Posts By spencerkellington
One Word Reflection
My #oneword2020 was “resolute”. I chose this word because I felt that it captured the conviction, determination, and passion I was hoping to bring to my EDUC 491 practicum experience. I think I set a reasonable goal for myself. While I have very high expectations for myself, I felt this goal was a nice balance between stretching and extending myself without grinding myself into the ground. My #oneword2020 resonated with me throughout my EDUC 491 practicum experience, and continues to. I am very proud of the work I did during my final practicum, and I think that I remained resolute throughout the six weeks.
My #oneword2020 was not burning into the forefront of my consciousness throughout practicum. I did, however, pick this word for a reason. Working extremely hard during 491 was a goal that I had set for myself long before being required to select my #oneword2020. Overall, with respect to my #oneword2020, I feel that I did very well. I was usually the first one in the building each morning, and one of the last ones to leave each evening. In the mornings I would mark all student work, as well as give detailed feedback, and would prepare curriculum and materials for the upcoming weeks. I was always completely prepared 3-4 weeks in advance, but would tweak and adjust materials closer to the date I taught them to meet the needs for the specific groups of learners I had the privilege of teaching. I made myself available before school, during lunch, and after school to support students, which resulted in higher quality and more meaningful student work, as well as formed stronger relationships with learners. I would also try to connect with educators I had met via Twitter that were in my building. They were gracious enough to give me feedback on a number of my materials. Based on feedback from my Practicum Mentor, my Coaching Teachers, and these other generous educators, I was able to fine-tune a number of my materials to further meet the needs of the learners, resulting in more meaningful learning experiences. While I absolutely worked my butt off, in hindsight, I might have been beneficial to pump the brakes at times.
A downfall of always being in my room working, and making myself available to the students, is that, beyond the educators I knew from twitter that I sought out, I did not really meet anyone. I feel that I missed out on an opportunity to fully embrace the school community, and will use this as a learning opportunity for when I am fortunate enough to be hired in a full time teaching position. I think the rigid framework I was given to work within over my practicum fit nicely with my #oneword2020, however, I do feel sometimes deepened learning was sacrificed to merely “get through things”. There were a number of things in all of my classes that had to be done at certain times, and large tasks to be completed by certain dates, whether the students were ready to move on or not. While I am proud to have “gotten through” everything, I really wish I would have had more time to dig deeper with students, and let some of the learning marinade before moving on. I am really looking forward to the prospect of having my own classroom. One of the unfortunate realities of EDUC 491 practicum is that one has all of the responsibilities of the regular classroom teacher, but nowhere near the level of autonomy.
Thinking about my #oneword2020 and my practicum experience, I feel I learned a lot about myself as an educator and lots about my students. I learned that I am more adaptive than I previously thought. I knew I had the capacity to be adaptive from previous work experience and teaching on call, but it was a whole different ball game during practicum. When one is teaching on call it’s easy to throw caution to the wind when adapting on the fly, since someone else will likely have to pick up the pieces if it does not go well. In practicum, however, when a curveball gets thrown at you, and the whole lesson has to go out the window, it was a really valuable learning opportunity to handle this when I knew I would be the one in the room the next day, something I feel I handled well throughout my practicum. Probably the most impactful thing I learned about my students was actually something I assumed would be the case prior to starting practicum. The most impactful thing I learned from my students was the joy one can have from working with the same learners for an extended period of time.
If I had the opportunity to go back and choose a different #oneword2020 I do not think I would. I thought overall “resolute” was fitting word for my EDUC 491 practicum experience, however, I do not feel that my #oneword2020 defined it.
Janet Chow and Challenges of EdTech & Using EdTech with Purpose
Janet Chow’s presentation on EdTech, while not necessarily presenting anything new to our class, reinforced a many of the common themes from our presenters.
I really enjoyed the activity that we did in groups, making a physical representation of where we are in our journey as educators, and where we want to be. It was great collaborating with two people I have not had an opportunity to work with yet, and see what their mindset is.
