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Month: November 2024

From Psychology to Education

From Psychology to Education

Bridging the Gap Between Understanding and Growth

As someone with a background in psychology, I’ve always been fascinated by the intricate components of human emotions, behaviour, and development. From studying how the brain processes information to understanding the role emotions play in decision-making, I’ve spent years immersed in the complexities of what makes us uniquely human. But as I delved deeper into this field, one realization stood out: knowledge of the mind is only truly impactful when it’s applied to help others grow. This realization ultimately led me to the world of education.

The Fascination with Human Nature

Psychology is a gateway to understanding ourselves and others. It reveals the stories behind every action, emotion, and relationship. I’ve always been fascinated by questions like:

  • Why do we learn the way we do?
  • How do our emotions influence our ability to grow?
  • What role does the environment play in shaping who we become?

While studying psychology, I learned that human development isn’t linear—it’s deeply personal, influenced by countless factors, and often unpredictable. This complexity captured my curiosity, inspiring me to look for ways to contribute meaningfully to others’ journeys.

Why Education?

At its core, education is about transformation. It’s where growth, learning, and human potential intersect. As I explored career paths, I realized that the classroom is a microcosm of the psychological principles I was so passionate about. Every student brings their unique story, strengths, and challenges into the learning environment.

By stepping into education, I saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between understanding and application. Instead of simply observing or analyzing human behaviour, I could actively shape experiences that empower others to learn, grow, and thrive. Education allows me to translate my understanding of psychology into real-world impact.

Psychology’s Role in My Approach to Teaching

My background in psychology has profoundly influenced how I approach education:

  1. Understanding Motivation
    Psychology provides insights into what drives people. In the classroom, this knowledge helps me create environments that inspire curiosity and resilience.
  2. Embracing Emotional Intelligence
    Learning is an emotional process. By recognizing and addressing the emotional needs of students, I can foster a supportive and empathetic learning space.
  3. Personalized Learning
    Psychology taught me that no two minds are the same. In education, this translates into tailoring instruction to meet diverse needs, ensuring every student feels valued and understood.
  4. Promoting Growth Mindsets
    Concepts like Carol Dweck’s growth mindset align perfectly with psychological principles. Encouraging students to see challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles is a philosophy I carry into every lesson.

A Lifelong Journey

Choosing education wasn’t just a career move—it was a calling. It’s where my fascination with human development meets my desire to make a difference. Every day in the classroom is a chance to witness the resilience and brilliance of the human spirit.

As an educator with a psychological lens, I see learning not just as the transfer of information but as a transformative journey. It’s about helping students not only acquire knowledge but also build confidence, discover passions, and develop the emotional tools they’ll need to navigate life.

Conclusion: The Beauty of Connection

Ultimately, my path from psychology to education reflects a simple truth: growth happens in connection. Whether it’s understanding how people think or guiding students through their educational journeys, my work is driven by a love for each students potential.

If there’s one thing my journey has taught me, it’s this: every moment is an opportunity to learn and grow—not just for students, but for educators too. And that’s the beauty of bridging psychology and education: it’s a partnership in growth, a shared exploration of what it means to be human.

Part 9: TikTok’s got the tricks

Part 9: TikTok’s got the tricks

This week, I took my learning to everyone’s most loved/hated app – TIKTOK !!

I cannot believe the range and amount of information you can find on there to make the lives of you & your students so much more exciting makes me so happy 😎.

Video 1: Canva Presentation to Google Slides

    • Open your completed presentation and select SHARE
      • Select MORE (…) > Google Drive
        • Change to PPTX 
        • Make sure ALL pages are selected
      • Open Google Drive
        • Select the folder you saved to and open your pptx
        • File > Save as Google Slides
          • You may need to change the font if it doesn’t exist on Google
        • Everything is Editable after that!
    • This tip is new for me because last week I watched a tutorial that said it wasn’t possible to save a Canva presentation to Google Docs – happy I have now learned how!
    • I will absolutely be using this because I like to have ALL of my materials saved to Google Drive where I can access them forever and easily share them with my coworkers!
@alldayapril

THE most important Canva tip for teachers! #teachertips #tipsforteachers #canvatips #canvahack #teachertechtip #teachercanva #canvateacher #googletips #teachertok #teachersoftiktok #middleschoolteacher

♬ original sound – All Day April 👩🏼‍🏫

Video 2: Creating a Website Using Canva Presentation

    • Open your Presentation on Canva
    • Select Share > More > Website
      • Choose your URL
      • Webstyle > Scrolling
    • Voila! You have created a website 🙂

This is an incredible way to send a resume, portfolio, or any kind of professional work that you may want to showcase to a potential employer for the future! It is a very easy way to present your work in a way that is easy to digest and that you have the ability to design exactly the way you want it!

