Over the month of November and into the start of December, I focused on learning French through the language app Busuu. I chose this app because I have tried Duolingo while learning Spanish before and wanted to expand my sights to a new app.
Below is a screenshot of my daily French progress on the app:
The way in which this app supplemented my French learning was threefold: it used live speakers to communicate words, grammar, stories, and sentences; it taught me the French structure in a fluid manner that emphasized real world conversations and applications; and lastly, it provided opportunities for individualized review and feedback immediately on incorrect structure with specifics for improvement. In contrast, my experience with Duolingo has resulted in mostly surface-level output and comprehension, to my dismay.
Overall, I felt my learning was effective and I will continue with my daily French practice and look forward to my skills progressing. This French Inquiry Growth Plan has taught me to take my learning into my own hands and be proactive by exploring the resources and options available to me. It doesn’t have to be hard, it just requires a level of determinism, perseverance, humility, and optimism.
This week I focused my speaking skills on conversational questions and responses. With the practice I have been engaging in on the app, Busuu, I have learned more conversational questions.
Here is the video, respecting my conversational partner’s privacy, of our brief communication regarding our family and personal lives. Part of it was written down with questions and a large part was improvised.
Enjoy!
Here are the questions I wrote down for our conversation to help guide me. My responses were somewhat scripted but parts are improvised as well.
After writing my questions, I checked online and with one of my French-speaking colleague. Please provide any comments or feedback below!
This week I wanted to look at resources and deepen my knowledge of Francophone communities to help develop local cultural awareness for myself, students, and other educators. There is research of organizations and community supports available for Francophone students and people living in the Greater Victoria Regional, and one resource for Vancouver. The information has been compiled into a handy pamphlet to use in a classroom and for my own learning and other teachers:
I have produced this pamphlet that shows multiple resources for Francophone students and community members. It can be used in the classroom for students, for myself, and for other educators. The sources are credible and reviewed.
Additionally, being aware of the French resources and supports available in the local community to Victoria allows me as a teacher to implement the real-world into the classroom to foster a sense of identity for Francophone students and connection to their place of residence. Bringing the Francophone community into the classroom and the class to the Francophone community helps build the relationships and increase connections with positive experiences.
This week I am focusing on practising describing myself and my two dogs! I wrote myself a script to read off, but want to get to the point where I am more comfortable and natural speaking about my dogs and myself.
I think it will be more helpful when I have someone I can speak french with to help with my pronunciation and fluency. There is also a need to practice the proper dictation of my tone and voice.
Here is the script I wrote and followed. As you can see, there were several mistakes that I corrected with the help of the references at the bottom of this post. I think making mistakes is important for learning, and self-correction can be less pressure than having someone else correct you. Both are important though!
Here is my corrected and typed script to follow:
The challenge with running through a script like this on my own is that I don’t have anyone to ask if I’ve made mistakes before they occur. I did use several sources to help me with sentence structure and pronunciation, but as languages are living I think it would be more helpful to have someone I can practice with in person. The sources I used are linked at the bottom of the post.
I am looking forward to my next activities! Here are a few photos of my dogs I was describing in my video for reference. 🙂
This week I focused on learning a French song to teach students (and myself) a conversational greeting and several responses in a fun and engaging manner! Here is my practice run-through of the song below:
As I was not able to go into a classroom this semester, I recorded myself with a couple of my willing participants engaging in my French teaching song! I promise they were not bribed 😉
I found this song online and wrote down the lyrics for my practice. The biggest mistake I made was with the ‘tail’ on the ‘c’ letter, otherwise known as the cédille.
Bonjour! My name is Hanne and I will be exploring the French language through the project ‘French Language Growth Plan.’ Please feel free to follow along with me and observe my progress. This journey will explore one of the Big Ideas and one Content connection in each of the grades 5 through 8, with activities I will complete along the way. Additionally, I will be recording most of my development for my teacher and others to observe.
I am always open to feedback as it helps me learn and grow. I am quite new to speaking French so this will be a wonderful reflection tool to look back on when I am more confident and capable. Posting the videos will also help me challenge myself and move outside of my comfort zone.
I wanted take a moment for this post to reflect on the why of my practices for inclusive measures and the areas in which I could improve. I have some experience and am learning all the time. I am grateful for what I know and for what I have yet to learn. There will always be more to master and that makes me the most excited for my lifelong learning journey.
Who is Included?
From my experience of working with people with disabilities, I have some knowledge on several aspects that can make educational and technological pedagogy more equitable and inclusive. My connections to the D/deaf and hard of hearing communities have allowed me to learn about how my practices can be more inclusive for people with varied hearing abilities like embedding closed captioning in all videos I use or create, using sign language alongside spoken English, using a microphone for better amplification, and having an interpreter available for speeches and presentations. Additionally, encouraging sign language to be used for all students will allow the environment to be more inclusive.
With my experience in several Indigenous Education courses, and my family’s Indigenous identity, I have some experience with Indigenous values and cultural practices. However, this is another area that I will learn more about. I am looking forward to my Indigenous courses in third and fourth year of my teaching program.
