Category: Weekly Reflections

EdCamps are conferences where the participants see a selection of topics, and then they vote. Their vote can mean that they are interested in learning more about the topic, sharing their experiences, collaborating with others on that topic, or a combination of any of these motivations. The most popular topics are then selected and attendees can meander around and check-in on any of the discussions occurring simultaneously.

The discussion that I was a part of when we first broke into our EdCamp groups was about wild plant identification. I was looking for ideas around science pedagogy and the sharing that happened in this group proved fruitful. We were a mix of folks from both cohorts and I was happy to hear from people I don’t get to spend as much class time with. Looking at how their blog is curated—with lovely floral touches in the background and in featured images—it makes sense that Nisa had some good thoughts on connecting classroom learning with nature walks and the environment (a first degree in botany helps there too!).

A more complete breakdown of our time together can be seen here, but I will expand on a few things that I thought sparked conversation from everyone. the book Botany in a Day was cited by Nisa as a helpful book for teachers to use themselves and share with students. From my understanding it details the world’s eight most common plant families with the goal of helping the reader easily identify new plants by looking for these marks. It is written for North America so the teacher can read to teach themselves, explore to find samples, and prepare a fun activity that can be both inside and outside the classroom.

There are many local experts that teachers can seek out as well. We discussed the possibilities of connecting with the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society to explore the fascinating world of fungi—something that could be helpful during science units.

Other cross-curricular applications for wild plant identification/use could be through art. Andy Goldsworthy is an artist who uses all natural materials in creating his outdoor exhibits. The video below can definitely inspire students to see beauty in their local ecosystem that includes wild plants and other natural elements. Here, we also noted that we as educators need to link these activities to First Peoples’ ways of knowing and doing. How did First Peoples understand these plants/trees? What were they traditionally used for? and Are we collecting these materials ethically? are all topics that can stem from wild plant identification and nature talk in class.

I’ve seen nature be physically brought into the classroom as well. One teacher I observed had a decomposition box filled with worms. Students added organic waste to a box containing a soil mixture with living worms, and they were taught how nature recycles to produce its own fertilizer. Other examples are an aquarium or even some hermit crabs!

I would love to hear more about my colleagues experiences at EdCamp! I’ll be reading some weekly reflections but one cannot read every one, so please use the comment box to share some of your experiences or some more insight into topics of this blog post.

SECTIONS is an acronym that can help educators evaluate the appropriateness of a technological tool they are thinking of introducing to their classroom. The tool can be used by the teacher, the students, or both. The list is intended to keep teachers accountable in the sense that they ensure the implementation is primarily beneficial for students’ learning—not just a gadget. I like the website Edutopia and I found a helpful article about How to Integrate Technology in the classroom. This article has adaptations for teachers in classrooms that have a range of tech—from one single computer to each child with a laptop—so I found it helpful. Many of the linked resources I haven’t heard of though, so I’ll have to research as a teacher and listen to Rich, our teacher, and consult with the district’s technology advisor.

A reflective question was posed by Rich in the daily schedule. Please reflect on the H5P instructional video you created: What are the strengths and weaknesses of your H5P video when evaluating it using the SECTIONS model?

It is a valuable interactive tool because a teacher can pose formative assessment questions, creating an expert – learner exchange. Blogs can also be shared among other educators for important feedback. It can be a little difficult to learn, especially for younger students, but I’m having a hard time finding other drawbacks to the H5P technology—hit the comments below if you have some thoughts.

Referencing the SAMR theory, I think many of the tools we thought of during or breakout session can allow for an equitable classroom learning environment. I think the teacher has to keep work requiring the use of specific technology in class because some students may lack the digital infrastructure at home. Powerpoint presentations displayed at the front and document camera projections can augment the learning experience and help information uptake. I think the Nintendo Switch could redefine physical and health education because it is a low impact, low risk, and enjoyable way to be active. The Switch is reviving Wii Sports and I am thrilled!! It’s expensive, but one can dream…maybe a PHE stations/centres activity?

The utility of sketch noting might not be realized instantly, and for this reason I think it can only really benefit older grades. If one is asked to draw during note taking they might be inclined to make it perfect—which is quite opposite to why sketch noting is helpful. The quick doodles mean less words are necessary and while I do agree with the scientific evidence that writing/drawing does more for memory retention than typing, I think simple arrows/diagrams/mind maps would do the trick rather than drawing a sketch of the author, a pair of boots, etc. But now that I say that, I see how my own good note taking combines non-literary elements so one can always have their own, less structured interpretation of sketch noting.

