JennaB

Inquiry-based learning
Please see my Google drive for my prezi presentation, as I had trouble embedding it here....


Assignment 3 - Inquiry based learning

Mahi- steps for learning were well laid out. I would find this challenging too as I do not know how to sew! Good for you for not giving up!
-Did you look into taking a sewing class?
-video was a good idea, but a little hard to tell what was going on...

Wendy- good idea to try different recipes and compare: cost, how easy it was, and taste (Excellent presentation!!!)
-It was good to switch to your updated presentation, as the pictures were nice to see.

Amanda- I have never considered the emotional aspect of learning... that does play a big role now that I really think about it
-For sure we look for people as resources who can help us!
-You looked the part for your presentation...clever thinking.

Jerrylynn- you made a goal for yourself as to what you wanted to learn
-good comparison pictures to help show the difference with cameras!

Melinda/Kelly- good teamwork!
-pictures were a good touch and helped capture your learning journey.

Sajjad- very good detail! Good job!
More pictures might have helped some of us not familiar with these types of programs but it was for your learning!

Cara- I have used power point but could use a lesson on how to make my slides better
-too bad your music did not work. ... I understand the challenges of doing this by distance.

Husam-I liked how you the phones you have used in the past 5 years (quite the change!)
-was a little hard to see you demo the help feature...

Darcy-Good job comparing and looking into your different options to find the one that works best for your needs.
-a small explanation on what a domain is, would have helped someone like me who doesn't really understand what that is...
-Good presentation!

Jenna S- good use of google and youtube for resources. I sympathize you with regarding getting frustrated and needing to take a break and come back.
-you mentioned going to yarn and a hock, pictures of the materials you needed might have been a nice touch
-good job!!!

Cynthia- great explanation of thoughts and feelings through out your learning journey.
-excellent presentation, not sure how you could improve!

Shauna-good reminder to remember to teach step by step and at a speed the students can follow.
-a little hard to see the detail of your pictures, would have been nice if they had been a little larger
-great presentation! I enjoyed it!!!

Vanessa-you tired a number of different methods to learn and in the end realized your learning style works the best for you, good attempt to try a different style
-you changed your plan a couple times....

Len-You learning different tasks which was interesting how you identified the different ways you were learning these tasks and which you enjoyed at the time.
-Why did not learn tree grafting from the beginning?
-Good presentation!


Assignment 4 - Webquest

http://splashurl.com/n5jkprb

Cerebral Vascular Accidents (CVA) or strokes are a serious health concern. One needs to know how to recognize the signs and symptoms of a person having a stroke and a person with these signs should be taken to the hospital immediately. Those who work in the health care profession should be able to understand what is happening physiology-wise with these patients and know how to provide the care they need. As an x-ray tech we cannot expect someone who has had a stroke will be able to change into a gown by themselves, the patient will need our assistance. This webquest is a good tool to use to help teach students about the anatomy effected by a stroke, what are the signs that will be observed and if there is a cure. Treatment and curing a patient with a stroke is important for an x-ray tech to understand as they play a huge role in helping diagnosis this pathology. The information taught using this webquest not only will benefit the x-ray students professionally but personally too, they will be able to provide a quick response and care if a family member of theirs experiences a CVA.


Assignment 6 - Classroom management

-discussed with Kelly and Cynthia

My interaction with students is when they come to do their practicum component and first get the opportunity to interact with patients. are always an issue. We have established the rule that can be silenced and put in the office area of the department and when it is quiet and there no patients, then you can check your phone. But your phone is not be in your pocket or out when there are patients in the department.

I do have a second situation cause I'm not sure if a solution was found, it is a diversity/cooperation issue. We had an international, older student who came to our department. She was eager to learn and participate. There was a mild language barrier but with patience explanations were understood. The nurses in other areas of the hospital complained and did not like to with her. Nothing they reported was legit.. She was working an evening shift and the emergency department contacted another x-ray tech to complain about her work and how long patients had been waiting. When investigated nothing they had said was accurate! Her side of the story, they were not helping her and she felt ignored. The only thing I could think of was that they weren't willing to accept her, which I found odd because there is diversity within all areas of our hospital. We hired her because she was a really good worker and tried hard. She has been with us a couple months and things have gotten better. I have never had this problem in the past and I do not want it happen again the future. This situation was not really about students accepting one another but about people in teaching hospital not willing to cooperate with a student's learning and skill building. Anyone else had this situation before? Any ideas for how to with these situations?

Thanks!
Jenna

Assignment 6 discussion
Kelly summarize the conversation between Cynthia, Kelly and myself. ( you Kelly!)
Abusive student attitudes and behaviours
Fortunately, none of us really had any experience with this, although Cynthia did mention that occasionally discussions in class could lead to potential comments which could strike a chord with some students.

Achieving diversity and cooperation
I feel that diversity and cooperation is a struggle. Our international students and some of our male students are isolated in the classroom. And for many male ECEs, they are also isolated in the workforce, as they may be the only male on staff. I have tried to connect students, but for many, they do not seem aware that their behaviours are isolating. For example, last week I became aware of a bullying issue, and I tried to indirectly address it using my lecture materials. It just so happened that my lecture for that day was going to involve school age children's peer groups and friendships, so I randomly reassigned students to different seats in the classroom. then, I spoke about literally seeing things from a different perspective in the class...which then lead into a discussion of figuratively seeing things from a different perspective when we have a to interact with people we don't know. I told the students to think about the things that children could learn from , and how this could help build tolerance and acceptance. Then I linked this back to them. I asked them, "How many of you can actually say that you know every single person in this room?" None responded. I told them that we had to be good role models for the children, that we could not just have expectations for the children, but that we had to demonstrate the changes we wanted to see.

