Author Archives: Sydney's Inquiries

Welcome to my blog! Here you will find expression, opinions, my learning voyage, and my personal journey to becoming an elementary educator. I hope you enjoy your visit and allow for inspiration to be the reason for your stay. I am currently living in Regina, Saskatchewan which is situated on the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation. Regina is located on Treaty 4 lands with a presence in Treaty 6.

Kindergarten Lesson Plan – ELA – Snowman/Writing

Subject: ELA

Outcome: CRK.3 Listen, comprehend, and respond to gain meaning in oral texts.

CCK.1 Compose and create various visual, multimedia, oral, and written texts that explore and present thoughts, ideas, and experiences.

Materials Needed: 

  • Sneezy the Snowman book written by Maureen Wright
  • Googly eyes
  • White glue
  • Construction paper
  • Buttons
  • Precut snowballs

Lesson: 

  • Introduce the theme of snowmen through the book Sneezy the Snowman written by Maureen Wright
  • After the story is complete, students will be shown an example of the craft they will be making: name snowmen. The craft will end up looking something like this:

They will be provided with precut snowballs and hats, but will have to write their names, and put together the snowmen themselves, along with decorating them and giving their snowman a face. They will glue their snowman pieces onto a blue piece of construction paper. Once they are completed and have had time to dry, they can be placed on a bulletin board as a wintertime classroom decoration. 

  • If students finish early, there are two printouts that have been copied and pasted on the last two pages of this lesson plan, they are winter theme color by letter to stay on the theme of winter/snowmen, as well as leaning towards the subject area of English with letters instead of numbers.
  • Once everyone has completed their name snowmen, we will watch Once Upon a Snowman on Disney+, featuring our favorite snowman, Olaf. 

Land Acknowledgement/ Truth & Reconciliation Resources

I am currently living in Regina, Saskatchewan which is situated on the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation. Regina is located on Treaty 4 lands with a presence in Treaty 6.

Truth & Reconciliation Children’s Books:

Links to purchase each book along with author biographies are listed here:

I Am Not a Number By Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer

When We Were Alone by David Alexander Roberson

The Train by Jodie Callaghan

Phyllis’s Orange Shirt by Phyllis Webstad

Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

Stolen Words by Melanie Florence

Aggie and Mudgy by Wendy Proverbs

As Long as the Rivers Flow by Constance Brissenden and Larry Loyie

Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell

3-2-1 Guest: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

My Three Big Ideas:

  • Usually, the student who is showing the worst behavior is the student who is in need of the most one-on-one time, support, connection, and healing. Back in the day, the strap was used when a student acted out or did not listen to the teacher, the strap has been proven to work eighty percent of the time as it embedded fear into the students that they would be receiving this abuse if they ever repeated the same actions. However, abuse is never the answer. What about the other twenty percent of students? What about kindness? Understanding? This way of discipline was beyond wrong, no matter what the teacher’s goals were within their own classroom. Teachers were possibly adding to the cycle of abuse one had endured. New ways of aiding a student when they act out are to listen, understand, being a shoulder for them to cry on, and being someone they can trust. Restorative justice is beyond successful within schools. 
  • Restorative justice is a way of ending the cycle. Students at home may experience abuse, extreme consequences, etc. When they go to school they may act out causing the teacher to react badly by sending them to the office, yelling, detention, etc., however, this turns into a horrendous cycle for the student. Abuse, yelling, being locked in their room at home, and then yelling, being sent to the principal, and being suspended for bad behavior sends them right back to their home environment. The student is never shown proper support and never once asked “what is going on in your personal life? How can I offer you support?”. By using restorative justice within the classroom setting, you are ending the cycle.
  • Rather than teaching children the acts of kindness and friendship through storybooks, allow for students to learn about kindness, strength, and determination through real-life speeches and acts. Students are not able to connect to storybooks and television shows the way they are able to feel and understand real-life humans who have lived and experienced racism and heartbreak. We need to teach more than kindness, we need to teach human rights and help students understand how they can make a positive change and implement positivity and change into their own lives through others’ experiences.   

