I am Kennedy Loreth, well actually Kennedy Cooper as I just got married this June! I graduated from the University of Regina with my bachelor degree in 2018. From there I took a year to travel abroad to Australia & take in as much substitute teaching as I could. I loved learning all the unique teaching strategies & diverse classroom structures. As much as I enjoyed this time to further learn & gain some understanding, I was definitely eager to get into my own classroom. I started my first teaching job in September of 2019. I was teaching Grade 6 & loved every second of this experience. I took in every moment, both challenging & rewarding, and was constantly in awe of this being my job.Â
Unfortunately March 2020 rolled around & Covid-19 had hit. My first teaching experience was forced to go online & I was absolutely crushed. If I’m being honest, this was a challenge for me in many ways. I felt so disconnected from my profession, my colleagues, my students and even myself. I found myself questioning my own abilities, along with my love & passion for teaching. Within the next couple of years there seemed to be lots of flopping back & forth between online & in person and each time I was reassured that online teaching was not for me.
As much as I am even more thankful to be back in the classroom teaching, I did learn a thing or two from teaching online. I honestly do not know if I would incorporate technology to the level that I have had we not gone online during the pandemic. I’ve learned to embrace the many positives of technology, which I had previously held a negative & close minded perspective about. I’ve embraced letting my students learn, research, and create online. It has given me the opportunity to enrich my teaching skills & connect with my students in diverse ways. I’ve also learned how online and blended learning has helped me to balance a split class.Â
Looking at this from the perspective of a student rather than an educator, I am very thankful for the opportunity of learning online. Again, I think we owe a lot of this to the pandemic, but I believe it has created such an ideal & unique way for us educators to continue learning. I know that the majority of these classes were previously only offered in person and since then it has opened new doors & opportunities for online & blended learning. I still appreciate & enjoy the in person classes, but being as busy as I am & living over an hour away from the university, this has provided me with realistic opportunities & many new possibilities.
On the first night of this class, my group discussed how sometimes blended learning can often feel like we are doing double the work as the educators. So then why do it? Well for me personally I believe it is because the outcome is so worth it! I believe my students are gaining more from blended learning & are also pushing themselves in new & unique ways. It gives me the opportunity to assess in various ways & to understand my students better. It also ensures we are keeping up with today’s advanced technology in beneficial ways. I’m thankful for learning as much as I have about online learning & am so eager to keep gaining a deeper understanding & seeing the benefits of using it within my classroom & teaching profession.
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