Remixing or “copy catting” is everywhere. As the video Everything is a Remix proved, our world is largely built off of others ideas. I was a little bit surprised to see just how much of the music and television world was dominated by remixing a few ideas. I always look at remixing from a sports perspective because that is what I have an extensive background in. Sports people hear this all the time with team sports, “it’s a copycat league”. This is very true and people accept this and expect it to a certain extent. In sports it is anticipated, that if someone develops a system that seems to work, whether that is an offensive, defensive, or special teams system, eventually other teams will adopt the same system. I just finished developing a practice plan for my daughters hockey practice tonight. In that plan I have some original drills that I developed and I have many that I have borrowed from other coaches I know or some that I don’t but are available to me through a drill sharing website. What is not anticipated by people in sports is that teams would secretly film other teams practices or deflate footballs, to name a few things.

I couldn’t decide which one I liked more so I decided both would really drive home the point.

So how does this relate to education? I think it depends what lens you view remixing through. Through my experience as a teacher I have found that most teachers and willing to share their content. Now this also allows them to pick and choose what they want to share. I have also encountered situations where teachers find out that their content has been shared with others without their permission and they are upset about it. So like I said, I think it really depends the lens you view this through.

I am personally a big fan of collaboration in education for a number of reasons. I think that by collaborating we can develop stronger assessments and teaching tools for our students. I also think that each of us has our strengths and weaknesses and by collaborating we can eliminate those weakness by using other peoples strengths. Another aspect is that sometimes we just feel like we need to change things up so it is nice to see what other teachers are doing for the same outcomes. You may come back to your own content after trying it but it might give you some ideas of how you might be able to tweak something to improve it. Lastly, from a high school perspective I don’t think it is a bad thing to have similar assessments throughout your school and maybe even on a bigger scale. I don’t think it needs to be mandated by any means but I know that some students go into university more prepared than others and as teachers we should be trying to narrow that gap.

As a fan of collaboration I think it is important to understand that collaboration is much different than stealing. When collaborating you might be copying the person you are working with, but they know you are doing it and are willingly letting it happen. Stealing or copying without knowledge is different. Very similar to my sports examples, if it is being offered to you it is ok, but if you are being sneaky about it then I think it is wrong. Just ask!

Then there is the grey area. This is the area where you provide some of your content for a colleague and then they take it and pretend it is their own. Early in my career I had a teacher at another school reach out to me regarding an assignment for a certain outcome. I shared what I had been doing, no problem. This teacher then took it and used the lesson, promoting the lesson on social media. Superintendents were commenting on the lesson and how great it looked etc. Nowhere in the comments was there an acknowledgement of where the lesson came from but he just acted as it was his own. That was annoying.

I am torn on the impact of AI. On one hand, if I had used Chatgpt for this it would be written much better, would be wittier, would have been done a half hour ago, and it would probably be half the length. On the other hand, I go back to, do we know where it is coming from? AI develops their content from all kinds of already developed content but we don’t know where that is coming from. If we don’t know the source is it stealing? I think ultimately it is a tool that can help teachers and at this point with AI being new, it might be up to each teacher to use their own moral compass when determining if AI is a useful tool for them.

One would think that a week off would provide a lot of valuable time to learn a skill. Well unfortunately or fortunately (depends how you look at it) that is not how things went for me. I was able to get a bit of practice in during the week leading up to the break but during the break I was a little bit busy.

I thought about bringing my guitar for a minute but then decided I didn’t want to take it on the plane and everyone would hate me at the resort if I sat by the pool and attempted to play the guitar. So unfortunately for my skill progressions I am probably taking a step back. The good news is that I was on vacation without my kids and Sophia did practice the guitar a little bit while I was gone so hopefully she was able to keep improving. We will make sure that we work hard this week to pick up the slack. Here is a video of me just telling you basically what I wrote.

There are many pros and cons to social media but as educators I think it is essential that we understand the cons associated with it. Research states that over 90% of teenagers are using social media in the United States. This is a huge number and a growing concern for parents and educators if social media is not used right and teenagers don’t understand digital citizenship.