I think CANVA is a cool tool once you fiddle with it to figure out how to use the website. The small text boxes can be difficult sometimes, but besides that I think it is a good way to allow for diverse representations of knowledge from your students. I hope you can use the all the features necessary for a developed infographic in the free version. Making a graph was simple and I see how a student could have fun exhibiting their knowledge that way.

Our task this week was to create a green screen video and a slow-motion edit. I tried my best to download the videos first on a university computer and then on my iPhone and use iMovie to create these, to no avail. I produced a simple video in my free inquiry blog post, where I shot and edited video, as well as added photos and a title.

In my attempts to create the videos for the activities I did check out various creative commons websites in search of materials. We explored creative commons websites like Unsplash for freely-usable images in previous classes and I find sites like this useful because it can add to teacher communication and student exhibits of learning. A classmate reminded me that educational commons are useful for teaching/lesson ideas and I agree with them—these types of internet forums are something I see myself frequenting as a teacher.

In attempting to use video creative commons websites, however, I did not see the same immediate value. I found Archives.org to be very distracting. I think video creation could be a valuable tool, absolutely; I loved making my video and students could definitely show their learning that way. That’s they key—with their own media, rather than something found online.

The primary in-class activity this week (Week 4-Q&A with Jesse Miller) was very valuable. Here are some thought on the questions from this week:

Will you change your use of social media after the talk and Q&A with Jesse Miller? Yes. I have never have been one to post debatable content online, so I will change my social media use by trying to connect with others. Linking to another question about what I found googling myself (my long forgotten LinkedIn profile), I intend to use social media for its primary (boring?) purpose. LinkedIn has expanded to become a kind of professional Facebook and I like the update; my friends are sharing stories that I want to interact with and Twitter has already become daily source of teaching inspiration. Math Twitter is definitely a rabbit hole I never thought I would be going down…

How can we help our learners manage their digital footprints? I resonated with what Jesse said about having conversations about kids’ digital day, in addition to their …analog day. Well, that doesn’t really exist anymore, and that’s the point. As adults and models for young students, we have to be realistic about the fact that kids have an online life and be supportive. These interactions can help older students consider their digital presence if they have social media applications, and younger students to build their fund of knowledge about the online world before they begin to use the technology by themselves.

I have to get better about my tendency to divert conversations with kids away from tech. I exhibit a dinosaur mentality when I act like I don’t care. Instead, talking about it provides common ground for students to relate to their teacher. For my loyal readers I have a final question: What’s the piece/aspect of technology that you have the most experience with and how do you envision transitioning this knowledge into the classroom?

A fruitful discussion during our first breakout session with our newly formed learning pod yielded several points that our cohort of teachers-in-training believe are important to continue evaluating as we move through our coursework, practica and career.

First, we understand that the education system as a whole (including K-12 and university) is made up of checkpoints. Elementary education provides a baseline, high school students accumulate a breadth of “knowledge” in the form of test scores, which they then use to apply to a university, achieve a degree, and transform that into a job in whatever field.

Our thoughts about re-imagining education come from the movie Most Likely to Succeed (2015). One thing that our learning pod recommends is more funding. We referenced mostly students supports like counselling, occupational and physical therapy, reliable education assistant staffing and food programs, and we also acknowledged how more technology in the classroom could benefit student learning. About the human resources in the above list, we felt these to be important because with greater staffing, there can be a definition of roles and therefore accountability. With the right supports for students who need it, teachers can have more time to plan and execute inquiry or project-based learning opportunities, which could require more back-end/scaffolding work by the instructor before asking students to organize their own learning.

Our learning pod noted that although high school allows more flexibility in instruction and assessment because students can manage with less guidance, we thought greater staffing would give allow for trail and error of these re-imagined learning opportunities. This leads to a reflection on another major topic of this week— professional learning networks.

I have just joined the Twitter-verse and I don’t regret it. Through following a few local educators I’ve already been linked to other accounts, blogs or simple little GIFs that I believe will be useful as I start to lesson plan. As I move through this degree and meet various teachers, administrators and educators I will be sure to share my contact and social media account(s) information so I can build my professional learning network to gather and implement some tested teaching methods. In addition to getting inspiration, building a PLN and utilizing creative commons is also a way for teachers to self-reflect—a practice that will need to be exercised frequently to keep students motivated.