I. Am. A. Teacher.: This is My Journey

Rae Tresierra

Digital Citizenship. What is It & Why Do We Care? Teacher Edition

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On December 12, 2020

In EDU 394 Blogs, Education, ePortfolio

If you’re reading this right now, congratulations, you have some form of digital literacy to navigate the internet and find this webpage. Now prepare for my cheesy quote: “With Digital Literacy, comes great responsibility.” No seriously… how many times have you seen arguments on Facebook over something that could have been avoided if people minded their own business?  How many times have you heard gossip about a certain post on Instagram?  Digital Citizenship is the ability to know and control healthy boundaries when it comes to technology, the internet and social media.  Imagine a world where everyone was a supreme example of a Digital Citizen… yeah I cannot either.  But why is it important that we share this message to our youth? Technology can make or break a future and here’s how:

Employers. When applying for a job, sending out a resume or going for an interview, keep in mind your employer has probably gone on your social media pages to view you.  We are judged on our profile photos, cover photos, posts, memes and well, basically everything.  You might want to make sure that whatever you have on your social media is something you’re proud of, stand for and want to exert to any future public you may work for or with.  For instance; my Facebook account is semi- private, I control which pictures are public and which only my friends can view.  I am proud of my Facebook and any content on it I would have no shame in my employer or grandmother viewing.

Students: Hey teachers, yes, I’m talking to you.  Do you want your students seeing your Friday night plans? That’s rhetorical- you do not.  To maintain a student- teacher relationship, keeping your private life well… private, it pretty crucial to the success of your career.  Speaking of Digital Citizenship, a lot of our students do not have it yet, but their digital literacy skills are far superior to ours.  So if you want an inappropriate photoshopped photo of yourself leaked to the internet, give your student free reign to view your photos on your social media, otherwise; privacy settings are your best friend.  On a positive note: you can use these examples to show students how to positively enhance their Digital Citizen skills by demonstrating them yourself.  Again, on my Facebook due to my privacy settings, if students choose to creep my profile (and you better believe they do) I also have no shame in what is available for them to see. And again, between my personal belief in Digital Citizenship- my students are not my friends on Facebook.  If they remember their crazy teacher at 18 years old, sweet we can be “friends.” Until then; I am not your friend, I am your teacher.

The Public: As teachers, especially those of us in a small town, we must be responsible of what is available for view on our social media and how we use it.  It is one thing to have a clean Facebook page, but you better also have a clean trail.  If you think you’re anonymous commenting on general websites- you’re not.  As teachers we are held to a higher standard to uphold our professionalism in and out of schools (not fair, I know, but it’s what we signed up for.) Do yourself a favour, and don’t comment on the newest post from some random who is voting for Trump.  Walk away, delete them, remove them from your feed and take the higher road to your redeeming Digital Citizen qualities.  Anything negative you post on the internet, webpages, social media etc, can come back to haunt you, but you know what won’t? Positive comments.  No teacher has ever been negatively affected from posting positive feeds, so if you really feel the need to comment on random posts (for instance, this amazing blog), you can always say nice things.  Again, we must practice what we preach, and if we want to walk the walk while we talk the talk with our students, then let’s set positive examples of the type of Digital Citizens we hope them to be.

Safety: Last but not least, the internet is not a 100% safe place for anyone.  Personal information should remain private.  Not having your credit card information saved on numerous sites or your banking information saved might be a good start to not having your identity stolen.  We also have to be careful of what can come back to you. Do you know how to set a secure password or protect details like address, phone numbers and email? Have you made your students aware of these safety skills of becoming a Digital Citizen? What about who and where you share information to? Pictures? I am not even referring to just promiscuous photos, (let’s not go there) I am referring to photos that may include others who have not given you consent to photograph them.  What about photos that may have license plates, or street signs that can be traced back to you with facial recognition?  Remember; everything can be traced.  We also need to set an example and make our students aware of this.  Making sure personal information and pictures

stay private is key to staying out of trouble.  Sadly, you don’t know who you can trust, and the last thing that anyone wants is for private information of any kind to be leaked to the public.  On a lighter note: you know what photos you can send though to anyone you want? Memes, inspiring quotes, reminder schedules, jokes etc. Just be careful of your copyrights at that point if you’re putting them up publicly anywhere.

I think the most clichĂ© saying we hear, but need to abide by is; “Would your grandmother approve of reading/seeing this?”  Now, my grandmother doesn’t approve of much so I suppose I’m lucky there, but seriously, the next time you go to comment, post or login, take a second to think about what kind of Digital Citizen you are, and the kind you want to be. Think about what is going to keep you safe, and teach your students to be safe. Digital Citizenship is for everyone; this is why we care.

 

Teacher Rae; Over and Out.

