Growing Mrs. Gardiner – Page 2 – It is never too late to be who you might have been ~George Eliot

Reflection: PSII & Inquiry

On February 6, 2021

I really enjoyed our guest speaker today, Jeff Hopkins, who spoke about the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry in Victoria, BC. His energy and commitment to inquiry-based learning was contagious! Jeff spoke a bit about PSII and his passion for providing an opportunity for learners to learn differently from the mainstream. There is lots of useful information on their website which can be found here.

I think..

I think it’s really admirable to learn from people like Jeff who have a vision for their students and put their entire lives into making that become a reality. The fact of the matter is, the BC public education systems fails many of it’s students on a daily basis. It makes my heart really happy to see that there are opportunities out there for students to pursue learning in a way that works for them. I also really like to see education frameworks that encourage student agency and autonomy.

I know…

One of the things that hasn’t been made explicitly clear to me is how teacher who value inquiry-based learning implement inquiry into their classrooms if they don’t work in an independent school such as PSII. I feel like this is something that I need to pursue further on my own as the values that Jeff spoke of such as student autonomy and agency, self-regulation, and competency-based learning really resonates with me. After this class, I took the opportunity to watch Jeff’s TedTalk which I have linked below.

I wonder…

There has been a lot of talk in my classes about inquiry, but it is still a little unclear to me what that looks like for a me, a pre-service teacher heading into my final year of school with two practicum experiences ahead of me. Is there any value in trying to implement inquiry into the classrooms during my practicum? Is it possible to do an inquiry in such a short period of time?

Free Inquiry: Cross-Country Skiing – Learning How to Glide, Turn & Stop

by kimberlygardiner

On January 30, 2021

In EDCI 336, Free Inquiry

The weather this past week was really wet and slippery so my mom and I decided not to go up the mountain as planned. Instead I decided to spend some time watching YouTube videos so I have a better idea of how exactly to turn and stop. I watched a couple different videos and below are the two that I found the most helpful.

This one was by the Nordic Ski Lab – it was approximately 30 minutes and covered all the basic skills as well as detailed explanations of how your body should be moving as you are skiing.

This lesson was great because it started right from the beginning and assumed you know absolutely nothing about cross-country skiing, which lets be honest, I do not.

The next video was shorter than the first and went through all the same skills as the first but in far less detail. It was interesting to see how the same basic skills were described in two completely different ways.

Now that I have a better idea of some techniques I can try, I plan on focusing on the following skills then next time we head out:

gliding vs shuffling: when skiing along the flat sections I am going to focus on shifting my weight from one foot to the other and even lifting my back foot of the snow a little, as if I am almost running
slowing down: bending my legs and shifting my weight forward will give me more control when I have my skis in a slow plow, this will give me more control when going down hill
turning: having one ski in the outside track and snowplowing with one ski while transitioning my weight to one side should help me navigate going around corners while going down hill

I’m excited to get back out there and give some of these techniques a try!

Free Inquiry: Cross-Country Skiing Day 2

by kimberlygardiner

On January 23, 2021

In EDCI 336, Free Inquiry

I went into day 2 of cross country skiing feeling like I may have under estimated how hard cross-country skiing actually is. Reflecting on my experience of day 1, I realized that I had jumped into a pair of skis naively believing that I could figure this out with basically no understanding of the skills that were actually required to do it well. I literally had no idea how to turn or stop… which when I think about it is kind of terrifying. So my goal was to be more intentional about how I approached going down hills and to get a feel for how the skis were moving underneath me.

The day didn’t start off quite the way I had hoped, I still went flying down the very first hill and fell at the bottom. Not sure whose idea it was to put a hill at the beginning of the trail but I would guess that they probably don’t remember what it was like to learn to cross-country ski! Despite falling on my butt right off the bat, I did manage to make my way around our route without any additional falling.

As the day progressed I definitely felt more and more comfortable on the flat and slight inclined portion of the trail. At times I actually felt what it was like to be gliding on the skis rather than just shuffling along. I could feel myself intuitively picking up one foot and then the other almost as if I was running. Slowing myself down was starting to get easier too. By picking up one foot slightly and pressing with the opposite toe, I was able to make tiny turns with my skis in a pizza slice shape as I carefully made my way down the hills and around the corners. I even managed to make my way down most of a hill with one ski in the track! Huge win!

Now that I have done a couple days of skiing and have a sense of what I’ve signed myself up for, I think I will likely do a lesson in the next week or two. To really understand what it takes to turn and stop effectively I’m going to need the help of an expert! Stay tuned!

Free Inquiry: Cross-Country Skiing Day 1

by kimberlygardiner

On January 16, 2021

In EDCI 336, Free Inquiry

If anyone ever tells you that if you can downhill ski you can cross-country ski, they’re lying – I found this out very quickly as I went careening down my first hill on cross-country skis.

ca-reen

verb

1.

NORTH AMERICAN

move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way in a specified direction.

“an electric golf cart careened around the corner”
2.

turn (a ship) on its side for cleaning, caulking, or repair.

https://www.google.com/search?q=careen&rlz=1C5CHFA_enCA918CA918&oq=careen&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0l5j69i60l2.1891j1j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Yup, that pretty much sums it up. The part about “moving swiftly in an uncontrolled way in a specified direction”… not the part about the ship. Just making sure that’s clear.

Nothing about cross-country skiing is even remotely the same as downhill skiing other than you have two skis strapped to your feet. Not the way you use your poles, not the way you use your skis to turn and not the way you stop yourself – these are all important skills you should have to ensure you don’t end up falling flat on your face with your sun glasses full of snow. I found this out the hard way the moment I was slammed face first into the snow like a fly-swatter. Luckily, the only thing hurt was my pride and I was able to finish our route for the day with only a few minor difficulties. Despite all the drama, I still had an amazing day up in the mountains and the sun.

By now you might be wondering why I decided to take up cross-country skiing in the first place. I’ve been a downhill skier for quite some time and since moving back to the CR area I’ve been wanting to ski more. However, between my full university course load and family responsibilities, I just haven’t been making running a priority like I should and I just don’t have the leg strength required to make a day of downhill skiing worthwhile. Although I would say cross-country skiing is an excellent workout, you just aren’t using your legs like you do when you downhill which means I can go farther. Secondly, being back in CR means I get to see my Mama more! She invested in cross-country skis a few years ago and I thought it would be something fun we could do together. Luckily both our schedules allow us to go most Tuesdays mornings while the kids are in school.

When we were required to document a free inquiry topic of our choosing for our Technology and Innovation in Education class, it seemed like a no-brainer that I would document my experience learning to cross country ski. Despite the minor injuries sustained to my pride on my first day of cross-country skiing, I’m looking forward to learning something new, forcing my self to get up the mountain as much as possible and having this to look back on to see my progress. Hope you enjoy following along with me on this journey!