My Two Personal Connections:

  • I used to act out in school, especially between grades six to ten. It was a non-stop fight with my teachers, when they told me to sit down in my desk, I would sit on top of the table, if they told me to do something, I would keep my binder closed. It was a silent cry for support, kindness, and understanding. Teachers who would send me to the office or call my parents were the teachers who I continued to rebel against and I would send worse behavior their way as the days passed. The teachers who listened to me, showed me kindness and gave no response to me when I acted out, were the ones who got the best version of me. The way you treat your students is the most important part of teaching, if you cannot listen to them, why would they listen to you. 
  • Dr. Suess and Robert Munsch’s stories were very popular in my household because their stories were how I personally learned to read. They were easy to read, intriguing, colourful, and always cute. However, other than friendship, kindness, and how to deal with someone who was acting out, these books did not hold much of anything else. Characters portyed in the books were not children of colour or different cultures, they always acted the same and always had parents caring for them, never grandparents or other guardians. I personally feel like I would have benefited from other stories that held more dynamic and guidance into differing topics.  

My One Question Based on the Reading:

  • How can we ensure that we are covering all cultures, beliefs, and portions of history in a beneficial way that is not only respectful but connected to the curriculum? As well as portraying proper and concise information based on each topic. 

3-2-1 Guest: Restorative Justice Pedagogy

My Three Big Ideas:

  • The vast majority of education, curriculum, and resources used within the classroom are of white possession. For proper learning and understanding to be reached within the classroom new resources, ways of knowing, and different cultures must be introduced otherwise students are not reaching their highest potential of world knowledge and understanding.
  • Whether or not the classroom is ‘owned’ by the Teacher OR a place that can foster knowledge and create relationships is one hundred percent decided by the educator themselves. The teacher’s main focus is to be within the classroom to teach, but the next level of a relationship with students is to be open and honest so that you and your classroom can be a safe place for students.
  • Our most commonly visited places, alongside the places we spend the most time in, aid in the creation of our identity. If students are spending six hours a day, five days a week within your classroom the educator along with the classroom space that has been created will become a large, and vital part of a students’ identity. It is up to the teacher to provide proper resources and allow for students to make this a positive part of their daily life and not negative as many students have experienced at some point. 

My Two Personal Connections:

  • When the article explains class relationships I began to think about my own teacher-student relationships. I grew up in a small town that had one kindergarten to grade 12 school, and our classes were always two different grade levels combined since my grade usually had between five to eight students within it. This allowed for teachers to know everything about us, while we got to also learn about them. Then, when I came to University it was the exact opposite. Classrooms were now packed, students did not know each other, and the Professors (usually) do not even learn your name let alone your life story and how you are processing information. 
  • Boundaries have always been given to me whether at school or on the acreage. Either you weren’t allowed on the train tracks because they were out of school limits (and also dangerous to play on) or you were not allowed to be up past 8:30pm on a school night. Wherever you go there are always boundaries, however, these vary from place to place. You may go to a friend’s house where all the doors are open and you are free to roam, or you could visit your grandparents where the doors would all be shut and you could only be in the kitchen or living room. It is very personal to think about the boundaries that you not only set for yourself but the boundaries that have been set for you as you have grown up.

My One Question Based on the Reading:

  • If reading allows for one to “read the world” then how can we as future educators implement proper resources that not only ensure that all cultures and beliefs are covered but to help students understand that being different is powerful and welcome within the classroom?

3-2-1 Guest: The Importance of Names and Stories

3-2-1 Guest

My Three Big Ideas:

  • Through having access to something as simple as plant-based items within your classroom, is a way of showing inclusivity and understanding to your students. This is a prime example of how simple it can be to ensure that your students feel and understand that they are exactly where they belong, and their beliefs and values will be taken seriously and understood by the teacher. By educating your students about differing cultures, beliefs, and values, you are spreading knowledge and inclusivity for generations to come. A simple act of understanding and learning leads to change.
  • Communication means more than just having a conversation with another person. Communication is learning phrases of your student’s native language while they learn yours. Communication is understanding what holidays your students celebrate and what types of foods and clothing are a necessity during these times. Communication is watching movies, listening to music, and reading stories created by different people from all around the world. Communication is the recipe for success and lifelong learning.
  • Students’ needs will change and evolve all the time, our teaching strategies and thoughts within our classrooms will need to do the same. Through each year we will educate new students, meaning we will be met with new life stories, expectations, and needs. We need to adapt to these expectations and needs to ensure our classrooms are gender-friendly, anti-racist, and inclusive. 