@tribemarketing

Replying to @Kinziemcclintick this is soooo helpful for anyone client facing, showcasing portfolios, proposals & strategies! #canvahack #canvatip #canvatutorial #canvawebsite #socialmediamanager #contentcreator #portfolioideas #marketingtips #marketingmanager #paidsocialexpert

♬ original sound – TRIBE MARKETING

Video 3: Free Classroom Posters to Match Your Classroom Colours

  • Search for a color palette that matches your classroom
  • Open a document
    • Select templates
    • Find the posters you’d like (i.e., subjects, quotes, saying
    • Copy and paste the colour palette image on top of the poster > apply colours to page
      • Select paint roller     from the tool bar and use it to apply style to other pages

This tip is life-saving when it comes to decorating your classroom and filling it with the posters you need and want to share with your students – rather than spending a bunch of money to get packages of materials, you can use what’s free to make it yours!

https://www.tiktok.com/@classroomcreations/video/7354144902713740590?lang=en&q=canva%20tips%20and%20tricks%20classroom&t=1733807464563

Video 4: Using Canva to Create Your Own Colouring Pages or Book

  • Create a colouring book outline on a document
    • Consider a theme (i.e., Christmas, School, Dogs & Cats, Candy, Fashion, Jewelry, Sports)
      • Consider titles, subtitles, the demographic and age of your students
      • Consider how detailed you want your colouring pages to be (complex or simple?)
    • Decide what size book you want to do
      • 8.5 by 8.5
      • 8.5 by 11
    • Search Elements 
      • Example: “Christmas black & white” or “Christmas Outline”
      • Insert the images onto your page (must use more than one for copyright reasons)
      • Make the page look anyway you want by inserting as little or as many graphics as you’d like
      • Resize and adjust your graphics to create your own unique colouring page
@tawanatemplates

Replying to @rabea13000 tips for beginners wanting to create their first coloring book or coloring pages #canvatipsandtricks #coloringbook #coloringpages #coloringsheeting #coloringtutorial #tawanatemplates

♬ Cafe / video cute lofi ♪ Chill(885831) – ImoKenpi-Dou

Let’s create our own Christmas colouring book 🎅🎄

 

As we can see, TikTok is a tremendous resource to help us learn more about Canva! There are people from all over the world, with all kinds of different jobs, who are experts in different fields that can give us new skills we may never have even thought of for ourselves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 8: Canva Presentations from Start to Finish!

Part 8: Canva Presentations from Start to Finish!

This week, I decided to take everything I’ve learned so far and make a video that is all encompassing of the new skills I have learned so far!

I went ahead and followed this video to create my own tutorial this week!

In this video, he takes us from beginning to end on how to create a presentation based on the topic you are covering and finding the design you like all the way to the sharing, saving, and presenting steps!

I learned some of the new ways to combine different slideshow templates, how to properly save your presentation depending on what platform you like to use, and more ways to make your presentations engaging and record your presentations!

I have recorded my own step-by-step tutorial to show you every detail of how to make an exciting and engaging presentation for your students!

It includes how to:

  • Select a presentation in CANVA
  • Search for and choose your template presentation
  • Select another presentation template and integrate them together into one
  • View your presentation as a grid to easily see the order of the slides
  • How to search for & add audio to your presentation
  • How to add videos to your presentation from YouTube in the Canva app
  • How to record yourself with or without camera
  • How to use your phone as the remote for your slides
  • How to use Magic Shortcuts
  • How to share presentations with others
  • How to save your presentation to PowerPoint or Google Slides

By choosing a new creator to learn from on YouTube this week, it helped me put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. I was able to dive deeper to connect and build upon some previously learned skills while adding some new ones as well! Everyone learns and explains things a little differently and I found this channel – Charlie’s Lessons to provide a really valuable video, paying attention to all the details!

Part 7: Expanding My Knowledge

Part 7: Expanding My Knowledge

Welcome back!

This week, I decided to continue building on the foundation of skills I have acquired over the past 7 weeks.

]I have previously shared and explored videos from the YouTube Channel: Pocketful of Primary, hosted by Michelle Emerson. Aside from her breadth of knowledge on how to use Canva, she also provides a wide range of advice when it comes to being an educator in general. She has many different playlists containing videos on: Organization & Productivity, Technology, Lesson Plans, and Interviews & Resumes. I highly recommend her content, it is extremely engaging and easy to watch!

