Category Archives: EDTC 300

Can’t Catch Me

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I don’t recall having any cyber safety or digital citizenship education in elementary or high school. I attended a K-12 school with around 100 students total, and at times, I think there was this idea that we were good country kids and the internet was only a problem in the cities. This was very naive because kids will be kids regardless of where they live.

The school division was also slow at regulating and restricting access to material. For example, emails in my day were all @hotmail.com. Unfortunately, if you didn’t know how to spell ‘mail’…well, you can see how that might be problematic, especially if those sorts of websites weren’t blocked. We also all participated in an online chat room that included people from all over the world–many of whom I’m sure were not honest about their identities. It honestly shocks me that teachers didn’t know we were using this platform and that the school division wasn’t blocking chat rooms either. Here’s an article that outlines why chat rooms can be so dangerous.

It was when I was in university, and specifically in my education classes, that the concept of cyber safety and especially digital citizenship became very important. Professors used a lot of scare tactics:

  • If you have a picture of yourself holding a drink, you will get fired
  • You can not have any images of yourself in a bathing suit, or again, you’ll be fired
  • Anything you have ever liked, commented on, or shared could get you fired
  • Anyone who is considering hiring you will look at your social media and determine whether or not they want to hire you

The giph below sums up my experience, and if you have ever watched Mean Girls, you totally get this.

While some of these scare tactics are true, not all exist in the extremes that they were presented to us as undergrads. While this approach certainly made me take a hard look at the content I had posted online, it has also made me very conservative when it comes to my online presence–I essentially don’t have one. I will post pictures occasionally for family to see, but I don’t like, share, or comment on content that in any way may be perceived as controversial.

Ordering From Wayfair: Hit Or Miss?

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Next up in designing my dining room was choosing a rug for the space. As part of my learning this week, I made a video using screen recordings (my first time doing that) and then turned it into a video using iMovie (my first time using this program as well), followed by turning that into a YouTube video.

I’ll post the video I made and then discuss my experience with the tech as well as my thoughts on the rug I chose.

So, I wanted to show you this week how I went about choosing an area rug. Everything I checked out was on my iPad, so I downloaded the app called Record It. I found it very easy to use.

Once you download the app, you press the start button to begin recording.

A little pop-up appears and you choose the “Start Broadcast” and turn your mic on or off to begin the recording. It does a count down for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you are done your recording you can edit it in app, I chose not to. You can then share your project to your camera roll, other apps, or YouTube.

I downloaded the video to my camera roll and then moved it over to iMovie to begin editing. I found this to be a very easy program to use. I trimmed out the bits that weren’t needed and then added my voice to it–nothing fancy. It’s not a great video; certainly not something that I would watch myself if I were looking for a resource to find an area rug. However, I was successful in learning how to use a few new programs.

So, in case you didn’t watch the whole video. Here are the places I went to in order to research and buy my area rug:

I ordered a smaller area rug from Wayfair about 7 years ago, along with a cat stand and both have held up really well, so I figured I would try ordering from there again. Shipping was fast–although it needed to be sent to a physical address; thanks again to my mother-in-law for accepting all my packages at her office! The rug was delivered quickly and was wrapped well. I unrolled it and then placed it in my dining room. The corners and one end didn’t really want to lay flat so I bought some ‘carpet tape‘ from Amazon to help it stick down. The product was easy to use, and the corners are now lying flat.

Here’s a visual of the rug before I put the tape down.

I love how this rug works in the space. My husband initially thought it was a little ‘busy’ but once the chairs were tucked in they took away from the design a bit and he felt better about it–or just wasn’t brave enough to say otherwise.

What do you think? Have you ever ordered from Wayfair before? What was your experience?

Revolutionizing Human Relationships

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I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. We had dial-up internet, and I didn’t get a cell phone until I was 15–and that cell phone was a ‘pay as you go’ thing, so I had to be very careful about how many text messages I sent as each one cost me. The most exciting thing on my phone was the game ‘snake’; if I was really feeling wild, I could pay for a cool new ringtone. Man, have things changed quickly.

Old mobile phones from past to present on white background.

