A Teacher Education Journey

Tessa Webb

Category: Personal Learning Networks

Pottery #6 – Reflections on my learning

November 29, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Pottery is a huge world. Which before this I didn’t know. I thought it was a fun hobby people had and spent some time on making beautiful and useful things. It takes a lot of time, mental and physical effort, money, learning, understanding, and practice.

I have learned that I didn’t have the time this semester to become a full time pottery as I previously thought I would. That is ok I will come back to it when I have the space to do so because something else I learned is that….

I love pottery.

It is a very human practice, looking at the history of it, I learned it is an art practiced for thousands of years – the oldest pottery shard humans know exist is 20,000 years old. Clay is what we were made of, according to many different creation stories. It is an art that incorporates the four elements earth, water, air, and fire, which are the elements that for a long time what we were said to be as humans.

Image result for the oldest pottery shard  The oldest pottery shard, found in China’s Jiangxi province that has been dated to be 20,000 years old. Read more.

Some of the key activities and terms that are specific to the art of pottery that I learned during my inquiry in pottery are:

  • wedging
  • wetting
  • slabbing
  • coiling
  • throwing
  • trimming
  • firing
  • sanding
  • glazing
  • ribs
  • trimming tools
  • kiln

The technology used for pottery has been around forever and has never changed. The pottery wheel and the Kiln are still necessary today to practice this art. Though the wheel has changed from being hand-spun to electrical, and kilns have gotten bigger and more industrialized.

Technology has helped me learn about pottery, whilst I didn’t have the time to go into the studio and practice. Being able to watch youtube videos,  tv programs, look information up on the internet and read books was invaluable to my learning throughout this process.

November 29 – Class Highlights

November 29, 2019 / / 0 Comments

FreshGrade (Sam, Mitra, Jess S.)

Includes

  • communication tool, between parents and teachers
  • lesson plan option
  • digital portfolios – audio/video difficult to hear if not very quiet in surrounding area
  • Announcements
  • Activities
  • Report Cards

FreshGrade & FreshGrade NEXT

  • talk to teachers about use and frustrations
  • FreshGrade NEXT is just upgraded version of the program
  • (ACTIVITY* make hearts out of modelling clay)
  • NEXT is a bit slower

Features

  • can connect to curriculum and tag posts as they connect to curricular outcomes
  • can connect to google translate – would impact privacy laws when connected to third-party sites
  • needs to be explained to parents
  • can increase pressure from parents, communicate with parents that your posting quality vs quantity and its a benefit and takes time, expectations

 

bobka – Anne

Google Teacher

OpenED!

 

Class Highlights – November 22, 2019

November 22, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Presentations

Technology in the Classroom !

Language and language technologies in the Classroom

Digital Storytelling

Video in the classroom

Coding

A couple websites to learn about code!

Scratch

Code Monkey (for young learners)

Glitch

Grashopper

Looking for ways to learn to code without being on a computer? look at Coding Unplugged.

Challenge

The Fun they had by Isaac Asimov

  • write a story about yourself teaching in 2040!

Class Highlights – Nov 8 – Presentations

November 8, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Keiro’s presentation – stop-go animation

stop motion (can be downloaded)

used imovie to fade into the graphic

Photo shop

  • twinning (allows you to take two photos and then it will make it stop go in between)

Pros

  • can be used in any subject to make it fun and engaging
  • hits all core competencies
  • simple concept that can be taken deep

Cons

  • limiting technology available
  • its a slow process and then technology can be difficult
  • takes time and error can occur

Things to watch for

  • camera stability
  • time is really needed
  • have fun!

REsources

  • makerspaceforeducation.com
  • iste.org
  • onf-nfb.gc.ca
  • wiobyrne.com
  • waldprotfolio
  • education.microsoft.com (lessons for all grades!)
  • giphy.com

Google Geographic Products

Google Maps

  • google: My Maps (can make own maps including points of interest, save in layers (stores, parks), can colourize icons, can share & collaborate, can change to satellite images)
  • can add photos and videos of places, could upload audio and link it to places
  • map out: different places in the world using language of place, map fictional settings.
  • Street view : can look at natural wonders, talking about being able to go through museums
  • Google Cultural Institute – information about cultures, arts, natural wonders, repository of historic documents

Google Earth

  • experience – high resolution 3D imagery, can be used for immersive experiences in the class
  • find your house – to get them excited about looking at the world
  • flight simulator – flying around
  • view the past – going back 15-20 years, looking at development land-use change, agriculture, growth
  • Layers: different data can be looked at over layed on maps
  • Im feeling lucky – click button and get sent to a place
  • google moon (immersive interactions with apollo missions, landers, narrated by astronauts), mars, and sky (planets, galaxies, view from telescopes around the world)
  • Voyageur : nasa, the bbc, jane goodall, and sesame street teamed up (narrated tours of places around the world)

Lesson Ideas

  • 20-questions (pick a place, ask questions have students guess)
  • math – maps, measuring, distance
  • explore different environments
  • can make own tours
  • scavenger hunts (coordinates, clues, pictures)

Lessons – My Maps

  • Grade 4 curriculum;
    • following routes travelled during Euro-western exploration
    • make own road trip
  • add journal entries in my maps, historical timelines, distances measured

Privacy

  • Google can track you if you don’t opt out
  • corporations selling information to sell you products
  • benefits – convenience
  • creation/erasure of national boarders

cartography has nationalism built into it. Originally the way that countries were delineated.

