Is there truly anything better than a loaf of bread? Like many, during COVID I delved into the world of cooking & baking. One of my favourite things was to make a loaf of bread on a Sunday to go with a delicious brunch. I had never made a loaf of bread prior to COVID and it was this simple video on YouTube that started it all. I guess some of the best recipes are a random deep dive on YouTube.
This No-Knead Artisan Bread recipe is my absolute full-proof way to make an incredible loaf. All you knead (get it?) is some simple ingredients and a dutch oven!
What I love most about this recipe is that you can truly add whatever you want to match it to its accompaniment. Have you ever made a grilled cheese with cheesy bread? If not, you’ve never lived.
This recipe will be in my recipe book for life! I use it so much that I can do it off by heart. ❤️🍞
Creating a podcast has never been so easy! Within 2 minutes I had a clip for a grade 3 science class on the exact topic that I wanted and in kid friendly language.
These are just a FEW of the MANY AI options out there for teachers (and anyone). I can absolutely see myself utilizing some of these tools at various points in my teaching career. I look forward to exploring more!
In a traditional classroom, the teacher sets the agenda, delivers lessons, and structures discussions. But what if students had more voice and choice in their learning? EDCamp is an innovative and professional development model for educators, that could also be adapted to a classroom. The integration of this model could foster student:
Engagement
Collaboration
Critical thinking
Ownership over their learning
What is EdCamp?
EdCamp is an unconference-style approach to professional learning, where participants create the agenda and lead discussions based on their interests and expertise. Originally designed for educators, the EdCamp model provides open, organic conversations and peer-driven learning. Adapting this model for students could transform the classroom into a dynamic space where students explore topics they are passionate about while developing critical thinking, collaboration, and leadership skills.
Watch this video if you want to see the original model!
Benefits of Using EdCamp in the Classroom
Student Agency: EdCamp encourages students to take ownership of their learning by choosing discussion topics, leading sessions, and sharing ideas with their peers.
Collaboration & Communication: Students engage in meaningful discussions, practice active listening, and learn to articulate their thoughts effectively.
Cross-Curricular Learning: EdCamp sessions often lead to interdisciplinary discussions, helping students make connections between different subject areas.
Engagement & Motivation: Allowing students to explore topics they are genuinely interested in fosters intrinsic motivation and excitement for learning.
Equity & Inclusivity: Every student has a voice, regardless of their background or academic standing, promoting a more inclusive learning envrionment.
How Could you Implement this Model into the Classroom?
Set the Stage!: Introduce students to the concept of EdCamp and explain that they will be in charge of deciding what topics to discuss. Establish norms for respectful discussions and active participation.
Generate Topics: Allow students to brainstorm and vote on topics they find interesting. These can range from academic subjects to personal interests or social issues.
Generally in the classroom the teacher has a Big Idea they need to cover from the curriculum but are not curtailed to the exact ideas. This would be a great space to allow students to generate their topics within your desired broader idea.
Create a Schedule: Organize sessions based on student interest. This could mean multiple small-group discussions happening simultaneously or a rotation system where students can attend different sessions.
Facilitate Student-Led Discussion: Encourage students to lead discussions and collaborate with peers. Teachers should act like a facilitator rather than instructor. Guide your students where necessary but don’t take the mic!
Reflect & Share: After the EdCamp sessions, it would be great to have students reflect on what they learned, share their takeaways with larger groups, and discuss how they might apply their learning in real-world contexts. Reflection of learning is a key element of the curriculum!
Summary
Bringing the EdCamp model into a classroom fosters a more student-centered learning environment, where students feel empowered to explore their interests, collaborate with peers, and take charge of their education. By embracing this approach, educators can create a more engaging, equitable, and meaningful learning experience for all students.
Group size, advancement of topics, the amount of student-directedness can all be adapted to fit your grade and student needs in your class. Regardless of these factors, your students all have important things to say and desired topics they wish to learn more about! What a cool way to integrate their personal learning goals 🙂
On this Zoom class I really enjoyed our discussions around different forms of audio/visual curation.
We started the class with you showing us how to use AI for generated visuals. Here is my attempt!
I asked ChatGPT to create me a visual of an animal theme park in the snow where the animals are licking lollipops.
(Image generated from AI chatgpt.com)
As silly as the image is above, I think the ability to curate something like this would be so exciting for students! For students who struggle to express their ideas in an artistic way are provided with an alternative medium, where their creativity can come from the words they choose. The way that you can see your made up vision come to life through an image is so special. Students can play around with asking the programs to edit colour, facial expressions, the placement of the items. As someone who is not the best at drawing, I would have loved to of had the ability to play around with something like this. I always had a great vision for what I wanted but my execution typically fell short. This led to frustration on my part and a thought that I just wasn’t creative. In a way, AI programs like this lend itself nicely to UDL.
