Orientation

Unit 1: My Why

January 21, 2020

Hello COETAIL! 

I am so excited to be on this journey with the Online 12 group.

My name is Cindy Kaardal. I am originally from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. I am currently working Vietnam at the International School of Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) in Studio 4 (grade 4 age). As you will find out, our studio is a little more open and collaborative than a traditional grade level. I am excited to share more about our students' voice, choice, and ownership with you.

This is my 10th year teaching abroad, 9 of them in PYP schools. I have taught ICT as a stand alone subject, been in the PYP classrooms as a homeroom teacher, been head of computing curriculum and ICT departments for primary, and been PYP Coordinator.

I am an Apple Distinguished Educator (Class of 2019) and a Google Certified Educator Level 2. I decided on COETAIL as my next journey of professional development because of all of the amazing feedback from the fantastic educators around the world I have been speaking to. After reading the course descriptions I was pretty much sold!

​Please connect with me on Twitter at @innovative_inq.

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Unit 2: My Communities

January 21, 2020

I already feel so grateful for the communities I am connected with.

Joining Twitter has shaped who I am as a teacher an incredible amount. The inspiration I have received from amazing educators all over the world helped me with my PYP Coordinator post, and really redefined my role in the classroom.

I started writing a blog around the same time. This reflective process was also a game changer for me. People outside of my own school were inspired by what I was doing, and writing it down was helping me process the impact of what I was doing in my classroom and with my teaching team. 

The community at my school, ISHCMC, is also amazing. Every day I am still amazed at how professional our teachers are. How much they care. How open they are to try new things. How much they are willing to share with me and anyone who asks. Visitors are constantly walking through our school to see the innovations we are putting in place. Bouncing ideas off of these educators is invaluable.

I have recently officially joined the Apple Distinguished Educators community. Woah, family! Not only is it of course an impactful online experience (again, reflecting!) but in person... these educators are phenomenal. Every time I meet with them I am inspired again. A.MAZ.ING.

And of course, my "watch this space" section with COETAIL! I have heard many great things about this program and am excited to get going!

Unit 5: My Learning Goals

The ISTE standards have been on my mind a lot lately. I am on a committee at my school to look at IT "curriculum" school-wide and. we are using ISTE standards to help guide us. 

I have decided to focus on two strands for my COETAIL journey. One specifically for the students in Studio 4 and one for my reach to other teachers in my school.

The Designer strand immediately speaks to me. I love creating structures and organisers to guide students along with their goals, as well as experimenting with the learning environment to try to accommodate as many students needs as possible. The breakdown of this strand aligns with other goals I have made this year with Cognita's Let's Talk program and with some professional development I have taken this year about self-regulated learners.

My goal for the designer strand is: To provide a variety of learning engagements for individual, collaborative, and small groups, suited to help students meet their learning goals. This is also my Cognita Let's Talk goal for Teaching and Learning (The Student Experience). 

ISTE has influenced this goal by focusing on the learner's differences and needs. The Empowered Learner strand is also relevant here, as students work towards indivudual goals and find learning experiences that work for them.

This will impact my teaching and learning day to day by: rethinking about provocations for students to assist them. I foresee making adaptations to my student's planners throughout the process, and will focus on bringing new ideas to my team.

I will seek support from my Studio 4 team (ISHCMC), my team leader (Paul Cheevers), my PYP Coordinator (Tania Mansfield), and my PLN on Twitter and with COETAIL.

I chose the Leader strand for my reach beyond my students. I am helping our Tech Integrator with some teacher training sessions and am on the IT committee for cross-school alignment.
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My goal for the designer strand is: To use my strengths as an ADE to increase staff and student convidence and creativity in using Apple products. This is also my Cognita Let's Talk goal for Contribution Outside of the Classroom.

ISTE has influenced this goal by focusing on the importance of leadership. Supporting student empowerment and success is important to me, and I want to help students and educators in doing this with a shared vision. Technology can aid this without being an add on, but by making things easier and more seamless. Modeling this is important.

This will impact my teaching and learning  day to day by: seeking opportunities for me to help people around me. I will focus on a shared vision of ISHCMC, advocate for equitable access, and model a variety of tools that can support learning. 

I will seek support from my tech integrator (Kyle Sumrow), fellow ISHCMC colleagues, and ADEs I am inspired by.

The COETAIL Certificate I am aiming for is non-credit. I already have the things I need to apply for Google Education Trainer if I want to at the end.