Five Things I Know For Sure

Hello! 

I'm sad to say that this is my last post for this course but I can assure you that it will not be my last post in the world of blogging! I have grown as a digital citizen and will encourage others to enhance their teaching and learning using technology in the classroom.  The following card are the Five Things I Know For Sure after taking this course and that I will carry with me throughout my future endeavours. Thank you for being a part of my learning and growth and thank you to Helen DeWaard for a great class! 

Final Reflection

Hello!

As the semester comes to an end, I have the opportunity reflect on some of the amazing things that I've learned in this course. It's hard to believe that I started as the most overwhelmed, insecure, and anxious human being in the classroom to this point where I really enjoying the world of blogging (I even started my own wedding website which includes a blog)! I have learned different ways of incorporating technology into the classroom which will be invaluable to my teaching experience! The knowledge that I have learned in this course will help me in all aspects of life as I am now more informed and can create more exciting lesson plans for my students. This class has truly given its students the opportunity to learn in a safe, welcoming and fun environment and I would strongly recommend it to others looking to elevate their teaching methods! In an effort to try and conceptualize this experience, I have created a concept map using Mindomo below. I hope you've enjoyed following my journey and thank you for being apart of my digital growth!

Providing Effective Feedback

Peer Review

Hello! 

Today our class completed a peer review on each others blogs! I was definitely self conscious about the idea of having my peers critique my blog however, my mind went back to our very first day when our teacher said "this class is going to push you out of your comfort zone" and with that thought lingering in the back of my head, I found two students that I had not yet met and opened myself up to the opportunity to learn!

The overall experience was very helpful! My peers provided me with constructive advice about what to include on my blog and at the same time I was able to find inspiration on their blogs. The process provides students with an opportunity to learn from one another and share different ideas to improve their work. To be honest, I think there was more pressure to provide effective feedback than to have my own blog reviewed. Our course website offered many tips for ensuring effective feedback which was helpful for me to use as a guide when going through the blogs.

Not only do I plan to use this activity in the classroom for my students success but I can also see the benefit of doing a peer review as a professional. For example, I may be required to write report cards for my students and I will want to ensure that they are grammatically correct without any spelling errors. I'm glad that I opened myself up to this activity and I now realize the importance of doing a peer review! 

What's your Personal Learning Environment?

Hello!

A PLE is a professional learning environment is a process of identifying big ideas and how to connect the tools and resources you use on a daily basis. Today our class created a model of our own personal learning environments using Mindomo showing the tools and resources that we use for our teaching and learning.

At the beginning of our course we were asked to write our names on a card and include all the digital spaces that we are apart of. I remember feeling as though I did not have nearly enough icons on my card but by the end of class I was overwhelmed with information overload.

I started thinking about how often I rely on the use of technology without even noticing how many different tools I use. Looking back I realize that this activity would have been a thousand times easier had I kept an organized list of tools. A mind map is a great way to categorize tools and resources and have them readily available when you need them.

Although my mind map is relatively small right now, I intend to use this as a working document and add information as I develop in my teaching career. I believe this will be a helpful resource in itself to keep track of my own learning tools. What does your personal learning environment look like and how can you utilize it to improve your teaching?

Tell me about you!

This week we learned how to create a survey using Google Forms and it's benefit in education. Using Google Forms is a way that teachers can receive instant feedback from their students about what they've learned. It is a quick and easy way to determine what students got out of the course and it may also encourage parents to participate depending on the type of survey. I will definitely use this tool in my future courses as a way to evaluate my own teaching and better understand my students learning. To see how easy it can be for students to submit feedback - try my survey below! 

Cyberbullying

My inquiry question was to find out how we can encourage students to stand up to cyberbullying and become ambassadors for positive change. After completing my research, I found that cyberbullying affects everyone and there are numerous ways in which we can encourage students to proactively prevent it from happening. Media Smarts offers multiple strategies to combat cyberbullying as well as helpful tips to incorporate within schools. One of my favourite tips mentioned on this site is creating a mutual online contract for computer use where the student acknowledges what is appropriate behaviour. This also gives me an opportunity as a teacher to set realistic expectations and hold the students accountable when they are not adhered to. I think the site does a great job on addressing the importance of the role of the “witness”. The innocent bystander that may even contribute to the provoking thought process of cyberbullying and it suggests that there are different approaches that can be taken depending on the circumstance. Helping kids recognize that this is not a passive role in cyberbullying and rather, it makes them an active participant in the situation.

As a future educator, I believe that it’s important to discuss the impact of cyberbullying so that we can help set the standard of appropriate online behaviour. Cyberbullying is a difficult issue to address with students because it often happens off the radar and goes undetected. With the increased use of technology, teachers will need to adapt and find ways to tackle this issue using preventative measures that encourage students to become ambassadors for positive change. Helping students address these issues will change the way that cyberbullying is accepted and slowly work towards putting an end to it. I found that while researching the topic of cyberbullying it was also very important to teach kids about their digital citizenship. Understanding the importance of what they put on the internet and how they can protect themselves online.

Now that I know the best way to approach the issue of cyberbullying, I will make sure that it is incorporated into my lessons. Common Sense Media is an excellent resource that provides multiple lesson plans for different age groups as well as related activities and online worksheets. Making clear my expectations for appropriate online behaviour will improve my students learning because they will feel more confident knowing that they are learning in a safe environment where bullying is not tolerated. If we teach students to be proactive against cyberbullying, it will enable teachers to address it right away to create a positive environment for learning!

Create and Reflect

Hello! 

Today I learned how to make a word cloud using ABCya.com and how it can be used to create and reflect my own learning experience. The picture represents words that are meaningful to me as a future educator. This was a very creative tool to use and I am already planning to reuse this tool in another class for a presentation! 

The words that I choose to include relate to teaching and learning from my personal perspective. A few words that really stand out to me as a teacher are knowledge, citizenship, advocate, community, and create. As a teacher, I think it's important to continue learning and building upon our initial knowledge, especially when it comes to digital teaching. Continuous learning is not only for students but for teachers as well and with the continuous change in technology there is an infinite about of new learning! Citizenship has been a topic that I believe is crucial to my character as a teacher. I also want to advocate for the use of digital technology within the classroom and encourage others to see the benefits. Being apart a community about digital teaching and learning is great for sharing ideas and having a support system. I think it's important to have catalysts for your own learning as a teacher - someone who will provoke thought and challenge your perspectives. Lastly, I think that digital technology provides an abundance of creative tools that can be incorporated into the classroom to engage students. It also gives students the opportunity to actively participate in their own learning which will create an exceptional experience.