I loved what Janet had to say about creating experiences, and not lessons. I really agree with the idea of meaningful, experiential learning for students. I also really agreed with Janet’s notion that purpose drives experience. This really tied into what our group talked about – place-based, meaningful experiences for learners (think global, act local).
While Janet briefly touched on it, I also agreed with what she said about assessment, and it role being to motivate and inspire.
I really wish we could have had more time with Janet, and her enthusiastic passion for education.
Supporting Student Learning with EdTech – EDUC 431 Summative Blog
I put all of my blog posts into a word cloud generator. These were the words that showed up the most frequently in my blogs, which I think is reflective or the learning that transpired over the semester.
Over the course of the semester, we were exposed to a number of educators who presented a vast array of information, tools and strategies for imbedding EdTech into our practice. Thanks to the ideas presented, I have learned a lot about how EdTech can support student learning.
Through all of the presenters, and ideas shared this semester I have broken what I learned about how EdTech can support student learning into four themes, or categories:
(1) EdTech widens the access point for students, making education more inclusive
The idea of EdTech making education more inclusive was something addressed by a number of the presenters.
Valerie Irvine’s presentation on multi-access learning, while ambitious, provided a great means of promoting and advocating for inclusive learning environments for all students. While I had considered how students, for whatever reason, who cannot physically be in a classroom will face a number of challenges with their learning, the idea of letting them drop in remotely is something I had not thought of.
Sandra McAulay’s talk about iPads in the classroom provided another perspective on inclusive education. The tools an iPad can provide for students (voice to text, text to voice, educational apps, photos, typing instead of writing, etc.) are some very achievable ways to promote inclusive learning environments.
It was not just the two presenters who suggest EdTech as a means of making education inclusive, it was a theme that was recurring over the 10 weeks of presentations.
(2) EdTech gets students engaged with their learning
Something that became apparent to me, whether it was meant to be or not, was that a number of ways suggested to imbed EdTech into education were things that have very high student engagement. The core of what these things were could have easily been taught without the tech, however, because of the tech, students were very willing to be engaged and participate.
I though Ozobots were an example of this. Could teamwork and collaboration be taught another way? Yes. Could computational thinking be address with other strategies? Yes. But would students be as engaged with these concepts without the Ozobots? I’m not sure. Based on the high levels of engagement with our cohorts with Ozobots (which was very high), I am willing to bet the engagement of elementary students would be even higher.
I found this to be the case with the iPads as well. The Math assignment our class did on the iPads easily could have been done with a pencil and paper, however, I cannot see a way that the lesson would have been even nearly as engaging without the iPads.
I really do not see a problem with admitting that sometimes the tech is simply being used as a carrot for students. As educators shouldn’t we find the most engaging means of learning for students?
(3) EdTech provides a number of ways for students to demonstrate learning
Another theme that kept coming up throughout the guest presenters was the idea of EdTech providing students with a number of ways of demonstrating their learning.
Ian Landy’s presentation on e-portfolios really emphasized this, and his ideas were reinforced in our time to around with FreshGrade. The e-portfolios we are completing for EDUC 431 have really been emphasizing the diverse ways one can showcase their learning, and their progression.
While I agreed that Office 365 will give also give students different ways to express and demonstrate their learning, I feel that it alone lacks the ability to show progression. I see as Office 365 as a means for students to have other ways of sharing their work or their learning, but then also using an e-portfolio to show the progression of learning.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with students making a poster, or writing a paper. Some students will be able to demonstrate their learning through these mediums. I don’t see e-portfolios and Office 365 being something to replace these. I see EdTech being used to enhance these, as well as provide options for learners who need other ways to demonstrate their learning.
(4) EdTech provides students with the competencies and skills to participate in the 21st century economy
EdTech not only can promote the competency-based model of British Columbian education, it can also help develop technological, as well as cognitive skills that could be vital for them to participate in a 21st century economy.
