What's YOUR Passion?

 When I was in Grade 7, our music teacher gave us an assignment on researching our favourite band or music artist and re-write one of their songs.  I was extremely eager for this assignment because 1) music, specifically singing had been my passion for as long as I can remember and 2) I had always been interested in song-writing but had never taken the time to actually go for it.  I chose to re-write the song Untitled by Simple Plan and put my whole heart and soul into a song dedicated to my grandmother who had recently died.  This assignment and song has continued to stick in my memory because it was not only a touching experience, but opened up my eyes to a new passion of singing/songwriting.

 Now as an aspiring teacher, I know that passion-based learning is an approach that I would love to utilize in my classroom.  Passion-based learning is an instructional approach that is driven by student interest and commitment (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014).  Through this interest, the curriculum becomes personalized and relevant to each student (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014).   For much of my assignments throughout my educational career, many of my teachers gave us the option to create a topic for say a speech, essay, or science project.  What I think is really unique about passion-based learning, however is that students are able to steer the curriculum into an area that really interests them, and actually take action within their passion.  Although the example of my song-writing assignment was not necessarily considered passion-based, it certainly created a passion within me.  If it had been a passion-based, I could see that there would be so many other aspects of music that I would have loved to explore.  For example, producing my music.  I know that it would be a challenge and the end results of something I had created would have been an extraordinary thing.

When looking at ways that one can incorporate passion-based learning into the classroom, there are several ideas posted online.  An example that was discussed in EDUC 4P27 is Genius Hour.  In Genius Hour, students are given 20% of their class time to working on a passion project. This method can not only inspire a love for learning, but also guides students to inquire, learn and reflect (Laura Lane, Personal Communication, March 16, 2016).  Passion-based learning may be difficult to commence in a classroom because sometimes students are too nervous to delve in an area of interest in fear of failing. In order to create passion within students, teachers need to find out what their students are innately passionate about as well as exude passion in their teaching, so as to infect their students with excitement about their project (Laura Lane, Personal Communication, March 2016).

 As I have grown older, I have discovered new passions of teaching, working with children of special needs, and recently playing the guitar.  With the example of my Grade 7 music assignment, yes I had known that I had a passion for singing, but it helped me realize my passion for song-writing as well.  As a future teacher, nothing would make me more excited or inspired if that through a passion-based learning approach, my students would find and explore their own passions to new heights into something they could never imagined.  For those of you reading, if you were to take away anything from this final blog I would hope that you are inspired to further explore your current passions, create new ones and know that learning can be fun!

References

Drake, S., Kolohon, W., & Reid, J. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom           assessment: Engaging the 21st century learner (1st ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.

Profile of a 21st Century Teacher

        If you had asked me what I thought what it meant to be a teacher my first year and compared it to my views today, the growth is enormous and exciting.  Within the past century, it is amazing to think about the changes that have occurred within the educational system.  The shift from a traditional classroom, in which students are seated in rows of desks, passively learning from the know-all teacher,  to the constructivist approach where children learn through experience and inquiry is really inspiring.   Throughout my educational journey as a future teacher, I have noticed and taken in several components that I deem are the necessary traits of a 21st Century educator, and each has made me more and more excited about my decision in becoming a teacher.

        First of all, 21st Century educators emphasize the implementation of a backward design.  This process consists of first planning and deciding on the curriculum outcomes students are to achieve, then developing the forms of assessments that will be used on students' learning, and finally creating the specific lesson plans that will lead up to the previously decided upon curriculum outcomes (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014).  By using a backwards design, it ensures that the lessons being taught already have specific curriculum outcomes in mind.

        A second component that I have noticed that is necessary for myself as a future 21st Century educator is the need to be relevant to the world I live in, so that I can be relevant in my students' lives.   This is extremely noticeable when looking at the huge rise and use of technology in classrooms.  Technology can be used as a way to enhance learning and allow for deeper assessment of learning (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014).  Students use technology on a daily basis at home, and so by being familiar with technology and implementing ways it can be used in the classroom is relevant in student's learning.  This need to be relevant is also really evident when exploring the 21st Century Literacies.  Being digitally literate, media literate, globally literate, mentally health literate, etc., are all extremely relevant to our world today, for these areas are what we as people are working on improving in.  It is important for 21st Century educators to explore each literacy, yet understand that none of these are fixed and that new literacies will most likely emerge over our years as educators.  That is why continuously looking for ways to improve is another crucial aspect of being a 21st Century educator.

       Related to the 21st Century Literacies, 21st Century educators are also very open to the world with regards to their ways of teaching (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014).  The use of class websites that are accessible to parents, as well as writing reflective blogs (such as this one you are reading) are becoming more and more prevalent.  These are tools that educators are using to not only connect with parents, but with educators across the world.  This is another underlying theme of 21st Century educators, collaboration.  Being able to collaborate amongst colleagues on different methods that have and have not worked within their classrooms allows for teachers to enhance their professional development and help ensure all students are receiving the best education possible.  

       Lastly, what I deem as one of the most important aspects of being a 21st century educator is the need to be caring.  By caring for our students and developing relationships, it assists in fostering their learning (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014).  Therefore, what I believe the goal is for myself as a 21st Century educator is to ultimately be a catalyst in my students' growth as a whole person.  I want to make a difference in the lives of my students by opening their minds of being a lifelong learner.

References

Drake, S.M., Reid, J.L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the 21st     century learner. Ontario, Canada: Oxford.

Divergent Thinking: The Possibilities are Endless!

Although this is a continuation on my blog posts from a previous course, I would like to take a moment for those first-time readers to describe a little bit about myself.  I am a 4th year student at Brock University in the Concurrent Education Child and Youth Studies program.  I come from a large family of 6 children all born under 9 years (my mom loves to brag about!) and which also means that I am no stranger to conflicting views and perspectives.  In the past, I have explored many opportunities with working with children and youth, for example teaching Sunday School, working full-time at a daycare, being a support staff worker for a child with autism, and most recently being a performing princess at children's birthday parties (extravagant, I know!).  Teaching and working with children has always been an area of interest to me, in that it never seizes to amaze me their insight and the extraordinary ways they think.

As I previously mentioned, growing up with so many siblings really helped shape my understanding of multiple intelligences and ways of thinking.  An area of interest that really sparked me in last week's first lecture was the importance of divergent thinking.  Divergent thinking is the ability to generate many different ideas in response to a problem (Sternberg & Williams, 2010).  This form of thinking focuses on the importance of creativity in children and youth and has been shown to positively influence problem solving skills.  Convergent thinking, however, is the process of finding a single correct answer (Sternberg & Williams, 2010).  This form of thinking was the most common form of thinking required when I went to school and I think significantly affected how I perceive myself creatively.  To this day, I do not consider myself overly creative and find myself looking for that one right answer.  This is an area where I would like to grow in for I believe what convergent thinking is, is lazy thinking.  Encouraging divergent thinking should be necessary in schools because it can really open up your eyes to a whole new world and amazing outcomes can come from it.  As a future teacher, I want to inspire my students to think outside the box and to explore their mind, in all its' glory because ultimately, the possibilities are endless!

References

Sternberg, R. J., & Williams, W. M. (2010). Educational psychology (2nded.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.