Due to COVID-19, teacher candidates in the 2019/20 Bachelor of Education program have had to quickly adapt their teaching and learning styles through the use of online platforms. We are showcasing some of the wonderful examples of projects created by them as part of the community field experience.
Bandna Tiwana
BEd Elementary & Middle Years (CITE)
- What is the name of the community partner or group you are working with?
- Sharing resources with elementary educators, parents and students on Instagram
- What is your project’s subject area(s)?
- Educational Instagram blog – currently science focused
- Tell us about your project!
- I’ve created a educational Instagram page for my CFE project and I decided to keep the page open (set as a public page) so that anyone can learn/share/explore science together at the comfort of their home.
The original purpose of this Insta-blog was so parents, educators, and students could explore science while at home quarantined because of Covid19. In the future, I’ll expand this blog to include other Elementary subject areas and potentially move it onto other platforms.
The blog will include free resources (including worksheets), and hopefully inspire people to try out science experiments if they love science or have little ones at home. I will also eventually feature individuals or information from BC, including linking the BC Ministry of Education’s science curriculum.
I am open to anything fellow educators would like to see on the page or any suggestions they might have. If any of you have someone in mind that you’d like me to feature or to share a science experience of your own in BC – I’d love to share it! I will tag you on the post if you would like.
- Did you face any particular challenges in the planning, making or delivery of this project?
- Yes! I am in the elementary program. So, like many of our teacher candidate colleagues on practicum right now, I have been super busy. It has not been easy to balance my time between long practicum and life in general. Therefore, taking on a blog that requires gathering resources, creating worksheets, conducting experiments, and the most tedious being editing and then posting the videos, is definitely time consuming. Especially, if you are just beginning to be more tech-savy, like myself (small accomplishments haha).
- How was the project received? Did anything surprise you about the outcome?
- I am excited! I have gotten positive feedback from former educators of my own in public school as a kid, from parents with small children, and from fellow teacher candidates – all wanting to try (or have tried) the first experiment I posted on the Instagram page so far.
It was super cool having my high school teacher reach out and give me a cross-curricular idea when she saw my ‘Skittles Experiment’ post. Having a former educator of yours, that you admire, give you positive insight is awesome. Even a decade after high school, I am still learning from her. This really shows how we are lifelong learners as educators & reminds me of that sense of community that my cohort – CITE – has been focusing on. The feedback from local British Columbia educators and parents is wonderful; it makes it feel truly like a community of sharing.
- Can you tell us about a highlight of creating this remote lesson plan?
- How fun it is! Honestly, being able to do easy, effective, and inexpensive experiments can be fun, along with super convenient. The page is still fairly new, but I am excited to see where it goes.
Kicking it off during PRIDE month feels right. This month celebrates all members of our community, and I think it is super important to focus on being an ally right now with all that is going on in the world.
- What media did you use to create your project?
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- Microsoft Video editor program (already built into my Microsoft Surface Pro 7 laptop/tablet)
- Where can we view your project?
- @edugramz