Community of Learning — An overview of teaching and learning through social interaction!

In this section of the assignment, you will be responsible for reflecting on your growth as a professional as a member of your PLN, the growth of your PLN, and the ways in which you’ve contributed to the learning community. This should include specific details, such as links to responses to others’ blog posts, feedback to presenters/students/instructors on Twitter or other online spaces, or meaningful face to face discussions of student writing in staff groups. It should also include a reflection (6-8 paragraphs) on how your contributions have enabled the collective construction of knowledge in this class and outside of it in the broader learning community.

In reviewing this assignment I wasn’t really sure where to start. I looked back at my previous blogs from ECS 300, as Sam Kitzul had mentioned we were made to blog during that class. In doing so, I found the following: I didn’t take much time to inquire into my blog space, I did it because we needed to do it for an assignment, not because I legitimately enjoyed it, or felt it was helpful. While reviewing my blog I realized that I have come a long way in my perspective, my “teachers voice”, my opinions and overall what I deemed a “good teacher” to be. As educators all we here is “reflect, “reflect, reflect” so here we go.

It’s kind of strange really. I love social media, twitter, instagram the whole deal; but when it came to working on “education related” social media, I found myself really forcing to get a blog done, or a tweet out. However, this is not the case as much this year. Tweeting has become something that I enjoy doing while in lecture, as well as reading through others tweets because I think it is another form of collaboration as well as growth.In looking through the tweets with the #ECS210 hashtag, I am one of the top tweeters because I genuinely am enjoying posing questions, or communicating with other teachers/professors/peers.

I feel like tweeting throughout ECS 210 has really validated my stand on what I deem important in education, and in my classroom. My own personal teaching philosophy is ever adapting and something I feel very strongly about. Twitter gives me an outlet to gain new resources while maintaining my own views. As I stepped forth into the realm of technology (in an educational sense) my overall views of technology began to shift, specifically about the incorporation inside of the classroom.
I have learned a ton of benefits to the use of technology within my classroom.

The possibilities are truly endless: virtual assignments, instructional videos, electronic hand in, collaborating with other schools across the world. You name it! Our community, and networking can grow so exponentially due to the use of technology while still maintaing an educational standpoint. Throughout the semester I feel my community of peers has grown, and my ability to network has substantially gotten better. A lot of our group discussion has been around what Sam Kitzul mentions in here blog as “the handout”, because of how power this handout seemingly is. Financial literacy is something I feel should be put into our school system, as a mandatory subject to take. Sam makes great note of this inside her paper. Financial literacy is something that I deem very important as the world is run on money, and financial prosperity. https://kitzul4s.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/financial-literacy-1.pdf

Diving deeper into conversations with peers and the idea of tweeting. Technology has also allowed me to meet other students. Through tweets below, I have gotten to know other teachers, as well as further affirm my relationship with other peers. I believe this tweet from Payden shows exactly where tweeting can be helpful. Something as opinionative as what he discusses can be picked up instantly and linked quickly to another persons thoughts while maintaining on task while in class or lecture.

@KayleyMurdoch @Tbrights14 Education's dependency on numbers (grades, students) is a large reason why students are "pushed out" #ecs210

— Payden Fraser (@PaydenFraser) October 21, 2014

In conclusion I think there are many different aspects to the use of technology, as teachers we must begin to adapt to what our students are using outside our classrooms. Students also need to be taught the risks of technology, thus something we as educators can teach them. Below are other tweets that I have found contributed to my teaching philosophy and pedagogy. My growth has become exponential due to the tweeting process. Check these out below!

"Identity Narratives: Inspiring Students to Take Control of Their Own Stories" http://t.co/pSCR3zsDDC #ecs210 #useful

— Chris Brennan (@ChrisBrennan03) October 6, 2014

Getting over the idea that teacher know students's stories and what they need. Arrogance gets you no where… #ecs210 @UrbanGrant

— Taylor (@hardy22t) October 21, 2014

Creating a comfortable community in the classroom can make curriculum-as-lived come alive. #ecs210

— Payden Fraser (@PaydenFraser) October 21, 2014

@KayleyMurdoch @Tbrights14 Education's dependency on numbers (grades, students) is a large reason why students are "pushed out" #ecs210

— Payden Fraser (@PaydenFraser) October 21, 2014

Common Sense Response

How does Kumashiro define ‘commonsense’. Why is it so important to pay attention to the ‘common sense’?

