During the summer of 2020, I joined the ECOO and I attended their three-day virtual conference that highlighted the new Ontario math curriculum and the added coding requirements for students. This conference provided me with exceptional resources and gave me great ideas to implement in a future classroom. Since the summer of 2020, I have attended various workshops that ECOO has put on. One highlight was on January 13th 2021 workshop that had an excellent panel on Computational Thinking. This has led me to pursue new resources to fully understand why, as educators, we are teaching coding.
Minecraft Education Edition
During the reading week of October 2020, I was certified as a Minecraft Education Edition educator. This was an online course that took approximately 11 hours to complete. Minecraft Education Edition is an excellent way to create engaging lessons in the classroom. Through play-based learning, students are engaged in a new way to experience curriculum. The software provides modes of assessment, ways to differentiate instruction, and block-based programing elements.
Ontario Teachers Federation Connects: Making Math Moments
From November 26 2020, to February 18 2021 I attended the virtual Ontario Teacher Federation Connects series titled “Making Math Moments”. This was a great series that was facilitated by Kyle Pearce and John Orr. The purpose was to show the engaging aspect of math and frame it to students in a way that sparks curiosity and wonder.
I completed the Apple Teacher certificate to further improve my use of technology. As an educator it is important that we incorporate technology in the classroom to not only engage our students but also to teach them vital 21st century skills. I firmly believe in not using technology for its own sake but rather to foster students’ critical thinking skills, collaborative skills, communication skills, and their creativity.
During the Covid pandemic I decided to improve my teaching skills by learning how to teach English online. I found this very useful and pertinent during this time period.