What have I learned and where am I going ?

Holy Moly, it is hard to believe that this is our last blog post of EDUC 4P19, and let me tell yah I am ready for the break. I’m not sure that all the King’s horses and all the King’s men could put me back together again either! I have come to the point in the semester where I feel as though I am done, (Please excuse the profanity at the end, but other than this cuss word these are my feelings exactly!) spent, and have no more to give. It is a funny feeling because in some ways it is of course extremely stressful, but in so many ways also relieving. Knowing that in two weeks (tomorrow, Friday) I will be able to head home and see my wonderful family, makes this process ever so wonderful. It makes the early mornings and hundreds of words typed worth it. It makes the thought of my bed at home, and watching NHL hockey with my Dad light up my face with joy. But it also causes me to take pause and reflect on my education and what I have learned this term, and specifically what I have learned from this course. What are my KDB’s? What have I taken from this course, and how will I apply them in my teaching practice?  In order to save myself from rambling on I have decided to break this blog up with subheadings ! I have also decided to have some fun with my links, the first two are seemingly pointless youtube videos, but add some spice ! So here we go... 

Community

I started this class sitting at the front every lecture, fully engaged and in-tune with what was going on at the front. But as lessons progressed I found myself surrounded by my friends at the back of the classroom. Whereas of course this led to more off task behaviour I believe that it actually enhanced my learning. Although I was not AS focused it allowed me to gain deeper connections with my classmates and peers around me. It allowed me to establish connections that I hadn't had before. It took learning from a "do" to a "be" in allowing me to become a community member, someone more than just that girl at the front, answering questions but enriched my learning by being around like-minded people ! This gives me good perspective in how to better understand the chatter in my classroom and not automatically dismiss it as off task behaviour ! I think that allowing dialogue may actually promote better learning and foster a better community, and teach leadership in the classroom! This may be where the next big 21st century revelations, solution or resolution stem from and that excites me that I can foster a place that this can happen ! 

Technology 

In my first blog I typed about my disdain for technology and my desire to have students till use pen and paper and have real world connections etc ! At some level afraid of what technology might take away, failing to see what it brought to learning! Although at some level I feel the same way part of my heart has changed to accept the fact that the 21st century has arrived and allowing students to not REPLACE the 'old method' of learning, but ENHANCE it through modern advances may give them an even fuller and enriched educational experience. That although I can believe strongly in these older methodologies working to see how, as suggested, they can better education may come together to create a new model of education which far surpasses one style over the other. The future is here, so let's embrace it !   

As, For, Of

Learning the in's and out's of assignment was one of the things that I will take away from this course most ! This new way of thinking and looking at the ways learners learn gives me hope for the future of education as it allows students to explore and become better thinkers, not just "winners of the game". In the creation of different assessments it allows for the creation of new and exciting assignments. It allows for students to be the leaders in their own learning, allowing them to decide what works for them, and become leaders in their learning, to thus become leaders in their lives. For me assessment was always feared. I would worry, and panic about an upcoming test or paper as I felt that I hadn't had the chance to prove what I know on more than one occasion. This method allows for exactly that, it allows students to showcase not only what they know, but how they know and how they grow and have grown throughout the unit !  

Know, Do, Be

I could go on and on about Know, Do, Be, and how I had one heck of a hard time sorting through it all for the curriculum, but I think to save you the pain of reading about it all I will describe what I think to BE the most important part of this trio! Although all feed into one another, without a doubt I believe that the B is the most important thing that as educators we strive to have our students work towards. Education of course about knowing, and doing but this can be as simple as regurgitating information from the textbook.However "be" suggests that learning and education are transformative. That it can take students from one state of mind or one prescriptive and allow them to grow and be changed for the better. This should always be the goal of an educator, to enrich not only the learning experience but the life of a child, for the rest of their lives. I know for myself that I would much rather a child know that being an active and engaged citizen is more important than arithmetic, or know that 1+1 =2, suggestive that if two is greater than one teamwork is a key piece to success !  If teaching can be structured to transform students into global citizens of the world, then I think that is the best thing that our youth can be ! 

Final thoughts ! 

I thoroughly enjoyed this class, and cannot wait to start implementing some of the things I learned this term.  It's been a wild ride, and I can't wait for the things I have learned to help me in the many challenges I face as a teacher in the 21st century ! 

"To me education is like a butterfly, learning is a process which lends itself to reveal  beauty once it is ready to be shown". - MK. 

I think that this quote further highlights my understanding of the KDB. 

K-the knowledge that a change must take place and that this will require hard work and dedication.
D- the process itself, where sometimes it may seem like nothing is happening but the process continues even when hidden
B- the beauty that comes from something so seemingly mundane. 

Education allows for learners to grow, be shaped and transform into a place where they can soar ! 

To be or not to be....

Well let me start off by saying that I know this blog is going to begin as a bit of venting session, so if you don’t feel like hearing the confessions of a teenage phys-ed major then skip along a paragraph or two. Anyhow this venting stems from a bad mark, poorly worded comments, and a very frustrated student in the 21^st century stuck in 18th century literature trying to understand how the context has anything to do with my life as a whole, or the “big picture”. What caused these feelings, one name; SHAKESPEARE. Yes, that prolific playwright and noble English gentleman was bringing more grief then I had expected. Although I didn’t take the course as a way to find an easy way out, expanding my mind and working hard only to receive poor grades was difficult, and not in a bragging way, but not something I was entirely used too. Generally my hard work has been rewarded, with good grades, faster running times, peoples ability to see and reward my good work. However this wasn’t happening, the limitations of 1500 words, and a genre I was unfamiliar with left me feeling like I wanted to end the scene in this play that was my course.

However as I began to reflect more on what this course meant to me in a greater picture, I began to gain an understanding of high school and elementary school students frustrations. In that this course showed me how frustrating it can be to not understand a subject even though you try hard. That this  is frustration reflects how many students feel a lot of the time. How they feel left behind in a system which keeps pushing forward and fails to look at the student’s needs. (I however acknowledge that this is very different in a University context, but this experience has given me further insights that I may not have had in high school as I very much played the ‘game’ of education, and did well in succeeding in this!)

So after my poor mark, and my day of feeling glum I decided that feeling sorry for myself would not change the problem, that in this moment as a learner I had been taught that there was work to be done, and a problem to be solved the next time I put pen to paper or more accurately fingers to keys. But this ability to get over a poor mark did not come without a lot of coaching and support as well as conversations with my grader and even my professor as to how I can improve. This then brought the question up to me, “what about those kids who are too afraid to ask for help?” And thus, what is my role as a teacher to make them not only engaged in my teaching, but also willing to look for ways to improve and make themselves better. Because, I truly believe as noble and fantastic it is to teach students ‘real world’ problems and solutions, I think it is even more important to fill their tool box with resources, passion and drive to find the solutions to problems, and even search for problems to in turn seek the answers.

But how? If William Shakespeare needs to be taught, then William Shakespeare needs to be taught, however it comes back to how this is taught. How are student needs put at the forefront of learning and teaching? How does changing a lesson plan, or a final project to better reflect the needs and abilities of students while still be challenging and adhering to curriculum, but not causing so much frustration that they want to quit.

The answer quite simple, as I have alluded to in blogs past is to get to know your students, and from this become inovativve and creative in the way you teach, and how you teach it. This is where 21st centruy education comes into play. I wonder what Hamlet's Facebook page would look like? Or what Hermia's journal entry would look like after all the going-ons in the forest ! I think that as a teacher it is our role to take things that are seemingly boring and maybe irrelevant and use these to teach life skills through them. Teaching students bigger picture things, like how not being loved by someone does not mean that we should tell them we will "be their spaniel" or that power structures in these plays can lend themselves to historic learning. I think that we have the power to make things exciting and change the views of those who otherwise despise the subject matter. And take away the sense of hatred for the subject and turn it into a way in which they can take something they see as just nothing. Even sometimes if the lesson that is being taught is simply that with perseverance and dedication you can get through things that seem challenging.

