Category: Weekly Reflections (Page 1 of 2)

This week we had a guest speaker, Joanna Lake. She is a local middle school teacher. I liked her presentation. It was nice to see some of her students’ work and how technology is used in a real classroom. Joanna is an inspiring teacher. She seems to me like that kind of teacher that you see on social media. The one that always has nice projects and engaging lessons for the students. I liked the mood scales she uses from Tara Wood.

Joanna showed us videos from her students’ work which were so funny. So far, I have been intimidated to teach middle school, but her videos made me think that maybe it is fun to teach middle school.

I had not heard of flip-grid before, but it seems like a friendly user platform and it seems that students enjoy using it, so I have saved it to use in the future. Joanna made seem easy to introduce technology in the classroom, but I guess, she spent time planning, learning, and implementing these platforms before introducing them into her classroom, once she did it, it seems to me that all her hard work was worth it.

Additionally, she talked about the importance to get to know your students, create connections, visual schedules, and routines. By doing these, teachers create a healthy learning environment.

The only downsides I could think of are not having enough equipment for all the students and/or having to pay a monthly subscription for the apps or websites needed to host your class material. And of course, privacy and security issues while using some platforms.

In the second part of the class, we learnt about how to create science journals such as fresh grade and Arduino science journal. It is great to know these platforms, especially Arduino which to me was interesting for all features it provides which certainly can improve and create engaging science lessons.

Incorporating science journals in the classroom creates opportunities for hands-on learning and exploration. Technology in the classroom can help transfer concepts into real and tangible scenarios.

Inspired by Joanna and using one of Tara’s mood scales, how are you feeling today?

This week, we learnt about the flipped classroom model and we had a 3-D workshop.

I was not familiar with the flipped classroom model, but I found it interesting. If you are not familiar with this method, It is well explained in this video:

If you ask me, what are the benefits of the flipped classroom model? From a student perspective, I think is good to be able to re-watch a lesson until you understand the concept. Additionally, it is a good way for students to learn to self-regulate and self-learning which builds independence, but it might not work for all the students. For some students, it might be overwhelming.

From a teacher’s perspective, I think it is a good delivery method, but it involves a lot of preparation and planning. Also, we should consider that we might need a safe streaming platform, training, and/or equipment.

We should also consider accessibility issues, whether it is wifi access or access to pc’s/iPad. It was discussed in our groups that it might add work to parents (it might be seen as homework). In addition, students might have not a healthy learning environment at home.

In my opinion, the flipped classroom method is valuable for students learning, but I think it is not suitable for all subjects. For example, EPHE involves physical activity most of the time. Although, with the pandemic, we have learnt that everything is adaptable. I am a visual person, so I think that in my practice I would like to introduce some aspects of this methodology.

One the second part of the class, we did a 3-D workshop. I enjoyed it, but I did not know how hard it was to 3-D print. Before this class, I thought that you basically uploaded a picture and then print it! But there is design and measurement involved! It was fun, but it was a bit tricky for me to complete this project.
I followed the keychain tutorial and here is my 3-D project:

I can’t wait to see how it looks once printed. I’m afraid it will be too big, but we’ll see. I’ll keep you posted!

Until next time,
R.

This week, we learnt about coding. As I mentioned before, last semester, I experienced how SD62 students are familiar with Scratch. This week we learnt that SD61 uses scratch too. Before telling you about this week, what is coding? well, in simple terms, coding is giving detailed instructions to a program to perform a specific task. Here is a video that explain to kids what is coding :

Using code.org, we practiced coding by helping Elsa (From the movie frozen) trace a snowflake. I thought it would be an easy activity, but in fact, it was a bit challenging. It was a trial-error process, but here is my work till step 6:

Wondering about why to teach coding? I found an article mentioning the benefits of coding. According to the article, through coding, students learn problem-solving, develop critical thinking and mathematical skills, and resilience under unexpected circumstances.

I really like to keep learning and practicing coding. As seen in class It is important to incorporate it in the classroom, but we have to be careful while implementing it because it might be frustrating for some students. Therefore, I think it is important to start with small and simple tasks.

By the way, this was my first time coding(that I remembered)? have you tried coding before?

Until next time,

R.

In today’s class, we learnt about Assistive technology. Tracy Humphreys from BCEd Access was our guest speaker. She talked about accessibility and inclusion in our classroom, as well as resources for teachers and parents.

I found this conversation helpful and I am looking forward to learning about tools or apps that we can integrate into the classroom, that can serve students, parents, and teachers.

