top of page

Five Resources

Writer's picture: L.T.L.T.

Here are five resources that I have found helpful in the process of innovative curriculum planning, plus one bonus article on Finding Your Marigold, the one essential rule for new teachers.


This is a video learning resource called edpuzzle. I was first introduced to this tool during our virtual teaching and learning months. Even as we transition back to the in-person classroom, I think this tool could be great to use in a flipped learning classroom, on days you may be away, or even just to enhance everyday lessons. The tool allows you to embed your own comprehension questions and prompts within the online lesson, which promotes critical and creative thinking.


You can record and edit your own videos teaching the lesson so that students can digest the content at their own comfortable pace. Another tool that I like to use to record my screen and myself at the same time is a free Google Chrome extension called Loom.


Furthermore, edpuzzle collects data that shows student results, time spent on the learning material, sections they took more time to complete, and detailed analytics. This would be especially useful for formative assessment purposes and to evaluate where each individual student is at in their learning.


There are also a variety of pre-made video lessons available. edpuzzle integrates well with most online learning platforms making it user-friendly for both students and educators. The goal of edpuzzle is to promote creative and learner-centered thinking, which is a notable component in innovative curriculum planning.


Attached At the Root offers workshops, resources, and educational sessions on childhood trauma. Available education sessions span topics such as Attachment and Adult Behaviour, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Connecting with your Response System, and more. Services are available in person, pre-recorded, or virtually. They offer chat groups for people to find a like-minded community interested in sharing their own experiences and growing together.


Learning about trauma-sensitive schools has helped me navigate my teaching practices. Planning a curriculum that is culturally, respectfully, and emotionally responsive begins with understanding my students' needs and boundaries.


Even though this website is centered around American history, I like that it includes resources for educators, caregivers, and students who are committed to equity. Dismantling racism is not a responsibility that relies solely on educators but on our whole society. There are guiding questions inserted throughout this resource that have you reflect on your race, bias, personal experiences, systems of oppression, and privilege (or lack thereof). Many of these reflection questions can lead to opportunities for inquiry-based learning and active participation in students. There are additional lesson planning resources and learning activities hyperlinked within the document that can be used as starting resources for developing our curriculum. As this is an American site, I think that a lot of these activities can be adapted to Canadian-specific historical events. What I like most about this resource is the emphasis on using community as a way of connecting, learning and understanding.


In this course, we have been talking about demonstrating growth mindsets, modelling self-regulation, risk-taking, and openness to learning for our students. The MEHRIT Centre in Peterborough, ON has compiled a virtual library of self-regulation resources for educators, ECEs, caregivers, and the general community. Their mission is to understand and deal with stress in a healthy, self-regulated process. There are toolkits, videos, books, graphics, info sheets, and more available for your classroom. The MEHRIT Centre offers mentoring, individual, and team learning courses on the self-regulation framework. There is even a blog series you can subscribe to and resources available in French.


Native Land is an interactive digital map that allows you to type in an address and see the relevant territories in a location. After typing in a location, you can learn more about the different nation names, language, or treaty by clicking the links. Maps can be saved and exported. I have used this resource in my curriculum planning for multiple subjects, so that students can learn about the land that they are on. I have them look at the location they reside on currently, and where they grew up. Over the two years that I have been using this resource, many new features and developments have been made, allowing for greater accessibility. Aside from the interactive world map, there are resource lists of territories, languages, and treaties, along with a teacher guide. The teacher guide provides ideas on how to utilize the map creatively and critically, which can be used as a starting point in innovative curriculum planning.

Port Perry, October 2021

10 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page