Welcome Blog

Welcome to my blog on teaching through digital technology!

When I finally figured out my schedule at Brock and began to sort out the EDBEF01D07FW's from the EDBE803D07FW's, these course codes began to have meaning- Teaching in the Ontario Context and Cognition and the Exceptional Learner.  Before entering each class, I of course had my own preconceptions of each, Teaching Digital Learners in a Digital Age I thought was going to be an easy course.

I was wrong because technology beyond the confinements of my Iphone is not easy!

I am not saying I do not enjoy the class, I enjoy it greatly, however I have never felt this out of my element!  I think even more so because its just widely believed that us millennials are all tech savvy, however I think I am proving them all wrong right about now.  This course is a challenge, but what I am quickly noticing about the use of technological teaching is that the options are endless.

Children can learn almost anything they desire through the use of technology.  There are a vast amount of resources out there to aid any type of learner and quench any curiosity.

We began to learn about genius hour today.  Genius hour I was introduced to about a year ago and tried it with a classroom of grade 4/5's.  Having this been the first time I had ever heard of genius hour, I was a little perplexed by it and its open endedness.  At the end of it however, the results were amazing, students who throughout the year had struggled to hand in any work at all were entirely enthralled by it.  After work completion, instead of drawing students were lining up for an Ipad to work on their genius hour and students whose reading and writing levels were well below their grade were even able to participate due to technological advancements on Ipads and computers now.  Thinking back, I couldn't imagine doing genius hour without the accessibility of technology.  With only the teacher, myself (the volunteer) and one EA, the students who couldn't read at a DRA level above 2 would have sat at their desk feeling defeated rather than motivated to research more. 

I read a quote from another reading on Invitational Teaching which stated, 

“Invitational Theory seeks to explain phenomena and provide a means of intentionally summoning people to realize their relatively boundless potential in all areas of worthwhile human endeavor. Its purpose is to address the entire global nature of human existence and opportunity, and to make life a more exciting, satisfying and enriching experience" (Purkey & Novak, 2015).

I just love this. Genius hour helps teachers unlock students' boundless potential by engaging them in what THEY love, instead of teaching them strictly based on the confinements of bullet points in a book administered by the province you reside in.

In math class we discovered that we're in school for over 3000 days in our lives- some more, why not make school exciting and something to love rather than loath through techniques just like genius hour.