Scratch is a program where you can create visual programming in a fun and engaging way. This program is intended for students 8+ due to you having to have some previous knowledge as well as you have to be able to navigate through the may features on the platform. Scratch programming allows you to make games, stories, music and a list of other awesome animations.
I personally had a hard time understanding how coding worked on the website and it took me awhile to create my first coding animation. After a debatable amount of time, I finally understood how the program worked and I did end up having a good time playing around with it. I can see the benefits of coding and I could see it being useful in a classroom setting. The reasons I feel coding would be beneficial in the classroom is because:
Sparks imagination and creativity.
Helps students develop problem solving skills.
Introduces the students to another part of the ever-growing technological world.
Lastly, it is setting the students up for the real world – all jobs / schools have a heavy focus on technology.
I will definitely be using this website in my future classroom! 🙂
ScratchJr
ScratchJr is a coding program but is better suited for younger students and ones that are just getting their feet into the world of coding. The layout of scratchjr is very user friendly, is less complex when it comes to structuring movements in your animation and has a lot less options throughout the program.
Our group had an absolute blast creating a stop motion video using the App Zing Studio. Our three students worked extremely well as a team and had similar ideas on how they wanted to tell their stories through using their props. The students already had some experience with the App and were so excited to SHOW US how to navigate the ins and outs of it.
All in all, I am so happy I got the opportunity to experience working in Marysville Elementary School and understand what makes this school so unique. I will definitely be applying here in the future! 🙂
I chose to do a mindfulness practice this week that involved movement because I feel that I sit too long throughout the day. So, I came across MINDFUL WALKING! This caught my attention because I love walking outdoors and thought I would take full advantage of the fact that it had not snowed yet. It was exactly what I was looking for!
I came across an awesome website that gave me a step by step on how to accomplish a mindfulness walk and the many benefits you can gain from doing it. There are six different steps they recommend you follow in order to do this walk properly; I will show them below:
To be honest the first two times I tried this it was extremely difficult for me since I always get distracted on my walks and love that I usually do not have to think of anything when I am walking. But, on my third walk I really convinced myself that I wanted to follow the six steps and see if I would see any changes in myself, and I did. Even though it was hard to focus on my movements first and then my surroundings there was a sense of peace and calmness that came over me, I felt I was fully engaged in the present moment. It was beautiful!
* I do not think I will do this all the time due to my preference of being “free” in my walks, but this will not be the last time I do it either, due to me actually seeing the benefits of mindfulness walks.
Will I be doing this in my future class as a mindfulness practice?Â
I think that I will give it a try, because it could be the best thing ever for my future students or the worst thing but at least I tried it. I feel that students would benefit from this practice, but I believe when you go on walks this is the time for students to talk to each other and a time when they are not bothered. In saying this, I could see this practice being turned into an art / literacy lesson plan though, the students could draw pictures of what they saw and write sentences about how they felt! I will be trying this in a lesson plan for sure!
More about changetochill.org:Â
They provide lesson plans / activities / resources which are free to all.Â
They cover a lot of different topics other than mindfulness, some being how to reduce stressors, finding life balance and how to reduce stigmas. Â
Highly recommend checking it out! 🙂
A little reminder to take with you throughout your day, take time for yourself!
This week’s mindfulness practice is a bit on the simpler side… due to it only taking one minute to complete and you can do it pretty much anywhere! This post is strictly for my apple watch owners (and maybe Fitbit? Or other fitness / health watch owners…) *EDIT: Fitbit does have a mindfulness breathing application, but I do not know if you get reminders throughout the day to partake in the breathing exercise? Or if you can set up this feature?*.
For myself personally, in the past every time I would get the notification on my Apple watch suggesting I should “take a minute to breath” I would ALWAYS ignored it due to the inconvenience… but I have recently (well just this week) changed that habit! Now, every time I get the notification and if I am in a space where I can successfully complete the one minute of breathing, I take the opportunity to do so. I feel that this mindfulness practice has helped me the most out of all of them, because even when I am busy I can take that one minute to myself and really focus on my breathing and being in the moment.
