And the Moral of the Blog is...

            Another semester is rapidly coming to an end, but this one means so much more than the others. Next school year I finish is my last year in the Concurrent Education program…which means next year I am going to Teacher’s Education (or Teacher’s College as some of you may still call it)! In the past year I have met a many people and have had a number of courses that have helped shape and inspire my philosophy of teaching and learning, as well as my future endeavors in the Education world. In this final blog for my course, I will be discussing some of the blogs I have followed and how these educators have inspired me in my planning for future teachings, along with a other lessons.

In my last blog post: The World is OUR Oyster, I mentioned listening into an OSSEMOOC webinar called "Teachers as Researchers", discussed by Dean Shareski. Following that discussion I was intrigued to read his blog and see what else he has to say about teachers, education and the world of learning. In this OSSEMOOC talk, he related sharing and reflecting on lessons to the education network online to being a researcher and sharing your findings. Both educators and researchers do the same thing in its simplest form: learn and share. Heck, I am a ‘researcher’ as I reflect on my thoughts and ideas from past experiences, through school courses and the little teaching experience I have so far through this blog! Every teacher is a researcher without even knowing it, they share what they see, learn, know, explore and discover, even their failures!

            In Shareski’s blog (Ideas and Thoughts), he blogs on a variety of topics and ideas; and what I find quite useful is that after every post, he included related posts from the past blogs he had written. One post that caught my attention was “What's Your Unfair Advantage?”. I did not understand the title and so it drew me to read the post further. Now I may not be able to answer this question since I have not truly taught in a classroom yet, so I will continue to reflect on this question next year during my teaching placements. He proposed this question based on a business podcast he was listening to, but it still can relate to educators. A great teacher keeps their students engaged in the lessons, and is typically one that students remember years down the road after graduating. I can think of a few of my teachers and what their unfair advantage was (i.e. the compassion one teacher had for us students and the respect we felt for her). I leave this point with what Shareski left off with in this post:

Good teachers look for what makes their students unique. They want to know their interests to help them learn and connect with them. I wonder if students were asked “What makes Mr./Mrs/Ms ___________ special?” about all the teachers in your school, what would they say? What would they say about you? What is your unfair advantage?

            The next blog I followed was from a Canadian HPE teacher named Andy Vasily (PYP PE with Andy), teaching in an IB school in China. He was awarded Best PE Teacher Blog in 2013, and a Top Physical Ed Contributor in 2014. How could I, a HPE student not follow him! Vasily’s goal in his website (blog, workshops, etc.) is “all about 'inspiring learners to find their flow' in a pursuit of mastery within their role as an educator”. Although he is a Physical Educator, many of his posts can be related to any subject a teacher is instructing. He believes that in order to be the best that educators can be, we must be willing to connect, share, learn, and grow both personally and professionally. He says being great educators requires hard work and a commitment to lifelong learning. These are points that have been constantly promoted in my Education class (EDUC 4P29). My peers in that class are not all HPE majors, most are completely opposite to what I am studying, but through this course we have been able to share and relate so many important points and teaching moments.

Taken by me in during video chat

            Now I could go on and on about the HPE lessons and advice Andy has provided in his blog, but my focus for this final blog is to point out the huge benefits of blogging, sharing, and helping fellow educators through the use of technology. Andy Vasily is actually online friends and peers with a PEKN professor of mine, Tim Fletcher, and through this connection my “Reflections in Physical Education” class was able to have a video chat with Vasily on the importance of reflective practice. Vasily tells us that a teacher should reflect through thinking, writing and conversations (i.e. Twitter chats, etc.). Blogging and through the use of Twitter often chat and share thoughts, lessons, ideas, etc. He noted that with a blog, we can write about anything that is inspiring; positive or negative experiences, Ted-Talks or even a single quote, can be meaningful and worth blogging about! For example, he blogged about an Ed Sheeran concert he and his family went to and how just as musicians perform their art, educators are also artists in their own way; for teaching is truly an art, and we should embrace our art and what makes us distinctly different. My professor encouraged us to contact him after this video chat with our questions and comments. I have already emailed him and am looking forward to hearing back with what he has to say further about HPE, reflective practice and the 21^st Century Skills within the classroom – for HPE and other subjects.