 

 

Cited Sources: 

What is digital citizenship? (2019, February 4). #DigCitUtah

Zook, C. (n.d.). What is digital citizenship & how do you teach it? Digital Curriculum for CTE & Elective Teachers | AES. https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/what-is-digital-citizenship

What your students really need to know about digital citizenship. (2014, October 24). Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-citizenship-need-to-know-vicki-davis

 

EDU 393 Visioning Statement

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On December 5, 2020

In Uncategorised

Below are the links to the lyrics and the performance for our final Visioning Statement in EDU 393.  We were to take our learnings from the semester and come up with something creative.  Enjoy.

Link to Lyrics: “You” = Government

 

What is Teaching? A Role of a Lifetime. EDU 394

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On December 5, 2020

In Uncategorised

Below you will find the youtube link to my arrangement of ‘Role of a Lifetime’ from Highschool Musical the Musical.  This particular arrangement has lyrics that pertain to our EDU 394 learnings throughout the semester.  My core question/inquiry is “What is Teaching?” It is here, you will see my take on what it takes to be a teacher, keep being a teacher and my personal pedagogy for teaching.

 

Please find a link to the power point that breaks down the lyrics, along with the separate link to the youtube video of the performance.

Lyric Breakdown Powerpoint: Ignite Presentation EDU 394. 2.0

 

Mino Pimatisiwin: An Indigenous Teaching for Equality

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On November 29, 2020

In EDU 394 Blogs, Education, Reflections

I was able to attend Correlieu Secondary School’s Non- Instructional Day on Indigenous Education.  The main topics of focus were: Truth and Reconciliation- Calls to Action, Equity, Racism, Systemic Racism and White Privilege.

Our keynote speaker was Kevin Lamareaux, who is professor at the University of Manitoba.  Out of everything he spoke to, I found it so important that he taught us how to address those who are ignorant to their own personal systemic racism, how to approach the topic by educating calmly and diplomatically while also raising awareness.  He was able to give us tools for future conversations that I found extremely helpful in regards to the Call to Action 63.3.

I heard a new definition of “Reconciliation” that I had not heard before which was: “Reconciliation is a gift given to us by residential survivors.  If it weren’t for the courage and the dignity of Residential School Survivors, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today.  Reconciliation, is the children who were exposed to the worst of Canada, and the same children, now adults, who are able to extend and open their hand out to shake.”

We looked at the basis of systemic racism and how it is a system, not an event.  We uncovered the word “otherness” that dehumanizes based on difference, and how to get away from no longer drawing lines.  We addressed that it’s easy for us, because we are human, to categorize an “other” field when addressing culture.  Kevin gave the example of how Canadians may show this “otherness” line when referring to American’s and what is going on currently in the United States.  Addressing that these feelings we have make us human, but it is what we do with those feelings that define us and how as educators, it is important to educate on the difference.

The steps deconstructing “otherness” are as follows:
1. Humanize the other: get to know them, talk with them, as about their families, their story, their history

2. Education and Awareness: Relationships before Curriculum

3. Acknowledge, understand and explore privilege: He spoke on his personal story of growing up around sexists/ misogynistic males, and resenting a female professor who acknowledged his privilege over females.  Instead of humiliating him or “Squishing him like a bug with her education” she instead took him out for coffee.  It was after that coffee that he truly realized how “privileged” he was to be a male.

After the keynote, the principal hung up poster paper on the walls, each containing “What do you know about” questions on subjects such as:
1. Jackie Robinson
2. Tommy Prince
3. The Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy bands Fishery Dispute
4. Women’s Suffrage
5.  The hanging of the Tsilhqot’in chiefs

We had the chance to go around with our sticky note pads and write “what we knew” in regards to each of these subjects and stick them to the poster paper.  We later read out together all the facts and it was a beautiful history lesson of the people who’s lives were given to pave the road to expose and end Canada’s covered and guilty history.  The main takeaway from this, was that rather than just “heroize” those who’s lives have been lost, we need to take a look at the lives they were living while they performed actions of reconciliation.  Instead of saying “Tommy Prince was an incredible indigenous war hero” we also have to acknowledge that when he returned home, he was not given the same privileges as other white veterans, and eventually died homeless. We went around all the topics and discussed the underlying brokenness of which each “heroism” had to endure to pave the road for us- and that was a powerful statement in itself.
I was pleased that we were able to discuss very relevant topics

and given tool to pave a path forward in our ongoing journey of Truth and Reconciliation.  It is our responsibility as educators to “relearn our learning” and educate others for a better Canada.

“Education go us into this mess, and Education will get us out.” – Justice Murray Sinclair

What an incredible day of learning.  Thank you CSS for having me.

Learning Progressions- The What, So What, Now What?

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On November 12, 2020

In Uncategorised

Can you run before you can walk? Can you jump before you can stand? Can you sing before you speak?

