Brock Learning Network

I encourage everyone to watch this talk by Brene Brown, a researcher storyteller, if you will. In this talk she shares some profound insights regarding the human condition to feel entirely inadequate with our current identity. Through her many years of research and investigation she reveals some of her findings about how our own vulnerability can be overwhelmingly powerful. Although this talk is not specifically aimed at educators, it is applicable to the interactions between students in our classrooms and the relationships that we ourselves build with students.

With the Ministry of Education requiring teachers to cover more and more criteria throughout the school year, it is seemingly becoming more difficult to fit all the required content into the same amount of school days between September and June. As a Teacher Candidate at Brock University, it is a growing personal concern that it will be very difficult to cover all the curriculum expectations set out by the Ministry of Education; nonetheless, that is one of our many responsibilities as teachers in Ontario. But is it a necessity to cover all expectations? Which expectations should we emphasize?

Teaching with technology is an exciting pedagogical approach that is progressing quickly. There are always new resources to explore and new strategies being introduced via the internet. The most significant insight I’ve had is the ease at which I can challenge myself and develop my own TPACK. My introduction to Twitter has unlocked a world of possibilities filled with intriguing educators that offer many thought provoking discussions. The TK skills that I’m developing most are networking.

With only two weeks into second semester, I am constantly being exposed to many teaching tools and resources to use in future classrooms. First overwhelmed with the start of technology class and the several assignments, tools, resources, and accounts to create, I am now feeling more on track as I build my TPACK (technological pedagogical and content knowledge). Candice Figg and Jenny Burson comment on ‘preparing to teach 21st century learners’ in their book. I found this section in the textbook particularly useful as it references what WE need to do as teachers.

Getting read for the career fair?

As cliche as it is, "practice makes perfect". In order for students to grasp a concept and feel competent in it, a student must be given opportunities to use the concept over and over again. Teachers must make effort to model the concepts they expect their students to know, such that the concept is familiar when it comes time to use it. If a teacher feels a student is struggling, he/she can suggest practice tools and activities for students to use.

On January 28th, 300 teacher candidates and practicing teachers will gather at the Hamilton campus to explore the latest technology resources for the classroom. The Showcase will feature a wide selection of educational technology workshops, including digital literacy, BitStrips, Comic Life, Facebook, Livescribe, classroom response (clickers), Smartboards, podcasting, video conferencing, geocaching, assistive technologies and more.

• Three 75-minute sessions
• Free pizza lunch
• Giveaways & prizes
• Interactive technology fair for hands-on exploration
• Visit the Brock Tech Showcase website for more information.

A Brock professor has been appointed a principal investigator of the research team that will be assessing the implementation of Ontario’s new full-day kindergarten program.

Mary-Louise Vanderlee, associate professor in the Faculty of Education, and Ray DeV Peters, professor emeritus of Psychology at Queen’s University, will co-lead the investigation.

The Instructional Resource Centre at both campuses will be closed for the winter break beginning December 24, 2010 at noon and will resume regular hours on Tuesday, January 4, 2011.
Happy Holidays from the IRC Staff!   :  )

Teacher Diana Laufenberg shares her insight gained from teaching in a project-based environment where the core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection are emphasized in all classes.

 For teachers hoping to infuse multimedia into their classrooms, YouTube makes for an excellentstarting point. Plenty of universities, nonprofits, organizations, museums and more post videos for the cause of education both in and out of schools. The following list compiles some of the ones most worthy of attention, as they feature plenty of solid content appealing to their respective audiences and actively try to make viewers smarter.

Welcome back from practicum. As you are aware, the security of data and the protection of privacy are important facets of teacher professionalism.

Following completion of a practicum, all confidential K-12 school and student information that has been collected over the practicum (e.g., student work and grade sheets) should be returned to the school with any remaining materials securely disposed of (i.e., shredded) upon your return to Brock.

If there is practica-related material that you have permission from your associate teacher to retain in order to showcase your work in a practicum (i.e., for the purposes of building a professional portfolio), it is very important that you black out any personal information that would identify students or school personnel.

In terms of confidentiality, teacher candidates are reminded that in conversations with others, except as appropriate, they should avoid disclosing identifying information about the students and school personnel they have worked with.