This week, in Special Education class we were introduced to learning disabilities (LD). I didn’t know much about LD initially, but I did manage to read the assigned reading before class. After reading the chapter, I thought I knew what LDs were. However, it was after this week’s class that I realized that I had only understood the technical definitions of LD, not what an LD student actually experiences. This was courtesy of our incredible instructor and Richard Lavoie’s F.A.T. City Workshop video. Its incredible that this video, although almost 30 years old, is still relevant and accurate today!
Through this week’s class I experienced LD firsthand. I watched in shock as Richard Lavoie started his workshop class with fast-paced, rapid-fire questioning of his students, expecting an answer to his question while students barely had time to process the question. I witnessed him “move on” to the next person after obtaining a correct answer and ridicule the incorrect answers. Overall, this was bad teaching practice, however, it was the rapid-fire pace of his questioning that disturbed me. I could barely keep up with his questions and then realized – this is what LD students experience every day! What seems to be a “regular” pace to everyone else is too fast for LD students due to issues with processing auditory information! WOW!
Lavoie then proceeded to demonstrate the difference between vision and perception, that is, seeing something versus actually perceiving it. I could try to explain the activity in detail, but my explanation would not do it justice. I must say that this was very enlightening for me and it really demonstrates the different ways people perceive things. You can check out that part of the workshop here:
Another activity that was eye-opening was participating in a round-robin story. We were asked to each say a sentence in order to form an interesting story…easy enough, and actually kind-of fun! We were then asked to repeat this, but our instructor started us off with “I am going to the bank to get some money”. Oh, and one more key point – we were told that we were not allowed to use any word with the letter “N”. May I suggest that you try this exact exercise with a few friends? It’s hard!! Each person participating in the game had to think carefully about every word they said, and they hesitated after every word. As I sat and listened, I truly had a “light bulb” moment. Some students with LD, must think about every word in a sentence and this results in hesitation and staccato-type sentences. Again, WOW!
I looked up Richard Lavoie on YouTube and found another class of his in which he explains reading issues that LD students, especially dyslexic ones, have. Once again, it was mind-blowing to see/hear his activities & explanations. You can view this class here:
Overall, Richard Lavoie’s techniques in teaching us what its like to have a learning disability are eye-opening. I highly recommend that you look up his videos on YouTube for an amazing insight into learning disabilities. My challenge now will be to learn how to effectively teach these students in a way that they understand and are engaged. Our textbook, “Special Education in Ontario Schools” (Bennet, Dworet & Weber) suggests a variety of in-class strategies including differentiated instruction, empathy and understanding and giving positive, frequent feedback. As well, a consistent systematic approach is important along with graphic/visual support, help in sequencing, help in dealing with print, and awareness of time constraints. Lastly, they suggest helping LD students with time management, making allowances for them and simplifying their environment. Overall, optimism, encouragement and trust are imperative.
I have yet to work with LD students and will most likely get this chance in a few weeks when I start my second teaching placement. I need to figure out how to put this newfound knowledge into actual effective teaching practices during my lessons. Should you have any tips or suggestions, please share! Thank you!!
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Saturday, 14 January 2012
New Year, New Resolutions
Every New Year, I evaluate my goals and resolve to accomplish certain ones that year – yes, “New Year Resolutions”. While I never formally write them down, I do reflect on these resolutions and make a concerted effort to achieve them. This year I thought that I should share my thought process with you and take the daring step of actually sharing my resolutions. Oh boy, once I write anything out, I am accountable for it…that should help me follow through this year!!
I had the luxury of getting away for the holidays for some much-needed relaxation and family time. While enjoying myself on the beaches of sunny Ft. Lauderdale, I started to reflect on the many things I would like to accomplish in the upcoming New Year of 2012. I resolved that I needed to relax more, spend more time with my husband & children and schedule in more “me-time”. I was able to do all these things during our time away and I came back home feeling renewed, refreshed and optimistic. What a feeling!!
Then reality hit. Back to school and the craziness of being a full-time B.Ed. student while juggling being a mom & wife. What was I thinking?? Reality check: time to re-evaluate those dreamy resolutions! Here’s what I have come up with.
“Relax more” is not going to happen! However, I have resolved to get to bed most nights at a decent time, I am aiming for 11pm (as opposed 1am), since I am up at 6am every morning. In order to accomplish this, I need to work on my time-management so I am not completing assignments and lesson plans into the wee hours of the morning.