In the TikTok: Eating disorders, racism, censorship and distorted realities documentary there were a number of concerning states or stories but one of the biggest concerns is that  algorithm that TikTok uses. Their algorithm is so advanced that it can pick up on what it thinks are your interests after viewing a single video. The story of the girl with the eating disorder was a perfect example of that and how the algorithm continuously fed her triggering content. As a high school teacher, I know that I have many students who can be triggered by different content so it is important to educate them on the signs that this might be happening to them and encourage them to only pursue positive content.

The other comment that was concerning me in that documentary is something that I am also seeing as a parent. One of the girls stated, “I think all kids want to be influencers”. I have two young daughters, and I don’t know if that is what they want to do but I know that they love making videos of themselves on an old phone. They aren’t allowed to or even ask to post any videos, for them it is just a fun thing to do but they have seen enough YouTube videos that they finish some videos with “subscribe and like”.  My concern with children wanting to be influencers is that it means they are likely spending a lot of time watching and creating content and we know that not all the content that is out there is safe. It is also not healthy to spend our lives attached to a screen whether you are watching or performing.

The Amanda Todd story is a very scary realization of what is possible in the online world. I think the biggest thing to take away from this story as a teacher is that we need to make our students digitally safe. They need to understand the worst-case scenarios. These are not fun topics to explore but they could save lives. It is also equally important for students to understand the consequences of being on the other side, being the cyber bullies or blackmailers. These people are can potentially ruin a person’s life, for what? We need to have these difficult conversations to ensure that our students and children have the best lives we can give them and are able to use technology and social media as it should be used, as a powerful tool for connecting people in a positive way.

What are some ways that we can teach our students the dangers of social media without lecturing them or boring them? What are some resources that you have used?

#IStartedMakingMemes

This week Sophia came back and joined me for our video. We decided to work on changing chords again as that seemed to be the biggest challenge for us. Earlier in the week we found a resource that was a lot of help for us. This resource changed our mindset from focusing on our left hand (chord hand) to focusing more on our strumming hand. The idea behind this is that the music or people that are playing with you aren’t going to wait for you if you need to pause to change you chords. Doing it this way you might have a beat or two that aren’t right but it is better to do that then to pause and try to catch up and find the rhythm again. The other aspect of this theory is that it will eventually force your left hand to speed up.

In this video we just chose our own basic strumming pattern of just strictly downward strumming, switching our chords every 6 strums. Going from an A major to an E minor is a very easy transition so this was a good spot for us to star at with the easy strumming and easy chord change. For the most part I thought it went fairly well but it shows that we have a long way to go.

In this second video we decided to focus on a different strumming pattern. We found a video that shows 7 different strumming patterns that work for almost any song. Sophia picked out the pattern for us as well as the chords that we would be working on. In this video we are going from an E major to an E minor which is actually even easier than our transitions in the first video. That is fine though because we are incorporating a slightly more difficult strumming pattern. Again, I think it went alright but there is lots of room for improvement. I do think that I am ready to start using more difficult chords for my transitions.

I am currently trying to figure out where I think I need to put most of my energy into. I would like to try practicing some songs as I think that I could eventually learn how to play a song if I just focused on that. Or, should I be focusing on different strumming patterns to become more well rounded. I think I am going to try to incorporate both. Either way I think that I need to start taking bigger steps each week. Finding time to work on this skill has been more of a challenge than I was hoping it will be but my goal for this week coming up is to dedicate more time to practice than I have in previous weeks. Thanks for reading and watching.

Let me begin by saying that I am not the techiest teacher in the world. Part of this is a product of my environment and part of it is just who I am. Although I don’t incorporate technology into all of my lessons it doesn’t mean that I do not see the benefit of it. YouTube is an amazing resource and has been my main technology based teaching aid for the past 10 years. YouTube is not only more entertaining than listening to me talk but it is a good way to differentiate teaching and provide opportunities for people with different learning styles to be successful. Here is a list of 10 ways that YouTube can be beneficial to learning, including; diverse learning styles, flexibility, skill enhancement, and cost effective, just to name a few.

As a physical education teacher (not “gym”) YouTube has served as an excellent aid for activities that can be difficult to teach. Here is a video series that I have often used in my class.

The Yoga with Adriene videos are beneficial for me as a PE teacher because they are skill appropriate with many different levels of difficulty and they are easy to fit within a budget. By staying in the school I can save the cost of the bus and the instructor which is a huge bonus when it comes to running a PE program.

