My first PD - Project Wild

On October 22nd I attended the Project Wild professional development at Brock University's Hamilton campus. I was provided with fantastic information and resources on how to effectively teach and link the environment to Ontario's curriculum objectives (including cross-curricular) across all grade levels. We had a series of energizers to break the ice involving meet and greets, and fun facts. The session leaders were effective in their instruction illustrating how to effectively teach about the environment even if you are at an inner city school. What I took away from this is you do not need to go out into the mountains, or the Niagara escarpment to have an effective lesson. Moreover, I was amazed at how many different ways you can teach cross-curricularly when you incorporate the environment.

Our afternoon was devoted into breaking off into teams with whom we collaboratively created a lesson plan to teach the rest of the session attendees. My group taught "Quick Frozen Critters" to our class which was a great deal of fun, running around, and laughing. It was great to see 5 different lesson plans completed during the afternoon, as it really demonstrated the effectiveness and ease of combining the environment to our daily lesson activities.

We are so fortunate with the environment and landscape we have in Canada, and I feel it is incredibly important for us to share this with our students, and teach them to respect and appreciate it. This being my first PD I have attended as a teacher candidate, I feel it was a very worthwhile experience; and have come away from it with many new ideas, lesson plans, resources, and teaching strategies. The only negative I found about this PD was its location being at the Brock University campus in Hamilton. I strongly think this PD would be best facilitated at a conservation area, in the natural forests, mountains, lake; any natural outdoor habitat where we could discuss the changing environment due to human presence as well as gain a greater appreciation for its beauty.

I have attached a group photo of my colleagues and I from Cohort D at Brock University with one of the PD's facilitators Linda.

The first days of school

Walking into my grade 4 classroom on the first day was filled with many emotions - excitement, nervousness, adrenaline, anxiety, curiousness, and a little feeling of wonder if I've made the right decision to be here. Well it only took a few minutes for all that to fade away and turn into pure excitement, enthusiasm, and intrigue! As the kids piled into the classroom, took their seats, and opened their books, there were a few curious stares in my direction. Once class began, my associate instructor introduced me to the class, which was followed by the whole class saying good morning Mr. Iles! Wow, what a feeling that was - almost gave me goosebumps!

As that day and the following days rolled over, I found I was constantly amazed by the classroom dynamics, the daily setup and routine, watching lesson plans unfold, and the interaction amongst the students and the teacher. The students were quick to welcome me into the classroom, and share their stories with me. In no time I was helping them with their assignments, correcting work, and working with certain students who were a bit behind in some subjects.

What I found particularly interesting to watch was how the students responded differently with the French teacher who comes in once a week, as well as one afternoon my associate teacher was away and was replaced by a supply teacher. The students were very quick to point out when their normal routine was not being followed, and were definitely more "cheeky". What I learned from this is going forward when I am teaching this class I need to follow the routine my associate teacher has put in place. Moreover, in the future when I graduate I am not in denial that I more than likely will have to spend my share of time as a supply teacher; and it would be a great advantage to learn what classroom I would be entering and the routines that teacher has put in place. With that said I have also had the opportunity to exert my "teacher's voice" a few times now when the children have gotten a little loud or off-topic when my associate teacher has left the classroom, and I must confess it's a great feeling seeing the children respond well and get back on track. 

One of the most eye-opening experiences I have had thus far has been the opportunity to work with an autistic child in a grade 2 art class my associate teacher covers once a week. I have not had an opportunity such as this before, so honestly I felt quite lost and overwhelmed by how I should interact. Fortunately this child has a special education assistant who has been absolutely amazing in teaching me a few things, and introducing me to this lovely child. After only a few sessions in this classroom I am still incredibly intrigued and at a loss for words on our interactions, however I have a new desire and yearn to learn more about how we can help and integrate these children into the classroom.

Another eye-opening experience has been working with a few children who have IEPs in our classroom. My associate teacher let me glance through the IEPs which was quite an educational experience. I was quite saddened by it because some of these children are so lovely, but are well below their grade level. I find it quite heart-breaking when working on a simple concept which should have been mastered a few years earlier, and there is no visible "light" on behind the eyes for the comprehension of it. It is not as though they get the wrong answer because of misapplication, but because they genuinely do not grasp the idea or concept as a whole. I fully support and appreciate the move for inclusion in the classroom, but cannot help but think and feel a few of these children would gain so much more in a specialized setting - even if it was only an hour a day. I am sure my feelings on this will sway back and forth over the following months. 

Tomorrow will be the first micro-teaching lesson I will be teaching in the classroom, which will be another stride forward in my new career. I'm also very excited because I get to accompany my class on a field trip next week - now that should be interesting!

Can we all be 21st century teachers?

During these past few weeks I have been quite taken in by the benefits and capabilities some technologies possess, and seeing them as keys to unlocking some traditional teaching barriers. Not only used as keys, but also as a way to teach and present new information in a radically new and 21st century manner. It is easy to marvel at the advances in technology, but what I am more impressed by is its adaptation and usefulness in the modern day classroom. Today is a far cry from when I was in school, and I am very curious to start my first placement on Thursday to see first-hand how it has changed.

This past week I along with my Cohort classmates were SMART Board certified. We have also been learning about Livescribe, Clickers, Frontrow, Notebook for creating SMART presentations, video cameras, iPod touch's and iPads. I feel this has been an incredible learning experience and value to us. We have all been caught up with these technologies, trying to think of how we are going to incorporate these into our very own classrooms one day.

