Week 4

This week we had guest speakers Donald Girouard and Shannon Horn come by the class, and they shared a ton of info and resources. But what really stuck with me was talking about making projects more engaging and interactive. It is such a simple thing and it seems so obvious but yet we as teachers still fail to do it at times. If you give students research projects, they are just going to copy and paste, probably from Wikipedia, and realistically they are not learning anything. Even though we know this is the result we still end up having them do research, I am guilty of it too. It seems like such a good idea, you think the students will take time, read articles, and find as much information as they can. But that never ends up being the case, because the students just want to be done as quickly as possible, which is why they end up copying and pasting. So the reason this discussion really stuck with me was it was just a good reminder that if we really want our students to gain a deeper understanding and for them to really learn, we need to make our lessons as engaging and interactive as possible.

TT 7: Infographics

An infographic is a visual chart, diagram, web that can be used to share information, data, or findings. It is something I would definitely use in my classroom. I think they could be very useful, and you could use them to add some creativity and fun into an assignment. For example instead of having students just write a report on being healthy and how to excercie, you could have them make an inforgaphic like this one. 

Source: http://www.designinfographics.com/sport-infographics/anatomy-of-a-champion

I decided to stick with the physical education theme for my infographic, and I created one for a healthy lifestyles unit. I would use this infographic during my lesson on Canada's Food Guide and I used piktochart to make it. 

TT 6: PLN

After doing this task I realized, I don't use nearly as much technology as the modern student. Especially when it comes to social media. I think the biggest reason for that though, is I know the possible consequences of sharing too much, and frankly I don't feel the need to post everything I do. But this just reaffirms my belief that teaching students how to use technology properly. It's like trying to teach an old dog new tricks, if you wait too long with students they will think they know more than you, and they basically wont listen. So we need to start teaching them at an early age.

Week Numero 3!

This week we were lucky to have Jon Evans come in and speak to our class. It was a great presentation and what stuck out to me the most was web 1.0, and web 2.0. Web 1.0 was what people originally used the internet for, searching for facts and asking Google questions and getting answers. Web 2.0 is when the internet became participatory. Using tools like wiki pages, twitter, and blogging!

To me hearing about these two different webs reminded me about how powerful the internet and all its tools are, but they can also be harmful. I feel that in today's day and age, it is the popular thing to use as many apps and online tools as possible in the classroom, and the logic is that they make it easier for students to learn. In my opinion yes it can definitely help the student learn, but I don't think they should be used as the be all end all, instead they should be used as a tool to help the student. We as teachers tend to think as soon as we bring technology into the classroom it will improve the lesson, but just because students love using their smartphones and tablets at home it doesn't meant they will automatically be more engaged and learn more because we are using them in the class. Yes the internet is powerful and can be very beneficial but we can't rely on apps to do all the teaching, that's our job. We are there to teach the students about things like math, and science, and to prepare them for the world after school. Technology and the whole idea of web 2.0 is a great tool, but that's how it needs to be used, as a tool.

TT 5: Digital Footprints

Digital footprints are a hot topic in the education world these days, and mostly for the negative. You don't often here about the positives teachers do online, unfortunately it is usually the negative. Luckily my digital footprint is pretty clean. When you Google me the things that pop up are my professional portfolio on weebly, and my twitter account. I think it is important to have some sort of footprint, however I think it is very easy for it to become a negative quickly, which is why you need to protect it. You can protect it by making your Facebook and twitter accounts private,same with your instagram, delete old accounts for sites you don't use anymore. At the end of the day though, the easiest way to protect your footprint, is think before you post. Once you post something on the internet it is out there forever and you have no idea who may see it. So be smart about what your sharing.

When it comes to my digital identity, I would say I am for the most part the same on and offline. I find the same things funny, or gross, or sad that I would on and off. But the area where I would say I am different is when it comes to sharing. Offline I will talk to people about just about anything, as long as I know the people I am comfortable sharing, but online I try to be more selective with what I post. For the simple reason that if I shared everything I did offline for one I would spend way too much time posting, and two I guarantee I would share something stupid that could backfire on me. Online if you make a joke or maybe you are sarcastic, it is much hard to convey that then it is offline. So you may be having fun, but somebody can take what you say and get a completely different message than what you were actually trying to say. So this is one reason why I try and be more selective.

