Category: EDCI 336 (Page 2 of 2)

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

This week’s class we had the privilege of having guest speaker: Jesse Miller  present to us his work on Technology and Education. Jesse is a Technology Thought-Leader and his work can be found on his website: Jesse Miller Website

This was such an interesting class! Jesse has so much experience with incorporating technology into the classroom as well as navigating some challenges with the changing ways of tech. He has worked in various school districts helping with policy and curriculum for students and he was a great resource for us as future educators. 

I think an interesting topic that he brought up that we haven’t talked about yet was the personal technology use as teachers. As educators we have a few potential audiences of our technology use – the public, parents, co-workers and students. Any social media use of educators will be viewed by these potential audiences – Jesse mentioned that essentially educators are held to a different standard! 

Along with the many district policies of technology use there are also standards all-around for educators to be professionals at all points of their lives – not only while in public but also digitally in their private lives. I could tell that this idea wasn’t common for some of my cohort and it was a good wake-up call for us as prospective teachers. 

Jesse’s talk felt like a great introduction to the ever-changing world of technology in the schools and the importance of districts to be looking and funding this. 

For more information – Check out Jesse’s Ted Talk

Julia

This week we dived into the growing trend of Open Education Resources.

This year has really shown the importance of access to educational tools for everyone and schools have show how this can be achieved.

As a current university student I have definitely felt the pain of having to buy expensive textbooks. This seems to be even more relevant in the digital era where the resources teachers want you to have can be accessible in different ways.

Even the course materials offered to us from instructors are often posted into a server that we cannot access once the class has ended. Does this make sense to deny students access to materials they paid for and may need for future studies?

If the goal is to encourage more learning… why are things not accessible?

As a future educator I have definitely thought about this for my students. I want them to have access to every learning material that they need and as I recently witnessed in my school visit this week, it does seem like school’s are trying to move forward with this.

Gone are computer labs and instead devices are brought into the classroom with students learning to access materials themselves. While some of this was COVID-19 preparation (in case students have to learn from home) this did show me a different view of accessing materials.

My class also had the opportunity to go to the library during my visit. I was really impressed with how libraries are changing into resource and learning centers and are encouraging inquiry-based learning.

I will be exploring more about how libraries are changing in my next post!

Julia

Resources Shared with Me:

https://www.cmec.ca/docs/copyright/CMEC_POSTER_FDG_EN.pdf

http://cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/291/Copyright_Matters.pdf

https://www.oerafrica.org/communication/find-open-content/index.html#/