Where do I even begin?
First off I met Kyle Timms (@k_timms) on the ferry ride over. We started our learning at O'Dawn Hundred and talked about the role of grades in schools and how grades and assessment need to be based on real world applications and experiences. We co-created an analogy about how grades and assessment are like the Google Maps app for our phones. You can't just type in the destination, you have to first tell the app where you are starting from. And then you don't just drive around aimlessly until Google tells you that you've arrived, you get step by step directions that follow you at every turn. Make a wrong turn? No problem! The app recalculates and helps you with a new route to your destination. But it gets better, maybe I don't like driving on highways, Google Maps has my back. It has differentiated routes for me to take what I am comfortable taking! We could base an entire practice around Google Maps! Then I was inspired and got to geek out over seeing Will Richardson (@willrich45), whose ideas really have shaped my practice and goals as a beginning teacher. I have been parroting his famous "You want to be found by strangers on the internet!" to everyone who will listen to me for a year, so to hear him speak in person was awesome. I got to attend a smaller session and asked the first question and overall had some great conversation with those in the room. Topics ranged from student teachers being desperate for any job not just a dream job, to defining vision in schools, to new literacies, to the importance of telling stories and getting parents on side. We had a great lunch, (seriously, delicious!), and great conversation with a fellow Student Teacher Jordan Ackerman (@UBC_flat) from UBC in a PDPP program. He has 1 year to learn what I'm getting in 3, and I know I still don't feel prepared. I have so many concerns about the way we are educating teachers today, and would love to see sweeping changes to adapt to the needs of the new literacies and skills of our students. The second session was by the very awesome Bryon Carpenter (@BryonCar) who showed us the way that he is using his iPad to do immediate and relevant feedback for his students while stopping as much of the paper wasting as possible. He showed off several apps that would be fantastic if I worked in a school with reliable internet, and definitely if I had older students. I'm going to let the wheels turn a bit more on how I can do it with the situation I have this year. Finally I hit up the Augmented Reality session. Aurasma has been a great interest of mine, so seeing some practical applications that Collingwood School has used it for is very cool. I plan on using Aurasma to trigger things for my parents and celebrations of learning. I use ColARapp to do all sorts of things. Their Starbucks Latte sheet is how I'm going to be teaching adjectives in a week. I'm excited about the use of AR in my classroom, and even more excited that I don't have all the answers. The students can learn and -play!- and make mistakes and try again. We're going to build our new literacy together. Thank you so much to #CUEBC for letting me come and be a part of the fun. I've been so blessed to be a part of your PSA day activities. Thank you for making it affordable for Student Teachers, and thank you for welcoming me and treating me like part of the family!
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AuthorI respond to Sarah, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Smoore, Miss Sarah, (and sometimes Mom!). I have been an DL (homeschool!) teacher for 2 years and am now a proud member of the SD35 team! Archives
September 2018
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