            The last blog I will discuss is one that I have mentioned many times; so don’t worry I won’t go in too much detail as I have already raved about him Jarrod Robinson’s blog/website The PE Geek has so much to offer – with relation to HPE and technology in particular. Robinson posts his blogs through writing and in podcast form with various videos along the way. I have already noted some of the great lessons and apps he has encouraged us to use in the classroom, and discussed how I would use it in my future lessons. But, here is my last one – and it is something any teacher (HPE focused or not) can use! Last week I discussed QR Codes, now the latest craze is Augmented Reality (AR).

            Although AR came out in 2010, it has yet to be utilized in the classroom. Robinson posted a few podcasts and blogs about AR, and even found an anatomy app called 4D Anatomy and discussed how this app can be utilized in the classroom when teaching Anatomy (in Exercise Science, or even in Biology!) I was quite intrigued with this blog post, and the app itself, so I downloaded it (it is Free!) and will be showing my peers what it can do in my next class discussion. I am sure there are AR apps that can be used for a variety of purposes, so any subject can use it, but I have yet to find “The One” that is perfect.

            I know this blog has a large focus on technology, and even though Technological (and Media) Literacy is one of the 21^st Century Literacies, it is not the only one I have learned about in class. However, us educators must become familiar with technology, and other literacies such has Critical Literacy, Mental Health Literacy and Multicultural Literacy before teaching them to our students. The apps, questions and blogs all encourage and promote 21^st Century skills such as Inquiry, Collaboration, and Problem Solving; amongst teachers and students! We educators must embrace the 21^st century skills and knowledge, too. How can we possibly teach and incorporate these literacies and skills into lessons for the students if we do not even know what they mean or what they can provide ourselves!

            So my fellow educators go out there and learn! But, do not forget to share this learning and all the experiences you gain along the way. Make every moment meaningful for you and your educational journey!

Google Image from:
http://sanjoserealestatelosgatoshomes.com/seen-in-saratoga-education-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/

 

3D Printers and QR Codes used in "gym class"?

Step 1: Scan the QR code…

(or take the easy way out and click on this to visit the site: 3D Printing & Physical Education?). Now read the blog and watch the included video.  

Step 2: Well I hope you were as amazed as I was when I went on this site and saw what the power of a 3D printer can do for the physical education program and a school as a whole! 

Before watching this video I knew that 3D printers were very expensive, and rare to have, but I did not realize the huge power of the ideas and the equipment that could be created with this printer! On the news channels they advertise that a 3D printer could create a figurine, or help engineers or car factories with their creations and inventions, but never do they publicize what a 3D printer can do for a school (HPE specific examples…) – print out real working whistles, golf clubs, balls, and more! Now, I do not know how a History or English teacher could use this printer, but even with Science as my second teachable I can already think that a 3D printer could help create models of the human body, systems, models of cells and organisms, etc. HPE teachers are no longer bound to a minimum order for certain equipment; if a teacher needs only one left handed golf club, this printer can provide you with one. As the blog itself states, “HPE teachers will have the ability to make total customizations to the equipment they have in their schools. Have some smaller students who cannot control the full sized cricket bat? Easy done, change the scale and print a smaller one. The Sky’s the limit!” It is quite atrocious that something so expensive can create items for pennies, but it does seem like a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately not all schools or programs have the means (money) to simply purchase one of the 3D printers tomorrow, but I am not discussing this in my blog. However it does seem the world can be your oyster and the ideas can be endless through using a 3D printer in schools.

Now, moving on…technological literacy is one of the main 21^st century skills students should be taught in schools – no matter the grade level or subject area. However, after one of the recent education classes, I realize that the teachers need to further develop their own knowledge in technological literacy before teaching it to their students. In a presentation by one of the co-founders of the site Cube for Teachers, my peers and I almost seemed like a deer in highlights from all of the technological and Internet knowledge and support that is available for teachers, as well as for us to use with our students. While being a member of the ‘next generation of teachers’, I felt like I was from the stone-age, as this woman showed us one website after another! One of the sites she showed us used QR codes for instructions for students with a disability, or as a scavenger hunt for students, no matter the subject. The use of QR codes really intrigued me. For one being a little nervous of the idea of having students BYOD (Bring your own device) to class, incorporating QR codes into a lesson was something I am intrigued about and would like more information on. 

