1 April 2024
Block 2 Lab Kit Demonstrations
This block was a lot of fun for doing practical lessons and demonstrations, my favourite probably being the two weeks we did our own demos with STEM kits provided by Bonnie. Randomly drawing numbers guided each of us to a kit around which we would base either a lab activity or a science-related design challenge.
For my part, I got the catapult design lab; using a few basic supplies, the instructions tasked users with building a basic projectile launcher. I believed the concept to be sufficiently straightforward, have my classmates build a basic model and play with it. Thus emboldened, I built a catapult of my own to play with â only for it to fall apart after about 15 minutes of experimentation.
The base model I built as per the kit instructions… shortly before falling apart during launch in quite spectacular fashion.
As I looked over the scraps of what Iâd attempted to do, I pondered of what it was I had done wrong. The zip ties appeared to be loose, despite my tightening them until I felt my fingers going numb. Then I noticed the hazards of the design, most notably the opening of the binder clip in the âloadedâ position posing a potential for injury.
It was then that I saw the similarities between my analysis and what my dad had told me when he described his job as a reliability engineer. I remembered him telling me it was his job to address problems and hazards with machinery, preferably before it actually broke down. I then chose to pivot my lab design, altogether eschewing the class building the initial model and noting from the start the inherent flaws in the design. It helped that the demo model I had also fell apart (AGAIN!) while giving my brief lecture portion.
To me, this lab really got to the heart of engineering â constructing something to serve a purpose, testing it, identifying issues, and finally aiming to improve on it in future models. Each of my classmatesâ designs seemed to do well at different things; one had stellar height, another launched projectiles really far, and still another appeared really accurate. I wish Iâd had the foresight to get some pictures of their designs.
13 November 2023
Bead Coding Activity
Itâs not often I hear of activity so fun that kids are more than willing to skip gym to do it, but after our bead coding activity I genuinely believe it. Through the simple act of supplying the necessary materials and a code card, anyone with an interest can make their own meaning.
Listening to stories of kids putting together handmade gifts for parents and EAs was nothing short of heartwarming, and the one anecdote of a child saying that their hands were sticky with cake despite swearing not having had any was hilarious. From a cross-curricular perspective, I found it really ingenious as a meeting point for Indigenous culture, ADST, and art. Even more relevant to my background, this coding activity was said to serve as a demonstrative introduction to nucleotide coding.
Each character in the English alphabet has a unique 8-bead âcodeâ for it, so all we need is a prompt. For the first one, since I wasnât sure how it would turn out, I simply chose the word LEARN for my first code necklace (pictured below).
Emboldened by how well this one turned out, I thought of doing another, this one saying COLIN, my husbandâs name. Considering the prompt was things that were important to us and at least 5 letters long, I thought it perfect. Heâs not really a necklace guy or anything, but I thought it would be nice to show him what he inspired me to do.
My husband’s name in bead code!
To me, that is the part that made this exercise so fun and meaningful â picking what colour would be the âlightâ and âdarkâ parts of the code, building our code bead by bead, and making something truly unique. It makes me excited to look forward to both further activities in the education program and the possibilities that can bring forth for my own classes.
6 November 2023
Two Rivers Art Gallery
Iâll be the first to admit, I wasnât anticipating to glean much from my visit to the gallery today. Not because I dislike or devalue art or anything, but Iâve never considered myself to be particularly artistically minded. My love for all forms of media hardly goes unheard, but at first I thought I wasnât fit to analyze the pieces in any sort of meaningful way.
This is one of those times where I felt happy to be wrong.
I gazed at the pieces one by one with wonder, how plastic items that would normally harm the environment were instead repurposed to send a message about it instead. The half-crushed bottles, the bags braided to form a mosaic-like image, the imprints left on fabric â I realized that these displays were science and art blended together in a way most beautiful.
However, what struck me the most was this piece by Jude Griebel, succinctly titled âIce Cap” (pictured below). At first, I was struck by the myriad eyeballs placed all over the titular portion of the piece, at least one of which always seemed to find me. A closer inspection revealed that the eyes were crying, likely a metaphor for the accelerated melting of the ice caps under increasing global temperatures.
Sofiaâs guided examination was what really allowed me to discern the finer details and appreciate what I was able to interpret from the piece. As I looked closer, I noticed the small patch of land with a single tree on it â the protrusions from the centre looked just like a left hand. My view darted from the rocky outcropping to the crying iceberg and back again repeatedly. In my mind, it was as if the dying ice was saying to me, âPlease, take this before itâs too late! I beg of you to care for what life I can salvage before Iâm gone.â A view from the opposite side only served to reinforce my notions, as the second rocky hand was using its âwristâ to prop up a section of freeway jammed with fleeing vehicles. On both sides, the ice cap was desperately trying to rescue all the lives it could in its final moments.
I truly believe that this moment was encapsulated at the perfect time, at the last moment before we could see whether or not the icebergâs efforts were in vain or not. I interpret this as a last moment of hope whose outcome could only be determined by us, the viewers. When we left, I wondered if it would be possible to share images of past exhibits in the classroom and who I might ask about that.
23 October 2023
Prince George Public Library
âWonderful homecoming.â
Had we been prompted to give our two words of reflection today, then I believe I likely would have chosen something to this effect. For me, thatâs what it was â returning to a familiar place Iâd not visited in a very long time. As a kid, I virtually lived in the library; I examined the shelves for hours and took home more books than I could carry, never mind read.
As we toured through the shelves, I got the sinking feeling that I had not outgrown my overenthusiastic outlook on literature. More than once, I caught myself eyeing the volumes, wondering which ones I might be able to peruse should I find any spare time. However, looking through my newly acquired teacher lens opened up a whole other world of possibilities and creativity. I had no idea that, not dissimilar to the DLC, there were readily made kits that could be used for educational purposes. Right now, I am still uncertain how much of it can be used in a high school science setting, but no doubt there are resources here I can use.
And, of course, I couldn’t not get something for myself, pictured here. 8/10 would recommend. Image credit to Amazon.
For now, though, Iâll have to look for books that can help me teach percentages, a subject I understand well enough but have had the toughest time explaining to my students. Every time I failed to make it make sense for them, I felt a sense of frustration â never at my students, but at myself. Frustration that I am not fulfilling my duties as an educator as well as I should be, that my students might think that the deficiency lies with them when I believe that to be far from the case. My hope is that, through some of the resources the library has to offer, I can find the explanatory words that have previously escaped me.
12 October 2023
Digital Literacy
The dictionary defines literacy as âthe ability to read and writeâ or alternatively as âcompetence or knowledge in a specified area.â When we refer to digital literacy, it is likely the latter definition on which we focus. Knowing this, combined with the awareness that our world is increasingly connected and dependent on digital means brings the revelation that we need to keep pace with the constant advancement as best we can. This sentiment is at the forefront of the ideas put forth by Nawaz & Kundi in their paper on the topic. They expand on this topic by explaining that the illiterate of the new millennium are not those who cannot read or write, but rather âthose who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.â This emphasis on learning highlights how we need to know how to navigate the never-ending treasure trove of information that is the Internet and how to educate others about it as well.
OK, so we just teach ourselves and our kids how to use a computer and thatâs job done right? Not even close, as explained by Martin and Grudziecki in their proposed program for enhancing digital literacy education in Europe. This is just computer or ICT literacy, and knowing the workings of the machine is just the beginning. The paper puts forth many other types of literacy that together make up digital literacy, including visual, information, media, technological, and communication literacies. While not mutually exclusive, these facets of online existence each reflect the kinds of knowledge and awareness we all need if we are to use digital resources properly and responsibly. For example, media literacy focuses on gaining a critical eye for online media and evaluating where we get our information from. In an age where anyone can theoretically post anything on the Internet, these are skills we cannot afford to be without.
Speaking of media skills, I would highly recommend teachers concerned about these topics to check out Crash Courseâs video series on Navigating Digital Information as a starting point.
Citations: Nawaz, Allah, and Ghulam Muhammad Kundi. “Digital literacy: An analysis of the contemporary paradigms.” Journal of Science and Technology Education Research 1.2 (2010): 19-29. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Allah-Nawaz-2/publication/283316772_Digital_literacy_An_analysis_of_the_contemporary_paradigms/links/563275c808aefa44c368518c/Digital-literacy-An-analysis-of-the-contemporary-paradigms.pdf
Martin, Allan, and Jan Grudziecki. “DigEuLit: Concepts and tools for digital literacy development.” Innovation in teaching and learning in information and computer sciences 5.4 (2006): 249-267. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.11120/ital.2006.05040249?needAccess=true
Crash Course: https://thecrashcourse.com/topic/navigatingdigitalinfo/
(or check out their YouTube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/@crashcourse )
12 October 2023
Digital Footprint
Anyone who has had to deal with an issue can tell you that the âignore and hope it goes awayâ approach has very mixed results at best, and this goes double for the Internet. Even if we are not as wired to the digital world as some of our pupils are perceived to be, every single one of us still has an online presence. Whether itâs a quick Facebook search, an entry into Rate my Teacher, or a mention on the deep web, we have an image in the digital space. To ignore this fact would be to disallow our own control of how we are perceived both on- and offline. As an article by Larry Kuehn puts it, âbuilding and maintaining a positive professional online profile requires active work.â
So, how exactly do we go about ensuring we maintain that professional perception online? One trick Kuehn puts forth for writing emails to students is âimagine that your principal and your studentâs mother are standing right behind you,â seeing every single word you put down. Even simple things as the pages you like and who you follow on social media can paint quite the picture of the kind of person you are.
However, exercising care over our digital persona is not simply for our own benefit; we need to be able to model responsible Internet behaviours for our students as well. For many children, especially secondary students, they can be too âin the momentâ to consider the possible far-reaching consequences of their online impact. A modern adage stipulates that once something is on the Net, itâs there forever. Considering the archiving, download and retrieval abilities of todayâs machines, this saying is hardly a million miles removed from reality. That is why it is so important to take care when we go on the Web, both for our own sakes and those of our students.
