Goodbye

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, it's been a slice. Learning about being a solid digital citizen and what your digital footprint means are some great takeaways from this class. Throughout the year we have used a program called zoom to conference in from the comfort of our own homes to conduct class as usual from an unusual space. I really enjoyed both of those classes and led me to think how easy this would be in standard high schools. Students would of course need internet connection and the ability to navigate the programs but those could be taught in a 1-2 hour session. Zoom could be used for students that are physically unable to get to the school, are ill or any other circumstance that would prevent them from coming to school. This way they would be still be learning with the rest of the class but you would Zoom them into the lesson so they would not be left behind if they plan on returning to regular class.

Click the video above to learn how to connect to Zoom and how to use it effectively. 

Of course, there will always be pros and cons for every technique and strategy used in the classroom and Zoom won't be for everybody. Having used it a couple times you might need to iron the cracks out and make sure your students know how to use the program as I personally had some trouble logging in for our second class. I would recommend this program for anyone or group that wants to do face to face communication while using all the great things technology can bring.

Thanks Mike for the great year, I really learned a lot. 

mandatory comedy bit, this guy has some great one liners.

Tech Task #8 - CV

Tech Task #7 - Academic Research

Tech Task #7

Article:

 Technology in Today’s Classroom: Are You a Tech-Savvy Teacher? Stephanie Diamond-Hicks

Overview: 

Technology has changed and improved the way teachers are able to teach. This article discusses the good things technology can bring to the classroom and also touches on where technology in education could go, as well as some tips for technology.

Research Questions: 

1) What are 21st Century students? What can we do to connect with them in the modern classroom.

2) Are all teachers on board? What kind of resistance is forming among those among the resistance?

3) What are the benefits of using technology in the classroom? What are some strategies the author mentions?

4) What is a the new kind of teacher they refer to in the article? What can we do to make sure we stay with the times?

Conduction of Study:

This study is conducted through discussing research of other peer reviewed journals and the statistics provided from those articles inform the authors posting. 

Principal Findings:

The new group of students or “digital natives” or the “net generation” and this group needs to incorporate the technology to enrich their learning experience. There is a resistance by some teachers incorporating technology in the classroom, mainly the appearance of looking foolish to their students as the students have grown up with the technology and are much more sufficient in that area. Overall, there are many things we can do to improve the use of technology, but best practice is to try a few things, be patient and if they don’t work, try another approach. We also shouldn’t be afraid to ask students to assist in the lesson, their expertise can help everyone relate to the lesson and will help your students connect. 

Reference:

Diamond-Hicks, Septhanie. Technology in Today’s Classroom: Are You a Tech-Savvy Teacher?  The Clearing House Vol. 84, No. 5 (2011), pp. 188-191 (4 pages)

Tech Task #6 - Infographics

What are Infographics?

An infographic is a collection of imagery, charts, and minimal text that gives an easy-to-understand overview of a topic. Infographics use striking, engaging visuals to communicate information quickly and clearly.

I think these can definitely be used in the classroom as they provide an extraordinary amount of information in a visual representation. Students are able to look at infographics and take in a vast amount of information through looking at the pictures and charts that are presented in clear and concise way on an infographic. 

Bryce Graham's Infographic

Tech Task #5 - Twitter

Tech Task #5 - Twitter

As a future educator I will be using Twitter cautiously in the beginning, to monitor how my tweets are received and depending on how the students engage with the platform. I feel like Twitter has a lot of good things available to us if used properly, however if not used properly there are many issues that can be created, that may cause problems in your classroom.

Some good things about twitter are the sharing of similar interests, people that share the same interests will have a similar feed as you and the platform makes tweets easy to share with one another. The ability to share or retweet things you've found interesting or worth sharing can be shared to your followers with a few simple clicks, and others can also share your tweets the same way. Overall this platform is great for sharing information and seeing what friends are interested in. 

However, there are some disadvantages I have found with this platform. The main issue I have found is the amount of negativity and hate that people can post whenever they want. There is also many fake profiles created by people to hid behind all the vitriol and nonsense that they are putting out on Twitter. We have to be careful about who and what we follow on Twitter to make sure there is no inappropriate content on your page, especially when students and parents are following you.

