Miss Emma Robertson

"To teach is to touch a life forever"

Month: October 2022

Using Health Education to Teach Digital Citizenship in Early Elementary

October 27, 2022 / / 3 Comments

Looking through the Saskatchewan Health Education curriculum from grades one to three, I found no mention of the nine elements of digital citizenship. Therefore, one has to find their own connections now to teach digital citizenship in the classroom while meeting the necessary curriculum requirements. I have listed below a few different outcomes and indicators from the Saskatchewan Health Curriculums from grades one to three that teachers can use to discuss digital citizenship at a young age. It is important to begin these discussions at a young age as school age children are starting to use technology at younger ages than before. 

Grade 1: SK Grade One Curriculum PDF

USC1.1 Examine healthy behaviours and opportunities and begin to determine how these behaviours and opportunities may affect personal well-being.

c. Ask questions and seek answers about healthy/unhealthy behaviours and opportunities.

h. Discuss a variety of healthy behaviours over which one has control (e.g., brushing teeth, being active, engaging in quiet time, seeking shade).

DM1.1 Examine initial steps (i.e., Stop, Think, Do) for making basic choices regarding healthy behaviours; healthy brain, heart, and lungs; healthy relationships; pedestrian/street safety; and a healthy sense of self.

d. Recognize the importance of thinking before acting.\

This outcome and these indicators can be used to teach students about Digital Communication, Digital Etiquette, and Digital Security. Students can be taught how to talk to others online respectfully, as well as be taught that they have control over what they post. Since they have control over their posts, online behaviours should be discussed. Also, students should be taught to think before they post, and Stop, Think, Do is an excellent technique for teaching this. 

Grade 2: SK Grade Two Curriculum PDF

USC2.4 Examine social and personal meanings of “respect” and establish ways to show respect for self, persons, living things, possessions, and the environment. 

a. Develop a common understanding and use of respectful language to talk about “respect” (e.g., tone of voice, manners, behaviours).

j. Discuss and provide examples of treating others as one would like to be treated.

USC2.5 Recognize potential safety risks in community “play areas” and determine safe practices/behaviours to identify, assess, and reduce the risks. 

a. Develop a common understanding and use of respectful language to talk about “risks” (e.g., identify, assess, avoid, reduce, consequence).

d. Demonstrate healthy behaviours (e.g., taking turns, wearing a seatbelt, asking for help) that favour the safety of self and others.

e. Explore possible healthy risks (e.g., making new friends, trying new foods) and unhealthy risks (e.g., riding your bike without a helmet, playing in traffic areas, touching discarded needles, approaching stray animals).

f. Discuss how safety rules/guidelines are established to reduce risks

These outcomes and indicators can be used to discuss Digital Etiquette, Digital Security, Digital Rights and Responsibilities, and Digital Health and Wellness. Students need to discuss that they need to be respectful to everyone online without infringing on others’ rights and freedoms. Further, students need to discuss safety online and the potential risks of having an online presence; discussing this topic will better support the health and wellness of students in an online environment. 

Grade 3: SK Grade Three Curriculum PDF

USC3.5 Evaluate safe behaviours/practices to increase the safety of self and others while at home. 

c. Demonstrate ways (e.g., plan ahead; follow the safety rules; stop, look, and listen; ask a trusted adult) to identify and assess the risk of potentially dangerous situations. 

This outcome and indicator can be used to discuss Digital Security. Students need to discuss how to be safe online, as well as need to know what to do if they run into an uncomfortable or unsafe situation online. 

While these outcomes and indicators in grades one to three do not fully cover all nine elements of digital citizenship, they cover five of them. Using additional subjects in the Saskatchewan Curriculum may assist in teaching students about all nine elements. 

In addition to teaching students about the nine elements of digital citizenship, I will closely follow the nine elements myself as I need to be a role model as a teacher. Further, I will be utilizing the above outcomes and indicators in my future career as an early elementary teacher, making sure that students are aware of digital citizenship.

Picking Up a New Skill on the Ukulele

October 20, 2022 / / 1 Comment

This week, I moved on to something new – fingerpicking! While I still have lots to learn while strumming chords, I found myself hitting a rut where I was no longer motivated to learn the ukulele. By picking up something new, I feel more refreshed and ready to continue learning. For the rest of the semester, I will be alternating what I learn each week to try to prevent feeling bored and unmotivated. 

Holding the ukulele when fingerpicking is different from holding the ukulele while strumming. When strumming, you want your thumb to strum over the bottom of the fretboard. However, when fingerpicking, you definitely want to avoid coming close to the fretboard with the picking hand! When finger picking, one wants to pick over the sound hole. Also, it is important that one anchors their pinky on the base of the ukulele, down and below the sound hole. This will prevent the fingers from lifting too much, making it easier to fingerpick. 

This week I learned the Travis Pattern where you use your thumb to strum down on the top two strings, your index finger for the third string, and your middle finger for the bottom string. The pattern is Thumb (second string), Index (third string), Thumb (top string), and Middle (bottom string). 

Here is a video of me fingerpicking with no chords: Fingerpicking No Chords

Here is a video of me fingerpicking with chords: Fingerpicking with Chords

As you can see in the videos, I planted my pinky finger down and plucked over the sound hole.

To learn this week, I found a really good video! It is a bit on the longer side (around 18 minutes), so I was not really sure about it, but it flew by really fast. He explains concepts really well, so I followed along with the video easily. My one struggle was transitioning between chords while fingerpicking, but that was a struggle for me while strumming, too! It is something I will be able to practice throughout the coming weeks. Also, I will need to learn a few more chords. Overall, it was a great video that outlined that it is important to go slow when beginning, and continue to repeat until you understand! I would highly recommend using this video. It is the first in a series, so I will be using more videos from him in the future!

Feeling Safe and Secure on the Internet

October 20, 2022 / / 0 Comments

When I was in grade nine, my school brought a police officer into the classroom to discuss cyber bullying with us. During this discussion, scare tactics were used as we were told that we would likely be tried as adults if we were found guilty of cyber bullying. While this tactic seemed to be effective for my grade, and no one was reportedly cyber bullied, I do not think that this is the best method for teaching students about cyber safety. 

Aside from this, we did not receive much information about cyber safety. For instance, I do not remember being told to not put our personal information, like full names and ages, online. Most of the information that I received on this topic was from my parents, and this made me comfortable with coming to them when someone inappropriate or uncomfortable came up online. 

Due to the level of comfort that I felt approaching my parents when things were inappropriate online, I think that it is important for teachers to discuss the topic in schools. If they discuss the topic, children who do not receive information about cyber safety from their parents will still receive information. This could make students feel more comfortable about coming to their teacher for help. As teachers, we can help figure out next solutions, as well as call in the appropriate help for the student.

In schools, there are multiple times where cyber safety could be discussed. For example, cyber safety could be discussed during health or computer class, as well as during a schoolwide assembly. There are multiple online tools that can be shown in classrooms, like Be Internet Awesome. Be Internet Awesome is an interactive tool to help teach children about cyber safety and digital citizenship. There are resources for educators and families, as well as an interactive video game component for an engaging learning experience.

Screenshot from Be Internet Awesome website.

Screenshot from Be Internet Awesome website.

Screenshot from Be Internet Awesome website.

Screenshot from Be Internet Awesome website.

Not Great Timing!

October 13, 2022 / / 2 Comments

Welcome Back! ?

This week is the first week where I have struggled quite a bit with grasping a new concept. It was disheartening after progressing so quickly in other aspects, but that is just part of the learning process! I think it was important for me to experience some struggle and setbacks because some students in my future classroom might experience the same feelings of frustration and annoyance that I felt due to not being able to grasp the new concept quickly and easily. ?

My main focus this past week was looking into timing because I want to be able to have the right timing in future songs that I learn. While the article that I read this week says that one should learn chords of a song first and proper timing of a song second, I would now like to learn how to incorporate timing, so it is an easier process later for learning future songs.

Here is a link to the article that I read this week: How to Improve Your Rhythm and Timing

This article offers different ways and methods of trying to learn timing. It was very informative, and it provided lots of information. I appreciated that at the end there was a reminder that some people will pick up timing super quickly as a natural ability, while others will need to work extra hard and put in lots of effort to learn timing.

Lately, I have been working on song “Stand By Me” by Ben. E. King. The timing in this song is 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. For the song and timing, one plays down, pause, down, up, pause, up, down, up. While I am able to play this strum pattern, I have no understanding of how to connect this pattern with timing. Below I have linked a video of me playing the island strum pattern with no chords while trying to count in my head.

Attempting to Count Timing in my Head

I wish you all could read my thoughts while I tried to do this! I had numbers and the word “and” flying around and getting scrambled in my brain. I would be doing okay for a short amount of time, but then my mind would lose track of where I was! It is very tricky. Earlier in the week, I tried to tap my foot and play at the same time, but it felt like too much physical movement happening. I could not focus on tapping my foot and playing the ukulele at the same time.  Does anyone have any tips and tricks for learning timing on an instrument? ?

Other than timing, I practiced chords this week! While I did not learn any new ones, I improved my transition between F and G7 while playing “Stand By Me.”

Here is the link to me practicing switching between F and G7:

Transition Practice Between F and G7

Here is the link to me playing “Stand By Me” with a better transition between F and G7:

“Stand By Me” with a Good Transition Between F and G7

This part of the week was much more encouraging! Overall, this week was an important reminder that students are going to struggle with some aspects of learning a new skill, but they will thrive while learning other aspects.

Over the next week, I will continue practicing timing with the island strum pattern, and I will attempt to utilize a metronome again. Instead of matching the BPM with the song, I will use a slow BPM and work my way to playing the song faster! Further, I will keep using strategies from the article linked above! Additionally, I will learn some new chords!

Thanks for listening and reading! See you next week! ??

Just Keep Strumming! (Part 2)

October 6, 2022 / / 2 Comments

Welcome back!

I have started to progress on my chord work. Using the same four chords that I learned last week, I am now able to play the Island Strum Pattern while alternating chords. I find this strum pattern to be the most complex. 

Here is an audio recording of me playing this strum pattern while alternating chords:

I have also worked on using my middle finger while strumming upwards. By doing this, I eliminate that nail sound (from my thumb) heard while strumming upwards. 

Here is the same strum pattern and alternating chords as before, but I am using my middle finger to strum upwards in this audio recording: 

Do you recognize the song? 

It’s the beginning of Stand By Me by Ben E. King! I haven’t played the whole song all the way through yet, but it is just a continuing repetition of the audio recordings above. I learned this song from The Ukulele Teacher on Youtube.

Here is the video: 

 

First, he started with a demonstration of how the song should sound once it is learned. This provided a goal to work towards. Then, I really liked how he showed how to play the chords and the strumming pattern before he started to play. While I knew the chords and strumming pattern already from last week, it was a good refresher. This would also be an easy way for someone to learn the chords and strumming pattern if they hadn’t seen them before! Lastly, I enjoyed that the video was under five minutes long. I was able to quickly learn without losing interest. Overall, I found this YouTube video very straightforward and easy to understand! 

This week, I continued to notice that my timing needs improvement. In the two audio clips above, I am playing the same song at two different speeds. To improve my timing, I attempted to use a metronome. However, the metronome was not the most useful tool without fully understanding timing and how to utilize the tool.

Here is a link to the online metronome I used: https://www.imusic-school.com/en/tools/online-metronome/

I think that this metronome will be a good tool, and it is one that I will likely come back to once I understand more. 

Over the next week, I will try to learn more about timing from a few different websites. I will keep strumming along throughout the week to continue improving my transition between chords. The transition between F and G7 could use some work! If I have time, I’ll try to learn a few more chords this week, too!

Twitter

October 6, 2022 / / 2 Comments

This semester, I started a twitter account. 

Here is a link to it: https://twitter.com/EmmaLKRobertson

Screenshot by Emma Robertson

Until this semester, I had never used a Twitter account, nor did I have an interest in creating one. I did not see the benefits of Twitter, and I was sure that I would never use the site. Now, I can see the benefits of the site; however, I struggle to post on Twitter for two reasons. First, I find that I lack time to spend scrolling through Twitter to comment on others’ posts and post myself. Second, I do not know what to post! Going forward, I’ll need to set aside time each day for Twitter, as well as make a plan each week for what I want to post in the coming days. Also, I always forget to use #edtc300 in my posts!

Further, I have yet to partake in a Twitter chat, but I am excited for my first one! I have been busy on Thursday nights lately, but I have a few free ones coming up in the next few weeks, so I’ll have to check out a #saskedchat one of those nights! Are there any other Twitter chats that people have been partaking in? 

In my future classroom, I will use ideas and techniques that other educators have shared to use in my classroom. There are tons of helpful ones out there! So far, I have seen multiple different posts about feedback and kindness. I have quoted a few tweets about feedback and kindness that I have seen as I’ve scrolled! Here is a link to each post. 

Feedback: https://twitter.com/EmmaLKRobertson/status/1571025840456224771 

Kindness: https://twitter.com/EmmaLKRobertson/status/1575188562571821056 

For myself, I think Twitter will be a useful networking tool, so I can branch out and meet other educators from all over! There are so many wonderful educators and teacher accounts to follow that can help us motivate and learn from one another! Aside from simply finding resources, techniques, and ideas from other educators, Twitter is a platform where one can ask questions! It is very easy to tweet a quick inquiry, and other educators will comment with information and ideas they have!

I’m excited to keep learning and using Twitter, and I’m sure I’ll get better at posting as I go!

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