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Sunday 23 February 2014

Creating Moments & Memories

This week ICT was once again full of great information and excellent new resources, but my deeper learning came from experiences that were created, not taught. Our Thursday class was with John Evans who provided us with a lot of information on Maple and the services and networking that it provides for teachers. While I appreciate the information given and will be sure to use it in the future, John provided a deeper experience when he decided to end his presentation early so that  we could watch the Canadian women play for hockey gold at the Olympics. At first we were all excited to watch the game and cheer on the women that were representing our country. The experience that followed is one that I will not forget anytime soon. As we watched the game on the projector screen, we came together as a group. . . yelling, cheering, holding our breath in unison. The celebrating that followed the goals to send the game to overtime was amazing! As we waited, anticipating the overtime that was to come, sharing the experience with others brought a group together who would not normally be in this particular situation. Everyone talked as a group about the plays that had been made, and shared anticipation of what was to come. Stories were shared about prior experiences and everyone became focused on pride for our country and our athletes. The cheer and excitement that erupted the moment Canada scored to win the GOLD is a moment that I will take with me as an amazing memory.

I learned the power of not always sticking to a lesson plan, the power of focusing on what is important to your students, and the power of providing opportunities to connect students on a level that will impact their lives forever. As I read through Twitter this weekend, I saw parents thanking teachers for allowing students to watch the Olympics in school over the last two weeks and my feelings from class became stronger and validated. It is not always about following the curriculum and lesson plan exactly, but creating moments for students that they can build on with others in their class. If we provide students with opportunities to create pride and unity, teachers in return will have a class that values each other and has a common link that can be built off of, creating an amazing classroom atmosphere and learning environment!

Thank you again John & Mike for an amazing class!

4 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful post - and a wonderful lesson learned. It IS all about relationships! I too will remember that class! :-)

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  2. This is a great piece of writing. As teachers, sometimes we just need to react and be spontanious with our lessons. Thursday was a great example of this. One I will not forget for a while.
    Thanks Erin, Mike, John and everybody else who was there high-fiving our way through it all!

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  3. Great post Erin! While the lesson plan is our guide, sometimes rather than merely getting through to the end we have to "stop and smell the roses" along the way. The resulting joy, passion and bonding that takes place will be remembered by those who shared the experience.

    Keep sharing your thoughts about teaching Erin as you progress in your teaching career. This personal reflection will make a huge impact on your teaching!

    Best wishes,

    John

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    1. Thank you again John for making the trip out to spend time with us. It was another great learning experience, on so many levels!

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