I had a great time visiting Gordon Terrace Elementary school on Tuesday afternoon. We spent some time discussing their new Makerspace room, which was very interesting. It really made me want to see “makerspace” resources become more available in the future, for both students and teachers.

Following our introduction to some of the staff and classrooms, we settled in to explore the Epic! Books digital library with a Grade 1/2 class. This was so much fun! Using the Gibbs’ Reflective Learning Cycle, I would like to reflect on the experience that I had during this In-Situ visit.

Image from https://helendenheld.com/tag/gibbs-reflective-learning-cycle/

I ended up working with two students, sharing one computer. Once I had them log into the computer and access Epic Books, we spent some time chatting about their interests and what types of books we like to read. We read three books together and were able to explore the many features available on Epic Books. I was feeling nervous at first, but began to feel more confident and calm after sitting down with the students and beginning the activity. I also noticed that my classmates were feeling the same way as me in terms of preparedness and nervousness, so I think we were all able to reassure each other and go into the classroom feeling confident. This was our class’s first In-Situ visit that was more than just an observation, and I think it went really well for most of us.

Something that was really great about my experience is that the students respected me and listened to me as an instructor, which I didn’t necessarily expect during my first non-observation! They seemed comfortable and excited to work with me, so that made me feel confident about my ability as a teacher.

Unfortunately, something that I didn’t completely enjoy, but I feel could be adapted to work more fluidly, was having the two students sharing one device. One of the students was very eager to use the computer, while the other was a little more withdrawn and quiet. I felt that the more quiet student almost missed out on the full experience because they were sharing the computer. The eager student didn’t want to give the other an equal amount of time on the device, and pulled it away a few times to use it themselves. I felt that I didn’t really have to authority to tell them otherwise, and had trouble speaking to them about it because the eager student was having so much fun exploring the site, and the other didn’t seem to mind letting them choose books while they both sat and read together. Although fun, I wish that they both had a turn to choose a book and click through it or choose the options on the site.

I think that this problem with sharing could be mitigated by having each student on their own device, which could still be done in partners – they can choose a book together to read at the same time on their individual devices, or by having more strict guidelines around sharing and stressing the importance of sharing. If I had let them know that they were going to go back and forth, and each take turns choosing a book or flipping the pages, or clicking the badges after reading, I feel that it would have gone pretty smoothly.

Overall, I had a great experience at Gordon Terrace, looking at their Makerspace and reading with the grade 1/2’s! I learned quite a bit about realistic classroom management and incorporating technology into the classroom. I would love to learn more about how they use technology in the school, and how they went about creating a Makerspace of their own.