This world is Crazy

That last presentation on ICT in the classroom was sick. Darren Kuropatwa and his partner were awesome. The entire presentation was really cool. I liked how they Incorporated a PowerPoint style but it was mostly video with very little words on the slides.

Sometimes I feel like a little kid just wanting to see some videos, but after awhile of watching presentations where there are slides after slides of information it becomes overwhelming. I thought the metaphors were really good. The wolves one especially made sense to me. Our technology is moving so quick and is now controlling us instead of us controlling it. As soon as I got home from class today the first thing I did was check my facebook instead of getting my lunch ready. It is sad I know, I just can't help it right now.

The last thing I want to mention is how cool this blogging idea was. I was kind of against at the start because I didn't see how it could benefit me or my students, I was wrong. I love because I can do it from my room on my own time. Students will love the freedom this gives them of writing whenever they want and also about anything they want. It was a big hit for me and I plan on using it in my classroom.
Awesome idea Mike!

Xbox is apparently the future of education

I first off want to say that was a pretty sweet presentation you boys pulled off. I agree that video games should be incoperated into class. Not only can they be benificial in a gym class setting, but also in a homeroom class such as social studies. So many students are playing videos games in their spare time. For a lot of these children it might be their only extra curriculur activity, which is a little sad.

I was pretty impressed with the new xbox project natal even though there were some haters in the classroom (Kelso). I thought that was the coolest thing to have a remote free video gaming system. Me and Dan have been boxing for the past two months and it is an awesome workout. I thought at the start of the video where the kid fights that ninja guy could become a great cardio work out. Also the skateboarding part of the YouTube video would also be a great cardio workout. It is way better than children just sitting on the couch playing TonyHawk (even though we have all done it).

Video games are here to stay and teachers have to get use to students playing them instead of doing their homework. If teachers can somehow incoperate videogames into the lesson plan there is potential for increasing the students learning production.

Aboriginal Learning Log

So in our Native Studies class we asked are to do a final learning log in a different way rather than an essay. Sherry Peden asked us to present our thoughts and ideas in a different form such as a poem, poster, rap, and many other ways. I am not really good with making posters or really any artsy kind of stuff. So, my good buddy Ryan Zadorozny told me about blogging it and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Students are constantly using the Internet so why not get in touch with them through blogging. The question that Sherry asked to answer for this learning log was "If she was to meet us in five years, what would we remember from class?"

To be honest right when she presentedthis question to the class it was a no brainer. When Kevin Tacan came into our class it made a world of difference to me. I have a minor in native studies and throughout my first three years in my undergrad degree not once did one of my professors bring in an Aboriginal elder to talk to us. Sure they talked about elders a lot in the classroom and we discussed their importance in the Aboriginal societies. Not once did one of my profs bring one in to talk about spirituality, self-government, or Aborignal history.

Hopefully in five years I will have the opportunity to bring an elder in to the classroom because they are so useful in many different aspects. I plan on teaching in either Portage la Prairie, Winnipeg, or northern Manitoba. With these places in mind I plan on having a fairly high Aboriginal population in my classroom. An elder can reach the students on so many different levels and help with social and personal problems. It would be just awesome if I could incorporate an elder into my classroom culture because everyone would benefit from them.

I will also remember the concept of the sharing circle and how Sherry got us to incorporate Aboriginal perspective into a lesson plan. At the start it seemed like a really tough task but in the end it was actually pretty easy to do. Aime and I did our unit plan on grade 10 social studies, specifically food production. There is an abundant amount of resources out there on Aboriginal food sustainability and we also Incorporated the First Nation Food health guide into our lesson. I believe by adding Aboriginal content into our lesson plans we will reach students on a personal level. It also got me to think that if there are other students with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds as teachers we should try and teach them as well.

This class has given me a lot to think about. In five years I hope I remember everything I learned in this class but I know that won't happen. I will remember the importance of the elders in the classroom and also the importance of incorporating different perspectives in the classroom. Wow did our final semester ever fly bye! I can't wait to get out and teach and hopefully to get a job but I wouldn't mind a year off to travel either.

Thanks for reading my blog and I can't believe Canada lost to the States. Brutal!

