Link to Prezi Presentation
Inspiring Innovation
Innovation in the classroom leads to opportunities for like-minded educators to collaborate with one another. Many educators are trying new ideas out for the first time and there is comfort knowing that you have a group of people to support you through the process. This was the main reason for why I wanted to share my experience taking a risk in this presentation geared towards professional learning purposes. While the experience did not go flawlessly, there are learning experiences I gained from planning an innovative curriculum, which everyone can learn from. I hope that my presentation starts a conversation for other educators to share their experiences and thoughts on planning for an innovative curriculum. I structured my presentation by opening with the importance of innovation and how it relates to the classroom spaces we design. I suggest using a framework to help structure one’s innovative curriculum planning and share my own framework. Then, I describe my risk-taking experience, the outcome, and what I learned from it. Finally, I state my conclusions and how we can implement innovation more purposefully into our curriculum.
Wintrol and Jerinic (2013) suggest that using creativity practices to “venture out from familiar terrain” will help us navigate and adapt to the rapidly changing world. “Teaching practices that encourage students to embrace change will prepare them to function in future economies” (Wintrol & Jerinic, 2013). This Prezi is to inspire other educators and showcase how taking risks benefits everyone. Meaningful learning experiences happen once we embrace innovation, learn from our mistakes, and are open to new experiences.
Connections to Key Concepts and Learnings
Throughout this course, there has been an emphasis on the importance of reflection, both on our own teaching practices and the learning opportunities that we provide for our students. I included my innovative planning framework within my presentation to demonstrate that through every lesson, unit, and curriculum, I am making edits to my planning. To be innovative in our planning requires thoughtful research and collaboration with our students, colleagues, and the community. We can take our current teaching practices and improve it by incorporating innovative methods, rather than beginning from scratch.
My central goal when planning is to strive to meet all learner needs. 21st Century Learning practices cannot be introduced if students are not given the foundation to learning and critical thinking. Since I have started working in the city, I have found more opportunities to diversify the learning and the music repertoire that I share with students. There will be students in my class who feel very connected to their culture and there will be other students who do not. Dei and Linton (2019) state how we cannot view race as a stand-alone identity, but one that is connected to all aspects of ourselves including class, gender, sexuality, and abilities. I hope that through my framework, I can foster a safe learning space and students will feel welcomed in my classroom.
Presentation Format
I chose a Prezi format because I am a very visual learner that comprehends information easier when text is combined with images and other visual elements. I thought that a Prezi would also captivate my audience more. Whenever I want to go above and beyond a regular PowerPoint presentation in my lessons, I use a Prezi. My students tend to appreciate the format because it is something different. Though I have made a few Prezi’s, I am still learning about all the features, and I find it is more intricate than PowerPoint slides. Some challenges that I found working with the program was being mindful of font colours and making sure that the text was not cut off when the animation zoomed into each topic. Since the Prezi animations jump around like a map, it is important to make sure that the path settings are in the right order and are not distracting from the presentation itself. Furthermore, it does not have spell check enabled and I did not find this function until after I had completed the presentation.
Prezi allows you to easily share a presentation as a link, upload it to Google Classroom, embed it into a website, and collaborate with other users. Using a program with multiple sharing options is helpful in a professional learning environment. I imagine this link could be shared not only in an Arts department Professional Learning Community meeting, but a larger staff meeting. While my experience curriculum planning is Music specific, the framework for planning can be applicable to all subjects and grades.
Even though Prezi has more layers to it than the presentation software’s I am used to, I wanted to push myself to create this. In the presentation, I discuss modelling a growth mindset and how Miller (2015) describes it as, “a powerful way to make transparent the thinking process behind a skill.” Being open to trying new things, or things we are not as familiar with, are risks that I hope my students take in my classroom too. We as educators need to model growth mindsets and risk-taking behaviour so that our students feel encouraged to do the same. Through scaffolding processes, high expectations and high support, we can help our students reach these goals and create memorable learning experiences.
References
Dei, G.S., & Linton, R. (2019). Racism in schools and classrooms. In Julé, A. (Ed.), The compassionate educator: Understanding social issues and the ethics of care in Canadian schools (pp. 271-292). Canadian Scholars.
Mazzarotto, M. (2021). Avant-Garde as Pedagogy: Redefining the College Classroom. International Journal of Pedagogy & Curriculum, 28(2), 35–50.
Miller, A. K. (2015). Freedom to fail: How do I foster risk-taking and innovation in my classroom? ASCD.
Smith, D. J., Kassan, A. Usha, Mudry, T. E., Mukred, R., & Goopy, S. (2021). Supporting Newcomer Youth Through the Process of School Integration in Canada: A Brief Report Highlighting Student Voices. Canadian Journal of Counselling & Psychotherapy / Revue Canadienne de Counseling et de Psychothérapie, 55(4), 484–496.
Wintrol, K., & Jerinic, M. (2013). Rebels in the classroom: creativity and risk-taking in honors
pedagogy. Honors in Practice, 9, 47+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A327357481/ AONE?u=queensulaw&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=37a4a1eb
Queen's University, Lake Ontario, April 2017
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