This week, I am exploring a different channel called Busy Miss Beebe. Her aim is to assist teachers with the productivity tools they need to live a fulfilling life inside and outside of the classroom!

She breaks down how to access Canva for Educators, and exactly how to create your account. It is free for all educators!

She also breaks down each piece of the menu at the top and the different materials it gives access to.

One of the other points she highlighted was using a feature called Canva Classwork – a feature I hadn’t yet heard of (4:23 of the video).

This tool allows you to actually build your design then ASSIGN it to your students. The video below explains exactly how this process works and how to select your class, subject, and student. Once the assignments are turned in through Canva, you can grade and give feedback to each student in your class. The other cool part is you can allow other students to view each others projects and give them feedback and comments on it as well. We all know that peer-assessment is a great way to motivate students learning, develop a critical lens, and enhance learning through an exchange of ideas.

After an interesting discussion in class about AI and the ways in which it works and can be used in our classroom,

Furthermore, Busy Miss BeeBe also has a video on “Free AI Tools for Teachers”

Here’s the breakdown on her thoughts about each:

  1. CHATGPT
    • Her least favourite tool because it is only as good as the prompt you give it – you have to be extremely detailed and specific.
    • Here is an example question:

  1. MAGIC SCHOOL
    • Her favourite tool – it is completely customizable – making it much more specific than ChatGPT

    • FEATURES:
    • Chatbot (Riana)
      • answers all questions education related and improve Magic School based on the information and questions she receives:

    • Email assistance for enhancing communication
      • Professional
        • With coworkers, admin, etc.
      • Family (with premium option)
        • to update parents on student progress, concerns, compliments, etc.

    • Worksheet Generator
      • Choose your grade, topic, and upload any materials/resources you want to include (Documents, YouTube Videos, Website)

    • Lesson Plan Generator
      • Choose your grade, topic, subject, add any additional important information, set your standards for grading purposes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sport of Cybersluething

The Sport of Cybersluething

My Cybersluething Mission

Today I had the pleasure of “cybersluething” one of my classmates, Robin Kinnee.

This was a fun experience, nothing quite like trying to figure out as much as you can about a complete stranger based on the way they present themselves online.

Robin & I have never met in person, only over zoom! So the little background knowledge I have about her just based on class discussions is minimal.

Okay, onto the digging. I began with a simple Google search of ‘Robin Kinnee’ and found her blog posts to have the top results. The rest of the results on the first page of Google were unrelated to her. The first image (left) that shows up is of her, the middle image is someone else with the same last name (maybe a relative?) and the third image (right) is of her dog (Roxy) – as posted on her About Me page of her blog.

The first simple search was so perfect, I figured I better get a little more gritty. She mentioned in her post that she follows Dr. Lori Frieson on Instagram and Facebook.

Based on this post, I knew she had a Facebook & Instagram account, but I started wondering why it didn’t show up when I searched for it.

The accounts found had a different spelling (Robyn) of her first name than she uses at school (Robin).

I decided to take a look at these accounts and see if I recognized any photos of her.

When I opened it up, I immediately recognized the profile picture – it was the same one of her dog with the shades on from her blog! I also recognized her cover photo on her highlight story as her face from class!

If I were to put myself in the shoes of a future employer doing research, I would ask her the following questions:

Why is your username “@vanillabunny21”?

Why is your name is spelt with a y instead of an i on social media? What is the proper spelling?

I then explored her Facebook profile, and noticed it also was spelt “Robyn Kinnee”.

I knew it was her profile based on the photos she had posted, I recognized her and her dog from the blog posts I had previously seen.

All of these factors has me wondering if the UofR potentially made an error when they entered her name in the system, or if it’s due to another reason I’m unaware of.

One other source I found was her LinkedIn profile – which was also consistent with the spelling on the rest of her social media accounts.

In regards to the content on her Facebook and Instagram, it definitely showcases her personality as being very creative, artistic, and enthusiastic as she described herself in her blog! Some of my favourite of her posts we’re the showcasing of her beautiful artwork as shown below.

Another major component of her profiles were photos of herself and her children smiling and looking happy overall. Overall, the content on her profile seems positive and personal – her profile has a real human and sort of “casual” feeling to it which I think is a great example to set for our students.

Based on her online personality, she appears to be a trustworthy person who loves her family and her friends. Her blog also explains that she has been in the education system in different forms for about the last 10 years – which tells us that she knows her way around the classroom and understands some of the ins and outs of being a teacher.

