Week 4 Update

Hello fellow blog readers and writers,

I cannot believe we are already finishing up week 4 of teacher's college and my Genius Hour is well on its way. Since I changed my topic I have been so excited to work on my assignment and it’s coming together quite nicely. I have thoroughly researched how to make a vision board and I am currently in the process of piecing my own vision board together. I have found it to be very therapeutic and enjoyable flipping through magazines and cutting out pictures that I feel best reflect my goals for the future. As I've been cutting out hundreds of pictures I brainstormed what I can discuss in my PDF file that I plan on making. The document will depict a lesson plan or activity that allows teachers to incorporate vision boards into their classroom. 

Marano, A. (CC) 2016.

From my brainstorming sessions I have found that vision boards should be incorporated into the classroom in the beginning of the year as a way for students to visualize their goals for that school year or their future goals. I think that this activity would be best for grades 3-6. The vision boards can be completed individually or the whole class can make one vision board. The group vision board forms a sense of community and allows everyone to be on the same page for setting goals. I've also found that the therapeutic aspect of this activity could be beneficial for student’s mental health and it’s also a great stress relief. Through the vision boards the student can reflect on their life and become organized with their mindset and what they want to achieve. I have learned a lot about myself throughout this process and there is a sense of vulnerability that a vision board exposes from you because you are being open and communicative with where you want to be in the next year or so.

My plan for the next coming weeks is to complete my vision board entirely and begin creating my lesson plan/activity. I also plan on starting my TedTalk and highlighting key points of this Genius Hour experience.

Marano, A. (CC) 2016.

Come along for the ride!

Post #3: Genius Hour Goals

Welcome back everybody!

I've began my search for the ultimate question that I would like to answer for my Genius Hour. Amazingly enough I decided that I wanted to change my topic at the last minute! I will be researching how to make a vision board and the importance of implementing them into the classroom for students and teachers. During this whole process I will be making my own vision board encapsulating what I want my future to hold and how I will draw out my passions. I have always been really interested in scrap booking, collages, and making cards so I felt that a vision board would be really interesting and creative to make.

My main goal for this assignment is to complete my vision board and create a document that describes the strengths and weaknesses of implementing a vision board into the classroom. I think that each individual student could make a vision board for their year or a teacher can combine students ideas into one big vision board. I will measure my progress by taking pictures of my vision board as I piece together and also document my brainstorming process. My main motivation would be my drive to be creative and have a more hands on topic compared to what my previous idea was. I am excited to see the outcome and physically hold my vision board in my hands. I also want to educate my peers on the abilities of a vision board and how it can motivate you to reach future goals.

Furthermore, as a class we explored PowToon, which is an amazing slideshow animation that sparks creativity and captivates your audience. This was my first time using this online tool and I really enjoyed testing it out and playing around with the different characters and templates. I would definitely integrate this website into my lesson planning as a more unique way of teaching and presenting a topic. I think it is also a great tool for my students to utilize for instances when they are required to make a slideshow presentation. In comparison to Google Slides or Powerpoint it has a much more animated feel to it and some of the templates are more intricate. However, I discovered that it does have some flaws such as not being able to embed YouTube videos into the slides and the saving tool tends to glitch.

Overall, I think that this is a great tool and I highly recommend students and teachers give it a try. I would love to hear your thoughts on this online tool if you have already tried it. Feel free to comment in the section below with your thoughts!

Thanks so much for tuning in this week and until next week: See ya real soon!

Post #2: Copyright

Hello fellow bloggers!

This week we explored the world of copyright and the importance of citing everything that you use that is not your own thought or work. It is important that we educate our students on this topic because they are loaded with online resources that are great to expand their learning, however they need to learn to not claim other people's work and effort as their own. For example, a student may want to use a picture that they found online in a presentation, teaching them the basics of citations will allow them to gain new skills and help them build citations for their other assignments. I liked how the article Copyright for Tech- Enhanced Teaching stated that students should not only be able to cite other resources, but they should learn how to create Creative Commons license's on their own pictures.

Silfverberg, M. (2006 May, 16). Children Computers [Online Image]. Retrieved from 

http://bit.ly/2cwJT7M

Last year I volunteered in a grade five classroom and the students were beginning to learn how to create Powerpoint presentations and research projects for their Canadian history fair. This was a new experience for most students because they were learning how to properly cite their resources and the importance of citations. I walked around the classroom assisting students as they cited their resources and became more confident in their capabilities of citing. It was really interesting to see their first realizations with the importance of citations and compare their experience to my own when I was in high school. I used my university career as an example for those students as I explained to them that most of my assignments were research based and how important it is to not claim other people's work as your own and cite all of your resources.

San Jose Library. (2008 August, 23). Children using the computer [Online Image] Retrieved from 

http://bit.ly/1OL0Kks

Post #1

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog!

To start off this weeks post I want to introduce myself a little bit. My name is Andrea and I am a teacher candidate at Brock. I am excited to get the ball rolling and delve into interesting technological topics throughout my EDBE 8Y08 class. I have previous knowledge on digital footprints and personal learning environments, however I am looking forward to this class expanding my previous knowledge and taking it one step further.

This week we focused on Genius Hour, which is a form of learning that allows students to be creative and expand their learning through their passions and interests. This is a great tool because it captivates and engages the students as  they are learning about things that they truly care about.  In my opinion Genius Hour is a very different tool from what I am used to but it is beneficial because it focuses on a child's interests in order to make them love learning and love what they are researching. The only downfall is that there is a time limit on how long they can be creative for.

Marano, A, (CC) 2016.

In order to explore Genius Hour a little bit more as a class we created our own passion projects and I have included a picture of my passion heart drawing. At the centre is my family of course as they have gotten me where I am today and without them I wouldn't be able to fulfill my passions!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and feel free to post your thoughts on Genius Hour in the comments below.