Also Sherry mentioned Don Burnstick in class and he is so funny. Check him out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JKuTjpfSxQ

Presentations and Second Life

I first want to say all the presentations were awesome on Wednesday and Katie I was only talking because Sharda kept whispering stuff in my ear. I really enjoyed the presentation on filtering content on the Internet and in our schools. I don't really have a solution for this problem. I think students shouldn't be filtered but monitored instead. This way students are trusted with access and they will feel like their being treated like adults. Little do they know, every site they look at is being monitored that way you can catch them off guard! Seriously though students will feel like there being treated like adults and you can deal with the students that go on inappropriate sites.

Also on Wednesday, Dr. Glen Gatin came in and showed us more information on Second Life. I am still not sold on it. I just don't like the idea of students walking around have the capability to talk to anyone. I see the potential of a lot of phone calls from angry parents asking why their children playing video games in school. I do however see some benefits with it. For example students think there are playing a video game in reality they are learning. I would like to try this in the classroom but not until I have a secured teaching position because I can only imagine what some parents might think.

Social Studies and Mike

So i guess i forgot to make a post for last week because I was straight up confused. I'm used to having presenters come to the class and talk to us and this week we just had Mike (best class ever). So far we have been learning a lot about ICT and how we can incorperate it into the classroom. I have also learned some positives from it and some benifits from it.

The main thing I have learned so far from this class is that a little goes a long way. What I mean by this is that there is a lot out there and a lot of websites and wikis to choose from. My advice to all teachers is try a bunch of them and pick one. Do not use a different website for each class because you will drive yourself mad alone with all the different passwords and user names. When I get my classroom (I hope by next year) I will use this blogging style because I find it super useful to connect with everyone in class. I will have the students all long into probably just one website so it is easier for me. If they have to create a new account so what, they are young they can remember everything.

I am still a little bit sketchy about the use of technology in the classroom. Although Mike is right we can't just ignore it because it won't go away. We need to find a way to use it and inccoperate it in the classroom and I will do my best to do so. I will also put a post up for this week on sunday if anyone is confused.

One last thing, I will never let cellphones in my classroom!

Keeping your Distance

Howard Griffith and Donald Girouard brought the heat on Monday with their presentation on Distance Education. For starters I did not realize how many courses you could take through Distance Education and also the ways you could take the courses.
For students who live in remote communities, especially for students living in northern Manitoba this is away for them to graduate with the courses they want. For a lot of students its hard to imagine not getting into the classes they want especially in a high school setting. For a lot of students this is a reality and it sucks!
I took several Distance Education courses when I got to university through WebCT. They honestly saved my life and also shaved a year off of my university life. There was a couple of Native Studies courses that I wanted to take which unfortunately were not offered through the campus. I got lucky though and they were offered through Distance Education and I loved it. I got to work at my own pace and I didn't have to take the bus in the freezing -40 temperatures to get to school.
The only problem I might see with Distance Education is lack of personal touch. If a student has a question and the Internet down is for whatever reason or the teacher can't be reached by phone it becomes a major headache. Even if you consider this as the major problem of Distance Education its a very minor one. At least the student is having the opportunity to take this class rather driving hours to be in an actual boring classroom.

Virtual World in your classroom

It was lucky enough to hear another wicked presentation in class by none other than Dr. Glen Gatin. Dr. Gatin really opened my eyes to the program called Second Life. I kind of heard about Second Life before on the television show The Office. I always thought it was just a game to played kind of like World of War Craft or just another role playing game. He explained that it is more just a game and that students can use this world to explore information and learn more than they every could in the classroom.

It's a great way for students to socially interact with one another when they can't in person and for a lot of northern and remote communities this could be very benificial. It can also serve as a virtual museum for students. They are able to see different worlds and artifacts that they wouldn't be able to see if it wasn't for the virtual world that second life provides. It also covers all the aspects of the Manitoba curriculum: programming for the sciences, communication for the social sciences, and its just good time educational time all around. You can also have discussions and debates in Second Life that your students could participate in. Like it said on the YouTube video schools such as Harvard host live debates, now how cool would it be as a class to sit in on one of those!

Second Life seems like a great educational tool that you can bring into the classroom. Teachers and students will benifit from all it has to offers. Students will also be learning education material without even realizing it.