Kumashiro defines “common sense” in a very perplexing way. The way I understood, he defines “common sense” as a traditional societal pre-conceived notions of the way society, education and life work. Kumashiro works the idea of common sense as, “[it] does not tell us that this is what schools could be doing; it tells us that this and only this is what schools should be doing” (Kumashiro, xxxiv, 2009). Common sense is viewed as hurting peoples way of seeing things through their own perception. This quote pertains to how Kumashiro views common sense and what it is to question things we have been told.
Common sense is based on tradition, religion, nature, nurture, life, family, experiences and all things whole in our life, hence why it is so difficult to see past or to get rid of.

I believe it is so important to dive into and pay attention to common sense because it shapes how we see the world in front of us. We must pay attention to common sense because it is in our every day, the way we teach, the way we learn, listen, talk to one another. In our students it can come as way of helping or hurting their learning, as well as the others around them. However I do feel as if common sense can be beneficial in ways to contribute to learning as well. It can be used to assess where your learners are and understand where they may need to helped, or filled in. Common sense is all around us, how can it help us?

LAST WEEK OF TEACHING: How quickly it went!

For our last week in the school Brooklynn and I taught together again to teach a revised lesson we had already taught on Career, this time to a different class. If you have been following the blog of Tanner Brightman you know this past lesson didn’t go so well. 

This lesson went far better than our previous attempt at it because we had revised it. In doing so we changed some of the questions around we had asked previously and gave the students a little more background on what sort of things these questions were relating too. That being done helped the students a lot. I felt like this went well and Brooklynn and I were able to move group to group to talk with each one of them about their questions.

What didn’t go so well was the fact that our Grade 7 class had very little background knowledge on some of the questions we were asking them and had some pre conceived stereotypes acquired so some of the social justice issues we were talking about they didn’t believe happened, actually do. Brooklynn did a super good job of addressing the issues that these students brought up in our group discussion.

I think having us do a week of social justice lessons with a class like that would benefit them a ton. The majority of these students were blind to ideas of whiteness, or white privilege so with us bringing up these ideas, the students rejected the idea of it at first and then allowed themselves to open up to the possibility of the ideas we were talking about. This was huge as the students began to understand just why we were bringing them up.

Our last week of teaching was great, look forward to my next blog on the wrap up of this ECS300 in school internship!

Tanner Brightman Teaching Philosophy

Tanner Brightman: Teaching Philosophy Statement

Education is exactly what youth need to find answers, solve problems and better understand life. I as a teacher hope to assist in the development of knowledge of students.

Being a teacher, I wish for students to not only question what they see or read, but what they hear as well. My classroom is open for discussion and I will be the judge of when discussion crosses the line, though if set up properly it should never get to that point.  I want my students engaging with one another with the level of comfort they feel outside of the classroom. I firmly believe that teaching can be done anywhere and should not be constrained to the four walls of the standard “classroom”. The outdoors is as much a space as it is a learning tool and is often taken for granted by most. The outdoors can be used with many subjects and the possibilities are endless when talking about cross-curricular competencies.

 

I bring many things to my teaching that not many other teachers have. I am willing to put in extra time with teams, clubs, productions and other school related tasks that go beyond the standard school day. Whether I am coaching or teaching I believe in whole part theory. Introducing the whole of an idea and later letting students go through a wobble stage until they need assistance, which then begins the breakdown of my teaching. We learn just as much, if not more from our mistakes then as we do from our successes.

 

Debate can often allow opinions to be heard and social studies as a course is one of the easiest debated topics possible. History as a whole is constantly debated on regards to choices made and consequences that follow and teaching social in a form of debate will allow students to consider their own views on these choices and consequences.

 

Throughout my life I have been fortunate enough to have exceptional role models and people who I will cherish and reflect on forever. I as a teacher hope to do this for students with a “open door policy”, and establish meaningful relationships with each of my students. I will look to make students in charge of their marks weighting as I believe in fair choice in relation to personal strength. One student may wish to have their essay valued at 25% of their final grade while another will allocate 30% of their YouTube presentation towards the final grade.