Luckily, one of the blogs I follow by Jarrod Robinson (The PE Geek) posted a podcast/blog on QR codes and Physical Education (Click here to go to the blog post). QR codes were originally used in the 1990s in Japan for vehicle tracking. He explained how QR codes could be used in a number of ways inside the classroom and outside. This is something teachers should be implementing into their lessons. A QR code does not need to display a video or URL every time either, it can provide a link to text or information you want to tell your students. A few ways Jarrod used QR codes in his lessons included the use of a scavenger hunt (inside the school, local community, etc.) that delivered a practical test method, instead of the basic written test students must perform. Students had to answer questions, watch videos, and learn all while being active! Kind of like an Amazing Race within the Internet! One of the examples using QR codes that I liked the most, was using it in the Weight Room as a way to provide information on the safety procedures and how to properly use each machine/perform each exercise, through scanning the specific QR code. However, this can be a student-driven and not teacher-directed instruction. Your class can create the videos, and produce the QR codes for the exercises/machines for the year’s HPE classes, or for the following school year’s students as their final assignment…the ideas are purely endless.  

Now I encourage you to go online, search QR codes instructional ideas and lesson suggestions, create your own QR code for a lesson or blog you are about to create (I suggest using the site QRStuff when creating). Start to learn what you can do using QR codes.

A 3D printer may cost a lot of money before being able to use it in the classroom, but QR codes are free to use…what is your excuse now?

The World is OUR Oyster!

                                     - Google Image

 

            The World is Your Oyster…a saying many adults (including teachers) tell children. But this inspirational quote should not and does not exclude the adults! Teachers need to realize that they should be telling themselves that the world is their oyster – and it can all be through their fingerprints hitting the keyboard into technology! This is something I have truly recognized after spending hours on the internet, listening to podcasts and teacher talks, researching various Inquiry and Project-based schools, and more, just for one class assignment. With all this newfound information that has filled my brain to the brim, I am going to focus my blog post on just the tip of the iceberg of what I absorbed.

            First, teachers need to realize they are also researchers throughout their journey in the classroom. I watched a one hour “open mic” discussion through OSSEMOOC on professional learning with a focus on reflections from Dean Shareski’s presentation: Teachers as Researchers. As I began to watch the audience’s chat, and listen to what Shareski had to say, I went from bored and inattentive, to quite engaged and jotting down several notes to share with my class, and my blog! First, the concept of a teacher also a research seems quite crazy, however, this collaborative job role makes complete sense! A teacher creates lessons, reflects in-action and on-action based on how the lesson went, how the students performed, what needs to change, and how to further promote student learning. This as a whole is what a researcher does! Now I do not encourage teachers to make teaching students an experiment (I had this experience done by a high school teacher of mine for his Ph.D. and I completely hated the experience…) Students are not like mice in a lab; so you can just poke and prod at them just to see how they will react to a new teaching concept. HOWEVER…sharing this ‘research’ and reflections you have done through some lessons you have created and explored is what Shareski is referring to when he discusses Teachers as Researchers. Teachers should share what they see, learn, know, explored and failed at! He points out that many teachers share this information with their school colleagues in the staffroom, so why not share online, too? It can be shared through a blog, twitter account, Youtube channel, or simply joining a webinar like the ones OSSEMOOC offers, and share with fellow teachers who are also interested in sharing and helping one another out.

            The career of a teacher is universal, but so is teaching – share your experiences and lessons with the universal population of teachers! Contribute to the technological world of “The World is Our Oyster” for all teachers! 

