What I believe and strive for in my classroom

Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

I believe that each child needs to have a relationship with their teacher. I strive to create an environment that is open and welcoming to everyone while taking the time to get to know and understand each and every one of my students. Building a solid relationship with your students not only goes a long way in their personal life but also allows for room to grow academically and socially.

No Child Left Behind

This is one of my most important teacher philosophies as I believe it is my goal to allow each and every child in my classroom every opportunity possible to survive and thrive. I believe that every child should get the same opportunity as each other and it is my job to make this happen. In saying this, I believe that it is important to understand that no child is alike and each will require different materials and help in order to get them to where they need to be and want to be.

Demonstrating Leadership to encourage future leaders

I believe that leadership begins in the classroom. Demonstrating a positive environment full of leadership and encourage will teach your students how to be leaders as well. Teachers stand in the best position in order to create our future generation and by demonstrating leadership you are teaching the future adults how to lead appropriately.

Physical Education

As much as I believe that other subjects are important, I do not believe that the kids can thrive without physical education. I believe that it stimulates their brains and keeps them healthy so that they are able to achieve in other subjects. 30+ minutes of physical activity in a day is extremely important and necessary so that kids can take some time to decompress and work off some steam.

My Knitting Journey

If I am being honest, my knitting journey had a lot of ups and downs with a lot of teaching moments. I started off taking 4+ hours to make a dishcloth that was supposed to be a square and ended up being a triangle. I then continued forward to make three more dishcloths with fairly decent knits and shapes. From there, I thought I would dive right in and attempt a slipper… (shaking my head) I thought a slipper would not be that hard… right?! Well I was VERY wrong and after almost 15 attempts to restart my slipper I decided that I should probably move on to something a little more manageable. I moved on to a scarf. The scarf was fun to make and not too difficult although it required a lot of my time.

By the progress on these dishcloths it is easy to tell that I got a lot more comfortable with holding the needles, applying the right pressure and just simply knitting.

I also spent more time researching knitting groups and hashtags that I could follow along with to get tips and ideas for future projects. This learning project was fun and very challenging at times! From never holding knitting needles to knitting a few dishcloths, a scarf for my cat, and finding new groups to be a part of while growing my social media presence as well as some knitting terminology and how to read (although I do not like following the written patterns as much) I would have to say it was fairly successful!

My infinity scarf made for my cat… by the look on her face you can tell she was not really a fan and did not wear it for very long

From joining the groups, it made me feel a bit better about my knitting. We all start somewhere and most beginners work looks similar. I also have come to understand just how much time people put in to create large pieces of knitting. Blankets may take 6+ months of consistent work because that is how long it takes to properly knit! I did not know this previously and thought I would be able to work at it and see a lot of progress but instead I am spending a lot of time and seeing smaller progress but that is okay!

Since beginning this project, I have been able to increase my speed as I know what I am doing a bit better. Speed and shape have been the two largest changes to my own progress that I have noticed!

I look forward to making more progress on my knitting and adventuring out to try even more patterns!

Contributions to Learning

I believe that at the start of this class my social media presence was very low. I very rarely posted nor commented on anything on social media as I felt as though it was not my place. Throughout this class, I have really pushed myself to work with others and contribute to their learning. I have commented on a few learning project blogs as well as some twitter posts. I have shared numerous different resources that can be used in the classroom from books, and videos to teaching styles and ways to talk about certain topics in the classroom.

Twitter was my largest form of communication with students as it was a quick and easy way to communicate, and share. I reposted a lot of different things that our classmates and other teachers had shared while also adding feedback where necessary. For example commenting on the “Name Jar” post that Ms. Guzman had posted. I had done this activity and stated that it was a great way to start the year off!

I also had discussions with Carmel and Julia discussing work and projects this summer! Being able to tying in our jobs to this class has been fantastic! Also adding in to different things the students had shared surrounding numerous different topics and adding to discussions!

This would be interesting within the education system. Given the current situation, it may become a reality. Thoughts? #edtc300
Andrew Yang says the US should 'seriously' consider switching to a 4-day workweek to boost people's mental health https://t.co/BxAxOQo260 #feedly

— Hailey Sills (@HaileySills) May 27, 2020

When Hailey shared the tweet about the four day work week I also gave my opinion as I had experienced a four day work week myself. Not only did I think that social media grew our learning but also our discussions in the zoom classes, specifically when we broke off into our smaller groups. We often discussed many different resources and apps that can be used to be even more successful. When we talked about our extension tools in the zoom, I walked my group through exactly how to use my snipping tool and what you could do with it as they had not used anything similar before.

Underneath, I also added a comment of one that I had made towards a learning project. I loved going through the blogs and seeing everyone’s learning project and how different each one was!

