EDUC 431 – October 29, 2019 – REFLECTION

Thank you Kristina Tzetzos from @Spinndle for joining my #EDUC431 #EdTech class at #UNBCed. It’s so great to listen to someone who is passionate about Assessment AS Learning and student voice, who has been a K-12 Educator in the BC School System, and become an EDUpreneur with your platform of Spinndle. It takes a lot of courage to step aside and develop an online platform for students to use and unpack student self-assessment into 5 categories: monitoring, tracking, collecting, reflecting, and assessing. You really got us thinking about our assumptions and I appreciated how you carved out the time in your presentation for us to discuss in small groups our thoughts on assessment and how students can be metacognitive with their thinking, sense-make, and have voice.

Thank you for giving our Teacher Candidates and opportunity to use Spinndle as a learner to PLAY and figure out the use and potential of Spinndle as a tool for Assessment As Learning. Although we did experience some technical difficulties (which we normally do in our EdTech class… sadly… but it’s a reality), we could really see how a student could monitor, track, collect, reflect, and assess their learning using Spinndle. You were articulate with your thinking about assessment and why it’s important for learners to embrace, empower, and own their learning and learning experiences. I really appreciated how you talked about your learning journey as a teacher candidate, teacher, and EDUpreneur. I was reminded why we are in the “business of education”… to support and nurture student learning.

From Spinndle, I’ve learned that two of my teacher candidates LEARNED HOW TO CURL as part of their professional learning experience during the Provincial Professional Development Day (something that is near and dear to my heart), and that the platform is can be personalized to the student’s learning experience that can be based on an inquiry based learning framework. I love how Spinndle nicely ties into BC’s Curriculum but also as a vehicle for students to reflect and self-assess the Core Competencies as an ongoing practice where growth and development can be seen over time. Finally, I loved how META Kristina was with her presentation and she reveals how she planned for her guest speaking session with a LESSON PLAN and discusses how she plans and designs learning. Kristina concludes by inviting my students to create a lesson plan that incorporates one of the 5 areas mentioned above for practicum. Now that is full circle!!!