Category: Weekly Reflections (page 1 of 2)

For the past two weeks, I’ve been dealing with a killer flu and when I say killer, I mean it. This flu completely ruined me to the point of pure misery. I can confidently say it was the sickest I have ever been in my life. Sadly, because of this evil flu, I’ve missed our last two tech classes, meaning I have no class material to reflect on. So, for my final class reflection blog, instead of reflecting on recent classes I will be going through and reflecting on two of my classmates’ educational tech presentations. 

The first presentation I will be reflecting on was done by Calissa, Chris, Shealyn and Kennedy. Their presentation is centered on the pros and cons of technology-based learning. While this is a great topic to inquire about, I chose to reflect on this presentation not because of the topic but because of the way they presented their topic. Instead of going the traditional route of doing a PowerPoint, this group decided to present their findings through a debate. I found this to be a really interesting idea as I feel it presents their material super effectively. Both sides of their argument (pros and cons) were able to express their ideas freely and in opposition to each other. Allowing the viewer to decide which side they land on based on the presented material. Very cool and smart idea!

The next and final presentation I will be reflecting on was completed by Jo, Allie, Lexi, and Kari! Unlike the last group, here I will be focusing on the content of their presentation, which focuses on the ways in which educators can engage students in the outdoors via technology. I found this to be quite a thought-provoking idea because, on the surface, it seems counterintuitive. You would think that technology would distract students from the outdoors, but after going through their presentation, they have some great ideas to work through this. My favourite of these ideas is a class geocache hunt. For anyone who doesn’t know, a geocache is an object or selection of objects that are selectively hidden. When found, the idea is that you take whatever the object holds and replace it with something of your own. Essentially, it’s a little treasure hunt, making for a super fun activity to do with a class. Students could be split into groups and given a location to a geocache on their devices which they would then use to explore their surroundings and locate the geocache. Overall, I love this idea and think it’s a great way to implement technology in an outdoor class!

For this week’s class, Tina O’Keefe came in to give us a presentation on gamifying the classroom. I really appreciated hearing what Tina had to say, as gamifying the classroom is something I believe to be truly beneficial to student learning. In my experience, whenever an activity was gamified, my interest in the activity instantly increased. In turn, this improved my comprehension of the presented material as I became more involved and engaged with the content. In comparison, when activities were not gamified, I often had difficulty maintaining focus and interest, especially with content I already had little to no interest in. Of course, not everything in the classroom should be gamified but finding a balance between non-gamified and gamified activities brings a level of play to the classroom that I believe is too often lost. School should be something students look forward to, not something they dread due to it being boring. For this reason, I plan to implement gamification whenever I can in my future classrooms!

During her presentation, Tina also spoke about how she runs and manages her classes, which I found quite interesting! In her classes, Tina provides her students with almost complete freedom to take their learning in any direction they please. Comparatively, this is a very alternative method to teaching versus the ones we’ve come to know in the classroom. Since watching the “Most Likely to Succeed” documentary a couple weeks back, I’ve become very interested in alternative schooling. For me, the traditional methods of content presentation never really clicked so alternative teaching is definitely something I’m looking into more and more. My only concern is how effective these methods are. To my knowledge, these methods of teaching are fairly new to the education scene, so there is a chance they may not be as effective as they may seem. I have a few friends who went to Esquimalt High School, where Tina teaches, so I plan to ask them if they had any classes with Tina and how they felt about how the teaching. Hopefully, this will allow me to gain a deeper insight into these alternative methods!

Finally, Tina also introduced us to the Hour of Code Website. Hour of code is a website in which coding is presented to students in a gamified and easy-to-understand manner. On the website, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different coding-related games students may choose from. These games range from the absolute basics of coding to more intermediate levels. In our increasingly technological world, these skills will only become more and more valuable. Thus, teaching them at an early age is something I deem to be of extreme importance.

Here’s a link to a game I would share in my Wednesday ⅔ split Link2Practice class: https://app.codemonkey.com/junior/chapters/sequencing/challenges/1

In my eyes, remote learning is a great tool for students who may not be able to attend class full time. Otherwise, unless there are accessibility issues, I believe remote learning to be a lackluster form of teaching. I say this because in all my personal experiences with remote learning, I’ve consistently been left disappointed with the methods used. Simply put, remote learning is often rushed, confusing and just as frustrating for the teacher as it is for the students. 

My biggest gripe with online learning stems from the true lack of human connection. To me, it all just seems so fake. In many cases, content in remote learning is posted on an application, such as google classroom, and that is all. It is nothing more than words on a screen telling you what to do. There is no hook, there is no intrigue. It is simply a task you are expected to do. How can one be expected to effectively learn, if all they are provided is a task? To me, the most effective learning occurs when a teacher is motivating and passionate about the topic at hand. As this mentality translates to the students and they to become motivated/passionate about their work. Remote learning kills this passion and instead makes students into nothing more than robots completing their task because they have to.

You may say “well what about content delivered through Zoom, isn’t that a human connection?”.  To that I say, tell me on time where you truly felt you were having an effective learning experience through Zoom? Sure, some of you may have an answer, but I bet the vast majority of you hate Zoom just as much as I do. It is just so boring and lifeless to stare at the screen for hours on end. There is no enjoyment to be gained from that. It only highlights how truly boring school can be. Not to mention most people didn’t even show up for their meetings and if they did, they likely turned off their camera and did another activity with the teacher none the wiser. 

To conclude, yes, remote learning is an extremely useful tool for students with accessibility issues. Nor am I denying the importance of remote learning. What I am stating is that for students with non accessibility issues, remote learning is a lifeless and soul crushing process that provides little to no actual benefit to the student, besides getting to lay in bed all day.

This week, Tracey Humpreheys, from the BCedAccess Society, came into our class to discuss technology and inclusion in the classroom. This was something I greatly appreciated as I feel this is an area I need to improve my knowledge in. Not in terms of inclusion, I, of course, respect any and everyone, but in terms of actually applying technology to assist students with disabilities. I believe this to be of extreme importance but I feel like we’ve hardly even touched the surface of this topic. In all my classes this semester, we’ve talked much about inclusion in the classroom and its importance but have rarely talked about actually implying inclusive methods/techniques in the classroom. I know in most cases, this is largely the role of a supporting EA, but as stated, this is in most cases. Very often is a teacher left to assist and manage a class of varying accessibility levels all to themselves. For example, in my Link2Practice class, there are three students who speak no English, one student with down syndrome and zero EAs to assist the teacher. This culminates in quite a tricky situation for the teacher as she has to ensure the students with accessibility issues are equipped for the activity at hand while also ensuring the rest of the class is on task. She often tells me that she wishes she could help the students with accessibility issues more, but she simply can’t. Largely due to a lack of resources and a lack of proper training.

For all these reasons and more, I truly appreciate Tracey coming in to speak with us. Although, I believe it is not enough. More effort needs to be put into teaching us actual methods to help students with accessibility issues. If my Link2Practice teacher, who has been in the career for multiple decades, struggles with helping all students, then how will I be able to assist them? If I was asked to teach a class with numerous students with accessibility issues right now, I would struggle to balance this situation greatly. Hopefully, this knowledge comes in a later class, but if not, I plan to take courses outside of school to ensure I’m capable and ready to assist all students. Who knows, maybe I’ll get in touch with BCedAccess Society!

For this week’s class, guest speaker Rich McCue stopped in. Among many things, Rich’s presentation focused on teaching us how to use the screen-capturing software, screencastify. If you don’t already know, screen capturing is when a user permits software, such as screencastify, to internally record the screen of their device. You’ve probably already used something similar to this on your phone in the form of screen recording, which is just another name for screen capturing. If not, I can guarantee you’ve seen screen capturing before even if you haven’t realised it. For example, video influencers often use screen-capturing software so their audience can view their screen just as they do. This can evidently be seen in Streamers and gaming YouTubers content as they have screen record their gameplay to display in their video. These are just a few simple examples, screen recording extends far and wide into numerous genres and content types.

For this reason, I really appreciate Rich coming in to present this software. It’s so multifaceted. You can use it for so many different things. In terms of education, screen capturing is an incredibly effective tool. The most apparent use to me, would be to create your own catered learning content. The internet is full of educational videos that are great to use in the classroom, but none are directed specifically to your classroom. Using screen capture software, one would be able to create their own educational videos that are specifically designed for the class or task at hand. It could even be used to create content for individual students. Say a student was really struggling and asked for extra help. Instead of conventionally explaining the concept to the student, you could create a video breaking down their misunderstandings that they could watch wherever and whenever they feel stuck.

Overall, I really enjoyed learning how to use this software and I will definitely use it in my future endeavours. Please see my video below, where I test out screencastify for the first time. I chose to give a tutorial on how to play geoguessr.

Where do I even begin, my long weekend was perfect. Just absolutely perfect. I cannot believe how great it was. Why? You might ask. Well, let me tell you three words, THE SEATTLE MARINERS!

The Seattle Mariners mean absolutely everything to me. They are my favourite sports team and have been ever since the day I was born. There hasn’t been a year of my life where I haven’t been to Seattle for a Mariners game. Well, in 2020 fans weren’t permitted but I did buy one of those dumb cardboard cutouts you could get of yourself that they would put in the stadium stands. So technically, I was still there, even if it was cardboard me. Still, I wasn’t even one yet, when I went to my first Mariners game and since,  I have been back every single year. It’s like a second home to me. The memories I have at that stadium make it feel like I grew up there. 

Now, if you’re curious as to why the Mariners made this weekend so great, let me give you a quick rundown. This past week the Seattle Mariners made the playoffs for the first time in 21 years. Yes, you read that correctly, 21 years. To think, many of the people in this class weren’t even born 21 years ago. You can now understand why this meant so much to Mariners fans. It was like a brick on our shoulders, but we finally did. Words can’t describe how great of a feeling this was. The drought is over, we did it.

But that’s just what happened during the week, it gets better. In our first playoff series in 21 years we played one of our main rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays. I’m sure many of you love the Blue Jays, but to me, there isn’t a team in the MLB that I hate more. So when I heard we would be playing them this past weekend, I was both excited and fearful. A series win would be pure elation,  but a series loss would be devastating.

Guess what, they did it though. IN A BEST-OF-THREE SERIES THE MARINERS SWEPT THE BLUE JAYS, WINNING THE SERIES TWO GAMES TO NONE. The first game was an absolute pitching gem from our star, Luis Castillo. We won that game 4-0. The second game, on the other hand, was a rollercoaster of emotions. The Mariners started terribly, they honestly looked lost on the field. By the 5thh inning, the score was 8-1 for the Blue Jays. It got so bad that I almost turned the game off, it became too painful to watch. Then the sixth inning came and the mariners scored 4 runs. Then after scoring 0 in the 7th, the Mariners scored another 4 in the 8th. The score was now 9-9 for the blue jays heading into the 9th. It felt like a miracle to watch them come back from such a low point. Then in the 9th they scored one final run to win 10-9 and move on to the quarter-finals. At that moment I felt pure joy, true happiness. What a moment, what a game. 

Oh, and thanksgiving was also this weekend which is always amazing. So to conclude, best weekend ever.

My social media experience, like most people, has had its ups and downs. I first started with social media after I downloaded Instagram in 2014. At the time, I was 11 years old and was completely new to the concept of social media. I had experienced it in brief moments beforehand, through watching family members scroll on Facebook. Besides that, it was completely new to me.

Now, 14 years later, social media has taken over my life. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t mindlessly scroll for hours on various apps. Whether it’s Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit or Tiktok, if I get the opportunity to check these apps, I will. There is no self-control anymore. It’s just something that has become a part of my life. I am addicted to social media and I feel no shame in saying that. To be quite frank, everyone my age is addicted to social media to some extent. It’s crazy to feel that moments are only lived if they are captured through a phone, but this is all I see with people my age. It’s a sad reality that we all deal with and there likely isn’t a solution. We’re just in too deep. Take a moment and try and think of a way we could remove social media from our society. I’ll help you out, we can’t.

That isn’t to say that there is no good in social media. For me, social media has introduced me to so many new friends. It has allowed me to talk with celebrities and famous athletes and it’s given me many opportunities I would not have had if social media did not exist. So there is light within the dark, we just need to find it and heighten it.

This week, Jesse Miller joined the class over zoom to discuss the importance of digital stewardship in the workplace and classroom. I really appreciated this because digital stewardship is something that is overlooked commonly. People often post whatever, whenever, not putting much thought into the digital footprint they may be leaving. The reality is, everything posted on social media is saved somewhere. Once it’s out there, it’s out there for good. If you posted something incriminating or in poor taste it will be on the internet forever for anyone to see.

As future educators, this is something we need to take note of. Technology in the classroom will only become more and more prevalent over our careers. Likely one day we’ll have to teach a lesson on proper social media habits. Meaning it’s very important to begin practicing digital stewardship early in our careers.

One positive digital stewardship practice I use is making my social media accounts private. I find this practice to be effective because it keeps unwanted viewers of my posts out. In my future career, I will keep my accounts private to keep my personal life away from the classroom.

The film, Most Likely to Succeed is a 2015 documentary that explores new practices of teaching which go against traditional educational thought. I was apprehensive when I first saw we were assigned this piece. Often, when movies are assigned in class, they are given simply so the class has something to do, providing little to no actual value in the process. Not to mention they also can be pretty dull and, overall, a waste of everyone’s time. To my surprise, Most Likely to Succeed was the complete opposite. Instead, this documentary was not only highly entertaining but also very thought-provoking. I would recommend it to not only fellow aspiring teachers but to any of my friends as well.

In particular, what I found most interesting about this documentary is the notion that the conventional ways of education are beginning to fail. As it was mentioned near the opening of the doc, the education system that we still use today was established hundreds of years ago in a colonial world. Unlike almost everything else in this world, there has been little to no change to the core education system in this time. Now, having not been adapted to the modern world, its flaws are beginning to show more and more. Flaws that show us that change is needed in our profession. Flaws we cannot keep in this system much longer; we know it can bring more harm than good to the next generation. 

Thankfully, this idea is beginning to spread in our profession, and change is starting to occur. In just the first few weeks of this school year, I have learned that much of what I experienced in elementary school is no longer in practice. It’s made me wonder that if teaching styles from the early-mid 2000s are no longer used today, what will be used in 2050? It’ll be so interesting to see how our profession changes throughout our careers. 

To conclude, as future educators, it will be our job to pave the way for the next era of education. We will be the trailblazers, but we must do it right. We may only have one shot to change things positively. We have got to do everything in our power to ensure this happens.