Japanese Teacher Blog

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Response to Latenight11’s blog

December 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I read Latenight11’s blog on Learning, Motivation, and Theory.

As I read this blog, I found myself feeling more and more relatable. I agree that when you have a “buddy”, you can be more consistent, and having that other person go through the same/similar journey as you actually helps you stay on task and keep on progressing. 

You also mentioned that when you have purpose, your motivation increase. I agree with you on this as well. I always found going to the gym to exercise very hard because I always had to motivate myself to get there to start working out even though I liked the idea of moving my body. I used to think “maybe I can just do similar things at home” and end up being lazy and not doing it. 

One day I got inspired by one of my friends who competes in lifting. I have known him for a very long time, and seeing him evolve  was very very inspiring, making me think maybe I can do it too. I wanted to be strong like my friend, and that enough was a good motivation for me to start hitting the gym and stay consistent. Even if we don’t go to the same gym, he continue on to motivate me through his progress. If he is working hard to meet his goal, I am going to try hard to meet my goal.

Response to Mara’s post on Experiential Learning

December 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I read Mara’s blog post on Experiential learning. Thank you for the mention as well! Her post included a short video that explains Experiential Learning in only a few minutes, and I really like the way she delivers information. It keeps the reader engaged with different features in her blog post!

I especially resonated on the part “It gives learners opportunities for hands-on learning, which has been linked with increased engagement and memory retention as the learning is linked with memories and feelings (Carlton University, 2020). 

When I look back on my highschool years, to be honest, I don’t remember most of the things I learned when I was sitting in class, but I remember the function of internal organs because we used our body and played it out. Someone acted out as a “food” that goes through the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, and etc. It was way more memorable and enjoyable than just staring at the textbook to learn!

I believe it is beneficial for students if learning happens both indoors and outdoors,  including some sort of hands-on features especially with younger grades, ideas that are relatable, and open, for it to be meaningful and memorable.

Response to Harleen’s post on Inclusion

December 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I read Harleen’s blog post on Interaction. I thought her activity idea with students was great and the TedTalk she shared with us was very powerful. I find myself sometimes getting drowned with technology and screen time through responding to emails and text messages. Especially these days with online courses and working from home, I hear a lot of people, including myself, struggling to separate work/school and their private life. As much as I believe that there are many cool technologies out there and that it is important to incorporate those in classrooms,  it is also very very important to take ourselves outside and do outdoor learning so that we can give ourselves some break and time to rest in our own nature. 

Response to Heidi’s post

December 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I read Heidi’s blog called Learning Design for All .

I found her posts very interesting and eye-opening at the same time.  After looking at Shelly Moore’s evolution of inclusion image that Heidi shared in her blog, I realized I’ve been slightly misunderstanding the idea of “inclusion” this whole time.

I knew in my head that all individuals are unique and they learn differently in their own pace. However after reading her post where she says “there is no such thing as an “average” learner, each person is as complex as the next”, I  realized I have been unconsciously categorizing a lot of them as “typical” or “average” learners and some individuals “unique learners”. 

I found the image of dots very helpful to imagine and understand what inclusion actually means and looks like. Heidi’s blog posts reminded me of the importance of giving options to use the support and modification provided for everyone, instead of limiting those to individuals who “seem” to need it.

Blog Post #4 ~My experience with interactivity in learning environment~

November 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

What experiences have you had with interactivity in learning environment? How did the interaction (or lack of interaction) affect your learning? Your enjoyment?

Hi everyone!

This is a very interesting topic! I think there are many different ways to “interact” while learning. It could be a physical thing like human interactions or interaction with objects. It could also be an emotional interaction where you feel something and it just stays with you because it was such a memorable experience. It could be a combination of both or with some other factors.

I genuinely enjoy interactions with other people, objects, and resources while learning new things, but I also value my own time (alone time) where I can let those new ideas to sink in, giving me an opportunity to reflect, and finalize my learning. The solo reflection part has been crucial for me, and I think this reflection part is what leads to next whether that be going further into that topic, or connect to something very different.

As an ESL student, interactivity is and has been a very important aspect in learning. Discussion with my peers and doing activities together simply helped me scaffold my understanding on what we were learning. When learning only happens in a one way direction (student just taking in information ) and interactivity is eliminated, it is very easy for me to get lost and get stuck in that mud of confusion.

For me personally, revisiting the topic that I was learning in different ways were one of the most effective ways to own that learning. I have a short story that I’d like to share that may or may not sound kind of nerdy, but here it is.

I was a high school student in Japan, and one day I was on a bus, standing, to go to school. The bus had to make a sudden stop mid way, and everyone on the bus, especially those who were standing lost balance and fell forward. Few days after that incident, I was in my physics class and we were learning about Newton’s law of motion. Newton’s first law of motion: “Every body remains in a state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by a net external force”.

As soon as I heard this and visualized it in my head, I remembered about the incident on the bus from few days ago. I connected so well to this portion of the lecture especially because I experienced it with my own body and it just made sense. This may sound very dramatic but I even felt like I owned Newton’s laws of motion because I never experienced that sense of “understanding” something this clearly, especially with physics. This is just one example of my experience with interactivity.

