Kirby's Education Journey

new to teaching but old to the love of learning

Category: Learning Design (Page 2 of 2)

A new chapter in this journey

May 10, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Being overdramatic as usual and reminiscing on past summer courses (Unsplash by Mick Haupt)

I began this blog in 2019… three years ago, in my first year and first semester of my Bachelor of Education degree. Today I sit at a Starbucks in View Royal where I just finished day 12 of full-time TTOC-ing in the Greater Victoria school district (Sd61). Now you may be confused by why a person who just graduated and who has a full-time job is already back at UVIC taking another course… I’ll give you three reasons:

1. $$$ I am working towards my salary upgrade which will require me to have an additional year of coursework up my sleeves

2. Although I am working full time TTOC-ing, and also working part-time as a PARTY LEADER at a kids salon, APPARENTLY I feel still unfulfilled in my extracurriculars so here I am escaping boredom

3. I am in complete denial about the thought of being an “adult” and a “graduate” by taking this summer class it feels as if I am still a UVIC student, and that makes me feel safe and comforted

So here I am, it is the summer of 2022 and I am taking EDCI 335, Learning Design. I should probably get back on track with why I am sitting in Starbucks in the first place writing this blog post…

An introduction to me:

My name is Kirby, I am a recent graduate of the University of Victoria Bachelor of elementary education program, full-time substitute teacher, and part-time student (taking this singular course). A lot of changes have been happing over the past month in my life, I have obviously began legit money-making teaching but another big change has been that this is my first summer I am spending in Victoria (EEEEEKKKK but also WAHHHHH). I am a born and raised island girl from a small town called Black Creek, which is located about 3.5 hours up island. If this had not been such a monumental year in my life (graduating) you would find me working at my past summer job as a kayak instructor, where I would already be tan from working outside all day. HOWEVER, here I am in Victoria, making my own meals, driving my own car, living in an illegal basement suite in a townhouse of 4 other people crying but THRIVING. Honestly that quote pretty much sums up the current situation of my life…

Crying but thriving

Kirby Jarvis 2022

To be completely honest, I am not the kind of person who enjoys big changes, but with everything that is going on, I can say with integrity that the thing that is making me the most upset is missing my cats at home… not too bad for someone who just started a new career. Speaking of my career, it is a dream. I have been struggling with the whole waiting game for years, the jumping through hoops of taking course after course after course. I know I know I know, I needed to learn the practice before I could do the practicing, but when I am in the classroom it has always just made sense to me. I remember at the end of my TTOC interview and my principal asked the final un-graded question along the lines of “is there anything else you would like to say about yourself and you as a teacher that wasn’t listed in the questions” I honest to god straight up said “I just need for them to know how happy I am in the classroom” and so I saw my principal write down “happy” and the next day I got the job. Teaching makes sense to me, working with children is something that I find enjoyable, something that comes easy to me. I know this is the right world for me and I am so excited to see where my career leads me.

I am looking forward to connecting with everyone through our blogging and through our online weekly zoom meetings!

Unsplash by Chris Montgomery

Coding Class

November 25, 2019 / / 2 Comments

Today Rich McCue came in to give us a beginning lesson for how to integrate and teach coding in our classrooms. He began the lesson by asking us why we think we should teach coding in elementary classrooms, some answers the class came up with was we teach coding to spark interest in this area as a potential career opportunity and that since coding and gaming is so popular for children they will be willing to learn more and be engaged in the material. We had the opportunity to visit a few of the coding sites Rich had found beneficial for elementary classrooms, the programs found were Scratch, Grasshopper, Hour of Code, Designing with algorithms using Tinkercad, and Code BC. Since my experience in coding is virtually nonexistent since my grade 7 robotics day it was sedimental going back and trying to figure out what little 13-year-old me back in the day. Since Scratch was said to be the simplest formatting for coding I decided to attempt it and use the “Scratch-Getting-Started-Guide-Basic” PDF that Rich provided us. My little scratch cat ended up only being able to move in a circle and saying “Aye there mate” however once I threw in a dinosaur friend my cat seemed to be a lot happier.

I also attempted how to code using the Grasshopper gaming system, this game was more realistic for a student because it showed code using a real coding looking formula. Below is a video of me successfully producing a flag.

Mine of the craft

November 4, 2019 / / 2 Comments

Today we had a creative workshop all about Mindcraft. We had a couple of little Minecraft geniuses from Colquitz Middle School come with their teacher to teach us the basics of the computer game. We learned the different ways teachers use Minecraft as a cross-curriculum platform to teach. They use the creative modes to allow children to express their artistic vision and help children show their creativity in architecture, pictures, and designs. The teachers also use the game as a resource for science, physics, and social studies, using the environmental aspects and resourcefulness mindset of the game. Kids can learn about the ecosystem, conservation, what humans need to have and access to survive and overall can work on their teamwork skills with their classmates.

This was my first hands-on experience with Minecraft. On my Wednesday visits, I have watched my class in their schools MAClab using Minecraft as a fun educational tool where they all share one Minecraft world and create their own spaces. In our Minecraft workshop, we were allowed to experiment with the variety of different modes Minecraft has including the creative world and the survival world. I had no idea what I was doing the whole time so I required the help of the middle school children and Teya to maneuver me around the world of pixellated land.

 

Below are some screenshots of what I saw and experienced while gaming on Minecraft:

 

This is the first photo of me in Minecraft, my name is kirbabyteytey (hence the combination of Teya and I’s name)

This is my first super cool house made out of pink wool, the inspiration for my house was to be built around trees and also have a beautiful skylight (not purposeful since I didn’t know how to make a roof). The image on the left you can tell is filled with hundreds of animals, this was not my creative choice, however, it made my home feel more comforting and loving.

The highlight of my gaming today was when Teya made and showed me what “The Nether” is. It is a magical blue glowing portal that takes you into a firey, lava-filled world.

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