Cynthia mentioned that in Year 1, we a Diversity and Inclusion class, which is an excellent strategy to start conversations, open students' eyes, and grow positive attitudes early on. The students have time to evolve their understanding. However, she also mentioned that sometimes students are unaware that a bias even exists within themselves; others are aware but disagree. She discussed feeling concerned that the questions and comments that come with those disagreements in a classroom could feel abusive to some students in the room.

As well, Jenna discussed an issue which seemed to border on discrimination. It seems that during a practical experience, a student was receiving complaints about her performance from several staff members. It seemed that the student had a mild language barrier, and the staff members were trying to have her removed. The complaints about her performance turned out to be false. Fortunately, the student was hired in the end because she was a hard worker and tried really hard. Jenna discussed that the attitudes and cooperation from the other staff have gotten better over the last few months.

Managing interruptions

I mentioned that interruptions were constant. Texting, asking irrelevant questions, talking amongst themselves...today I had a student their nails! If a student is sharing something and other students are talking, I remind them to respect the speaker. I also remind them that the classroom is a positive learning environment...and the material might be on the test!

Cynthia said that interruptions were quite regular, though some students seemed to have a chronic problem, while for others it was 'rare' to 'never.' She said that it was the chronic ones that were challenging. She calls some out on their behaviour, but at times feels challenged by that. She said the challenge comes when she knows that she is feeling frustrated and perhaps risks sounding petty or disrespectful in front of the class. And she doesn't want to risk that, but does that same student have respect for her? If so, then they would not be a chronic interruption.

Jenna discussed that the students she with a here for practicum and they carry around their in their pockets. There have been rules established that they can keep their on silent and when there is downtime they can check them, but they are not to have or use them when there are patients around.

Social and emotional factors
I find that in ECE, we try to be as inclusive as possible with our students, but at times I do not feel adequately prepared to deal with their learning challenges and mental health issues. I do have a Level 1 , so I feel like I can handle some situations but at times I think of my colleagues who have not had similar training. We are learning in the CAE program how to be more effective instructors, but at the same time I don't think we are as prepared as we could be. For example, the diversity and inclusion course terrific information to instructors who might not have an understanding of how to support diverse students, but it only touches briefly on mental health issues. From my understanding, over 50% of the students who visit counseling services have some type of mental health issue, which means that we may have a significant number of these students in our classrooms. And each may have a different mental health issue! So it seems like it is not enough to just consider different learning styles...it seems that counseling training is needed for faculty.

Cynthia discussed how social and emotional issues seem to be a large part of the work. She said that at times, she gets caught in some student issues that she does not intend to; the line is blurry for some students (they don't realize they cannot rely on instructors for everything). She said that she makes good use of counseling services for students.

Both Cynthia and I suggested that the social and emotional issues need to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Jenna B stated that they try to encourage students to separate their work and school lives. She said that this rarely works, but it is something she has tried. She said that she finds the new generation coming up is having a harder time dealing with stress and it impacts all areas of their life and they don't separate it (e.g. stress at home is brought to the work/teaching environment).


Gender and race issues
None of us found that we had any significant gender and race issues in our classrooms. However, since our faculty are predominantly , we each had thoughts about the gender of the teacher question:

Kelly - The gender of the teacher is an interesting concept, because 99% of the students are ! So I wonder if more respect would be given to a male instructor? Would they still talk and text with a male at the head of the classroom? Our field is -dominated, so we understand our clientele for sure!

Cynthia - I do not think I have had any gender/race issues although I feel that as a faculty we are predominantly female and teaching in a predominantly female profession. There is a possibility this could deter some potential candidates from entering the field. Those males who enter may not feel as comfortable or connected while a student. But I don't think that's been the case so far.

Jenna B - Our department is male/female mixed and does have different races, so any student coming into our area could find someone they could relate to in some way.

Assignment 7 - Student- centered approached Presentations

Husam- As a hands-on learner myself I can appreciate the simulation approach!
Instead of worksheets, what about group interaction or problem solving in partners/groups?
Have a great time in China!

Wendy- Great presentation! I liked how to related to your learning experiences. You clearly identified the intended outcomes for your approaches. I could see chemistry being a challenging subject to teach: you are passionate about it but you have to convince students

Cynthia- I loved the quote you ended with, and it clearly states how I think you learn and teach.
(as Eva just said: making the learning real).

Jerrylynn- That's great that you have already applied these approaches to your class and you can see what works and what you might need to adjust.
-I have the same idea as you for using webquest teaching for pathology.
-Good idea having student participate in order to be able to see the other information and not get away with using the work of other students.

Vanessa- Good ideas! I have been to Nelson House; I imagine there might be some challenges teaching there, that's great you are doing that! Slides had too many words, more visuals would have been nice.

Sajjad- Good strategies! Very well presented. Approaches are well organized and thought out.

Darcy- I thought your approach to this presentation was a great idea: you're not currently teaching but this is how you would do it! Very creative!
I learnt a few things about , great job!

Jenna S- I enjoyed your layout!
- Do your students only role play or do your students practice on each other?

Kelly- Great job! Very well planned out presentation.

Amanda- I think you are very passionate towards improving this course! You have really considered the student comments and how their needs could be met.

Shauna- I like your idea of a long term portfolio. Your presentation was well organized!

Cara- I think you have selected good approaches to incorporate.
-You had some spelling errors...

Melinda- Good job! Great explanation on how you plan to use these learning approaches.
-How do you role play children's behavior?

Len- Changing a routine after that long of a period of time can be a challenge!
Great job!