“Spend more time with my husband and children” – this is one that I definitely want to stick to, but I need to figure out how I can do this with my current schedule. What I have come up with is to spend more quality time with them. I will make time every day to actually play or read with my kids, even if its just for 10-15 min. I will also start scheduling “date night” so my husband & I can actually spend some special time together.
“More me-time” – I have the perfect solution for this one and it comes in the form of “me-time” at the gym! That way I sneak 2 resolutions into 1 – aren’t I clever?! I have the stereotypical, standard fitness resolutions and I’m scheduling in my workouts as if they were a class at school. Its working so far, but I’m not too sure how its going work when I’m in my 2nd teaching placement in mid-Feb…..
Ok, so that deals with my lofty resolutions dreamt up of at the beach. But that hardly covers it all! Back in class and in “teacher-mode” and I have some important professional goals as well. I have resolved to make a concerted effort to challenge myself to “think outside the box” and really apply different pedagogy to my teaching. I want my lessons to be more student-centred and inquiry-based. I want my students to experience inductive teaching strategies, experiential learning and indirect instruction. In my first teaching placement, I was focused on pure survival and I stuck to more traditional instructional strategies. For my next placement, I truly want to expand my teaching to incorporate the strategies listed above.
As well, I am determined to apply more technology to my teaching. For my next teaching placement, I want to set-up and maintain a class website and include use of some new technologies in the classroom such as Edmodo, Livebinder, Twitter, Facebook, LiveScribe, and/or Remind 101.
Whew! I dream big don’t I? Of course, I have more ideas and reflections that I could share with you but…..I don’t have time! Too much to do! 2012, here I come!
I had the luxury of getting away for the holidays for some much-needed relaxation and family time. While enjoying myself on the beaches of sunny Ft. Lauderdale, I started to reflect on the many things I would like to accomplish in the upcoming New Year of 2012. I resolved that I needed to relax more, spend more time with my husband & children and schedule in more “me-time”. I was able to do all these things during our time away and I came back home feeling renewed, refreshed and optimistic. What a feeling!!
Then reality hit. Back to school and the craziness of being a full-time B.Ed. student while juggling being a mom & wife. What was I thinking?? Reality check: time to re-evaluate those dreamy resolutions! Here’s what I have come up with.
“Relax more” is not going to happen! However, I have resolved to get to bed most nights at a decent time, I am aiming for 11pm (as opposed 1am), since I am up at 6am every morning. In order to accomplish this, I need to work on my time-management so I am not completing assignments and lesson plans into the wee hours of the morning.
“Spend more time with my husband and children” – this is one that I definitely want to stick to, but I need to figure out how I can do this with my current schedule. What I have come up with is to spend more quality time with them. I will make time every day to actually play or read with my kids, even if its just for 10-15 min. I will also start scheduling “date night” so my husband & I can actually spend some special time together.
“More me-time” – I have the perfect solution for this one and it comes in the form of “me-time” at the gym! That way I sneak 2 resolutions into 1 – aren’t I clever?! I have the stereotypical, standard fitness resolutions and I’m scheduling in my workouts as if they were a class at school. Its working so far, but I’m not too sure how its going work when I’m in my 2nd teaching placement in mid-Feb…..
Ok, so that deals with my lofty resolutions dreamt up of at the beach. But that hardly covers it all! Back in class and in “teacher-mode” and I have some important professional goals as well. I have resolved to make a concerted effort to challenge myself to “think outside the box” and really apply different pedagogy to my teaching. I want my lessons to be more student-centred and inquiry-based. I want my students to experience inductive teaching strategies, experiential learning and indirect instruction. In my first teaching placement, I was focused on pure survival and I stuck to more traditional instructional strategies. For my next placement, I truly want to expand my teaching to incorporate the strategies listed above.
As well, I am determined to apply more technology to my teaching. For my next teaching placement, I want to set-up and maintain a class website and include use of some new technologies in the classroom such as Edmodo, Livebinder, Twitter, Facebook, LiveScribe, and/or Remind 101.
Whew! I dream big don’t I? Of course, I have more ideas and reflections that I could share with you but…..I don’t have time! Too much to do! 2012, here I come!