My Two Personal Connections:

  • When I was in elementary/middle school, we had a student in our class who had a disability. However, we were never told why she was treated differently from the rest of us. She was given different opportunities, rules, etc., and always had the rest of us questioning why she was given “more” than us. In conclusion, if our teachers would have explained to us that this was the method for allowing for her to feel included/creating a “fair” environment, both she and the rest of us would have benefitted from this conversation. Rather, we were left in the dark on the topic, jumped to conclusions, and never fully understood why these methods were chosen. 
  • My classroom experiences (other than the experience written about above) highly lacked diversity and learning about diversity as well. We were never exposed to new holidays, different cultures, different beliefs, upbringings, etc. Gender was never a topic, nor was anything of differentiation. Which in my opinion was a lost opportunity, I am grateful to be learning about these topics now, but I would have greatly benefited from learning about these topics twenty years ago.

My One Question Based on the Reading:

  • How can I ensure that my students are being represented within my classroom properly and safely throughout all topics (curriculum or not)?

Kindergarten Lesson Plan – ELA – Sharing/The Rainbow Fish

Subject/Grade: ELA/Kindergarten 

Lesson Title: Sharing/The Rainbow Fish

Teacher: Sydney Kawa

Stage 1: Identify Desired Outcomes:

Outcomes: CRK.3 Listen, comprehend, and respond to gain meaning in oral texts, and CRK.4 Comprehend, retell, and respond to basic ideas in stories, poems, songs, and informational texts read to them. 

Indicators: CRK.3 (a) Listen attentively to others and respond appropriately. (d) Follow simple directions correctly and independently (e.g., Please put away your crayons and put your picture on the shelf.) And remember instructions given earlier. (i) Connect story events and own experience.

CRK.4 (b) Use strategies to construct and confirm meaning when “reading”: – make connections to background knowledge (before). – identify important ideas and events (during). – recall (after). (i) Explain the main idea.  

Key Understandings (‘I Can’ Statements):

– I can share with others.

– I can recognize when others do not want to share with me.

– I understand why sharing is important.  

– I understand how sharing makes others feel.

– I can make the decision to share with others on my own. 

Essential Questions:

– Why is sharing important and how does it make you feel?

– When are times that you remember sharing or someone sharing with you?

– What types of things should you share with others, what are some things that it is okay not to share?

– How is sharing similar to taking turns?

– How do you decide if you want to share with others? Sometimes when you do not want to share, should you share anyways?

Prerequisite Learning: Before students are introduced to this lesson, they should understand how to take turns both in the classroom and at home as well. Students within the classroom will have the background knowledge of taking turns by choosing the toys they will play with at center time. If there are four students at a table, one student will choose the bucket of toys at center time which all four of the students can play with for ten minutes until it’s time for them to be put away and the process is repeated. Centre time is used every day for an hour within our kindergarten class. Through everyday classroom situations, students are faced with questions such as: how did it make you feel when that student did not share with you? Now how do you think they feel when you do not share with them? Using a timer in the classroom for the amount of time one particular student gets with an object before passing it on, will also allow for them to understand how sharing works in different circumstances. 

Instructional Strategies: The instructional strategies applied to this lesson plan are summarization (by providing a summary of the lesson through both a game where they are able to demonstrate what they have learned and a video on the topic) and cooperative learning (this is provided through both the questions being asked while reading the book, as well as passing the tambourine and coming together as a class to create understanding, while also practicing what they have learned).