In education, there are a sequence of learning stages that apply to students, and it begins with understanding the progression of curriculum, how to progress skills in a scaffolding format and providing formative assessment for learnings to progress. “It is important to understand what learning progressions are, how they help us, and how they are developed.” (Helyn, K and Care, E. 2018)

First, teachers must identify what must be learned and have a foundation of knowledge of how skills progress over time.  It is not enough to only know the curriculum of the grade level, but also possess the knowledge of previous and future levels. This holistic knowledge builds scaffolding from curriculum for future grade levels and allows a smooth continuum.  Knowing or foreseeing how student learning scaffolds “helps design classroom tasks that are within the zone of proximal development for their students.” (Helyn, K and Care, E. 2018) As educators, identifying what must be learned for students allows for a preparation of a systematic approach rather than sporadic one, and in turn- sets students up to master each building block in the learning progression to follow. An example would be writing an essay.  You wouldn’t ask a student in Kindergarten to write an essay, as they are learning their alphabet and how to write their name.  Gr. 1 students are learning to spell basic words. Gr. 2’s are expanding vocabulary knowledge with their spelling. Gr. 3’s are writing simple sentences “I like cats. My cat is big.” Gr. 4’s are writing paragraphs strictly about one subject and the paragraph is simple sentences combined. Gr. 5’s might be asked to write paragraphs with a topic sentence. Gr. 6’s will be asked to write complex/ compound sentences with topic sentences and finally in Gr. 7, you can teach introduction paragraphs, body paragraphs and concluding paragraphs and put it all together.  See how that progressed? “Learning involves patience and time.” (First Peoples Principal of Learning #7)

As more complex skills are built on foundational skills, we have to provide feedback for learners in order for them to progress.  “It is critical for teachers to be able to identify the behaviors that relate to these skills if they are to intervene at the appropriate levels of challenge.” (Helyn, K and Care, E. 2018) Formative assessment that is gathered during ongoing instruction helps teachers adjust their teaching style and students adjust their learning style. The formative assessment process tends to be successful if teachers set a routine to collect “evidence of a student’s progress toward mastery of each key building block in a learning progression. If a student is having trouble with building blocks, assessments can pinpoint why.” (Popham. J. W. 2007)

In Serhat Kurt’s Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding, he talks about Vygotsky’s theories in regards to learning progressions.  Not only does he agree that purposeful sequencing of teaching and learning expectations across multiple developmental stages, ages, or grade levels is effective, but also that it cannot be achieved alone. This is where the Zone of Proximal Development comes in.  We start with what the student can do, identify what they can do with help and what they cannot do (yet).  The thought behind learning progressions is that the same level of learning could not be reached if an individual worked alone or without guidance as opposed to with peers or with a higher knowledge (teacher/ professor) to guide. (Kurt, S. 2020) The goal is to be able to bring students into the zone of proximal development, and guide them towards the middle of the circle to the “I Can” phase.

Educators must understand the series of progression students will face academically, social emotionally and physically, before implementing curriculum.  They must assess where students came from, where they are at and where they are going prior to approaching material.  Once students have been assessed appropriately to continue their learning progression, it is imperative that teachers continue formative assessment for the growth of the learner.  With teacher approach, guidance and assessment through this scaffolding process, there is no doubt of the affective outcome for student learning progression. The goal? When we have finally reached the top of the scaffold, students will be able to direct their own learning.

 

 

 

Resources:

Helyn, K and Care, E. March 27, 2018. Learning progressions: Pathways for 21st century teaching and learning.

Kurt, S. “Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding,” in Educational Technology, July 11, 2020.Retrieved from https://educationaltechnology.net/vygotskys-zone-of-proximal-development-and-scaffolding/

McLeod, S. 2019. The Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding

Popham. J. W. April 2007. All About Accountability / The Lowdown on Learning Progressions. Volume 64, Number 7. The Prepared Graduate Pages 83-84.

Staehr Fenner, D. February 13, 2019. 5 Practical Steps to Scaffold Lessons for English Learners. Retrieved from: https://home.edweb.net/webinar/ell20190213/

 Provincial ProD Day- Oct. 23rd Takeaway

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On November 4, 2020

In Education

Staying Well at Teaching for Teachers in British Columbia Specifically! By Laurence Grief and Gina Casella

“Teaching is like when you’re on an airplane. The flight attendants always let you know that in cases of emergency- put your mask on first before you assist others.”

This was such an amazing metaphor stated by Gina Casella to begin this segment.  We as teachers so many times run ourselves down (literally- until your body forces you to finally lay down because you’ve caught some sort of plague due to your lack of immune system because you neglected
 well
 you.) Working yourself to the point of being sick is not a competition and is not part of the job. Do I need to repeat that for those in the back?

As a rookie teacher myself (only 3 years experience with SD28 and now currently attending the UNBC Renewed B.Ed Program) I find we have these ridiculous expectations put upon us
 by the public, by our peers and oh yes- us! It was so nice to be able to attend a professional development session where I felt there was finally a justification to me wanting to actually leave school on Friday by 3:30pm (let’s be honest- that never happened and I always stayed until at least 6:00pm because “I needed to__________” fill in the blank with a million excuses) But guess what? I can leave. And you know what? My lesson will still happen Monday, my students will still learn and we will all carry on with our lives even though I didn’t stay late.

