Reflections Of A Lifelong Learner
Taking an AQ course in the summer always allows me to take the time to be reflective about my practice and how I can be a better educator for my students. As educators, I believe we must be lifelong learners and always be aspiring to be better and do better for your students. Everyday, I am honestly so grateful to be able to teach and help students to grow and develop.
This summer, I took Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction Part 2 and I am one course away from having two specialists. In taking the course, I have had time to explore and research new software, apps and tools that I never “had time” to during the school year. For example, I created accounts with Kahoot and Plickers but didn’t plan and create opportunities to use with them with my students. This AQ course has given me the opportunity to explore, research and start to implement both in my planning for the 2019-2020 school year along with other technologies including G Suite Apps, School Messenger, Brightspace and Padlet. I am excited to create and plan new learning opportunities for my students including planning virtual field trips, trips to visit virtual museum exhibits and opportunities to collaborate with virtual pen pals. Also, in taking this course, I have had the opportunity to be creative and innovative in creating resources that I can use with my students starting in September including a class blog and Google Site for our class. One other aspect of the course that I found beneficial was the opportunity to learn, get constructive feedback and grow with other educators who are just as passionate about technology as myself.
Reflecting about what I have learned from this AQ course and what I believe is critical when implementing technology in the classroom, is that it is imperative to be intentional and purposeful in your planning. Educators must consider the skills that our 21st century learners need and include the seven competencies (the 7 Cs) outlined by the organization, Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation in all of their lessons. Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation published a report called Shifting Minds 1.0: A 21st Century Vision of Public Education for Canada which identified the 7 Cs as creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, character, culture and ethical citizenship, and computer and digital technology. I believe that educators must be critically thinking about and incorporating the 7 Cs into each of their lessons. Educators must create opportunities for their students to be creative, be critical and learn how to be responsible digital citizens.
There are two challenges with technology that I face within my school community. The first is that we do not have a lot of technology at our school and some of the technology we have is outdated and needs to be replaced, including Chromebooks and desktops. The second challenge is related to the first. Due to the lack of technology at the school, often technology is not readily available for students to use because it is shared between classes or divisions. To overcome these problems, my plan is to collaborate with my colleagues and teacher librarian to try share technology as fairly as possible including have my students work with younger students teaching them about technology. Also, I am hoping that students, with proper supervision, will be able to use their personal devices (BYOD) for academic purposes in the classroom. My plan is to teach my students about digital citizenship and responsible use of technology starting on the first day of school when we review routines and procedures and continue to model and teach my students this everyday.
There were only 6 of us that took this AQ course but everyone was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Similar to part 1, there were few elementary educators which at first I was worried about because the needs for elementary and secondary students can be very different. However, as the course progress I realized that I had nothing to be worried about. I learned so much from my secondary colleagues and they were extremely kind in answering all of the questions I had to better understand the needs of their students and school environments. From the other educators, I have learned about new software and tools which I can use to support a variety of needs of the students in my classroom, including Diigo, Google Expeditions, Google Tour Builder, Skype in the Classroom, Loom and Blogger. I started using Diigo during the course to take notes while I was reading articles and preparing constructive feedback for my colleagues. I am excited to model how to use Diigo with my students especially during think alouds. With the encouragement of my fellow educators, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and created not one but two blogs. I am excited to model to my students the importance of taking risks while being aware of your digital footprint.
This AQ course has contributed to my professional practice in many ways. It has helped to critically analyze and reflect on my teaching strategies and practices. It has challenged me to assess my use of technology in my lessons. Am I being purposeful and intentional with how my students use technology? This AQ course has provided an online learning environment where I felt comfortable and confident to take risks and be vulnerable. I have tried new technologies and started to implement new strategies into my practice and I will be implementing more in September with my students. This AQ course also pushed me to be more invested in my PLN (professional learning network on Twitter) and to continue to develop my PLN to be a better educator for my students.
As the course comes to a close, there are two questions I still have. The first is, when I am in a leadership role as an administrator, how can I help other educators feel comfortable, confident and ready to use technology without overwhelming them or having them feel that they “have to” incorporate technology? The second question I have is with technology always changing and updating constantly, what is the best way to keep informed and learn about new technologies that have been created?