Friday, 25 November 2011
Bridging Classrooms and Cultures
Last week, I had the opportunity to join a few online sessions that were part of the Global Education Conference. I found these sessions to be quite informative and a convenient method of learning. The session used Elluminate, which allowed participants to view a common whiteboard as well as the speaker and a chat room.
One session that I attended was called “Bridging Classrooms and Cultures” hosted by Robin Dirkson, a teacher at Lead-Deadwood High School, Lead, South Dakota.
Robin spoke of a collaborative project that she is conducting with a school in Uganda. At Robin’s school, her students are collecting information about native plants and their competitors, and are applying treatments to reduce invasive species. They have called this the “Englewood Springs Botanical Area Project”. These students are also investigating the environmental requirements of many unusual native plants, in a groundwater dependent ecosystem. Using this information, they are creating a virtual herbarium online.
Robin has been able to establish a connection to a school in Uganda, in which students are also participating in the same project, calling theirs “Plants of the Gulu Region”. The students at the Lacor School, Uganda, are collecting images, tying the images to GPS coordinates and sharing what they know about the uses of their native plants, thus also constructing a virtual herbarium.
In true collaborative form, students at both schools are getting to know each other as pen pals and are sharing information about their lives and their data. Together they are investigating what plants they have in common, which ones are native vs. cultivated and what the plants are used for.
I was extremely impressed with this project! Robin has been able to integrate many different learning goals from biology, math, geography and information technology into one project while taking her students outside of the classroom to investigate and research the plants in their community. By collaborating with the students in Uganda, all the students involved are learning from each other and discovering another culture, making new friends and sharing their knowledge and learning experiences. This is possible via technology such as wiki sites, Skype and online platforms like Elluminate. What an amazing experience this must be for these students!
I would love to be able to incorporate something like this in my class in the future. The use of Elluminate alone is revolutionary and is a great method of allowing global collaboration and communication in real-time. I have now participated in quite a few of these online discussions/presentations and am impressed with how easy they are to join and how they truly bridge the geographical gap between participants. It is quite amazing to be sharing ideas and chatting with people from around the world with such ease. As teachers, I feel that if we can incorporate this technology and collaborative projects such as this one in our classrooms, it would be very beneficial to our students and their learning.
One session that I attended was called “Bridging Classrooms and Cultures” hosted by Robin Dirkson, a teacher at Lead-Deadwood High School, Lead, South Dakota.
Robin spoke of a collaborative project that she is conducting with a school in Uganda. At Robin’s school, her students are collecting information about native plants and their competitors, and are applying treatments to reduce invasive species. They have called this the “Englewood Springs Botanical Area Project”. These students are also investigating the environmental requirements of many unusual native plants, in a groundwater dependent ecosystem. Using this information, they are creating a virtual herbarium online.
Robin has been able to establish a connection to a school in Uganda, in which students are also participating in the same project, calling theirs “Plants of the Gulu Region”. The students at the Lacor School, Uganda, are collecting images, tying the images to GPS coordinates and sharing what they know about the uses of their native plants, thus also constructing a virtual herbarium.
In true collaborative form, students at both schools are getting to know each other as pen pals and are sharing information about their lives and their data. Together they are investigating what plants they have in common, which ones are native vs. cultivated and what the plants are used for.
I was extremely impressed with this project! Robin has been able to integrate many different learning goals from biology, math, geography and information technology into one project while taking her students outside of the classroom to investigate and research the plants in their community. By collaborating with the students in Uganda, all the students involved are learning from each other and discovering another culture, making new friends and sharing their knowledge and learning experiences. This is possible via technology such as wiki sites, Skype and online platforms like Elluminate. What an amazing experience this must be for these students!
I would love to be able to incorporate something like this in my class in the future. The use of Elluminate alone is revolutionary and is a great method of allowing global collaboration and communication in real-time. I have now participated in quite a few of these online discussions/presentations and am impressed with how easy they are to join and how they truly bridge the geographical gap between participants. It is quite amazing to be sharing ideas and chatting with people from around the world with such ease. As teachers, I feel that if we can incorporate this technology and collaborative projects such as this one in our classrooms, it would be very beneficial to our students and their learning.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Lessons Learned from My First Teaching Block - 11U Chemistry
I survived my first teaching block! What a rewarding, exhausting and amazing learning experience! I had intended to blog my progression through the teaching block, however I had not realized how busy I would be learning how to teach.