You know what else won’t stop the world from going around? Boundaries.  If I refuse to check my email over the weekend, the world will continue to rotate.  If a student comes to me and asks me about Birth Control (an example given by Gina) then I will gladly, respectfully and professionally find you someone certified to have that conversation with you (i.e.: Councilor)

R-U-L-E-R is a way to express our emotional literacy (yes, emotional literacy is an expression, and once hearing that, I realized I was quite illiterate in the manner.) In order to have control over our circle of influence (The area of which you actually have control over your life) and to have that pushing out towards the Circle of Concern (where you have zero control), you have to acknowledge that emotions fluctuate, the circle can turn on you, and develop the RULER tools you need to get yourself back on track.

R- Recognize

U- Understand

L- Learn

E- Expressing

R- Regulating and Reflecting

 

The goal is to acknowledge that concerns will always be a part of your life, but to have healthy regulations and coping mechanisms that stabilize your center of self and your circle of influence.  If you can be proactive with your circle of influence, it can change the outcome of how you react to the concern, rather than reactive where the concern controls how you react.

 

Lastly, Gina and Laurence discussed a “Wellness Wheel” and suggested we as educators should reflect on what we enjoy in the areas of: Physical, Social, Emotional, Environmental, Financial and Career wise. “What sparks happiness” in those categories.  Maintaining a balance in those areas of well being are crucial to being an affective and effective teacher, because if you aren’t taking care of you, how can you take care of others and their learning?

 

Lastly, (and I personally found this one of the most beneficial learnings of all) Laurence touched on some of the programs out there for teachers when we are going through those times in our life where managing everything on our own may be too much.  For example, currently we are in a global pandemic, and if you happen to catch COVID- 19 as a teacher, you have to use your sick days for quarantine/ recovering.  Now, to put that in perspective for you, I raised the question that as a non-certified teacher (which we have many in our neck of the woods) our sick days do not carry over at the end of the year, we start with a fresh 12 the next year- 12! Which seemed like so much- until you realize quarantining requires 14 days. Laurence informed us to that if we simply self refer ourselves to the BCTF, they can direct us to the, “Salary Indemnity Service” that supports teachers in that exact situation- phew! Thanks Laurence, that is really great to know, and I wish it was more well known! We were also informed of an “EFAP” plan for if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed as an educator (not a typical Tuesday type of overwhelmed, but overly– overwhelmed you know what I mean.) It is through the EFAP program that free counselling is offered- who knew we could actually take care of our mental health!

 

I cannot thank Gina, Laurence and School District 28 enough for opening my eyes into this world, where I now feel so much more confident as a beginning teacher knowing the resources out there that can help me- regardless of the world’s judgements (or my own.) Dually noted that in order to be an effective and affective educator, I do not need to run myself into the dirt to prove I am one.  In the future, I will remember to “put my mask on first before I assist others.” – Gina Casella

To Grade or Not to Grade: “What is Grading?” is the Question

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On October 21, 2020

In Education, ePortfolio, Pedagogy, Reflections, Uncategorised

Being able to adapt your teaching style to fit and engage with each individual learning style has been key in the success in relationships with student and academic success.  Having adaptable approaches for your students allow them to express themselves more freely and feel their input has “value.” This is where I have conflicting thoughts in regards to blogs we have read with EDU 394 in regards to “help[ing] students forget about grades.” (Alfie Kohn. Degrading to De-Grading) The blog continues to read, “Grades reduce [student] interest, quality of thinking, the preference to take on challenging tasks, encourages cheating [and doesn’t] validate what a student ‘can’ do.”

I disagree.

Hear me out; as I have done some formative assessment with former students for the very intention of how to go about assessment and grades.  My main question to them was: “What will motivate you to want to learn?” At the beginning of the year I ask students if they would prefer having soft due dates to help keep them on track but not assign late points: the vote was yes.  I continued to ask if they would like the option to continue making corrections on assignments and hand them back in (as long as they put a sticky note informing me what they revised) with the intention that they could potentially get “100%” on every single assignment if they chose to: they voted yes.  I have had students give feedback on how they feel about my style of grading and how would they prefer I improve to help them.  Even from students that had not completed a single assignment, missed more days of school than they attended, all gave the feedback they agreed with how “fair” my assessment process was. I want to give my devil’s advocate view as to “why,” I think students gave positive feedback to grades by first exploring ‘What is grading,’ types of assessment and the philosophy behind this pedagogy. Students that have a familiar understanding of expectations that are clear and visual aids are able to see where they are at and where they are/ should be going. “Grades” provide feedback and are not limited to A, B, C, but can also be married to the hybrid of embracing portfolios, feedback through narratives, optional assignments that allow for student creativity to demonstrate the obtained learning.

