Hi EC&I 834 Team!
My name is Leigh Tremblay and I am a Grade 4/5 teacher in Regina. I am working toward my Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, which all started in the Fall of 2019. I truly never thought this day would come, but this is my final class toward my degree! I can’t believe how quickly the last 2 and a half years have gone by, but here we are! It’s a little bittersweet because I’ve grown so much and have met some wonderful people along the way!
I had my fiancé take a photo of me just minutes before class started because it was my last first day of classes… Documentation was necessary.
When I’m not teaching or doing homework, you can find me running, reading, watching Netflix, or travelling… I can’t even express how badly I have the travel bug right now. I haven’t left Saskatchewan since July 2019. I have become a wedding planning master because we have re-planned/postponed due to Covid… Twice. This summer we are finally getting hitched and I couldn’t be more excited to begin this new chapter. My fiancé and I are proud cat parents of our sweet (and very spoiled) calico named Salsa. This is my favourite picture of us:
Goals for EC&I 834
Goal # 1: I’ve had experience with remote learning and offering some form of content delivery through SeeSaw and Google Classroom. However, I haven’t had any real training or professional development on these platforms. I was truly building the plane while flying it. I used Google Classroom the most and I found it to be quite user-friendly. That being said, my first goal is focused on learning how I can use an online learning platform to its full capacity by delivering meaningful and engaging instruction. I made it through remote learning, but I feel there is much room for improvement. I struggled with student engagement and I believe this is the first step when it comes to learning/teaching in virtual environments.
Goal # 2: I have been fortunate enough to have taken a number of educational technology related courses throughout my program (check out the Home Page of my blog). Since this is my final course, I am hoping to draw connections and apply my knowledge from previous classes. For example, I took EC&I 831 with Alec Couros last semester. When Katia started talking about copyleft, Creative Commons, and proper attribution, alarm bells started going off for me. I realized that this was something I learned last semester and need to start being more cognizant of moving forward. I know better, so I must do better. When building my prototype for my major project, I would also like to focus on implementing more Open Education Resources (OER). To be honest, this particular course feels like the perfect place to tie in the concepts I have learned over the years!
Goal # 3: Before the pandemic hit, I had never given much thought to the digital divide and the impact that it has on the well-being of people. As I’ve progressed through my courses, I’m starting to see how much of an issue this really has become, especially now. Having constant access to news and information allows me to make positive, well-informed decisions and connect with others. It is a privilege I enjoy, but it makes me wonder how I can mitigate the effects of the divide when teaching in virtual environments. At my school, we have been fortunate enough to lend devices out to families for remote learning. However, according to Annie Ma’s article, having enough devices for each child only solves a small portion of this dilemma. We need to consider Internet bandwidth as well. I believe this is an issue that isn’t necessarily going away anytime soon, but I hope to learn more ways I can make learning accessible to my students and to think critically about what having “access” really means for people who do not have this privilege.
Thanks for taking a read! I am looking forward to connecting and learning alongside you all this semester!
Until next time,
Leigh
When the Teacher Becomes the Student 
Congrats on this being your last class! I feel privileged to have met you and to have had 2 classes with you. Maybe when this course is done we will actually be able to get together and meet in person (fingers crossed). I too an looking forward to learning about better ways to access my students online – not just through Google classroom. Looking forward to learning along side you again this term.
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Chris,
It has been a pleasure getting to know and work alongside you! Oh gosh I hope so… I need some human interaction! Looking forward to another great semester!
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Leigh,
Congrats on the last class – must be a super exciting, yet bitter sweet moment. This is class 7 for me and I am already anticipating what it will feel like when I get to class 10!
I agree with you that this pandemic has really brought to light the magnitude of the digital divide that exists within our society. From having access to online learning platforms and resources to being able to critically think about the news and information that we are reading.
I am looking forward to another class reading your throughout the term!
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Thanks for the comment Bret! I am looking forward to working alongside you as well!
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