Stage 2: Determine Evidence for Assessing Learning: 

Through playing the sharing game with the tambourine the students are showing what they have learned from this lesson through demonstration, a series of questions may also be asked by the teacher such as: what did we learn about today? How will you share from now on? What types of items are you going to share? By allowing both opportunities and the students to reflect on the story, their creations, videos, and taking part allows for the teacher to see where their students need more guidance on the topic of sharing, and where they are excelling.

Stage 3: Learning Building Plan:

Set (Engagement): The lesson will begin with a reading of The Rainbow Fish written by Marcus Pfister. After the story is complete, ask the students about a time that they recall sharing with their siblings, parents, peers, etc. Questions as follows: Tell me about a time when you shared with someone else, what did you share? How did it make you feel? Why is sharing important (why is it good to share)? Do you remember a time when someone did not share with you? How did that make you feel?

Materials/Resources:  

– Construction paper (5 different colors minimum).

– Glue sticks

– Markers

– Scissors 

– Book: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.

– Rainbow fish print out (link provided in the development section).

– Sharing coloring pages (links provided in the development section).

– Tambourine 

– Sharing video (link provided in closure section).

Development: Once the conversation about sharing has been completed, the students will create their own rainbow fish at their tables with this printout:https://thekindergartenconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Rainbow-Fish-Printable.pdf? They will also need different colored construction paper that they can cut into scales or squares (this will be demonstrated), glue, markers to color in the face area, and one pre-cut metallic scale for each student (to mimic the rainbow fish’s sparkly scale that he shares). Creating the rainbow fish is our symbol for sharing.

As the demonstration comes to a conclusion the students will be told that they need the following items: glue, markers, and scissors. This is an instruction that the students will need to remember when they get back to their seats. Once they are settled, the teacher will go around the room and allow for students to choose three colors of construction paper. This allows students to choose, which is an important skill. Since some students will need more time with the craft than others, the students who finish before others will be able to choose from two coloring pages provided here: http://www.supercoloring.com/coloring-pages/rainbow-fish-gives-a-precious-scale-to-small-fish and https://twistynoodle.com/we-share-coloring-page/

Possible Adaptations/Differentiation:

– Demonstrating the game rather than only explaining the game, will provide understanding for visual learners.

– In non-covid times, a blindfold may be used to help students from peaking while taking part in the game provided.

– The tambourine could have been held behind their backs to help with motor skills and to allow for students to hide the fact that they were holding the tambourine.

Learning Closure: After the craft is complete, students will join on the carpet for a game of sharing. The game is called “Where Is It”, and is played as follows: One student will sit in the middle of the circle. This student will close their eyes (or they could potentially wear a blindfold if you think they are going to peak). The students sitting in the circle pass a tambourine around from one to the other. Every time a student receives the tambourine, they will give it a shake and then pass it to the next person that will do the same. At any given moment, the teacher is going to say, ‘Stop!’ Whoever has hold of the tambourine is going to hold it still. The person in the middle of the circle is going to point to who they think is holding the tambourine. This will continue until everyone is given a turn in the center, changing out the student in the middle after every round is complete. This activity not only teaches students how to share but also teaches them to listen, play fairly, and the importance of taking turns. 

After the game is finished they will watch the following video about sharing on the playground and taking turns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKNdRxoDLKw. This will allow students to reset and become quiet again. 

Management Strategies:

– Make sure students are fully listening when instructions are being given.

– Show students examples of how to create their rainbow fish and properly cut the construction paper to a reasonable size (not too small, not too large).

– Have coloring pages ready for students who finish early, or allow them to read when they finish. This way they are not sitting at their tables without a task.

Safety Considerations: Help students understand the proper and safe ways to use scissors (e.g., how to properly hold them, cut away from yourself, hold your hand supporting the paper far away from where you are cutting, do not use your scissors unless you are sitting).

Treaty 4 Gathering

  1. This is Treaty 4 Land

Highlights/Comments: Anyone can learn a new language if they are willing to learn. Being able to learn and develop new skills and habits can be very beneficial for young students especially when learning about new cultures and participating in their language as well. As a future elementary school teacher this video intrigued me to dig deeper and understand the importance of implementing Indigenous languages and cultures within my classroom. 

