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Who’s Cooking: Eden Eats

September 20, 2019 / / 0 Comments

A couple years ago, I started following Eden Grinshpan (@edeneats) on instagram. She’s a Canadian celebrity chef with Israeli heritage. I found her because of her posts about being a new mom, but I was quickly entertained by her charisma and, in particular, by her food posts. Her documentation of the food she cooks both professionally and in her daily life made my mouth water. She makes Mediterranean and middle eastern food that is not fussy or too complicated. She is friends and colleagues with many other chefs. She posted some recipes created by her friends, cracked coriander chicken, and smashed potatoes with a caper-horseradish-dill sauce, and they quickly became regular staples in my rotation. Coriander and dill are some flavours I could never get sick of.

Not only does she create inspiring food, but her posts about her life in NYC are very fun and energetic. As a mom of young kids myself, her honesty and anecdotes about parenting are the content I need.

Notes on Digital Scholarship Commons

September 19, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Last week Rich McCue from the Digital Scholarship Commons at UVic came to talk to our Educational Technology class. I wasn’t aware of this facility located in the library, but it seems pretty awesome! The people at DSC work to help anyone on campus and  in the community with digital tools and technology. They have workshops, devices and tools to borrow and software to use.

Some of the workshops they have coming up this fall include: 3D printing, using R Studio (this is my jam, but I wish this was around 10 years ago), video editing, open source GIS, Python, LaTex, Twine and data visualization. One of the amazing things for us Education students is that they provide the lesson plans for their workshops so we could adapt and use them eventually in our own teaching practice.

I’ve been thinking about doing my Educational Technology Inquiry on the use of maps and map technology in education. They have a cool sounding lecture series this fall about Digital Mapping, but unfortunately it conflicts with our link-to-practice seminar on Wednesdays. I’ll be checking out what else they have for sure!

Notes on Most Likely to Succeed

September 16, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I watched the documentary Most Likely to Succeed, which looks at education in the United States and how new approaches are reinventing what teachers and students can achieve together. I really enjoyed this documentary, as did my husband who is not studying to be a teacher. I won’t recap it here, but will just document some of the thoughts I had while watching.

  • In the current workforce, jobs are being lost to automation faster than ever. It is always very depressing to think about how so many people are losing their livelihoods.
    • Even customer service jobs .
    • Computers can understand and mimic human speech.
    • The blue collar industrial model of education is gone. “Non-cognitive” traits, and learning skills will not guarantee jobs.
  • Per capita GDP and median income stopped increasing together in the 90s, median income dropped off.
  • The industrial revolution (1840s) led to a big change in education. J.G. Fichte, a philosopher in Prussia, had the idea to divide schools up by age, ability and subject matter. This led to the idea that math, english, chemistry, etc. should all be taught separately. This method was brought to the U.S. to help train factory workers.
  • In 1892, The Committee of 10, educators from various well respected universities and high schools, came up with an approach to standardize education in the U.S. Their recommendations are what led to the current system in use today, over 100 years later.
  • In traditional school, the way students prep for tests is not necessarily bad, it’s often the tests themselves that are bad. Very little knowledge is retained after this type of assessment.
    • Tests are non-existent in the professional world, so is any expectation of memorization. Reference material and team work is ubiquitous.
  • High Tech High is a charter school in San Diego, California. The school combines subjects and allows teachers full autonomy to teach whatever and however they like. Students apply to a lottery to get into the school and the demographics of the school match that of the local community.
    • It’s amazing to see that passion of the students.
    • They focus on learning LESS not MORE.
    • The teachers create the environment and the classroom culture shows.
    • Assessment is done through a public exhibition of work. The expectation of showing work to family, friends and community provides motivation and authenticity.
    • Their work demonstrates competence and mastery, and learn through making mistakes. The knowledge is giving relevance to their lives and the students feels a sense of purpose.
    • We are shown students thriving, and also students failing to meet their expectations. But all students are given the opportunity to learn and grow.
  • If learning is focussed on cognitive skills, will this type of education help people find work in an automated world?
  • It is scary for students and parents to take the jump to a new education system. They worry about college and planning for their futures. This type of fear seems normal to me and not something that needs to be dwelled on. Change is scary and the outcome from a high school education won’t be apparent for many years. As a future elementary teacher I can accept that the role I play in a students life may also not be apparent for many years.
  • It was very inspiring to get a glimpse into High Tech High. The teachers seem incredibly passionate and dedicated to their students and their vocation.

