So I made the decision to take on the post graduate certificate run by Unitec's Mindlab all around digital and collaborative learning. This course sounds perfect for helping me to take advantage of the environment I am teaching in this year, and helping me to enhance student learning with the available resources in our giant classroom.
Most people I mentioned this too thought I had officially lost it, because it isn't as though I am finding this whole teaching business hard enough already. But the time spent on this learning I think will pay forward straight into the classroom, into my teaching practice and most importantly into the student's learning.
Our first session was a lot of getting to terms with Unitec's systems, as well as using Google + (which I should have already been comfortable with but was most definitely not). We then moved on to discussing knowledge and learning, and what those words that we throw around so easily actually mean. What is knowledge? What is learning? How can we attempt to be effective teachers until we understand what these concepts are and how that impacts our practice? There were a lot of big words, some philosophical youtube videos (like this one on epistemology and this thought provoking one on what the point of education is)
So did I leave the session enlightened? No. But I left with my brain buzzing with questions that whipped around my already over crowded brain, firing off tired synapses as I tried to fall asleep at my very strict bed time. If there is one thing I am learning so far it is that questions are far more important than the answers, and the process of finding out is much more vital that arriving at our destination.
The main thing I am taking away into my classroom is not just how much fun playdough is to play with and explore ideas with, but more so a mindfulness around why I do what I do in the classroom, and how important it is to think about my beliefs around learning on a constant, reflective basis.
I'm both excited and exhausted at the thought of our next session - stay tuned!
Most people I mentioned this too thought I had officially lost it, because it isn't as though I am finding this whole teaching business hard enough already. But the time spent on this learning I think will pay forward straight into the classroom, into my teaching practice and most importantly into the student's learning.
Our first session was a lot of getting to terms with Unitec's systems, as well as using Google + (which I should have already been comfortable with but was most definitely not). We then moved on to discussing knowledge and learning, and what those words that we throw around so easily actually mean. What is knowledge? What is learning? How can we attempt to be effective teachers until we understand what these concepts are and how that impacts our practice? There were a lot of big words, some philosophical youtube videos (like this one on epistemology and this thought provoking one on what the point of education is)
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| Our playdough model of knowledge. as a key, and learning being the process of utilising our skills and knowledge to unlock the unknown future. Metaphorical - yes. Accurate - maybe not but it was 8pm and our art skills were limiting. |
The main thing I am taking away into my classroom is not just how much fun playdough is to play with and explore ideas with, but more so a mindfulness around why I do what I do in the classroom, and how important it is to think about my beliefs around learning on a constant, reflective basis.
I'm both excited and exhausted at the thought of our next session - stay tuned!
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