Overall, I think twitter can be a great resource to create a positive experience involving you, the students. their parents and everyone in your community who you would like to be a part of your classroom community. There are many positive aspects of twitter but we must always be mindful of the dark side of Twitter and try to steer our students clear of that.

Take Care....

Tech Task #4 - Follow an EduBlogger

EduBlogger - Joanne Miller linkinprofile.com/headoverheelsforteaching

Joanne Miller is an EduBlogger and Grade 4 teacher in her 24th year of teaching in Daytona Beach, Florida. Joanne has a wonderful social media presence and does a lot of work on instagram. She has a plethora of ideas and tips to become a better teacher, and posts wonderful pictures of activities and accomplishments of her students. A teacher friend of mine had recommended her Instagram site to me, as it is something she said she looks at once a week for ideas. If I was ever placed in a Early Years stream this is also something I would look for as a guide.

Tech Task #3 - Internet Resources

Internet Resource Sharing

My favorite educational site on the internet is a site called https://newsela.com/. This website provides a new article every single day, as well as a full archive of past articles and textbook sets for every subject. The best part about this site is the focus on reading level. Each article is written in 5 different reading levels for students at every reading level. Here is an example showing the introductory paragraphs at 3 of the 5 different reading levels:

590 Reading level - Grade 4-5

https://newsela.com/read/pluto-nitrogen-heartbeat/id/2001005366/

New Horizons is a NASA spacecraft. It has been exploring the dwarf planet Pluto. It took pictures of Pluto and gathered other information. The New Horizons researchers wrote a study. It came out on February 4. It gave new information about Pluto's weather cycle.

Pluto has a giant valley. The valley is covered in nitrogen ice. Nitrogen is a chemical element. From space, the valley has the shape of a heart. The valley is called Sputnik Planitia. It is nicknamed the "heart."

1010 Reading Level - Grade 7-8

https://newsela.com/read/pluto-nitrogen-heartbeat/id/2001005366/

The dwarf planet Pluto has a weather cycle that works like a heartbeat, according to a study from NASA's New Horizons team.

Pluto has a giant, heart-shaped basin called Sputnik Planitia basin. It is covered in nitrogen ice. The basin is nicknamed the "heart." 

Each day, sunlight hits the Sputnik Planitia basin — the left side of the "heart" — and nitrogen ice vaporizes. The ice becomes a gas. At night, Pluto's temperature drops. The vaporized nitrogen condenses back to ice. The cycle repeats every Plutonian day, which is about six and a half days on Earth. This cycle powers the winds that shaped the dwarf planet's landscape, according to the study published on February 4.

Max Reading Level - 10-12

https://newsela.com/read/pluto-nitrogen-heartbeat/id/2001005366/

Pluto has a heartbeat of sorts, according to a new study from NASA's New Horizons team.

Each day, sunlight hits the Sputnik Planitia basin—the left side of the heart—and nitrogen ice vaporizes. At night, Pluto's temperature drops, and the vaporized nitrogen condenses back to ice. The cycle repeats every Plutonian day, which is about six and a half Earth days long, and powers the winds that shaped the dwarf planet's landscape, per the study published on February 4 in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

"Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball—completely flat, almost no diversity," NASA astrophysicist and planetary scientist Tanguy Bertrand says in a statement. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there."

                                                                                                                                          

As you can see, each reading level provides a deeper understanding and more complex words and ideas for students to wrestle with. These reading levels are for grades 4-12, so every student can essentially get the same information while not sharing the same reading level or ability. This site has articles across all subjects and is a wonderful resource for your kids no matter what their reading level is. 

Tech Task #2 - Digital World as Teachers

Digital World as Teachers

With the world constantly changing and being more and more geared to a technological society, we as teachers need to recognize the direction it is going and provide our students with the information and skills needed to properly navigate and use the internet. Since the internet has allowed us to have constant contact with our friends and have the ability to see what people around the world are doing we need to understand that there is a lot more to the world than being online. At times the internet can be a dark and cruel place, there are trolls, bullying and tons of misinformation out there for us to see and it makes it harder for us to find the answers to our questions.

As teachers we need to show students the positive things about the internet and how to use the time you spend online for good things as opposed to the bad. The good things the internet can provide is the feeling of connectedness to groups, support and just a general feeling of belonging that most humans strive for. The bad aspects of the internet include overwhelming drama and pressure amongst peers to post and like and share information and photos which may not be in your comfort zone. We need to show are students how to leave a positive footprint for themselves on the internet and stay away from the the things that leave us feeling overwhelmed and pressured, to make sure that our relationship with the internet is a healthy one.

