OAME and some great online math resources

Hi everyone!

So I went to the annual OAME conference this year at Humber College. It was two days of math fun and I feel super inspired. I felt that there was a big push for the use of technology in the classroom in my sessions this year. Oh and my first session featured my current Integration of Information and Computer Technology Part 2 instruction, Brian Aspinall! I'm not sucking up, but his session was a great start to the conference. He really solidified my use/"need" for technology in the classroom and how it can open doors for all students... and CODING! My other sessions constantly brought up the use of coding and developing the student's spatial sense.... so not only did I hear some useful information.... I also played, played, and played! I got to test out some great coding technology like the code-a-pillar, dot and dash, and bee bot. I even ended up purchasing a code-a-pillar half way through my third session! 

Some sessions reassured me that the math resources I've been using this year are great ones. One great resource is TVO mPower. It's a free website from TVO for Kindergarten to grade 6. You can add the students in your class and create usernames for them. It's based on the Ontario math curriculum and tracks student progress. You can access it on iPads, desktops, and tablets. Students can play fun math games while you can view where they're struggling or doing well in. You can also differentiate by changing the grade levels for each student. My kindergarten students absolutely love going on TVO mPower and constantly ask to play it. I've used it as a group game on the Smartboard or given them iPads to work on their own. Another great math resource is Mathies, specifically the Learning Tools. Lately, I've used the Colour Tiles  to show patterning and even used it to show patterns in Indigenous art. You can find some of the Mathies tools in the iTunes store, online, or in the Google Play store. 

Incorporating First Nations, Metis, and Inuit teachings in my classroom

Over the course of the school year I've been trying to incorporate some First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) teachings in my classroom. Last year I had a student who's mother is a member of the Anishinaabe (I believe... I can update this after speaking to her) and she was trying to teach her son some of the traditions and teachings of the Anishinaabe. Every couple of weeks he'd come to class and share with us what his mom or family members taught him or he'd tell us about an event he attended. He once told us that he was dancing at a pow wow and shared some pictures and video his parents took. This began to spark an interest in my class and 5 other kindergarten classes in the school. We started to learn about the symbolism/importance of animals and nature. We then create totem poles as a large art project for all the classes. This then caught the attention of members from Oneida Circle and the Canadian Carabram pavilion (a local multicultural festival) One resource to helped me was the Aboriginal Perspectives: A Guide to the Teacher’s Toolkit. I used this before using the actual tool kit as there sorta isn't a Kindergarten resource, but instead for grades 1-12. The toolkit can be found here. There is some general information that can help build your knowledge of Aboriginal perspectives and teachings.

Here's a picture of the totem poles we made:

My first blog post

Hi and welcome to my blog. I am excited to share what I’m doing in my kindergarten class and how I’m using technology to further develop and enhance my classroom!