Notes on FIPPA & Cloud Computing

September 15, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Another facet of living in the online world while being a (future, hopeful!) public employee is being aware of FIPPA, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in BC and the Cloud Computing Guidelines for Public Bodies. This post will contain some of my notes after reading this document, most notes will be direct pull quotes.

  • It is important to note that “FIPPA applies to personal information that is in the custody or under the control of a public body.”
  • Public bodies cannot store or access personal info outside of Canada.
  • But the most of the well known cloud computing companies are American and do exactly this
  • Written consent must be given, including the specific information to be store, and dates for the beginning and end of consent.
    • Consent must also specify who may store or access the data, the jurisdiction in question, and the purpose for the use of a cloud computing company outside of Canada.
  • There was a confusing part about monetary payments, but I think this section means that if the information is being given in combination with payment to a foreign government, the corresponding data is allowed to be stored in said jurisdiction.
  • All data stored must be protected. The public body with the goals of storing data outside of Canada must review the security of the company. This includes governance, identity & access management, infrastructure security, encryption and contractual provisions.

While the document is written in fairly straightforward language it will probably take me another couple read throughs before I get all the details sorted. The guidelines seem rather strenuous, however, it seems pretty commonplace to use Google, Facebook, and Amazon for so many different aspects of our lives. How public bodies avoid, or don’t avoid, this will be interesting to note going forward.

Notes on ISTE Standards

September 15, 2019 / / 0 Comments

One of the first topics we looked at for our educational technology course was the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards. The standards make up “a framework for students, educators, administrators, coaches and computer science educators to rethink education and create innovative learning environments” (ISTE.org). The speed with which schools had to adapt to and integrate technology into the classrooms meant that mistakes were made along the way. The ISTE Standards are helping to bring schools into the digital age with a thoughtful and holistic approach.

As a soon-to-be educator I was most interested in the “Educators” section of the website. The goal of Educators is to help students become empowered learners through their use of technology. There are many standards listed in this section, under various subheadings, and I will highlight some here that I found most interesting.

  • Leader : “Advocate for equitable access to educational technology, digital content and learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students.”
  • Citizen : “Create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that build relationships and community”
  • Designer : “Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs.”

Overall I was impressed with the ISTE website and the Standards themselves. A lot of thought was put into the included Standards. Links to the definition for words and phrases within the Standards help to make sure the intentions are clear. It is inspiring to see groups tackling issues in students lives in such a meaningful way. I can see this resource being very useful in my growth as a teacher.

 

Middle Eastern Food & I

September 14, 2019 / / 0 Comments

For my Inquiry project for EDCI 336 I am going to document my exploration into Middle Eastern cuisine. I’ve developed a huge love for middle eastern flavours and have recently started trying to learn more about this type of food in a more meaningful way.

When I was growing up, my family would eat Halva semi-regularly (the kind with chocolate was my favourite), and Mediterranean food, like dolmades and baklava, were often around. Several years ago a Mediterranean deli named Fig opened in my neighbourhood and it became a regular weekend stop for my husband and I to get Chicken Shawarma. The grocery section was always a treat to browse through for the best pastas and condiments. I started collecting new things to try and branching out into new herbs and flavours that I was less familiar with.

After my daughter was born, I became the predominant cook in my family and I started desperately looking for different recipes to keep myself interested in what can be a very repetitive task. I found myself drawn more and more towards flavours and recipes from the eastern mediterranean and the middle east. I looked up recipes and found books at the library. A lot of the foods I tried worked their way into my regular rotation.

Where I am at right now is that I am a mother of two and I still cook most of my family’s meals, but since I’m going to school I don’t feel as much energy to be creative. By focusing on this passion for my Free Inquiry project I hope to carve out a little time for something I love. Please follow along and see what I learn and what I make!

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Welcome and Introduction

September 11, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Welcome to my teacher education portfolio. This blog will document my journey through my Educational Technology course and beyond. I like to think I’m savvy but not techy so I have a lot to learn about what types of technology are available for kids and teaching in 2019. This space will contain my notes on class topics, my free inquiry project into Middle Eastern food (yum!) and my educational technology inquiry final project. Stay tuned and prepare for your mouth to water.

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