This summer, I took Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction Part 2 and I am one course away from having two specialists. In taking the course, I have had time to explore and research new software, apps and tools that I never “had time” to during the school year. For example, I created accounts with Kahoot and Plickers but didn’t plan and create opportunities to use with them with my students. This AQ course has given me the opportunity to explore, research and start to implement both in my planning for the 2019-2020 school year along with other technologies including G Suite Apps, School Messenger, Brightspace and Padlet. I am excited to create and plan new learning opportunities for my students including planning virtual field trips, trips to visit virtual museum exhibits and opportunities to collaborate with virtual pen pals. Also, in taking this course, I have had the opportunity to be creative and innovative in creating resources that I can use with my students starting in September including a class blog and Google Site for our class. One other aspect of the course that I found beneficial was the opportunity to learn, get constructive feedback and grow with other educators who are just as passionate about technology as myself.
Reflecting about what I have learned from this AQ course and what I believe is critical when implementing technology in the classroom, is that it is imperative to be intentional and purposeful in your planning. Educators must consider the skills that our 21st century learners need and include the seven competencies (the 7 Cs) outlined by the organization, Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation in all of their lessons. Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation published a report called Shifting Minds 1.0: A 21st Century Vision of Public Education for Canada which identified the 7 Cs as creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, character, culture and ethical citizenship, and computer and digital technology. I believe that educators must be critically thinking about and incorporating the 7 Cs into each of their lessons. Educators must create opportunities for their students to be creative, be critical and learn how to be responsible digital citizens.
There are two challenges with technology that I face within my school community. The first is that we do not have a lot of technology at our school and some of the technology we have is outdated and needs to be replaced, including Chromebooks and desktops. The second challenge is related to the first. Due to the lack of technology at the school, often technology is not readily available for students to use because it is shared between classes or divisions. To overcome these problems, my plan is to collaborate with my colleagues and teacher librarian to try share technology as fairly as possible including have my students work with younger students teaching them about technology. Also, I am hoping that students, with proper supervision, will be able to use their personal devices (BYOD) for academic purposes in the classroom. My plan is to teach my students about digital citizenship and responsible use of technology starting on the first day of school when we review routines and procedures and continue to model and teach my students this everyday.
There were only 6 of us that took this AQ course but everyone was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Similar to part 1, there were few elementary educators which at first I was worried about because the needs for elementary and secondary students can be very different. However, as the course progress I realized that I had nothing to be worried about. I learned so much from my secondary colleagues and they were extremely kind in answering all of the questions I had to better understand the needs of their students and school environments. From the other educators, I have learned about new software and tools which I can use to support a variety of needs of the students in my classroom, including Diigo, Google Expeditions, Google Tour Builder, Skype in the Classroom, Loom and Blogger. I started using Diigo during the course to take notes while I was reading articles and preparing constructive feedback for my colleagues. I am excited to model how to use Diigo with my students especially during think alouds. With the encouragement of my fellow educators, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and created not one but two blogs. I am excited to model to my students the importance of taking risks while being aware of your digital footprint.
This AQ course has contributed to my professional practice in many ways. It has helped to critically analyze and reflect on my teaching strategies and practices. It has challenged me to assess my use of technology in my lessons. Am I being purposeful and intentional with how my students use technology? This AQ course has provided an online learning environment where I felt comfortable and confident to take risks and be vulnerable. I have tried new technologies and started to implement new strategies into my practice and I will be implementing more in September with my students. This AQ course also pushed me to be more invested in my PLN (professional learning network on Twitter) and to continue to develop my PLN to be a better educator for my students.
As the course comes to a close, there are two questions I still have. The first is, when I am in a leadership role as an administrator, how can I help other educators feel comfortable, confident and ready to use technology without overwhelming them or having them feel that they “have to” incorporate technology? The second question I have is with technology always changing and updating constantly, what is the best way to keep informed and learn about new technologies that have been created?
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