With the tools and techniques I do have, there are always going to be areas I have not discovered yet. For example, I have only a little bit of experience working with and learning from people with blindness or visual impairments. This means that it won’t be at the forefront, typically, of when I am designing lessons and materials.
There are more people with various abilities, disabilities, and diversities that I have yet to consider and will want to know how to improve my practice to be more inclusive and address the Universal Design for Learning principles better. I expect this will continue all the way throughout my academic and teaching journey.
Now is the time for me to continue reflecting, receiving feedback, and incorporating new knowledge into my practice. From my experience in this course, and several other before this semester, I am prepared to design lessons and materials with all learners in mind, not only to adapt the lessons, but to designwith and for them. While continuing through school, I am building an informal Personal Learning Plan with the various mentors and resources I find along the way. This will help me evolve my pedagogy.
After reading section 9.6 Interaction in the textbook Teaching in a Digital Age, I was struck by the sentence: “with good design and adequate resources, technology-based instruction can provide high levels of student interaction with the learning materials” (Bates, 2019). Why did this stop me reading and prompt a moment of reflection? Well, I thought back to my own experiences with technology-based instruction and have to say what drastic changes have taken place from the start of my online learning journey, back when the pandemic hit and classes were forced to move to online platforms out of necessity, to now where I am learning to navigate my own online learning communities while discovering how to employ engaging measures to build my students’ online learning communities. The quote above made me consider what constitutes “good design” and “adequate resources.” I wanted to find a video to answer the question of how to build a strong learning community for my students and I considered the various barriers, such as anxiety, hesitation, disabilities, discrimination, technological obstacles, and more, but I settled on educating about social justice involving equity and equality to help start the conversation of inclusive practices, not only for educators, but also for our learners.
Here is one video I found:
Students’ Response
This video starts with an example that students could fairly generally grasp as most students wear shoes and have had to try shoes on before in their life. This example helps to grasp the attention of the audience and begin building an individual connection to the information being shared, somewhat inherently because it relates to personal experiences.
While the thinking can get started here by the learner, what this video doesn’t encourage is how to remove and break down barriers and to provide equitable changes. At the age group I will be teaching, what can elementary students do to help progress the social justice movement?
That’s where the learning must continue and move more hands-on. Let’s explore some activity ideas!
Activity Suggestion
Although the video could have just as easily suggested some activities, a review at the end, or further prompting questions to continue learners’ thinking, that part could be left to the educator and learner to design cooperatively. I do highly suggest this because the impact will be much greater for the learner and educator when the students are able to provide their input on the activities and suggest how and why these activities could improve equitable practices. This also gets the students thinking deeper about the ‘how’ and ‘why’ aspects.
Some ideas to deepen the learning with activities:
Collective Art Project: this would be a whole-class art project that focuses on two different stories: one where an individual is not having their needs met equitably and the other where the individual is having their needs met equitably. It would be set as a reminder for students that equity doesn’t look like everyone getting the same thing; but instead the thing that allows them to participate actively. I imagine it could be as big as a whole-school project in the form of a mural, but I may be brainstorming too big already. It could be as small as two scenes between paired students to a grouped or class project, or as large as the whole school. Many different mediums could be chosen for this activity, from collages and painted components, to using natural elements like sticks and leaves or even creating a human exhibit with unidentifiable photographs for preservation of the project. The options are limitless with a little imagination!
STEM Tool Creation: this activity would allow the students to find a tool, like a pencil, chair, book, sink (if in the classroom), or anything, that they can design to be more accessible and inclusive. This is a neat project to also introduce Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) through the exploration and designing of a new tool. It would be neat to offer different materials such as rubber bands, drying or malleable clay, pipe cleaners, tape, glue, and many more. The idea is to use something to create an accessible and inclusive tool that can be further improved from the initial prototype, as sometimes schools have 3D printers and the concept can be generated into a printed tool that could benefit learners. This activity also teaches about the invention process and relates all the way back to Design Thinking.
Equitable Environment Detective: this is where the students get to be detectives in their environment and ‘scope out’ or ‘detect’ the areas where equitable practices could be improved or engaged. They could have a chart with them to write down (or draw!) what they notice in their environment and provide suggestions for how and why those areas could and should be improved. This puts them in a position of power as they get to voice their ideas by providing their insights on their learning environment and will be heard by the teacher. Ideally, these ideas will be brought to the principal to discuss further how they could be integrated. I foresee this as being as the students’ environment in the classroom, to the school or school grounds, all the way to the neighbourhood or town, depending on age group and capacity! Children have wonderful ideas and are not always heard but I think this activity could be a very neat idea to really let their suggestions and voices be heard.
Please note that these activities could, and should, be adapted to the age group what is learning this lesson/topic. Some of these aspects may be too young and disengaging for an older audience while others may need to be adjusted to fit a younger audience. Use your best judgment and knowledge of your classroom/audience dynamic.
Photo by Elizabeth Woolner on Unsplash “A hand wearing a virtual keyboard device, that connects to the computer via Bluetooth and allows the user to type in a variety of locations.”
