Alyssa Hildebrandt – Page 2 – Alyssa Hildebrandt

October 30, 2023

Shoot For The Stars…

Well… I might have shot for the stars and fell back onto Earth. You are probably wondering what I mean and what this has to do with me learning how to crochet. Let me explain…

I think I overestimated my ability to make a pumpkin. I was so confident about finally finishing a project that I thought I could do anything now. I got a pattern online, watched numerous videos, and spent many hours on this over the past two weeks, and I have nothing. This picture below is probably the best representation I have of my pumpkin-making process.

So, I was pretty discouraged because I thought my newfound skill would continue to progress, and after this week, I hit a halt. I think I might have overestimated myself, so now I am going to take on a smaller project with less complicated steps. I am going to make a coaster. I have yet to decide about the shape, whether it is going to be a circle or a square. I have been watching multiple videos and reading multiple articles. I just started crocheting randomly this week to remind myself of the steps and gain back confidence while doing this. I had been looking for tips to gain back confidence, and I have found some. However, if you have any tips to gain back confidence, I would appreciate them.

October 30, 2023

Lack of Cyber Safety

Digital citizenship and cyber safety were rarely addressed in elementary school and middle school. However, they were touched on a little more regularly in high school. Most of the time, when these topics were mentioned, teachers showed videos to try and scare students. Sometimes, in high school, we would have lectures about how what we put online can affect us in the future, for example, if an employer were to look at your social media. Videos such as the one below were shown in my high school;

Also it was shown in my school how technology can be used for good purposes… Like this example:

I do not think this was the most beneficial way to get anything across about digital citizenship and cyber safety. Personally; I know some of my classmates did not believe these videos. That something like this would never happen to them by oversharing on social media. I think some ways to teach these topics are videos. But I think having videos of real people who have gone through it would show students it can happen. I also think showing younger students light-hearted videos would help set a foundation, such as this one:

I also think having parents come into the classroom for teachers to discuss digital citizenship and cyber safety with and without their kids would enable students to listen more as both parents and the students are learning at the same time and could help parents reevaluate their digital footprint as well as what they are creating for their children. Starting with small tips for both parents and students, as well as including activities, I think would help educate both parties!

October 25, 2023

Finally A Finished Product!

So, it is finally here… A finished product of mine. It only took me like seven weeks, but hey, I did it. My potholder is not perfect, but it does the job of not burning the sides of my counter. I will have to make my mom one, so maybe she will become a little less mad at me.

Finished Pot Holder (green and multi-coloured pink)

There is definitely room for improvement, as some of the stitches did not turn out the nicest, and in the picture, you can see how, on the side where I joined the two pieces together, it is quite messy. However, I feel like if I were to make another (for my mom), it would be done nicer, and I might be able to finish this quicker. I think this took me about 14 HOURS! I know it’s pretty long for something so small. But I remind myself every day that I am learning. It took every once of me not to trash it as I am not overly proud of the look but I continued, and now I have my first finished product.

I now apologize in advance for how bad this video is. I thought this was the best way to record myself stitching this together. However, as you can see, I was wrong. I also do not know what happened with my video and why it is very small on the screen. If you know why it went like this, please let me know!

Now that I am gaining confidence, I am going to try and create a pumpkin. A little ambitious. However, I will see how it goes! I am going to try and have it done before Halloween or right afterwards!

October 24, 2023

Being A Mom vs. A Teacher With Social Media

I have had many thoughts on participatory culture, especially from different aspects of my life. As a mother, I have been very careful (or so I thought) regarding my son’s presence. I have a two-year-old toddler, and I love to take many pictures. I could write about him all day on any social media platform. But hearing how many toddlers have a social media presence or even babies while in their mother’s stomachs makes me realize I have not done the best job I can.

As a teacher, I can say I have not done anything to enable students to use social media and participate in the trends (only because I am not a teacher yet). But looking at Micheal Wesch’s Video I have come to realize just how far back participatory culture goes and how far it will continue to grow. Everyone just wanted to be a part of the new beginnings of social media, especially YouTube. Now, this has drastically changed to TikTok and the amount of likes on Instagram posts and amount of reposts on VSCO posts. I can say personally, when I post and do not get notifications right away from people liking my posts, I think, what did I do wrong?

I think in schools, we now need to be worried about if children are communicating more amongst social media rather than face to face. Children and students need to create relationships with their peers that they see every day. Having a good idea of how to communicate through social media is something we need to teach in schools and ensure students understand the effects of their digital citizenship. Such as what they post will follow them around for the rest of their lives and can hinder how someone sees them. But we also now need to teach children how to build and form relationships with the rest of the world face-to-face.

While reading Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022 I realized how involved certain teens and their families that have a higher income have more access to social media and these trends. Some students might not have access to laptops and phones, making certain assignments hard to complete. I think for these challenges, we need to be more inclusive as teachers with assignments and give students the ability to use computers at school and not send homework home as often. I think having access to these technologies is great, especially for assignments and research. However, I am scared of the long-term effects and how much the stats will grow with it being more accessible in classrooms. Students can get caught up in the negatives of social media and its growing popularity instead of their benefits. As mentioned before, I think it is incredibly important to educate students about social media and how “trending” things do not always get you to where you want to be in your life.

As a mom, I can say I will look more into the posts of my son, and I will also be (when he is older) having a long talk about his digital footprint and all the wonderful things the internet has to offer. But as well as how it can be harmful and when he knows that life isn’t about trending… It is about living… The same goes for my future students.

October 10, 2023

Mama Is Mad At Me!

FINALLY! I hit a breakthrough and decided with my finished pink rectangle, and I made a pot holder… well, half of it. So, I accidentally burnt the side of my mom’s counter (she was unhappy) with a pot when making food. So, I think a pot holder would be sufficient to have beside the stove at my apartment to make sure I do not damage the counters.

Here are some of the steps that I took pictures of this week:

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First Step
Third Step
Fourth Step
Second Step

Well, this week, I decided to try looking at pictures and small videos to help remind me of the steps, which I often forget when I start crocheting. It seems as though my mind goes blank, and I forget what I have learned, I think I am relying on YouTube videos too much to remind me of the steps. Maybe I need to practice more or just sit and struggle a little bit before running to something that is comfortable for me. So, instead of a full-blown video, I found this great article that has little snippets of videos and some pictures that helped jog my memory.

Now, to finish off this product, I have to stitch it together… Now, this will hopefully go smoothly (fingers crossed). Next week I will finally have my first finished product! After finishing this, I want to make a cute pumpkin. Since I have been seeing so many videos on TikTok for Halloween, I just have to try it.

You may be wondering why I used green with a variety of pink colours… Here are my reasons why:

I only had the green and pink yarn (as I did not want to buy so many yarns and not use them)
I thought of using the pink again but I got bored of the colour
Lastly, I was too lazy to go out and buy something that would match the pink.

October 3, 2023

Exploring New Things

This week I had a challenge, when it comes to new apps and tools, I really struggle. Trying iMovie was definitely a challenge, and I can say I do not know all that is to know about this tool.

To get into this thing… this is what iMovie looks like at the beginning:

Screencapture of iMovie starting point

You start by creating a movie, which takes you to all these different settings. You can upload photos and video clips, create transitions, add audio amongst many other things.

Showing the things you can add to iMovie

All the tools are up at the top of the page where you can select what you want to add next, which makes it easy for students to upload from their Macbooks. I will admit it took me awhile to be able to figure this out and put the backgrounds and music exactly where I wanted it but overall it isn’t a bad tool once you know what you are doing.

My learning project took a hit this week, as I still have not been able to figure out what to do with the straight line I have. However, I have been practicing and coutinuning to work on the skills I have now.

SAMR Model:

Subsitituion:

Using this in my classroom for subsitituion purposes, I would create videos for my students to watch on topics, at any point in the year. Instead of letting them watch a youtube video they can watch the iMovie that I have made.

Augmentation:

For using this for augmentation purposes, I would have my students create a video as a class with my help. We can begin to go through the steps and tools together for students to have a better understanding of the app. We can decide as a class what needs to go in the iMovie for a certain topic and incorparate everyones ideas.

Modification:

For the purposes of modification, students can create their own videos with peers or by themsleves giving them a chance to use the tool and create their own visual and audio study guide on a topic. They can have it for the whole semester, so when it comes close to a test it can help with their studying on the topic.

Redefiniton:

For the purposes of redefiniton, students will create their own videos by themselves or with peers and can gain feedback by uploading them into youtube (on teachers account) to gain more knowledge on the topic that we are discussing and share their knowledge around iMovie to the rest of the world.

September 25, 2023

Wasting Valuable Time

Within my day-to-day life, I frequently use my phone for only social media websites. I do not read the news on my phone; I only look at the news articles on Snapchat. For a while, I thought Snapchat often gave away fake news however, when I look certain details up, they seem to be right on the dot. My phone usage contains these social media platforms:

Snapchat + Snapchat news
Facebook
Tiktok
Instagram

None of my daily presence with technology contains anything to do with academia. I often schedule my weekly homework days and times to fit my schedule.

To stay organized, I do not use digital apps. I use Post-it notes all over my home. I have not looked into digital apps to help me stay organized, as I have never thought of using one. My home (mainly my bedroom) is filled with Post-it notes to help remind me of the things I need to get done for school.

Wall covered from top to bottom with post its neon colorful. Colorful Post It Notes with suggestions on the walls. Front View — Post-it notes everywhere…

For academic purposes, my favourite tool to use is Google Drive. It has everything you need, including docs, slides and more. I have used this tool for what feels like forever, and I have difficulty switching to new things on technology as it takes me a while to figure them out. Nonetheless, Google Drive has saved me from stress and has become an amazing tool for my school work for multiple reasons.

I currently do not have many boundaries to help balance my life with using technology personally and as a student. I would love for anyone to give me ideas, as sometimes I get consumed in social media, forget about school work and often race to finish my assignments. Please let me know how you create boundaries for this purpose and if you have any good organization tips besides post-it notes, as I am drowning!

September 25, 2023

Granny Squares

This week, I learned new tips and tools to continue my crocheting journey. Three major lessons were taught this week and have made me grow as an individual, not just in crocheting…

Never get too flustered while making a mistake.
Pay attention to the crocheting, which will help reduce the number of mistakes made.
Be proud of the skill that you are working on

I decided to try and make a granny square, which turned out more like a thicker line. At first, I was frustrated with all my mistakes and how they did not turn out how I wanted. But compared to last week, when I couldn’t even do a single line of crocheting, I am pretty proud of my progress.

Multi-colour pink crocheting square — Pink-coloured crocheting square

As complex as this may look with all the multiple colours, I can assure everyone that only one ball of yarn has these multiple colours in it. As you can see, it did not come out as a square, but I might see if I can make something with this thicker line of crocheting I have done.

It amuses me to think that I do not learn well by reading steps and looking at instructions. However, I thought I would give it a try anyway. This week, I read an article on beginner crocheting to try something new. I think that videos are my best friend so far in this process. Being able to watch someone go through the steps over and over again for me to do at the same time has helped me retain the knowledge.

This week, I aim to finish this thick piece of crocheting and make it into something if I can!

September 18, 2023

Crocheting 101

Hey everyone,

For my learning project, I decided to learn how to crochet. I know how to knit, and I learnt from my grandma back when I was ten years old. She tried to teach me how to crochet but I never caught on, so I thought this would be the perfect thing to try and learn again. Not going to lie it’s been hard and I find it very different from knitting.

As of right now, I have just started to try and make stitches and see how far I can go without messing up. I am trying to make it take less time to make basic things than it did with this bit of crocheting. My end goal is to make my son a blanket for Christmas as a present. I started with a long video that I think took me about two hours to get through as I kept messing up. Hopefully, I will have something worthwhile to show of my process of learning. As of right now, I have ten stitches made.

September 17, 2023

Being An Inadequate Technology User

Hello everyone!

My name is Alyssa Hildebrandt and I am halfway through my bachelor of education degree. I used to be a competitive gymnast and now I teach competitive gymnastics instead. I also work at a daycare and I have a two-year-old son. I have a million animals, one dog and four cats. My life can be chaotic sometimes, however, I love the ride and being challenged.

Onto the more interesting part of this blog, I am a terrible technology user. When something goes wrong with my phone or my laptop, I immediately shut it off and hope someone can fix it for me. I have never had a blog and do not really know how to adequately create this blog. I am not going to lie, I have spent almost five hours this week trying to figure out this site. Back in ECS 101, I had created this, which I forgot about and when I tried to add new menus, I ended up deleting everything on my site and could not get it back. When it comes to technology and blogging I am confused beyond expectation but I am trying my best and looking forward to learning more about these two topics in this class. I find it incredibly fascinating that so many people blog nowadays. I did not realize how many people blog daily when I could barely set one up.

Happy Blogging everyone!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels