Final Reflection: Video

 

TEACHING IS FUN!

Hearing from Dean Shareski this week was... refreshing.   I use the word refreshing because he reminded me of the opportunities we have as teachers to have fun in the classroom.  In the rush of life as it is, we tend to forget how to have fun and enjoy ourselves and our everyday jobs.  In terms of teaching as a job, we can incorporated games, technology, and communication exercises to make the classroom environment more enjoyable.

This entire presentation made me think of my first placement at Carberry Collegiate.  I was able to work through my placement with two cooperating teachers.  One, who was involved in ensuring students understood classroom concepts by checking in consistently throughout class and through thorough homework checks.  The other, relied solely on homework and testing material to assess whether students understood the concepts or not.  I did however, enjoy observing both teachers as they represented two separate identities to teaching.

I'm the last one who wants students to dread attending my classes.  If there is a way I can keep students engaged and wanting to come to school, then I will do my best to keep the classroom environment fun and entertaining.  

After searching around for a video on YouTube, I came across the video below that explains how to play "Hot Seat" in the classroom.  It may or may not be curricular, but not everything needs to hit a specific-learning-outcome, as mentioned by Dean.  

Web-based Courses

Covid-19 is to blame for a variety of changes we have seen in our daily routines.  Careers, mental health and financial budgets have all be affected by the ongoing pandemic, as we slowly reach the 1-year anniversary of the original "shut-down".  Although WBCs (web-based courses) existed prior to Covid-19, they have become a necessity in current times.  

Our #I4Ed class was fortunate enough to hear from Chris Fredrickson and Shannon Magee, both involved in Manitoba Education's web-based courses and distance learning program.  

From the Government of Manitoba website, Manitoba education supports WBC development and delivery in a number of ways: 

management of web-based course development

provision of a provincial Learning Management System (LMS) licence and maintenance of a course server 

provision of access to the LMS for teachers for course delivery and development 

management of requests for access to web-based courses 

training in use of the LMS and online pedagogy for online teachers 

support for existing teacher users of the LMS

In terms of the presentation put forth by Chris and Shannon, the most notable information I took out of it was the teacher-facilitated versus student-facilitated learning.  The comparison between the two made me think back to when I was in high school.  The path my thoughts took me down, was familiar in the fact that I realized how much it has changed since I graduated high school - which is only six years ago.  I immediatley thought back to my first placement in Carberry, where my C.T. used an app/program called Remind.  I had never seen anything like it when I was in high school, where students are sent reminders for due dates or assignments on a consistent basis.  It also provides a platform for students to ask questions and chat with the teacher in a professional manner.  

Another point Chris and Shannon made, was related to teacher-facilitated learning.  In high school, there was no such thing as iPads or an "iPad cart".  We strictly relied on the availability of the computer labs within our high school.  As I go back to student-teach in high schools, I see the amount of technology available for students to learn, and in all honesty, it blows my mind.  Maybe if the technology available today was accessible 6+ years ago, my grades would have been a little better!

 

10 Minute Teacher Podcast: Review (TT#7)

Vicki Davis and her 10 Minute Teacher Podcast series offer a wide range of teaching tips, including tips on maintaining your mental well-being, creating shortened lesson plans, building trust between principals and teachers, and so much more.  The series has reached over 700 episodes in total over 9 seasons.

In order to figure out more about the podcast series, I relied on everyones favourite search engine, Google!  Interestingly enough, I uncovered The CoolCatTeacher Blog by Vicki Davis where you can access each podcast if you can't do so any other way.  

In terms of reviewing the podcast series, it offers in-depth tips of anything and everything surrounding teaching.  For example, in order to review the series, I listened to the following handful of podcasts:

How to Overcome Your Self Limiting Beliefs

The 5 Minute Lesson Plan with Ross McGill

5 Ways to Build Trust Between Principals and Teachers

5 Tips to Help Busy Teachers Stay Healthy

My Thoughts on the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast:

  

This podcast series offers a resource like none other.  As teachers, we are - or will be - continuously on-the-go, trying to keep up with course material, classroom management, etc.  We are able to take this podcast series, turn it on in our car, and listen to a couple of episodes each time we need to drive 10+ minutes somewhere.  If a teacher is looking for a positive boost to their day, it takes 10 minutes to listen to this empowering podcast series instead of the drawn-out 1-2 hour podcasts.  I would suggest this podcast series to any of my colleagues looking for short PD sessions.  In terms of using the podcast and reflecting on a certain episode you may have enjoyed, Vicki's blog also offers a fillable Google Docs form where you can go through and focus on important takeaways, how you applied them in the classroom, something you shared with others, and any questions you have about what you took away from the podcast.

In terms of a useful tool that checks off all of the boxes, this is a go-to for quick and easy professional development for teachers.

Using PivotalWeather.com in the Classroom (TT#5)

 

A little about me! (TT#11)

 

Infographics to the Rescue! (TT#9)

"Math is soooo boring." "Why do we have to know this stuff?" "I'm never going to use this stuff again." 

If you've never heard the above statements, have you even been in a math classroom?  Math, to some, can be the most challenging, dry subject they take while working through K-12.  Math as a whole, poses different abstract ideas, formulas, and calculations some students just don't understand.  Our job as teachers is to change the attitude towards math into a positive one by, making it "fun" for students.

You may ask, how can we improve the life for students in our math classrooms? 

INFOGRAPHICS! 

(Well, sort of...)

(Retrieved from Pinterest)

An infographic looks to "inform" its audience in an attractive poster-style medium.  Using bright colours, headings, sub-sections, and little to no words tends to be the main characteristics of a math-centred infographic.  What I've noticed after taking a look at a variety of math infographics, is the use relevant images students will come across in tests and assignments.  I've also recognized the ability an infographic has in breaking down certain ideas and organizing them into a step-by-step visual process.  In this sense, infographics serve an important role in the classroom.  When students are busy working away and they decide to look away from what's in front of them, as teachers, we might as well have mathematical aids around the classroom to help in any situation.  If students have taken notes on how to solve the volume of a cylinder but they just can't make sense of what they've written, they can go to the "Volume" infographic found to the right!  Aside from helping students, infographics bring life to the classroom and can fill wall space with useful, relevant information.

As a part of this blog post, we were asked to create our own infographic in relation to our teachable subjects.  I chose to create an infographic that concentrated on finding missing sides of a triangle when only given one other side and 2 angles.  This was my first ever attempt at an infographic so I hope you enjoy it or find use with it.