I feel that this little change in habit could make an impact on my everyday life, even though it is such a small task, the Apple company knew what they were doing. They knew that humans could benefit from a few small breaks throughout the day, even if it is just a minute.
Ideas for implementing this in the classroom… If you as a teacher have an Apple Watch device.
I feel that you could make up a little name for this breathing app so when you get the notification you can say “Hey class, (whatever the name you pick is) is wanting us to take a minute to stop what we are doing and do some breathing.” This may help it become something fun for them.
I understand that dropping everything is hard when the class is in the middle of something so maybe doing it when is convenient for you / your class.
You could show your watch on the projector so they can see the flower going through the breathing with you (as shown in the video below.)
I feel this could be a fun way to get your students to take a minute to themselves and slow down from the craziness of school. 🙂
Myself and my group had a blast creating our first ever stop motion video. Going into this activity I was extremely nervous since I had zero experience with stop motion technology and was not expecting it would be as fun as it was. I can now confidently say that I will be able to successfully teach my future students how to use the stop motion technology and teach them the benefits of using technology in the classroom!
The FINAL PRODUCT!
The Journey Of The Bees
In the process of creating this master piece every single one of us had a role which I really liked due to everyone getting to contribute towards the final product. For example, we had three people moving the props around, one person taking the photos and we all contributed towards the sound effects. I feel that students will be tested on their creativity,teamwork skills as well as their ability to compromise, just like we were. I also hope that the students (in our in-situ and future classrooms) really see the benefits from the experience, and can see themselves using it in the future!
The TEAM behind “The Journey Of The Bees”!
My classmates and I
Adding Stop Motion Videos Into Classrooms…
I feel like I would love to use stop motion videos as projects or activities in my classroom due to the endless opportunities for what your students can create with it. The App that we used (Zing Studio 1.0) was extremely user friendly and I feel that students of all ages would be able to navigate through it quickly and have a blast creating their own stop motion videos.
In saying this, I do feel that we need to take into consideration that no class is perfect and no technology is perfect. As classrooms are a diverse community and sometimes technology works against, us we need to understand that there will be points of trial and error. But making sure all students feel welcomed and capable of using the technology presented to them is extremely important and is something I will take with me into all my future classrooms.
My other opinions of using stop motion videos in the classroom include:
Me doing my mindfulness practice: journaling 🙂 Video edited on: Splice (Info at the end of post)
This week I chose to do another written mindfulness activity; this one includes journaling. I got the idea from another class I am in (Elementary Field Experience Seminar) and I started to see the changes in myself after the first time we did it, and am still continuing to see positive changes in myself throughout this week, so I thought it would be a great exercise to share! At the beginning of every class, we get 5-15min of alone time where we pick a spot to sit outside and journal (written or drawings) any thoughts that arise for us as well as write out our five senses which are (as well as your heart):
Sight: What are you seeing around you? (Ex: Trees, sky, grass)
Hearing: What do you hear around you? (Ex: Cars, people talking, generators)Â Â
Smell: What do you smell? (Ex: Wet grass, smoke, fresh air)
Taste: What do you taste? (Ex: Coffee, gum, food)
Touch: What are you feeling around you? Or sitting on? (Ex: Wet grass, gravel, soil, seat cushion)
Heart: What are you feeling in this current moment? What is your heart feeling? (Ex: Happy, content, emotional)
This activity has taught me that being alone with your thoughts is not so scary, and that writing them out can get a lot off your chest. Also, being aware of your five senses allows you to come into a state of being present, and I feel that humans of all ages do not get enough time in this state.
What this activity would look like with your students (any grade): Â
Every student would have a pen and a journal that is there’s to keep – this allows them to continue this mindfulness practice at home or wherever makes them comfortable.