But alas arises my concerns. I am not concerned about using technology in the classroom, nor am I concerned about trying to be creative in adapting it to make the learning experience more enjoyable and thorough. No, what I am concerned about is getting out into the teaching world, and discovering that very few classrooms are actually modern. That is not to say that I would not be able to teach in that environment, however what if I was thinking of this fantastic lesson plan that involved all these wonderful technologies I have been learning about - but I cannot use them because my school board cannot afford them. Furthermore, what if I am in a school where the students are from a low income bracket where they cannot afford to have a computer at home, or access to the internet? What if that family's choice was not what new app to get, but can we afford to eat a healthy meal 7 days a week?

This raises another question - does technology benefit or isolate kids? What if I am teaching a class where half the kids all have their fancy shiny iPhone's and laptops; and the other half have the old brick Fido circa 2000 and do not have a home computer? Does that student who cannot afford to have a home computer resent me and think I'm a jerk for showing off all these technologies when I know his family cannot afford them? Clearly you design your lesson plans to accommodate this just as you would for any other learning style, but it does create some concerns. I think what is becoming increasingly clear to me is that I need to embrace all these amazing technologies and techniques I am learning about, but it should never be forgotten that the primary resource we have to teach is ourselves. Our passion to teach; our enthusiasm for acquiring knowledge; and our desire to see our students learn and succeed (among other goals) is what we will always rely upon to be great teachers. 

As I continue along my journey towards becoming a 21st century teacher, I look forward to seeing how I will navigate through these concerns. 

What a difference a week can make!

Over the summer I found out I was admitted to the EdTech Cohort here at Brock University's Education Department, and we were given two tasks for the summer: create a Twitter and a Blog account. Throughout the summer I saw this as a bit of an annoyance truthfully because I had never looked at Twitter before, or followed Blog's. I was aware of them, but admittedly did not really understand what all the fuss was about. I have always been keen to follow technology and its advances, however I saw Blogs as an outlet for someone to go on a random tangent, and Twitter as an extension of Facebook status updates of "I drank tea today and walked the dog".

Now rather annoyingly I am eating my own words over these misconceptions. I now have Tweet Deck installed which is a constant fixture on my laptop, and am amazed how excited I am whenever I hear that little sound effect go off indicating a new tweet! But what I am even more amazed at is how much incredible information, literature, resources, and fantastic ideas I am now privy to. There is no way I would have found on my own some of these great sites, articles, blogs, and other fellow educators tweeting and blogging. Now I understand the true value Twitter and Blogs hold, and that is an accessible network of educators sharing and collaborating their amazing depth of knowledge and experience with one another. I think it's fantastic! In only a week I am now following - and being followed by!!; other educators I have never met, in other parts of the country and continent. (Just yesterday another educator referenced a Tweet of mine about the new LeapPad in his blog!) As a teacher in training I find it so inspiring to see such a wonderful network of teachers, all of whom are so readily available and willing to share and collaborate their great ideas. This selflessness is so refreshing after so many years of having it drilled into us on individual performance and merit.

I am reminded of when I use to teach and coach snowboarding. Those first few lessons, and years for that matter - were difficult and nerve wracking! This was attributable to having little experience, knowledge and application, understanding of games, as well as learning styles. However, as the years went on (I taught for 7 seasons) I gained so much experience - which you do not credit yourself with or realize until other instructors start looking to you for tips, tricks, and ideas. Without being fully aware of it, over those years I had been learning from my mistakes, watching other instructors and their techniques carefully so as to apply in my own lessons, spent time on sessions learning from more experienced coaches, and through sheer volume of hours spent teaching and watching so many unique individuals learn, try, fail, and succeed; was I able to compile my own bank of experience and knowledge that I was looked upon to lead sessions to help other instructors and coaches. What this speaks to me is the message and buzzwords I have been hearing for the past week - if teachers are to succeed then we must collaborate - is 100% true!

My point is that if we are able to do and achieve greater things, goals, and ultimately greater success in the classroom for students through collaboration - then whatever tools we can use to make that a reality we must fully embrace and exploit. And in today's world - those tools include Twitter and Blogging! I am now thankful that I did not miss out any longer on being privy to such a valuable network of people and knowledge, and am curious and excited about what the next bit of new and inspiring information I read about will be.

And so it begins!

The first two days of University have come and gone, and what a blast they were! I am very excited about what this program offers, and loving the buzz in the atmosphere in my EdTech Cohort group. I am particularly excited about the technology we will have a chance to use in the classroom, and learning new and creative ways in adapting and unlocking its educational and teaching merits.

From observing how to read a children's book along with the idea of "Think a loud" accompaniment; learning how to adapt the circle chair game to meet new people; to decorating our EdTech Cohort Rocks! "Rocks" - it was all a blast. It was terrific watching how excited everyone was being creative in decorating our rocks, and I loved how it helped unlock the child in us all!

Finishing off the second day we had an assembly with the most animated guest speaker. She was dressed as Mother Goose, and had everyone's sides splitting with laughter. We even all got to sing-along, and I was fortunate enough to have one of the hidden instruments under my seat to play along with! It was fantastic! It really helped reinforce the importance of having fun, and allowing  yourself to drop the seriousness for a moment, and be a kid again. Time and time again it is shown that if you see other people smiling and having fun that it is contagious - and we as future teachers need to lead by example in this regard. I thought it was terrific!

What a fantastic first two days - cannot wait to see what the next week has in store for us all.

Just getting started!

This will be my blogspot to highlight my digital portfolio for Brock University during my studies in the Educational department in the Tech Cohort! Classes and projects commence September 1st, so more to come soon...