Saying Goodbye to 2020

 2020 Ending - Fall Reflection 

This semester, I had the privilege of being placed in an amazing grade six class at RanchView in Cochrane. Through my five weeks, I had the honor to get to know all of the students, connect with each student, and connect to the classroom. These students made the largest impact on my life and my teaching experience. It was very hard to say goodbye, and I was disappointed that I was unable to stay longer, but I am so grateful for the time that I got. 

I got to work with the amazing grade six-team, and experience the liveliness of the school and the staff. I love how the school focuses on outside learning, and I got to see how involved the school is with the staff and the students. With the school being fairly new, I also got to see how technology was incorporated more into the students learning experiences. 

What did you learn or "take-away" from this course and how has your perspective about integrating technology into K to 6 education changed/grown throughout the course?

To be honest, when I first started with the class, I had this closed mind that technology is being used too much with this generation, and that is the reason why students have more anxiety and less social skills. After completing the class, and being placed in a school where technology is used more frequently, my attitude changed. I have realized that integration with technology is not only important but beneficial. I was able to so many different activities with the students because they all had access to a laptop, students were given opportunities to be involved in their own learning experiences, and students were engaged. As well, we used an online blueprint that allowed students to upload their different classwork to share with their parents.

How did the course help you answer your "burning" question about the use of digital technologies in K to 6 education?

At the beginning of the semester, I was interested to see how technology could be beneficial to students learning and to myself as a teacher. Now by seeing all the different educational websites and resources, I now understand the benefits. I was able to use Class Dojo as a tool for classroom management, we used different youtube videos and GoNoodle for movement breaks, and my mentor teacher showed me many different websites that were great for resources. Growing up, computers were never apart of our education, we used them for free time or learning to type, but now I can see how easy they are for students and how beneficial they are to use. 

How did you contribute to the learning of others?

Throughout the course, I got the opportunity to work with a partner to teach another group Prodigy, and how it can be beneficial to use in a classroom. I also had the opportunity to teach a small group of peers in another class a website that I use for resources. In my practicum, I got to introduce the students to a new website, www.timestables.com, that they could use to strengthen their multiplication facts. As well, there are a variety of different games that are catered to multiplication and division facts. 

What did I learn from others? 

Through the course, I learned about so many different resources that I got to apply to my lessons and routines in my practicum. I also learned different resources from my mentor teacher and the students. I had a group of boys in my class that is obsessed with Scratch and they got to teach me how to use the different coding techniques. I also learned from my mentor teacher how to create an assignment on google classroom, and how I can utilize google slides for interactive activities. 

Overall, I learned so much over this semester through my courses and my practicum. This is a semester that will truly stay with me through my teaching years, and one that I will cherish forever. I am already looking forward to my next practicum where I can continue expanding my resources. 

Connecting with Nature

 

Exploring Our Senses With Nature 

When I observe students, I notice how much they use technology. Almost all students nowadays have their own phone, computer, tablet, or some form of technology. We live in a technological era, where almost most things are incorporated through technology. This lesson plan is where we leave the technology in the classroom and we go outside and explore the outdoors. I based my lesson plan around grade one and senses. Where students are exploring and experimenting with how they use their senses out in nature. I decided not to make this lesson plan based on technology because I feel the point of incorporating nature is to take a break from technology. Now, I understand that with COVID, many lessons are being facilitated through an online setting. This lesson would be very easy to change to allow for online learning. As a teacher, you could share your screen to show the video and explain the activity. Students could go outside alone and still make connections around the house. If a student could not go outside, there are online games that can aid with the lesson. You can use this lesson at any time of the year, you could also use it multiple times to compare how our senses change throughout the seasons. 

Virtual Tour of Banff

 

Banff Virtual Tour 

It is amazing to see what we can do with technology nowadays. I never would have thought about making a virtual field trip to engage students in their learning. I chose Banff and surrounding points of interest. I love the mountains and nature, and all that it has to offer. I decided to use different outcomes from different subjects and grades to show that you can incorporate a wide variety of learning outcomes with a trip to Banff.   

In the future, I plan to use virtual field trips to engage students with their different learning experiences. With the virtual tours, I can explore the world with students, experiencing places that we would not be able to visit with a normal school field trip. I also think this is an amazing way to assess students. Students could create their own virtual tour to aid in their learning with history or science, making real-life connections. 

Prodigy for Learning

 

Lesson Plan for Prodigy 

Prodigy is an amazing online resource for students, as well for teachers. It is a free online website that allows students to create a wizard. They are using these wizards to battle monsters by answering math questions based on their learning level. As a teacher, this is an amazing website that allows you to assign certain questions, based on what the students are learning in the classroom. Prodigy is great for differentiation because you can assign each student different questions and you can choose different levels. That way students are not struggling, and you can assign questions to aid in their learning. 

What Worked:

When teaching the lesson, we were able to share the screen well. We also created a login for everyone and that fortunately worked really well. I know in a classroom or with many students, there will be hiccups with the logins. I recommend being patient on the first day as all the students get logged in, and to give them a minimum of 10 minutes to set up their characters and go through the tutorial. 

 What Challenges Did I Encounter? 

During this particular lesson plan, the largest challenge that I encountered was the time restraint. I feel that I would have been able to go more into detail with the students if we were not limited to 10 minutes. As well, I can tell the students were feeling pressured. 

Lessons Learned for The Future: 

In general, from the classroom, I learned that there are so many online resources that can assist students and teachers to improve the learning experience. 