This leads to the last point I want to make on the digital footprint topic. We NEED to teach students the importance of being smart online. We need to teach them the importance of making wise choices when it comes to posting and sharing, and that what you do post can have consequences on your future. One way to try and do this in the future would be something simple, like showing students articles of how peoples digital footprints have hurt them or just have them Google themselves and see what shows up. For a few other tips on teaching digital footprints I found this article , which has some good ideas.

Week 2 in the books!

What a week, we covered a ton of material in class this week and there were a few things in particular that caught my attention. Mike asked the question "What are the benefits of being a connected educator?" It got me thinking and here is what I came up with. I think the biggest benefits are networking with other educators and sharing ideas. All you have to do is go on twitter and search #mbedchat for example and you have hundreds of educators chatting and sharing ideas, its really fascinating if you stop and think about it. It is awesome that by being connected with other educators online, you can learn so much all at your fingertips. Digital identity was something else that was brought up in class this week and it was really neat seeing what everybody else had to say about it. My take on it is that we really need to be careful what we post online. You would think by now everyone would realize that, but it seems like every few months you hear of a teacher posting questionable photos or going on rants online, and it costs them their jobs. It is kind of crazy to think that what you write in a 140 characters on twitter can get you fired, but guess what it can! So be smart with what you are sharing, you never know who is going to see it.

TT 4: Edublogger

The edublogger that I have chosen to follow is Joey Feith of thephysicaleducator.com. I discovered his website a while ago when I was searching for some different activities I could use in a lesson I was doing. The site has a ton of great resources including the blog. Joey writes most of the blogs himself but the odd time other authors contribute as well. While he doesn't pump out blogs constantly I find it is quality over quantity. His blogs have a ton of cool ideas, and it is funny because we were talking about twitter in class, and he recently blogged about twitter and some twitter tips for new users. The best part about his blog though is the fact that is he is a current physical education teacher. So everything he is blogging about are things he has actually tried in his class which is something I value. Some people will write article about studies they have done or ideas for teachers to try that should work, with Joey's blog he has actually tried a lot of these things in his own class. He uses a lot of technology too, so it is nice to learn more about that, as it is something I want to try and use frequently in my future classroom. It's a great website and I would recommend all my fellow classmates to take a look at it. 

Twitter!

I have been using Twitter for a few years now, when I originally signed up for it, it was just for the social networking. I used it to share photos, follow interesting people, I got a lot of news off of it, and it is where all of the breaking sports news happens! So I really enjoy Twitter, but I never really used it for educational purposes. But through this class and after some more reading and research, I am starting to see how it could be very beneficial. For one thing, it is a great way to network with fellow educators and it is great for sharing articles, and just chatting. It is also a great place to get new ideas for me to try and use in my classroom, and it is fairly easy to find these ideas. Whether it is from following certain people or just searching through hashtags. There are thousands of ideas out there you just gotta find them! So while my original intentions for Twitter were just for entertainment and news, it has grown to being a useful resource for my career!

TT 2: Digital Curation

I think digital curation is definitely an important skill that should be learned by all. With how many sites and blogs and videos we view on a daily basis, digital curation is needed. Curation makes everything so much simpler and keeps things organized. With all the different sites we use it can get almost overwhelming and clustered. By keeping everything you do online organized you can do things quicker, and it well help keep you from getting flustered.

Myself personally I use favorites on my computer and have everything organized into different folders, I have one for social media, school, sports sites etc. So this is great for my personal computer but when I am in public I have no access to this, so after discovering how easy feedly is, I am going to start using it to keep myself organized.

For my students I will have them set up a feebly account or another site similar to that, because they will be using public computers. This way they stay organized, and they don't have to worry about using the same computer every time. Another plus to having students use a site like this is they are really easy to use. The first time you login and set up your feed it will take some time but after the initial setup its a breeze to add and modify feeds.

Back to the world of blogging

Been a while since I have used the ol blog, lets see if I still know how to do this. First week of class was a good one, was nice seeing everyone again but honestly, I am more excited for the end of the term and to graduate and begin the teaching career. I felt I learned a lot from the guest speakers we had, both Dean, and John were great. I really enjoyed John's and when he discussed copyright issues. It can be a big problem in education and especially in the gym. I am always showing videos and using music. So it is something I am a little worried about, the last thing I want is to get a letter telling me I am in trouble for using certain music or videos and I have a huge fine to pay. But after discussing it, it really isn't anything to worry about as long as you follow the proper protocols. Week one is in the books, let's see what next week has to offer.