 

Finally, I look to encourage the ideas of teamwork and support from peer to peer and teacher to student. Thought I strongly love social and physical activity I do not believe “jocks” and memorizing masters make up the whole of education. We as teachers must force our students to inquire deeper then the surface that most textbooks offer. Students must teach students, and teachers must learn from students, this holistic approach will make our education approach stronger and stronger.

 

Below are articles that represent my teaching philosophy:

This represents the importance of questioning, something I hold very close to my teaching philosophy. 

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/03/why-its-imperative-to-teach-students-how-to-question-as-the-ultimate-survival-skill/

I think this next article, although written by a basketball coach can be applied to the classroom with the ability to lead and be a role model, taking players and changing them into students fits this article and someone I see as a role model and a great teacher. 

http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2013/06/phil_jacksons_11_principles_of.html

Lastly I think a huge part of my teaching is the regards to social justice and how teaching should affect students beyond the classroom

Click to access Intro.pdf

Revised Lesson Plan: Career

Link to Revised Lesson Plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ilk8FhjbF3Jf-vWpt0yS2mWKW4o03GLZQDOs1Y0JEUY/edit

Link to Blog of  Lesson Reflection: https://tannerbrightman.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/reflection-career-ed/

Different Questions:

1. Background: Dating back to birth of early Canada, Indigenous peoples have been manipulated and taken advantage of, as well as discriminated against. Today, Canada has come along way since those times, however there is still discrimination in today’s Canada.

Situation: An indigenous person loses their job because the boss finds out about their Indigenous ancestry, the skin color of this Indigenous person is white, however they have indigenous ancestry.

Question: What is this saying about stereotypes? Should laws but put in place to fight against this? If so, what sort of laws would be created?

 

2. Background: Currently minimum wage in Saskatchewan is 10 dollars, and is going up to $10.20 soon.  However other countries, specifically countries with less development are paid next to nothing. Often times these workers work in countries and are paid 30 cents per day.

Situation: A worker makes 30 cents per day working in a “third world country” to make clothes that you buy here in Saskatchewan for $30 dollars.

Question: If you believe this to be wrong, how can it be improved?

If you believe this to be acceptable, please explain why.

 

 

3. Background: Often times promotions within businesses are given to employees who have worked at the business longest, and contributed to the success of the business. However, this is not always the case and sometimes employees are given promotions before others who feel they deserve it more.

Situation: You get a promotion before an employee who has been at the company longer than you have. You feel you deserve this because you have worked hard, but the other employee feels that he/she feels they should have been promoted before you. They begin to call you names, are rude to you at every chance they get and go out of their way to make your day miserable.

Question: How will you handle this situation? What will be your plan of action? List steps in order

 

4. Background: During group assignments/projects certain times only part of the group does the work or assignment. This becomes annoying as the whole group gets marked for the work that only part of the group has done.

Situation: You are in a group to work on a project worth 20% percent of your final mark, the project is a large project and you have a week to complete it. Your group refuses to contribute to the project and help you. You fear you cannot do all on your own and do not want to get a bad mark.

Question: What are some potential solutions that you and your group could come to in order to make sure the work gets done, and you get a good mark.

 

Reflection: ELA Transitions

This week Brooklynn and I were on our own teaching. Brooklynn took on a Phys Ed lesson and I took on an English Transitions between sentences, and essay structure. 

My lesson started first thing in the morning and I was partially nervous to be teaching on my own for the first time. However I felt the lesson went super well. We were back teaching in our original teachers class and the students were super well behaved and attentive through the whole class. This class was awesome and I had a lot of fun teaching it. We started with some ELA aerobics to get the class moving around, then went into the different types of Transitions. We followed the I do, We do, You do model and finished the lesson with a short transition assignment for the students. 

What went well: The students were all very attentive and actively participated in the lesson which was awesome. Students were all able to finish their lessons and things went well as the students seemed to enjoy English!

What didn’t go well: My lesson ran a little short so it left some time with silent reading at the end of class. This was okay, however I wish I had a plan B to go to instead of silent reading. That would be the adaptation I would add to my lesson.

What I would change: I would add some more group examples to do together at the end. Instead of linking a sentence I would attempt to transition a paragraph to a paragraph.

 

Reflection: Career Ed

Getting caught up on reflections here.