This may not be for everyone but I think learning experience that connects mind and body, stays longer in general. This experience is from when I was in high school but I still remember it clearly! Ever since this day, I process new materials that I learn by making personal connections or by creating a whole new experience around it to make it memorable.

 

Reference:

González, D., & Daennagonzalez. (n.d.). Newton’s Laws of Motion. Retrieved November 02, 2020, from https://issuu.com/daennagonzalez/docs/newton___s_laws_of_motion

 

Blog Post #2 – Inquiry based learning and Elementary Education

October 4, 2020 / / 7 Comments

Hi everyone!

I decided to look deeper into Inquiry based approach for our second blog post!

Mara and I formed a learning pod with Elementary Education in mind, and I’d like to talk a bit about what is Inquiry based learning, how to use this approach, what is so special about it, and some of my personal thoughts on it today.

First of all, let’s go over the definition.

Inquiry – “The dynamic process of being open to wonder and puzzlements and coming to know and understand the world” – Alberta Focus on Inquiry, 2004

Inquiry-based learning – “A process where students are involved in their learning, create essential questions,investigate widely, and then build new understandings, meanings, and knowledge. Knowledge is new to the students and maybe used to answer their essential question, to develop a solution, or to support a position or point of view. The knowledge is usually presented to others in some sort of a public manner and may result in some sort of action.” – Alberta Focus on Inquiry, 2004

Inquiry based approach allows students to take a lead/control on their learning, follow their curiosity,  while scaffolded the general process by the instructor (aka classroom teacher).
What does this exactly mean… Let’s look deeper into this.

So how do we start this? 
First, let’s take a look at this image that shows the overall process of this learning approach.

https://www.learningpersonalized.com/interview-with-trevor-mackenzie/

  1. Determine your focus.
    Are we exploring your passion? Delving into curiosity? Aiming for a goal? Or taking on a new challenge? (This is also known as the four pillars of inquiry).
    Example topic: Spider
  2. Come up with an essential question.
    This could come from you or from your learners. Provide provocations such as prompts, videos, books, activities, etc. to motivate students to explore and further their curiosity and passion.

    https://www.trevormackenzie.com/posts/2018/2/13/the-power-of-the-provocation
    Example: How do spiders survive?

  3. Brainstorm questions.

    https://twitter.com/trev_mackenzie/status/974621277313941504/photo/2
    Example: What do spiders eat? Where do they live? How do they protect themselves?

  4. Brainstorm subtopics.
    In this case, give students few kinds of spiders that they could possibly look further into.

  5. Select a subtopic.
    Example: 5 students pick jumping spiders, 4 students pick tarantulas…etc.

  6. Access prior knowledge.
    In small group, brainstorm what they already know about these spiders and record them and share.

  7. Identify wondering.
    What do you wonder..? What do you want to know more about?

  8. Research.
    Provide your learners with a booklet or some kind of medium where they can record their learning. Digital portfolio is also great if you have access to electronics, because photographs and videos can be a powerful tool to capture students’ learning journey!

  9. Make cross curricular connections.
    Example: Apply it to PE, come up with some games using their unique movement

  10. Perform, Reflect, and Revise.
    This is the final stage of the inquiry journey. “Provide opportunities for your students to receive formative feedback throughout this process and equip them with the language and understanding to self-assess their work. Build in time to reflect and revise both before their demonstrations of understanding and after feedback is given” (Inquiry mindset, p.30)  Showcasing students’ learning such as public display is a great way to show their achievements.
    Example: Student groups create an art mural to depict what spiders need/do to survive

 

Now let’s talk about the types of Student inquiry.

There are 4 main ways for the teacher and students’ to start this inquiry process: Structured inquiry, Controlled Inquiry, Guided inquiry, and Free inquiry.
Scaffolding is critical during this process and this is where this type of learning approach can get a bit chaotic and “messy” if not done right. We do not want to throw students in the deep end of the pool without teaching them how to swim first. Here is a good image that explains a bit better of what this means.
https://www.trevormackenzie.com/posts/2018/1/16/what-youll-discover-when-you-read-dive-into-inquiry

So, why Inquiry based approach?
Here are the top 10 reasons why this learning approach is effective.

  1. Nurture student passions & talents
  2. Empower students voice and honour student choice
  3. Increase motivation and engagement
  4. Foster curiosity and love for learning
  5. Teach grit, perseverance, growth mindset and self regulation
  6. Make research meaningful and develop strong research skills (Great skills to practice from young age! Preparing them for future!)
  7. Deepen understanding to go beyond memorizing facts and content (go past and beyond the traditional way  of learning)
  8. Fortify the importance of asking good questions (something that leads to next)
  9. Enable students to take ownership of their learning and to reach their goals
  10. Solve the problems of tomorrow in the classroom of today! (Foster global leader – someone we need in the twnety-first century! “memorization of facts and performance of routine tasks we see in traditional classroom are becoming less important. Curiosity, creativity, initiative, multidisciplinary thinking, and empathy prepare learners for a constantly changing world” (MacKenzie & Bathurst-Hunt, 2018, p.43)
    Our goal is for “students to see learning your room as ideas, problems, and challenges demanding their voices and their expertise”  (MacKenzie & Bathurst-Hunt, 2018, p.10)

 

Personal comment, and how Inquiry based approach is connected to Mara and myself’s learning resources?

