Reflective Blog Post Week 5

Hi Everyone,

I'm going to take the time today to discuss all of these amazing technology resources that we discussed in class. Now that the we're getting more involved in our teaching placements, I feel it is important to share some of these amazing resources that we are learning about.

Katic, K. October 9 2015. Emaze.com.

The first resource that I feel is worth sharing is called emaze. Emaze is an online tool that anyone can use to create amazing presentations. If anyone has ever used PowerPoint or Prezi, I feel that it is a happy middle ground between the two resources. Emaze allows the user to create engaging, 3D presentations; there are pre-formatted slides, the ability for GIF art to be added to the presentations, and the beauty of 3D slides. The website also provides an embed code that allows the user to paste this on their webpages, such as blogs.

Another interesting resource is Paper.Li. This online tool allows Twitter users to turn their Twitter links into a newspaper-style format page. This allows the user to provide their students with daily newspaper articles tailored to the classroom, student's or school's passions and interests.

Another resource is available on Coggle: Coggle allows users to create mind maps while the ideas are displayed in a clear, visually appealing way. Coggle is similar to the mind map tool Popplet, however, Coggle creates a mind map consisting of tree-like branches, while Popplet is more of a web format. Both of these resources are super easy to use and visually appealing. I posted an example of a map I created using Coggle on My Learning Object Page on this blog.

Additionally, I believe that it is important to mention Kahoot and Plickers. These resources are great and I can really see myself using them in the classroom. Kahoot is an online resource that anyone can use to create fun, interactive, competitive quizzes. The user can allocate teams, and whichever group answers the questions the quickest and with the correct answer wins at the end of the quiz. Plickers is an online resource similar to Kahoot, but it is anonymous. Square shapes are printed off on regular paper, and the user goes online to enter in multiple choice quiz information. Then, they instruct their users to hold up the cards in the orientation they believe is the answer to the question. For example, if the question is 'What is your favourite season?', the user would hold up side C if their favourite season is fall. The person conducting the quiz then uses their smart device to scan the cards held up by the audience to gather data anonymously.

Katic, K©. October 8 2015. Grade 8 Work, 1.

Katic, K©. October 8 2015. Grade 8 Work, 2.

However, I will add in that while there are so many technological resources out there to bring fun, interactive, dynamic activities into the classroom, sometimes old school methods are equally as engaging. To the right I have included two images from my placement classroom. Two of my grade 8 classes have their language projects displayed in their classroom. The task assigned was to read a relevant short story and extract important symbolic messages and principles. The class was then divided into two groups, meaning that they would have to work collaboratively on their posters, ~15 students per poster.

As you can see, these posters turned out amazing! They are massive pieces of art with so much symbolic and significant meaning incorporated within them, yet they were created with peer collaboration and old school paper and writing instruments. So while I do argue that technology within the classroom is an amazing resource, old school methods are equally as important, and I believe it is the responsibility of the educator to use their discretion on what method should be used and when. The outcomes will be amazing and extremely beneficial for everyone involved.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone!

Reference
Emaze. (2015). Emaze Home Page. Screenshot. Retrieved from <https://www.emaze.com/> 

Reflective Blog Post Week 4

Chan, W.M. © Oct. 2 2015. Photo.

Hi Everyone!

I went out exploring today to try to find some trails that I can incorporate into my Genius Hour project. For me personally, the biggest challenge can be to stay motivated to workout or run when life is so busy! It is around this time of year that I start to go stir-crazy, with the weather getting cooler, keeping inside the house and constantly working. This was a necessary study break as well as a fun exploration to see if these trails will work to be incorporated into my Genius Hour Question. The simple answer is yes!

*Just as a reminder I am exploring how I can create a step-by-step program that motivates people of all fitness levels to improve their running mile, and then incorporate it within their own workout routine.*

Chan, W.M. © Oct. 2 2015. Photo.

For me, I am very much an outdoors person, I love being surrounded by nature, and simply being outside motivates me to run. These trails are no exception; they are within the Dundas Valley Conservation area, and while they are very challenging trails to run, the fresh air is amazing and the scenery keeps you going to see what is around the next corner. I was not prepared to run these trails today, simply because I have laryngitis, however when I am healthy again they will be awesome to try to conquer! My next steps will include discovering more local trails as motivation for fellow readers to get out into their local environment to find trails to run, and further researching and documenting the subquestions I have within my main Genius Hour Question. For more information on my Genius Hour Project, feel free to read my Week 2 Reflection Blog Post listed below! With the cool weather quickly approaching, stay warm and healthy everyone!

Reflective Blog Post Week 3

Hi Everyone!

In this post, I'm going to be reflecting on an interesting TED Talks video about the child-driven education because I believe it is an important, relevant topic that educators need to take a greater look at.

In this inspirational TED Talks video, scientist Sugata Mitra takes an in depth look at the Child-Driven Education. Through independent primary research, he has determined that children will learn to do what they want to learn to do, that if they have interest in a subject then education happens. Further, he determines that group collaboration helps solidify ideas and further down the line, it aids in effective recollection.

I believe this is an important video for audiences young and old to view as it teaches a valuable lesson: children are fully capable of learning any subject they wish, regardless of the intensity. All that matters is that they are engaged with the material and that they are truly willing to learn about it. For older audiences, it is important to take away that young learners are capable of learning whatever they are interested in, and they deserve more credit for being effective learners.

As an emerging educator myself, this is extremely important to keep in mind because I will need to adopt effective techniques within my own classroom to engage my students and promote a higher level of learning.

Genius Hour Topic

Hi everyone,

I'm briefly going to share with you my Genius Hour topic I have selected for my project, explain my goals for this project, my associated experiences with this topic so far and my next steps.

My Genius Hour Question is as follows: How can I create an easy to follow, step-by-step program that motivates people of all fitness levels to improve their running mile and incorporate it within their own workout routine?

Ultimately, my main goal for this project is to be able to share my knowledge of fitness with others, and how anyone can perform any challenging physical activity if they are determined, motivated and have the support necessary to do that task. I am a very physically active person, and I have many years of experience in regarding to training the body. I am a firm believer that if someone can train their body to be strong, healthy and in peak-physical condition, then they can do the same with their mind. I have a personal connection to pushing my body to the absolute limits, as I believe that while you have the opportunity to, you have to take advantage of it. I have two disabled grandparents and witness them struggle with mobility and diet restrictions and limitations; they are one of my motivators to push my body and my mind to the limits while I still can.

Within this Genius Hour topic, these are some areas and the next steps that I will be considering when researching this topic are:

• Effective and efficient technique for the exercise in question
• How this contributes to overall health and well-being
• Diet and how this affects performance
• Stretches for flexibility and mobility
• Proper technique and how to deal with injuries
• Core strength for stability: associated core exercises
• Tips for getting motivated to go to the gym
• Are there associated accessibility issues?

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to post them in the comments section below! I am really looking forward to this project and motivating others to achieve their fitness goals!

Why Copyright Matters

Hi Everyone!

Today I will briefly discussing what Copyright is and why it really matters in a society that is rapidly becoming more technologically inclined.

In short, whenever you create your own intellectual material, whether that be a piece of art, a

Katic, K. © (2015). Cottage Sunrise. (Photograph)

movie, a story, or anything of the like, you automatically own the rights for that piece of material; this is called Copyright, and it protects your own material from anything that you do not consent to (Creative Commons, 2006). For example, the photo I have provided on the right is my own that I took with my camera. The rights for this image to be used are strictly my own, and if anyone should want to use it for a future project, they need to obtain my consent in order to do so. However, there are different types of Copyright that you can select for your intellectual or creative property, whereby the Copyright states "Some Rights Reserved" as opposed to "All Rights Reserved", and you can stipulate the manner in which you allow your property to be used by the public. Websites such as Creative Commons are great tools to use for this purpose.

The crucial lesson of Copyright is very important to teach students. Teachers are absolutely a huge influence in setting a positive example to their students, and teaching them morals.Within and outside the school environment, students are encouraged to explore their creativity, the importance of original thinking, and especially the consequences of plagiarism. As a teacher, it is important to emphasize to students that their own work belongs to them, and if they decide to use anyone else's material, they must ask for permission and give that person recognition, otherwise it is stealing and morally incorrect.

San Jose Library. (2008, August 23). Children Using
The Computer. (Online Image). http://bit.ly/1XNtgrJ

Pixabay. (2014, March 14). "Children, Win, Success,
Video Game". (Online Image). http://bit.ly/1MrDNoU

Above, I have included two images that illustrate children using computers. The image on the left I obtained through the Flickr Website, and the image on the right I obtained through the Google Images search engine. Both images have Copyright associated with them, however, it is stipulated that there are "Some Rights Reserved". As such, as long as the proper credit is given to the source I retrieved them from, I am allowed to use these images in my blog.

Katic, K. © (2015). Obtaining Copyright Permission
Image Selection (Screenshot).

The purpose of this demonstration is to show students that there are accredited websites that have the Copyright explicitly stated, and any image in that website is acceptable to use as long as proper credit is given. There are also others ways to obtain images with Copyright permission. For example, the image to the right demonstrates how to search for images in Google that have Copyright access associated with them. This tool is great to show students as it teaches them the value of giving credit to another person's work as well as teaching them the value of their own creative and intellectual material. As a student teacher, I am hoping to instill these values in my own students one day as I believe this truly matters in a society that is rapidly becoming more technologically inclined.

References 
Creative Commons. (2006). Wanna Work Together? (Video). Retrieved from <http://creativecommons.org/videos/wanna-work-together>

Katic, K. (2015). Cottage Sunrise. (Photograph). Retrieved from Personal Files. 

Katic, K. (2015). Obtaining Copyright Permission Image Selection (Screenshot). Retrieved through Personal Research. 

Pixabay. (March 14 2014). "Children, Win, Success, Video Game". StartupStockPhotos Collection. (Online Image). 
Retrieved from <https://pixabay.com/en/children-win-success-video-game-593313/> 

San Jose Library. (August 23 2008). Children Using The Computer. Branch Willow Glen. (Online Image). Retrieved from <https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjoselibrary/2839835109/in/photolist-5jWU3i-5guc28-6VvuFx-4TyqWE-6wo5vG-5guaYp-5gywLA-4m5ojv-5gywcb-7LRPcs-e3Zz1-99EyQN-duvjjF-99FWTY-99CQgX-pyrM81-kpwdE-4m9qPy-5bwe6M-4DEf6B-5jXeU6-wH4BPL-ehBnRE-9es4mr-5JUU5s-q3K1zE-99XWwh-99DbaH-99CMGB-4cPmgA-62Y6XP-8XHKbe-4xBfB5-qpA85n-dkYFci-4E2zcQ-4unjj-99DNn5-99GKB5-5ugLFE-hT9xeh-6wnx18-f7Nth-2RYxn-9k5FFA-8GmvbX-4Xtgen-9ayqsd-7Cj5Uu-bqVQtj> 

Task 1 September 11 2015

Hi everyone, welcome to my first Education Blog post!

I am a student teacher who is willing to learn everything I can about, well, becoming a great teacher! As part of a class requirement, we have to start a blog, so here we go, my first Education Blog! As a general introduction, below I discuss a few of my passions in life along with some useful links to hopefully help others if they are interested. Secondly, as part of a class assignment, I will be describing what Genius Hour is and how important it is to include this in the classroom.

Generally, I am a very passionate person who loves life! I love learning everyday, and I believe in order to have a strong, healthy and productive mind, you must have a strong and healthy body; this is why I passionate about personal health and fitness. FitnessRX for Women and Oxygen Women's Fitness magazines are my go-to places for developing effective workouts, accessing healthy recipes, and getting motivated for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
I am also very much involved in Hot Yoga; it helps to calm the mind, especially for those of us who have stress and anxiety, and helps to build inner and outer strength. While there are so many great yoga studios around, my favourites are the Moksha Yoga Studios; the instructors are always friendly and knowledgeable, the studios are warm and friendly, and the yoga practice itself is awesome! Plus they are easily accessible as there are over 50 studios nation wide and various international programs. Also, if you're interested, check out Kino MacGregor's website; she is an inspirational, renowned yogi and I aspire to accomplish some of her signature moves...one day!
Along with these passions, I am generally very physically active, am an avid cook and baker (see Pinterest for thousands of ideas!), and I love participating in sports such as waterskiing and wake-surfing (yes, actual surfing is on my list of things to do!). Most importantly, however, my real passion lies within helping others, and my new teaching career is something that I am very excited about.

Now that there is a bit of a background about who I am, I will go on explaining what Genius Hour is, as I believe it is a new, important aspect of the education system.

The YouTube Clip titled What is Genius Hour? is a great introduction to the topic.

In short, Genius Hour is a classroom based activity that allows students an allocated amount of time during the school day to express their creativity and passion about a topic they choose. The only guidelines are that the student must be able to communicate the topic they want to pursue, they must do research on the topic, and finally it must be shared with everyone they can think of. That's it! An easy and fun educational tool that allows students to be creative and soar while gaining a great education! When students love what they are learning about, they become more passionate about the topic and want to continue learning about it, as with any passion in life. Too often are people mindlessly going to a job day to day that pays the bills; the goal of Genius Hour is to inspire the new generation of students to do what they are passionate about, and the bills will get paid in the end. As the famous quote says, "Do what you love; love what you do". This is my philosophy on life, and I hope to one day inspire my students to love what they do and love life.