Mobilize digital technologies.
Use digital technologies in order to benefit students and all education stakeholders.
Third Field Experience: Georges P. Vanier Elementary School
Aug to Dec 2022
I am confident to say that during my third field experience, I went above and beyond in my use of technologies in the classroom. Throughout my internship, I used the tools and resources that were readily available to me, such as the Smart Board in the classroom. I used those tools to enrich the teaching and learning situations I created, as well as teaching technological literacy to students.
Furthermore, in general, I always encouraged my students to be critical of the digital tools they used and to act in a way that is digitally conscious. As an example, I gave all my students the opportunity to have a period at the computer lab to explore the online version of our workbook and the online activities related to it. While we were there, we took the time to discuss digital citizenship and the impacts of words online. We also discussed the importance of keeping our personal data private and to log out properly when using shared devices.
My biggest accomplishment within this professional competency, and potentially overall in my field experience, is my integration of robotics in an extra-curricular activity and in the classroom. After attending a robotics workshop with my Cooperating Teacher, I was inspired to start my very own robotics club after school, to create a community of robotics experts among our grade five and grade six students. Through this extra-curricular activity, a handful of students got the opportunity to learn more about robotics and build their own robots. Once my students and I got more confident with our use of robots, I integrated Ozobots into my grade five classroom. I used this robot to story-tell with my students. With this technology, students were able to code the robot to tell a story with its movements.
Through my extra-curricular activity and robotics lessons, I taught my students about emotional self-regulation when they were using of robotics. As I have myself experienced frustration when working with robots in the classroom, I gave my students the appropriate tools to identify and deal with their frustration when faced with a challenge. This led to many discussions about dealing with frustration in life in general.
As expressed above, I attended a robotics workshop with my Cooperating Teacher. In this workshop, I explored Lego We Do robots. I built a car and coded it to move, which is shown in the video below, to the left. I also explored Ozobots, which I implemented into my classroom later on, which is shown in the video below, to the right.
In addition, during the robotics club I hosted on Wednesdays after school, my students explored different types of robots. The picture to the right shows a robot in construction, built by two grade five students.