An update on my “learn to sew” project: Spoiler alert, we haven’t gotten to the sewing. Yet. I do have some exciting (well, at least to me) progress to share though! To start off, I searched the internet high and low, manual by my side, and found these videos/people to be the most helpful in my first task, which was threading the machine. First, I found this video by MrEdSnapshot on YouTube. It was one of the only ones I…
This is a tough one for me. I’ll start off by saying that I am not an active Twitter user; in fact, I had to fire up my account from the ashes, which was untouched and unused, since my last Ed. Tech. class. I suppose my greatest challenge with this platform is that it is simply not an integral or routine part of my role as an educator. That being said, I know there is value in actively using Twitter…
For my social media platform exploration choice, I chose TikTok. As someone who regularly uses Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, I figured this was the logical choice. It’s the one app in this category that I feel just “makes sense” for me to check out, plus it’s definitely the app of choice among my grade 7 students. Becoming familiar with a culture they are immersed in can’t hurt in building relationships and connections! The first step was creating an account. I…
Welp, I did it. I completed step one of my learning plan. That is, I retrieved the sewing machine from its home in the corner of the closet. And then, I took it one step further – I took the machine out of the box. That’s enough for one day. But seriously, just doing this helped me to solidify a better plan. Because until I opened the box, I really had no idea what I was working with. So, here…
Years ago, when my grandma’s hands got too arthritic for her to be able to use her sewing machine anymore, she asked me if I wanted it. I think she asked me because I had already dabbled in some of her other hobbies (crochet and baking) and she figured that maybe I would take up sewing too. Unfortunately, her sewing machine is sitting in a box in my basement, the same place I put it when I brought it home…
What is my relationship with social media? Well, if I am about to define my relationship with it, I should probably solidify my personal definition of it first. When I think about social media, the first thoughts that come to mind are Instagram and Facebook. TikTok pops into my mind shortly after, alongside platforms I use less frequently, such as Twitter. For some reason, I put Snapchat and Pinterest in a separate side-category, since I equate Snapchat more closely with…
I can’t believe this class is already over – that flew by! I particularly enjoyed this style of class in its debate format. It was engaging and exciting in the ways that other classes haven’t always been. A big thank you to our professor and classmates for a great overall learning experience. The final debate topic: Online education is detrimental to the social and academic development of children. Both sides of the debate did a phenomenal job defending their respective…
Debate 7 – Educators and schools have a responsibility to help their students develop a digital footprint. (Just a quick heads up – I went a bit off the rails with this one into some borderline philosophical territory. Happy reading if you wish to continue (: ) [Quick nod to the debaters for topic 7. You did a masterful job!] It’s no question that technology and the internet have become central and integral to our lives. As stated in the…
Debate #6 – Cell phones should be banned in the classroom. This topic is an especially difficult one for me. In the pre-vote, I easily chose “disagree”, but upon reflection, there have been a number of times in my teaching career so far where I have said “OKAY CELL PHONES AWAY EVERYONE I DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM AT ALL FOR ANY REASON ANYMORE” or something along those lines. Granted, this usually happens in moments of erupting frustration around some…