Essentially, our duty as teachers should be to provide our students with all the information to successfully navigate the internet, through role modelling and providing the necessary information for our students to succeed. We need to warn our students that the internet can be a scary and harmful place if not used correctly, but with proper monitoring and information our students should be able to have a positive relationship with the internet and all the possibilities the internet provides for us as learners.

Tech Task #1 Digital Identity

Digital Identity / Footprint

As a digital citizen I use many social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat. I use them to see what my friends are doing and to document some events/moments in my life.

When I googled myself there was only one website that matched me, the website is called HockeyDB and it has the one year I played hockey in the SIJHL in Thunder Bay documented. The other sites show some linkedin accounts and a twitter for some dude named Prophet Bryce Graham and he looks nothing like me.

My online identity is rather private and I would like to keep it that way. It is important to keep my digital footprint private especially as a teacher, as I don’t need to put some aspects of my personal life out on display for everyone to see especially the students. I protect my identity online by paying close attention to those who I follow, and monitor those who are following me to ensure that there is nothing inappropriate being posted on my pages/sites.

It is very important to address this is schools and teach this to our students because who they are online is a big part of who they really are. Students spend so much time on social media apps and texting on their phones, it is more important than ever to know how to leave a positive digital identity / footprint on the internet. I would teach kids to behave in a respectful and friendly way online and to report cyber bullying in our schools as I feel there is no place for that and those who feel the need to bully somebody from behind a keyboard should have to deal with the consequences of being a poor digital citizen and not using the technology properly.

What is Digital Citizenship?

What does it mean to be a digital citizen? 

A digital citizen is a person using information technology in order to engage in society, politics, and government. As defined by Karen Mossberger, author of "Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation," digital citizens are "those who use the Internet regularly and effectively." 

With so many people across the world having access to the internet, a large percentage of the global population would be considered a digital citizen. However, the way we interact with people has severely changed with the internet. In a world of "keyboard warriors" and "trolls" who are offended by everything and live to make others internet experience less enjoyable while hiding behind a created avatar has made the internet a weird place. Some Internet users also tend to over share and over post things about their personal life which tends to rub people the wrong way and can even lead to bullying Just remember that anything you post will be on the internet to live forever and could have a major impact on you if used improperly. Internet users have lost careers, relationships and more for being a poor digital citizen. 

Here's a short video showing you tips to be a good digital citizen

We have to own everything we say and do as a digital citizen on the internet. My rule is if you wouldn't say or show it to your grandmother you shouldn't post it at all. That's my policy for all social media activity across all platforms and a way to remind myself to keep it professional and respectful when posting anything on the internet. 

The following is NSFW. It's from a show called Chappelle's Show back in the day and depicts a world in which you could physically go to the internet instead of through a computer. It's extremely funny but has some mature subject matter. If you like that kind of thing click here https://youtu.be/91YpZe1SmNg

If not, that's ok too, humor isn't for everybody.

Have a great week y'all.

About Me

Hi,

My name is Bryce Graham, i am currently in the Education program at Brandon University. I am a history major and a psychology minor and those are also my teachables. I live in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba and I travel to Brandon for school everyday. It's a pain in the rear but it is what it is.

My interests are sports and music, I have played junior hockey just outside of Seattle, Washington for the Puget Sound Tomahawks and in Thunder Bay for the Bulldogs. I was also fortunate enough to play in one of the best Men's Fastpitch leagues in the world for 1 season, with Eden Roskill in Auckland, New Zealand where i lived for 8 months while on my "sabbatical" from my undergrad. As for music, my favorite artists/bands are the Foo Fighters (I've seen them 3 times live) John Mayer and James Bay.

I chose to become a teacher because I enjoy working with kids and the school is a place that you can have fun learning in, which makes the job a lot more fun and interesting than most. I have worked as an EA for parts of 6 years and made me want to become a teacher, and though it has taken me more time to get my degree than most, I feel like I finally know what I want to do and I won't ever be stuck in a job/career that I don't enjoy. I am looking forward to finally getting my own classroom and finally becoming a real teacher.

2,

Bryce Graham