Digital Literacy

Information Literacy

      • what is fake and what is real? how to recognize, quality and credibility
      • awareness and critical thinking. who benefits from what is being said, is there bias?

Ethical use

  • citing, use, etc

Understanding digital footprint

  • what are you sharing, cookies, ip address, passwords, service provider, etc
  • what are you leaving behind when you use the internet?

Protecting yourself online

  • you have to be critical or what is offered and what you want to leave on the internet.
  • vpns, data encryption and hacking
  • self-regulation, awareness, screen time

Handling digital communication – cyberbullying

  • the internet is a public space
    •  don’t be a dick
    • there is a history of what you say
    • would you say what you are about to say to peoples faces? if not, don’t say it

Pros & Cons

Risks

Strategies, Tips, and Best Practice

  • Crash Course ; youtube series – navigating digital media (10-11 videos in series), media literacy (amazing for middle school – more intellectual)
    • fact checking – double check your info and teach students how to do this
    • lateral reading – when discovering new information, looking into who is writing articles, when was it written, is there corporate backing/who published this?
    • evaluating evidence
  • Mediasmarts.ca
    • Canadian specific content (know Can Law, applicable to Canada and BC) includes resources for all stakeholders
    • some outdated information
  • Choice & Voice
  • creation v. consumption (more creation = more interesting, increased awareness)
  • multimodalities (diversify, diversify, diversify) –  pick meaningful things, but many
  • collaboration
  • accessibility – make sure learners are given skills to use technology (physical) and apps, go over them
  • crowd-accelerated learning (citizen science – using people’s brains to categorize and process; ie NASA sorting galaxies) – involve outside school that are meaningful and authentic
  • social learning  – spend time on this peer-to-peer interaction, acknowledge role as a social guide.

Parents and Dig Lit

  • assume ignorance, figure out parents involvement in their child’s digital life
  • is part of BC curriculum (21st century citizens)
  • communicate with parent so they understand
    • digital engagement family night (class or school wide)
  • risks and benefits – be compassionate, explain why, patience

Sex, sexuality and the digital world

  • lots of misinformation, single stories, confusion, and shame
  • awareness of this, provide positive digital resources where they can find real true information
  • internet can be a safe place for all people as they explore sexuality
  • common sense education

House hippo – media smarts

 

Inquiry Mindset & Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt

October 24, 2019 / / 0 Comments

On Monday, October 21 our ED 336 class went to Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt’s class to have a look at her classroom set-up and speak with her about how she implements inquiry learning into her public school classroom. Rebecca Bathhurst-Hunt and Trevor Mckenzie co-authored a book in 2018 titled Inquiry Mindset, a book designed to help teachers encourage “dreams, wonders, and curiosities in young learners”.

book

I was unfortunately unable to attend the classroom tour but have been working my way through her website and the multitude of other resources that have been provided by my fellow classmates and Michael, who recorded the audio of her talk and has posted it on our classroom website!

I am so inspired by Rebecca and her implementation of Inquiry based learning into her classroom practice.

 

Pacific School of Inquiry and Innovation – A Field Trip

October 16, 2019 / / 0 Comments

On October 11, my ED 336 class went to the Pacific School for Innovation and Inquiry (also known as PSII, pronounced “sigh) to learn about Inquiry based learning.

This school, PSII, is, in my humble and professional opinion, so excellent and effective.

Inquiry is a beautiful process of learning that motivates students, provides an exceptional foundation for future learning, and prepares these young minds for the high-level executive functioning that is required to be successful in this modern world.

The students at this school start their year off by learning how to ask meaningful questions and spend their first week coming up with questions and then narrowing those questions down to topics that interest them and areas they would like to explore.  Once this is done, students are provided tools, support, and time to delve deep into their inquiry projects.

Inquiry is unique in that it is a learning style that emphasizes the process of learning, as opposed to the creation of an end result, which is the goal of project based learning or most traditional schooling models. If a students inquiry no longer interests them or they have learned a satisfactory amount they can let an line of inquiry be dropped. This often happens and is seen as part of the inquiry process.

The unique and authentic learning that occurs at PSII is inspiring. I hope that this model becomes more common place in our learning world.

 

 

 

Pottery #2 – Trimming

October 16, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I went back to the pottery studio recently, and oh boy, did I learn some new things!

