Now that I am in my 4th
year of my undergraduate degree, I am really starting to realize where my
passions lie and what direction I’d like to go in after I achieve my teaching
degree. I have come to value the metacognitive process of reflection, as reflecting
allows me to recognize how my past experiences throughout my time at university
have shaped my future career decisions. Drake, Reid, and Kolohon (2014)
describe this as one’s personal story, which is situated within cultural,
global, and universal contexts. This blog will look at how my personal story is
constantly being reshaped based on my ongoing learning experiences within this
course and in my other classes.
One way that I am blending the
old story with the new story is by combining my drive to help children learn through
new ways of teaching with technology. I found this inspiring blog (which you
can access here:http://www.speechtechie.com/) where Sean Sweeney posts his knowledge about how to implement interactive
technology in the classroom to help your students with language-based
curricula.
One of his examples that I particularly
like is the StoryPatch App (http://storypatch.com/) which helps students to create a narrative by
illuminating the essential parts of a story (such as characters, setting, plot,
etc.). I enjoy that you can personalize instruction based on the level of
assistance the app provides for the child. For example, you can start by
building a story with help where students choose from a selection of choices.
As students increase their ability to write quality stories, they have the
option of creating a story without help, which allows them to have complete
control over the story writing process. Using an app helps bring the story to
life and could be a potential motivator for students who struggle with writing
or are uninterested in reading. Here is the YouTube video which describes how
the app works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fwQlp3dcp0
Drake et al. (2014) also describe how
educators have shifted their views from seeing assessment as an end product to
using assessment throughout the learning process as a way to continually adapt
instruction to meet student needs effectively. Ongoing assessment requires
teachers to constantly make observations and look at both the processes and the
products that children undergo or produce. This new way of thinking also aligns
with my belief in the constructivist philosophy, which involves students
drawing on their prior experiences to actively construct their understandings
of the world and to reflect on themselves as learners (Drake et al., 2014). Personally,
I am curious as to how I can connect the 21st century literacies
with the constructivist philosophy in the classroom. Right away, I see a
possible connection with environmental literacy by having students reflect on
the personal impact they have on the environment by tracking the ecological
footprint they are leaving on the world based on their daily choices. A cool
resource to use can be found here: https://islandwood.org/footprint-calculator/ As I engage with more course material, I will continue to reflect on concrete
ways that I can incorporate the different literacies into the classroom
experience. Hopefully, I will be able to put some of these ideas into practice
when I am engaged in teacher education placements next year.
Another avenue that has been
presented to me as a way to include 21st century teaching ideals in
my teaching bag of tricks is the use of video games in the classroom. A game
that I was recently introduced to, entitled Prodigy, is a math-based adventure
game that is based on the Ontario curriculum. You can access this game here:https://www.prodigygame.com/Play/ I
was amazed that I had not come across this game yet, and I am currently using
it with a girl in Grade 6 who I tutor in math. I love that the online game is free,
and that it adapts the questions to the student’s math skill level. Overall, I
am learning that even if a video game is not aligned with the curriculum, it
can still be used to teach 21st century skills such as critical
thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving.
Thanks for stopping by and
listening to my musings for this week! Stay tuned for future updates on how my
personal story continues to develop as I engage in new experiences.
-Michelle
References
Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the 21st
century learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
