Podcast

The Podcast that I listened to is the 5th Episode of a series called: Roles models, Professional Development and end of the year crazyness,  by Nathan Horne and Joey Feith.

       I decided to brainstorm my thoughts about the above topics before a listened to the podcast. More so as soon as I saw "end of the year crazyness" I immediately thought about how students are at the end of the year. I think about what kind of student I am right now, with this being my last few weeks of school, and well its safe to say that  I am certainly more distracted then I was in the beginning of the year. Instead of being 100% present and 100% participating I find my mind wandering to other things outside of the classroom. For our students, the end of the year will likely bring about distraction in terms of summer, in terms of the beautiful weather outside. During the podcast they call it “the rush” when the summer break is in the horizon.  Its interesting after talking with a friend of mine who is a teacher, she was talking about barely needing to plan anything the week before christmas holidays. She said she would pick only a few things to get through and then take the ENTIRE week to meet those outcomes. The students just do not want to work, they want to be there for the social aspect but otherwise they would rather be outside or playing video games.

        One particular part of the this podcast that I did like was the notion of being a good role model for our students. We need to be able to not only academically mirror the proper way to learn but also we need to show students proper behaviour, ways to treat each other, respect and leadership. I truly believe that education is exactly that. A huge portion of the education is academics and that is the main goal HOWEVER, I truly believe there are so many other different pods of life that students learn in school: social , emotional, behavioural and team work, community life are things that students need to learn during development. And where do they spend the most time during their childhood and adolescence: School! Another idea I liked in this podcast was that these teachers used QRL codes to find out student progress. After the class students will have to “scan out” before they leave and fill out a questionnaire online about the class, about safety and behaviour. This blew my mind and I am extremely happy to know that I am currently learning how to make QRL codes in my early years Phys-ed course. PERFECT!

        Can students make up their own podcasts? Well, as discussed in the blog, a lot of the time school do not have accessibility to 15 IPads. If a classroom does have access then yes I think it is a great learning tool if the podcast is SHORT and entertaining. This particular blog was 1 hour long and I would say I probably didn’t retain everything they were saying due to a lack of attention span. The students may enjoy creating their own podcasts and learn to love to DISCUSS and talk about subjects. This is where most of the learning takes place. 

Check it out:

http://thephysedpodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2013-11-30T22_03_21-08_00 

Videos in the Classroom

This first video is a movie mash-up called Body Image: Media vs Mind. This video is regarding the reality of body image in today's society. It displays just how much the media can impact the mind in relation to ideals of beauty, as well as highlights some positive forces that fight back against these negative images. This video can be used for Health Class to activate students notions of Media and how it affects our self-image and self-worth. I have used this video for a lesson in Grade 8 on Media Literacy and it was a great way for them to visually see what Media actually is. During the 5 minute clip I had the students answer 5 questions about the clip. The questions included: reflection, drawing and just basic comprehension questions. This particular video had a great effect on the class and really gave me a teaching moment to discuss the notion of media influence deeper. I think that video definitely showed that students do like to watch and learn from videos or television. Every single one of them was engaged by the particular video and I think that if we were to have the students create and make their own videos pertaining to a particular topic that they would be equally as engaged. I am not sure I would make them put it up no youtube but perhaps they could compile all their videos on a class website that hopefully we will have created in the beginning of the year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Xa1Nw8eJY

The second video I found is from TED TALKS. This particular video is called: The 3 A's of Awesome by Neil Pasricha. The story of “awesome” will be extremely motivational for students and can perhaps be shown during a goal-setting lesson as an activating strategy. Or perhaps the lesson can be used during the novel study for The Book of Awesome. I initially got this book from my father and it is basically pages and pages of 100+ things that are “awesome.” By things I mean experiences, small things that you usually do not stop to think about: a sunset, the way the grass smells after you mow it etc. It is just a great novel and I think it could be interesting to even do your own “Book of Awesome” with students: have them think about things they dont usually notice or give energy to. This particular video talks about a man that has gone through a series of hardship and in order to cope he decides to start a blogg about “awesome things”. Initially only his mom watched it but eventually it caught on and people really started to look at the small positive things. I would recommend showing this book to your students: extremely inspirational! 

http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome.html

EduBlogger

This just in: I have finally found a edublogger! His name is @MrBridge204... aka. Blue Jay Bridge.The finding of such blog was that of an interesting one as I did stumbled across him with help from my current teacher as I was requesting some assistance with technology based ideas in a phys-ed class. I was referred to this person via twitter and the particular blog that I read is called "Enhancing Physical Education with Technology. " Before I go on I would just like to say that this was my first networking experience via social media: the first time I connected with someone somewhere else about a common interest and goal. I think that this is what our Technology for Educators teacher is talking about when saying that technology can open up doors and build connections with just about everything and anyone. Now, when I am faced with a phys-ed job that is requesting technology in the gym I have a resource to inquire to. 