Week 6: Progress on my Scarf

Do you like #knitting or #sewing and having a chat?
Join our 'zoom' knit and natter coffee morning this Thursday 25 June!
Just email community@oxfordplayhouse.com to register for your place and you will receive the login details for the session. pic.twitter.com/1Uwmr6r6wU

— Oxford Playhouse (@OxfordPlayhouse) June 23, 2020

This week I not only made some more progress on my scarf, but I also checked out some resource sites on twitter and Facebook for future ideas, tips, and suggestions! On Twitter I checked out #knitting and found many new people and sites to follow! People such as David are knitting for their pets, while others are using their time in quarantine to make shirts, blankets, slippers and numerous other things! One day I hope to be able to get a bit more complex but as of right now I have to take baby steps!

I have also found something crazy that I never thought I would find… A ZOOM CALL ABOUT KNITTING! This intrigued me so I am pretty sure I am going to check it out! Even if it is way out of my league, maybe I will be able to find some future tips on how to progress my learning! Knitting is not something that I want to stop once my learning project is over and I am excited to get better and better!

I have also reached out to Facebook and joined a couple of knitting groups on there. One of them is KnitPal- The Knitting Lounge for Beginners. Not only is this a knitting page, but being that it says “for beginner” right in the title I feel like it should be better for me as I am still quite new to knitting!

Here is some progress on my scarf that I have made. This has been the largest project I have made so far and has taken me a very long time to do so. I have put in close to 6 hours already working on the proper stitches and getting its size.

Summary of Learning

Here is our Summary of Learning throughout EDTC 300! What a fantastic class this was to take. I have so many new resources and understandings from this class that I can use and apply into my future classroom! I have also gained a much larger Teaching community and without this class I would not have so many people in my community so early on in my career!

Coding… A New Universe

When Katia mentioned coding for our class I totally freaked out… honestly I was terrified at the thought of having to code anything. I had no previous experience coding before and I had always assumed that it would be WAY over my head. It was a universe I had never discovered or rather never even looked at it because it seemed scary.

Although I am younger and maybe should be more “tech savy”, I can say I am more the opposite. I often get quite frustrated with technology when I do not understand the software which pushes me away from putting myself out there and trying any new technology out. I remember getting my very first iPhone and being close to tears just trying to get it set up with my sister because I did not know how to run the software. This is probably the main reason why I stayed so far from coding.

However, after our zoom class, I already began to feel better about this new universe that I was about to dive in to. Coding is not just for the “tech savy” but also for beginners! There are numerous different sites that help elementary and beginners learn how to code. Code academy, and hour of code are both great for beginners! They are both sites that keep children engaged by offering Moana, Star Wars, and flappy versions of games that you can create yourself.

Before doing any coding I did not really see the purpose of teaching it however, now seeing that it is easy and fun as well as rewarding in the technology world, I can absolutely see myself using it in my classrooms! Coding is going to be a way of future teaching in technology!

My Hour of Code Certificate

Try out my flappy game!

Is this Fake News?

Often when we read or see something on social media we automatically think that it must be true because it is on the internet. I have heard my mom and many others say something along the lines of “I saw it on Facebook, so it must be true” but is this really the case?

As a future teacher, it is our job to educate our kids about fake news and how to know if something is not true. This article highlights how we can teach our students about how to identify fake news by finding information that backs/supports the statement, and investigating the URL (for example org, ca, etc.).

Although something may seem wild and true when you first read it, it is important to take a second and do some research for yourself. Where is this source from? Are there other sources that claim the same information and if so where are those sources from?In Damon Brown’s video he highlights more ways to how to choose your news and where this news it coming from.

As everything begins to transfer over to online (especially this spring) it is more crucial than ever to discuss what fake news is and how to be aware of it. In Brown’s video he also talked about what the news use to look like as you would tune in to the same channel at the same time each night and you would hear what is happening in your area as well as expanding to other areas. Now however, the news looks very different and comes in many different forms. News is everywhere and almost anyone can produce “news” which means that unless it is coming from a legitimate source, it may not be true.

I am in elementary education hoping to teach grade 1-2 so my form of educating my students is going to look much different than older grades. I would most likely be just discussing social media and being safe by not putting too much out on social media.

What you can find about people online

For this week’s blog, I googled Lochlin Winterton to try and find out as much information that i could about him and his internet presence. I discovered that Lochlin excelled at sports in high school. He attended high school in Moose Jaw at Central Collegiate. Lochlin played football as well as participated in track events where he did the Quad (which consists of long jump, shotput, 800m race and 100m race). Lochlin graduated in 2018 and was five foot ten in his final year of high school. Lochlin enjoys a lot of different kinds of music but perfers the Eagles as he stated on his Twitter. He also mentioned spending time with his dog.

