Challenge 3 Capture Learning
This challenge was really interesting for me to learn about how to capture the learning that goes on in my classroom. I took a good look at the hundreds of pictures taken this past year and I had to laugh. All of the pictures pretty much looked the same to me. Students working on iPads or computers, students writing and reading, and students doing STEM challenges. These were the same pictures that we put on the class blog with perhaps a sentence or two about what we did. Did these pictures accurately capture the learning? Sadly they did not. The students and I knew how much learning was happening in the class, people reading our blog did not. I tried to document a project the students had done last year. I would have definitely added a picture of the design they drew but I had not saved such pictures. This year I will be sure to add pictures of student work and add reflections as well.
I look forward to capturing the learning this year with the students. The good news is that my students have gained so much knowledge by taking pictures, recording videos, and reflecting last year, they can help me capture the learning this year.
Challenge 5 Blue Day Challenge
The 24-hour blue day challenge was really interesting. I found so many different shades of blue all around me. It is easy to see so many shades of blue during the summer. The sky, the water, beach towels, blue golf shirts, and even blue comforters in my daughters’ blue bedroom at the cottage.
This picture spoke to me the most at the end of the 24 hours. We had been watching this hawk fly around the cottage for a few days. This picture spoke to me the most after the 24 hours. The blue sky is breathtaking. I love how the hawk is soaring and the blue sky seems endless above him. It reminds me of one of our school’s North Stars; There is a floor but no ceiling. All students and teachers can go above and beyond
Challenge 8 Quote
This visual quote card comes from a special moment in time with my Grade Three class last year. The students were all trying to build watering devices for plants they had grown. It was the second day of building and one student was becoming increasingly more frustrated with the project. She kept trying to make small adjustments to her original design plans and water kept leaking everywhere from her device. This student was ready to give up and I stopped the class and explained her difficulties in the building of her device. One student stood up and said this quote out loud and an incredible thing happened, all the students ran over to encourage her not to give up. The whole class helped her build the watering device and guess what? It worked! The class cheered as the device watered her plant. We referred to that quote throughout the year when times got tough. It just doesn’t get any better than that.