4 weeks ago I ventured into the teaching world into Gr. 11 University level Chemistry at Burlington Central High School. I was lucky enough to be mentored by a phenomenal associate teacher, Leigh Macklin. Leigh’s encouraging, positive and realistic attitude and teaching practices really helped me translate my ideas on paper to actual teaching in the classroom. Her patience and willingness to share her ideas and resources were invaluable to guiding my lessons. As well, Leigh was so incredibly organized in terms of her unit planning which gave me a base to work off of.
During my observation days, Leigh had given me the choice of teaching Gr. 11 U, Chemical Quantities Unit or Gr. 12U Heat Unit and I had chosen to teach the 11U class, thinking it would be easier. Boy was I wrong! So I embarked on the rollercoaster of teaching Chemical Quantities to Gr 11U students.
My first 2 weeks were quite exhausting as I adapted to commuting from Guelph to Burlington and as I created lesson plans from scratch. Being the perfectionist that I am, I agonized over each lesson plan and conducted extensive research on different pedagogy and instructional strategies for the different concepts that I was to teach. After hours of work on one lesson plan, I would bring it to class to review it with Leigh and she, very kindly, dissected my plans and basically taught me HOW to teach students. My theory was sound and I was taught about instructional strategies and pedagogy in my classes at Brock, however the actual "know-how" and realities of every day teaching was not something that I had. Thanks to Leigh, I feel like I have learned this "know-how" but still have lots to learn! I have also learned that a teacher really needs to know his/her class well and understand how they learn. Luckily, I was able to quickly develop a good rapport with my 11U students and identify with them and their learning styles.
A few lessons that I learned the hard way - previous knowledge and time management!! Even though Leigh pointed out that I need to remember where the students are coming from and what their current knowledge is, I still managed to make some incorrect assumptions that led to student confusion. For example, I introduced the concept of the "mole" and Avogadro's number = 6.02 x 10^23 without realizing that the students had not formally learned scientific notation and did not know of the EXP key on their calculators! I realized this at the end of the moles lesson and set out to make up a summary sheet and practice problems regarding scientific notation. In retrospect, I have learned that when teaching anything that involves math, these math concepts, however basic they seem to me, must be reviewed in an introductory lesson when starting the unit. For the unit that I taught, 11U Chemical Quantities, it would be well-advised to review scientific notation, rounding, significant digits as well as ratios and proportions. After reviewing these, I would provide an informal assessment such as an exit card or a quiz to ensure that all students understand these concepts. This would help ensure student success.
Another lesson learned was time management during class. I spent my first few lessons trying to teach many examples to the entire class and trying to ensure that every single student understood what I was talking about. This resulted in my teaching for the entire class time! However, I have learned the value of stopping my lesson after teaching the concept and showing one representative example thus allowing the students to try to apply the concepts by starting homework questions during class time. To get to this point, I had to literally talk through my lesson at home and time myself. I then doubled the time I took at home and used this as my guideline in my lesson plan. I found that it was much more effective to give students the time in class to start their homework and apply their newfound knowledge during class time. This built up their confidence, allowed them to collaborate and share ideas and allowed me to provide individual assistance to those students who required it.
Overall, my first teaching block was a resounding success. I learned so much and developed even more of an appreciation for all the work that teachers do. I met great students and enjoyed facilitating their learning during the four weeks that I taught them. It was hard to say good-bye to them on my last day and it was especially hard to say good-bye to Leigh. She taught me so much in four long weeks and I am so happy that I was paired with such a dynamic, effective teacher. Thank you to Leigh Macklin and her students at Burlington Central High School!
4 weeks ago I ventured into the teaching world into Gr. 11 University level Chemistry at Burlington Central High School. I was lucky enough to be mentored by a phenomenal associate teacher, Leigh Macklin. Leigh’s encouraging, positive and realistic attitude and teaching practices really helped me translate my ideas on paper to actual teaching in the classroom. Her patience and willingness to share her ideas and resources were invaluable to guiding my lessons. As well, Leigh was so incredibly organized in terms of her unit planning which gave me a base to work off of.
During my observation days, Leigh had given me the choice of teaching Gr. 11 U, Chemical Quantities Unit or Gr. 12U Heat Unit and I had chosen to teach the 11U class, thinking it would be easier. Boy was I wrong! So I embarked on the rollercoaster of teaching Chemical Quantities to Gr 11U students.
