Focussed Ed: The Digital Classroom for K-7

Attached above are the K-7 resources (QR codes) discussed during the professional development day.

Being a new student teacher on the cusp of starting my professional career, I often ask questions surrounding the use of technology and AI with students. Although we must monitor how often they are online, we must also take advantage of this resource to supplement our students’ learning. I will discuss a few of the above resources, and how I will find them useful in my future classroom.

Resources

4Canoes is a great resource for students to gain insight into First Peoples’ perspectives and ways of learning and knowing. Being a digital magazine, it caters well to young learners in this new age of advancing technology. Moreover, it will supplement and further my own knowledge of these perspectives and how I can do my best to bolster First Peoples’ traditions in my classroom. We often solely discuss the people in our own territories; however, this is a great resource to educate on other faraway places. I enjoyed the presenter’s idea of projecting it or having them have a copy of the selected resource on their devices during a group discussion. The inclusion of teacher guides is great, along with being adaptable for French immersion. Moreover, I loved the inclusion of read-aloud books since my goal is to teach primarily younger grades!

I found some amazing videos/resources that could be great to use alongside this resources:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D8NTjPspwtJ8&ved=2ahUKEwj6ka6v7YSTAxWdEzQIHZzDPYEQtwJ6BAgYEAI&usg=AOvVaw1x0HkDIDOiJiEVVLOaYuc-

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DoZIjseP4iZE&ved=2ahUKEwj6ka6v7YSTAxWdEzQIHZzDPYEQtwJ6BAgWEAI&usg=AOvVaw0skz0_p4DectGPENKEhvN7

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D7c2WMjOgAYo&ved=2ahUKEwj6ka6v7YSTAxWdEzQIHZzDPYEQtwJ6BAgTEAI&usg=AOvVaw0N3sIrlbcMqyDv00D2Wu8c

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DCISeEFTsgDA&ved=2ahUKEwj6ka6v7YSTAxWdEzQIHZzDPYEQtwJ6BAgcEAI&usg=AOvVaw3Fke7Hl2cGcJrkP19qSkqy

I loved diving into local history with Know BC and ProQuest, as they provide full digital copies of Indigenous books for free. The interactive field guides for identifying pebbles or medicinal plants are amazing for students in the classroom to identify traditional Indigenous preparation, whilst respecting the land. Alongside this is the ProQuest Historical BC Newspaper, which can also be a way to teach students about first-hand historical accounts (primary sources). I think the WorldBook suite would work great in tandem with these, aiding students with its automated citations.

Overall, the digital classroom is more than websites; it is a scaffolded environment that prioritizes accessibility and authentic voices. These provide safe spaces for students to expand their curiosities!