In the second part of our class, we learnt about how to add subtitles and make our posts accessible to everyone.

Here is the example I did on youtube and an image we used to practice how to add a description to our images.

I like how schools are integrating technology as a tool for students to learn. I also like that minority groups have been included and taken into account to promote and ensure learning.

This week, we had an EdCamp during our class time. This was my first time doing that, if you are not familiar with EdCamps, here is a video explaining how an EdCamp works:

I liked this concept because it is a more relaxed atmosphere than going to a conference, which feels to me more formal and the opportunities to equally participate are low. In my opinion, EdCamps are a great opportunity to learn and connect with more educators.

During our EdCamp, my favourite group to visit was the one that explained coding using scratch

Last semester, during my link2pratice, I learn about Scratch and how students loved to code. Back then, I thought it was important to learn this platform because it is used in SD62, but also because I would like to be more helpful when students ask me about it. I liked to learn about it during our EdCamp. It is friendly to use, you just need to play a bit with the commands. Since you can create math games, It can become a great tool for teachers and students.

Another group that I visited was communication with parents. I like this group because communication teacher-parent is essential for students’ success. Therefore, it is important to talk about it and learn how to set boundaries and what issues/topics are worth communicating. I love the ideas they had gathered when I joined them, I snapped a picture of it:

I think this was a great opportunity to connect with the other cohort and learn from them and my classmates.

I was happy to see a lot of people passionate about education gathered in one place. I also like that we share the same wonderings, and it is nice to know that we have a great network of amazing future educators.

I am looking forward to our next EdCamp.

Until next time,

R.

This week in class we learned about SAMR, Canva, and sketch note-taking.

SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) theory is a great way to enhance education and use collaborative work. I think this model adds and makes us rethink education. By using the SAMR theory we can make decisions on which technologies are beneficial for our students. SAMR model allows educators to optimize education and to rich learning objectives. As in the video we watched before class, using typing techniques or audio as an alternative to handwriting can accommodate more students and create more engaging activities. In addition, this model allows interaction between remote speakers or other classes that can virtually visit our classroom. By doing this, students broaden their perspective of the world and build connections with the community.

We also learnt that before using any technology tool in the classroom, it is important to evaluate these tools with the SECTIONS model. Using this model, we should evaluate if the application of the selected technology tool is feasible. It is important to ask ourselves, do students have access to a computer? Internet? Is it a great tool for interaction teacher-student or student-student? And most importantly, is it safe?

During the second part of our class, we learn to skecth noting. I am a visual learner; therefore, I enjoyed this activity. I liked that our drawings do not need to be perfect as long as it makes sense to us. I think children will enjoy sketch noting. During my link2practice last semester, a student mentioned handwriting was difficult for him, but he was good at drawing; therefore, he decided to drew pictures of the concepts reviewed in class. Skechtnoting reminded me of that experience. As a teacher, it is important to know notetaking techniques to pass it on to students for them to explore and find the best note-taking method that better suits them. I would like to teach K-3. I think they will love to draw and color, so I will show them this notetaking method. Here is my sketch-noting:

During the last part of the class, we used Canva to create an infographic using a tutorial. I liked Canva because it has many templates ready to use. Here is my infographic:

Incorporating technology tools into the classroom might require extra work and training but the implementation of them enhances teaching and learning.

This week’s topic was Citizenship Online – Privacy, Safety, Bullying, Consent + Creative Commons Video.

I enjoyed learning about privacy and safety. This week we had a guest speaker, Jesse Miller, an expert on social media awareness and education. You can see his ted talk here:

The talk was informative and got me thinking that I must be conscious about what I published online from my personal and professional life. It also reminds me to be careful about the use of my phone around children. I must always protect their privacy and, of course, have parents’ consent before posting anything, even if the content is just planned to be used within the school community.

As teachers, we are role models; therefore, it the importance to model good technological practices to students and to talk and inform parents and students about online safety.

As technology is present more than ever, it becomes hard not to have an online presence. Being safe online does not mean never posting again, it means being mindful of the content you are willing to share online and asking yourself: could this post affect someone else or myself? is this an appropriate post for my intended audience?

As part of our class, we googled our names. I could not find anything about me which I guess is good… but I liked how our teacher reminded us to periodically check for what comes when we google our names because parents, students, and recruiters can look up our names any time.

We also made a slow-motion video that includes transitions here is mine:

Our class was informative and got me thinking about the big responsibility of being a teacher.

R.