Author: juliab (Page 2 of 3)

This week’s topic was Coding for Kids. 

This is something really interesting and a little new to me as I had no coding experience in school. Coding is now a part of the BC curriculum and something that is highly valuable for learners and can be taught in a variety of different ways.

I really appreciated in the class the ability to look at a variety of coding tools for students and I explored, scratch and I found this tool really interesting. 

Here is a screen capture of using scratch. 

Some tools we explored in class seemed simple and accessible for all students. Whereas other tools were a little more difficult to use or didn’t seem as useful for teaching. I think the variety of tools that are available is great and teachers can find new ways to introduce the concepts of coding to their students. 

Today’s lesson on creating our own version of EdCamp was such an interesting experience for us to take part of.

I really liked having the opportunity for us as a class to come up with topics and have discussions on a variety of topics.

I like this idea for future conferences as well as for using as a teaching opportunity in my future classes.

My group focused on a Teacher Career Path. I was interested in this and was hoping to learn from others their ideas on what their path might look like and any advice they have been given from this. We discussed the path to administrative work, such as by obtaining your Masters and what this could look like. We talked about the idea of going for your masters right away or waiting a few years and do more.

We also discussed the difficulties of networking at this time and options for this, we are building connections with our current experience aspect of our program but we also can make connections online with some teachers who are using social media to connect.

A few of us talked about the idea of working locally versus in other places, the differences between local school districts and the role of a TOC.

Julia

Learning about PSII has been fascinating. I cannot believe I have never heard of this school before, despite living in Victoria all of my life. Hearing Jeff Hopkins speak about the school and tour the school has been a great experience.

I loved that Jeff refers to the students as “learners” I think that this is really powerful and shows respect for the students as well as it helps identify the aim of the school. Not a process for students to get through but instead an environment for learners to flourish. I have often heard that the process of school is really to teach people how to learn. I think that this idea is powerful. Instead of memorizing facts if students could learn how to learn and become “learners” this would benefit them more then what our current system does.

I feel like in the last few years is really when I have began to really understand how I learn and start this process. In my previous schooling I was always focused on getting the assignments done well and I was worried about the grading aspect not the learning aspect.

I honestly wish I had an opportunity like PSII.

The environment that Jeff fosters at PSII is also incredible, from quiet spaces, to mixed-use collaborative space. You can tell that the facility is working for the students not the other way around.

When I looked at the calendar of opt-in classes I was so envious! I want to attend some of these! How cool would it to create your schedule in high-school and focus on your interests. I love this idea.

While I know that for some students this may not work or at least not right away I do think that these ideas could be tailored into our current public school system. We could learn a lot for PSII and I hope that future educators and our education system is able to take these lessons into practice.

Julia

#InquiryMindset has been something that feels like a buzzword for nearly every class I am currently taking. If I could sum up a theme of my studies this year so far I would say it is something like “inquiry-based learning” and this does interest me definitely as I feel like I didn’t have any of this during my schooling previously.

Finding ways to incorporate inquiry in my future classroom has definitely felt intimidating! That was until I watched the video of last year’s class visit to hear Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt speak on this and how she incorporates inquiry in her kindergarten classroom!

I wish so much that our cohort could have visited Rebecca’s classroom! I hope to be able to visit Rebecca’s classroom one day but meanwhile watching the video was a great way to feel less overwhelmed by the idea of trying to have my students explore inquiry.

I think incorporating inquiry into your teaching can definitely feel like a big overwhelming task along with ensuring that students learn all of the other required pieces of the curriculum.

Rebecca approaches this in such an easy way, she suggests even just starting by introducing a unit by asking your students a question to see their understanding. For example, when teaching patterns you can ask students “What do you know about patterns?” and “What are some patterns that you see?” this is a great way to start about thinking about inquiry and have your students engaged in your lesson.

I loved thinking about these ideas and want to continue to explore Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt’s teachings, her blog is here: Blog

Julia