My first 2 weeks were quite exhausting as I adapted to commuting from Guelph to Burlington and as I created lesson plans from scratch. Being the perfectionist that I am, I agonized over each lesson plan and conducted extensive research on different pedagogy and instructional strategies for the different concepts that I was to teach. After hours of work on one lesson plan, I would bring it to class to review it with Leigh and she, very kindly, dissected my plans and basically taught me HOW to teach students. My theory was sound and I was taught about instructional strategies and pedagogy in my classes at Brock, however the actual "know-how" and realities of every day teaching was not something that I had. Thanks to Leigh, I feel like I have learned this "know-how" but still have lots to learn! I have also learned that a teacher really needs to know his/her class well and understand how they learn. Luckily, I was able to quickly develop a good rapport with my 11U students and identify with them and their learning styles.
A few lessons that I learned the hard way - previous knowledge and time management!! Even though Leigh pointed out that I need to remember where the students are coming from and what their current knowledge is, I still managed to make some incorrect assumptions that led to student confusion. For example, I introduced the concept of the "mole" and Avogadro's number = 6.02 x 10^23 without realizing that the students had not formally learned scientific notation and did not know of the EXP key on their calculators! I realized this at the end of the moles lesson and set out to make up a summary sheet and practice problems regarding scientific notation. In retrospect, I have learned that when teaching anything that involves math, these math concepts, however basic they seem to me, must be reviewed in an introductory lesson when starting the unit. For the unit that I taught, 11U Chemical Quantities, it would be well-advised to review scientific notation, rounding, significant digits as well as ratios and proportions. After reviewing these, I would provide an informal assessment such as an exit card or a quiz to ensure that all students understand these concepts. This would help ensure student success.
Another lesson learned was time management during class. I spent my first few lessons trying to teach many examples to the entire class and trying to ensure that every single student understood what I was talking about. This resulted in my teaching for the entire class time! However, I have learned the value of stopping my lesson after teaching the concept and showing one representative example thus allowing the students to try to apply the concepts by starting homework questions during class time. To get to this point, I had to literally talk through my lesson at home and time myself. I then doubled the time I took at home and used this as my guideline in my lesson plan. I found that it was much more effective to give students the time in class to start their homework and apply their newfound knowledge during class time. This built up their confidence, allowed them to collaborate and share ideas and allowed me to provide individual assistance to those students who required it.
Overall, my first teaching block was a resounding success. I learned so much and developed even more of an appreciation for all the work that teachers do. I met great students and enjoyed facilitating their learning during the four weeks that I taught them. It was hard to say good-bye to them on my last day and it was especially hard to say good-bye to Leigh. She taught me so much in four long weeks and I am so happy that I was paired with such a dynamic, effective teacher. Thank you to Leigh Macklin and her students at Burlington Central High School!
Saturday, 22 October 2011
My First Website
I'm very excited to have finally completed my first website - a Google Site that can be found here - https://sites.google.com/site/shailjaguelph.
I have never made a website before and have always thought that this was a job for "professionals". I was quite amazed when I was introduced to Google Sites and how easy it is to set a Google site up.
If you navigate to my site, you will see that I have been able to use a variety of different resources. I have a tab labelled "About me" and this links to my about.me page. As well, I have a tab that navigates to this blog of mine.
I will begin teaching at my practicum school (in Burlington, ON) on Monday and I have geared my Google site to the class I am teaching - Grade 11 Chemistry. On my site there are a variety of general chemistry resources as well as resources specific to the unit which I will be teaching. I was able to organize the wealth of resources I found on the internet via LiveBinders (www.livebinders.com) and have found this to be an invaluable resource! I have created 2 different binders of e-resources, organized with tabs and sub-tabs (like a real binder!)
I have also discovered Google Calendar and have linked my practicum teaching schedule to my Google site.
When I start teaching on Monday morning, the first thing I will do is introduce myself to my students and tell them about me. The next thing I will do is direct them to my Google site. I hope they take advantage of the variety of resources that I have compiled for their use!
I am still figuring out the Google site and would love to hear any tips you may have. I would like to have a forum for my students to post questions but I am not sure that I am able to do this with my Google site. It would be nice if I could share a certain part of the site (question/answer page) - similar to a wiki - but leave the rest of the site "locked" so it cannot be modified. If anyone knows how to do this with Google sites, please let me know.
I look forward to my students using my site and will be posting their views on it.
I have never made a website before and have always thought that this was a job for "professionals". I was quite amazed when I was introduced to Google Sites and how easy it is to set a Google site up.
If you navigate to my site, you will see that I have been able to use a variety of different resources. I have a tab labelled "About me" and this links to my about.me page. As well, I have a tab that navigates to this blog of mine.
I will begin teaching at my practicum school (in Burlington, ON) on Monday and I have geared my Google site to the class I am teaching - Grade 11 Chemistry. On my site there are a variety of general chemistry resources as well as resources specific to the unit which I will be teaching. I was able to organize the wealth of resources I found on the internet via LiveBinders (www.livebinders.com) and have found this to be an invaluable resource! I have created 2 different binders of e-resources, organized with tabs and sub-tabs (like a real binder!)
I have also discovered Google Calendar and have linked my practicum teaching schedule to my Google site.
When I start teaching on Monday morning, the first thing I will do is introduce myself to my students and tell them about me. The next thing I will do is direct them to my Google site. I hope they take advantage of the variety of resources that I have compiled for their use!
I am still figuring out the Google site and would love to hear any tips you may have. I would like to have a forum for my students to post questions but I am not sure that I am able to do this with my Google site. It would be nice if I could share a certain part of the site (question/answer page) - similar to a wiki - but leave the rest of the site "locked" so it cannot be modified. If anyone knows how to do this with Google sites, please let me know.
I look forward to my students using my site and will be posting their views on it.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
All This in Just 7 Weeks!
This week is our last week of classes - starting Monday, we will begin our practice teaching by actually teaching 1 class in our placement schools. I will be teaching Gr. 11 Chemistry at Burlington Central High School. As the week progresses, I am reflecting on all that I have learned in the past 7 weeks.
I have been introduced to brain chemistry and the teenage brain being "under construction". I have discovered student-centred/constructivist learning. I have learned about the Ontario Curriculum Expectations, Instructional Strategies, Educational Psychology theories/research and many aspects of Educational Law. I have been cautioned about Lab Safety and discovered strategies for teaching Chemistry and Biology. I have learned all about Assessment as, for and of Learning and about Evaluation. And of course, I have tried my hand at lesson planning - "Brock University style"!
However, the most surprising of all has been my tech course. This optional course (I/S Technology in the Classroom)is one that I had struggled with due to a variety of reasons - time constraints, completely new material and working outside of my comfort zone. On multiple occasions, I had convinced myself to drop this course. Yet, I stuck with it and what to I have to show for this? A lot more than I thought I would! In the span of 7 short weeks I have managed to accomplish the following:
-join Twitter (@shailjaguelph) and follow/communicate with educators & colleagues via Twitter;
-create and maintain a regular blog;
-partner with a Virtual Associate Teacher (VAT), follow her on Twitter and keep up with her blog from which I learned a whole new perspective to teaching (see earlier post);
-join the class "Ning" and use it for networking
-use the above resources to develop and maintain a PLN (professional learning network);
-understand the importance of being "tech-savvy" in the classroom and learn about 21st Century fluencies;
-use Google Docs, Google Forms, Google Reader and Google Calendar;
-create my own website via Google Sites;
-use LiveBinder and About Me;
-learn about the importance of our personal "Digital Footprint" and how to educate students of the importance of this.
Overall, I feel that what I've accomplished in this course is invaluable to my career as a Teacher. I especially realized this today when I met a friend for coffee and she asked me about school. I told her what I have learned about constructivism and student-centred learning. I proceeded to launch into a long spiel about my blog, website, PLN and digital footprint when she stopped and asked me "what's a blog?" 7 weeks ago, I asked the same question! And here I am now, with my own blog, google site, live-binder etc. I've come a long way in 7 weeks and look forward to using my new-found tech resources in my new-found teaching career!
I have been introduced to brain chemistry and the teenage brain being "under construction". I have discovered student-centred/constructivist learning. I have learned about the Ontario Curriculum Expectations, Instructional Strategies, Educational Psychology theories/research and many aspects of Educational Law. I have been cautioned about Lab Safety and discovered strategies for teaching Chemistry and Biology. I have learned all about Assessment as, for and of Learning and about Evaluation. And of course, I have tried my hand at lesson planning - "Brock University style"!
However, the most surprising of all has been my tech course. This optional course (I/S Technology in the Classroom)is one that I had struggled with due to a variety of reasons - time constraints, completely new material and working outside of my comfort zone. On multiple occasions, I had convinced myself to drop this course. Yet, I stuck with it and what to I have to show for this? A lot more than I thought I would! In the span of 7 short weeks I have managed to accomplish the following:
-join Twitter (@shailjaguelph) and follow/communicate with educators & colleagues via Twitter;
-create and maintain a regular blog;
-partner with a Virtual Associate Teacher (VAT), follow her on Twitter and keep up with her blog from which I learned a whole new perspective to teaching (see earlier post);
-join the class "Ning" and use it for networking
-use the above resources to develop and maintain a PLN (professional learning network);
-understand the importance of being "tech-savvy" in the classroom and learn about 21st Century fluencies;
-use Google Docs, Google Forms, Google Reader and Google Calendar;
-create my own website via Google Sites;
-use LiveBinder and About Me;
-learn about the importance of our personal "Digital Footprint" and how to educate students of the importance of this.
Overall, I feel that what I've accomplished in this course is invaluable to my career as a Teacher. I especially realized this today when I met a friend for coffee and she asked me about school. I told her what I have learned about constructivism and student-centred learning. I proceeded to launch into a long spiel about my blog, website, PLN and digital footprint when she stopped and asked me "what's a blog?" 7 weeks ago, I asked the same question! And here I am now, with my own blog, google site, live-binder etc. I've come a long way in 7 weeks and look forward to using my new-found tech resources in my new-found teaching career!
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Shelley Wright - "Super-VAT"
Through my technology course, I have had the valuable opportunity to be paired with a Virtual Associate Teacher (VAT). My VAT is Shelley Wright, who is a high school educator in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She says “I love learning more than anything else; this blog is part of that journey.”
While we have been expected to contact our VAT regularly with problems or concerns regarding our teaching, I have not yet had a need to do this. I did contact Shelley for an interesting idea (“hook”) on how to introduce the concept of cells to a Grade 8 classroom and she was kind enough to suggest some osmosis and diffusion experiments and to direct me to her class wiki.
At this point, I thought “what’s a wiki?” and I explored the link she sent me. The Biology page of Shelley’s wiki can be found here http://wrightsroom.wikispaces.com/Biology+30 and she blogs about her wiki and how she uses it here http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/why-i-love-my-wiki .
Shelley uses her class wiki (website) to build a “virtual” textbook and consolidate a variety of resources that would be helpful to her students. What an exciting idea!! This is the perfect way to go beyond the constraints of a paper textbook and provide information to students through a variety of media. For example, when teaching students about cells and cell structures, Shelley has used a video as well as a “live and interactive” cell diagram. Basically, she has constructed a multimedia textbook for her students to learn from. Before meeting up with Shelley, I had never heard of this! This is something I will definitely implement in my teaching practice. I am currently working on compiling resources for the Grade 11 chemistry class that I will be teaching during my 1st practicum block.
Though Shelley’s wiki was quite informative and “ground-breaking” for me, her blog was even more so (http://shelleywright.wordpress.com). Reading Shelley’s blogs have truly revolutionized my thinking regarding a teacher’s role in the classroom, teaching practices, a teacher’s impact on students and vice-versa. Earlier in my blog, I posted a video clip (RSA Animate) on a lecture by Sir Ken Robinson. I understood his views but remember thinking “how in the world do you incorporate this into every day teaching??” Reading Shelley’s blog posts has answered this question for me. It has also shown me real life examples of how to implement “student-centred” learning in a classroom.
