Introduction

Welcome back! I cannot believe it is term 2 of my Master’s degree in Educational Technology and I am back to teaching grade 1-2 French Immersion in Victoria as well. You can read more about me on my home page or this previous post as it really dives into, my beliefs and pedagogy surrounding dance and art. Furthermore, to expand on the benefits of dance pedagogy, through my recent years of teaching I have really been able to learn new tools and programs that have further developed my teaching skills and helped put the student at the center of their learning. One of the programs I have been learning relates to French Language Learning and is called AIM. This year my plan is to do my first AIM play as it follows an inclusive model, that promotes engagement and aligns with incorporating arts as a tool for learning.

The creative process of art. Students designed their own snowflakes.

I could elaborate on this model more, but let’s set that aside for a separate blog post and focus on the key questions of learning design.

Why you are interested in learning design?

I am interested in learning design as teaching is constantly changing and I believe that there is no proper way to teach but rather it is important to be flexible and continue your learning to adapt to your classrooms needs and strengths. Ultimately, this week we looked at a film called Most Likely to Succeed Film (2015). This film looked at a School called High Tech High -which as their moto connects the classroom to the world . I always have had a large appreciation for Inquiry and Innovation and this school really puts forward the idea of creativity and life skills related to learning. As a dancer and connecting this back to my belief of the Arts in Education, I value the idea of creativity and producing new things and performing/presenting at an exhibition. Thus, I believe that this model is teaching essential life skills, as stated within the film.  I can honestly say that my little brother and I had very different school experiences. In High School, my brother went to Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry and followed a similar structure to what the film discussed, which has only made him transfer those skills and create super interesting projects to this day. Notably he created this https://twitter.com/psiivictoria/status/1470551620689661954?s=46&t=tzbVmeBGLPTPA8bgS4JNtQ . He learned how to code through Arduino, he designed it and various subject areas were evaluated. He also not only did this within school, now as a graduate from this school, has started his own business, where he is able to use the skills learned at PSII to help him have success in his career.

What experience do you have with learning design and how might you explain your process of designing learning experiences?

Finally the experience I have with learning design is acknowledging that it must be purposeful and intentional. Getting students involved in the process makes learning meaningful for them. I value our curriculum as it provides opportunities to design lessons where students gain these skills and in BC we are lucky that this aligns with our Core Competencies and as reporting is changing it seems that we are moving towards more inquiry models and goal setting experiences. In the Most Likely to Succeed Film (2015), it talked about building student confidence as an example of a skill. It also elaborated on the process of learning and the motivation. These are crucial in the learning design process. In a second language learning environment this is also very crucial as students are encouraged to take risks and learn from each other. If that is not set up or encouraged then how can students do this…

To explain my process of designing learning experiences here is a brief summary:

I believe that learning experiences is not only about a lesson, but also about the environment. I recognize however that I as a teacher have a vision and not everything is able to occur. For me this is not a linear process but rather one that I am constantly thinking about and changing but I do try to consider all of these elements to make for a great learning experience.

  • Setting up the space. I am grateful to have my own classroom and be able to move tables and switch it up for my learners. If I had a big budget and was able to design the class, I know I wouldn’t have desks. However, at this time, I only have access to desks and therefore have much like the video, set up my class in a square. I also do group pods as well to promote collaboration.  
  • Thinking of the classroom walls, there are many theories but in a French Language Learning environment and in all classrooms, effectively making the classroom with the children has been very beneficial for my learners. We create our sound and word walls (there is limited up on the walls when students arrive). It is purposeful.
  • September and even before you know your class, getting to know students within the school hallways. Then when in your class, diving in to your students interests, passions and strengths. I have really found it beneficial to run lunch clubs to get to know the kids even more.
  •  Furthermore, thinking of your students alongside the curriculum by making expectations with the students and having a goal for the learning.
  • I have really enjoyed using our digital portfolio and connecting with parents this way as well as I hope to have more celebrations of learning exposition type events in the future.
  • Finally collaborating as students it is important but also as teachers, reaching out to staff. Sharing resources and using school resources is so important. We can’t always be reinventing the wheel so having activities that are easily modifiable are essential.

As a final example, one activity I and my students enjoy which fosters oral language practice is using an image and some sentence starters to create a story. This can be easily modified as you can select image that are of interest to your students. Last week I did one about volcanos and mountains as this year I have a huge interest in them. This helped motivate my students.