Aspiring education student

Author: Lily Jacobs (Page 1 of 2)

Bunny Fashion Pt 2

For this week, I wasn’t too sure how I wanted to approach making a pattern. I realized that in order to continue learning how to make patterns. I needed to see where my skills were at. So this week, I decided to freestyle a little Santa jacket for my bunny.

 

Although I did not use any resources so this is just a small update post, but this week I realized that I need to keep developing my skills so that I can make patterns. I am happy with the jacket, I think it turned out super cute (not to toot my own horn), but the way that it fits on the bunny is a bit funny, so I need to learn how to size different projects. This means that I need to learn different ways to attach pieces, as well as how to increase and decrease rounds correctly. Overall, I need to keep learning more crocheting skills, so that I have different methods for a variety of projects.

Here is the bunny all dressed up, I have decided to name him Blizz like Blizzard, because he’s now a white Christmas bunny!

Blizz the bunny!!!

Developing the “norms” of Technology

Talking about technology in education is a difficult topic because of everyone’s personal relationship with technology. Some may deny being addicted to their phones, deny that phones are a distraction, and many deny that technology can be extremely harmful. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with everyone having their own opinions of technology, but problems can arise when we discuss education and technology. Technology in the classroom can be a very controversial topic, as said, many people, families, students, and teachers, have staggering opinions on what technology in classrooms looks like. As educators, they need to incorporate technology into the classroom in a respectful and appropriate way. Technology is unavoidable, we all know that; what most don’t know is how to approach digital citizenship.

As an student in education, I believe that technology needs to be appropriately incorporated and taught in school. This is because many have varying opinions and knowledge about technology, meaning that parents of students will also have varying opinions and knowledge. This means that schools need to step up and educate students about digital citizenship.

As an aspiring educator, I would approach digital citizenship in the classroom at a young age. Now this doesn’t mean that I’m going to tell a classroom of kindergarteners that there’s scary people on the internet who want to hurt them. I believe that digital citizenship needs to be taught over time, because there are so many layers to it.

Reviewing the nine elements of digital citizenship, all of the elements are important, so it can be difficult on where to start. For young students, I would start introducing digital citizenship with the elements: Digital Security and Privacy, Digital Etiquette and Digital Fluency. Although all of the elements are important, I believe that these elements are especially important because they provide a fundamental view of digital citizenship. Think about it, when you are showing someone something new, you always warn them of what could happen and how to be safe. This is where digital security and privacy is important. Students need to be able to keep themself safe online, that is the number one priority. Then there is the digital etiquette element, which is also important and can be helpful in a non technological atmosphere. Digital etiquette “has to do with the process of thinking about others when using digital devices“. The main idea is thinking about others when using digital devices, which is extremely important to teach, as what happens on the internet, affects people off the internet. Digital Fluency is about understand technology and it’s various uses, students need to know how technology can be used in an academic environment, but especially how technology can be used everywhere. They need to learn how technology is (believe it or not) not everything! The elements can be taught using fun engaging activities, although the activities can be fun, being serious about the topics is extremely important as students may not obtain the concepts of digital citizenship because they think it’s not serious.

Example of an activity for digital citizenship, retrieved from Lessons by Sandy

I believe that students should be taught digital citizenship over time as they grow into using technology. It’s important to remember the first element: Digital Access, when incorporating technology into the classroom. Many students may not have access to digital devices at home and educators need to remember this when teaching about digital citizenship.

Digital citizenship is a tough concept to incorporate and teach, but I believe that if students are taught the elements from a young age over time, then more students can become good digital citizens.

Bunny Fashion

So for this week I knew I wanted to try making my own pattern, something a little simple and not too crazy. I was showing my roommates my last project. I showed her how the scarf and hat come off and she had the great idea for me to make clothes for the bunny. So this week I made overalls!

Below is my pattern that I made

 

Pant leg X2

R1: Chain 15

R2: sc back into the first chain and sc 14 (15)

R3: (sc 2, inc) x5 (20)

R4: sc 20 (20)

Fasten off the first leg and repeat for the second but do not fasten off

Overalls

R1: sc into the first stitch of the first pant leg, sc 19 in first leg, 21 in the second (40)

R2: sc 40 (40)

R3: (sc 9, dec, sc 7, dec) x2 (36)

R4: sc 17, then chain 2 and skip two stitches, sc 17 (36)

R5: (sc 4, dec) x2, sc 3, dec, sc 5, dec, (sc 4, dec) x2 (30)

R6: (sc 3, dec) x6 (24)

R7: sc 4, (chain 1, then turn and sc 6) x3 

Fasten off. 

