Keep on Learning

Over the past 10 weeks I was lucky to be in Zoe Branigan Pipe's Technology class at Brock University! I have learned so much and I can't wait to continue using everything she has taught me in my future classrooms. One of the many things she did for us was pair us off with a "Virtual Associate Teacher" who offered us a whole different learning experience within the world of Technology! I was lucky to be paired with Shannon Smith, a Vice Principal from Ottawa who is extremely active in the online world! I have been following her blog posts over the past 10 weeks and have gained so much insight into how important and useful technology is in a 21st century classroom. I have to point out one particular blog post by Shannon that has really stuck with me over the past few weeks. Shannon's post is about her own ongoing learning project of learning how to play the clarinet. Zoe has been teaching us that blogging is about expressing yourself and not holding back, so I really feel like Shannon demonstrates this ability to put herself out there and show everyone that she too is constantly learning. For students to be able to go online and see that their Vice Principal is still learning and that she is willing to put in hard work and dedication into something she is passionate about then that is what counts! Shannon is an amazing role model for her students and everyone out there in the online world! As teachers, (me being a future teacher) I believe that it is so important to show your students that you are still learning too! Even though teachers are the ones who 'know all' in the eyes of the students, I strongly believe that students will have even more respect for you if you show that you are vulnerable too and still want to practice hard at things in order to succeed. Teacher's are role models and what better way to teach your students to learn than to show that you are learning yourself! Learning needs to be fun, and to show students that you are choosing to learn something and practice hard at it, shows them that learning really can be fun, and doesn't always have to involve the classroom. I have to thank Shannon for allowing me to follow her blogs over the past 10 weeks. I really have learned a lot and I look forward to her updates on her own learning project!