COURSE COMPLETION

We have reached the finish line of our course! We could not be more excited, but also proud of the course we have created. Our goal was to create a course that could be ready to implement for Grade ½ teachers for a blended learning experience in their classroom. Looking at our course we know we have achieved that. We can also take this course and apply it to our remote learning teaching and learning experiences. 

Overview:

HERE IS THE LINK TO OUR VIDEO TO UNDERSTAND AND NAVIGATE OUR COURSE

https://www.wevideo.com/view/2116970464

Creation Process

Homepage

For our home page we wanted to keep it simple and straightforward. So we have the class code as well as our  flipgrid classroom code for assignments.

Classwork Page:

In our classwork page we have our 3 units which have 2-3 lessons per unit. Each lesson is broken down into a framework that we believe is best practices for 21st century teaching and learning. The framework is a gradual release of responsibility with the 3 components of: “I DO, YOU DO, WE DO”. We both use this framework within our own classrooms because it allows us to give explicit instruction to the students and allows for scaffolding to take place. Giving them the foundational concepts, language and knowledge that they need to then explore their learning and finally show us what they know through a gradual release to learning model. 

We found that a blended model to learning worked amazing with this framework and we were able to create interactive, collaborative experiences and content for students using online tools. An example is that we were able to create WE DO lessons using various online platforms and tools such as Jamboard, Flipgid, Padlet, Geoboards, and Seesaw. After reading and writing  about the importance of collaboration it became our mission to create as many online collaborative experiences for our students as possible. This way we are setting them up for their older grades when they become even more familiar with online learning experiences. 

I DO Lessons

The one area of our course we struggled with creating was the “I DO” lessons. Feedback from our peers allowed us to think about our “I DO” differently and to come back to a blended model of learning. Some of the “I DO’ lessons have a quick engagement video for students as suggested by our peers (read this blog post for more information). 

Our peers also suggested to focus on the blended piece of learning and not just online content. Therefore we have lesson plans for teachers that they will have the flexibility to teach those lessons in person, on video or recorded. 

Exploring New Online Tools

We were able to incorporate new online learning tools we had never explored before until our experience in EC&I 834. We used Nearpod in some of our lessons after learning about how amazing the tool was. We were blown away with all of the resources and programs that are out there for kids to enhance their learning.

Check out Tessa’s blog post for how you could use it in your classroom! 

After getting my feet wet with WeVideo, I started to create little projects and those little projects turned into bigger ones which include some of my grad studies presentations. I know I still have a ways to go with this learning and knowing all of the features of the program but I am certainly proud of myself for learning about a brand new program in the middle of this pandemic. The program is quite fascinating and I know any group of students or even my peer classmates will respond well to it. I am looking forward to continuing to challenge myself with this program and many others in my near future as an educator.

Assessment

We wanted our course to be as accessible as possible for students and teachers. As a teacher, assessment can be a very tricky task. Reflecting on (I think it was Dions post) and his question with challenges on assessment we both felt the same way. We are used to a classroom environment where we are constantly monitoring our students progress through formative assessment tasks. Therefore we wanted to create an experience/environment where teachers could still collect the formative assessment pieces through “WE DO” lessons to monitor individual student understanding. We also wanted to create interactive summative assessments for students to show their learning through interactive activities that allow us to see their full understanding of our target outcomes. All of the “I DO” activities are linked to a interactive game board that gives students the opportunity to select tasks and show their understanding of the learning outcomes in various ways. 

The gameboard is still something we will continue to work on. The underlined titles are all of the activities we have creative for summative assessments so far. We will continue to work on this piece of our course so that we can create even more interactive students tasks to give students more opportunities to show their understanding over one standard unit test. 

Teacher Assessment Guide

We also created a teacher assessment guide for each unit that allows teachers to see the outcomes each unit is targeted to. We included both Grade 1 and 2 outcomes. We then attached the assessments for student assessments to the guide so that teachers can view the tasks the students will complete to show their understanding of those outcomes. Followed by the assessment tasks are rubrics for teachers to use for those assessments. 

If you are interested in our guide check it out! 

CONCLUDING REMARKS:

Check out our course profile blog to see how we started planning our course.  If you want to see our final product here is a link to our course! 

Overall, this course learning experience has been one that has brought many learnings for the both of us. Initially, we started with the feelings of discomfort because of the many unknowns that come with not feeling confident with engaging students with online learning. Since we have been able to work together, the collaborative efforts have been outstanding and our professional growth has made many strides. As we go back to remote learning, we feel that this course has set us up for success for not only the instruction and it’s delivery, but also with the various ways we have learned to engage our students with online learning. We are hopeful that our gameboard will get LOTS of use during our future remote learning experiences and we already have new ideas to add to the game board! 

Thanks for not only reading our blog post but also for checking out the many pieces that went into the process and the construction of our course! We have appreciated your support throughout this learning experience.

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Tessa, I have so much gratitude for you and all of the hard work you have put into the creation of our course. I could not have asked for a better partner to tag along with me on this learning adventure!

Thanks again to everyone in #eci834, you are all ROCKSTARS and because of EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU, we are confident our course will FLOURISH for all!

Tessa & Jill

COLLABORATION IS FOR EVERYONE

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It has been exactly a year since our school division decided to move to remote learning during the time of the pandemic. At the beginning there were so many unknowns and I was constantly spinning my tires trying to figure out how to navigate the transformation.

Some of the questions running through my mind were:

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• how long are we going to be using this learning framework?
• how do I engage my primary grade ones and twos using Seesaw?
• how can I increase participation and engagement?
• what does instruction look like?

As time went on, collaborative practice with my colleagues became something that supported my instruction and because of the strong bonds, I started to gain an understanding of remote learning. After reading the article Bates wrote, I learned about the term “online collaborative learning” known as OCL. During and after reading the chapter, I reflected upon my practice and it feels good to know that I have been offering my students many opportunities to collaborate and explore content together. One of the practices I do daily and throughout all subject areas is ‘think-pair-share’. It is not only a scaffolded practice but when the students get to have learning conversations with their peers, their little faces light up! I also love how my role as the educator transitions to more of an observer/ facilitator one, as the students get to own their learning and have authentic conversations with their peers. Of course this practice allows for the students to be given opportunities both independent and then with a buddy before having the confidence to share with the larger group.

HOW WILL I ENGAGE MY STUDENTS IN AN ONLINE COLLABORATIVE FRAMEWORK?

As Tessa noted in her weekly blog, we feel we are on the right track with our course that we are developing. We have established various activities from a variety of programs and I am sure the students will LOVE the change. Seesaw is wonderful to use as a student profile while having documentation and photos of the authentic learning organized in folders. NearPod is fantastic because it is completely new to us and it will allow the students to take part in the fun activities and games that are included with the program. JamBoard is another excellent spot where students can collaborate and share their ideas while also using the different tools and features to enhance their personal learning experiences.

MY GOAL

My goal for online collaborative practice for my grade ones and twos is to figure out a way for them to interact with one another similar to ‘break out groups’ on zoom. I understand it would be challenging for this age group but I am wondering if caregivers could help support this practice in order for them to get a glimpse into the powerful learning experience. What are your thoughts? Do any of you have suggestions as to how Tessa and I could go about this for our course?

Thanks,

Jill

CLOSING THE DOOR TO THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

CAREGIVER PARTNERSHIP IS KEY!

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While I was surfing the internet hoping to come across not only something that interests me but also something that is relevant to my teaching context – I found an excellent blog written by Susie Boss on Edutopia. The blog’s title “Engage Parents as Partners to Close the Digital Divide” automatically caught my attention and within seconds of me reading I was engaged with the literature. The blog spoke to how a Superintendent named Dr. Darryl Adams took on the leadership to bring his school division and staff together while ensuring that each student had the best education possible. While each student received an I-Pad, the parents/ caregivers became the center of attention. Dr. Darryl Adam’s and his team began the pilot with ensuring that 80% of their parents/ caregivers were going to receive the necessary training for the devices. This goal was quickly reached and shortly after, the entire school population of caregivers were trained.

The following challenges were faced by the team, but with the end in mind, they persevered and did everything they could to provide not only the technology to the students but also the necessary training for the parents and guardians

CHALLENGES:.

• parents were working two jobs and did not have the time nor energy
• language was a concern
• low bandwidth
• scheduling time

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While reflecting upon my context and teaching practice, I teach at a community school in the city and having parent/caregiver partnerships is something I strongly believe in. Parent engagement is a huge piece of the puzzle and it is very important that we show we value their ideas, thoughts and support. As I continue my adventures of learning to navigate online learning platforms, I will certainly take the time and energy to construct ‘how to’ videos. By doing this, I am confident, my families will appreciate it and they will want to support their child in any way, shape or form. It is my goal to see the outcome that this school division did. This is just ONE of the ways we can work to transform our school cultures and to show our families we appreciate and value them!

What are your thoughts? What is the situation for you, the staff and students at your schools? Would it not be AMAZING for all of our students to have an I-Pad and for the entire school population of our caregivers to have this kind of training? We have lots of work to do but I am certain we can head in this direction while providing our students with the most effective and best teaching and learning practices for 21st century education.

My final thoughts – The sky is the limit for what we should and can do for our students and their families, especially in relation to the world of digital opportunities. We need to get creative and think outside of the box in order to transform education of today! In the meantime, Let’s continue to encourage family engagement as much as we can and hopefully we can pilot a training program similar to this in Saskatchewan.

WHO IS WITH ME?

Thanks for reading! I love learning with and from all of you in #eci834.

Jillian