            Project-based learning (watch PBL video), the latest instruction and teaching tool that is encouraged to be used in various subjects, such as Science, History, Math, English and Art. However, why not Health and Physical Education (HPE)? Schools and educational programs such as High Tech High, and Galileo Educational Network are based off of the PBL framework. They claim that it represents an effective pedagogy and helps students with various learning styles and academic experiences, by offering different entry-points for students to address the Essential Questions. PBL requires a lot of teacher design prior to the implementation, and reflections done by the students and teachers throughout the various projects. I found tonnes of examples for Science (click here for High School Science examples), Math, and various Humanities courses; but none of them included or even mentioned HPE! If I am being encouraged to include PBL into my future teachings, then how do I connect it with the HPE curriculum, and the physical activity aspect of the course? But, as I continued down this rabbit hole of PBL research, the last blog post my professor gave us the option to read was for HPE and its connection to PBL (Using Project Based Learning in Physical Education!) Of course I jumped at the chance to read it through the Buck Institute of Education (BIE) website, and find out what they recommend one doing to integrate PBL into the HPE curriculum and learning environment. First, it is key for a teacher to create a compelling problem or question; and no it cannot be to ‘create a healthy lifestyle plan’ in every grade level! HPE teachers must keep the task open ended, but ensure that physical activity and movement is still incorporated into the PBL lesson. The classroom is in the gymnasium, hence the necessity to not forget about having the students MOVE and stay ACTIVE!

            I apologize for such a long blog post, but all this research I did has truly inspired me as a future educator and has told me that the world IS my oyster and I can be the best teacher possible, to help promote the highest level of student learning and educational interest with the help of sharing with the education world, and incorporation of PBL!

Technology Everywhere!

Before you further read my post this week, you must watch this video first!

Most people will have heard of TED-Talks before, but have you heard of TED-Ed? TED-Ed (ed.ted.com) is a website through TED company that allows you to engage in or create dynamic lessons around the hundreds of thousands of educational videos on YouTube. The features explored include the ability to add multiple choice questions, open answer questions, "dig deeper" materials, and custom discussion topics to any video on YouTube. After watching this video, you would see how simple this website has made it for teachers to incorporate videos and technology into their lessons.

How would a teacher use this innovative and creative technological-integrated lesson plan? Well, how many of you remember the long list of readings, photocopied chapters, questions, and overheads that were used when your teacher was absent for a class period? If a teacher was planning to be away for a class, they could incorporate watching a specific video from YouTube, with answering a variety of selected response and constructed response testing items (Multiple Choice, Short Answer, etc.), as well as deeper thinking questions that students may answer as a group, or incorporate other 21^st century learning skills, like Character Education, Critical Thinking, etc. Before I obtain full time employment as a teacher I know the bumpy road of supply teaching is ahead of me. If teachers used this instead of handing me (the supply teacher) a booklet of overhead notes to put up for students to copy that would make my job much easier, as well as much more purposeful (supply teachers are not just there to babysit your students for the day!).

As a Physical Educator I wanted to see if this website offered options or sample lessons that were directed towards the HPE program. Although this website is directed towards the ‘formal classroom’ setting, it could easily be incorporated into the Health content of the HPE curriculum (something that is most often considered boring, therefore ignored and tends to be unpopular with the students…and many teachers!) Here is a sample lesson for the importance of Exercise, something that can be used within a teacher’s Physical Fitness lessons, or Healthy Living strand of the curriculum, called 23 and 1/2 Hours.

In my last blog post I left you with the promise that I would find ways technology could be incorporated into the gymnasium of the school – the Physical Education classroom! One of the blogs I follow for this course is called The PE Geek and recently the creator of this site posted a video podcast of “10 Ways You Can Use A Large Screen Display in PE”. In this video a large screen (and iPad!) can be used in the PE classroom and be used as a scoreboard (useful for school games too!), using fitness videos (no more an old VCR tape of aerobic dancing!), and using apps like Polar Team, Coach Notes, and Ubersense Coach that he promotes incorporating into the PE learning and lessons. This amazing website has an ongoing blog, podcasts and global workshops offered all on how to integrate technology and PE together! A site that I will be using in my future career of a Health and Physical Education teacher!

The Search for the 21st Century Classroom Ideas Begins!