The bottom line being that teaching is more than just about embedding life skills by highlighting how communication is used, or how collaboration is important. That sometimes life skills are going to be what the students take out of the lesson whether or not we intend them or not. That we as teachers sometimes need to realize that what we embed in the lesson may not be what we had intended and if this goes well it is not something that we should lay claim too. We must admit that our students had success without our planned involvement and that learning took place without us, and at the end of the day, THIS IS OKAY! Teachers and educators need to get away from everything being about them, and turn it onto the students. We focus so much on taking the focus away from curriculum and putting it on student needs but there must also be a switch from teacher self-centeredness. That we, like the students are there to learn, to make mistakes, and to gain a deeper understanding of the world around us. Each day is a new day, full of new, exciting and challenging things, and if we can let students explore this without impeding their visions. If we can do this through teaching curriculum with the intent for them to take something out of it we may not have expected, and if we can teach with the mindset that we want to change students’ lives, then WE CAN !

So to be or not to be? How does my experience relate to leading by example, taking ourselves away from the centre of the classroom, and allowing kids to explore. It suggests that even in the darkest moments of education, even when students, or we as educators feel down out and frustrated, there is always ALWAYS something to be learned, gained, and experienced, and it is by harnessing this within ourselves that we can simultaneously allow students to see the importance of seeking solutions even in the problems they do not wish to face. 

karaswrappedandready.blogspot.com

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

Hello Readers, I hope this blog finds you well !
We, Brock University students are nearing the end of our first six week block of school, and man has the time ever flown. I can say that forth year has started with a bang, and I am grateful to be enjoying it. Being invested in academics and athletics certainly helps to speed things along. My time in 4P19 has provided me some deeper insights into the practice of education, and I am excited to allow these lessons to further my love of teaching, and spawn it further ( I realize this has a suggestion of laying eggs for frogs, but I in a weird way intend it to mean the same thing as I hope my own education acts as a fertilizer for me to grow as a teacher). Anyhow...on to the good stuff !
Many of my blogs have spoken to the importance of knowing students, knowing how to present to them, how to engage them and how to put aside personal bias when trying to meet students where they are at. The notion of backward design for instruction is one that strikes a cord with me.

The notion of getting to know our students before we even begin to pull apart and evaluate curriculum and the structure of a unit, to be brutally honest, just makes logical sense. How can you expect a student to learn well if their basic needs are not being met. Maslow was right on when he suggested that in order to get to higher levels of living we first need to have our needs met. But as a teacher sometimes I think we remove ourselves from the notion of physiological needs, deeming that sort of thing to be more of a domestic sphere problem. That although we want to care for our students because it may seem to fit with best practice we don't actually have any power to help these students. This is where our fault lies, not only can simple things be done like bringing healthy snacks into class for all students to share as to not only marginalize those that seemingly "have enough". But it also means being a good role model. I think this is one of the most important things a teacher can do to promote healthy lifestyles and thus exemplify how students can meet their psychological needs. 

Teachers need to practice what the preach, they need to be leaders in their communities, promote healthy eating not only by word of mouth, but by food in mouth ! They need to get away from trying to be cool, and just be, and allow this to have influence on their students. Teachers need to seek to understand how to better help there students learn while ultimately realizing and seeing this as a challenge, but one they are committed and excited to achieve. Once we, as teachers know our students we can then, as the backwards plan suggests work to understand the tasks, and assessments, we can begin to look at how we can integrate our students into greater contexts, understandings and love of their desired fields. We need to get away form the notion (as this theory suggests) of finding ways to fit our students into our lesson, and let our lesson fit our students. Get away from classroom discussion of case studies, and inspire students through real life situations. If it takes Sally 20 minutes to get 10 km on her bike, and Jimmy 30 minutes to get 17km on his bike, who is going faster? Well doesn't it make sense to start engaging our students in physical activity, getting them excited. If it takes each of these people X amount of time to get somewhere, then it's time we start getting somewhere and get our students riding bikes, Integrating physical education into math, and English into fine arts. If we want to develop 21st century skills and we want students to be quick thinkers then we need to move away from stale textbooks and mothball eaten resources, we need to get active, make mistakes, get messy (ride on the magic school bus?). Maybe it's the red hair, or my love of lizards but my last reference to the Magic School bus is one I actually strive to exemplify, Ms. Frizzle's commitment to her students learning is one that should be commended ! Her ability to harness their desire to learn, even when they seemingly didn't want to but turning every experience into a positive one is exceptional. How can we harness this? How can we make our way into the human body, head to the stars for solar system exploration, thanks to technology (even though my own jury is still out on that in terms of validity) and every growing community supports these things are possible. So let's get our students active, in every sense of the word ! 

