Month: September 2019

ExpAnding my Personal Learning Network (PLN)

I am excited to start connecting with educators and relevant topics happening in schools via my PLN. I started my Twitter account in 2009…wait…what!? A full decade ago. Well, it has been pretty much dormant for the last couple years so maybe things will change now. In the past, I loved being able to follow news stories as they were unfolding and have accessibility to people and companies that would otherwise be out of reach.

Well….Hello, retweet! My first Twitter post in a couple years thanks to @BCEdChat. They hold online discussions every Sunday night at 7 pm, a great resource for BC educators . My calendar is marked and I hope to join in and view what is happening in regards to SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) in BC.

Also, just a note to myself to check out BC Principals’ & Vice-Principals’ Association @BCPVPA on Twitter.

Below are a couple organizational tools available

Tweetdeck is an organizational tool to use once I start checking out all the hashtags and influencers on the Twitter platform. I’m not sure if I will start using it but I do like the layout and useful columns to display whatever or whomever I am following at the moment.

Trello ~ The sticky notes of the web! Good for organizing workload or to help you know where you are at with various “to do” lists.

Reflections on Most Likely to Succeed

by emilyshorthouse

On September 19, 2019

In EdTech

I found there was much to ponder and question in the refreshing documentary
Most Likely to Succeed. by American filmmaker Greg Beck Whiteley. A few notes I wrote while watching the film included:

Soft-skills ~ Big push into inquiry based learning to focus on communication, team work and problem solving to prepare students for today’s work environments. The difference being that the current education system was built during the industrial revolution and was focused on creating a work force that would conform to factory time clocks and a specific skill set.
The parent factor ~ How do we talk to parents who are skeptical about new ways of learning or unsure about switching from traditional methods of teaching.
Grit and perseverance ~ both were mentioned in the film and point to resourcefulness, resilience, and a growth mindset that tie into being a lifelong learner who will succeed at times and fail at times. The filmmaker showed this by highlighting a San Diego high school High Tech High, and its students who were working towards a final year-end collaborative project.
It’s all a gamble ~ Or is it? I liked how the filmmaker left the big question of will schools like High Tech High succeed in producing a new generation of learners who will carry our society into the future.

Fall in Mystic Vale

Cocoa

by emilyshorthouse

On September 14, 2019

In Free Inquiry

Meet Cocoa. Cocoa is our three-year-old husky mix from the North. We adopted her as an eight-week-old puppy from the Victoria Humane Society not knowing who her parents were, nor how big she would end up. She has grown into a 75-pound, smart, affectionate, intuitive Cocoa bean. We like to call her our northern dog with an island edge.

Now, Cocoa may not be an old dog, but she is a stubborn dog. The question is: Can we teach her new tricks? Her current rotation of dog tricks include sit, down, stay, come, shake a paw, roll over, spin around and the occasional bark on command.

As my free inquiry project I am hoping to teach her how to play dead. I will look into online sources, library, social media and any dog experts out there to help us get to our goal. I like the idea of working with Cocoa for this project because what better way to pair a busy, work-heavy schedule with a little stress-relieving doggy love.

I hope you enjoy this inquiry and feel free to join along with your four-legged pup!

I’ll leave you with this cute puppy video of Cocoa at the beach.

My Journey into Educational Technology ~ EDCI 336

by edtech

On September 11, 2019

In EdTech

Welcome to my first post on my Ed Tech portfolio! I will be exploring the digital world, sharing thoughts and learning about what is educational technology in 2019. I am excited to find ways to inspire and engage students and build the classroom outside its physical walls.

Balance between our online and offline worlds and how it is taught to school-age children and accessibility in technology are a couple of the bigger ideas I would like to delve into this term.

I have heard technology that works best is intuitive and organic in nature and can’t help but look to an inspiring quote from Albert Einstein who said: “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

Looking up the Heaven Tree at Carmanah/Walbran Provincial Park, August 2019.

"Think first about what you want to achieve, then find the technology to get you there."