their students. Alan Levine (aka @cogdog) has challenged DS106 and ETMOOC participants to share “True Stories of Open Sharing … examples of times when there was an unexpected positive outcome after sharing […]
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  12. Brian Metcalfe

    DS106 – The weeks in review – Jan 1-27/2013

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    | Syndicated
    January 28, 2013
    As Sunday midnight fast approaches (perhaps on the West Coast), I find myself documenting and, more importantly, reflecting on the various learning opportunities that I have been engaged in during the first few weeks of the DS106 Spring term for 2013. While the newbies struggled through DS106 “Boot Camp” and established their own domains and […]
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  13. Brian Metcalfe

    DS106 Tasks: You Snooze – You Lose!

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    | Syndicated
    January 27, 2013
    I’m having fun learning how to create animated GIFs with frames extracted from digital video. In fact, with practice, and the support and feedback of my DS106 learning community, I think I am getting better! I created this animated GIF and then chose my title. The message combination resonates with me on two levels: the […]
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  14. Brian Metcalfe

    Free Motivational Educational Posters

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    | Syndicated
    January 19, 2013
    An old adage states that “a picture is worth 1000 words”. Based on this premise, what teacher would not want access to an innovative resource of educational posters worth 207,000 words? Recently, I serendipitously chanced upon Krissy Venosdale’s amazing resource of free, motivational posters. To help my readers appreciate her talents, I have included a […]
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  15. Brian Metcalfe

    Are eight-letter words twice as offensive?

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    | Syndicated
    January 17, 2013
    What does one do when time is a critical factor and one is challenged to accomplish two different tasks in two different environments? Well … some might get uptight and vent their frustration, by swearing, using profane, “four-letter words”. In my case, I chose to focus on common elements that satisfy the needs for both […]
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  16. Brian Metcalfe

    Learning – Motivated by MOOC Madness

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    | Syndicated
    January 14, 2013
    I believe in serendipitous learning. For those educators who are connected online, or consider themselves to be part of a professional learning network or  PLN, such learning opportunities present themselves with regular frequency. Readers who have followed my blog for the past year know how excited I was when Darren Kuropatwa sent me an email […]
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  17. Brian Metcalfe

    The eyes are the windows into the soul

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    | Syndicated
    January 11, 2013
    You might ask, like my wife, why am I enrolling in the DS106 course again. Didn’t I get my “fill” of on-line learning a year ago? The simple answer is that there are gaps in my learning that I want to try fill. I have found that through the on-going support, comments, and instructional blog […]
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  18. Brian Metcalfe

    Get Animated in the New Year

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    | Syndicated
    January 7, 2013
    Creating animated GIFs can be an engaging educational exercise. Students can be challenged to use a computer to draw a series of related, progressive images that, when blended together, create animation. Background Twenty-five years ago the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) was created to display images using less than 256 colours. Long before applications such as […]
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  19. Brian Metcalfe

    Teacher Feature #24 – Three Little Words

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    | Syndicated
    December 21, 2012
    Technology empowers students. Certainly this brief sentence contains three important words. However, when creating this month’s “Teacher Feature”, I remembered “three little words” that will help reduce teacher stress while empowering students. It is recommended that teachers start responding to student questions, for which they don’t know the answer, with the three little words … “I ...
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  20. Brian Metcalfe

    Jess McCulloch: Poetry, Pedagogy and Passion

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    | Syndicated
    November 12, 2012
    Jess McCulloch is an innovative educator from Melbourne Australia. Through her creative Rhyming for Teacher Learning endeavour, Jess used crowd-funding to help raise travel funding to attend this past summer’s UnPlug’d educational summit in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DdOCrFFZd4] I am lucky to have close friends who, as educational change agents, attended the initial 2011 […]
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  21. Brian Metcalfe

    Bumper Stickers Tell A Story

    by
    | Syndicated
    June 9, 2012
    Before I became engaged in the digital storytelling DS106 activities, I had never stopped to consider that there are stories that are told through bumper stickers. Furthermore, unlike my writing style, the bumper sticker text is usually fairly succinct based on the limited space available. This “bumper sticker” activity combines economy of words and images ...
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  22. Brian Metcalfe

    “Four Icon Challenge” & Feedback

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    | Syndicated
    June 9, 2012
    Two posts will be published today. They represent two different “storytelling” activities that can be used to engage your K-12 students. This first activity is known by DS106 students, as the “Four Icon Challenge” or the “One Story – Four Icons” assignment. My following post will describe how “Bumper Sticker” creation can engage your students ...
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  23. Brian Metcalfe

    ‘DS106: Thanks for the Memories’ Video

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    | Syndicated
    April 6, 2012
    My first DS106 video assignment is a “Digital Story Compilation” in which I was challenged to “Create a video compilation of some of your favorite things you’ve made in ds106″. I titled it “DS106: Thanks for the Memories” because while I was creating this video, I was totally engaged in the process of documenting my ...
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  24. Brian Metcalfe

    ‘DS106: Thanks for the Memories’ Video

    by
    | Syndicated
    April 6, 2012
    My first DS106 video assignment is a “Digital Story Compilation” in which I was challenged to “Create a video compilation of some of your favorite things you’ve made in ds106″. I titled it “DS106: Thanks for the Memories” because while I was creating this video, I was totally engaged in the process of documenting my ...
    Read more...
  25. Brian Metcalfe

    ‘DS106: Thanks for the Memories’ Video

    by
    | Syndicated
    April 6, 2012
    My first DS106 video assignment is a “Digital Story Compilation” in which I was challenged to “Create a video compilation of some of your favorite things you’ve made in ds106″. I titled it “DS106: Thanks for the Memories” because while I was creating this video, I was totally engaged in the process of documenting my ...
    Read more...
  26. Brian Metcalfe

    ManACE TIN: A $5 P.D. Investment on Apr. 18

    by
    | Syndicated
    April 3, 2012
    In today’s economy people are always looking to invest wisely. This same strategy applies equally to K-12 teachers who must get the best possible return on their educational investments. In other words, if you invest some of your time, talent, or treasure, do you substantially gain in your educational pay-out. As a K-12 teacher, would ...
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  27. Brian Metcalfe

    Teacher Feature #17 – Preparation for Future

    by
    | Syndicated
    March 30, 2012
    The following quotation by Dan Pink on “student preparation” resonates with me. What helped to bring this message into focus was my current engagement in the DS106 Digital Storytelling course. It has been said that people learn best when they step outside their comfort zone. For me, the DS106 MOOC (massive, open, online course) was ...
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  28. Brian Metcalfe

    Food for Thought: “A Story of Appreciation”

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    | Syndicated
    March 20, 2012
    I believe in serendipity. Just after I had uploaded my DS106 video describing how I would spend my last “Three Hours to Live”, I received the following poignant email. It was sent by Roger Braden, who currently is working for Foster Parents Plan (Plan) in Pakistan, to my sister Lynda. She in turn, forwarded this ...
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  30. Brian Metcalfe

    Blog Balance and “Bridge of the River Kwai”

    by
    | Syndicated
    March 19, 2012
    Background and Balance As I write today’s analysis of certain scenes in a favourite movie, I am worrying about “blog balance”. This is a condition that I continue to wrestle with as I progress on my learning journey with the online digital storytelling course DS106. In past, I have posted articles that I felt were ...
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