As a new semester begins, my posts on the blog shall continue. The courses may have changed, but I am still on the path to becoming a teacher at Brock U! As my fellow peers and I are beginning the last semester before we head to Teacher’s Ed., the reality is beginning to set in…we are beginning to ask ourselves and the people around us, “Can I do this?” “What kind of teacher will I be?” “Will my students like me? Hate me? Will the older teachers like me, too!? Will I even get a job?” With so many thoughts running through our heads at this time, it is important to continue the development of our individual teaching philosophies, and prepare for future practices. In today’s technological world in the 21^st Century, it should be quite evident that incorporating 21^st Century Learning Skills to our future classroom must be done without hesitation. But, how can these skills be incorporated into schools when the Ontario Curriculum and its Provincial Education System seem to be 2 steps behind many of the other Provincial Education Systems (Watch this promo video by the New Brunswick Department of Education)? A question we all must delve into further…

During my searches on Pinterest for an assignment I came across a certain image with a number of different ways a teacher could incorporate 21^st Century learning into the classroom (see picture below post). As I read the list of ideas, there are so many of them that I am now fortunate to have been a part of in one of my Education courses. One idea was: Post a Question of the Week on your class blog; my course has one-upped this idea, as my peers and I are all writing a Blog ourselves, as we reflect on the course material and education surrounding us. Another idea was: Let your students drive the learning; well my professor gave my peers and I the opportunity to “drive our learning”, as we helped ‘negotiate’ the curriculum for the course, and helped provide what we would do, how we would learn, and what it all would be worth (because marks still count…). This is only 2 of the many points highlighted on this image that my course has incorporated into our learning and our classroom. I guess this advertisement for becoming a 21^st Century teacher, and having a 21^st Century classroom will not be as difficult after all!

Through social media, teacher and classroom blogs, pictures and documents found on Pinterest and such, are all examples how technology in the 21^st Century can provide anyone and everyone around the world the tools, tips, ideas and methods to become apart of the ever-growing 21^st Century global classroom phenomenon.

Leaving point: As my first teachable is Health & Physical Education, incorporating 21^st Century Learning may take a little more work as the “classroom” is the gymnasium and outdoors. Throughout this semester I hope to find ways on how 21^st Century Learning can still be achieved through health and physical activity, and I will share this progress throughout my blog posts, along with the variety of other thoughts, reflections, and opinions I garnish throughout the next 3 months.

Found on Pinterest.com

Why You Should LOVE School AND LOVE Education

            When trying to decide what to write about for my last blog post for this course, I decided to start searching up various videos on YouTube. With such a huge variety of videos on 21^st Century learning and skills (for example: Aligning 21st Century Learning with 21st Century Learners from 21 Foundation) it is easy to feel overwhelmed by all the information on it. Ironically, one of the goals of the 21^st century learning model is for students not to be overwhelmed by facts! Then I came upon a video that came out a few years ago, one that many university students like myself, watched, liked, shared, and tweeted about. The title stands out from the rest, “Why I Hate School But Love Education” by Suli Breaks; something that sounds contradictory to most. As I began to watch this video, and was quickly captivated by this man’s words and poetic-rhythm of the rant, I realized that promoting 21^st century learning can help students not only love education and learning, but love school, too! Education can happen anywhere, at anytime, in any place. It is up to the teachers to further enhance educating students of all ages in various subjects, ideas, and innovations in a way that the students’ self-learning is enriched, thus helping to increase their love to learn! Same as I wrote in a previous posting, school cannot be just about marks, (Watch I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate by Suli Breaks) but unfortunately that is what the society we live in today focuses on – from preschool to post-secondary schooling. Enriching a student’s 21^st learning skills should be done across all levels of education – not just in the elementary and high school levels, which were governmentally governed – but also in high level education institutions i.e. tertiary institutions.

            Teachers need to make the effort to incorporate 21^st century skills into the learning process, like inquiry, collaboration, critical thinking, media literacy, and creativity. When I look back on some of the assignments and teachings I had to do throughout my education journey, I had some teachers that incorporated 21^st century learning skills, which may not have been advocated as in today’s education world. Like in the first video posted above from 21 Foundation, I had a teacher give us the exact project of creating our own country; many teachers promoted the use of technology, PowerPoint slideshows, short films, Photoshop and more, with the use of computers. We had “computer lab” time, where we worked on our typing skills, just like in languages we would work on our penmanship – both equally important to know. In today’s world, we are hearing more and more about the celebrities that were successful in the world, and did not graduate university, did not graduate college, and some did not graduate high school! However, like in the video, they loved education and developed an education in their successful fields, like Beethoven, and Shakespeare.