I want to share another video that I have used because it shows the incredible skill that it takes to play this particular game. The video is good because it shows the students how the game is played at the highest level and allows them to understand the rules and strategies and then I am able to adapt the game and teach the skills at the beginner level.

Like other participatory platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, YouTube has many benefits when it comes to learning. I have used these platforms many times as teaching aids but also learning aids for my own professional development and general fix it and repair knowledge. The negative aspect to these platforms is attached to the positive which is anyone can upload information. It is important as educators that we are monitoring the content that we are either allowing or promoting to our students.

Final Thoughts

I think that participatory platforms are a teaching aid that we need to take advantage of in todays world. Students are spending so much time on these platforms as it is so why don’t we try to steer them in a direction that can benefit their learning!

This is my latest update and as expected, things are not getting easier. Sophia was not able to join me this week because she was not ready for this so hopefully she can get back at it this week. I found that when I was playing around with the different cords and not strumming I was moving along fairly smoothly. As soon as I started strumming all my coordination seemed to go out the window.

There are times when I think I am making progress and then there are times when this task looks unattainable. Following this video I found an instructional video for “playing the easiest guitar song in the world”. Well, it was not that easy. I will admit that the cords and the rhythm were quite easy but I found the strumming pattern difficult. I decided to try to get the strumming pattern down without worrying about the cords, this helped but I still was unable to master it. As soon as I added the cords I basically gave up. I decided that that would be for another day. I think my plan is to continue with the basic strumming patterns and trying to get quicker and smooth with my transitions going forward. Thanks for reading and watching!

Here is the video of the easiest song in the world

Learning new things is tough. We started out by learning the basic cords which was good but I was reminded how the strings feel on the fingers and for Sophia it was her first experience with the finger pain. Here is a video of us going through our first lesson.

In our second lesson we worked on strumming. Strumming is the main part of playing the guitar that I had no recollection of. I couldn’t remember the patterns at all and I know I don’t have very good rhythm so I new it was going to be a challenge. We had some fun with this and although I don’t think it sounds very good, it was a little easier to pick up than I thought it would be. It was still a struggle for sure but I feel like I will be able to figure it out. Here is our strumming video.

We have a long ways to go but we are having fun. One of the other things that I am learning and will hopefully master quicker than the guitar is making and editing videos. You may have noticed that the first one was not edited at all and the second only slightly better. So this has become a two part project! Next up, we will continue with strumming and try to work on changing cords!

Here is the video that we used for learning strumming.

The ban on cell phones in Saskatchewan classrooms can be viewed a few different ways depending on the angle you are looking at it. The cell phone bans have been in place for a semester (high school) now and the results seem to be mixed. I will take a look at the good, the bad, and the political.

The Bad

Let’s start here because honestly from my angle there is very little to say about the negative aspect of the cell phone ban. The major complaint seems to revolve around freedom and responsibility. Students say that “it sucks” that some students are being punished for what others do. In the same article you will see that one student said they won’t know what time it is. Apparently, there is a ban on clocks and watches as well. The other excuse that seems to be popular is that, parents won’t be able to contact their children. To that I would say, call the school or email the teacher. These are still reliable ways to get messages to students, as well as messaging your children and they can receive the message between breaks. Some of the backlash is also just from people who are mad about change and don’t really seem to have a legitimate reason. From my perspective, the “bad” seems to be from the lack of uniformity across schools. I believe the procedures that my school uses are excellent but from what I am reading and hearing, not all schools procedures are the same….or even similar.

The Political

I think it is very important to remember what was going on politically in Saskatchewan at this time. One of the things that didn’t get quite as much publicity was the group of conservatives that were pressuring the Sask Party to make this call. Other conservative party’s in Saskatchewan were starting to gain a little bit of traction and I believe this was a way for the Sask Party to keep their membership happy. That was just a very small part of it. The big picture here from the political view is the ongoing battle between the Government and the STF. The teachers federation who is still without a contract, hitched their wagon to “classroom complexity” and the government took advantage of the opportunity. Classroom complexity is about creating a positive learning environment for the students and the teacher and that is what the government set out to do. Scott Moe has said that they were looking for non financial ways to ensure that students have the best learning environment. This is clearly a way of saying “we are helping teachers” while also gaining support from their membership.

