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learning to live better, living to learn better

10/18/2013

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Learning as a life style

One of my focuses this year is to encourage my students to see that learning is a lifestyle, not an institution. Even in the early years of their learning careers, students can groan at the mention of the world ‘learning’. They associate the word with lecture, notes and tests – even when it had been a small part of their learning process. They do not perceive the thrill of making new connections in the brain or the rush of experiencing new things – though they do appreciate these things in the moment.

I want to change that. I want to give ‘learning’ a new reputation inside and outside of my classroom.

So first, I started asking myself why I love learning, and why I love being a student. When I started to think about it, learning was categorized in two parts; what I learned in school, and what I learned outside of school. When I think back to learning in school, I remember a haze a tests, assignments, teachers and isolated subjects on a paper schedule. When I think back to learning outside of school, there is and bank of countless memories to which I have many emotional connections.

Learning means living better, living means learning better

It is this bank of memories that make me love learning. Outside of school, I was learning while being a part of the real world – not separate to it like in the classroom. Many of my real word experience came from my year-long exchange in Mons, Belgium. I remember my first day on my exchange and having my head pounding at the inundation of new French words I did not understand. Around my third month in Belgium, I remember sitting down at the dinner table with my host family and understanding the conversation my host family was having. It astonished me that what I had missed all along was not academic banter on astrophysics - but complaints about the quality of McDonald’s. I remember having a conversation with a priest while I was touring with a Swahili choir through France. These memories are all benchmarks of my language learning that year, benchmarks of which I had complete ownership. No parents watching that I did homework, no teachers giving me tests – regardless, I was still learning. And I loved it.

I realize now that I would never have made it through that part of my life successfully (though it was accompanied by many failures) without my base education. This brought me to the question, why is real-life, experiential learning often so separate from the learning that happens within the classroom walls?

When I returned to formal education as a university student, I stumbled upon a realization. My experiences from my travels helped me connect to the materials I was learning at university, and what I was learning at university was helping me understand the lessons I have missed during my travels. This included many abstract life lessons, but I will give a concrete example. My newly formed connections to the French language helped me engage in the classroom. While the professor modelled common place conversations, I remember having similar real conversations with Belgian store clerks and friends during my exchange. I was able to branch out my learning by connecting to the new vocabulary and verb tenses presented in class. In addition to this, I had many new ‘eureka’ moments when I realized ‘That’s what that person was trying to tell me’.

This synthesis of life-experience and formal education was amazing. It made my learning personally relevant and gave me motivation to continue. That’s why I say “Learning means living better, living means learning better”. This is why I started the ‘Edventure Passport’ program. I have hopes that while my students explore their community they may gain experiences to bring to the classroom. When students add personal experiences to their background knowledge, the probability of learning can increase exponentially.

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Let's get digital

10/15/2013

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I must admit that at the beginning of my teaching career I was not focused on digital literacy. Many friends even commented "You are too young to not care about technology". At the time, I felt that technology in the classroom was just a way to add bells and whistles to a classroom to make education look blingy.

Needless to say, I do not believe this anymore.

I see now that the digital world is just as relevant and, well, real, as the 'real world' to many people. Once I opened my eyes to the fact my students are immersed in this world, I saw an abundance of potential in their interests and passion for the digital world into the classroom.

Since I have embrassed the digital world in my teaching, my students have been extremely receptive. I have integrated 'Global Read Aloud' in to my Language Arts class. My students love the book and love communicating their ideas digitally. I have also begun to us twitter as a formative assessment method. Students write exit slips or interesting facts they have learned in tweets to share on our classroom twitter. My students love it! To some out there, this may seem like baby steps, but I am motivated to keep moving forward.

But my students' engagement has not been the best part - though it has been great. I have been the one who has benefitted the most from this new found interest in the digital world. Not only have I put myself back into the shoes of 'student' - learning new things nearly everyday - but I have been exploring a brand new world of oppurtunity as an educator.

As a student of the digital world, I have experienced the excitement I want my students to feel in my classroom. When I integrate my new found digital skills into the classroom, it elicits the responds I want from my students.

As a teacher, so many amazing ideas, reflections and networking oppurtunities have emerged while using my twitter. I am shocked that something of which  I used to be so critical, has become so essential to my professional growth.

In closing, I encourage those still hesitant of technology integration to jump in, you might just be amazed. For those who have a broader and deeper understanding of the digital world, please, keep sharing your powerful ideas!

Jessica Marcotte
@jmarcotte85
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    Jessica Marcotte

    I am an elementary educator in Southern Alberta. I am interested in collaboration and 21st century learning. I am very passionate about creating positive change in the world through teaching strong Global citizenship and Digital citizenship.

    about.me/jmarcotte85

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