Strap

Slip stitch into the top corner and chain 6, slipstitch and tie off to the other side. Repeat for the other strap

For the overalls, I used the bunny pattern to see the size that the overalls needed to be, as they needed to fit over the bunny. I did this by constantly looking back at the pattern to see how many stitches I should have, and used the bunny to make sure everything was fitting. For example, when I was planning on how to make the legs, I made them similar to how the bunny’s legs were made. I made two separate legs and then connected them together to make them on piece.

After every round, I kept putting the overalls back on the bunny to make sure everything was looking good. I kept referring back to the original pattern while making my own pattern. I did have a few issues, I made a few mistakes when writing down my pattern and had to take out multiple rounds to make sure everything was okay.

There were a few things I had to improvise, as I was making them I forgot about the bunny’s tail, and I had to make a hole. There was a very easy solution, I again used the techniques from the original pattern and easily made a hole for the tail.

The process of making the pattern was extremely tedious, especially having to take the overalls on and off the bunny after every round, but I think the overalls turned out amazing! In my future projects I want to use new resources for new clothes for the bunny where I can not use the original bunny pattern, further challenging myself. If anyone has any suggestions for what clothes I can make for this guy then please leave a comment!

The Finished Overalls!!!

The New Robot World

Technology has changed communication as a whole. The world’s culture is constantly changing, some are minor, some are major; technology has had a major change in our world’s culture. The way we communicate, participate, and share, has changed on a global level. I believe that the major change in technology isn’t how we communicate and participate, but how we view others. The way we communicate with others is based on our perspective of them, and technology has majorly changed that. For example, in Michael Wesch’s Youtube video An anthropological approach to YouTube, the video of Gary Browsma dancing demonstrates this idea. Wesch talks about how the video creates a new way of participation, which is true but before others participate, they see the video. Viewers see a new perspective of a man they do not know, who is loving the song and dancing in his own home, his own space. This is a new perspective of the man, a fun perspective. Viewers then associate the dancing and song with joy, then they feel the need to participate to have fun and feel the same joy of Gary Browsma in the video.

Although Wesch’s Youtube video is from sixteen years ago, the same still applies today, sixteen years later. Influencers, celebrities, and even just regular, run of the mill people, only post what they want you to see. Everything on social media is filtered by the one who posts the content, there are few flaws because they don’t let you see them. Which arises a different problem of expectations on people, which will and is affecting classrooms.

There is a new culture of participation, because people can participate from home, or in a comfortable environment where they can filter what others can see. In a classroom, this does not apply. Unfortunate as it is, not all students are comfortable in their classrooms, as such they don’t want to be viewed or participate. In my future classroom, technology would need to be used in a participating and productive way. Technology can be distracting in the classroom, there needs to be a balance of how much technology we are using. Which is much easier said than done obviously, but eventually technology will be banned because of how distracting it can be. Which has already happened! Students can no longer bring their phones into the classroom because of how distracting it is.

School needs to be reexamined as our culture is changing, school needs to change with society for it to be effective. Priorities in the world have changed, but priorities in school have not. Which to me, doesn’t make any sense, how can we be educating the next generation for a society that doesn’t exist anymore. Technology can be harmful, distracting, and catastrophic or it could be educating, helpful, and safe. We need to implement technology into the curriculum and into school. Technology has become a regular part of everyone’s everyday life, it is unavoidable.

Instead of trying to turn away technology and accept it. We need to accept that children are going to have their phones, they are going to get distracted no matter what, if there is technology or not. We need to keep moving forward instead of trying to stay in the past.

A Little Bunny

For this week, I decided to challenge myself with a larger project, but slightly altering the pattern. I used Pinterest to find a free PDF pattern and found a link to a crochet website called Apron Basket. Apron Basket is a platform where crocheters can upload their patterns for others to use for free.  The pattern I found, was a cute winter bunny plushie.

The creator of the pattern, Bella Hardwyn, created an amazing pattern. The pattern was very clear and well-written. She explained each extra step and gave pointers for what to do if you are struggling which was very helpful. Each piece was laid out and clear, and there were a few reference photos to show what the piece should look like when finished.

Here are a few screenshots of the pattern, you can see how the pattern is organized so it is clear what part you’re working on, as well as examples of what the pieces should look like.

There are many patterns where you need to sew on the pieces, like the arms for example. In this pattern, the arms were crocheted into the body making it seamless and easy to follow instead of making the entire body and then trying to attach the arms. This method is useful and I am going to keep it in mind for future projects.

Since I decided to alter the pattern that I used this week, I chose to alter the hat. For my project, I extended the hat so that it would be a Santa hat instead. I did this by using the original pattern, but including an extra round in between each step to extend it. This worked out extremely well and I am very happy with the result.

In my future projects, I want to use various platforms for inspiration for projects instead of using patterns. My next few projects may not be as pretty, but I will keep working towards creating my own patterns that are as cute as this bunny.

If anyone has any suggestions for projects, please leave a comment!!!

Visme and The SAMR Model

For this week’s assignment, we were required to choose a new tool to display our progress in our learning project. I decided to use Visme; an online platform that allows you to make an animated video. Visme is similar to PowerPoint and Canva, where you can edit multiple pages with animations and music to make a video. I believe Visme is a useful tool for the classroom and students.

There is a premium version of Visme, but you absolutely do not need to buy it. The only downside is that you cannot download the animated video to your device, but you can share it as a link. Visme can be used to have animated pictures, similar to Canva, or you can make an animated video with music. The best part of Visme is that you can choose a template for your project. After choosing a template, you can start playing with the controls.

Visme when working on a project

First, you want to edit each page, and have every piece on the page. This is easy to do as you can group elements on the page, and hide them from view so it is easier to work.  There are hundreds of elements and shapes to choose from on the left side tab; you can add your own images as well as Visme’s images and shapes. After having all of your elements laid out on your page, you want to draw your attention to the timeline at the bottom. The timeline is where you can animate the elements, organize when each element will be on the page, and edit the music.

The Timeline and Animation Options

There are several animations to choose from, each element can have it’s own animation. The timeline is also where you can troubleshoot and view your video as your making it. I highly recommend doing this as you will most likely have to move your elements around while working on the timeline, so troubleshooting and re-checking as you go is a must. For the audio, you could add a song, or even a voice recording if it is a presentation.

I believe that Visme can be very useful in the classroom. Students can use Visme for projects and presentations, while educators can use it for fun lessons. On the SAMR Model, I think Visme would fall under the Augmentation and Modification category.

For students, Visme can be an excellent tool for presentations when the student is absent. If the student uses their own recorded voice for the audio, the student would not need to be there for presentations. Although it is very important for students to learn public speaking through in-class presentations, Visme can be used as a tool so that there does not have to be presentation class time. Instead, the time can be used for other classes.

For educators, Visme can be used when they will not be present. They can use their own audio to teach lessons without them being there, while making the presentation fun and exciting for students. For educators, Visme would fall under the Augmentation category of the SAMR Model because content made in Visme can be shared between educators as well.

Visme does have a few downsides, as a PowerPoint presentation does not take as long as a Visme presentation. If it is a longer presentation, it would be beneficial to use the easier and simpler platform. As well as for younger students, Visme may be too lengthy and complicated of a platform to use, but could be very beneficial to secondary students.

In conclusion, I enjoyed using Visme to document my progress in my learning project. Although it was a very lengthy process to learn how to use the platform. Below is my Visme link to my learning project documentation.

My Learning Project through Visme

A Big Yarn Sprout

For this week, I decided on a much larger project. I decided to use only a PDF pattern for my instructions. I used Pinterest to look at ideas for my weekly project. I decided to make something Fall—and Halloween-themed, so I found a free pattern for a cute pumpkin!

PDF Pattern of a super duper cute pumpkin pillow.

As I started this project, I realized it was much larger and would take longer than a week, so although I didn’t finish, I am excited to share. I wanted to learn how to only follow the pattern with all of the abbreviations.  The PDF I found did have a table showing all of the abbreviations which was very helpful.  My pumpkin project ended up not being finished, I am about 3/4 of the way through the project.

Almost Finished Pumpkin!!!

So here I have the main pumpkin, it has not been stuffed yet and I am a little disappointed because I followed the pattern exactly and I do not see the same curves and bumps as in the reference photos. I may have made a mistake going through the pattern but, the look of the pumpkin could change when I stuff and close it. I still have to finish the top of the pumpkin as well as the sprout, but I will post the completed pumpkin on my next learning project post!

I am very happy with the progress I am making. I want to start making Christmas presents soon, so get ready to see a lot of different creations!

A New Bloom

So this was my second week of crocheting, and I wanted my first project to be cute and fun that could catch me up on the basics. So I went on YouTube and found a video on making a simple flower.

I had never made a flower prior to this one so I was a little nervous but, as soon as I started I got into the flow of it. The creator of the video Crochet Pink Pumpkin made the video very easy to understand and she went through every single stitch explaining what to do. Other than a gaining a refresher of crocheting from this video, my new skill this week was learning how to make the petals. My flower does not look exactly the same as hers, as she used a fluffier yarn than I did.

After making the flower, I wanted to add a stem because I wanted to make the flower a little decoration for my dorm. So I went on TikTok to look for some ideas, which I have never used for crocheting before. I found a video where a girl was making tulips with fluffy yarn. I loved the look of the stem so I decided to wing it and see what I could do.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMhr7PU7b/

Above is the link to the TikTok I watched.

So I ended up creating a small bulky stem and used the same technique for the petals as leaves on the stem. The flower turned out absolutely amazing and I was so happy with it that I made more and gave them little loops so I could hang them in the common space of the dorm!

The first flower I made!!

I am super excited for my next project and if anyone could give me any ideas that would be great!

 

 

My Everyday with Technology

In today’s world technology is everything. If you need groceries, to talk to a friend, to check your email, or to pay your bills, it is all on your phone. Technology has a major impact on my daily life, my screen time is about 9-11 hours daily, which is only for my phone. My most used apps are TikTok, Snapchat, Spotify, Netflix, and Instagram. None of my most used apps are for academics but purely for leisure and social interaction. I am always listening to music, whether I’m studying, walking to class, or simply taking time to myself, there is always music playing. I love to use Notion on my phone and laptop to organize my class schedule and assignments. The app lets me customize the appearance and check off my academic tasks. I use Google apps every single day, the main two I use are Gmail and Google Docs. I am mainly in math classes, so I frequently use YouTube to help with certain theorems or concepts that I do not fully understand.

My phone is a terrible distraction for me while trying to study and do assignments.  What I try to do is set a timer using my clock app so I can tell myself to not look at my phone for an hour while I study. Sometimes I will even put my phone in another room so that I don’t see my phone light up with notifications, because who isn’t going to grab their phone when it lights up sitting beside them? I would love to say that my ratio between personal leisure and academics with technology is good but realistically, I spend much more time procrastinating with technology. TikTok can take me down a rabbit hole of endless scrolling, I have spent hours just relaxing and scrolling through videos. My phone and TV are distractions even to start studying, I will be watching a show and say oh just one more episode, and then it’s been two hours and I still haven’t even started doing any school work. To counteract this, I have been trying to do schoolwork first instead of relaxing first. I will put my phone on Do Not Disturb, put it in another room entirely, or as said above, set a timer for myself to focus.

I can admit that I am addicted to my phone and use it much MUCH more than I should for personal enjoyment. Scrolling on TikTok is much more appealing than sitting down and studying for calculus and it’s hard to get myself to stop and do the work. For me personally, I am in a long-distance relationship, so my day starts and ends with being on my phone. This also makes it harder to use technology less as it is my only way of communicating with my boyfriend. The important thing to remember about technology is that yes, everything important in our lives is connected to technology, but it is important to find a balance where we can stay in the moment and live our lives not constantly plugged in to the internet. Which is obviously much harder said than done.

Beginning of my learning project

For my learning project, I have chosen to learn how to crochet. During lockdown in 2020, I tried learning how to crochet but ultimately became uninterested. I remember many of the basics, so my main focus will be learning to follow patterns, learn new stitches, and eventually make patterns and creations on my own. Right now, I want to focus on making decorations for my dorm and stuffed animals, which can make great Christmas presents at the end of the semester.

At first, I want to use YouTube videos to make a project every week, that way I can pause the video, work at my own pace, and see how every stitch and step is done as a refresher. YouTube videos can also easily teach me how to do new stitches for various projects.

Above is a free YouTube video that shows step-by-step how to make a crochet cow.

Once I am more comfortable with the basics and stitches, I will use Pinterest. Pinterest has an abundance of pins that will lead me to different websites where creators have free PDF patterns. This way I can use Pinterest as my main source for patterns. Most Pinterest patterns will not have videos so I can challenge myself to learn how to read the patterns and abbreviations for stitches on my own.

I also recently downloaded an app called Ribblr, it’s a platform where creators can sell their creations and post their patterns for free. If I need any extra aid, I can also use Ribblr to talk with any creators about making my own patterns.

Pinterest

Ribblr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am very excited to start this learning project and make lots of cute creations!

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