Module 4 – Foundations and Principles in My Context of Practice

Foundations and Principles in My Context of Practice

  

Journal Entry #1

November 10^th, 2020

 

When I first started looking for a professional learning community, I wanted to look for PLCs related to teaching Visual Arts, which relates directly to my current teaching context – teaching AVI 2O1 virtually. I did a brief search online and found one promising organization – the Ontario Art Education Association (OAEA) (https://ontarioarteducationassociation.org/distance-learning/). This organization seems to be the leading PLC for Visual Arts teachers in Ontario, and looked intriguing. It was also highly regarded by my department head, as the annual conference is upcoming. However, I was dissuaded by the membership fee. My department head also sent an email out later today, stating that she would like to form a PLC for Virtual Visual Arts Teachers in our school. Given this, I think that I will wait to gain more insight into our school’s PLC, as it will be directly related to my current teaching context. 

 

In light of this, I will instead search for PLCs in other related to other professional areas of interest, including English, supporting English Language Learners, Media Literacy, Health & Wellness. As a new teacher, I definitely have a lot to learn in all areas! I want to continue my professional development outside of the Visual Arts subject area, so that in future roles I will be well prepared for supporting student needs.

 

Journal Entry #2

November 11^th, 2020

 

I found a few promising PLCs! However, it is hard to distinguish between resource hubs and communities that actually offer a chance for discussion amongst its members. The following are a few of the communities that I have considered so far (I may have signed up for all of their email lists):

 

·       International Literacy Association (https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog)

·       MediaSmarts (https://mediasmarts.ca) 

·       The Canadian Network for Arts & Learning (https://www.eduarts.ca)

·       The English Language Arts Network (https://www.elanontario.com)  

·       TVO Teach Ontario (https://www.teachontario.ca/)

·       Teaching Channel (https://learn.teachingchannel.com/community)

 

I decided to go with TVO Teach Ontario for my Electronic Journal. For many of these communities, joining simply involved filling out my name, email, creating a username, and stating which school board/organization I belong to. One thing to note was that it required my board email, which is the site’s way of verifying that I am a teacher that is employed in Ontario, I suppose. 

 

Journal Entry #3

November 13^th, 2020

 

What professional contributions do you hope to make in this professional space? 

This community is very large, as it is open to educators in various subject areas, levels, with many different areas of focus. TVO Teach Ontario is a very open platform for educators to have discussions, but I think I may want to restrict my interactions to educators in similar subject area(s) or to secondary level teachers. This will allow me to connect with other educators who share similar teaching contexts. I hope to contribute my experiences teaching virtually due to the pandemic, as it is a new learning format for everyone. I have had some successes in delivering curriculum remotely, and I think that I can make contributions centred around this for other educators who are switching to this format. 

 

How can these spaces contribute to your growth as a professional?

There is a section to explore Professional Development opportunities, areas to create Collaborative Learning Communities, and forums to engage with other educators in discussion groups. I will spend more time exploring the resources, videos, and blogs that the site offers. I noticed one which involves a conversation with Eric Walters, who is a Canadian author that I admire. I am intrigued!

 

How can this professional space serve as a place for you to provide leadership? 

I can contribute and connect with other educators in the discussion boards, or I could create my own Collaborative Learning Community. I think that either would be an effective way of connecting with other teachers. 

 

Journal #4

November 15^th, 2020

 

What mode of communication best suits the space? 

Thinking back to the other PLCs that I considered joining, I realize now that what really appealed to me was the discussion board feature of the site. It is similar to Facebook, in that people can comment, like, reply, and share to posts in an interactive and organized manner. However, I prefer these discussion boards because they are more heavily moderated, and members are screened upon sign-up. 

 

Analyze the website for clues as to the practice of the participants.

Looking at the discussion boards, it seems like there are a few really active forums. I may examine a few of these groups before settling on one that I want to contribute to. There are a few forums with one or two members, and they seem to be abandoned. I think that while there are a few dedicated contributors out there, a lot of people tend to register and then forget about it. 

It also seems that under the “Explore” section of the website, teachers can view professional development opportunities and access curated resources. There seems to be a lot of focus on 21^st Century Learning, Indigenous Education, and Mentorship. Additionally, there is a lot of content that discusses Coding and Mathematics – which indicates that a lot of the participants are elementary school teachers (given that this is newly added to the curriculum).

 

What type of curricular design commonly guides planning, instruction, and evaluation? 

This PLC seems to be open to various types of curricular designs and methods for planning, instruction, and evaluation. Within this context, participants can share and discuss whatever they would like, so it does not appear to have a common structure. I did see a lot of discussion on co-constructing criteria with students and student-centred pedagogy. Both of these concepts tie into learner-centred designs and problem-based designs. Additionally, increased self-regulation skills and integrating opportunities for self-reflection also seemed to be key, again tying back to learner-centred designs. In terms of planning, a lot of educators emphasized the backwards design when planning out their units, highlighting the need decide what student learning will look like at the end of the unit, then work their way backwards to design evaluations and instruction accordingly. I am looking forward to engaging with this community!