She also shared her I Believe statements in her blog under Educational Philosophies where she shares many powerful quotes. Some that stood out to me were:

  • “Every person is unique and has their own style”
  • “To me, reconciliation is also honoring and acknowledging the land that we live on and share together”
  • “Children come to us with their own gifts, not empty vessels open for learning. They all have something to offer” – Charlene Bearhead
  • “Give students something to do not something to Learn; and doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking, that learning naturally results” – John Dewey

Overall, you can tell she has a belief in inclusivity, acceptance, and a growth mindset for children. All of those are incredibly respectable values that are essential as an educator.

Digital Identity

Digital identity is an extremely interesting part of our life. As we read in an ESPN article “Split Image”, it is clear that someone may “appear” one way online and be feeling something completely differently internally. As we read about the young athlete Madison Holleran, Instagram posts don’t always paint the full picture. Social media doesn’t typically display or highlight many of our difficult and painful experiences as humans. This story was so incredibly impactful as a way to show our students a true example of how social media can be a false implication of what we may be dealing with.

As discussed in the TedTalk with Monica Lewinsky, the feelings of shame, confusion, sadness, and humiliation can be detrimental to humans, especially without the right support. As humans, we are all flawed and make mistakes – it can be extremely difficult and a lonely feeling with people online piling those feelings on.

It is important for us to be aware and intentional of our own digital identity, as a way to be a role model for our students and show them the ways it can affect us physically and emotionally.

Teaching Digital Citizenship

Teaching Digital Citizenship

A little over 10 years ago, it seems like technology really took the world by storm. It felt like one day we were using T9 word on our Samsung flip ones, and the next we we’re dishing out multiple Instagram posts a day. Needless to say, the use and power of technology continues to grow at an exponential rate. As it continues to grow, we as educators have a responsibility to help our students understand how to keep digital experiences safe, positive, and purposeful. The digital side of our world is so prominent, and I plan to teach my students many of the ways in which they can have good digital citizenship.

Digital citizenship, is defined by Mike Ribble as “the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use.”

An article written by ACSD called Character Education for the Digital Age, discusses the importance of emphasizing ethical behaviour and critical thinking in students as they explore online spaces. The main points I took away from this article we’re focusing on core values & integrating these lessons into daily life.

 

As educators, it’s important for us to continue encouraging and modelling ethical principles like respect, responsibility, and fairness. These values are essential for guiding students’ everyday life, including online interactions. We want to help them discern credible information, and fostering positive digital engagement with others. It is important that we explain to them that digital identity is NOT a separate entity, it’s part of who they are. As we incorporate these character-focused discussions and practices into everyday classroom activities, we can help our students internalize these values more effectively.

Additionally, another article discusses the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship outlines the key skills and behaviours necessary for navigating technology responsibly. Each element is uniquely important and I want to share some ideas as to how I can a few of them in my class in the form of lesson plans! These plans can be found in further detail from the following websites: Common Sense Education, Tech & Learning, & Book Widgets.

Many of these lesson plans can be cross-curricular as we often rely on technology in many different subjects and are fortunate that we live in a place where we can do so.

  1. Digital Access: Distributing technology equally to provide everyone in the classroom and in your community a fair opportunity to access resources at home.
    • Lesson Plan Ideas:
      • Teach equity by having students brainstorm solutions to digital access gaps in their own community.
      • Have students compare resources in different communities, researching statistics and discussing strategies to promote equitable access.
      • Ask students to complete a task without using technology (i.e. requiring them to use books, ask elders questions, etc.) then reflect on the challenges and the value of accessibility we have in Canada.
  1. Digital Commerce: The way to responsibly use money in the digital space through spending, saving, investing, banking, or using money digitally in any way.
    • Lesson Plan Ideas:
      • Introduce financial literacy through lessons on online shopping safety, avoiding scams, and understanding payment platforms.
        • Have students go on a “virtual shopping trip” using online stores to complete a monthly shopping list while staying within a set budget.
      • Create or find case studies about recognizing legitimate versus fake e-commerce sites through provided links.
        • Ask/show students ways and clues to help easily identify website security.
      • Show students how digital commerce works by having them create their own small online business.
  2. Digital Communication & Collaboration: The sharing of information, thoughts, and ideas electronically with others in a way they can understand.
    • Lesson Plan Ideas: 
      • Assign projects requiring teamwork like shared editing and virtual discussions (i.e., Google / Microsoft applications). Teach students how to work efficiently and appropriately together on the same projects at the same time, and the etiquette for effective communication with group members online. 
      • Provide examples of professional emails, social media posts, and text messages. Examine how tone differs across platforms and practice rewriting a message for different audiences (e.g., formal email vs. text to a friend).
        • Option to include an activity with emojis to analyze how they change
        • each message when added or used in  different combinations.
  3. Digital Etiquette: The norms of responsible, respectful, and considerate behaviour when using technology and interacting with others online.
    • Lesson Plan Ideas:
      • Collaboratively create a list of norms for technology use in the classroom, emphasizing respectful interactions and staying on task.
      • Present scenarios where students must decide the most respectful way to respond to messages or posts.
      • Have students design posters in groups outlining respectful online behaviour to display in class and at home.
      • Review a series of real or hypothetical social media posts. Have students categorize these posts as appropriate or inappropriate, and provide an explanation for why.
  • Sources:
  • https://ideas.demco.com/blog/how-to-promote-digital-citizenship-in-the-school-library/
  • https://it.wustl.edu/items/microsoft-365-m365/
  • https://www.apple.com/ca/newsroom/2017/07/apple-previews-new-emoji-coming-later-this-year/
  • https://acowebs.com/impact-ecommerce-society/
  • https://kharrison76.weebly.com/element-1-digital-access.html
  • file:///Users/jaylynbell/Downloads/OldSchoolvsTechnologyInfographic-1.pdf
  • https://teachingresources.stanford.edu/resources/norms-template-for-professors/
Part 6: Lively Lesson Plans

