Changing Paradigms in Public Education

This innovative approach to Professional Development has illustrations of Sir Ken Robinson mapping out his own beliefs about the Changing Paradigms in Public Education.  Where will education take us?

Creativity in our classroom - where is it?



Sir Ken Robinson connects with his audience and reflects on past, present, and future implications about where creativity should occur in our classrooms.  "Do schools kill creativity?" As teachers we should be fostering the creative spirit of our future students.

Volante on Assessment

Louis Volante, Professor for Faculty of Education at Brock University, discusses the topic of 'giving out zeros' to students in our classrooms.  Interview with Cheryl Jackson of TVO.

DPA - Hassle or Helping Hand?

With the Ministry of Education requiring teachers to cover more and more criteria throughout the school year, it is seemingly becoming more difficult to fit all the required content into the same amount of school days between September and June.  As a Teacher Candidate at Brock University, it is a growing personal concern that it will be very difficult to cover all the curriculum expectations set out by the Ministry of Education; nonetheless, that is one of our many responsibilities as teachers in Ontario.  Which expectations should we emphasize?

                I personally believe that it is nearly impossible to meet all Ministry expectations; however, one initiative that can assist in the overall learning process is the push to include DPA.  What is DPA? DPA introduces students [and teachers] to Daily Physical Activity.  The Revised 2010 Interim Health and Physical Education Curriculum expectations define DPA as, “participation in sustained moderate to vigorous physical activity, with appropriate warm-up and cool-down activities, to the best of their ability for a minimum of twenty minutes each day [during instructional time]” (Publication Ontario, 2010).  To some, this may not seem like an efficient use of time in a classroom environment.  What type of learning is happening here?  Where is the assessment?  I firmly believe that the intrinsic reward of a healthy lifestyle will reflect in out student’s attitudes toward school and performance in the classroom.  I disagree with people who believe that DPA is a “waste of time” or “not important”.  I believe there are several benefits to introducing [and maintaining] DPA in our classrooms today, but all of these benefits stem from one main focus: keeping our students healthy.  In 1984 the World Health Organization best described health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity” (Publication Ontario, p.8, 2010).  My personal belief is that this can still hold true today.  Delivering DPA can primarily aim to build students physical well-being.  Being regularly active can strengthen a student’s ability to be physical literate and understand the benefits of physical activity.  In a safe classroom setting, Daily Physical Activity can create a community of physically literate and educationally active learners.  Integration of DPA has become a new requirement for the Health and Physical Education program and it can be integrated with several other integrated subjects.  It also has proven to show an increase in student’s mental well-being.  An article summary posted on the Ontario’s Teacher’s Blog listed a few interesting quotes about facts [and some beliefs] discovered surrounding DPA and its effects in the classroom.  Here’s the link - http://ontarioteachers.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/the-importance-of-daily-physical-activity-resources/#more-61

   If something as simple as a few minutes of rigorous activity can benefit student learning, then why wouldn’t teachers introduce this.  Having only completed one practice teaching block with Brock University, I have quickly learned that the hours, minutes, and seconds of the school day fly by and you rarely know where the time has gone.  Where are we to fit these 20 ‘required’ minutes into our already busy day?  I do not have any answers based on research nor do I have all of the answers based on observation.  However, I personally feel that the earlier DPA is introduced in the school day the more beneficial it will be.  Why not have children energized and ready to start the school day.  This would be my “Step 1” of my own philosophy regarding Daily Physical Activity.  “Step 2” might direct my attention to how often we should partake in DPA.  Any idealist would probably say every day of the school week.  As wonderful as that sounds, this is also difficult attain with so many other criteria that need to be met throughout the week.  I would hope to try and have at least three days where students would be able to partake in Daily Physical Activity (outside of Physical Education classes).  Perhaps if we want to maintain healthy bodies and healthy minds we could stagger DPA in between school days where Physical Education is not taking place.  This is just a personal suggestion.  “Step 3” in my quest for implementing DPA is that teachers must be role models for our students.  If our students understand why we should participate in DPA (and see it demonstrated whole-heartedly) then they may take it upon themselves to become lifelong active learners; learning is the most crucial part.  We (as training teachers) must realise that we will be learning as we go for the rest of our career [and probably longer].  For those of us who feel uncomfortable in this domain there are thousands of resources out there to assist us in implementing these types of activities.  With all subject matter, we just need to take the time to find the information and materials that we best know how to use in our classroom.  Ontario’s Physical and Health Education Association (OPHEA) is a great starting point for any resources that one might need in this field.

                So is DPA a hassle or a helping hand?  It is my firm belief that if we keep students active in our classrooms and in our schools we can guide them in the right direction to becoming healthy bodies in our classrooms, healthy minds in our learning, and healthy souls in our educational environment.

Personal Learning Community

During the 2011 Brock Technology Showcase I was fortunate enough to attend a seminar for Smart Technology.  We were first told by Michael Ward (our seminar leader) that this would be an introductory glimpse to the resources that Smart has to offer.  I quickly learned that Smart has so much more to offer than the Smart Board.  The Smart Board is only the centre of Smart Technology learning.  It allows users to connect to multiple resources.  Our seminar leader introduced us to Smart Math Notebook, Smart Response Clickers, Smart Document Cameras, and so much more.  The nice aspect of working with Smart Technology is that all of the pieces of learning equipment can work together simultaneously.  It’s absolutely miraculous.

                There was an abundance of information to absorb and we were all made aware that there are numerous tutorials that students and teachers using Smart have access to.  These resources can be used to enhance any lesson possible.  We were shown that we can even use previously created lessons and Smart will adopt them.  This is extremely efficient.  The lessons become interactive and engaging for students.  Michael reinforced the notion of student-centred learning. Now, instead of having teachers standing in front of a Smart Board, students have the opportunity to visual their learning.

                The number of Smart Boards in classroom is increasing exponentially in this new teaching era.  Mr. Ward had explained to us that it took nearly eleven years to sell one million Smart boards; however, they expect to sell their two-millionth Smart in less than two years.  It will be a reality soon enough.  Classrooms will all have some type of interactive technology in their classrooms.  Smart will be one of those technologies that we encounter.  It will be a necessity to understand how to use this equipment; why not start early?  With this new technology, the more practice that we have the more comfortable we will be using it with our students.

                As teacher candidates we were all amazed at the educational opportunities that we could explore if we had one of these resources in our classroom.  The use of an interactive Smart board evokes Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and exposes students to multiple levels of learning.  Get ready students - beause learning will never be the same!

Welcome!

  Welcome parents, students, and fellow colleagues to our online learning environment.  This is my first Blog and I'm excited to see the potential of this technological resource.  With a little dose of Vitamin Z I hope to create a rich learning experience for children inside and outside of the classroom.   This space is solely dedicated to extending our learning beyond the classroom environment.  You will be able to witness some of the interactive learning that is happening in our class, find links to multiple resources to extend our knowledge, and have access to some of the new technology that I hope to implement throughout our learning experience.  Wikis, WebQuests, and YouTube are just the starting point to expand our learning beyond the four walls of our classroom.  Feel free to interact with any blogs or links on this space that you find interesting.

  It is with this space - A Dose of Education with Vitamin Z - where I hope to have myself, parents, and especially students all on the same page working together.

 Mr. Zelem