Lesson Extensions
While the video uses age-appropriate examples and language to build upon prior knowledge and understanding, using it as an introductory video to the topic of social justice will allow to further build on these theories and practices. As explored in my last blog post, this video also talks about removing the barriers as the ideal beyond providing equitable necessities. The next video may go further in-depth or could be a story exploring how increasing equitable measures could improve the lives of individuals living in inequitable circumstances, such as without access to basic life necessities like nourishing food and water, to assistive technology for communication or to engage in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs: daily activities/practices to take care of one’s well-being and environment).
I would suggest this video ~What is Inequality and Social Justice by BBC~ and/or this book ~Noodlephant by Jacob Kramer~ (or the video read aloud here) to extend this lesson to the next. I would perhaps read All are Welcome Here by Alexandra Penfold (video read aloud here) to build understanding on inclusive practices. The discussion of social justice is not a ‘one and done’ exercise, but an ongoing and inclusive conversation that encompasses many perspectives and aspects of acquiring information. I argue that these conversations can begin with young learners in age-appropriate ways so we can educate the next generation of leaders and innovators.
Thank you for joining us and watching our Online Learning Inquiry Presentation on MagicSchool Artificial Intelligence (AI) Generator!
MagicSchool is an education-focused AI Generator that aims to supply teaching and learning resources and to improve the efficiency of creating these resources. Our group chose this tool because none of us have ever used it before and wanted to try it out to test the efficiency and capability of it’s use.
Please watch the video below to observe our findings!
During our zoom class on Monday, June 2nd, we -our instructor, Jess, and the participating class available at the time- discussed the ethical aspects of assessments and the areas where traditional assessment falls short. We considered how traditional assessments are insufficient at actually assessing many of the intelligences that individuals hold. It also does not account for cultural and regional knowledge and experiences. While this conversation was now just over a week ago, the significance of the ethical aspect has stuck with me and I’ve carried it into this week’s blog post prompt about Inclusive Design because of discovering the the through-line, that is active and passive failure to -not just consider- but employ the inclusive practices that enable equitable access for all learners and people.
When exploring the blog post Universal Design, I found the quote that stuck with me most was, “UDL takes a different approach: what if we removed the barrier?” (2023). To delve deeper and apply it to my own practice and understanding, I analyzed CAST UDL Guidelines and identified, among the many, three key ways I can apply the theories to my practice currently:
Consideration 3.2: Highlight and explore patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships ~ under the cross section of Design Multiple Means of Representation and Building Knowledge, I can provide materials for my current and future students that have highlighted key elements in text and use graphic organizers to organize the information learned while reviewing the materials before, during, and after. ‘Know, Wonder, Learned’ charts (KWL Charts) are excellent ways to assess knowledge learned and prior knowledge held while noting any questions, or ‘wonders,’ they have along the way.
Consideration 4.2: Optimize access to accessible materials and assistive and accessible technologies and tools ~ under the cross section of Design Multiple Means of Action & Expression and Interaction, I would correspond and organize any accessible needs be met with the help of the Inclusion Support Teacher, like utilizing assistive technology such as communication boards, charts, and/or tablets.
Consideration 7.1: Optimize choice and autonomy ~ under the cross section of Design Multiple Means of Engagement and Welcoming Interests & Identities, I will ensure projects or final assignments for cultivating and showcasing knowledge learned in a unit summary or natural end to a subject has at least two choices of showing understanding of the materials. This could include any type of visual, audio, written, drawn (in some cases), created, or designed project could be considered as long as the individual can express how this would indicate their level of comprehension of the material. This is also a wonderful time for inquiry projects to further explore features of a subject.
Another aspect that I want to become more familiar with was detailed in the same blog post mentioning how, “an instructor should teach in the manner in which they plan to assess.” Although this more closely aligns with Assessment more than inclusive design, the overlapping theme is undeniable and the approaches cannot necessarily be separated: that is to say that assessment and inclusive design are intertwined as assessment must follow the same principles as UDL and universal design must have aspects that challenge traditional assessment forms to increase the success of all learners. In traditional schooling, assessment does not seem to be eradicated any time soon, so to improve the design for learners’ access we must first prepare them adequately to enter into these spaces and challenges so they feel they stand a chance.
Now this seems to go against the UDL approach of removing the barriers, but some barriers are so entrenched in the system that they will take longer to respond to pushback. While continuing the movement towards increased accessibility and universal design by breaking down these barriers, we cannot ignore that they are still standing.
In order to increase capacity for universal design, we must break down the barriers that stand to impede the access, involvement, and participation for people… but while we are advocating and demanding the necessary changes, we cannot ignore that these barriers continue to impede. Thus, we must continue to movement while preparing learners and individuals to overcome the obstacles until they are removed. We cannot stop on any single axis of the progress by advancing one aspect of the movement while disregarding the other. The progress is multi-dimensional.
What does this look like in my position? I must prepare my students to endure the barriers while continuing to break them down. This doesn’t feel or seem fair, but it ensures they are prepared to encounter the barriers while knowing that it is not the conclusion to the fight. This is how we build resilience.