  1. Michael Lonechild Painting the Monarch Butterfly

Highlights/Comments: When Michael Lonechild explains how he learned how to paint, and the process of understanding how to mix color and layer images on his canvas, it is a great example of patience and the learning process. The first time he attempted to paint he admits he could not do it and did not enjoy the drawing process that went along with the creation, however, he proceed with his learning by challenging himself whilst becoming more creative. Not only did his artwork reflect his culture but it also was a form of therapy/creative outlet for him. As time went on his artwork began to expand, which I found to be a prime example of always keeping an open mind, allowing for different cultures to intrigue you, and growth both in and out of the classroom. 

  1. Pesto From the Patch: Harvesting, Cooking, and reducing food waste 

Highlights/Comments: As someone who personally enjoys eating clean (and is a vegetarian) I found this video very valuable. Through gardening and always having vegetables readily available I found it important that the recipe for the pesto implemented the carrot tops, a portion of the vegetable we often see going to waste. There is always a use for products we often see thrown in the garbage and this is a prime example of how to cut back on our waste as individuals. Not only is a step-by-step demonstration given, but so are examples of what to use the pesto for. This is very important to me, especially within a classroom setting, as students will be able to see that there is always more than one way to use an item and more than one way to make a new creation. Seeing different approaches is of importance.  

  1. A Conversation about Indigenous Entrepreneurship

Highlights/Comments: Indigenous Entrepreneurs are statistically younger than the average entrepreneur, which in this case is under the age of 25. Having a great chief, economic opportunities both on and off the reserves play a very important role in the success of being an entrepreneur and I personally found this very intriguing. Having a great support system and understanding your own values as an individual plays a large role in your success. Just like education and proper leadership in the classroom. 

Mapping Activity

Think:

There are many places and enjoyments within my mapping project. These include the places I have lived in order, my hobbies and interests, the most important articles and items within my life currently, my favorite implements to my lifestyle, and what I hope my future has in store for me. Each symbol has a story that takes place within my map. The dog head is an outline of my canine bestie, Scarlett. I adopted/rescued her a week before I graduated grade twelve and she has not left my side since. The cookie, rolling pin, and whisk represent my love for baking. Whenever I had a bad day at school (when I was younger) or I did not feel in control of the world around me, I would always bake chocolate chip cookies. Since then I have learned how to make sugar cookies and professionally decorate them with royal icing while learning to create other baked delights such as pumpkin cheesecake roll, churro cheesecake, Reese bars, and confetti cookie sandwiches. Each symbol tells a story, which makes each strand unique. 

Imagine:

Beginning with Treaty Education my map includes Treaty territory 6 (Choiceland and Tisdale) and Treaty territory 4 (Regina), while Choiceland is located 74 kilometers from James Smith Cree Nation and Tisdale is located 46 kilometers from Kinistin Saulteaux Nation. Both of these First Nations reserves are home to peoples who speak the Cree language. 

Next, we will focus on Science. Choiceland and Tisdale alike are both located within the Boreal Plain Ecozone, whilst Regina is located within the Prarie Ecozone. The Boreal Ecozone differs from the Prarie Ecozone as it houses thick layers of soil, poor nutrients, vast forest, and a cool climate. This ecozone is also home to black bears, wolves, lynx, moose, caribou, and white-tail deer (all of which have lived in the forest on our acreage for the entirety of my life so far). Rather, the Plain Ecozone has grand economical resources such as coal, potash, and aggregates while lacking in natural vegetation. For animals, this ecozone is the home to cranes, bison, loons, and bluebirds (much more peaceful I would say). 

