My Digital Story- The Tsuut'ina Nation

 The Tsuut'ina Nation and Chiila Elementary School

My Digital Story

    In my digital story, I provide an overview of the Tsuut'ina Nation and their school systems. I go into depth about the Chiila Elementary school and how teachers, students and school staff are working hard to create a positive learning environment that integrates the Tsuut'ina culture, language and values. In my digital story, I provide a personal reflection of what I observed throughout the tour and provided different pictures and artifacts that I believe make the school such a positive and engaging atmosphere. 

Blog #4 Scratch Lesson

 Exploring Seasonal Changes 

Lesson Plan

    For my lesson, I decided to have my students explore the seasonal changes of a tree through a premade Scratch lesson. In this lesson, students draw their own tree on the scratch program and then click a button to watch their tree go through each of the seasonal changes. I believe this lesson is could be very beneficial to use as an introduction to grade 1 earth systems. I enjoyed this Scratch program as it allows the students to become more comfortable with technology in a safe and age appropriate environment. The Students are able to express their creativity and background knowledge through this lesson by being given the opportunity to draw their own tree. I believe this program provides students will a clear representation of what changes trees go through during each season. While watching the trees change, the students are able to make real world connections and spark interest for further learning. I believe that having a group discussion after this activity will allow students to share their observations and ideas. It also allows the teacher to observe and assess students learning and understanding. In my practicum, I have been given the opportunity to teach earth systems in my grade 1 class. As I plan for my first few lessons, I hope to include this Scratch program to provide students with a visual example of the changes that trees undergo during different seasons. 

Creation App Mini-Lesson

Health and Wellness With Tech

Lesson Plan

Smiling Mind App

    Our lesson that we created was focused on the Smiling Mind app to lead a meditation that would calm students, give them a brain break and have them using their 5 senses. Before playing the meditation video, we started off the lesson by asking the students how they were feeling today. Many of them said tired, stressed and burnt-out. By completing this hook activity, we were able to determine which meditation program would be most beneficial for the students. The guided mediation that we chose on Smiling Mind required the students to engage in the mindfulness activity by focusing on using their 5 senses. They would be asked questions such as "what are 3 things you can hear?". I believe that using this app and specifically this activity allows students to take a break and relax while also exploring their senses and learning how to use them. When we taught this lesson in class, it went well and the students overall really enjoyed the app. However, since other lessons were being taught at the same time, it was very noisy and hard for everyone to focus on their meditation. This lesson would have been ideal to teach in a classroom where everyone is participating to ensure that the room is calm and quiet. I also think dimming the lights during this activity would help the students relax and stay focused throughout the meditation. After the meditation, we were able to explore the website a bit more and have the students choose a meditation that they wanted to do. After the Smiling Mind videos, we went back to our hook question and asked the students how they were feeling. Many of them said they felt a lot more calm and ready to learn. 

    Overall, I believe that this app could be used effectively in a classroom for students to work on their mindfulness and other skills like using their 5 senses. However, in order for this lesson to be beneficial for all students, you must create a calm and relaxing environment for the students to work in.