Author: hgubbins

Fresh Grade

On February 4, 2020

Hello Holly, Casey and Kate here!

Today we wanted to share a bit about a new app that teachers are using called Fresh Grade!

Keep reading to learn more about this awesome online resource and to discover our true thoughts on this app…

So what is Fresh Grade? First off, this app allows students to watch their growth over their educational career from k-12 in the form of a digital portfolio/learning journal. If that isn’t cool enough, it also grants access to parents so they can comment and add posts to their student’s profile.

Some more sweet features are:

Free for everyone to use (teachers, students and parents)

Create lesson plans and activities

Unlimited number of classes and subjects

Unlimited number of assignments and projects

Attach files (rubrics, links and examples)

Make online groups within your classes

Compatible with more than 100 apps

Unlimited storage

Useful to create and store formative, summative and interim assessments

Create custom assessments for each student

Embed google translate for international students to communicate with teachers and parents

Send messages to parents private or in groups

There is a fresh grade blog!

Online professional development and learning available for teachers

E-books and case studies available

There is an area where your whole school can go onto Fresh Grade and principals/admins can see (with privacy permission)

Some unfortunate cons…

If parents/guardians or students are not familiar with technology or they don’t have accessibility to a laptop or computer it would be difficult

If parents/guardians don’t feel comfortable having their students information online even though it is private and secure

If you still don’t know what is going on in this blog… here are two videos that hopefully sum up any questions you still might have about Fresh Grade!

Anyways, that’s all for today, hoped you enjoyed our surprise collab.

Holly, Casey and Kate

Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII)

by hgubbins

On January 28, 2020

In EdTech

Today I was given the opportunity to visit the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry located downtown Victoria. I have lived in Victoria my whole life and I wasn’t aware that this school existed. I was very surprised to learn about how this inquiry school worked. It is very free and open for the students to decide what they want to learn and where they want to learn it. Each student when starting an inquiry project has to develop questions, which are then followed by several steps that they have to go through then conclude their learning adventure in their chosen topic. They have all other subjects that regular high schools have like art, photography and filmmaking, technology, science, English, math, social studies, physical education, and music. The interesting thing is that there is not a set schedule for the students or a bell schedule. A few of the courses listed above meet once a week and have the rest of the time for students to work independently or with their teacher getting additional help tailored to them. Also, there are no classes designated to specific grades, they are all mixed based on their interests or inquiry projects. I really like this idea because I think that students who are driven to a certain subject can work together and come up with great research and questions.

There were multiple questions about how do these courses then get assessed or are they transferrable to universities. The PSII school still has the same curriculum and exams but are assessed in different ways than a normal high school would, like from test scores or assignments handed in. This school grades its students based on their learning journey and ability, they also don’t believe in homework, which I think is amazing!

I am hesitant because for certain students, does this “free” and “self-taught” environment really work? I know that for me, I like to be given something and then learn it. I know that Principal Jeff Hopkins mentioned that the students use the curriculum to create inquiry projects off of the competencies and content, but how can students really accomplish these on their own, from their own inquiry projects they have created. I have a hard time thinking about that if some students want a more structured timetable with the same classes at the same time would this school be able to do that.

The PSII school is an independent school that is supported by the government by only 50%, which means that the students have to pay around $7,000 a year. Within the $7,000 the students get a membership at the YMCA gym which is where they do their physical education classes when they need facilities. The students are involved in using facilities in the community that are outside of their school, which normal high schools don’t usually do. I think this is a wonderful addition to this school because, for high school students, this is really great to get them ready to post-secondary and becoming young adults.

From listening to Principal Jeff Hopkins speak, I have some new ideas and thoughts that I will be bringing into my future classroom.

What is Kahoot

by hgubbins

On January 28, 2020

In EdTech Inquiry

Kahoot is a website and an app that allows teachers to create different quizzes per subject or unit. The students will use their own devices, school computers or tablets to login and join the class. The teacher will start the quiz and the students will follow along and engage in a friendly competition to promote a positive environment and build upon past knowledge.

Kahoot uses a game-based approach to test students on their knowledge and learning capacity of a specific subject and may further push them to answer challenging problem-solving questions to further their understanding. Kahoot promotes sociability and support amongst peers, therefore students will cheer on other classmates. Kahoot can also be used in multiple different settings besides the classroom.

Enjoy this trailer brought to you by Kahoot!

By Holly and Kate

Learning new songs

by hgubbins

On January 27, 2020

In Music

I went to Long and McQuade about 2 weeks ago and picked up some sheet music. I decided to learn how to play Bohemian Rhapsody, Shallow and Always Remember Us This Way, which are from A Star is Born. I have been playing the piano since I was 6 years old and I stopped taking lessons when I turned 16. I definitely regret stopping piano lessons but this music class has regained my confidence and gets me excited to learn these new songs.

I started learning Shallow, it was fairly simple to learn the treble clef, it was a bit tricky at times combining the treble and bass clefs together. Some days were better than others when I was practicing. The song only took me about 2 days to learn but I know that it will need some more practice and going over. I know how the song is supposed to sound so once I figured out the chords it was easy to play. I will now be perfecting it and playing it very smoothly over and over again until it is perfect.