This practice could be done outside, inside the classroom, pretty much anywhere that is a quiet / calm environment as well as at any time of the day!
Explain what the five senses are and give some examples of them like I did above.
And let them enjoy being outside or sitting in silence in the classroom where they are alone with their own thoughts and feelings. Allow them to write or draw or both, because some students may feel more comfortable doing one over the other!
Outcome:
Creates calmness amongst the classroom and allows for a fresh start to the day, break in between lessons or a way to wrap up the day before heading home.
* I encourage you to give this mindfulness journaling a try either individually or with your student’s multiple times a week and see what benefits you gain from this practice! 🙂 *
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SPLICE: Video editing App!
Screen Shot from Apple App Store
^ What a fun App! I just discovered it today on the App Store on my iPhone and had way too much fun playing around with all the editing tools that are available (filters, speed changes, text). I highly recommend this app for all your video editing needs, you can select the right type of video layout you are looking for such as an Instagram Reel, Tik Tok or Youtube video! It was also user friendly, I do not have a lot of editing experience when it comes to videos and I found that I was able to navigate myself through the app quite well and the editing process of my first video did not take long at all! I will definitely be using this app in the future.
If you are having troubles navigating through the app, below is an extremely helpful masterclass video that will turn you into a Splice Pro!
DESCRIPTION:Myself and my year two cohort went to Gordon Terrace Elementary School on October 12th in the afternoon where we toured the school, library, and the makerspace for our Technology in-situ. During our time there we got to listen to the principle and librarian explain what the makerspace is used for, how it came about and what to expect from this room. We also got to ask questions about anything to do with teaching / technology, which was extremely helpful.
The main reason we were there was to team up with the grade 1 / 2 classes and show them / teach them about the website called Epic Books. We got an hour to play around on the website with the students and give them an inside look into the Get Epic world.
FEELINGS:The feelings I was feeling prior to the technology in-situ were excitement and nervousness, I felt these feelings because I was excited to be in a classroom setting and have the chance to teach young students about reading (online reading resources) and the nervousness feeling came from the unknown “how many students will I be working with?”, “what do I do if their computer does not work?”, “how to manage students with different preferences on books?”
After the technology in-situ my feelings changed from excitement and nervousness to accomplishment and happiness. My feelings changed because all my unknown questions were answered, and it went better than I expected due to my students being engaged and whiling to learn about GetEpic.com.
EVALUATION:
Good: There were many good, positive parts to the technology in-situ, some examples being:Â Â
Touring a new school, I have not worked in yet. Â
Getting to ask the principal and librarian questions about teaching as well as the technology that is used in their school and what it looks like in their everyday school lives. Â
Teaching real students about GetEpic.com and being able to apply what we have learnt to real life classrooms. Â
Having a group discussion after the in-situ with my classmates to debrief our experiences. Â
Bad: The good outweighed the bad by many, I would not even call some of the bad experiences “bad”, a better word would be “challenging”. The only challenge I was faced with was working with a student that was fully involved (touching the screen and keyboard keys, picking all the books to read and not sharing) and the other student who wanted to be fully involved but was too shy to say or act on anything. So, balancing this challenge in the moment was a bit difficult but I feel that in the end they both got a chance to read / look at a few books that interested them and no arguments happened between them either, which is always a good thing!
ANALYSE:I feel that this technology in-situ was a huge learning lesson for me in so many ways. Even though I have been an EA in all the grades and most of the schools (except Gordon Terrace) I feel that every time you walk into a new school you are faced with new challenges and new experiences. The experiences I had faced in this in-situ were extremely beneficial due to me learning how to think on the spot when it comes to technology, a few examples being how to make sure the students that are using the same computer are both engaged and enjoying the lesson and how to keep students engaged when you are waiting for the login / pages to load.
