KWL charts & Metacognition

 

1st Class Ideas

In my Think Book for Language Arts last term, I created this mind map with ideas about the first class of the year:

How do you establish a safe, engaging learning environment?

Flashback to Week 1 of PDPP

Why Education?
During my first week in the PDPP, I created this mind map about why I started the Education program:

The Heart of a Teacher

The Heart of a Teacher by Parker J. Palmer is a poignant piece of writing that I plan on re-reading throughout my career. Since I love quotes, I will share a few that stuck with me:

• "Good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher."
• "The courage to teach is the courage to keep one's heart open in those very moments when the heart is asked to hold more than it is able..."
• "When we lose heart we need an understanding of our condition that will liberate us from that condition."

 

Reflection from September 8th, 2014:

During my journey from home to campus this morning, I saw some familiar faces smiling as they waved at passing cars. They were holding placards with slogans and statistics, some written by hand, and others printed onto corrugated plastic. These "Teachers Taking A Stand" were my high school teachers. These were men and women who have done so much for me: endless support, encouragement, inspiration, reference letters, and more. They taught me about Leadership, Biology, Chemistry, Science, Calculus... and those are just the course titles. They don't even come close to the life lessons and wisdom they bestowed onto me. Their humour, patience, dedication, and passion have helped me to become who I am today. They were standing up for the future of public education in this province. 

With all of that going through my head, I delayed my trip to campus and hopped off the bus to say hello and thank you to some of the most influential educators I've had in my life. They are rockstars of the profession, in my mind. Great educators, like these ones, can turn situations that are not ideal into teachable moments. If you don't like what's going on, how can you work to improve it? As always, they had words of encouragement for me:

• "You'll make a great elementary educator, but I hope you end up back at the high school."
• "Those kids are so lucky to have you."
• "I'm glad that we're not losing a bright, young educator over this."

#EdCampVic

Attending EdCampVic on Saturday, February 28th, was a phenomenal experience. I was able to connect with one of my highschool teachers, an instructor of mine, members of my PLN from Twitter, and some of my classmates.

Note-Taking

I volunteered a note-taker, which works well with my learning style. I loved being able to share my notes with the world using Google docs and Storify! I'm motivated by being able to share what I'm learning. If you were unable to attend the conference in person, you can go to the sessions page and click on any of the headings. Here's the Storify about EdCampVic, too.

Sessions I Attended

• Elementary Science Education (which I happen to have suggested) [notes] [Storify]
• Indigenous Education and Inquiry [notes] [Storify]
• Student-Teachers and Working On-Call [notes] [Storify]

Sign for my suggested topic - look at all those votes!

 Wish List

@SMooreBC showed me her practicum tote. It looks like a great way to keep organized!

@SMooreBC's Practicum Tote

She also showed me her Erin Condren Teacher Planner. I would really like one of those, too!

What a day!

The conversational nature of the day made it feel very natural, and the general consensus was that the day went quite quickly... and that our brains felt quite full! I am looking forward to my next EdCamp experience!

Tech suggestions from #kinderchat/#tiegrad

During #kinderchat on February 23rd, I asked some of the participants from #tiegrad what their favourite tech tool was. Here were their suggestions:

• Kidblog - From an initial look at the website, it seems like a great way to get kids reflecting online. I love the idea of student blogs!
• FreshGrade - One of my colleagues, @TeachInSunshine, wrote this blog post about it. I love the idea of it!
• Explain Everything - I have heard amazing things about this app, and I will get it as soon as I get an iPad!

#edci336chat: tweetiquette & Twitter in Education

Yesterday I moderated a Twitter chat for the first time. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be! I used Hootsuite to schedule the questions. It worked quite well, but I think I will try TweetDeck next time, because a few of the experienced participants suggested it. Here is the storify for the #edci336chat about tweetiquette and Twitter in education.

Expectations & Education

"When you lighten someone's load, you don't allow them to expand." This quote is from Invisibilia's "How to Become Batman" podcast. The main idea behind this episode is that our expectations affect others, and their expectations affect us. As a student-teacher, I took this as a reminder that I need to be cognizant of my own expectations. I need to take stock of my expectations, particularly my expectations for myself and my students.

Jacob and Wilder (2010) highlight the importance of expectations in education: "Expectations have become somewhat less predictive of attainment over the past several decades but expectations remain strong predictors of attainment above and beyond other standard determinants of schooling."

If you're interested in further readings, you can check out this article about how teachers' expectations affect student learning. Finally, here is a video about student expectations that raises some important points in an engaging way: