Sarah Breti

The future of the world is in my classroom today - Ivon Welton Fitzwater

Author: Sarah Breti (Page 3 of 9)

Excuse Me While I Do Some Digital Sleuthing

June 9, 2021 / / 1 Comment

We all do it. We meet someone and we might creep them on Facebook or Instagram to get to know a little more about them for the next meeting, you are at a new job and you search some coworkers so you can see what they are like from their social media, or you meet a guy and you need to figure out if he’s worth another date or not. We also judge people based on their lives on social media because it is always the happy pictures being posted, regardless if you are happy that day or not. While reading the article Split Image  about a young girl named Madison, it made me stop and realize just how many people post on social media one way, but have a completely different life on the other side of the screen. Reading Madison’s story was heartbreaking knowing that she went off of the happy pictures on social media of her friends and family and believed she was the only one struggling. “Madison was beautiful, talented, successful — very nearly the epitome of what every young girl is supposed to hope she becomes […] and someone who often struggled with what that image conveyed about her, with how people superficially read who she was, what her life was like.” Although Madison posted like she was happy, she was struggling on the inside and believed there was something wrong with her due to all the happy pictures of others away at college people were posting. “She and Ashley Montgomery, a friend and track teammate, followed a group of Penn upperclassmen on Instagram. They would scroll through pictures and say to each other, “This is what college is supposed to be like; this is what we want our life to be like.”

While reading that article mentioned about, it opened my eyes to how many people believe that what they see on social media is how the other person actually is in real life. They do not see the struggle or the hard days, just the happy, cheerful person enjoying life. That is why social media today is terrible, not only for young children, but also for adults 

            I was in a group of three. Myself, Julie Findura and Ashley Peterman. Julie sleuthed myself, Ashley sleuthed Julie and I sleuthed Ashely. While sleuthing Ashley, I knew she already had a twitter so I started there! I found out from her bio she’s a Can-Skate coach, Preschool teacher assistant and she was born May 2nd. From there I noticed she also had an edusites blog where I learned she is going into her 3rd year of education where she plans to graduate in December of 2022 and go on to teaching grade K – 2! I learned that she volunteers every Sunday at the Special Olympics Figure Skating Program and she competed in intense levels of figuring skating for many years! That’s awesome Ashley! I figure skated when I was younger and the only thing I remember is being dressed up as an astronaut skating around!

I moved on to Facebook next which I realized she had made so only her friends could see. I did manage to learn that judging from some pictures that she has a boyfriend, and that she has lived in Regina her entire life. I didn’t see any pictures of any siblings so I am not sure if she is an only child or has older or younger siblings. This is why I figured I’d try my luck at Instagram and thankfully it wasn’t on private. Although there were not many pictures and I still am not sure if she has siblings, I was still able to learn that she graduated in 2019, so that would mean she is 20 years old as she had her birthday last month, her and her boyfriend like taking trips together as it looks like they went to Lake Louise a few summers ago and that she has a close group of friends she is thankful for!

While sleuthing Ashley, I felt a little strange thinking of all the social media platforms she could possibly be on and searching her name. I can truly say I have never gone through someone’s social media to find, what I believe to be, such personal information, like their date of birth, school they went to, etc. on purpose. While looking into Ashley’s information, I believe she looks like someone I could trust as well as hire if I needed to. She looks like she would be a good friend if we had the chance as she comes off as an easy girl to get along with and a hard worker to reach her goals. 

To me, I believe Ashley shares just the right amount of information. Her Facebook seemed to be private other than to the people she is friends with which I understand and I am trying to get my Facebook to be like that too! On her blog, she doesn’t talk about her family and just talks about her achievements as well as posts a few pictures of herself. To me Ashley watches what she puts online as to not overshare too much about her personal life but she still likes to express herself. The advice I’d give Ashley is to keep doing the same thing you are doing as I feel you are on the right track.

To finish off my sleuthing, I watched this video about what one tweet can do to your life in a matter of hours. This made me realize how important it is to what we put online. That although we think no one is watching, someone is always watching and with a click of a button, your life can be in trouble! Justine Sacco didn’t believe she was doing any harm when she made a tweet, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” When she woke up in Africa, she was trending worldwide, but also lost her job. Although her tweet was not innocent, a simple tweet can go a long way when someone gets a hold of it. 

The Hinge Method

June 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

With some advice from Katia, I took to the internet to find some tips and tricks to help me apply my vinyl onto my new frame recently made. While reading and watching I learned something new called the ‘Hinge’ method. Normally I would have taken the transfer tape off once I got the words stuck to hit and placed it on like that, but the way she is showing it, you keep the transfer tap attached and slowly remove the bottom layer from the transfer tape instead. I also think it will be handy to do what she suggested by taking off some of the backing to be able to stick it down on the wood instead of sticking it all down at once. I have learned from mistakes that transfer tape is not the easiest to take off when it is put down, even by accident and sometimes it won’t come off and you just have to roll with how it is laying. 

While doing some more searching I also learned that other than using a permanent vinyl on the wood, you can also use an HTV, or Heat Transfer Vinyl. This makes it look like it is painted on the wood when applying the HTV which may make it last longer in the long run! This is the article I found where it explains how to apply it. Although she talks about a heat press, I just use an everyday iron without the water added and it works the same, although I do need to hold it longer but that is minor.

As I add the words to my frame, which I made the other day if you want to check it out here I will remember the hinge method and hopefully it is easier to put on and I can cut back on how many times I have to take it off to adjust! 

Teaching Philosophy

June 7, 2021 / / 0 Comments

When I was younger, I wanted to become a teacher because that is what most of the women in my family were. I saw them experience so many opportunities and I had the pleasure of one of my aunts being my teacher and then my principle where she eventually moved on to becoming the super intendant of our school division. I also listened to stories about my aunt traveling to china where she taught for a year and how it was an amazing experience. These stories and experiences made me think that teaching would be so fun, but it wasn’t until I got to witness amazing teachers along the way of my elementary and high school years, is where it really helped me decide what I wanted to do in life. When I became old enough to work, I had the chance to work at a summer day camp. I worked there from summer of 2009 until I graduated in 2013. It was the best time, experiencing the children and watching them learn something new or laugh until their bellies hurt, and this gave me pride knowing that I was a part of their learning and happiness. Although after high school I took a different path, I found myself regretting not going to be a teaching, so I applied and got in and every day I realize I am one step closer to becoming a teacher who makes little children smile!

            I’ve heard many times in my three years of being a university student that teaching is a hard but rewarding job. Rewarding because you get to see the students you are teaching grow every day and when the time comes to send them off to the next grade, I’m sure it is a bitter sweet moment knowing that you helped them get there. When I was younger, I wanted to come to school not only to see my friends, but because of the teachers I had teaching me. I aim to be one of those teachers that makes the students excited to step inside that big school every day egger to learn something new! I believe that when the teacher is excited and interested about new learnings, the children will be excited and interested as well. Bringing in different learning styles is also a way that will help the children be more excited about what they are learning! Each child learns in a different and unique way so embracing everyone’s styles or bringing as many into the classroom as possible will make for a different and fun way of learning. For my future teacher self, I aim to be a positive teacher, always greeting my children at the door and acknowledging them when they leave for the day. I want to be a teacher that any student, not just mine, is okay to come and talk to with any type of problem good or bad. I had a teacher like that in elementary as well as in high school and I find it very important that the students have trust in you and know that if they come to you with a situation, good or bad, you will help them to deal with it. People are human and we are bound to have tough days. This being said, with more people getting diagnosed with anxiety, depression, etc. I want to be a teacher that talks about my tough days and explain to my students that it is okay to have those days and we can get through them together. Letting my students know that they are allowed to feel their feelings is important to me as a future teacher. I would do this with either morning check ins, or on a rating scale. This would be anonymous so that no one feels picked on, but this way we are able to talk about it as a class. I will also let my students know that if they need to come to me directly, they are also more than welcome to do so. 

            My classroom we will be a safe space where everyone, from my students, to others students to teachers are welcome and where we acknowledge and talk about acceptance daily. There will be no one left out and if there happens to be, we will deal with it when it arises. My classroom will be a safe space for anyone to come into at any time to either sit and do their own thing, or talk to me. In my ECE 325 class we had to make bitmoji classrooms and I had an adult corner so I hope to bring this to life in my future classroom as well. This is where any adult of the child I’m teaching can come into the room to observe or even participate. If parents are stay at home parents and this is their last child, sometimes it can be hard for them to accept or to be alone while everyone is gone or if they simply just need a break and to get out of the house. So, this corner will give them an opportunity to come and observe what the children and me as a teacher are doing that day. Just like other students and teachers are welcomed in my classroom, parents will be welcomed as well. 

Digital Citizenship for my Classroom

June 3, 2021 / / 0 Comments

After learning about Digital Citizenship in our last two classes I went on to read the articles assigned and the article, Character Education for the Digital Age  really stuck out to me. In the third paragraph it talked about the “two lives” perspective which explains how “students should live a traditional, digital unplugged life at school and a second, digital infused life outside school.” As I read this, I caught myself thinking, that as much as some people may agree on this and it could benefit students, I believe that it would also benefit students to use technology at school so that they learn about the good and the bad. 

Just like I said in my previous post, these new apps and games can also be used to learn in a school setting as well. We want to teach our children that although the internet can be a scary place, it doesn’t have to be if we use it the correct way. We need to educate our children that everything that happens on the internet, stays on the internet even if you think it is deleted. This brings me to thinking about the relationship between digital citizenship and the Saskatchewan Curriculum. I believe they can be connected with how you look at the different subjects, as well as the outcomes and indicators. When looking through the Sask Curriculum I found a subject that can help integrate digital citizenship into the classroom.

The grade would be grade 3 and the subject is English Language Arts. Outcomes CC3.1 and CC3.2 seem to give us an opportunity to be able to explore the world of digital technology. For outcome CC3.1 I could discuss how sometimes people make up fake accounts on the internet to fool others into thinking they are someone else and to try and bully them and so with that we have to be careful to not talk to anyone on the internet, especially someone who we do not know. I could go on to say that although there are not the best people on the internet, sometimes there are great communities that you can reach out to if you are in trouble or just need to talk. For example; while looking on the Saskatchewan curriculum page I saw under the title quick links they had a “Student Well-being Support” and a link to a website called “Be Kind”. This site has, cyber safety tips, resources, a place for grants, and most importantly, a get help button. With instructions to call 911 if it’s an emergency, talk to a trusted adult, reporting bullying online, kids help phone numbers and the Healthline. I would continue that outcome with the Social Responsibility and discuss how it is up to them as students and children to be responsible and smart when on the internet or any type of electronic or app. 

For outcome CC3.2, I would ask the kids what they think would be good tips to help avoid having their personal information, pictures, videos etc. become available on the internet for everyone to see. I would also get them to write down what they believe is the proper way to act while online and why it is important to be smart while using technology in today’s society. I would remind them about the acronymS.M.A.R.T as well as T.H.I.N.K and to remember that not only as children but when they are adults too

  • https://pin.it/2k9ogib
  • https://pin.it/1B6BGgm

Technology today may sometimes be scary, but like I said in my other post,  if we teach our students the appropriate ways to use the apps, the websites and the gaming systems, there are many great opportunities that go along with knowing how to use them as well. Digital Citizenship isn’t going anywhere and we need to show our students how to navigate it in a way that has a positive outcome! 

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Sarah Breti

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