With all of this being said, growing in a love for learning and helping our students do the same I think there is one thing I want to make note of before wrapping up; an addition to the backwards teaching. Know your students is with out a doubt extremely important, however even before this occurs I think it is crucial to know yourself as a teacher ! What makes you tick? How many pushups can you really do? What is your favourite subject? Are you biased to one particular pen colour? Is there some sort of hidden curriculum that you continue to try and push? At what point did you decide that you wanted to be an educator and why? 

As teacher we need to start to question our motives and make sure that we are teaching for the right reasons. Not to fufill some fantasy of teaching that we lost, or reclaim our role as "cool" in a high school setting. We need to make sure that our own personal issues do not interfere with our teaching, but we need to recognize when they are and therefore ask for help from other teachers, our administration and our support networks at home. We must remember that as educators, we are not an island and we are not absolved of all the hardships of the world, and most importantly we must remember that teaching is not meant to be easy. I have said this many times to myself but I truly believe that when teaching becomes easy, when my lesson plans become so ingrained that I could do them with my eyes closed, this is the time that I need to reevaluate my teaching and admit that I am doing something wrong. Allowing the difficulties in teaching, not to lead to burn out, but to lead to inspiration for new and exciting and magical things for my students. I anxiously await the first day of my teacher career, but I also say this knowing that each day will be the first day, as each day presents a new and exciting avenue of education to explore !

And the light bulb goes off ! *

It's amazing how time flies when your having fun, and how sometimes in this joyousness that surrounds, time seems to stand still, freeze in the moments that we treasure so much. I can vividly remember losing my first tooth, catching bugs on field trips and spending countless hours playing dress-up, house, pet store, and a whole bunch of other imaginary games as a child. I too of course remember my story of schooling, working hard, admittedly 'sucking up' to the teacher in the best way possible, contributing to student council, sports teams and other extra-curricular activities. All of these memories connected with friendship, support from faculty and staff, parents and other professionals along the way. However in this story of schooling, I cant say that I vividly remember curriculum, I'm not entirely sure when I learned that 2+2= 4, or that the more zeros at the end of a cheque meant a bigger pay day. I can tell you though that I can vividly remember, as the textbook makes reference too "BIG IDEAS", the notions of global citizenship, environmental consciousnesses, support for mental health, treating others the way we want to be treated and so on. However as I reflect on these things I also come to realize that I was one of the 'lucky ones', I liked school, and was encouraged to like school. My parents supported me and encouraged me to do well, helped me practice for spelling (which I still cant do very well) but were excited about when I would come home with a new idea for an essay or a project on opossums. And now as I further reflect on how, if my life was spent like the furry creature I just mentioned, upside down, how my education could have been entirely different. And, no my home life was not perfect, there were bumps and hiccups along the way but in many ways immersing myself in school was a way to normalize and find another community and support system with visible and notable successes. But what about these kids who find school anything but what I have suggested above, that begrudgingly go to school everyday, and then trudge the same way home at night ? How as a future teacher can I shape and model the curriculum to compliment their interests while still meeting provincial curriculum standards? How can I find the balance of teaching health education, and preaching the importance of a healthy breakfast to those that come from both sides of the spectrum ? How can I suggest that Pop Tarts are not a great way to start the day when some students would be happy to have any food to curb the hunger they feel that morning?