Part 6: Lively Lesson Plans

This week, I decided to get creative and find some new ways to use Canva to make a simple lesson plan come to life!

I used an awesome new screen recording tool called Loom to record my explanation and video! Loom can be used for creating and sharing video in the workplace or personally. I decided to watch the first few videos on the website under the “Getting Started” section that gave me a quick guide on how to use the program – including how to record introductions & presentations!

Rather than just recording the audio as I have in the past with ScreenCastify, I actually recorded the video of myself on camera explaining it as well.

With Loom pinned on your toolbar, this is how you turn on both your camera and microphone:

I wanted to work my way up to this point & I feel it worked very well! I know that when I listen to podcasts, I often like to watch the YouTube or Spotify video that accompanies it. For whatever reason, being able to see the person makes the video that much more engaging and entertaining for the listener!

After I finished recording my video, Loom had a number of suggestions with the help of their AI assistant on how to improve the quality.

It instantly adjusted the video to 1.2x speed which brought it from 27 to 22 minutes. I then selected the “Edit & Trim Video” option:

In this video, I explain the ways that Loom helps improve your audio to make your video sound much smoother and more by removing filler words & silences:

It’s amazing how big of a difference these simple changes can make – it sure makes your videos much sharper and sound much more professional.

In this video, I explain how to bring your lesson plan to life with all sorts of different pictures, elements, graphics, and ways to make a boring task much more enjoyable and dynamic 🙂

After recording this video, I also began thinking about how I could also use this tool to record my lessons ahead of time and allow the students to access them online.

I remember during COVID when I was completing a psychology degree, most of my classes were asynchronous online. For me personally, this style of learning was extremely helpful and effective!

I decided to search why that might be, and found an interesting article called “6 Advantages of Asynchronous Learning”.

According to the article, asynchronous learning “offers the flexibility to learn at your own pace and without the need for real-time interactions with an instructor”.

My most important takeaway from this article was the point they made about being “accessible to all learners”. They discussed how it provides a significant advantage to those who may have a learning disability.

Sometimes as educators, we have a tendency to overload our students with information and it can be hard for them to try and remember all the steps and instructions correctly.

An solution to this shortcoming is having all of your information accessible online:

  • Video Lessons/ Recordings
  • PowerPoints
  • Worksheets
  • Additional Resources
  • Websites for Extra Practice and Information

The sooner we can train our students to use this to these online tools advantage, the better.

Just as we have access to materials in University (UR Courses/Canvas for example), there is no reason we can’t have this for our elementary to high school students as well. Giving the students and their parents unlimited access to our daily lessons, materials, and handouts, worksheets, etc is invaluable.

The school I am currently pre-interning at uses a program called Edsby, students are able to hand in and take pictures of their work here for their parents to view and teachers to mark.

This could be particularly helpful for students that may have certain learning difficulties (hearing, writing, listening, etc.) that would benefit from a different style of delivery.

If you notice that certain students are benefitting from this method of delivery, you may use your discretion to decide how/when to use these methods potentially over others.

Additionally, this is beneficial in the event students are absent, would like to hear the explanation or parts of it again, review the materials during class, or while they are working on a task at home.

Giving unlimited access will assist in collaboration, communication and understanding for your students 🙂