As mentioned in the video, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is observed on Monday, September 30,  2024, a new federal statutory holiday. Taking into account the OCT Ethical Standards & Standards of Practice, discuss how they relate to your responsibility as a future educator to address Canada's history of residential schools. If you are not familiar with the TRC Calls to Action (or you need a refresher) please see this document and review, in particular, sections 62-65 on Education and Reconciliation. Consider what you can do to "Build student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect" (section 63, iii). Reflect on what you may need to learn or unlearn (the response should be about 2 paragraphs). Please note that these Calls to Action are also on this course syllabus.

As an educator our standards of practice includes: commitment to students and student learning, professional knowledge and practice, leadership in learning communities, and ongoing professional learning. I will adhere to those standards throughout my teaching career, thus in those manners I will uphold my responsibilities and duties to Truth and Reconciliation Call for Actions in my classroom and ongoing professional developments. As part of my commitment to students and student learning, I will ensure I’m aware of the children welfare providing adequate supports and resources to the Aboriginal families. In addition, I must uphold awareness for the legacy of residential school causing family relationships to differ, develop a cultural sensitivity which also creates a cultural safe environment for the learners. Furthermore, ongoing professional development in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism is a must as a future educator. While increasing my own understanding of intercultural variation as part of the truth reconciliation healing process, I will respect Indigenous knowledge and heighten sentivity to customs that can also be uniqely individual, and so will my instructional strategies reflect such manner. 

Lastly, as an educator for the learning communities I will interact with, I should take the initiative as a leader advocating healing for the aboriginal communities. Therefore it is crucial to "build student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect".To do so, I must teach, share information and practices on the legacy of residental school, most importantly the Aboriginal hisotry. This will allow myself and the learners as an ongoing practice reflecting on the relationship between Aboriginal people and the rest of Canadians. We cannot change the past, but it is the present we can focus on to change our future.

What is the overarching purpose of assessment within the K-12 context? (this was your minds-on from the lecture video). Please upload your unedited response to the personal statements section of your DLP.

The overarching purpose of assessment is so students can receive concise and specific reflection of their current academic progress. This progress is tied to the curriculum expectations specific to the K-12 context. The Ontario Curriculum states educators must review the curriculum context information specific to students’ curriculum. What that means to me as a educator is to set individual goals, monitor the learning progress, and determine what is the next step for higher-education. Educators will collect evidences of learning and achieve all of the above through assessment. 

See the lecture video minds-on for your first DLP response about measuring student achievement. 

In math class we've discussed the achievement charts in the Growing Success covering Grade 1 to 12. I think this is where we would measure (assess), evaluate, and report student achievement in Ontario schools. This document provides guidance for educators to examine specific performance standards across all panels and a clear and consistent assessment, evaluation, and report of student achievement.  

Now that we are nearing the end of Foundations 1 and you've had some exposure to assessment practices, what is one assumption you had about assessment prior to starting the B.Ed. Program that you no longer carry? How has your understanding developed? 

Before starting my B.Ed. program, I assumed assessment was primarily grading and measurement of learners performance. I didn’t know that there is much involved such as the qualifiers, standards of performances, and different categories for achievement. All subjects and disciplines and across all grades the achievement varies. Not only does learners successfully process the curriculum, the assessment “for”, “as”, and “of” learning will guide teachers to obtain assessment information through a variety of means. What at first I was under the impression from my previous educational experiences was all summative assessments like quizzes and exams. The perspective of assessment as simple means of measurement for learners’ academic achievement changed. Now I know assessments inform teaching practices and foster a supportive environment where educators can diagnose every step along the learning process, defining moments where learning was productive and when it was not.

Based on your observation days, what instances of AI application/integration have you observed, if any (this can be student or teacher use of AI)? What are your initial thoughts about students using AI in the classroom or teachers using AI for planning purposes? Remember, these are initial thoughts and will likely evolve over time so this does not need to be a researched response!

Throughout my observation days, the Grade 3 classroom that I’m placed in students are working well with integration of computers for the language lessons. For instance, teachers have the students working in Literacy Centres where they are free to explore google research, and ReadWork. I have not seen the integration of AI applications yet like ChatGPT. However, students have been mentioning it when they’re writing a paragraph. The conversations they’re having with their peers are “lets ask ChatGPT”, or “why can’t we have ChatGPT write it?” Therefore it seems the presence of AI application and how it can be used is already prevalent in students' lives despite the school not giving them the autonomy to use it in their work. The Ottawa school board is working on guidelines and curriculum integration applying some level of AI app. The board is creative with how to assess and evaluate digital literacy using AI with the rise of this new technology tool. One interesting connection The University of Alberta task force made was to the evolutionary change of using calculators in math lessons. Which is believed to essentially be the same to the rise of AI used in digital literacy. In my opinion, I agree with that perspective because there is no stopping technological progress and advancements. Learners will be living in this new digital-era, so they must be equipped with the resources and tools to take on the responsibility that comes with furtherance of innovation.