I think the answer of how you bring the balance to the classroom can be found at the threshold to the classroom itself. As teachers we need to be aware that once we get to the door our slate is blank, although we enter with the curriculum we walk in with no expectations, but allow our students to shape their own learning. We let students, interact, react and encourage each other through the curriculum and allow them to develop their own notion of the big picture, while encouraging them to see every side. Not just our side. That we truly tap into (sorry for those of you reading this who may not fully know what this is, just check out the bottom of this page at the end its a new(ish) and very neat pedagogical practice) assessment as, for and of* learning. We begin to look at every side of the spectrum as an opportunity to encourage the practice of our future, doctors, lawyers, tradespeople, but most importantly we use the curriculum to encourage our future dream seekers and citizens of the world. We reject the notion of strict and prescribed documents that fail to last in the minds of our youth, but switch to teaching Enduring understandings and have students ready to apply there skills in the real world. We do as the textbook further suggests to ask a big picture question and help students apply this knowledge to real life experience. So that when students ask "am I ever actually going to use this in the real world", we as educators can say "YES!" and here is where. 

The notion of know, do and be (knowing the information, applying the information to real life circumstance and then ultimately having this shape who our students are) should not only guide our lesson plans but should also instruct our own pedagogy. Classroom structures, instruction and assessment have been stuck in the factory model way to long ! Let's start a revolution !!

So what's my idea? Where does my heart rest and whats my dream for education? How do I want to impact students. I think that lately a buzz word in the field of education has been 'mental health', there has been a big push for mental health,cyber-bulling (which by the way I am happy to hear that students are learning about how to be noble and appropriate citizens when using the web) and other things that plauge the student mind, but unfortunately I feel sometimes that these things, are just what I said they are, buzz words. I used to think that mental health stigma was just silly, I didn't think that there was any real stigma against it, and that people were far more accepting of it then was being let on. But when I began to think about my own story with mental health struggles, I realized that the person with the biggest stigma against my mental health was me. I was my greatest enemy, and my greatest support for continuing the behaviors that were negatively impacting my life. Even though to others it looked as though, all was well, or I was seemingly better at avenues that I took part in, in my heart and in my head I knew that this wasn't true. This isn't meant to be some sob story about struggles I have had in the past, but it is meant to start to not only bring up the important topic of mental health and what is happening in schools about it, but it is a place where my passion stems from. I believe that the big picture idea that we need to convey, is that our students are loved. I know that word 'love' presents a bit of a problem in the education system, that developing a child to be holistic, using their heads, hearts and hands can be problematic because it seems as though we, the teachers, are trying to instill values and faith in them that they may not share. But at some level I truly believe that this is a good thing. We need our students to know that is okay to be questioning to grow and to learn of others life situations and lifestyles. To know that we, the teacher do not have all the answers and that we, like them, have had struggles too. We need to stop throwing around statistics such as 1 and 4 people suffering from mental health, but we need to let students know that if they are this 1 in 4, that it is OKAY ! We need to realize and implement programming that encourages students to know not only that it is common, but that there lives are worth it, that they are loved and are integral parts of our world. But what does this look like, undeniably there are school programs that are implemented to help with this, but I think the problem lies in the hidden curriculum. What are we teaching students about mental health, body image, self-esteem, self worth through our curriculum. For me body image and self-esteem strikes a cord, and is the subsection of my passion for helping youth with mental health issues. I think that especially as a gym teacher I have an important role in implementing and enforcing HEALTHY BODY SIZE. So what does this look like? It looks like inviting everyone out for teams, it means setting challenges by choice, but not allowing people to set unrealistically high, or low expectations for themselves. It means pushing students to be the best they can be, not sugar coating what this is, but not berating them for not being good enough. As a teacher, and an athlete it is even in my physical appearance that I owe it to my students (particularity my female students) to show how to respect and respond to my body appropriately. This does not mean under or over eating, or exercising but it is about showing that creating healthy and realistic goals for sport and life will help to increase longevity of life, and inspire a love for it. I think that creating an environment where students feel push to succeed without the pressure to succeed in so much that they fail is the type of class that I will strive for. I want students to know that being, sad, down and seemingly out, is okay, but there are ways we can learn to love ourselves through things like depression, eating disorders and other illnesses. I would be remiss if I didn't saw that this is hard, that just positive thinking cannot always inspire or cancel out the negative thoughts that students have about themselves, but if we truly start to look at how we teach, how we assess and how we exemplify our feelings towards life to our students we can maybe truly help students to see the incredible life that is before them. That as hard as it is to believe there IS life after school, and that is not just post-secondary and then professional degrees. There is more than being the jock on the football team, in the pool or on the court, that there is more than student council and book clubs and there is more than breaking that school track record. I believe that once we as teachers begin to teach students how to harness these things, and see school, and achievements as parts of self and not their full definitions then we can truly help them to understand their worth, regardless of all the external stresses and pressures of our world. 