So while I may not converse with Shelley Wright on a regular basis, I find myself reading her blogs and conversing about them with my friends, family, instructors and classmates. She recently blogged about Inquiry Learning and boggled my mind! She described how, for one class, she dumped a large bag of sand, salt and pepper in a large bowl, mixed it all together and then asked her students to separate the mixture – “Go”. What? No instructions? No procedure? I was baffled! The fact that her students embraced this problem and worked on a variety of different techniques to actually accomplish this, is a testament to the value of this type of instruction! The students learned that the scientific process is all about the journey, not so much about the results! I read this blog and presented this same “problem” to a couple of classmates and a teacher friend. They all had the same reaction I did “Hmmmm, I don’t know”. Shelley’s students had to think through this “problem” and apply their knowledge and skills to solve it through critical thinking and collaboration. I can’t imagine how rewarded they must have felt when they were able to separate the mixture! Shelley explained more inquiry-based activities in detail in her blog “Inquiry Learning: This Isn’t Scary At All” - http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/inquiry-learning-this-isnt-scary-at-all
From this VAT’s blog alone I have learned so much about the reality of teaching, student-centred learning and the fact that teachers are human after all and can and will make mistakes. I must admit that I have been recommending this blog to everyone I meet and have emailed the link out to many of my friends who are teachers.
So even though I have not yet needed to solicit specific advice on a variety of different topics from my VAT, I feel that I have benefitted from Shelley Wright’s blog and amassed a large wealth of learning from her anyway. Trust me, you really need to read this blog! Check it out at http://shelleywright.wordpress.com.
While we have been expected to contact our VAT regularly with problems or concerns regarding our teaching, I have not yet had a need to do this. I did contact Shelley for an interesting idea (“hook”) on how to introduce the concept of cells to a Grade 8 classroom and she was kind enough to suggest some osmosis and diffusion experiments and to direct me to her class wiki.
At this point, I thought “what’s a wiki?” and I explored the link she sent me. The Biology page of Shelley’s wiki can be found here http://wrightsroom.wikispaces.com/Biology+30 and she blogs about her wiki and how she uses it here http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/why-i-love-my-wiki .
Shelley uses her class wiki (website) to build a “virtual” textbook and consolidate a variety of resources that would be helpful to her students. What an exciting idea!! This is the perfect way to go beyond the constraints of a paper textbook and provide information to students through a variety of media. For example, when teaching students about cells and cell structures, Shelley has used a video as well as a “live and interactive” cell diagram. Basically, she has constructed a multimedia textbook for her students to learn from. Before meeting up with Shelley, I had never heard of this! This is something I will definitely implement in my teaching practice. I am currently working on compiling resources for the Grade 11 chemistry class that I will be teaching during my 1st practicum block.
Though Shelley’s wiki was quite informative and “ground-breaking” for me, her blog was even more so (http://shelleywright.wordpress.com). Reading Shelley’s blogs have truly revolutionized my thinking regarding a teacher’s role in the classroom, teaching practices, a teacher’s impact on students and vice-versa. Earlier in my blog, I posted a video clip (RSA Animate) on a lecture by Sir Ken Robinson. I understood his views but remember thinking “how in the world do you incorporate this into every day teaching??” Reading Shelley’s blog posts has answered this question for me. It has also shown me real life examples of how to implement “student-centred” learning in a classroom.
So while I may not converse with Shelley Wright on a regular basis, I find myself reading her blogs and conversing about them with my friends, family, instructors and classmates. She recently blogged about Inquiry Learning and boggled my mind! She described how, for one class, she dumped a large bag of sand, salt and pepper in a large bowl, mixed it all together and then asked her students to separate the mixture – “Go”. What? No instructions? No procedure? I was baffled! The fact that her students embraced this problem and worked on a variety of different techniques to actually accomplish this, is a testament to the value of this type of instruction! The students learned that the scientific process is all about the journey, not so much about the results! I read this blog and presented this same “problem” to a couple of classmates and a teacher friend. They all had the same reaction I did “Hmmmm, I don’t know”. Shelley’s students had to think through this “problem” and apply their knowledge and skills to solve it through critical thinking and collaboration. I can’t imagine how rewarded they must have felt when they were able to separate the mixture! Shelley explained more inquiry-based activities in detail in her blog “Inquiry Learning: This Isn’t Scary At All” - http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/inquiry-learning-this-isnt-scary-at-all
From this VAT’s blog alone I have learned so much about the reality of teaching, student-centred learning and the fact that teachers are human after all and can and will make mistakes. I must admit that I have been recommending this blog to everyone I meet and have emailed the link out to many of my friends who are teachers.
So even though I have not yet needed to solicit specific advice on a variety of different topics from my VAT, I feel that I have benefitted from Shelley Wright’s blog and amassed a large wealth of learning from her anyway. Trust me, you really need to read this blog! Check it out at http://shelleywright.wordpress.com.
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