Lochlin’s sister’s name is Erin and she attended Post-secondary education at Minot State University. Although it is not completely confirmed, I am assuming that Lochlin has a fairly close relationship with his sister as they have a few pictures together on her Facebook page and he is in her wedding party which is happening in July of this year.

Although I did not find out a lot of information about Lochlin I feel like this may because he has been a more private person on social media. His Tweets were from EDTC 300 class which means that this may have been his first time on twitter and I struggled to find his Facebook or Instagram.

It is good to be a private person as a teacher however, I thought it was kind of strange to only find information from his high school sports although, by being so private it does mean that nothing inappropriate will be easily found about you.

This week we also discussed digital identity in general and finding a happy medium to your internet presence. Jon Ronson discusses in the video below how a regular girl went from no one knowing her to everyone knowing her in a very short span and how one single Tweet changed her life in a matter of a couple of hours. The internet and social media have many perks however, also many downfalls. Once something has been put out onto social media it is going to be there forever and accessible by most people.

Videos, posts, and pictures can all be released to social media without necessarily understanding the full consequences of the posts and the video also explained this.

Social media can be a wonderful thing where you share facts, pictures and videos about your life and the world however, it can be a very dangerous space that things can get out of hand very quickly.

This page discusses the important to think before you post and why it may seem like it is not as big of a deal as it really is.

A Teacher’s Responsibility to Speak Up

Retrieved from A Better Classroom on Twitter

Teachers are in one of the best positions to stand up for human rights however, so many do not because they are not sure what to say or are not comfortable saying so. Not saying anything though can be just as dangerous as if appears that you are mutual or have not picked a side in fact sometimes saying nothing may even be worse. When people see that you are being silent they often believe that you are against them because if you supported them you would say something… right..?!

Although you may not feel like you are against them, that is the way they see it which means that you really have to make an effort to speak out even if it is uncomfortable. Sometimes the most growth comes from when you are the most uncomfortable.

Although this is easy to say, it is a lot harder to do but you can start by EDUCATING YOURSELF! Using different links, books, and videos you can begin to hear the true stories of the people and begin to understand how vital it is for you to stand up to help.

This link on Anti-Racism Resources highlights numerous different books you can read, black-owned businesses to support as well as talks about where to donate and sign petitions as a white person in support of the Black Lives Matter movement She states that “No child is born hating someone for the color of their skin, and it is heartbreaking to me that every violent and racist police officer was taught by someone else to behave this way”.

Retrieved from We are Teachers on Twitter

Using resources in your classroom is one of the best ways to show support and demonstrate equality for everyone. There are so many great books and films out their that highlight different cultures and respectfully tell their own story from THEIR SIDE. One of these examples is the Oscar winning short film that i have included below. This film demonstrates a very important part of black people’s culture; their hair. Many people take great care of their hair and show a lot of pride in the different ways that they wear their hair. This short film tells a great story while highlighting their beautiful hair.

After taking the time to educate yourself and find resources to educate others start sharing!! Social media has become one of the best places to share information and resources with one another. It is one of the quickest ways to find, share, and introduce yourself to new information and most of it is done right from your phone which means you do not have an excuse to not share! Teachers have a huge responsibility and it is not just in the classroom. They are in charge of speaking up about social injustice, educating others, and modeling citizenship ESPECIALLY through social media because it is one thing to do it for your class but when you can also carry it through into your social media, you will reach so many more people!

Week 5: A Change of Plans

So i have recently hit a major block when it came to my knitting. Although I loved doing it, I really struggled to get very far on my slippers… I would call this an epic FAIL. However, I have realized rather than taking the defeat and giving up, I should instead be investing some more time on trying to find resources to help me with the different terminology and the different stitches.

Sites such as “How to Knit: A Beginner’s Step-by-Step Guide” have really broke down some of the basic steps in order to start knitting.

I have come to realize that I dove a little too far in to thinking I could knit which made me more discouraged to actually do it… I then cam across this video of how to knit a scarf and it follows a very similar pattern of knitting (regular stitch) to the dishcloths I had previously made so I decided to give this a shot! The slippers had pearl stitches and other stitches that were required in order to make their shape but I had never done those stitches before and struggled to get it right. By doing this scarf I have decided to work on what I am capable of before reaching too much further. I think that I just have not knit enough to be able to do slippers yet!

I have found that the best way for me to learn is through videos and pictures rather than instructions. I never really thought of myself of a visual learner until now! I depend on that video or picture because it is as if someone is sitting beside me and walking it through it with them.