Ideas presented to us like computational thinking, as well as block-coding in the early elementary years support this idea. Like I mentioned in previous blog posts, skills like coding are obsolete. The competencies, and logical thinking skills, however, are not. It is so important to help students develop transferable skills that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. EdTech can enhance learning, and the skill building processes.
EdTech promotes life-long learning in safe, inclusive, skill building, engaging environments
Looking at the word-cloud above, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that words like “learning”, “students” and “inclusive” are the most reoccurring from my blog posts this semester.
I fundamentally believe in a student centred approach, that promotes safe, inclusive learning environments for all. My hope would be that this approach inspires attitudes of lifelong learners in all students. EdTech provides a number of means for students to stretch themselves, be creative, build skills, be engaged, and be included.
Kristina Tzetzos and Assessment as Learning
I really appreciated Kristina’s presentation on Assessment as Learning.
While I did not necessarily “learn” anything new, I definitely had my thinking probed with her brief, but generous presentation. I completely agree with Kristina’s opinion that “we teach who we are.” I think it is vital for teachers to be authentic to who they are, not only in their instructional methods, but also when building meaningful relationships with students.
I am so thankful to have had Kristina share her though processes with us, and break down how she plans lessons. It was really cool to compare and contrast our processes.
Something I have been struggling with has been designing lesson that have the students actually doing meaningful work and activities for the majority of the periods, and minimizing the amount of “stand and delivery” time, or “bookwork” time. It’s not so much planning the activities that I have been having challenges with, it has been building in extensions for students who are meeting expectations or criteria. I’ve been finding it difficult to find extensions for them that are meaningful, and aren’t just busy work. Kristina seemed to agree with the importance of having things to do for the early finishers, or high achieving students, however, examples of what she’d have them do did just seem like busy work.
Challenging our assumptions is something that transcends the profession of teaching, but I really appreciated having Kristina present assessment as learning to us in this fashion.
Sandra McAulay and Coding in the Elementary Classroom
In Sandra’s engaging presentation on coding in elementary classrooms, I was exposed to a number of ideas. I learned ways to tie coding to the Core Competencies, and how to make coding cross-curricular. I saw connections between this presentation and Carrie’s presentation on computational thinking. Sandra also did a great job of modeling good teaching, and effective classroom management strategies.
One of my biggest take-aways was gaining a perspective as to the entry point for coding for elementary students. I think it is very important to know where one’s students are coming from with their prior knowledge and skills.
There are so many extensions and stretches that could be made with this block-coding application, both in elementary and secondary.
Like I mentioned in my reflection on Carrie’s presentation, coding is obsolete; however, understanding the rules and logic of coding is not. Sandra modeled activities, much like Carrie, that promoted computational thinking for students.
I am curious about the cross curricular connections that could be made with computational thinking. I think it ties into Math, Science, and Careers quite well. Could coding apply to Fine Art? English?
Tim Carvey and Podcasts
Was not present for Tim Carvey’s presentation, as I was attending a workshop with my Coaching Teacher. My reflection is based off of notes from my colleagues that they were generous enough to share with me.
Based off of the notes, it seems like Tim was presenting on the benefits of podcasts for teachers more so than implementing their use into the classroom.
The common themes I found with the notes were:
- Growth Mindset
- Stretching one’s self
- Podcasts as a means of diversity for teachers
- Podcasts as a means to hear more from authors
- Shifting from consuming to creating
Like a number of the presenters, I find myself agreeing quite strongly with what was said. I think there is value in both the consumption and creation of podcasts. I think for one to be on the creative side, they need to have something to say, and are not just podcasting for the sake of podcasting. With all of the work that would go into producing the podcast, screaming into a void seems like a lot of energy for a lackluster result. I do think, however, with a little bit of rigidity, any educator could disseminate learning opportunities via a podcast.
I know I like to listen to podcasts for in-depth conversations with authors, filmmakers, athletes, etc., and will definitely be checking out Tim’s podcast, and am looking forward to hearing from other educators.
