Final Blog Post

Well, the end of the semester is here. Hard to believe it. I have gone through several changes this last semester and have made some positive life changes and I would like to believe that edpy has encouraged me to think about things about how I want to continue with my education degree. Going back to school as a mature adult has been challenging. Planning a wedding and going to school has been challenging as well. Since the GPA is so high to get into the middle years program, I have decided to do my second year over two years, head back to work so the financial responsibility isn't all on my hubby-to-be and focus on completing 3 classes a semester with hopefully high grades. I have learned different aspects of what it truly means to be a teacher. The theorists would have to be my favorite part of the whole semester. Each one is so different but in the end each of them are linked to each other.

Anyways, I will end this blog post with some good news. My boarding school in Saskatchewan has possibly been sold! Please keep your fingers crossed because in this day and age who ever wants to see a school shut down let alone torn down? Especially that one, with all the history (and ghosts!) in the building.

Thank you for providing a positive and encouraging learning environment in every class we have. It was a pleasure to learn from you.

Karissa

Andi Bell's card technique

This technique is actually quite fascinating. At first you think it would not work but as the video shows it does and it works quite well. The trick for memory is that the information needs to make it into your long term memory or you probably  won't remember it. The card technique works well, but it would be quite time consuming to do this for all of your memory work and how could you manage this with university courses?

Myself, it helps me to rewrite my notes every day I have class. I first write my notes on canary paper and  then when I get home I rewrite these notes onto white paper or into a coiled notebook. I just started this technique this semester and I believe it is helping getting the information from my short term into my long term memory. When I study, I rewrite notes and make lists. These 2 techniques have proven to be successful for this class. I have found that studying for exams for EDPY the list technique seems to work out the best. Make a list and rewrite rewrite rewrite.

I googled to see what else is out there for memory techniques. What I have come across does not surprise me one bit. The first tip I have found useful is do not skimp on exercise or sleep. When you exercise the body, you exercise the brain. When I am tired, my brain shuts kinda shuts off. I don't retain anything in class, so I agree with this tip. The second tip I found was summed up as let yourself have some fun and don't sweat the small stuff. If you don't have any fun social activities in your life and just concentrate on school and the stresses of it you are going to go completely crazy.

So looking at these tips I have found, I have done everything I possible can to improve my memory. I'm sure that my techniques will change and improve over the next 3 years as I continue my degree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-xl7_hdWZo

Positive Reinforcement

The Sisters believed in positive reinforcement at SAA. We used a "X" system and the worst possible thing that could happen to you as a student is that you could receive an X. The reward for not having an X's at the end of the month was that we got to wear normal clothes on the day that we went home instead of our usual school uniforms. You could receive an X for many different reasons. Being out of your room past lights out, not cleaning your room on a daily basis, not completing housework chores, etc. Mostly the X system was used on the outside classroom side of things. We received dt's if we did something wrong during class time and you had to go down to the creepy school library which was in the basement of the old part of the school, which was haunted (you may be laughing at this but it is true I've seen one!!) and usually it was just you and cranky Sr. Helen (who was kinda creepy in her own way lol). I think that if we didn't have the X system, none of us really would of taking the responsibility of cleaning our rooms and going to bed on time. It taught us housework and essentially discipline. 

Study Hall procedures

So at SAA we had 2 hours of study every night. There was 3 places where we were able to study. If you were in Grade 10, you either could study in the study hall or the library. Grade 11 - 12 you were either to study in the study hall or if you were an honors student you were able to study in your room (which was the biggest achievement for myself). The bonus side to studying in your room is that you could essentially do anything you wanted to. I was only able to study in my room for my Grade 12 year but that for me was the biggest achievement ever. When I entered SAA in Grade 10 I started school with an average of 58%. When I graduated I left with honors.

So now back as an university student I see the benefits of having study period every night. I  myself have to have a very strict set of "rules" when I study. My friends think I'm crazy to always be doing homework but that is a life of a student. I have to work 10 times harder than the average student because it takes me longer to process and retain the information

There has been a lot of things that I have benefited from the Academy still to this day. Not one day goes by where I don't think SAA was the best thing for me as a person. The person that I have become today is because of SAA. Without it, I'm not sure I would be able to sit in this university class because if I went to a regular school I don't think I would of made it through high school.

2 HOURS OF STUDY EVERY DAY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

Those were the first words out of my mouth when I realized that is how I would be spending my evenings at St. Angela's Academy. At first, it was hard to get used to it. We were shoved into this room in the basement of the school (which was a slightly creepy part of the school) and we were to do homework from 7:15-9:20 every single night. Well, now when I think about it, it was and is a great study tool to learn. Back then I thought it was absolute torture. The funny thing about the whole study time is, is that 10 years later, I'm back to being a student, and still following study times. It is funny how things from the Academy are going to haunt me for the rest of my life!

Is inclusive education really going to benefit anyone in the long run?

One on hand I say yes and the other hand says no. I think it would completely depend on the range of disabilities in the classroom. I asked a close friend of mine her opinion on this situation as she is a teacher at an all girls school (ironically enough we attended St. Angela's Academy together). She said that she has had a classroom with Tourette's and Down Syndrome. Yes it was disruptive to the entire class but it did work. Are classrooms going to stay inclusive from now on? She says probably not and I would have to agree with her. This is a controversial topic that has some parents up in arms about it. The parents of "normal" kids are questioning whether it is taking away from their own child's education by having them in the class. The parents of the disabled child are questioning if their child is getting enough funding. The funding in Alberta works by a coded system. The more kids that are coded in the school the more money they get from the Alberta Government. So if they want to move about from this coding system, how are they going to distribute the money accordingly? That would be the question that will be answered in a few years. So for now, teachers need to make the best situation of their jumbled together classroom and teach to the best of their abilities ALL the students in that classroom. Just one more thing that makes teaching a job of passion. If you don't have passion for educating then you are in the wrong career path.

K 

How in my own life and school career, have I observed education and diversity done?

Like I have previously mentioned before, I did attend an all girls boarding school in the middle of nowhere in Saskatchewan. The reasons for me attending St. Angela's was primarily to be an independent person and take control of my own education. Social diversity was never an issue at St. Angela's because we were all the same. Didn't matter if your family that this and that, we were all the same. It was cultural diversity that affected all of us girls. SAA was essentially a place where 80 different cultures can alive. We had students from not only all across Canada but across the world and we were all there to obtain one common goal: to get an education. Yes some of us were "sent" there by our mean mean parents (which is what we all thought at that time :-) ) but essentially still to receive an education. One thing that really stands out for myself as reducing barriers is that we had to wear a god awful uniform. Still to this day I will never wear blue slacks and a white collared dress shirt separately let alone together. But it was this awful uniform that made us equal, made all 75 of us the same. I personally didn't mind wearing the uniform as it was a morning routine to ask myself "Which pair of blue pants do I want to wear today. At the time of being at St. Angela's I hated it, I think everyone did. I have gone back and worked at the school as a residential dean and now don't feel like that anymore. So I think that I have seen education and diversity done and done in a positive way that made us realize that everyone is the same and taught us how to reduce barriers.

Heinz's Dilemma

Heinz Dilemma:
Heinz's wife is dying. One special drug, has been discovered by a druggist, but the druggist is selling it at an exorbitant price. So Heinz, after failing to borrow the money he needs, pleads with the druggist to sell the drug cheaper or let him pay later. The druggist refuses. This special drub may or may not cure Heinz's wife. Should he steal the drug?


This is a tough question, and if I was in that situation I don't have a clue what I would do. If Heinz steals the drug as this might saves his wife. Then on the other hand, Heinz could steal the drug, the drug not work, his wife dies, and he ends up in jail for the next # of years. Or, he steals the drug, it works, but he is still essentially going to loose his wife, because he is going to end up in jail. This is a type of question where my answer would be 6 in one, half a dozen in the other. 

Technology: good or bad?

Recently we watched the video Digital Nation where it examined how we are essentially technologically wired everywhere we go. There is Wifi almost everywhere these days. I realized how connected I was when during the video there was a topic of how vacations are not vacation anymore. This past summer when we went to Mexico I was completely outraged that the resort only had internet kiosks. Now that I think about it, it was great that we didn't have access to wifi at all times. A vacation is a vacation where you leave whatever stuff you have going on at home and RELAX!! I think that being wired at all times makes us forget how to do exactly this. In the last few weeks there has been talk in the media that internet is no longer going to be unlimited. Once again I thought to myself I'm screwed. Everything I do for school, all my communication with classes, instructors, groups, library, etc is through the internet. What would I do if the internet is not unlimited? I would start spending a lot of time on campus where we would have internet access. Then I thought to myself. 10 years ago when I did a year of open studies at Grant MacEwan we had no such thing as Blackboard. Nothing was based online. If you needed to communicate with your instructors, you went and saw them. I think that technology has influenced education in a good way but I also believe we are too wired. I understand exactly what the video was trying to say. We all think we are good at multitasking but in reality it isn't doing our education any good. So, now that I realize this, my goal for the rest of the semester is to leave my blackberry in my locker (which might kill me but I'm going to try :-) ), only log onto facebook in the am and in the evening, and not check my email 1000 times a day (that one should be easy if I'm leaving my blackberry in my locker). Great video, absolutely opened my eyes up to something that I didn't even realize.
-K

I love Post its

 I would love my main priority in life just to be school but that is a unrealistic statement. There is always more than one priority that is in my life. I love lists. Grocery lists, things to do in terms of housework and schoolwork. This is essentially what keeps me on task and gets me from day to day. I drive my finance nuts with my lists. He is always finding post its all around the house and really just shakes his head at me. My response to that is "How else would you like me to keep things in priority sequence????" If I had to choose the top 3 main priooritys in my life they would be:
1. School
2. Wedding
3. My family

Now, yes these priorities will change and shift from day to day but finding that balance between school, planning a wedding, maintianing a house is not always easy but those little yellow pieces of paper really and truly do save day. Woohoo as I say, I get to cross one more thing off my little yellow post it which reads:

- Blog Post for EDPY

-K

Erickson's Life-Span Development Theory

When I look at Erik Erickson's Stges of Human Development it makes more sense to me than Piaget's or Vygotsky's theories do. But, I think that you can be in two different stages at once in your life.For myself, I see myself falling within the stages of Identity versus identity confusion which according to Erickson takes place within Adolescene. The reason why I think I fall into this category is becase I am still trying to figure out who I am and what I want to become. Up until 2 years ago I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I kinda had an idea but deep down I didn't really understand or know how to get to the final product of what and who I wanted to become. Even today, I think about what type of teacher, mother, friend, wife I would like to be, and do not really know if I will achieve those expectations (even though I'm sure I will come close :-) ).  I also see myself within the Intimacy versus isolation stage. I have found that person that  I want to spend the rest of my life with and loneliness will not be an issue. But beyond those two stages, I haven't quite figured it out yet which according to Erickson's theory is natural because of my age. But according to Erickson I because of my age cannot fall in the identity versus identity confusion which is why people critize Erickson's theory because just like the other theorists the stages are too rigid. But for me, it works, and developmentally, emotionally, and physically I'm okay with that too.

-K

People buy WHY they do before they buy WHAT they do

That sounds quite funny but it really does make sense. It was a TED talk by Simon Sinek called How Great Leaders Inspire Action. It was about the business world but it did have an impact on me in regards to teaching. The whole point of the talk was that if you believe in why you do things people will trust you more and tend to purchase your product. Now you can twist that you educating. If you believe in the material you are teaching and in your students then they will have success. That might not make any sort of sense but what I got out of the TED talk was that if you believe in what you are teaching and you believe in your students then they will have success.
-K

Branfenbrenner's Bioecological Model of Development

We were asked yesterday to reflect and think about our own model of development and I did not include St. Angela's Academy on there. I think about this now and SAA falls in a Microsystem for me. I wonder if people think I am strange having such a connection to my high school, but the way I see it I am very lucky and very blessed to have had that influence in my life. Now what made me think about where St. Angela's would fall into my model of development is because today is the day that I found out they are tearing down my school as the nun's can not find a buyer for the school. The school has been shut down since 2007 and there had only been 4 Sister's remaining there up until November. Now the school is standing eerily empty and that makes my heart sad. So as I sit here at my kitchen table thinking about Branfenbrenner's Theory I wonder would SAA now fall within my Exosystem as well? I believe it would because I have no direct influence whether to keep the school standing. So today is a sad day, such a beautiful building going to waste. SAA was a wonderful school and very much is still a microsystem on a day to day basis for me.

St. Angela's Academy -  Prelate, Saskatchewan -  My "Home Away From Home"

Positive correlation between exercising and learning? HMMMM....

On Monday we watched a documentary by The National on a school in Saskatoon where a teacher has proven a positive correlation between cardio exercise and the learning of students. This video has very much made me think about things. If this is a positive correlation why isn't it being made more public and more people making positive changes in their life? SO... I've made a challenge to my friends on facebook. I've posted the link to the video and have encouraged everyone to watch the video and make a comment on what they think. So far, no one has ever heard of this. So maybe by word of mouth and the pass it along chain we can make more people aware of this. For myself, I'm going to give it a shot actually. Instead of going to the gym after school I'm going to make an effort to exercise BEFORE school and see if it changes my marks. Who knows? Maybe it will allow me to be less cranky (my poor husband to-be!) and stressed when it comes to school. I'll let you know.
- K

January 12, 2011

Well this is my first blog post. So far, I am enjoying EDPY. I find that it is building on the information that I have learnt in EDUC 250 which I absolutely loved so I am sure that I will love this class as well.

Today's class we were asked to recall upon our own life and education experiences for an example of effective teaching in action. My entire high school years (Grade 10-12) were an example of effective teaching in action or as our school "slogan" if you would like to call it that was "Education for life". I went to a private all-girls boarding school in the middle of Saskatchewan. The decision to attend St. Angela's was mine and mine alone. I would not trade it for anything! At the time I absolutely HATED it but as I start my education to become a teacher I am finding myself reflecting upon these years and have realized exactly what effective teaching is. Each and every one of my teachers and Sister's (the school was run by an Catholic Order of Nuns) from high school have made an impact on my life and continue to do so to this day. I think the best example of effective teaching for me as a student did not happen in the classroom. At St. Angela's every night there would be a 2 hour mandatory study session. There was a catch with this though. If your average was anything below 75% you were in the dreadful study hall which essentially was a great big room with a bunch of desks. It was not a great place. If you have 75-80% you had the choice to study in the library. But, if you had an honors average of 80% or higher, you were allowed to study in your room. That there was the BEST effective teaching anyone could of taught me. It taught us how to study and how to achieve the higher marks because with higher marks came a better place to study. So I worked and worked and worked. It took me till Grade 12 but I did make it into my room for study. Starting at the Academy in Grade 10 I went in with a 56% average and I walked out a honors graduate. I feel privileged and proud to say I'm an Academy girl and I hope one day I can be half as good as a teacher as mine were to me.
- K