I got there and the first thing I had to do was trim my pieces from the previous throwing session! Which was news to me, but I learned it is a very important step in the process of making pots.

Trimming is the process of removing the excess clay from the bottom of your piece. This happens after your pieces have dried to a leathery texture. This step is completed on the pottery wheel and requires a few key tools and materials. Here is a picture of my pieces pre-trimming with the tools I used to trim them.

It really helps when your pieces are smooth on the top, but mine were not. This made attaching them to the wheel a bit more difficult. Pieces are attached using extra, wet clay to hold the pieces in place. The wheel is then turned on and the tools are used to remove the excess clay from the bottom of the pieces. This clay naturally builds up when you are forming the pieces on the pottery wheel. Bottoms can be trimmed to be flat or have fancy shapes. This process is also important for making a piece more uniform, removing excess clay so the pieces aren’t so heavy, and to enhance the appearance of the piece.

Once this process is completed the pieces are ready for their first round of firing in the kiln! Such excitement!

 

 

Oct 4 – Class Highlights and Reflections

October 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Guest Speaker – Jesse Miller @mediatedreality

https://twitter.com/MediatedReality

Jesse Works with Social Media, having the conversation with teachers and students to help them understand the internet.

Here are some interesting highlights of his talk today:

Internet/App By-Products

This can be easily looked up on the internet. All (?) but definitely most things that occur on the internet have by-products that are saved and used for another purpose. Google “internet by-products” “saved information from free apps” to find more information

An Example of this:

Captcha (Prove you are not a robot by picking all the cars in this 9×9 grid)

  • by-products of when people verify that they are not a robots are in fact used to teach computers (Artificial Intelligence) to recognize objects, people, lights, powerpoles, etc to be used in self-driving cars in the future.

 

Sometimes the conversation around the internet will only focus on internet safety, but we need to talk about our networked citizenship.

It is important to ask yourself – what is your_______?: 

  • Digital Identity – online; multi-versions of ourselves.
  • Digital Rights – screenshots & sends to a thousand photos (2014) – intimate images act; can’t show photos to people legally.
  • Digital Literacy – people and behaviours changing, what is “normal dialogue around technology,internet”
  • Use – Personal, Professional, and Social
  • Safety
  • Security of self

HEADLINES – designed to get people to click  by causing an emotional response.

Some examples of headlines:

Should Your Child Have a Social Media Account?

This article is BIASED but this is a questions that everyone should be asking

  • differentiated between needs and ages.
  • how is media being used? what platforms, apps, media do people  choose based on their use and preferences

Why Social Media is Not Smart for Middle School Kids

  • good science, under developed and not prepared. don’t have enough data.

The Kids (Who Use Tech) Seem to Be All Right

  • anxiety linked to social media

 

“We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us” – John Culkin

 

A Double Edged Sword

Media and technology can be a positive addition to our lives but also has a lot of potential to be misused.

August 1941 – movie horrors & radio crime – “radio is causing nightmares” – content is what is the problem, not the technology, how did that technology shift society. double edged sword.

Cyber Bullying – important to know how to deal with bullies, who to talk to, how to avoid providing opportunities to a bully.

#teacherproblems

teachers fired over social media incidents

check with your school and district about appropriate communications. Understand policies and expectations.

any social media issues, texting, communicating – the more discussed and boundaries and expectations set the better it will work. Think of social perceptions.

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Sept 26 – Class Highlights and Reflections

September 29, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Today in class we learned about video editing and audio recording.

Rich McCue lead this class. He posted instructions and links on how to use a couple different platforms for video editing  and audio recording on his blog which can be found here:  https://richmccue.com/

We discussed a couple ways that humans have historically used video for learning:

  • slowing down to see things we can’t see with the human eye.
  • speeding things up (taking multiple frames) to see a long process in a short amount of time
  • Khan academy – videos of math problems for repetition and ease

 

Audio Editing

I recorded a small clip on Audacity, which is a free open-source cross-platform audio software. It, and more information about it, can be accessed on the website https://www.audacityteam.org/

Here is a small sample recording I made in class (the first 5 seconds are silent) :

 

 

Video editing

There are a couple options for video editing which are listed below.

Today was the first time I had ever used the program, imovie. I was able to successfully figure out how to make the following  video. I used files provided to us by Rich Mccue. The first clip was of chickens in front of a green screen, the second was the fish swimming in the coral reef, and the third file was the audio file of the ocean sounds. I learned how to splice them together and add audio.  I found this platform fairly user-friendly and though not intuitive for me I was able to sort through the steps and make it work.

 

Welcome!

September 17, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I am so excited to be starting on this learning journey. Thank you for joining me.

 

Passion.

What in your life is calling you,
when all the noise is silenced,
the meetings adjourned,
the lists laid aside,
and the wild Iris blooms
by itself
in the dark forest,
what still pulls on your soul?

-Rumi

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