Teachnology Adventures @ Cohort 21
Written by Marcie Lewis
Throughout my teacher training program and various professional development opportunities, I have written and rewritten my philosophy of education multiple times. It usually resulted in a number of pages of educational jargon with examples of how I have demonstrated these beliefs in practice. In preparation for the Cohort 21 final meeting I noticed that we … Continue reading “Philosophy of Education: 140 characters”
Written by Marcie Lewis
On February 15th I attended “Integrative Thinking Essentials for Educators Workshop” held at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto with a couple of other Cohort21 members. The day was a great mix of a keynote, workshops, and panel discussion around the theory of integrative thinking, application in the classroom, and general themes and … Continue reading “Integrative Thinking For Educators Workshop”
Written by Marcie Lewis
Reflecting and refining our action plans today has allowed me to see some of the small steps or victories that have been happening as I try to encourage the sharing of best practices and innovative strategies in my division. Some of the small victories that have happened over the past few weeks include: • having … Continue reading “Moving Forward: Action Plan Next Steps”
Written by Marcie Lewis
Upon the suggestion of Garth to examine some of the obstacles when developing a collaborative culture I began to look at the work by Andy Hargreaves around collaboration and contrive collegiality. Although this work was originally published in 1990 it is still very relevant today and I think that it speaks to the notion that … Continue reading “Collaboration and Contrived Collegiality”
Written by Marcie Lewis
The faculty members at every school are made up of a wide variety of professions each with different strengths, passions, and areas of personal professional interest. This is one factor which makes our schools rich learning environments and allows schools to offer programs that appeal to a wide variety of students. Knowledge is traditionally dispersed … Continue reading “Knowledge Management”
Written by Marcie Lewis
I was digging around tonight looking for some information on “best practices for sharing best practices or innovative practices” (as much as the term “best practice” doesn’t completely sit right with me). One of the great things about this topic is that it isn’t a problem solely faced by the educational industry so there are … Continue reading “Action Plan: Digging In”
Written by Marcie Lewis
Over the past few years the most common comment that I have heard about why teachers aren’t using more technology or why they are not comfortable using technology, is because they don’t have the time. I think that a lot of people automatically assume that in order to incorporate technology into their classroom it is … Continue reading “Action Plan: Initial Thoughts”
Written by Marcie Lewis
The second face-2-face session of Cohort21 is coming up on Saturday and personally I feel one of the benefits of the blended learning environment over a completely online environment are those in-person connections are you able to make in person. The strongest connections that I have within my PLN (Personal Learning Network) are the people … Continue reading “F2F Session #2”
Written by Marcie Lewis
Last night I attended a “Conversation Café” hosted by Brock University Department of Community Learning. The idea behind the “Conversation Café” is that they are public forums where anyone is welcome to come, share ideas, co-create knowledge, and build relationships. The conversations are usually moderated by a professor or community guest, who has an area … Continue reading “Conversation Café Topic – Is it time to eliminate grades in education?”
Written by Marcie Lewis
One of the reasons I first began blogging and tweeting was to develop a positive digital footprint (i.e., the results that come up when someone ‘googles’ you) on the internet. In the digital age there is almost a certain expectation that you have some type of digital presence, and as a professional I feel it … Continue reading “Citizenship and Your Digital Footprint”