Reflecting on the term. This weeks class was a focus on going back and reflecting on all that we have gone over throughout this semester. Using sketchnoting, we were given sticky notes to brainstorm how we would like to lay out our reflection, and then were to bring it to life afterwards. My take was to create a maze of the layout of our classes to show everything that we have learned. It is definitely busy, but I really like how it turned out. Looking at all the sketches, I am able to recall parts of the lesson. My design has the introduction of blog posts in the bottom right, to the discussion of the cell phone ban in classes in the top left, along with everything else we have learned in between.
This is a video on what sketchnoting is as a reference to what I have created.
This week focused on the implementation of the Phone Restriction in the new BC Ministry of Education guidelines. The use of phones varies from school to school and district to district; teachers may even decide to implement different standards on a classroom basis. The rise of phone use for the younger generation has gone from a recreational amount to an abuse of their time. Ultimately, students have a constant distraction in their pocket, and the Ministry of Education felt they needed to change that.
At the grade level of 4-7, students may or may not have their own device depending on their guardian’s choices. With that in mind, some students may be distracted from time to time by a notification coming through a device in their pocket. Although devices have a negative connotation with their use during school time, they can also be used as tools in their education development.
Engaging in online based games as a class such as Kahoot, Science Journal, and computer science online platforms can assist students in their learning journey. As pairs or individuals there are also online forums, such as Coolmathgames, that may also help with the understanding of topics that might seem tedious. Overall, going into teaching for myself, I do not think the strict banning of cellphones solves the issue in front of us, if anything, teachers need to build relationships with students that can navigate through tough conversations, such as appropriate phone use.
In terms utilizing Science Journal, I believe it may be a helpful tool for the age range that I would like to teach, especially if done as a class. Some of the activities might be too difficult to do individually or in pairs, meaning that there is a high chance of distraction while students have tablets and/or devices out.
Below is the activity that I worked through. I found this activity to be appropriate for the age range that I would like to teach, as a class or as individuals.
Having Brittany as the guest for the week to discuss classroom management was an overall insightful and helpful lecture. I really enjoyed hearing her speak about her class, and strategies that she uses firsthand with her students. Something that I will always focus on with my future students and the children that I work with is making sure that they have a sense of belonging, thus when it was brought up in the presentation, I very much see myself applying what was being presented.
Soft Starts and Transitions were great topics, especially when thinking about younger grades. Having students develop routine in a manner that they understand is extremely beneficial. From K-2 students are still getting the hang of how the school day works, so knowing that they are stepping into the classroom in the morning knowing that there will be a hands-on activity waiting for them is exciting. At transition times, having a song that is only played when it is time to move from one activity to another is so helpful for their grasp of what is going on around them.
Moving into routines and expectations. Making sure that the classroom expectations are made by the both the students and the teacher together is really important; that way there is not a poster on the wall that students are detached from because they had no say. When it comes to routines, having a day plan up on the board for students to refer back to. Even younger students are extremely attentive to what they are learning throughout the day.
As a whole I enjoyed gaining more knowledge and ideas on strategies that can be applied to the classroom. Thank you to Brittany!
Different examples of SEL check ins for students here!
This week we looked into coding in Education. I have done some basic coding at an elementary level for a previous course and found it really interesting. When attending McGill, and doing my practicum there, I was able to witness the dedication that the school system had to implement coding from grade 2 up. It seems to be that coding is a great, interactive, activity to gain problem-solving skills. Coding is interesting because, although it is math based, students can learn social studies and language arts through story-based coding.
Story-based coding is when students may follow along a story, choosing their own path with a given character. I think that if it is possible with funds and equipment, integrating coding into the curriculum for grades 3 to 5 would be very beneficial. That way students may build off of the basic skills of coding.
Using online based games in general is a great way to break up the command style learning within the classroom. I know that for myself, the website coolmathgames was something that I really looked forward to if we had computer lab time. When learning is fun, students forget that they are using their brain with a certain intention!
For the hands-on portion, I chose to do the Elsa and Anna coding game. It was quite long, but felt very rewarding when I got my certificate! I am a certified coder! I showed my achievement to my two housemates who are Computer Science majors.