In Michael Wesch’s video, “An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube,” he says, “When media changes, human relations change.” I clearly remember how much my world changed when I gained access to a cell phone or could use MSN messenger to talk to my friends. My whole world opened up, and I could communicate with people outside of those I saw at school. My family also didn’t always know who I was talking to now because they didn’t have to call my home phone–ah, privacy, finally!!

As an educator, I have had mixed feelings about teenagers or children’s access to the digital world. I’ve been the center of nasty jokes and unflattering pictures being sent to a student body on more than one occasion. I’ve had to talk to parents about the adult material their child is caught consuming or partaking in during school hours. I have had to draft emails that warn parents about the possibility that their child may attempt to eat Tide Pods or watch a MoMo video and be encouraged to unalive themselves. I have discussed why only getting 3 hours of sleep at night is unhealthy and not conducive to learning.

I’ve also seen the culture of participation that our new digital world perpetuates be used in amazing ways, such as the viral ALS ice bucket challenge or even the perhaps controversial use of platforms such as GoFundMe. There are also opportunities for people to participate in funding businesses that they believe in on Kickstarter. These are examples of the new ways people can participate in a digital world meaningfully.

When I see statistics like these from the article “Teens Social Media and Technology,” my concerns seem validated. How can almost half of teens say they use the internet ‘almost constantly,’ yet 55% feel they are using social media about the right amount? I realize internet use isn’t always social media, but these numbers still staggered me.

As educators, we are responsible for teaching our students how to use technology appropriately, especially about setting healthy boundaries for ourselves. One thing I did a couple of years ago that spoke volumes to my students was show them the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma. If you haven’t seen it before, I highly recommend it. Check out the trailer for it below.

Have you seen this documentary before? What did you think? Would it be something you show to students?

 

I Did The Dang Thing, Now What?

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Alright, for those of you who played along…please know that while I appreciate your input, I dismissed it and went with the one other person who also voted for a grey wall. Indeed, it was unfair of me to even ask because, if you remember, my husband only likes brown–and red, so blue and green didn’t stand a chance.

Once I had the wall painted, I absolutely had to put something on it. And thus began my journey of creating a gallery wall.

Simple posters gallery hanging on the wall in bright living room

First, I watched the video below and really disliked it because the gallery wall he was showing was nowhere near my aesthetic, and I couldn’t get past the visual to listen to the message.

I ditched the videos and checked out what Crate&Barrel had to tell me about creating a gallery wall. I found this website to be a lot more helpful because the artwork in the pictures matched closer to my style, and it used clear layout ideas that I could refer back to quickly and easily.

Videos are excellent if you are trying to see how to hang the pictures themselves, but as far as learning about the design style, I much preferred reading about what I might do.

I also checked out Donna Lott’s Photo Gallery Wall Pinterest board. I have no idea who Donna is, but thanks for putting in the hard work of culminating a plethora of ideas! I really enjoy Pinterest as a way to see and save ideas that have piqued my interest quickly. I can tuck them away and delve deeper if I want–I think this is similar to the Save to Pocket Chrome extension, and I attempted to use this extension this week; however, I use my work computer and can’t seem to get it to work. I’m wondering if my school division maybe blocks it.

Anyway, here is the grand reveal! In the picture, there looks to be a green undertone, but this is not the case. I used paint from Sherwin Williams and got my pictures from Mixtiles. Mixtiles was fantastic because it had many examples of gallery wall layouts, and I just peeled off a sticker on the back and slapped them on my wall! I chose this option in the Bold style. Once I get my wedding and honeymoon pictures organized, I’ll pop some of these off the wall and add new ones, easy peasy!

I used Mixtiles because it was easy, but what have you used for displaying pictures?

Let There Be Light

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Alright, so this week, we were tasked with using a new piece of technology to document our learning journey. I’m not going to lie; this was a struggle. I felt like I was just getting the hang of blogging itself, and then there was a new challenge!

I used a couple of different things to create my video, mainly Canva. If you weren’t aware, Educators can get a free account on Canva with some awesome premium features.

Alright, back to my dining room. This week, I decided to tackle the light fixture since I was going to be in the city and could do some shopping!

Check out my video below to see the process! 

So, how was I able to create such a masterful video, you ask?

  1. I signed up for an Educator account on Canva and logged in.
  2. Under the title, “What Will You Design Today?” I chose Videos
  3. I chose a template that looked interesting
  4. I edited the text on the first slide
    1. I appreciated that this had slides because it was sort of familiar to a PowerPoint.
  5. I played around with the “Elements” tab. In here you can add:
    1. Shapes, graphics, photos, frames, videos, and music. As you can see, I pretty much used everything.
  6. Using the “Uploads” tab you can:
    1. Insert your own pictures, and add recordings of yourself.
  7. I also fiddled around with the timing of my slides, the transitions, and animating graphics I used.

Once I had created my video, I clicked the “Share” button in the top right corner. I chose “download” and saved it as an MP4.

Then, I went onto my YouTube page and created a new video by uploading my MP4 file. Here’s a link to a video showing you how to create an unlisted video if you’re unsure!

My students love using Canva, but this was my first attempt. Overall, I found it relatively easy to use, although I’ve seen the videos my students have created, and I know that I’m missing a lot of the features that they have. If you or your students want to create videos, I would definitely recommend trying this program!

Most importantly, how can Canva be used with the SAMR model?

  • Substitution- this program can be used to create digital formats of posters, worksheets, or even your entire lesson.
  • Augmentation-you can add multimedia elements to your creations such as images, videos, interactive links, transitions, etc.
  • Modification- students can create their own interactive projects on Canva, even collaborating on these projects with peers (use the free education profile and you can assign students). I might use this for interactive timelines, digital storytelling, creating and filming plays, etc.
  • Redefinition-Canva allows you to format projects for all sorts of purposes. You can create posts or videos for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, etc. This allows students to design projects for a variety of purposes that are easily shared both in class, as well as worldwide. The video I made could even be converted by Canva (using its new Magic ‘AI” feature) into a blog post!

Are there any other cool programs out there that we have free access to as educators?

Tech in Your 30’s

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Alright, so what does using technology look like if you’re in your 30s and aren’t cool?

Let me give you the low down–note my cool use of slang there.

I have an iPhone, so I like to use the sleep focus on my phone. This sets a time when my phone doesn’t allow any notifications through (except for those I allow). I have mine set to sleep between 9 pm and 6 am on weekdays and 11 pm and 8 am on weekends. This allows me to have a better sleep because I use my phone as my alarm clock and always have it within arm’s reach when I’m sleeping.

I also have an Apple Watch and make use of a few features such as:

  • the time and date
  • weather
  • stopwatch
  • fitness rings
  • notifications for texts, emails, and phone calls
  • navigation
  • heart rate monitoring
  • to find my phone
  • track my sleep
  • adding items to my grocery list (“Siri, add eggs to grocery list” and it connects to your phone–amazing).
  • take photos with my phone when its set up from a distance
  • and so many more things! Check out this website for some more tips and tricks about Apple Watches.

Just in case you’re one of those crazy Android users… here is why you should switch:

 

On my way to and from work, I always listen to audiobooks–this is my favourite part about having a 50-minute drive. For the last two years, I’ve used the Libby app, which is set up using my public library card. So far, I’ve listened to 71 books and have 21 currently on hold. I’d highly recommend you use this instead of something like Audible, as I just can’t see how paying for a book that you can get from the library makes sense.

Once I get to work, there are quite a few different programs I use; here are just a few:

  • Google Classroom
    • I have all my classes set up here. All assignments, instructions, and videos are posted daily for students. It keeps everything organized and accessible to my students wherever they are.
  • Google Drive
    • This is such a convenient place to store all my files, and is easy to collaborate with others.
  • Email
    • I use Outlook, formally known as Hotmail (which is apparently dead, but for some reason its still what I set up my new email using my married name under. Sigh.)
    • Mostly I use this program just for emails, but I do use the calendar function to keep track of work meetings–especially those that are on TEAMS
  • Planbook
    • This is a really useful online daybook for teaching. You can organize and colour code your classes, block out non-school days, add SLO’s to each day, attach assignments, and even use it as a gradebook. It even integrates with Google Classroom.
  • BMO spend dynamic
    • This is an online banking app that allows me to do all the coding for my school credit card. It’s not a fun job, but this program works pretty seamlessly.
  • My School Sask
    • I do not like this program one little bit. I have worked in several school divisions and have used many different platforms. This one is by far the worst I’ve ever used.
    • I use this program to set up all classes and enroll students
    • to record CFR levels for EAL students, although this will soon be moved over to CLVR.
    • to track attendance
    • as a gradebook and for report cards
  • Atrieve
    • I use this program to track my school budget and to code any expenses that I don’t put through on my credit card
    • To approve any leave requests, or enter my own absences

In my personal time I use some of the following apps:

  • Facebook
    • I know this is for old people, but I just can’t move on.
  • Instagram
    • I know you can do neat things like make reels; however, I just scroll
  • Snapchat
    • What better app is there to send pictures of your double chin to your friends?
  • Pinterest
    • This app helps me keep track of some of my more creative endeavors. It is a collective of posts that I can sort into ‘boards’ of my interests. I have boards for my house, nails, hair, classroom activities, travel, quotes, etc.
  • Youtube
    • This app gets used all the time to watch videos and listen to music. My husband uses it all the time learning how to rebuild motors more efficiently so he has me on his family plan with a premium subscription.
  • RBC online banking
    • I like to keep track of my spending and investments so this makes it easy
    • I use my Visa all the time and rack up as many points as I can for travel
    • The financial planning tool is kind of cool. You can put your information in and set goals for saving and retirement.
  • Online shopping apps: amazon, costco, sephora, etc.
  • Reolink
    • This is the company we use for our security cameras at home
  • Ecobee
    • This is a smart thermostat. Now my husband and I can both sneakily adjust the temperature–game on!
  • Google Nest Hub
    • I currently am using mine to play study music while I write this. It chose a playlist of classical music off YouTube.

I’m sure that there are a lot more sources of technology that I use daily and have just forgotten to post about them. While technology is amazing, it sure is hard to keep up. Until just recently (about a year ago now), we didn’t even have the internet at our house because we live in the country. Starlink came to our rescue with its expensive, but reliable internet. There are many apps that I use that save me time, money, and help me to connect to those more important to me; however, technology can also just as quickly eat up all my time and turn me into an unproductive sloth.

Anything but Brown

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Alright, the walls are washed, and now I really need to decide what colour I want on the walls. Here’s the catch…did you notice all that awful yellow oak (apologies to those who love it)? All the baseboards, window trim, and even the ceiling moulding in the dining room are yellow oak.

Flashback–the 80’s want their yellow oak back. Please keep it there.

So, let the research commence.

The first blog I read recommended beige and guys, I just can’t. At least not any true brown-beige. The blog continues to show some colours they would recommend that, while beige, look more grey, which I can get on board with. They also recommend a blue paint, or something with a purple or green undertone. I think my favourite recommendation from the blog was the colour “Salamander” by Benjamin Moore, which is a dark, almost black-green colour. This leads me to think that maybe I want a statement wall? This blog was a great first step in seeing what I liked paired with yellow oak. There were parts that I skipped over when reading, like the discussion on whether yellow oak will come back into style (barf), and other parts that were really interesting, like the colour theory of why certain colours will go better with the oak than others. When I’m seeking the answer to a question like, “What paint colours will go with yellow oak,” I don’t want to read about someone’s whole life story and why green is their favourite colour–which is why I struggle with reading blogs at times. If I were reading a blog solely for enjoyment, I think I would feel differently.

I also tried listening to a podcast called “How to Decorate,” episode 32: How To Choose The Right Paint with Sandie Mazzi. I wasn’t really sure how I would like listening to a podcast about paint colours when I couldn’t actually see what they were talking about, but it was actually great! They talked about things like establishing the mood, how I want to feel in the space and considering the items I already have and need to keep.