Let me ask this: what is grading? Grades themselves get such a bad rep because of the assessment process; what summative assessment does is slam down on our students to obtain the grade, but that’s not all it has to be.  In order to create a hybrid that works in a system that still requires “grades,” we as educators have the ability to create our own hybrid grading philosophy (or as our EDU 394 professor like to call it: a Marriage.) By taking into consideration the philosophy of Place Based Education from a Blog from imaginED written by Gillian Judson she states: “Students’ imaginative and emotional engagement with knowledge and place.  Place-based imaginative educators seek to cultivate emotional connections with the natural world—how do we determine if these are being facilitated?” (Gillian Judson. Guidelines For Assessment Of Place-Based Learning. Ecological Education (IEE): Activities & Insights. 2016) She states that other options of assessment besides grading are encouraged such as: written narratives about individuals that are given to parents, portfolios, student led conferences and exhibitions. YES! Now, in all that creativity, all that imagination, students have the freedom and the comfortability to show you as their educator what they know- from there, using the professional judgement we have to assess each individual as exactly that: as an individual! Each student in the class is only “comparing” with themselves, to better themselves and are learning for themselves, so why as an educator would you grade/ assess them all the same? You wouldn’t.

I almost laughed at a Professional Development I attended where the speaker said, “Rather than giving out A, B, C, D, give out 4, 3, 2, 1’s.” You’re telling me that students aren’t going to link the two together?  I know I do.  But you know what else? Providing the why is so important.  For example: Our professor in our EDU 393 class recently gave us a rubric back on our last Reflexive Writing- the rubric was laid out in 4 columns and each column had a detailed description of writing abilities.  When I saw the highlighted columns in the “3 and 4” section, I breathed a little easier knowing I “passed” in this “pass/ fail” course- and so many of our students look for that validation.  This particular rubric has expectations laid out clearly, and so the learner is able to visually see where they are at, reflect and grow in their learnings.  I’ve also had the pleasure of experiencing the other side of things, where the only feedback on a paper I’ve done for another course was “I got it, thanks.” Talking with many of my cohorts, we feel like we are swimming in the middle of the ocean when that happens with no sure direction of where land is.  The feedback I’ve had from my students is the same: “Miss. T, when are you going to be giving back our maps of India from Current Events?” I never wrote a grade on these maps, but I always wrote comments, feedback, smiley faces or gave out stickers for “exceptional” work- the students began to realize this.  I still had to report “grades” into my report cards, so I simply assessed their maps as so:

A “C-“ was if the student minimally completed the assignment (in other words- they could have thrown up on the page but if their name was on it- cool.) A C was if you were able to write down a few countries in the correct spots, C+ If you wrote down all the countries, cities and rivers but no colour, B was if you wrote down all the countries, cities, rivers and gave me the colouring of a 2 year old and an A was if you wrote down all the countries, cities, rivers, gave me half decent colouring and provided the Title and Compass.  I was able to explain this to the students, and welcomed them to ALWAYS improve on assignments and hand them back in.  Having a “light due date” helped keep my students on task, but their “grade” was NEVER final unless they wanted it to be.  My students always know they are allowed to revise their work (I ask they put a sticky note on their revisions that tell me exactly what they revised) until they’re satisfied with the feedback, I give has met their own standards.  Of course, I as the educator also have established enough relationship with my students to know where each individual is at with their strengths and weaknesses, and will only be grading to the individual- not comparing one student’s work to another.  As a teacher, I felt this gave students accountability, responsibility AND opportunity to advocate for their own learning.

 

Could I turn this “Grading” blog into a 15-page paper? Easily.  But I get my own point enough that when I reflect on it in a couple months or a year, I’ll either agree or disagree with myself.  We shall see.

 

I. Am. A. Teacher.: This is My Journey

UNBC B.Ed Program: What have I learned so Far?

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On October 9, 2020

In EDU 394 Blogs, Education, ePortfolio, Reflections

Below, I answer 3 questions we were asked from our EDU 394 class.  I broke them into categories and felt they each deserved their own attention.

  1. What is your biggest learning so far about teaching and learning in your first month of the B.Ed. program experience?

The biggest learning or “ah-ha!” moment I’ve had since beginning with the UNBC Ed program in September was the relationship between changing schedules, student’s abilities to adapt and understanding different reactions when last minute changes are made.  This doesn’t seem like something you’d reflect on, but I’d like to share a back story with you:

Two years ago, I was teaching Gr. 6/7 at one of our rural schools.  It was my first time ever teaching in an elementary school, and I was heading to what I thought was my gym time (keep in mind, it is now 1:00pm, and my students have seen the schedule on the board all day long and have been looking forward to this.)  Turns out, the first week of school there’s a sign-up sheet prior to the actual schedule taking place the following week- so when I arrived to the gym with my class, of course; it was full.  One of my Gr. 6 students had a complete meltdown (and I am probably under exaggerating.) She threw herself into the walls, ripped her hair out of her head with her fingers and teeth while screaming.  Of course; this reaction was not at all what I had expected and it’s a rather extreme one, BUT; I had learned from then on that if there was going to be any schedule changes, I would need to mentally prepare this student for that well in advance.

Another example of student reactions to schedule changes are when we are going to go outside and I decide not to because of weather, or when I say we are only going to focus on socials for so long and my class seems to be on a roll so I let them continue
 I didn’t realize the impact both positive and negative that could have on a student until I- went back to the classroom in a different perspective.