Brooklynn and I team taught a lesson on Career Education and day -to- day problem solving. We had came up with some questions that students would face later in life. “Co worker gets a promotion before you, even though you have worked their longer, what do you do?” Questions of this nature.  We had students go through our 4 questions in groups and try to come up with the best possible solution. 

We taught this lesson in a different classroom and were warned of the potential for students acting out. This happened

Students acted out against our lesson, were loud, using racial slurs and other not proper classroom language. We tried to bring the class back multiple times but to no avail. Our cooperating teacher finally had to step in to end the lesson because our class had gotten out of hand. Our lesson didn’t finish, however we were able to see how a teacher comes down on their students to earn back respect. This was helpful for long term teaching.

 

What went well: One group worked super hard and gave us awesome answers, it showed they understood our assignment and took the issues at hand very serious. They apologized for the classes behaviour.

 

What went poorly: Obviously the outbreak of students going against our lesson was less than idea. Students were heard purposely trying to give inappropriate answers. The in ability to get the class back on track made it difficult to get any real lesson done. 

What I would change for next time: I would make our questions more clear, some students didn’t have enough background on the questions thus making them difficult to understand. Also if we had known the students better we would be able to formulate groups that would likely help prevent potential outbreaks. 

 

 

Week 4: No Lesson Time

Oratory Contest took place this week. There were some great speeches, however it took up the morning and we were unable to teach our lesson. We will be doubling up on lessons next week!

Students were super attentive during the speeches however which was nice to see peer respect from fellow students. Being in the gym reminded me of elementary school and all the thoughts running through my head at that age about high school, life, girlfriends!

Long one for next week!

Response to Bullying

In your field placement, what do you perceive to be the major issues around bullying and cyberbullying?

In the classroom I am in there aren’t many students who I feel are “bullied” so much as students are left out, or very grouped. However some students step up and make efforts to include others, while others a repulsed at the idea of being a group with “him” or “her”. We have many different types of learners in our classroom thus making grouping of students more difficult. One group of girls refuses to be adapted into our groups of situations in the classroom, our teacher does a great job of monitoring this and putting these girls in different groups and in their place when they act out against the classroom rules.

What steps has the school/teacher taken the prevent these issues? How will you prevent them in your own classroom?

Our teacher in my opinion, does a great job of assuring students understand what is acceptable language in the classroom as well as what is appropriate and what is not. Students in the classroom are held to these rules and our teacher makes sure to act quickly when something not proper is said. 

I think setting up a proactive way of bullying defence is the best way to detour bullying from happening, students need to know what is acceptable and how one should talk to another, regardless of race, gender, religion etc. Students will not be tolerated for those who act against others in a disrespectful way. 

Week 3 — The not so Outdoor Ed

This was our third week in the classroom and Brookylnn and I had planned to take our class outside and do some team building dynamics using some outdoor ed activities. We felt as if our class was very “grouped” and not very open with one another so we felt this would be a good opportunity for us to try and get our class bonded together. Brooklynn being the outdoor ed minor has a great passion for being outside and we both looked forward to this lesson. However the weather was too cold and we were forced to adapt our lesson to fit the constraints of the classroom. Our lesson went super well and our Co-op was impressed with how we handled the class as they like to be loud and rambunctious. We had to use a few different teaching strategies in order to get their attention, but we ended up working with the lights off technique. 

Our lesson had many great ways of teamwork and forced students to get out of their clique and work with one another to accomplish a common goal. Before our lesson started Brooklynn did a great job of introducing outdoor ed and what it was really about. We talked to our students about their Reading Week break and how it went. 

I would change the lesson:

First, by having it outside.

Second, explain the games first and then have the students move and get the proper items.

Third, I would have less instruction and let the students figure things out more for themselves in the games.

Finally, I really like the environment we created with this lesson. The closure with the students was a talking circle where each student had the opportunity to talk. We discussed the importance of completing the activities without cheating. Why people cheat? What was the difference from the start of the lesson to the end (individual to group based activities). The discussion went well and it was an inviting environment where people could add their opinions without feeling oppressed. This week, I learnt that I don’t have to be the loud teacher and I can talk quietly and the students still listen. I was whispering instructions! I became more confident in seeing myself as a teacher and look forward to how I can further adapt my lessons to my students’ needs.