Citation: Kuehn, Larry.”Manage your digital footprint.” Teacher Newsmagazine 23.3 (2010): 67-69. https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2012/02/osos106_Digital_Footprint.pdf
Monday, 2 October 2023
Blanket Exercise Reflections
I had to admit, with an activity named such as this, I had little conception of what to expect.
As we stood together on the blankets and appreciated the tight-but-not-squishy gathering of the forty of us, we listened intently to the instructions read out. Blankets were folded, unfolded, taken away to represent the territory loss felt by First Nations peoples around the time of Confederation onward. One by one, people left the soft and fuzzy floor markings to represent portions of the Indigenous population who were claimed by illness, war, territory fragmentation, land and culture dispossession, the residential school system, racial and gender violence and more. We each took our turn to read aloud the scrolls weâd been given, containing history, anecdotes and statistics relating to the mortifying saga of Indigenous struggle and erasure in Canada. By the time the exercise was over, only 8 of the original 39 inhabitants of the blankets remained, myself among them.
Afterwards, we all sat in a big sharing circle to discuss how the exercise had impacted us, and the responses were as varied and heartfelt as they were numerous. I myself was reminded of my great-grandmother, a Miâkmaq woman who likely would have been subjected to many of the happenings described during the exercise. In particular, for the first time I realized that the laws at the time likely meant that if she were to be married to my great-grandfather, she likely would have had to give up her treaty rights. Another classmate had similar reflections relating to their ancestors, and it was relieving to know that I wasnât alone in my thinking.
As mentioned before, I hadnât the faintest idea of what the blanket exercise entailed. I could very well have searched it out, but Iâm glad I didnât, as the insight I gained may very well have been lost.
The most eye-opening Day of Truth and Reconciliation I’ve ever had. Photo credits to my classmate Talia.
Thursday, 28 September 2023
Fire Circle Reflections
Steadfast unity â those were the words I provided when prompted to give two of my own in regards to the gathering that had just concluded in regards to truth and reconciliation. My reason being, as I looked around at a group of people determinedly huddling together in the dreary damp of one of the first properly cold days of the semester, that those two words best summed up the atmosphere I could detect. To me, that was what the Fire Circle represented â wanting to come together even (and perhaps especially) when the conditions were not the rosiest. To have the opportunity to share my umbrella or partake of half of a fuzzy blanket were occasions whose preciousness only revealed itself after the passage of time. I also recall how liberating it could feel to speak about how we could be better to ourselves and how the smallest ways could also be the most important. Learning to be patient and forgiving with myself is a facet I hope not to forget anytime soon, one that I might not have cause to think about had Clayton not prompted us to each speak our minds.
I hadn’t held a drum in years, so I was excited to take part. Photo credit to my classmate Talia.
The fire itself also represented to me a place of gathering, of welcome, of both physical and emotional warmth. There was no one who was made to feel that they had no place around the fire or voice to sing the songs with the drummers; everyone was welcome to try if they liked. From my viewpoint, this can very well be extrapolated to the journey to truth and reconciliation as a whole (or at least on a larger scale). It may be true that not everyone can do or know everything, but we can all find our places at the fire. With a little bit of help, knowledge, and guidance, people can find those ways to come closer together and foster a deeper sense of community.
Monday, 18 September 2023
Niigaan Sinclair Keynote Reflections
Listening to the keynote given by Niigaan Sinclair for School District 57, I was amazed at the power of community within an educational context. He opened with the story of the at-risk young men struggling to make fire over and over again, a skill that would have been considered vital to their ancestors. True as it may be that the advancement of time has largely superseded the need to able to start a fire the traditional way, the use of the skill was not the only value it carried. The symbolic significance of firestarting as a rite of passage made the youthsâ struggles feel all the more real.
Another story he told during the keynote was how he was trying to stage Fiddler on the Roof with his class â a Jewish play in a community that had a considerable Jewish population. Even the size of the task notwithstanding, putting on a play from a culture outside oneâs own might very well have been a big ask. Some time and a great deal of soldiering on later, things got a little rough when some of the kids piped up, âMr. Sinclair, thatâs not right.â As it turns out, even with research, some of the representations of the Jewish faith he was showing were not as true to life as the community might have liked. Determined to ameliorate this, he reached out to the local rabbi and other community members in order to get the representation just right.
Image credit to ResearchGate.
That story really brought forth the 4 Râs philosophy that we find in many Indigenous worldviews. The first R is for relationships â what kind are formed in the community? Had Mr. Sinclair not built the relationship with his students that their voices could be heard, or had he not made the further effort to talk to community members, Fiddler on the Roof would likely have been significantly poorer for it. That also ties into another R â respect; he respected his students enough to listen to them and consider that they may have a point. The third R, relevance, ties into what the people and communities want. Fiddler on the Roof was likely very culturally relevant for many students, so it seemed a fitting choice for a class play. Finally, the fourth R of responsibility underlay the entire effort to put the play on, because as a teacher one has the duty to center their studentsâ success in the community. Everyone pulled together to get a suitable version of Fiddler going, and even though no minds were blown, something great was still accomplished thanks to everyoneâs efforts.