Category: edci335-community contributions

Hi Josh! Your post on Brain Breaks for Kindergarten, 1^st, and 2^nd grade // Mindfulness, social emotional learning, & more! was very well written. I want to start off by saying that video is an amazing resource! It was very useful and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and even learned some new things. I agree with you that this would be a good video to show learners, as it does cover a wide range of topics but also does not go too deep into any of them. It is a good video as an overview of the general concept of brain breaks but still allows you to take the learning deeper into a variety of sub-topics. I like your idea of having the learners take notes and then put them into their own words in a blog post. This allows for maximum engagement with peers but also allows the learners to recognize what they may not understand quite yet.

Hi Kirby! I loved your post on interaction. The point you make about how we are inherently making decisions when on applications made me think. I never really thought about how even the “pointless” act of scrolling through TikTok is engaging my brain to make decisions based on what I like or find interesting. On another note, I absolutely love the video that you included in your post! That brain break would even keep me entertained as an adult, let alone as a kid. The video is very user-friendly with the options to either see the questions and actions or hear them. This allows all different types of learners to engage in the brain break. This video could also be useful to show in an interactive learning resource as an example. I believe that it is a very good example of what an active brain break could look like.

Hi Kirby! Your post on inclusive design was very informative. First of all, I absolutely love the quote that you included! I think it is something that is very important to remember as future educators. The points you made about equality and equity are ones that I also struggle with as an educator. We want all students to have our equal attention, but sometimes we have to value equity over equality in those moments and support the students who need it more. But then how do we define who needs the support more? It is an ongoing internal battle that I am sure other educators face as well. I agree with you when you state that we must not design with only one type of learner in mind or what works best for us. Ultimately, we created this resource for all different kinds of people and must do our best to accommodate and adapt for anybody who may need it.

Hi Sam! I loved your reflections throughout your post on inclusive design. You raise an excellent point about the design of our resource. Having it fully online allows working professionals, who do not have much extra time, the opportunity to complete the course at their own pace. You do, however, raise a good point about how this could possibly limit access to some people. If a person does not have easy access to technology then they may not be able to complete our resource. I would then suggest possibly going to a public library, but this still creates barriers as libraries are only open for certain hours and also in the case of a pandemic may be fully closed. Overall, I thought your post was very well written and included important reflections on our resource that would be good to consider in the future.

Hi Josh! Your post on direct instruction was very informative. I completely agree with you on how direct instruction should only be utilized in times where it best serves the students. For example, if there are safety concerns or something else that needs to be addressed to everyone. My teaching style is very similar to yours in which I only like to use direct instruction within a lesson if I am teaching specific new information. Otherwise, I believe it benefits the students more to practice and apply this new knowledge than for me to continuously provide students with information over and over again. I agree with you that direct instruction only has a limited role within our learning resource. By utilizing videos, activities, and opportunities for reflection, we are enabling our learners to practice and apply knowledge and make it meaningful to themselves. Something to reflect on would be how have you seen direct instruction utilized in a positive way but also negatively and what made them positive or negative?

Hi Sam! I loved your post on cooperative learning. I totally agree with you on how cooperative learning and brain breaks could be intertwined. Whether students are working individually or cooperatively, the need for a break is still very relevant. Students need to be able to take a break during any kind of learning to allow their brains to recharge and get ready to continue the task at hand. I love your point about how cooperative learning benefits students in a variety of ways. Students are not only learning or applying new information, they are helping guide others and enhance each other’s learning. If our interactive learning resource was intended for group learning, I think that the principles that go along with cooperative learning would be great to consider. Something to reflect on would be how you have utilized or plan to utilize cooperative learning in your past or future classrooms?

Hi Kirby! I loved your post on learning, theory, and motivation. I think you raised some excellent questions on why we use learning theories. I agree with you when you discuss how organizing people into categories “so bluntly” does not make sense. If each person is so individual and unique then how can we simply put them into one category or the other? Furthermore, how can we be expected to effectively teach students who are put into such categories with strict definitions of who is in each one? Teaching should be about individualizing the curriculum so that it fits who they are as a person. This does not mean teaching them a certain way or teaching them certain subjects just because they fall within a category. In my opinion, this means teaching them material that engages them, as well as teaching them in a way that allows for them to learn and be successful. Overall, I think you raised some excellent points and I cannot wait to see what you write about later in the course.

Hi Josh! I loved your post on behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism. I agree with you on your point about how each learning theory should be valued. If we put students into one category of any of the learning theories then we cannot effectively teach them. Each learning theory must be considered depending on what your learning objectives are and who your students are. Learning is definitely not solely based on behaviour. You raise an excellent point when you talk about how learning is a range of different skills and not just how it changes behaviour. As you mention, it is important to remember the age group that you are teaching. You mention K-12 education, but it could also be taken even further into adult education. It is also important to take into consideration what subject is being taught and what their prior knowledge is. Overall, I loved reading your post and I am excited to read more as we move throughout this course!