I could absolutely see myself bringing something like this into my future classroom. Teaching students how to properly use tools like these can expand their possibilities far beyond what I had access to.
My Science Podclass group used the skills we learned from this class and applied it to our podcast editing. See below for our attempt at using Audacity to create our podclass!
Jesse came and spoke to our class about the many significant roles technology plays in education. From virtual classrooms to online resources, teachers and students rely on digital tools to enhance learning. However, with this reliances comes the need for clear professional boundaries regarding digital usage. Maintaining those boundaries are essential to ensure you create a safe and respectful learning environment not only for the students but for educators too.
The Importance of Professional Boundaries
What I gained from Jesse’s chat is that maintaining professional boundaries particularly with digital communication is to help ensure the integrity of the teacher-student relationship. These boundaries prevent misunderstandings, protects privacy, and upholds those ethical standards that we all sign. Digital spaces can blur lines between personal and professional (they even happened today during our Zoom class where we are in our own homes!). Because those lines can be blurry it is crucial for educators to establish clear expectations regarding communication outside of school hours, the use of social media, and the use of online learning platforms.
How to Maintain Those Boundaries
Some of the thoughts that came from Jesse’s presentation were:
Use School-Approved Platforms: non-verbal communication to parents or students should only occur over school approved accounts like email. This ensures transparency while keeping records of these interactions.
Set Clear Expectations: at the beginning of the school year it is important to establish clear guidelines on how and when students can engage with you digitally. This forms a contract between your students and you and keeps you all on the same page! (obviously age dependent).
In my current line of work we always co-create a group contract and I think doing that as a class is really important to. One of the line items could be about digital communication!
Keep Professional Language & Tone: Since we are always texting or communicating casually on digital platforms, keeping a professional tone can be difficult sometimes. As a reminder, avoiding using slang and remembering that your email is just an extension of your workplace is important.
Avoid Social Media Interactions: Educators should refrain from adding students on ANY personal social media accounts!
Respect Privacy & Confidentiality: Educators must be mindful of sharing any student-related information online. Pictures of work, their faces, anything! These platforms are not secure and it is safer to not share that information. As well, you should gather photo and media consent from your students for posting on professional/school accounts.
Model Responsible Digital Citizenship: Educators serve as role models for learning and that should continue for digital etiquette. Demonstrating responsible online behaviour, including fact-checking sources, using respectful language, and promoting cyber safety, helps to instill those values in your students.
Upon reflection, although these guidelines/ideas seem straightforward, the reality is that digital boundaries can be tricky to enforce. Students can get really excited and want to add you on social media or get your number from a school trip and text you. Regardless, I think the best plan is to always redirect the conversation to an appropriate channel but doing so with compassion. Remembering that students are not necessarily trying to cross your boundary but are excited to talk to connect with you and just need to learn how to navigate those boundaries.
The video above is the first of five videos that discuss the history of FOOD – everyone’s favourite topic!
Cooking has been humanity’s favourite science experiment for thousands of year! From roasting animals over open flames to perfecting the art of meringues, the evolution of cooking is a delicious story of creativity, culture, and a bit of chaos!
Imagine being the first person to ever cook food. One minute, you’re gnawing on raw, tough food, and the next, you accidentally drop it into the fire only to realize it’s now softer and tastier than ever! That one “oopsies” moment sparked a revolution. Soon, people were roasting their meats, experimenting with herbs, and probably arguing over which tasted better.
Fast forward to ancient civilizations, and cooking became an art form. The Egyptians were baking bread and brewing beer, the Greeks were drizzling olive oil on everything, and the Romans were having elaborate dinner parties showcasing the show and share of cooking. Spices then became the gold of the food world, driving global trade and exploration!
Then came the Middle Ages, where food was either about feasting or surviving. Some were indulging in fancy banquets with endless meats, while others were perfecting heart breads and stews to fill as many bellies as possible.
The Industrial Revolution changed everything. Suddenly, food became canned, processed, and transported worldwide. Stoves replaced open fires, and people had access to more ingredients than ever before.
Today, cooking is a mix of tradition and innovation. We have high-tech kitchen gadgets and a global pantry at our finger tips around every corner. But at its core, cooking is still about one thing – bringing people together. Whether you are flipping pancakes on a Sunday morning or recreating ancient recipes just for fun, every meal is a little nod to history and still holds the focus on sharing.
So, here’s to cooking – the original human experiment that just keeps getting better (and tastier!).
If you are curious about the timeline of food, check out this interesting site that tracks how food evolved over time.
“The kitchen is the heart of every home, for the most part. It evokes memories of your family history.”