Sandi Mazzi, thankfully, also told me what I wanted to hear–go bold in the dining room! I’d really like to do an accent wall, so I was happy to hear this was the space to do it in. Sandie Mazzi also hit the nail on the head when she discussed how having a vision in your head and then actually being able to find that colour and have it look that way on your wall is an epic battle.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed listening to this podcast. I don’t know that I necessarily learned anything new from it, but I was given some assurances on the direction I wanted to take in my dining room.

This week, I also played around on the Sherwin Williams website:

!!Opinion Time!!

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Coming Soon
Accent Wall: What Colour Should I Paint It?

 

Also, if you’re wondering how I casually slipped this poll into my blog, here are the steps!

  1. First, I watched “How to Add a Poll in WordPress“
  2. I learned that I needed to check out the Plugins tab. Click it.
  3. Scroll down, and you will see an option for “Poll” and “activate.” Do this.
  4. TS Poll should show up on your side tab. Click Add New.
  5. From there, you can pick your theme, and change the question and answers.
  6. To get your poll into your blog, click the tab that says “Shortcode” on TS Poll. Copy the link for WordPress.
  7. Paste the link into your blog. This will just look like weird code, but don’t worry, the poll will show up like normal!

Hope this helps!

 

He Can’t Say No, Right!?

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I have always loved interior design and dreamed of having a home I could make my own. My husband practically lives in his shop building cars in his free time, which means the house he bought before my time is basically a bachelor pad…free for my taking! Unfortunately, for a man who has been satisfied to have everything in our house be a shade of brown, he has some strong opinions about the changes I want to make.

Lucky for me, one of our toilets started leaking last winter, and we had to gut our bathroom and start over. This marked the beginning of my take-over. Cue villanous laugh!

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  • I used an acacia wood butcher block and cut out a spot for the sink (with the help of my husband).

  • Then I chose a stain and later did a clear coat to protect it.

  • The finished counter--I swear it looks better in natural light!

After the bathroom, I tackled the spare bedroom where we, no joke, almost had a fistfight over whether or not I could paint the ’70s wood panelling. I won this battle with the caveat that I never, ever touch the fireplace brick (little does he know; I had my fingers crossed). I also started on our laundry area, but alas, life took over, and the job is half finished.

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  • Welcome to the 70's

  • So much wallpaper

  • So much better!

  • Disaster area

This brings us to now. Our dining room seems to make the most sense to tackle next (and maybe even finish the laundry area–but this is less exciting). However, I feel like a teenage girl who keeps trying out new outfits to see what I like and where I fit in. While the other rooms I have worked on were more private, the dining room is the beginning of the more public spaces in our home–so I desperately need to figure out my style. You need only look at my Pinterest board to see that I’m obviously in the middle of an identity crisis.

Here’s what my dining room looks like now:

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  • Brown, on brown

  • on brown, on brown

 

So, my plan. I’ve washed the walls and brought up some of my painting supplies from the basement. Now I just need to figure out colours. Some goals for this room are to paint, get new lighting, curtains, rug, artwork, and something for the large wall…maybe a buffet or shelf?

Wish me luck, and let’s hope my husband doesn’t say no!

Who is Sarah Fradette? No, seriously…

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Honestly, this is a loaded question because this name still feels so foreign to me. For all you married people who changed their name, when does calling yourself by another name start to feel normal? At what point is the blank stare I give people who call me by my new last name no longer appropriate? Anyway, I digress.

My name is Sarah Fradette, at least when I remember to call myself that. I’m in my eleventh year of teaching and my third year as an administrator. I live on an acreage south of Moose Jaw, where we have two dogs (Frank and Beau) and some farm cats. This summer, I deserted my grass-cutting duties and spent the month of July backpacking in Bali, Indonesia, with my husband. Here is evidence of the cliched statement: low-quality photos–high-quality time. One of our first destinations was a boat tour based out of Labuan Bajo, where we checked out a bunch of islands, including the Komodo National Park. Check out the video our guide made for us while at the park!

I’m totally new to the blogging world and am really not all that tech-savvy. Pray for me. However, this is the last class of my Inclusive Ed certificate, so I’m determined to give this blog thing my best effort. I dislike cooking blogs; I just want to get to the darn recipe already, but I enjoyed reading travel blogs when planning our trip to Indonesia. Hopefully, I can create something worth reading!