*As for and of learning is a new pedagogical practice which uses the notion of assessment not as a be all end all of student learning. Each (as, for and of) learning imply a different form of assessment. 

Assessment for Learning is intended to be used by students, peers and teachers, to grow from formative assignments and evaluations. 

Assessment as Learning is the notion of just peers and students evaluating their own, and each others work.  

Assessment of Learning is the structure and formal assessment done by the teacher as a summative task.   

Electronics, Exercise & Education

    Firstly, let me welcome you to my blog. It is through this blog that I intend to share with you my thoughts on subject matter(s) that call attention to three of my main passions; education, physical activity and the joy of life. I fundamentally believe that it is not only important to have a passion but I also deeply believe that it is important to share this passion to get others to think about these things that stem your love, and therefore ask questions and hopefully become inspired to find their own avenue of enjoyment !

    Now onto the good stuff. In conversations about technology in the classroom, and looking at and seeing how there have been many new and innovative ways to connect children with other students around the globe, as well as have technology aid in the creation of new and exciting ways of learning, I couldn't help but question whether or not this 'new age' of teaching and this very 'hands on' (via i-pads, computers, cell phones etc) was really something that I believed in. I wasn't sure how I felt of sticking our students in front of screens even if this meant that they could connect with students around the world. Call me old fashion, but the idea of Penpals, using  paper, pens, erasers, stamps and white out makes me excited as the anticipation of hearing from those far away has a greater allure then just clicking a button to start of video call.  Although my own feelings towards this subject are quite direct, I do see value in connecting, and making connections around the world, and in the students own community. However, not only does this technology take away from my own love of writing tools, but it also brings to light a question. How does using all of these screens promote physical activity? How can we claim to be worried about childhood obesity and declining physical activity rates when we are teaching kids how to use computers instead of thrusting them into their community to learn through play, movement and sport? How can we encourage physical literacy if we are too busy using hard drives, not those of which will lead to hard drives to the net in a lay-up in basketball? Is all this technology allowing students to easily upload documents to jump sticks, but falling to teach them to jump rope? 

In honesty I do not have the answers to these questions but I do know they are important ones to be asked, and are extremely important in shaping programs that look at (as mentioned) developing the whole child and recognizing that even though we want to advance our children within the modern, and technological world, we must first think of their health and well being at the forefront. Thus, I firmly believe that we need to make programs that look at including dance, gymnastics, fitness, games and outdoor pursuits, before implementing i-pad play, and MacBook time. Allow students to explore the community, by being in the community around them through movement, and play. Fostering an environment which promotes physical health, also encouraging and supporting students mental health, and emotional intelligence. I truly believe that in order to develop citizens of the world we need to move away fro screen time and into more holistic and activity based lessons, that encourage students to be healthy allowing them to flourish in whatever setting they find themselves in. In such an information age I think overwhelming students with information and technological skills may in fact leave them further behind, and by supporting physical health, and mental wellness we can figuratively and literally give them the stamina to keep up with the ever changing world around them !

As chapter one begins to explore, the notion of student centered learning, and understanding each students individual needs is critical to the creation of inclusive programs for all, even if this means they are drastically different from each other. For this reason I once again come back to the notion of the whole child, and how to reach and teach students from every avenue, once again iterating the importance of physical education. I can see how the argument could then be made that physical education is anything but a great equalizer, as many times it is seemingly exclusive and favours only those who excel in this area. However when this subject, like any other is taught to student and overall class need, as well as ability it can create a greater community closeness by engaging students in inclusive games, dance routines and friendly competition. Teaching students games that incorporate life skills, and other curriculum. (For example teaching communication through game tactics, or math skills to figure out the number of reps in a fitness class) In this way I strongly believe that physical education provides the dynamic, nurturing and inclusive environment which is sometimes lost in the static, mono-tone teachings that occur in the classroom.