CONCLUSION:I feel that one thing I could have done differently in this in-situ was explain the website a little more in depth, such as pointing out the different age / reading levels, so they know what books to look for in the future when they login again to GetEpic.com. But I feel that I was listening and reading their body language and just got caught up in listening to the students read and finding books that caught their attention. So, I now know for next time to take the chance to point out some really great features that will benefit them in the future.
ACTION PLAN:If I had a similar opportunity like this in the future, I think that I would study the website a little more in depth before showing it to the students. I would also have a few books already picked out (a variety of different genres) so we could move straight into the reading portion instead of possibly taking up too much time trying to find a book that interests the students.
This week for my mindfulness project I chose to write five different things I am grateful for every day. This seems like a simple task but when you sit with yourself and really dig down and think it can become a very meaningful task that could be implemented into your everyday routine. For example there are days where I can write a million things I am grateful for and others it takes some digging, therefore I feel that in order to really get something out of this practice it needs to be done for many days, so you can catch yourself on the days that you feel like your world is crashing down and realize that in reality there is always something you can be grateful for!
In addition, I feel that this mindfulness practice could easily be implemented into any classroom at any grade level. Thinking about things or a thing you are grateful for does not take a lot of preparation or time. You can do it in any environment (classroom, outside), you can give options of writing the grateful list in journals or simply just saying what you are grateful for out loud / to a partner OR just allowing them to think about it and having no pressure to share out loud. It has the same effect and teaches the same lesson of slowing down and realizing that there are so many things to be grateful for, even when it does not feel like it.
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/pile-of-books-159866/
Epic! Books is a website (and an app) that gives teachers, students and student’s parents access to millions of free books. There are all different types of genres, read alongs as well as audio books available! The books are also “labeled” with suggested age levels and reading levels which can help teachers, students and their parents choose the right books for them in an easy and quick way!
There are many different features throughout the website that can keep students engaged such as earning different kinds of badges throughout their reading journey on the website and giving them the chance to favourite the ones they like which allows easy access to them again later. Another great feature is that after every single book there is a small quiz which asks questions about the content in the story which I feel can help kids pay attention and fully engage in the book! (You are able to skip this option as well)
The benefits of integrating this website in your own classroom is endless, mainly, it allows students to have more variety in book options where they might not find something that interests them in the classroom or library, and it is a quick and easy way to locate some of their favourite books. Having students have full access to books that interest them is extremely important for their relationship with reading as well as it sparks creativity and curiosity.
Another great benefit for having access to this website as a teacher is the fact that you can track your students reading progress right from the website. For example it documents how long they read for, what books they have read and how many books they have read. This is an easy way to make sure your students are staying on track and that they are progressing throughout the year in their reading journey!
I feel that this website is a look into our future and I can already see the many benefits that can come from it!
Little side story…
I made this lovely two minute video visually showing and walking you through the in’s and out’s of getepic.com but as we all know technology can sometimes not work in our favour so I did not want to show you an unpolished video… so instead like you read above I just wrote about it. But here is a little screenshot of what the website looks like!
Screenshot of the tutorial I madeScreenshot I took of the website
Growing up in a generation where social media was becoming an everyday part of our lives, I learnt quite quickly the positive and negative sides to the internet World and the importance of Digital Citizenship. Having an older sister and very involved parents I was taught very important lessons about internet safety and the potential consequences that could happen. One major lesson I was taught is that nothing really gets “deleted” on the internet, what you say, or post is out there for the World to see, forever. I feel this lesson is extremely important for all ages, it can prevent serious consequences in the future, due to going against what digital citizenship stands for.
In my technology class we were introduced to a website called Common Sense Education and I extremely grateful for this introduction. This free resource has lessons and games to teach students about the internet World and digital citizenship and what it stands for! I will be using the free lessons provided in my future classroom to help me educate my students about digital citizenship and ways we can use the internet in a positive way. In addition, I will also be letting letting others I know so they can use this free resource in a way that benefits them.