Fast forward to present day, myself now as a student, I have found that when our UNBC schedule changes, goes over time, or doesn’t stick to the syllabus (knowing very well that this is a completely normal and adaptable circumstance I need to get over) I can’t help but notice my mood and how it’s mostly negatively affected.  Because my brain is wired to schedule my life so intricately, an extra 20 minutes, or extra time- despite the adaptability, can really mess with me.  That extra 20 minutes I planned to get in a yoga because that could have very possibly been my only 20 minutes to myself that day.  Or when I plan to go ride my horse but extra learning is scheduled for that day, or an extra reading is posted that wasn’t on my syllabus so I can no longer go do that
 it almost breaks my heart with disappointment when I do not have the daylight to accomplish my passions that help with my mental health and well being.

What I have taken away, is I didn’t realize that while I was teaching, I asked my students to adapt- a lot.  Sometimes we didn’t have a choice, but other times I did have the choice to stick to the schedule or not but I would change it based on how I was feeling or how I thought the students were feeling. Granted; I always gave them voting “rights” and options so that they delegated their changes and learnings- however; it is the change in itself that was probably rattling for them.  The thing is- I probably super disrupted their day changing the schedule so much.  It’s one thing if you’re like “you all want to take a break and go for a walk?” but even then, maybe there was that one student who was finally on a roll, or on a breakthrough and now you completely busted that thought process by offering something you thought was a good thing.  Case and point: I am going to think twice now as an educator before I go changing up my schedule.

The last thought I have on this, was our EDU 394 instructor mentioned, “Age Appropriate Structure.” No wonder I have been fighting with this internally.  As adults, part of our success in ANY work force is our ability to adapt, but you would never ask that of say a Kindergarten class where structure is 100% necessary to the success of the classroom. I will have to continue to monitor this as I further my educational journey, constantly assessing what age group I have and the dynamic of the classroom.

 

  1. What is the expected learning so far?

 

Something that I was expecting to learn and am learning is more in-depth about in our UNBC Renewed

Education Program, are ways to incorporate Indigenous ways of learnings, knowing and being in the classroom using the First Nations Principals of Learning (FPPL.)

I think by being able to explore the definitions that have been thrown around at me at Professional Development days, but never really explained, has help deepen my understanding about how I can do my part as an educator with Truth and Reconciliation.  It has been great being able to go beyond keynote speakers and the “hypothetical” aspect, and really dive into how we as future educators can really start to make the changes in our classrooms and districts.  I like that it is also acknowledged that many educators (even veteran educators) struggle with “risk taking,” and are “afraid to get [it] wrong” so many times the intentions are there to implement FPPL, but the ability to execute is not.  This acknowledgement makes me feel less alone in my journey to new ways of knowing, learning and being- and has allowed me to review previous ways I’ve taught and how to continue to grow.

An example of my growth has been, when I first started teaching, I did not have a single clue how to implement the FPPL into my class (even though a lot of what I did fell under the learnings- I did not know how to draw those connections for my students.)  I started by bringing in Miss. Holli our Aboriginal Coordinator for District 28 to have her do a few teachings, and from there I was able to build units off of her material (with permission of course.)  This is what gave me my start.  I kept those units and have modified them with my class the following year, but somewhere along the way I think I missed a HUGE part of that learning- the “why.” I do not think I covered “why” are we learning this in school well enough for my students to comprehend Truth and Reconciliation.  I am grateful I have the chance to learn more about the FPPL, so when I go back to the classroom I will be able to give my students a fair comprehension of the “why” and not just the “what.”

 

 

  1. What have you learned about yourself?

I have learned that I am becoming increasingly sensitive to many of our readings that group “Aboriginal Educators” into this category of “all knowing.” For example, in chapter 3 of: “Learning, Knowing Sharing- Celebrating Sucesses in K-12 Aboriginal Education in British Columbia” by Jo-ann Archibald it states:

“It was our initial observation that non-Aboriginal teachers often felt ill-equipped to address the goals of the EAs [Enhancement Agreements] and that their fear of making mistakes held them back from trying” (pg 31. Linda Kayser, Judy Halbert, Trish Rosborough.)

This is one of many examples of readings we have been given through our program where my own insecurities of an Aboriginal Educator rise.  I feel that no where in our learnings or text does it state, “Not all Aboriginal educators are experts on the First Nations Principals of Learnings and not all Settler educators are naïve to them.” I feel this unnecessary sense of pressure that because I have failed to obtain as much knowledge in Indigenous studies as others in my culture, that I have failed my culture (when really, if we want to point fingers, let’s take a look at all the times we talked about different ways of knowing, learning and being in my education throughout K-12
 no wonder I am clueless.)

So, what have I taken away? I have learned about myself that yes, although I am insecure about my lack of knowledge of my culture, I am willing to take on new learnings. I am willing to dive into, absorb and implement FPPL in my classroom, admit when I “do not know” and own my own educational journey.  I have to remind myself that our text books are not attacking me personally, they are generalizing and that is okay!

 

First Nations Principal of Learning #7: “Learning involves patience and time” 

(Click the link to take you to Jo- Crona’s Blog on the FPPL to dive deeper into Principal #7)

 

Until Next time,

I am a Teacher, and this is my Journey.

Indigenous Education Day Reflection

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On September 28, 2020

In Education, Reflections

What?

Normally I would start this blog out with your typical hook and then give y’all a thesis but listen here: we attended hours of an Indigenous Day Workshop full of gold, and you’re going to hear the “what, so what, now what” to a collaboration of my reflection to four different presentations and the points.   From our leading keynote Dustin Louis speaking to “Transforming our approach to Indigenous Education,” two session speakers Leyton Schnellert and Victoria Duroche and closing keynote speaker, Dr. Niigaanwewidam Sinclair speaking to reconciliation is about the future, there was a lot to absorb, take note of and some that even raised an eyebrow.

So What?

Dustin Louis made great points in regards to spelling out some major vocabulary for us.  He was able to unravel the blunt surface to the meanings of reconciliation, white supremacy and cognitive dissonance.  He really drove home the point that reconciliation is not an apology, it “is about creating a relationship of mutual respect.” I found this interesting because it is far too often that I hear whispers about “how much longer are you going to get tax free sh*t just because you’re an Indian?” or “I didn’t do anything to you or any native, why am I paying for something I have nothing to do with?” Dustin Louis has cleared it up that we are not “reconciling about the past but it’s how to right the present [we are] reconciling for colonization [because] assimilation is a special brand of relationship between human beings imposed by colonialism” (Baldwin, 1954) So no, you aren’t “responsible” for the actions of the past, but yes, we are responsible for the actions of the future.  My favourite quote that was also mentioned by Mr. Louis was the typical “but I treat everyone the same!” Hah! My thoughts right before he said them were: “but would you treat all your students the same even though they all have different backgrounds and needs?” That really puts it in perspective how we think about our diverse cultures, not just our First Nations Peoples of Canada.

At this point, Dustin brought out the word “white supremacy” and you can imagine how that’s going to be absorbed
 ya it’s not.  But he drove the point home that “white supremacy is not just Nazis and the KKK, it’s about decolonizing which requires the colonizer to recognize and challenge their own socialized presumptions of superiority.” (Portras Pratt, Louie, Ottoman & Hanson) You and I both know this could be an entire 25 page paper about reconciliation and we wouldn’t even scratch the surface, but when children are ripped out of their homes, forced them to abandon their culture, beaten if ever breathing of their culture, forced to  assimilate, abused, disrespected, ill-educated and then once stripped of their identity are expected to go into the world and distribute “greatness?” Yeah
 I think we’ve seen enough of those repercussions to know that generations today are still affected of “yesterdays” wrongs. It will take time, “it will take courage,” (Brad Backer) and it will take education to right the wrongs of the past.

Now What?

“Education got us into this mess, and education will get us out.” – Murray Sinclair

“It’s about taking the first step.”  I do not know how many times I have heard this said over the course of today but it really means getting over yourself, your insecurities, your fears and buckling down to deliver a message to educate your classroom, family and community because “we are all related.” (FPPL) Dr. Niigaanwewidam Sinclair stated that it is our responsibility as educators, and just as important as implementing the curriculum, to teach about Truth and Reconciliation.  But where do you start if you feel insecure about your knowledge, your background, your delivery or whether or not what you’re teaching is “right?” Dustin Louis said that “just bringing an elder or district employee into your classroom will not suffice.” No, you’re right, but it’s a start! I wanted to shed some light on my own personal start about teaching about my culture in the classroom:

I have no clue where to begin
 I have never had any formal education on First Nations Peoples, I have never seen a delivery of FPPL in practice, I know nothing, I do not want to be judged for BEING First Nations myself and getting “it wrong
” what do I do?  I was there. I was a rookie teacher with the exact same concerns and fears about implementing “new” ways of learning, knowing and being in the classroom (as so many are!) so I did what we all do when we have to teach a subject area we are uncomfortable with: we bring in an expert.  I was able to bring in Miss Holli Garvin who works with our District and I told her I had nothing particular in mind, just if she could show up and provide anything, I’d be happy to feed off it and go from there.  This brilliant woman came into my Gr. 6/7 class and taught the stories of the astrological animals, their meanings and more
 from there I was able to create a unit that allowed students to dive into their identity, become creative and explore different beliefs regarding different animals and give credit to those beliefs based on the what definition they found from different bands. Then we drove into creating our animals using traditional Northwest Coast Artwork
 etc. etc. But I would have never have got my foot wet, if it weren’t for inviting Holli into my classroom to start. Because of Holli, I as a teacher grew in my practice to be able to implement FPPL and participate with my students, have them watch me learn, and then we grew together from there. Wow- even reflecting on this, I am so grateful.

As a teacher, because of the start Holli gave me, I was able to further provide my class with a “change in engagement” by: “allowing students to demonstrate what they know, develop identity, increase self-awareness, provide support to believe in themselves and opportunities for self investigation.” (Leyton Schnellert. Land as our Teacher.)

I have to admit, not seeing any First Nations Teaching Principles really implemented (with the exception of my mother) throughout my childhood, adolescence and young adult life
 I can see why teachers who have been in the profession for years are afraid to approach this “new” way of knowing, being and learning. For myself, I have been slowly adding more FPPL into my classroom over the years, and find myself “creating a compact learning unit” or “schedule” with my learnings, which many times contradicts what we are trying to accomplish.  It’s so easy to get wrapped up in “knowing” reconciliation, artwork, history, language etc. but I think the part that has hit me the hardest reviewing the FPPL during this Indigenous Education Day
  is my failure as a teaching to implement the “being” aspect to my teaching practice?  I am glad I get this chance to reflect on my last three years of teaching and build upon how I can create a space for my students to go forth and just “be” along with their “knowing” and “learning.”

 

Cheers,

 

I.Am.A.Teacher.: This is My Journey

 

What is Digital Literacy and Why Do We Care?

by

On September 23, 2020

In Career, Education, ePortfolio

“The Ministry of Education defines digital literacy as ‘the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others.’” (Digital Literacy., 2020) But why is this important? How can we as educators successfully implement digital literacy into our classroom and what are the potential consequences we could be facing?

Even prior to COVID-19, digital literacy has been a growing concept in the classroom.  Teachers and students have been slowly turning away from traditional learnings such as standardized tests and familiar text books, and expanding through “learning that embraces digital spaces, content, and resources and emphasizes that the process of learning is as important as an end product.” (Heitin, 2016) Many ask the question as to “why” educators are taking a digital literacy approach with students, and truthfully; it is a means to communicate with our world now, and with where it is headed. “A digitally literate person uses technology to improve his/her ability to gather, organize, analyze and judge the relevance and purpose of digital information” (Digital Literacy., 2020) which can enlighten or inspire students to bring learned digital content to the classroom to form discussions that may have otherwise never happened.

With a strong advocation for digital literacy in the classroom, it has been constant adaptations of educators to arrange their academic delivery in a sense that will successfully implement digital literacy into the curriculum
 so how do we as teachers do this? How are educators from a different era of technology all of a sudden expected to know how to adapt their teachings to infuse digital literacy into academics? One current example of how this has been implemented at the University level is: A professor of ours has encouraged us to create a “Twitter” account creating the ability for us as students “to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” (American Library Association, 2013) Did you know that “Twitter is actually a form of social media that allows for the connection between political leaders, educators and influencers from around the world?” (American Library Association, 2013) What part about being able to connect, view, “re-tweet,” find articles/resources and current events is not useful and relevant in the classroom? Well
 I suppose you always have that one student who is going to follow irrelevant education content such as BeyoncĂ©’s newest hit or Super bowl dance movies but hey, what can you do?

On a real note; there are pros and cons to inviting digital literacy into the classroom.  Of course, you could choose to focus on the negatives such as trusting students to be responsible using a personal digital device and so on, or you can choose to focus on the positive consequences such as previously stated by the Ministry of Education.  As an educator, “using standards-based techniques, a collaborative teaching environment enriched through creative integration of technology tools [takes learning beyond the traditional norms of the classroom]” (Heitin, 2016) allows our learners to grow and expand their knowledge in a way that is relevant to the times.  One of the pros that really caught my attention when reading from the B.C. Government website was that digital literacy forces us to “use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.” (Digital Literacy., 2020.)  The reasons behind this significance is even as adults we are constantly having to analyze the data and sources that are presented to us over social media or over the internet, and many times we have to sift out what is truly relevant and accurate to our research, teachings and materials.  Many of the digital tools presented to us also comes with the responsibility to use content that of which we own wisely; so why would we not want our future adults to learn these same skills when completing their learnings, research and studies throughout their education?

The point that should really be driven home here is that Digital Literacy, although has multiple stated meanings, is really an advocate for creating/ introducing a new, flexible and relevant learning environment for our students and teachers to grow. Digital literacy not only allows for the expansion of student and teacher resources in the classroom, but the ability to provide the tools needed to connect with our world, globalize resources and really make students feel comfortable that learning doesn’t have to have a strict outcome specifically for tests or assignments but more of a focus that digital learning has “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” (American Library Association, 2013) So now that you’ve grasped “What is digital literacy” and I’ve scratched just the surface of why you should care; I challenge you to go forth and find out more about what digital literacy can offer you as a student, educated citizen, researcher, parent or teacher. Sources for this blog provided below- check them out!

 

 

Citation Bibliography

  1. Digital Literacy, Libraries, and Public Policy, Information Technology Policy’s Digital Literacy Task Force, American Library Association, January 2013
  2. Digital Literacy. (2020, September 17). Teaching Tools. from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/
  3. Heitin, L. (2020, April 02). What Is Digital Literacy? Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html

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