Karen Lireman and Advocating Technology in the Classroom
My big takeaways from Karen’s presentation for us were:
- Technology allows access/entry point for every learner
- Learning can be achieved without technology. The technology can just amplify what you are already doing
- Technology allows us to share and show what we know in different ways
- Technology allows us to connect learners with the world.
- i.e. DMing an author in English, Skyping in experts, etc.
I think something that is really cool about having learners being connected with the world, is that it also promotes, and educates learners about digital citizenship. Although digital citizenship is in the curriculum, it is not imbedded throughout all curriculum. Digital citizenship has impactful implications for all children, and they need to learn how to appropriately be a part of the digital world.
Quite honestly, I did not find any new ideas or ‘AHA’ moments in this presentation. That’s not to say that I did not find any value in what Karen had to say. Like many of the other presenters, Karen reinforced the ideas of technology opening up access points for learners, making education more inclusive, and making learning more engaging.
Sally Song and Office 365
Sally Song came via video chat to discuss her use of Office 365 in her classroom. She highlighted a number of aspects of Office 365 that could make life a lot easier for us as classroom teachers. More importantly, she demonstrated how Office 365 can be used to build a platform for students to showcase their learning, share learning with each other, and make learning meaningful for children.
I really liked what Sally had to say, and I really agreed with her notion not to be completely married to the idea of only using tech in the classroom. While tech can often enhance the learning, and make the learning more accessible for students, it is not the tool that actually probes student thinking, or guides them on their learning journey. That role still falls to the teacher, and being too reliant on tech might not only blur the lines for the role of a teacher, but could have devastating effects on students learning.
If one were to adhere to old paradigms of purely practice, repetition, and memorization for all learning, then tech probably could take the place of the teacher. While admittedly I have a vested interest in not making a teacher’s role redundant, I do believe that the teacher’s role guiding a student through their learning is essential. Tech can greatly enhance and impact this journey, if used appropriately by the teacher. Office 365 offers a number of means to accomplish this.
Carrie Antoniazzi and Computational Thinking
Carrie’s presentation on Computational thinking broke down what computational thinking is, and then walked us through a number of activities and how they demonstrated aspects of computational thinking.
What resonated the most with me was the idea of the importance of computational thinking, and how it can apply to offline coding. Actually typing in lines of code has become obsolete. There are a number of programs that you simply click and drag lines of code into place, shifting them around to perform different functions. I have observed this in a Grade 8 Careers class. In about 30 minutes, the entire class, including myself, coded the game “Pong” from scratch. I remember my mom telling me she took an entire 13 week university course on how to code Pong.
While the act of actually typing in lines of code may no longer be a practical skill, understanding the rules and logic of coding is not. To run these programs, the skills that can be taught through computational thinking exercises, like offline coding, can be of great benefit to students.
The idea of teaching computational thinking through offline coding activities is very much in line with a competency based model.
This workshop presented ideas of how to imbed 21st century ideas, and pedagogy, into Math classrooms, as well as across the curriculum.
Cliff Waldie and FreshGrade in the Classroom
Going in to Cliff’s presentation I had a very loose understanding of what FreshGrade was. I knew it was a portfolio/gradebook.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that, while the info in FreshGrade is ordered like a portfolio, its main purpose is communication; communication in the form of teacher to parent, teacher to student, and student to teacher.
I really appreciated being walked through all of the aspects of FreshGrade, and having the opportunity to play around in it a little.
Taking into consideration everything that Cliff said, the way he responded to any questions directed his way, and being walked through how to use FreshGrade, the only reservations I have from using it is that it honestly sounds too good to be true. Having said that, I am not going to let my skepticism get in the way. I fully plan on using this application, if not in my ten week practicum, then in my future practice. Who knows, maybe a detrimental flaw in FreshGrade will present itself, but until something of that nature happens, I intend on moving forward with the use of this piece of EdTech.