Common tools such as single-shot projection, large screens, and traditional whiteboards have been built in the classrooms of elementary schools. Although these tools are convenient and easy to use, this kind of teaching method lacks the interaction between teachers and students for a long time. Therefore, the interaction between students and teachers can be increased by adding an electronic whiteboard.

For example, an electronic whiteboard that can be connected to the teacher’s computer. In our dinosaur modules, students can click on the electronic whiteboard to make the dinosaur make a sound, or play some dinosaur games on the electronic whiteboard, etc. to deepen student’s understanding of dinosaurs. Teachers can also make some questions about dinosaurs through the “Kahoot!” website, let each student participate in the game, and reward the student who gets the most correct answers.

Interactive learning is not only to convey knowledge, but also to enlighten children to cultivate the joy of learning, increase the frequency of interaction between students and teachers, and teachers can also present in more diverse ways in curriculum design. This will increase the willingness to learn actively and make the classroom full of joy.

https://caprim.opened.ca/interaction-and-teaching-in-a-digital-age/

Capri thanks for sharing your idea. I agree with you that it is more important that students understand the content of the video than taking notes while watching the video. This will not only allow students to focus on the video, but also prevent students from stress. Then the teacher can also respond to each student through the diary feedback, making it easier to understand the needs of each student

.https://harleenparmar.opened.ca/2020/11/02/interaction/

Harleen thanks for sharing your idea. I think your idea is great. I did the same activity in my painting class before, and I found it very interesting. It can not only help you stimulate your imagination, but also make students understand the meaning of this activity. Painting does not have to be superb skills, but imagination. Maybe in this activity, some students will find their own ability to paint.

Inclusive Learning Design

Mara thanks for sharing your idea. I like your point of view. For children with visual and hearing impairments, use short animations to make it easy for them to understand. There is also the use of multiple media communication  to increase the number of children’s interactions, whether in school or at home, they can interact and communicate easily.

https://candiceshang.opened.ca/blog-post-3/

Zeyang thanks for sharing your idea. I think the use of subtitled videos can make it easier for those English learners to understand the content of the video while watching it, so I think it is a good idea, and for those who don’t have a laptop or computer, it’s easy to use a mobile phone to participate in the course. In addition, uploading the course content on the Internet will also make it easier for those who take classes in different time zones to participate and learn more conveniently. Overall, I agree with your ideas.

Experiential Learning

Mara thank for sharing, I agree with you, I like your teaching method. Letting children through continuous experimentation and extracurricular experience really allows them to learn what they can’t learn in the classroom in the process of learning and growth. It can also deepen their reflections and train their insights into things. At the same time, they can cultivate their curiosity. I think it’s great to let children learn in happiness.

https://japaneseteacher.opened.ca/blog-post-2-inquiry-based-learning-elementary-education/

Anna thanks for sharing, I think your ideas are great. Curiosity and enthusiasm are indeed very important elements in learning. How to stimulate children’s curiosity and enthusiasm is a very important thing. If students can learn with enthusiasm, it will be of great help to them and the teachers. Teachers can also use this division to guide those introverted children to speak and participate in activities.

Hello pod#4 Visual Arts

CapriM , YirunJin, Zhaolong Tan, Jessica, Zihan

First of all, I think it’s great that you taught students how to clean drawing tools and how to maintain them at the beginning. According to my personal experience, most of the teachers did not teach the students how to clean the painting tools when I was in the painting class, so it is easy for beginners to clean them in the wrong way. In this lesson, you tell students in detail what to do, so whether they are a beginner or an experienced student, they can learn or review the maintenance steps.  Moreover, for the color theory and the texture I also find it is very interesting, You not only have detailed and rich descriptions, but also use some tasks to guide students how to use those techniques. I think this is very important. Those tasks can enhance the students’ impression of color, perception, and vision. And apply it to their own work. and for the commination section, you said that “If people always just do paint individually, students will not learn from other people or teachers.” I totally agree with you, by commenting on each other’s works, I can help my painting skills grow and open up new horizons. I also like you ideas for the team works, from this activity, students can share their painting styles and techniques with other students through cooperation, which is also a good opportunity to show  their works for everyone.

Secondly, In the Technology Choices section  I think the great thing is that you have proposed two ways for students to choose. Those who don’t have time to go to the studio can also obtain learning materials from the Internet. During the Covid-19 the student can learn painting without going to class. Unfortunately, there is no detailed explanation for the online teaching. For example, how online teaching teachers should guide students to draw, and how to explain the drawing process synchronously. For example, while a student draws with a drawing software, the teacher can modify the student’s drawing and give comments and so on.

Third, in the Inclusion section, the examples you shared can support the message you want to convey. Even the visually impaired can create art, and the deaf-mute can paint. The examples you shared can support the message you want to convey. Even the visually impaired can create art, and the deaf-mute can paint. I think you can add some description, for example, they can use muscle memory to help them master it quickly when creating. For example,  when visually impaired people creating with clay, they can practice constantly, then let muscle memory master the skills of making models. This can also increase their confidence.

Overall, I think your Interactive learning Design on Art of Expression is well written and well organized. The context and modules are very clear and interesting. I’m very enjoyed in reading those ideas in your Interactive learning Design.

Yirunjin https://yirunjin.opened.ca/blog-prompt/  Yirunjin- Thank you for sharing your experiences. I agree with you. Indeed, whether it is playing basketball or other sports, they have a long history and theoretical knowledge behind them. When I was in high school, I belonged to the Kyudo Club. There is also an interesting history behind this martial art. Every action or rule of it has its own meaning. Exercise can not only exercise the body, but also help us to understand some ethical knowledge.

Anna  https://japaneseteacher.opened.ca/blog-post-1/ Anna – Thank you for sharing your experiences. I lived in Japan for a period of time when I was in high school. I was living in a school dormitory at the time. I can deeply feel the rigor of Japanese education. People usually don’t discuss mental health issues, and they don’t take the initiative to ask for help. Most students suppress their emotions. Because I know that in Japan, there is a great emphasis on homogeneity. If someone is different from most people, they may be excluded. So I agree with you very much.

When teachers try to create a safe and inclusive classroom, they should first consider the syllabus, course content, course preparation, teachers’ own behavior, and teachers’ understanding of students’ background and skills. The resources in this section provide specific strategies to meet these factors and enhance the learning atmosphere for all students. And promote learning by encouraging, prompting, interacting and exploring good questioning skills, such as “How do you know it’s right-can you tell me how to do it?”. Teachers provide 3-4 activities to solve multiple learning styles and let students make choices. For example, in spelling activities, students can choose to cut and paste letters from newspapers, or use magnetic letters to manipulate words. At a small meeting, teachers can provide many learning operations and opportunities for group learning. In an inclusive classroom, teachers will distinguish teaching content as much as possible, which will benefit students with disabilities and non-disabled students because it will provide more personal attention.

The main key to inclusive learning is that students need to be proactive-not passive learning. Teachers should encourage children to make as many choices as possible so that students have time to find some of the most powerful sources of learning, and learn from risks and mistakes.

The  pandemic has disrupted people’s daily lives. Schools are closed, parents are working from home or suddenly unemployed, and many people are affected by the ban on footing at home. People’s daily rhythms are all disrupted. With the spread of the Covid-19, how should teachers teach children? For example, in the class “Dinosaurs and the Environment”, the teacher can let the children share their ideal earth drawing through Zoom, and share their views on environmental pollution. Since they can’t go out, they can change the observation of the surrounding environment to their own yard or house. And also can let  the children to collect and share information about environmental pollution from newspapers and magazines.

What is heuristic learning?

The heuristic teaching method aims to prevent students from passively receiving knowledge instillation. It is expected that while leading students to think and solve problems, they will be able to enable students to develop a proactive learning spirit. There are many forms of heuristic teaching methods, as listed below Problem solving pedagogy and role play to illustrate.

(1) Problem solving method:
1. It is a learner-centered teaching method. Teachers no longer lead teaching, but become facilitators, guiding students to think and solve problems. When using the problem-solving method, most teachers do not directly introduce the teaching content, but provide a preset teaching situation so that students can actively search for answers in activities based on current knowledge and materials.
2. Teaching procedure: select problem→define problem→summarize data→solve problem

(2) Role playing:
1. Role-playing is a teaching method that combines personal intelligence, emotion and physical skills. In the process, participants can learn to play different roles, listen to the opinions of others and develop the ability to cope with advances and retreats. The advantage of role-playing is that it combines the functions of drama and games to increase learners’ empathy, and then generate confidence in handling conflicts.
2. Teaching procedure: preparation → brief question → interaction → discussion

How is heuristic learning connected to our Learning Resource?

The learning resource of my group is about elementary  education, and use the theme of dinosaurs to guide children to understand some knowledge and problems in life. For example, why do some dinosaurs eat grass and some dinosaurs eat meat? Why do environmental destruction lead to the extinction of dinosaurs? Use exploration methods to enhance their curiosity about dinosaurs and deepen their understanding of this topic. If they were dinosaurs, what would they do? How to protect the environment? And so on. So I think this teaching method is very suitable for our  blueprint.

On the path of learning, we will inevitably encounter many difficulties. Some people may have questions about their choices, or even have obstacles in learning. In this case, how should they face it? In my experience, my major is Spanish. I hesitated very much before choosing this major. Although I am very interested in learning languages, I don’t know if I will lose motivation and passion on it. But in the end I chose Spanish, and I also encountered a bottleneck. Since I started my junior year, all the courses are taught in Spanish. I can’t understand what the teacher says and feel overwhelming. I have to read a lot of Spanish articles, but I don’t understand many words. So I started to lose passion on Spanish. Later, I found a way to help me regain my passion for Spanish. I started to watch Spanish film, series  and listen to Spanish song. Gradually I started to understand  the content of the class.

I think the most important thing about learning is whether you are interested in or not . Because this passion will help you progress and will not shrink when you encounter bottlenecks. The motivation generated by interest is the longest and most durable. But the problem is that most people do not know where their interests are, or sometimes the interests themselves cannot give them the life they want. In my experience, in common Asian families, in order to meet the expectations of their parents, many children are forced to learn majors they do not like. Under such circumstances, how do they find motivation to learn? Sometimes the expectations and pressures from the outside can enhance a person’s motivation for learning. Although learning may not be what this person wants. However, due to the expectations of their parents, peers, bosses, etc., their motivation to learn will last longer. Under the influence of this external environment, most people will work hard to fulfill their promises or meet expectations. But when expectations are met or personally feel that it is too difficult or impossible to complete, the motivation to learn will drop significantly.

Hi! I’m Weiting Wu, but you can call me Zoey. I come from Taiwan, and right now staying at Taiwan too.  My major is Hispanic Studies and minor in Japanese. I graduated form a high school in Japan and now  study at Uvic for my third year. I like to learn different languages and travel around the would. I also like painting,  playing piano, violin and making figure with resin clay.  I read a lot of mangas, novels  and watch  Japanese anime as well.