Month: January 2020

Welcome back to another interesting blog! This past week, our cohort had the opportunity to visit PSII, the “Pacific Institute of Innovation and Inquiry”, an independent high school located in downtown Victoria. This school differs from traditional schools as students take an inquiry-based approach to learning and their school schedules are altered to the needs and focus of the students. At first, I was skeptical to see how this type of classroom would benefit students, but after seeing it in person, there are many aspects that I could see myself potentially incorporating in my own classroom in the future.

Here is a photo of a daily session schedule at PSII.

Some of the positive aspects that I thought this school offered included flexible time tables and collaborative work environments. At PSII, they do not enforce strict deadlines for their students, which allows students more time to focus on things they may struggle with, and spend less time on the things they have already mastered. A big problem with our current education system is that we need to have students achieve certain things by a certain time. However, as educators, if we truly believe that learning is a curve and everyone learns at different speeds, we should try to allow more flexibility for our students. Furthermore, I thought the collaborative workspaces were a great addition to the school. The way the desks were arranged allowed students to work with people from other grades. In a high school environment, this is an extremely rare set up as often times students only see those who are in the same grade.

While I see the value of this type of school, I feel that it would not be suitable for all types of learners. Firstly, in an elementary school setting, students often do not yet have the self-regulation skills that would be necessary to complete an inquiry-based project. While the new curriculum stress autonomy in the classroom, young students still need guidance when it comes to school. At PSII, students are free to attend sessions at their own leisure which would not be appropriate in an elementary setting for the meer purpose of safety. Secondly, it would be extremely difficult for teachers to make individualized learning plans for all of their students and check in on a day-to-day basis. The faculty at PSII meet with a group of students each morning to discuss the plan for the day. Unfortunately, in the public education system, there is not enough time, resources, or money to set up this form of schooling for every single student.

Here is the flow chart that PSII teachers use to help guide students through the inquiry process.

Overall, I thought what the PSII school is doing with their students is an excellent idea and allows many of their students to thrive outside of the public education system.

– Ms. G 🙂

During our lecture today, we watched the documentary “RIP! Remix Manifesto”. The video looks into the growth of the internet over the past 30 years and the purpose of the computers and connections around the world. The documentary begins by discussing how the internet is a place for all people to share and express ideas. The title “remix manifesto” refers to the debate between future and past and how past societal views influence our perspectives today but also challenge the way we view the world. The first topic they debate is the ability to use music freely. The group “Girl Talk” mashes together popular songs to create new forms of music. However, copyright infringement and knowing who owns what is difficult to determine. Artists create popular songs we hear and enjoy are based upon previous melodies or rhythm, which becomes difficult when songs are not available in the public domain. 

The documentary focuses on 3 main ideas…

1. Culture always builds on the past
2. The past always tries to control the future
3. Our future is becoming less free

The video proceeds by discussing how the concept of copyright was put in place to give creators ownership and credit to their own work. The website “Napster” was a public music sharing website which created anger amongst the record companies as they were not profiting from this illegal downloading platform. Lawerence Lessig is a lawyer who fought the government on the freedom to share music in the public domain. He discusses the concept of fair use which allows people freedom of speech and to quote other people’s work. Furthermore, the argument the creators are trying to express is that the copyright laws have grown out of control and have limited artists’ creative freedom to interpret artwork. 

One of the most famous examples of remixed media is almost everything created by Disney. Famous movies such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Pocahontas are just a few examples where they took cultural stories and continued to develop them.  Disney has extremely strict copyright laws, yet we still see millions of people using Disney to create their own artwork.

The documentary concludes with girl talk playing at Coachella, and how people cannot enjoy their music unless they attended it due to the strict copyright laws. The video makes a mockery of the copyright laws by showing footage from Coachella but playing a classical music piece that is free in the public domain.

I believe that this documentary makes very valid arguments towards the problems around copyright and the use of artists’ work. While this documentary focused on the music industry, it is important to consider other forms of media such as television, photography, or art. Music is something that I believe should be shared and celebrated and people should have the opportunity to expand that creativity from their own unique perspective. However, I do believe it is important to respect those who created it and give them the rights they deserve. Many artists only make a sliver of actual sales and as a society, we need to rework our copyright laws in the 21st century.

After watching the documentary, we discussed some of the options for open education resources for teachers. I found that the website OER Commons was particularly useful as it offered a variety of lesson plan options for teachers. In a career such as education, teachers often collaborate to create incredible lesson plans. This website provides us with the opportunity to expand our understanding and spread knowledge to students around the world!

-Ms. G 🙂

Hey everyone! This past week we learned how to use the platform Trello. This was my first time using the website and overall I found it highly successful. As a person who likes to keep organized lists of my assignments, I can see the potential of using Trello in my future career. The design of Trello allows users to view lists on an open page and easily see what you need to complete. One feature that I found beneficial on Trello was the use of the “Checklist” function. This function allows you to see the percentage of how much you have completed on a specific list of tasks. 

While I personally feel that Trello can be a beneficial resource, I worry that keeping track through another platform may lead to confusion on either the Teacher’s behalf or the students. I often choose to write down my tasks on a piece of paper, and moving towards a digital form of an agenda will be a personal challenge for me. I know I currently do not login to Trello everyday whereas I constantly look at my agenda. 

Another topic we discussed during class today was the documentary “Most Likely To Succeed” which showed an alternative approach to schooling that focuses on student exploration of their own interests. I found the documentary very eye-opening towards some of the current problems in traditional education practices. However, during my discussion with my classmate Casey, she brought up the fact that these types of schools do not take into consideration students with disabilities. This type of environment works for students who have strong self-regulation skills, but many students would not adapt well to this system. I feel that primary students from grades K-3 would not succeed in this type of school as they have not yet developed self-regulation skills. A 6-year-old needs structure to learn important life skills before allowing them free-range to study whatever they want. 

I feel that our current education system is moving towards a more inquiry-based approach to learning. With elementary age students, I believe we as teachers can offer more choice in our classes in regards to content and work environment. We must continue working towards making our classes flexible and functional for the needs and abilities of all students.

-Ms. G 🙂