Category: MEd

If I were to be completely honest, I didn’t really “get” the project for the Learning Design course until, well…the evening of March 29 today.

These videos are examples of how a mediational approach, and the digital platform GeoGebra.org/geometry, can be used as students are guided through constructing a representation of a radian measure and the unit circle in radian measures.

Several months ago, I was talking with my mom and somehow ended up in a conversational review of my life, beginning from the week I finished high school to present day. The conclusion: mostly, it’s chaos. My observation to my mother, however, was that despite the evidence, I continue to expect that life is going to go back to normal (read: easy) tomorrow (or next week/month/year). After laughing at the asininity of that purview, we decided that the most important takeaway is that I need to adjust my expectations (that life should be “normal” most of the time) to more accurately reflect my experience (sit deep, heels down, and hang on, because it’s a wild ride on a more-or-less continual basis)!

Thanks to the tumult of my most recent career adventure, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on my teaching experiences, and noticing a similar kind of dichotomy there. Taken holistically, I have over a dozen years of experience, and may even be tempted to claim expertise; in light of a traditional classroom context, I’d place myself on a level playing field with a first-year teacher.

“Fraud.”

It’s the sentiment running through my mind as I skim my previous post. (I’d actually forgotten that I’d written it, but then couldn’t remember where I’d put the image of the self-actualized learner (which I did distinctly recall using) and so went searching for it.) Funny how five weeks can influence one’s perspectives.

These interim days have challenged me to the point of incapacitation…who was I to say ” Let’s go. I’m ready.”? Over and over, I find myself aghast at my lack of formal knowledge of the theories and constructs that I am supposedly, as an educator myself, to be purposefully and intentionally employing.

Despite the fact that I’ve been working as a teacher in the online field for a dozen years, the amount of professional development I’ve been privy to could fit on the head of a pin (or, as it were, into a mustard seed); the amount that I officially know of learning design is even less.

If I were to be very honest, one of the main reasons for my interest in learning design is because I’d love to get a job at the online school I’ve worked with (casually) for nearly eight years; having formal education in learning design would be a huge positive to this goal.

Another (far more altruistic) reason for my being interested in learning design is simply born out of the fact that I actually really like learning new things.

Twenty years ago, had I been asked to name the doings of my future self, I would not have been able to envision the fall I’ve just been through. Concurrent with beginning this Master of Education program (though entirely unplanned and on a three-day turnaround while camping with my family in Saskatchewan), I also started teaching part time on a probationary contract at an online school for my local school board. My experience with online teaching has spanned a dozen years now, but this is only my fourth foray into actual contracted employment as a teacher — everything else was either as a substitute teacher or where I was technically considered self-employed. The previous three contracts were to fill a maternity leave (a duration of less than three months); a single fall semester, COVID-19-related part-time assignment for a board 500km away; and a summer school position this July for a fully established board for whom I’ve been working since 2016 (which makes it feel like coming home).