Weekly reflections (Week 1/2)

Teachers Digital World:

This week, I found it very interesting learning about FIPPA and BlueSky. FIPPA is an act in British Columbia and stands for the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. It supports personal privacy by controlling how information and data are collected and used. It connects to privacy because it works to protect your personal data. As a teacher, it is beneficial to use avatars or characters that resemble you rather than real photos for your profile pictures. This helps protect your privacy while still allowing students to relate to you without exposing your image to the public. Another big topic we talked about was consent. Teachers must have consent from parents to share information, photos, or any data about their children. They also need signed consent forms to register students for specific websites or create accounts for apps used in class. BlueSky was something I had never heard of before, and it was interesting to learn about how teachers can connect on this platform to share ideas safely.

Open Inquiry Project:

Open inquiry projects allow people to explore and self-teach new ideas. During my grade 12 year, we made a capstone project which I found similar to the criteria to this open inquiry project. For my inquiry I would like to practice my cooking skills. So how does this inquiry project relate to the classroom? There isn’t just one answer; in fact there are many. By incorporating this project into classrooms it is allowing children to share a bit about themselves and even their culture, without forcing it. It is a natural approach to creating welcoming environments for diverse students. Each student is different and will have different preferences including what they like to eat. Teachers can further this project by having the students research where their selected food comes from and give a short presentation to the class about the background history before cooking the food. Students use their math skills when it comes to measuring ingredients and fractions. They use their social studies skills to learn about the cultural background of the foods they enjoy eating. Students also use their language arts skills to read, understand, and make connections with the recipes they are cooking.

“Most likely to succeed” Film:

I found the “most likely to succeed” film interesting for several reasons. The school, High Tech High, teachers are hired for 1 year contracts, the teachers don’t follow curriculum and are free to teach what they want, when they want. The use of the 1 year contract holds teachers accountable because if they don’t keep up with their responsibilities their contracts won’t be renewed. The school had no bells, no set class times, and the hired teachers each had a strong passion for an academic area. I liked that the school focused on the fact that education is messy and that each classroom/student is unique. The documentary also brought up concerns about students learning a very small set of skills that don’t really apply to the real world, which is why it advocates for High Tech High.