This week in class we dove into intentionality in the technology that we use in the classroom, and how we can modify it to make it better suited for our learners. We started by going over SAMR and TPACK.
SAMR is an acronym for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition; where Substitution is using a direct substitute for a previous piece of technology with no functional change, Augmentation is the direct substitute with functional improvement, Modification implements significant redesign, and Redefinition is an entirely new task using technology. TPACK, on the other hand, stands for: Technology, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge. TPACK overlaps its values, where SAMR is more defined and simply put. SAMR regards the enhancement of a task using technology and goes further with a transformation in technology.
SAMR theory is able to break down the function of a piece of technology to test if it is being used properly or if there are some potential adjustments that could assist its exposure to students. SAMR breaks down the purpose of the technology so that we, as teachers, understand the why? behind using it.
The next part of our lesson was on Sketchnoting. To sketchnote is to take notes, but with quick sketches instead of words. It is the practicality of jotting down ideas that spark memory, not a form of art. An example of sketchnoting is a mind map- connecting ideas visually. Other ways of using it could be learning another language, highlighting the key points in an article or essay, or gaining an understanding on new ways of learning. This led to our skills building portion of the class, where we had to practice what we were learning. Below, I have included my quick practice sketches, and some sketchnoting to help with learning vocabulary in Spanish.
Sketchnoting is a great tool for learners, however it certainly would not work for everyone. I, myself, would have a really hard time focusing on the lecture going on in front of me if I were to sketchnote my comprehension of the lesson. I would become wrapped up in making sure that the sketch is the perfect size or shape etc. For other students sketchnoting could be a great way of holding their understanding when listening to a lesson. It is a potential tool for grades where students are using more than worksheets to display their notetaking. Overall, this lesson was a beneficial, hands on take to understanding a lesson in multiple forms.
Beautiful shot taken in Mount Waddington. Photo taken by Thomas Lipke
For this week’s class we looked into accessibility in technology. Accessibility is often a topic spoken about when addressing public places, and how accessible they are for all of the population. Although the topic of technology and accessibility has been brought up for potential use in the classroom, I do not think I have ever touched on it while considering it for everyday use. Why is this? I am not entirely sure. It seems to me that because websites, browsers, and videos mirror social media, everything has to be aesthetically pleasing. As a result of this, the pure functionality loses its effects, and leaves the accessibility of the site to be limited. The digital appeal overrules the function.
I am fortunate enough to only need the adjustment of a brightness level and or turning on and off “night mode” on my devices for me to be comfortable. For others, the interaction of colours, tones, size of font, and the way websites are laid out are all factors into understanding if it is sufficient for all.
It was really interesting to input our websites into the Wave Report, along with a website of our choosing. Doing so showcased the flaws in the colours, the text, and the efficiency of hyperlinks. We then adjusted our websites in order to be more accessible for viewers.
The second part of class was taking a video and making it more accessible. I chose a video from the YouTube channel Daily Dose of Internet. The videos are created to brighten people’s moods and provide a good chuckle. I edited the video within wordpress using H5P.
This week we dove into 3D printing. Although 3D printing is brought up between my housemates regularly, I had never tried designing anything or using a 3D printer. Having spent this week’s class getting to design our own mini projects and seeing the printers creating projects in person was a really great experience!
3D printing in the classroom can be used amongst many of the subjects. In Math, 3D printing may be used for creating different objects replacing counters- students could even design personalized ones for Math activities and class based games (such as Bingo). In Learning languages, 3D printing can be used as a kinaesthetic learning oppourtunity by having the physical letters in front of the students. In studies such as: History, Social Studies, and Cultural studies, students may design an existing land mark as a project and learn about its history in the process. Taking Science into consideration, 3D printing enables fast and low cost customized machining for prototyping.