How I Will Use Prodigy In the Future: 

I already use prodigy every day for my own students, I love watching them progress and not get stressed about doing math. In my own classroom, I will 100% continue using it as an assessment tool and as an aid for students. I have seen how students with extreme math anxiety play this app and they are so lost in the game that they don't even notice that they are completing math questions. 

Chief Jacob Bearspaw School & Stoney Nakoda

 This week we learned and dove more into Indigenous studies and the integration of Indigenous studies in our classrooms. We looked at the Stoney Nakoda and the Chief Jacob Bearspaw School. We got to talk to the amazing students and some of the staff about the school. I have created a little Powtoon where I share my experience and learnings. Enjoy!

Tweeting for the Future

Mrs. Parent's Twitter 

With this technological world, teachers need to find a way to connect with our students and their families. We need to find creative ways to keep updated with the education industry and all the changes around the world. Using Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms are great to use as a professional resource. For example, by using twitter, as a teacher I can post updates about my classroom, share pictures of students' work, update parents on upcoming events, and so much more. In addition, using social media allows for parents to reach out and follow their child's work. 

Not only is social media great for the parents and the students, but it is great for making connections. As teachers, we can follow important educational mentors, different teaching strategies, and other teachers. That way we can share our ideas, reach out if we need supports, and have great resources at our fingertip. Our world is forever developing with technology, so as a teacher, I want to make sure that I am staying with the times, and staying connected with all my students. 

Post 1: Setting Goals & Burning Questions

 Post 1: Setting Personal Goals 

Beginning of The Semester Reflection 

In this journal entry, you will discover my personal goals and ambitions for this semester. These goals include my professional responsibilities, planning for learning, facilitating learning, assessment, environment, and inclusive environment. I will also be including my previous experience of educational technology and any burning questions that I possess to know about the use of digital technology in a classroom. 

Personal Learning Goals:

Professional Responsibilities 

"Engages with colleagues in professional learning." 

My goal for this semester with this competency is to learn how to create more meaningful and professional relationships with my fellow colleagues. I have a tendency to not vocalizing my opinion and taking the initiative in the school. I have often migrated towards my mentor, not venturing out to meet other faculty members, and offering to help around the school. This semester, I am planning on pushing myself out of my comfort zone to create connections with my peers, other teachers in my practicum school, as well as familiarizing myself with all staff. By stepping out of my comfort zone and creating more meaningful relationships, I am hoping that will aid in opportunities in my learning, and contributing to the school. 

Planning for Learning 

"Translate outcomes into coherent short, medium, and long-range plans." 

With this competency, my goal is to become more comfortable with planning medium and long-range plans that flow throughout the term. I struggle with seeing the big picture and putting all the pieces together for most subjects. I am wanting to work with my class assignments, use my peers, and my mentor teacher to guide me, give advice, and guide me so that I can efficiently create a long and medium-range plan for all subjects. This ties in with my goal of professional responsibilities, I need to be more confident and create professional relations so that I feel comfortable enough to ask advice to aid in my lesson planning. 

Facilitating Learning 

"Paces lessons appropriately for all students including time for reflection and closure."

Planning according to time and students is something that I struggled with during my first two years of education. I never know how much time each student will need, and what other activities I should plan for the students that finish early. I do not want to plan more worksheets or work for students who finish early, I do not want them to feel like they are being punished. I find that one of the reasons I struggled is that I was only with the students for one day a week, for a limited amount of time. This semester, my goal is to work more with the students to find their strengths and weaknesses, as well, work more with my practicum teacher to plan accordingly, while having back up activities for students. 

Assessment

"Creates multiple and varied assessment tools that align with outcomes."

Being a high school graduate of over 7 years, the given assessment in my classes were usually in the form of an essay, quiz, or a test. Now being in education, I find that sometimes I struggle coming up with a variety of assessments in certain subjects, especially math. I have found, so far, that our textbook touches on a variety of different resources, as well, my peers have amazing ideas. To continue growing my resources and knowledge, I am planning on creating a mass document where I can track the different forms of assessment, and what works best for specific students. I also know that while I am in my practicum, I can talk to my mentor teacher, and other faculty members, to collaborate on different assessment tools. 

Inclusive Environment 

" Creates and manages effective classroom routines and procedures to promote positive, engaging learning environments." 

This year we were supposed to observe the first couple of days of school to see how a teacher creates a positive classroom environment, as well as how they create their teacher presence, and how they present procedures and regulations. Unfortunately due to all the changes of 2020 with the virus, this was something that was missed. I find that I am still struggling to imagine how I would create and maintain an effective classroom environment. To make up for my lack of confidence in this competency, I plan on working with my peers, professors, mentor teacher, and other professional peers to discuss how they obtain this goal. I also plan to research different papers and videos that explain effective ways to create a positive environment from day one in a classroom, and techniques on maintaining them. 

Previous Educational Technology Experience: 

In most of my educational experiences, I have been dealing with younger grades where a majority of their technology basis comes from the SMART Board, and I struggled with those. Most of the time, I had students or my mentor teacher aid me in their process. During my grade 6 practicum, I learned about Kahoot! and how I could project that onto the board from the laptop, then the students could interact. An area where I have had some experience but struggle in is apple products. I do not have strong knowledge of the apple interface, and that is something I struggle with within the classroom. Personally, though, I have become more comfortable with online video callings, such as Zoom and Google Meet. As well, I have been working with students D2L, moodle, and other online school systems. 

Burning Questions:

My burning question for this semester is: how do we make sure as educators that technology is aiding in the students learning experience instead of creating a distraction and more complications. In some of my practicums and personal experiences, I find that students are staring at an LED screen not paying attention to the learning experience. As well, they get distracted by other multimedia that is available through their devices. I would like to know, as an educator, how do we manage this?