Category: EdTech (Page 2 of 2)

This week I was fortunate enough to be observing a grade 5 class on September 30th Orange Shirt Day. 

I was able to see first-hand current student’s knowledge on the meaning of Orange Shirt Day and how teacher’s teach kids what this means to them. 

In my class we started by showing the kids a video on Orange Shirt Day:

Then after the video there was a discussion on the importance and meaning behind wearing an orange shirt on this day and why. Student’s could then fill in a sheet with some discussion questions as well as an opportunity to colour a new shirt design for Orange Shirt Day. 

I found student’s really engaged in this and asking thoughtful questions as well as coming up with ideas on how they would remember this day. Many students were aware of Orange Shirt Day already and some were surprised at this history as well. 

I was happy to see student engagement with this topic and I think having these open discussions in schools is so important. I have looked into a few student resources on this topic and I hope to incorporate them into my classroom in the future. 

Books for Kids

Teacher Resources

Learn More Here: Orange Shirt Day Website

Julia

This week was my first visit in a classroom for an experience aspect of my teaching program.

One of the first things my class did was have their weekly visit to the library!

I was excited since one of my passions is reading and I am especially interested in how to learn to make reading exciting for my students.

This library visit was different from the ones I remember in my elementary school years. Instead of just getting time to find some books the librarian guided the students through some ideas for picking out books and how to not get discouraged if they may have not enjoyed their books, he was sure to encourage every student in finding something they would enjoy.

This was such a fun way at looking at things  – students were encouraged to find something they enjoyed and from there to challenge themselves if they like or remember that reading is something enjoyable.

There wasn’t pressure to read a full chapter book and instead the emphasis was on enjoying this activity.

Later that day during our class seminar we had this librarian as a guest speaker to talk a little bit about the roles of librarians and how they can work with teachers on a variety of projects for students.

One of the biggest themes of the day was the shift in focus to Inquiry-based Learning for students. I must admit this idea still feels a little strange to me and even our seminar leaders admitted that this was a stressful change for them in their teaching careers. But I do love the idea of empowering students to learn for themselves and question things. My education was mostly just remembering facts and presenting them and I am excited to shift teaching to suit our world.

I see myself shifting my project to finding a passion with learning and reading. Maybe my passion is just teaching? I guess that would mean I am in the right profession, I feel excited to be learning how to teach as I have been trying for this goal for awhile and I hope to continue to feel this way throughout my career.

Julia

The opportunity to decide on a Free Inquiry Project is pretty exciting and also a little intimidating.

A passion project for me at this point probably incorporates something in relation to education as I have been working towards this goal for some time.

Some ideas I have so far:

• Reading/The importance of books in relation to education
• New  Ways of Teaching
• Mindfulness in Education
• Decolonizing Education

At this point I am still deciding on a few ideas or maybe trying to see how to incorporate many ideas into one project.

I want to dive into a topic and research education in new and exciting ways!

Julia