            Education is the key to success, but school should not be “the look”, it should not be “the distant cousin”. School should be the key TOWARDS education! Students spend so much time in school, so many years in school, and so much money for school; so why do so many students still hate school? Incorporating 21^st century learning may be “they key” to helping school get out of its bad representation, and get students of all ages to start loving school again.

            Sure, education can occur anywhere, at anytime, at any place; but if students continue to hate school, and as a result begin to hate learning…how can the education happen? Now, this post may not be the longest, but words are just words…and actions speak louder than words. I encourage watch the videos I posted within this blog, reflect on them and see what you can do to match a change in how students perceive education, learning and school. For school, education and learning should be closely related to help promote positive student learning and the love to be life-long learners!

 

 

Suli Breaks - Why I Hate School But Love Education//Spoken Word (@Sulibreezy)

Don't Forget about Physical Education!

Integrated curriculum – a well-known term for some, and possible a scary term for others. In EDUC 4P19, integrated curriculum is a key part of the course, and something all of us students must learn to incorporate within our future teaching endeavors! Now, this may be quite challenging in a secondary school setting, as you must work with other teachers, other students, and a whole lot of other possible scholastic issues, so let’s just look at this method within an elementary school setting. In today’s society, math and science are the key subjects for ‘life’; the subjects adults are promoting and pushing the students to succeed in. However…not everyone can or will succeed in those subject areas. This is why when creating an integrated curriculum unit, teachers should use all sorts of different types of subjects, like art, languages, religion and social sciences…and especially try to include health and physical education.

            If you have read my blog before, you know how important health and physical education is to me, and my advocacy for today’s society to not diminish the importance of this once thought of “useless” and “pointless” class. International news stations and reporters all state the same things when it comes to childhood obesity rates, physical inactivity, and the laziness of today’s society…it is all on the rise! In today’s society, most children spend most of their day sedentary, and are not fulfilling the government’s daily recommendation of physical activity. For some children, HPE class is the only way for them to be physically active, as they live in a low socio-economic status (SES)environment, where their parents/guardians cannot afford to enroll them into extra-curricular physical activity programs. In Canada, public education is free for all students to enroll in… so why are the schools not ensuring that the students are receiving the basic needs in life!? Incorporating HPE into an integrated curriculum unit is one solution, one idea, to help encourage students to spend time being physically active, all while enhancing student learning, and their self-motivation towards school and learning.

            In a previous class of mine, a group of my fellow Concurrent Education students and I created a Physical Education lesson, that incorporated a major social science topic…the importance of recycling, and the 3 R’s. We wanted to create a lesson where students learned the importance of recycling, and how to be a better global citizen, all while ensuring their daily physical activity needs were met. When we introduced this game to a group of elementary school-aged students, they all loved the game! These students may not have realized that this lesson was an integration of  2 subjects, for they were having a blast running around the gymnasium, enhancing their throwing accuracy, all while learning how important, and how fun recycling actually can be. After reading the text in EDUC 4P19, I realized that through our integrated activity, we were enhancing the students’ 21^st century skills, such as culture and ethical citizenship, and learning how to know, to do, to be and to live together.

            Thus, it is important to not forget about HPE class, and the importance of its curriculum. As one of my PEKN professors told us…“It is important that we keep the PHYSICAL in EDUCATION!” Once again I am preaching that Health and Physical Education is a very important and a key subject in the education system. Physical education in schools help dictate students’ motivation of physical activity in their daily lives and the importance of living healthy lives. How many children believe they are active, by taking part in organized sport, but meantime they spend hours sitting in a car being driven to a game or practice? Teachers need to learn how to incorporate more physical activity into their integrated units and lessons, in order to further promote a healthy lifestyle outside of school, one that will hopefully continue throughout a person’s lifetime.

Picture from a PEKN 4P32 lecture