The Good

I know there are different views on this but in my opinion as a teacher the best part of the cell phone ban is that it is government mandated. Now all teachers should be on the same page which means that we are supporting each other. As a high school teacher, our procedures are very simple. When you enter the room, you place you cell phone in the cell phone holder, you take your phone with you at the end of class. This allows teachers to teach without distractions and students to learn without distractions while still giving the students the opportunity to check their phones in between classes to see if there is something important that they were sent. It doesn’t allow enough time to really focus on social media, or to bully someone online, or deteriorate their mental health. That’s dramatic I know, but those are the real problems with cell phones, its not all about focusing in class, that is huge but it is also important for students to know that they don’t have to rely on their phones. They will still get them at the end of every hour but they don’t need them constantly. The other aspect of this ban is that it is not a “blanket” law like some people make it out to be. Administration has the authority to allow use of cell phones in the classroom. At my school for example, when we hand out our course outlines, it says which outcomes will allow use of technology. We get to make that decision with the approval of administration.

I will admit that I was against the ban when it was first announced. I didn’t think it was necessary but after experiencing it in action, I don’t see how the bad even comes close to outweighing the good. If you were able to stick with me through this, thank you and please comment with whether you agree or disagree.

Here is one more article with different perspectives. Enjoy

Russ Nielsen

I have chosen to learn how to play the guitar. This is something that I have thought about for a long time so when this opportunity popped up it was a no-brainer for me. I had taken guitar lessons about 30 years ago and it didn’t last very long. I was able to learn some of the cords and could play what I thought was a little bit but in reality it was probably next to nothing. I still have the guitar, that was my moms and clearly too big for me at the time so it is time that I dusted it off and tried again.

One of the reasons that I have been thinking about getting back into it is because of my daughters. Right now they are going down the same path as me, interested in music but too busy with hockey to commit to something else that requires a lot of time and effort. So when I told my oldest daughter that I was going to try this, she said that she wanted to learn as well. So I said, why not. I found her a guitar and we are going to try and learn this together.

Our first session was this weekend, I found that I remembered the basic cords not too bad but I can not switch between them right now. I think that we might have to do some goal setting to try and keep things on track. It can be overwhelming when you think about the cords, strumming, picking, and rhythm all at once.

I have a two part goal for this learning project. The first part of it is, by the end of the class I want to be able to play more than one popular song (not children’s songs with 1 or 2 cords). The second part of the goal is to continue this after class is completed. I would like to be able to get into a routine where I can continue to play and learn for the foreseeable future.

Later this week when I get a minute from marking finals I will post the video from our first session. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.

Like most people my age, my relationship with social media started with Facebook. My first profile picture is dated Feb 7, 2007 which is then followed up by a number of very questionable choices as profile pictures. From there I joined the twitter (X) world in 2011, followed shortly by Snapchat, and finally Instagram.

I have a love, hate relationship with social media but when I first discovered Facebook it was great! The way that social media allows you to meet new people and stay connected with friends is amazing. It was my first experience being able to really share pictures and videos with people all over the world. Facebook for me was about connecting with people. Twitter on the other hand was for entertainment. I used twitter as a way of entertaining myself on long bus rides, following entertaining content creators and posting things myself, of course some that I would shake my head at now.

The two sources of social media that I spend most of my time on now are Instagram and Snapchat. Snapchat has replaced Facebook for me. This is a place that I can share photos and videos of my family with my extended family, friends, and even my grandma! Instagram has replaced Twitter as my entertainment media and provides the hate part of my love hate relationship with social media. The part I don’t think about social media is that it can consume you. With algorithms now there is always something popping up on Instagram that either interests you or entertains you so it makes it very easy to spend a lot of time scrolling.

From a professional standpoint I have used both Twitter and Instagram for posting about my teachings, and some of the interesting things that the students do. I have to admit that I don’t use it enough. Each semester I have great intentions of documenting more of their work and experiences but it seems that last few semesters (maybe since I started taking masters classes) I have been pushing it off. Maybe it is a good thing that I am not on my phone all the time.

Thanks for reading. Here is an example of a bad profile pic…..