Lastly, we will focus on English Language Arts for this section. When I was a wee lassie I loved to play outside and allow for my imagination to run wild. I had everything I needed, always. Where you would see a tree, I would see a castle. Where you would see a crooked trail in the trees, I would see an adventure. Where you would see a trampoline, I would see the ability to fly. One day in the fall me and my best sidekick (my pup Molly) decided to explore a whole new trail in the woods on our acreage. We owned acres of land, so as a twelve-year-old this was my oasis. After deciding to go off of the beaten path Molly and I came across the skull of a cow. Never had we owned cows on this land, so I knew it had to be placed there. Once I found it I knew that it was a treasure, so every day Molly and I would go back to the cow skull, enjoying every step it took us to get there. Upon asking my father about the skull we came to the conclusion that coyotes must have drug it there finding no use left for it as the flesh had either decomposed or been eaten. Even to this day, the cow skull resides in the exact same place in the forest. Now that Molly has passed away I know that she will always remember our adventures and remember our tiny piece of treasure. Where you would see a cow skull, Molly and I see treasure. 

Reflect:

For the reflection portion of this assignment, I will be focusing on where I am currently residing, Regina. There are many pieces of Indigenous artworks displayed within the city of Regina. These pieces can be found at the following locations: Sâkêwêwak First Nations Artist Collective Inc, the MacKenzie Art Gallery, and the Traditions Hand Craft Gallery. Over just the month of September alone Regina is hosting many events to represent and host the voices of Indigenous peoples in our community. Some of these events include the Regina Public Library Films The Foreigners Home which is an exhibit based on Indigenous Stories and communities, as well as an Indigenous Students Networking event that allows for developing community and employment opportunities to Indigenous peoples within and around the city. The city of Regina is also taking part in the national day of Truth and Reconciliation. From a place of privilege, I can see how this may be an issue as well, as we should not need to create special events to recognize Indigenous peoples but rather put in the effort that makes them seen, heard, understood, and allows for opportunities every single day. Not just on special event days or exhibits being hosted. We are making a change, yes. However, not enough change has been created yet. As a community, we are making change, but as individuals, we need to make sure and allow ourselves time to attend these events and immerse ourselves in understanding Indigenous culture and ways of knowing. 

Honour: 

The learners within Regina are very diverse, not only in culture but in age and beliefs as well. Humans begin learning as soon as they are born, to eat and drink, to walking and talking, to writing and reading, to math and science, to responsibility and nurturing, and so on. This includes Regina as a community of learners as well. Regina is also home to Aboriginals (First Nation, Metis), Asian (South, SouthEast, East, West), Black, Arab, White, and Latin. Regina is also the fastest growing city within Canada on the diversity scale. Regina, as well as much of Saskatchewan, is very heavily influenced by Germany, Russia, Ukraine, France, Ireland, Scotland, as well as Indigenous cultures. Making the learners, very much so, diverse. There are many opportunities for learners (of any age) in Regina, Including employment, multi-level schooling, sports, art, support, and aid (health, wealth, homing). When it comes to barriers there may be language barriers between students and teachers or even students and other students. There can also be religious barriers as well as belief system differences. Through learning and growing as an education system there are proper steps in place within each school division on how to be the best school and place for students to be at all times no matter what difference any student may have.  

Summary of Learning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5IAv5V4ijM&t=45s

Embedded above is my Summary of Learning video that I created using iMovie, Animoto, Phonto, and PicsArt. These are my final thoughts and what I have learned over the past four months squeezed into six minutes. I hope that you enjoy this video even half as much as I enjoyed this class.

Here is the script in case you would like to read along or would like to use it as a reference:

Hello everyone! My name is Sydney Kawa and this is my Ed Tech 300 Summary of Learning. I will be sharing information that I have learned throughout the past four months through slides that I have created and combined using iMovie, Animoto and other editing resources such as Phonto and PicsArt. Both iMovie and Animoto are resources that were recommended to me through Ed Tech 300, and have been put to use on many occasions throughout my learning project. Back in January I began my time in this course and quickly gained an understanding of the importance of using online tools to the best of my advantage. Before this course I did not have Twitter, Slack, or use many online tools that could be beneficial to me in the long run as a future educator. Now I am able to confidently say that I tweet multiple educational resources a week, engage with my peers through retweets and replies, comment on classmates blogs through WordPress, offer my opinions and suggestions through Slack, and put aside time everyday to absorb educational resources that my peers have also shared through these platforms. Before entering this course I primarily found myself scrolling through Instagram, sharing posts on Facebook, and pinning home decor ideas on Pinterest. I will admit that that was not very educational, however in my defence I never actually realized how reliant and important modern education is on technology. Ed Tech 300 immersed me everyday whether we were directly in class or not, and brought multiple tools to my attention. Not only tools that I can use to further my own learning, but the learning of others as well. Let me break them down for you. 

