You can click on the file to upload my final reflection!  I'm not able to record sound well on my computer.  It should still work but it may be blurry!! If it's too blurry, the notes underneath each slide shows what was said! 

I'm still waiting on my mentor to finish up with the questions.  I'll post them right here shortly!!

I have noticed that since I have come back to class after pre-internship that it has been extremely difficult.  I went from being in the role of the student my whole life to suddenly switching into the role of the teacher.  I found that going back to being the student after all of this was hard for me to do.  I find myself thinking of what I would do differently if I was in the place of the teacher.  I think, what would make this more engaging?  Does the teacher not see that everyone is texting or on facebook?  It really bugs me!!
I feel as though I have got a glimpse of what it is like to be the teacher and I really enjoy what I do!!

I just finished up my pre-internship and got to use Power School for the first time.  I think that it is a great way for students as well as parents and other teachers to see what is being done, as well as why students are or are not doing well in their classes.  I know as a student, I was always concious of how much projects, tests and assignments were worth and how they would affect my final grade.  Parents are also aware of their kids marks.  This way, when report cards come out, there is no surprises about what your marks are.  It is amazing that they can use technology in this way.

Both parents and teachers want what is best for the children in the classroom.  I think that by having students involved with what is going on, you can eliminate a lot of controversy.  Sometimes parents take the side of their child over you, this is natural.  By inolving parents with what is going on, they can also hold their child more accountable for the things that they are doing at school.

I just read an amazing blog post from George Couros, "Engaging Parents in the Learning Process."  This really got me thinking about the relationship that I could have with my student's parents.  Take a look!! http://georgecouros.ca/blog/

So, if you haven't noticed, I watch a lot of Sir Ken Robinson videos.  This one is on changing education in Canada.

I've been wanting, especially since taking this class to use twitter and blogging with the classes that I teach.  This article really makes me look at teaching differently.
http://www.cea-ace.ca/blog/colleen-rose/2013/02/1/how-blogging-and-tweeting-reinvigorated-my-passion-teaching

My mentorship has been going well.  We have had some ups and downs and bumps in the road!  The main issues we had was technology itself.  Their internet did not allow them to skype.  The first time I met with the class, we tried a website called wiziq.  We couldn't get a stable video or a great voice recording.  After trying and trying, we did a chat.  We asked questions back and forth this way.  When I went to present my lesson, we did the same thing.  I sent them a link to the Prezi that I had put together about Presentation Skills.  I then had to chat them.  We sent questions back and forth through this as they viewed it.  What made this really difficult was the fact that we couldn't screen share.  I didn't know what slide they were on and had to guess from the comments that they made.
Here is a link to the Prezi that I put together for them: http://prezi.com/-t542tzwypsw/untitled-prezi/?kw=view--t542tzwypsw&rc=ref-30190393

Lately I have been very interested in learning about education around the world.  My Co-op showed me a great video about the way many schools throughout the world are looking towards the western systems as a model for education.  These countries loose their cultures, their languages and their traditions by modeling this western, English speaking society.  It's a very informative video.  Be sure to watch it if you haven't already.

I found this interesting blog entry.  How does school make you feel? Why is it important to understand
School makes  me... 
  
Scott McLeod's blog Dangerously Irrelevant is a profoundly  progressive
read. Scott tweeted me a link to his  post that featured this picture:

Try it. Go to  Google  and type in "school makes me" and see what autocomplete choices come up.
When I did it, I got school makes me:
- feel stupid
- sad
- fat 
So why does this matter?
 
Perhaps you are not aware how Google's autocomplete works. Google  explains:
As you type, autocomplete predicts and displays
queries  to choose from. The search queries that you see as part of autocomplete
are a  reflection of the search activity of all web users and the content of web
pages  indexed by Google.Several hundred million searches are made
with  Google every single day and this is a reflection of the search activity
students  are conducting. Are we paying attention to this? Are we prepared to
take this  seriously?

  I am a staunch supporter of public
  education but I also understand why Sir Ken Robinson asks "Do Schools Kill
  Creativity, John Taylor Gatto writes about Weapons of Mass Instruction and
  Kirsten Olsen writes about people who are Wounded by School.


The way forward is not to build
schools  that are a better version of yesterday. Before school can improve --
school has  to change. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic ain't going to
cut it  anymore.


Here are three quick suggestions for
  how I think school  needs to change:

1. Curriculum is not something created and laminated by distant
     authorities and mailed to the schools. While there can be a skeletal framework
     created by provincial, state or federal departments of education, curriculum  is something that must be negotiated
   between teachers and students at the  school. Here's an example of what  real learning looks like.
   
2. Assessment is not a spreadsheet, it's a conversation. We need
     to stop demanding that students show what they have learned by doing things
   they  hate. Anything worth learning is worth doing  in a context and for a purpose. Students  should experience their successes and
   failures not as reward and punishment but  as information.
   
3. Accountability is really about providing  the public with information regarding their
   schools.
   Unlike standardized  tests which are notorious for their
   inability to provide anything more than a  limited and incomplete snapshot of a
   student on a single day, a collection of  performance assessments assembled in a
   learning portfolio can inform the  teaching and learning process in a timely
   fashion while simultaneously assuring  the public that students are receiving a
   high quality education. Ultimately, the  best evidence parents can receive about
   their children's learning is to see  their children learning.

Here are all of my posts on six
broad  topics that we need to rethink so that we can reframe the realities of
  school.


Abolishing  Grading
  Abolishing  Homework
  Rethinking  Standardization
  Rethinking Lesson  Planning
  Rethinking  Discipline
  Rethink  Accountability


I also suggest you look at some of
the  work being done by the Alberta Teachers' Association and their research
report  titled A  Great School for All: Transforming Education in
Alberta.