         This particular blog is found on www.participation.com and it really encompassed a lot of different ideas that make me excited to bring technology to the gym. Its interesting because the blog bagn with talking about this app called UBERSENSE, which is just like COACHES-EYE app that I use for volleyball. It basically films a skill or action and you can slow it down or fast forward it and/or compare it to a pro's skill. Great way to have students learn to acknowledge a skill and its breakdown. This blog has given me great new app ideas that can be used and it talks about one in particular: SHOW ME. Which is basically allows you to  upload your lessons to the Show Me Community and if you are part of the Show Me community you are ablew to see everyone elses lessons. Such a thing will provide a wide span of ideas for more activities and it is easily accessible to anyone who wants to join in. This is something I will most certainly do! Phys-ed ppl: check out this blog for great APP ideas for the gym!

Instruction or Learning?

This week we had a presenter come in discuss "Web Based Courses." To start the presentation, she asked many of the same questions we have researched and discussed throughout class. What do we think of technology in the classroom today? What is your technological philosophy? Now, there was one statement or question that I found to be particularly catchy and mind moving. Today, in schools, is there more of a focus on instruction of the material or the learning of the material? We further discussed how schools today are way too instruction based. Teachers have a curriculum and they have outcomes to meet and they spend a lot of their efforts creating different modes of instructions, ways to teach the students. All of this is of utmost importance to the teacher and the student however are we making the mode of instruction more important that the actual act of learning? That is where I really got to thinking, it goes beyond what types of teaching strategies we have but if the students has actually learned the material. That is what we are in schools for: to learn! It is important that we start to distinguish a difference between these 2 notions to ensure that students are first and foremost the centre of learning!

My Digital Footprint

My Digital Footprint

When reflecting upon my digital footprint I really had to take a look at what exactly my digital identity is. What kind of person do I percieve myself as online? As an experiment I decided to google my own name and see what sorts of things people have access to. It was shocking to see how much information is actually on the internet about my past experiences and current experiences. Some of the information I had put online myself, but there were many volleyball articles and write ups I was not even aware existed. Upon researching my own name I began to wonder if I am any different online then I am in real life. In real life I am a pretty social and expressive person. Am I like that online? I find I am actually a little bit less expressive online then I am in real life. Would I rather type out my feelings or say them to your face? The answer is easy, personal face-to-face conversation is a way better method for me. I was never one to post statuses on facebook and it wasn't until twitter that I truly began to express feelings, show quotes of interests. Interestingly enough, when looking at my digital identity I do have A LOT of pictures. Perhaps not so many words of expression but I do have over 1,000 tagged photos, some of which need to be erased from the internet. Harsh realization: once this pictures are online such a task is not so easy.  As a teacher we really need to teach our students about how easy it is to access information, whether its true information or false. Having a "What is your Digital Identity" class or unit for that matter would be a great start. What age? Well, students as young as grade 4 are starting to use  Facebook etc. SO YOUNG! 

Staying Organised Online

Staying organised online! Its interesting to think that being organised in your material life isn't enough, now we are receiving mass amounts of new ways to use technology, gather information and it almost seems as though it is an OVERLOAD. There seems to be a surge in social media website and other websites that in-cooperate a means to organised oneself. Whether it would be to organised pictures, thoughts, documents and videos. In a society that is extremely fast pace it seems only natural that we figure out the fastest and most efficient ways to receive and obtain our own information but also new information. How do I organize my own online life? Well, I am currently becoming more aware of things like DROPBOX, GOOGLE DRIVE and/or the fun more creative organizers like PINTEREST. If you are looking for a website, that initially seems to have one function (pure entertainment), with vast amounts of information organised then Pinterest is the way to go. I am not sure whether other education classes have used Pinterest to the degree we have but we have several different "Pin Groups" where people  can add and pin assignments, crafts, lessons pertaining to a particular subject area. For example there is an "english" pingroup where students are daily pinning great ideas to the group, making those ideas accessible to everyone who is part of the group. What a great resource!  Will I have my students use PINTEREST in my classroom? Perhaps. I honestly think its a great tool for collective ideas on certain topics, comparative to google but with more specific example. If a student is doing a project on Flanders Fields, they can look on Pinterest for craft ideas and poster ideas. They can also be encouraged to "pin" their own, final project to a group class pin. 

Just some #pinteresting thoughts!

This week we had to watch a very inspiring TED TALK video about a little girl named Martha who made a difference....

We have found ourselves another Martha Stewart... except she is 9 years old and merely began with taking pictures of her lunch. A girl from Scotland , named Martha, has made a difference. Basically Martha starts taking pictures of her lunch and starts a blog of her lunch and starts rating her lunches. People start sending pictures of their lunches to Martha and she keeps getting more attention. She even gets to go on a cooking show and talks about the quality of school lunches. Eventually she creates such an awareness that she starts a group called "Martha's Meals" and starts helping those (schools) who need more health awareness and nutritional information for their everyday health and wellness. This video really emphasized  how technology can help our world and how it enables us to be linked across the world. The role of technology in Martha's life made it possible for her to help others .

Essentially this video is telling us there are many Martha's in this world, so many young people that now have the outlet to make a difference. Perhaps we need to stop putting our entire focus on cyber bullying or sexting and just help our students realise they have the ability to make change. The presenter in this TED TALK said it perfectly:
               "If we want more Marthas we need to get rid of our fear and control of what our students are                         doing and focus on empowerment. We need our in school environments to be technology based                    places, give them access and advice and let them create!"

Honestly, take a second to think about it... How could you make a change? In what ways could you use technology to change something or affect someone in your life or furthermore in our world?