Me & Technology – Week 2
Hi everyone,
If you have not already, I made an “about me” page so please feel free to check that out as well.
My name is Nicole Powers, but most people call me Nikki. I am a teacher at Thom Collegiate in Regina Saskatchewan. I primarily teach Health and Phys. Ed, but I have also taught Social Studies, English, and even Sewing! When I am not teaching, I am coaching; I coach girl’s soccer, boy’s basketball, and girl’s flag football.
I am happily married to my husband Chris. We have a five-year-old Springer Spaniel named Winnie who lives a better life than most people I know. Chris and I love to travel, renovate homes, golf, and fish.
http://www.youtube.com/shorts/CXdNulQRRSo
^A video of me fishing in the Florida Keys February 2022.
As for my experiences with education technology I would say I am about average in terms of my knowledge and abilities. The one thing I have going for me is that I am a quick learner and when I set my mind to something, I will find a way to learn or understand whatever it may be. Within my classes I utilize several technological tools, however I am excited to expand my repertoire of tools from everyone this semester!
What are your early memories of using technology? Is this the part where we all age ourselves? I remember my parents getting a desktop computer when I was in grade 6. It was most certainly dial up and I had to ask my parents to use the computer everyday after school so I could chat with my friends on MSN messenger. My step-sister was more of the computer whiz and she showed me all the best cheat codes on SIMS, how to create a NeoPets account and accidentally neglect my pets, and download that one Lindsay Lohan song that gave the computer a virus that “I knew nothing about”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LimeWire
In school I remember having a computer in the classroom in grade 4. If we finished our work, we could play a math game on it. I really remember computer class in grade 6 where we learned to type using the program “All the Write Type”. I specifically remember a kayak racing game to see who could type the fastest. We also learned math using the game “Math Blaster”; I would play that game right now if anyone could find me a free link! We also were taught how to use Microsoft PowerPoints. Maybe this was just my class, but everyone wanted to have the coolest slide transitions and it was always a fight to have Eiffel 65’s “I’m Blue” as the music to go along with the PowerPoint.
The school I teach at does not have an overly large supply of computers or laptops available. I am fortunate that I have 7-8 laptops shared between me and another teacher which allows me to provide access for students who do not have cellphones. In my classroom I use Google Classroom to keep myself and my students organized. I typically create a PowerPoint and build additional interactive tools into my lessons. I use Kahoots, Polls, Jamboards, and other tools, however I must be mindful that lots of my students feel left out or singled out when they have to share a device with someone. In the gym, I have students used their phones to record and demonstrate proper form of skills. I really enjoy working with technology in my classroom when it works!
Looking forward to learning alongside you all this semester.
Nikki
Looking through blog posts, I was on the hunt for one I could relate to the most. The first thing that caught my eye when I opened your post was the screenshot of LimeWire. I cannot believe I forgot to mention that in my own post. My poor parent’s computer was just flooded with viruses from me trying to download the latest Fergie song. The best was when you would download a file, all ready for an absolute bop, but instead it was a recording of Bill Clinton. And the Sims and Neopets! There is a lot of nostalgia happening for me right now. It is very unfortunate that you are not provided with near enough technology for your students. Despite this, you seemed to be very well rounded with the technology that you do use in your classroom. I enjoyed reading your post!
So much nostalgia! I can’t tell you the number of times I tried to download a song and it was something completely different and sometimes wildly inappropriate!
Thanks for stopping in Maddy!
Ah, Nikki, thanks for the LimeWire and All the Right Type reminders! Good days….lots of mindless (but happy) times! As a funny aside, my husband of 17 years asked me out on MSN……so yah! It is encouraging to hear how mindful you are of the students that often get left out of the edtech mad-dash. I think awareness is vital for proper implementation of tech as a tool with purpose. Thanks for the insights and the (laughable) memories!
Nice to meet you Nikki!
As Kimberly and Maddy have said, this was a very relatable post. A great reminder of where technology started for some of us. I too had no clue where that virus came from after downloading an entire Rhianna album from Limewire. I forgot about neopets and MSN, but they were definitely an important piece of my early adolescents.
Thinking about MSN, this is really where the idea of ‘cyberbullying’ started for me. It took FOREVER to get the computer started up, logged on and starting a chat with a friend, but when someone posted a cryptic status,it always led to some sort of drama. It seems like it was a slower time. Perhaps, the wait to get online was enough to talk yourself out of the argument you logged on to have. Now the messages are sent before we have a second to think about it.
I appreciate your inclusion of technology in Phys.ed. This is my first year teaching Phys.ed and I have been thinking about what that may look like. I use my iPad as my planner, so I use it to play music for our games, as well as, take pictures of the kids modelling our stretches to put up in the gym as well. I have seen some videos of projectors used for the younger kids while practicing throwing or kicking, and perhaps that will be my next experiment.
Thank-you for sharing!
Nikki,
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog first off! I feel your pain when it comes to the access that our students have to laptops at school. It really leaves the teacher to be creative in the sense of how they can get everyone access. I often find myself not being able to get a 1:1 ratio without taking up a large chunk of the computers we have available. With that said, I often strive for a more realistic rations of 1:2 computer to student ratio. This seems to be the most fair in the sense of leavivng computers for other classes to use. This makes it difficult to really jump in and really give EdTech a honest go in my classroom.
Congrats on classes 9 & 10!
Bret