Educators engage in professional learning.
In October 2019 I twice attended a workshop entitled “Computational Thinking Across the Curriculum and Assessment.” The first time took place at UNBC in the company of teacher candidates, and proved so valuable that I chose to follow-up with a second session attended by practicing teachers. Had these sessions cost me anything, it would have been well worth the money. I came away with a much deeper understanding of coding as a way of thinking applicable to problem-solving in all areas of life.
Attended a session by Dr. Nancy Doda on middle years learners, in Vanderhoof (SD91). I came away with a lot of new insight into the special challenges posed by and opportunities that can be made for students around the grade 7-
8 level. Even if I’m forunate enough to end up teaching older students, Dr. Doda’s explanations of the early-teenage brain and social ecosystem still have some relevance for more developed (but still developing) individuals. The key awareness that I took away from this learning opportunity is just how little classroom lessons delivered to students in the middle years will stick in their memories–it’s all about how they fit into the social pecking order and events that contribute to the development of their personalities. This reality clearly highlights the importance of building relationships and a safe environment, as well as the need to design lessons that engage students on the level of their personal interests and identity.
I would also extend my definition of professional learning to lessons learned in the classroom. Professional learning opportunities are invaluable sources of pedagogy, new ideas, essential knowledge, and free food, but for the actual day-to-day of teaching, no one is better informed than the students themselves. Two things students have taught me in the last calendar year: 1) Students understand the stressors and causes of anxiety in their lives, can speak cogently about them, and can suggest realistic ways that teachers can make their lives easier without impeding learning. Fewer and richer summative assessments is good practice for a variety of reasons, but it was students who articulated for me how this approach benefits their mental health and cited this benefit when expressing their gratitude. 2) Students suggest good ideas for how to teach things. For years I’ve been explaining paragraph conclusions as the introduction in reverse, but one of my students offered the idea that a good conclusion is one you’d be able to drop the mike after. I’ll be working that student-filtered piece of pithy pinterest wisdom into future lessons!