I had my cousin in town from Nanoose Bay and she loves to sing so we decided to do a little performance for my family and it is very difficult to play the piano while somebody else is singing along.

Beginning My Yoga Journey

by hgubbins

On January 27, 2020

In Free Inquiry

Today I started my first yoga practice! I have practiced yoga before but I have never been this serious about gaining strength and flexibility. I have danced since I was 5 years old and gained flexibility over the years but I stopped dancing when I was 17. Over the past 3 years, I have lost flexibility and strength. I want to get back into the habit of being fit and healthy and this is why I chose yoga. Today I laid out my mat, put on my yoga wear on and put on some calming music. I started stretching my arms, then neck and then legs to get warmed up. I have taken some yoga classes before so I knew where to start but after getting warmed up, I felt a little lost. So I decided to try and find an app that had an instructor. The app is called YOGA. It has multiple different lessons to do different things for your body. Every lesson has a video to follow along with.

After my yoga practice today, I feel more relaxed and I am probably going to be a bit sore tomorrow, especially after not having stretched in a while. For my next yoga practice, I am going to focus on stretching which will allow me to gain more strength.

RiP! Movie and OER Commons Review

by hgubbins

On January 21, 2020

In EdTech

-The song doesn’t matter who sings it, it depends on who owns the copyright

-The creative process became more important than the finished product. (Making remixes with videos)

-Ideas are intellectual properties (copyright) public

-Culture builds on the past, the past tries to control the future

-Ideas are becoming less free

-Copyright depends on the person and how upset they are

-Can’t call it your creative idea when it isn’t all your own ideas

-Public domain can freely build on other ideas which is part of evolution

-Copyright was supposed to help people create not stop them

-New ideas are based on old creations

-Can’t stop people from taking culture and making it their own

-Fair use is to have free speech

-Disney is an example of recreations from past stories and ideas

-Mickey Mouse drawing

-Locks put on DVDs, movies, CDs through software

– No money went to the artist after people who were accused of stealing music who wasted 1000’s of dollars

-2007 Music law remade

-Cancer information is pattened (we could be one step away from curing cancer but people cant link other peoples information to their own and keeping it from others)

-American Copyright Laws had to be made so that companies/people could sell and distribute their goods

-Humans are better working together

-Copyright makes people more selfish

I think that copyright is a bit ridiculous for multiple reasons. I think that if people make music for the whole world to listen to that it should be okay if somebody who has bought the CD or paid for the download to put it online. Musicians can own a song and lyrics but I don’t think that they own the chords because people can make their own music based on the same chords but have different lyrics. The music part of copyright is a tricky area because if people who make remixes of multiple different songs, yes they are technically coping the song but they are using the songs to create their own. The part about Mickey Mouse where this guy was trying to use Mickey Mouse’s character and image into his own stories is copyright. He has no permission to use Mickey Mouse in his comic books. This also would have ruined Mickey Mouse’s image to adults and children by being used in the comic book that was inappropriate.

Here is the link to the movie that I watched in class

RiP! Remix Manifesto Documentary

OER COMMONS:

This website Open Educational Resources is a great place for teachers to share lesson plans and projects. It’s interesting because after learning about copyright and how selfish people can be about their own ideas and especially teachers sharing their lesson plans. This website goes against normal laws because the people who post on this website don’t care about copyright they just want to share their ideas and lesson plans. It is an open website which means anybody can post and anybody can use the resources. I will definitely use this in my teaching career.

Introduction to Kahoot Ed Tech Inquiry

by hgubbins

On January 21, 2020

In EdTech Inquiry

Kate and I believe that Kahoot is a great tool to use in intermediate grades and for any subject. From our own experiences, we feel confident in the fact that Kahoot is a great resource for students to further study and solidify their knowledge. We aim to look further into how Kahoot benefits students in solidifying their previous knowledge and further expand their thinking and encourage them to think outside of the box.

By Kate and Holly

Image credit, Kahoot.com

Introduction to Trello

by hgubbins

On January 14, 2020

In EdTech

I found Trello very easy to work, it is organized and clean to see everything that needs to be done. I do like keeping track of my assignments and staying organized but I would prefer to keep track of my assignments on paper. The website itself is a great tool that I will only be using for this class. The pros of this website are that it’s organized and you can design the layout of it. The cons of this website are that it is tricky to use in the beginning and I prefer to use paper or an agenda to keep track of my assignments.

Introduction to My Free Inquiry Project

by hgubbins

On January 14, 2020

In Free Inquiry

I have decided to choose yoga for my free inquiry project. My inquiry statement is how can doing yoga three times a week benefit your body and mind. I love yoga, it makes me feel calm and relaxed. I chose yoga because I would love to learn more. I have studied yoga on and off for the past few years and I hope through this assignment that I become stronger and more familiar with yoga poses and language. I also wish to become more flexible and focused on myself and my breathing, which is a very important part of yoga.