Mara and I are considering taking in this approach into our learning resources. We are still in the process of brainstorming and building up, but I think this learning approach is a great way to better meet the needs of our learners, teaching them not only the overall essential learning skills but also allowing multiple ways for them to show their learning in many ways. Especially in elementary age group, I think this learning style accommodates many types of learners, especially those who find traditional way of learning boring, quizzes and tests very intimating, and those who are shy and introverted, not letting them ever that that “they are not smart enough”.  Teachers often times see the side of the students that they didn’t know existed. It really drew me into the idea because when our learners are exploring a topic they are truly interested in and passionate about, engagement increases, work ethic improves, skills that are useful and necessary in life get acquired, and the overall energy towards learning and collaboration amongst learners are fostered. I believe this style of approach allow teachers to assess student understanding better as well because their learning evidence are more clear and accurate.

 

Reference:

Focus on Inquiry: A teacher’s guide to implementing inquiry-based learning. Edmonton: Alberta  Learning, 2004. open.alberta.ca/dataset/032c67af-325c-4039-a0f3-100f44306910/resource/b7585634-fave-4488-a836-af22f1cbab2a/download/29065832004focusoninquiry.pdf.

MacKenzie, T. (2018, January 17). What You’ll Discover When You Read Dive into Inquiry. Retrieved October 03, 2020, from https://www.trevormackenzie.com/posts/2018/1/16/what-youll-discover-when-you-read-dive-into-inquiry

MacKenzie, T. (2018, February 14). The Power of the Provocation. Retrieved October 03, 2020, from https://www.trevormackenzie.com/posts/2018/2/13/the-power-of-the-provocation

Mackenzie, T [@trev_mackenzie].  (2018, March 16.) Day11: Ways to Honour Questions in the Classroom! How amazing is this?! Pre-order #InquiryMindset today & get access to our exclusve content! [Tweet]. Twitter. https://mobile.twitter.com/trev_mackenzie/status/974621277313941504/photo/2

Trevor MacKenzie Interview: Questions and Inquiry. (2018, August 1). Learning Personalized. https://www.learningpersonalized.com/interview-with-trevor-mackenzie/

MacKenzie, T., & Batburst-Hunt, R. (2018). Inquiry Mindset: Nurturing the Dreams, Wonders, and Curiosities of Our Youngest Learners. Place of publication not identified: Elevate Books Edu.

 

 

 

image showing person walking in pre-painted footprints
Photo by Flickr user jfchenier under CC license: BY-NC 2.0

Welcome and Introduction

May 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Before proceeding with this first blog post, we expect you to consider your privacy preferences carefully and that you have considered the following options:

  1. Do you want to be online vs. offline?
  2. Do you want to use your name (or part thereof) vs. a pseudonym (e.g., West Coast Teacher)?
  3. Do you want to have your blog public vs. private? (Note, you can set individual blog posts private or password protected or have an entire blog set to private)
  4. Have you considered whether you are posting within or outside of Canada? This blog on opened.ca is hosted within Canada. That said, any public blog posts can have its content aggregated/curated onto social networks outside of Canada.

First tasks you might explore with your new blog:

  • Go into its admin panel found by adding /wp-admin at the end of your blog’s URL
  • Add new category or tags to organize your blog posts – found under “Posts” (but do not remove the pre-existing “edci335” category).
  • See if your blog posts are appearing on the course website (you must have the the edci335 category assigned to a post first and have provided your instructor with your blog URL)
  • Add pages, if you like.
  • Include hyperlinks in your posts (select text and click on the link icon in the post toolbar)
  • Embed images or set featured images and embed video in blog posts and pages (can be your own media or that found on the internet, but consider free or creative commons licensed works). To embed a YouTube video, simply paste the URL on its own line.
  • Under Dashboard/Appearance,
    • Select your preferred website theme and customize to your preferences (New title, new header image, etc.)
    • Customize menus & navigation
    • Use widgets to customize blog content and features
  • Delete this starter post (or switch it to draft status if you want to keep it for reference)

Do consider creating categories for each course that you take should you wish to document your learning (or from professional learning activities outside of formal courses). Keep note, however, that you may wish to rename the label of the course category in menus (e.g., as we did where it shows “Learning Design” as the label for the “edci335” category menu.  This will enable readers not familiar with university course numbers to understand what to expect in the contents.

Lastly, as always, be aware of the FIPPA as it relates to privacy and share only those names/images that you have consent to use or are otherwise public figures. When in doubt, ask us.

Please also review the resources from our course website for getting started with blogging:

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