Introduction:

I am a grade 7 teacher in a French Immersion classroom at a K-7 school in British Columbia. I work in a large school district with a lot of resources. Prior to becoming a teacher I worked as an Education Assistant, in the same district, with students who have special needs. My approach to learning design stems from my background working with neurodivergent learners. When considering the goals of my learning designs, I always try to provide as many avenues as possible. This approach is wonderfully described by Shelley Moore in her youtube video called Shelley Moore: Transforming Inclusive Education (see below).

Learning design:

I’m interested in learning design because of the creativity and flexibility it permits me to have with my unit and lesson plans. I also really like that learning design permits me to adapt lessons and units for the students in my room. I find that I often take a proactive approach when integrating technology and I try to use technology in a way that is also teaching the student skills that are transferable for long term success. For example, teaching them how to use Microsoft Word as a shared document with their peers. 

Positive learning experience:

There are a few things that I believe create a positive learning environment: relationship, community, and trust. In September, a large focus for me is building relationships with my students and creating community in my classroom. I have found that students are more engaged and interested in their learning when they feel a sense of connection with their teacher and their peers. I find that I also like to re-establish the community in my classroom throughout the school year. I like to incorporate community building activities after winter break and after spring break. It’s a nice way to ease into the new term and reset.

“No significant learning can occur without significant relationships.”

James P. comer (Comer, 1995)

Designing a learning experience:

Dr. Comer made that statement in a 1995 speech at a convention in Texas. His point was that students needed to have a connection to the material they were learning in order to apply what they’ve learned to other situations. It’s neuroscience. When I’m designing a learning experience I typically work backwards. I start by thinking about what I want them to be able to do by the end of the unit or lesson and then I design my unit or lesson based on the skills or knowledge they need to have in order to be able to accomplish that task. I find by working backwards I don’t miss any of the steps. It also requires me to think about the skills my students currently have and what skills they’ll need to learn in order to complete the assignment. I’ve also found that this helps when I’m planning because I can think about individual students and differentiate my lessons to ensure that the steps are accessible to them.

Since I teach all subjects to my students I also try to develop units that are cross curricular, for example last year while I was teaching a unit on chemistry I had the students make their own pretend cooking show videos while explaining the chemistry in the recipe they were preparing. This covered the science, ADST, and French Language Arts requirements for that term. The students had a lot of fun with this project and were able to learn a lot of new skills!