Twitter, which took me by surprise when we were asked to create an account. is actually used for much more than just following and retweeting celebrities posts (who knew). Rather for myself, it is a platform where I am able to follow other educators within Saskatchewan, partake in SaskEdChats on Thursday evenings, be introduced to Ed Tech resources that I may have missed in my own searches, and meet other students in the education program. The resources and daily usage of Twitter were a huge part of my Ed Tech Journey. 

Next we have Slack which allows us to also share resources, post reminders, ask questions, and share our thoughts. Slack was very immersive and if you needed a question answered you could rely on your fellow classmates to answer within minutes. With Slack I was able to rely on others and classmates were able to rely on me, a great example of us stepping up and being educators before we are even in our own classrooms. 

WordPress was the largest part of my learning experience and take away from Ed Tech 300. My blog, Sydney’s Inquires, is where I posted weekly learning updates and used educational resources to help guide my learning project, I also responded to blog prompts such as digital citizenship in the classroom, my thoughts on a resource called Feedly, YouTube/internet progression, fake news, looking back at our digital footprint, and much more! Each concept brings positives and negatives to light such as the benefits of coding, but the downfalls of cyber bullying. Both very different aspects of technology, but both are just as important to talk about in the classroom. My blog is also a hub that provides the viewer with more than just learning project updates. Over this course I have learned to polish and make my blog aesthetically pleasing while also providing, possibly my future boss and anyone that comes across my blog, with the following posts: about me, my educational resume, my educational philosophy, my favourite education based quotes, examples of lesson plans I have created, achievements, and course work from over the past three years. 

Ed Tech 300 has provided me with multiple tools, I am talking dozens! These tools include: a better understanding of technology and how to appropriately apply this method into the classroom, how to find reliable resources through blogs and twitter, technology tools such as iMovie, Canva, Anchor (which I have been diving into on my own time), Kahoot, Quizzes, an Hour of Code, and many more. I could not think of a better semester to take Ed Tech 300 as we used Zoom to meet every Wednesday evening, chatted through Slack, shared resources through Twitter, and poured our ideas and challenges into our blogs. Every single project and communication made over the past four months have only been through education technologies, and look at the relationships that have been made. I have learned that connection is more than just being together in person. We were all communicating from the comfort of our own homes, yet I have never felt so connected to a class before. That is the prime example for how important educational technologies are in 2021 and how I need to stay up to date and specifically make time to learn about these technologies so that I can pass valuable information onto my students. 

A few topics stood out to me throughout this semester. Starting with digital citizenship and the importance of being safe online. Referring to Ribbles Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship I as a future educator must not only take into account everything I post online, think before I hit send, and understand that anyone and everyone can have access to my online presence, but also educate my students on the positives and negatives on using online technologies and resources. Through allowing our students the opportunities to use educational technologies we are teaching them to be strong digital citizens as well as helping them understand other sides of the internet such as fake news. Students will need to be able to understand the difference between what is real and what is fake on the internet, an internet lie detector if you will, which can result in a much safer and positive relationship with the online world. By enhancing examples of real versus fake and allowing for students to see different aspects of the online world is beneficial, this needs to be introduced into the classroom in order to sustain a safe and healthy environment and the ever changing online world.

Lastly, I would like to say a quick thank you to Katia for the passion she emits into this course, and all courses I have taken with her thus far. It truly resonates with me and enables me to push myself into new ideas and resources every single week. The learning does not stop here, Ed Tech 300 has truly been a course of connection.