As for the pros and cons of 3D printing in class-based learning, I believe the biggest con is that the cost for the printer itself and the upkeep of supplies is too great for many schools. It is a privileged oppourtunity to design and print one object, let alone multiple students in multiple classes having the chance of such an experience. Another potential con is the lack of knowledge around technology. If students have access to computers or tablets regularly, with some practice, using websites such as tinkercad will be doable. For students who do not have the resources to do so, using a 3D design program can be tricky, frustrating, and very time consuming.
All this being said, the pros are endless, because the creativity that students can have with such technology is unlimited. For grades 4-7, the grades I hope to teach, 3D design and printing would be invaluable and could direct students into entering STEM fields.
The use of Gen AI in the classroom is controversial. Gen AI is a powerful tool that can be easily abused by students and teachers. Understanding the proper way to use Gen AI comes from the teacher not being afraid to learn more about the technology, along with the ability to teach students that it can be a helpful tool. Students also need to understand the consequences that come up if the technology is used in a manner that does not help them long term. In my opinion, generative AI can be softly introduced in grade 4 or grade 5- purely in a technology introduction form. By this, I mean that Gen AI would not be introduced as a tool for school, but a tool for extra curriculars; such as assistance in VR or other video games. In grade 6 or grade 7, Gen AI could potentially be introduced as a tool for helping narrow down a project topic or inquiry.
For myself, I have found Gen AI to be useful in helping simplify sentences. I have a tendency to overcomplicate sentences, and that does not serve me well when writing long papers. Gen AI has also helped me narrow down my thesis, when my topic has been too broad.
In this video I used screencastify to document a question I asked Copilot, a LLM (Large Language Model). I asked how to obtain a certain mod in a VR game that my housemates were playing. This is an example of how younger students could potentially use it in a non-educational form.
Including H5P tools is a great way to interact with students when providing a video within their learning. As the teacher, it can be used as a studying tool, but also as an interactive, fun way to spark learning in the classroom. It is a check in that students are paying attention to the video as they go and not only listening to it as background noise.
Although I have a lot of difficulty with technology, I think creating a video that includes visual and auditory editing is a great way for students to display their learning in project form. Having an interactive tool to show the concept taught in class such as a video the students filmed and edited can be used by all grades above grade 4 or 5; however, this really depends on the capability of the class.
Multimedia theory is great for creating future instructional videos because it pairs verbal and non-verbal learning. This means that pairing an eye catching visual with dialogue, or keywords on an image can have the ability to move through one’s initial memory, past their short-term memory (their working memory), all the way to their long-term memory. In doing this, retention-based learning transforms into the ability of transferring knowledge.
While watching the documentary it was interesting to see the perspectives of the educators, the students, as well as the parents. High Tech High has transformed pedagogy to allow students to learn while also putting effort into âsoft skillsâ. This new form of pedagogy also comes with disagreement. Parents of the children at High Tech High did not attend a similar education, thus when comparing the workload and the schedule to their own, they fail to see where the ability to get into college would be. Going further, when teachers from other schools tried to implement other forms of learning (ie. The math teacher in the documentary), they were taken aback when the students were the ones disagreeing- arguing that they want to ace the test to have a good college application. The approach to education that High Tech High uses has me weary and excited, all at the same time. The freedom given to students to display their learnings is amazing; however, it does not work for everyone- I, myself, would not be able to handle the lack of structure within the school year. Growing a passion for what the students were learning and how they were displaying it was a beautiful growth to watch, but I also wonder about the dynamics of how all the students are doing with their learning. When removing the educator from the front of the classroom, and moving them to the back, it creates an opening for someone else to step in- it is a role of power that is âup for grabsâ. While this could be seen as a beneficial oppoutunity for students, there is also the chance that some students may become left behind in their contribution to the class- especially when the class is being assessed as a unit. With that all being said, I believe that education needs to be a blend of structure and freedom. Education needs to give oppourtunity for all students to succeed. The route of pedagogy that High Tech High uses does not serve all students, in a similar way to how traditional teachings do not assist all students either. To re-imagine education, one must learn from the present students, along with utilizing their past experiences. Â
Below is a student-based project from High Tech High combing math, science, and art!Â
Dalhousie University has a website dedicated to different forms of pedagogy and the combination of different forms of thinking.Â
