My Final Genius Hour Blog Post

The end is bittersweet! I have thoroughly enjoyed this class, developing and learning more about my Genius Hour topic, creating my Genius Hour movie trailer, and creating my TED talk on a subject that I am passionate about.

I have also really enjoyed the gamification of this course. Through the series of badges I completed, I built my skills as a technological teacher and learner, creating a technological toolbox to bring with me in the classroom.

At the beginning of this course, I felt anxious and apprehensive because I am not the most technologically savvy individual. I have come to realize that my fears were unfounded, and that with the right guidance I am able to engage with the digital and online world, professionally and in a respectful way.

Overall I have exceeded my personal expectations and I look forward to continuing to explore online tools and resources so that I can provide a fun and engaging classroom for our emerging digital learners.

Genius Hour Final Reflection

I am really glad that we completed the Genius Hour assignment. I recognize how important passion based learning is for students and how it expands their knowledge by encouraging them to ask questions and make discoveries for themselves. 

My question that I asked is based upon my curiosity and desire to learn more about how I can be the best educator that I can. I want to engage future learners and inspire them with my desire and passion for learning. I will always be a lifelong learner but as an educator I believe it is my duty to stay current with changing approaches to teaching and tehchnology to ensure that how and what I teach is relevant and engaging for students. 

I wanted to say thank you to my professor. Without his guidance and support I believe that I would have struggled with learning a large quantity of technological tools and programs in such a relatively short amount of time. I appreciate how this course has been taught and I look forward to putting my newfound skills and resources to good use!

Review of Tech Class #5

Today in tech class we are learning about new tools that we can use in the classroom. I specifically focused on two tools which I will explain for you and provide links to.

Paper.li

Paper.li is a program that makes daily newspapers following the tweets that a Twitter user follows, hash tags, or lists. This is a great program because the newspaper is in a reader-friendly format that uses Twitter updates and links to bring readers stories, tweets, videos, photos and more. Overall creating the newspaper is simple and the end result is great. This is a great tool to use in the classroom or to bring together a group or class hashtag!

Watch the following video to find out more about Paper.li and how to use it.

WebQuest

A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity that uses resources throughout the Interent. these online quests help students develop problem-solving and decision-making skills. WebQuests are interesting, motivating and engaging for teachers and students. When developed correctly, WebQuest help to develop critical thinking skills and can incorporate a cooperative learning component to the lesson. As students explore the Internet, they are learning and absorbing information pertaining to the Quest while exercising problem solving skills and critical thinking to solve a problem. When designing a WebQuest, teachers should encourage students to go beyond fact finding and to ask students to use their creativity and critical thinking to solve problems effectively. WebQuests also helps to encourage students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. WebQuests can be both short term and long term.


A great example of a WebQuest Can be viewed below at the following site.

Learning Object

Another interesting and creative tool that I have learned to use is called Wordle. Wordle is on online tool that can be used to generate “word clouds” from text that the user provides. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in a source text. You can be creative with your clouds by using different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. Once the Wordle is created, it can be used as desired (online, printed, etc.). See below for an example of how I used Wordle to create a "word cloud" incorporating key words for my Genius Hour project. 

Genius Hour Update 

As I finalize my research, I am beginning to research and understand the significant role that nutrition plays in education systems. Countries such as Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic and Estonia are only a few countries that provide free nutritious lunches and snacks for students at school. I believe that this is important because it helps prevent childhood obesity and malnutrition in children.

Providing free lunches and snacks for all students is also imperative because when only a few children qualify for the meals, it creates divide and negative stigma for children. Studies have shown that when I child feels that there is a negative stigma attached to the meals, they will not accept them. Also some children may not exactly qualify for the meal, however, they have no access to nutritious meals otherwise and they end up falling through the cracks. 

I believe that providing nutritious snacks and lunches is important for ensuring that the minds and bodies of students are fed. This in turn effects the performance of students and helps them in their learning. 

Cheers until next week!

Ashley

Review of Tech Class #4

Week four of tech class has proven to be valuable in terms of the information I am learning about my Genius Hour topic. I'm beginning to complete my research and compile my own data. I feel that having the teachers candidates complete this assignment is important because it provides us with an opportunity to fully understand the process of Genius Hour, as well as the impact that enabling a student to discover their passions has on the quality of education they ultimately receive.


I am learning so much about various online tools. I especially enjoy the online tool Popplet to capture and organize ideas on both the computer and tablet. I also like how this tool incorporates media literacy in the classroom in a fun and interactive way.

Mayra. Popplet Encouraging Active Learning [Online Image]

Located at: http://bit.ly/2dS6Wul

With all of the information regarding technological innovation in the classroom that we are learning, I am starting to see myself as a successful teacher in a digital age. It is important to look at the benefits that media literacy offers our students and how it can prepare them for future success. I see myself as a teacher who will understand how to incorporate and balance the use of technology in the classroom to best suit the needs of my students and engage them in a meaningful way.

Genius Hour Progression

As I continue my educational journey into my Genius Hour topic, I am realizing that education is something that is important throughout the world. Every country has it's own education system that varies greatly while some are better than others.

#1 South Korea 

wcm1111. South Korean Flag 003. January. 27, 2006 [Online Image]

Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/2eVIWvc 

On the Social Progression Index (SPI) for 2015 South Korea is ranked as #1. What makes South Korea stand out is the fact that they have school 7 days a week and each subject is tought thoroughly for greater understanding. Also the South Korean government invests 11 billion dollars into their education system. 

#2 Japan  

Nicolas Raymond. Japanese Grunge Flag.  April 9, 2012 [Online Image]

Sourced from: http://bit.ly/2dtXbGW

A combination of strong work ethic and technology has played a major role in making the Japanese education system so great. No other country uses technology in the classroom like Japan does. Students have access to resources to answer some of the toughest questions that other students cannot. Japan also has a strong focus on extracurricular activities meaning that they are more expected than optional.  

#3 Singapore

Russell. Flag of Singapore. October 6, 2009 [Online Image]

Sourced from: http://bit.ly/2eBiZwH

Singapore has one of the best primary education systems in the world. The reason why it is so great is because they scrapped the traditional model of teaching (ie. repetition and rote memorization) and rebuilt their primary education system to allow more room for Problem Based learning and Conceptual Learning. 

#4 Hong Kong

AwesomeWiki. Flag of Hong Kong. January 10, 2009 [Online Image]

Sourced from: http://bit.ly/2eZAdbjHong Kong

Hong Kong's educational system is modelled largely off of that of the United Kingdom. Hong Kong's system is run by the Social Welfare Department of the government. Each level of schooling works together to create an overall educational experience.

#5 Finland 

Engineer Jamal. Flag of Finland. July 19, 2011 [Online Image]

Soured from: http://bit.ly/2dtXbGW


Education in Finland has no tuition fees and provide fully subsidized meals for full-time students. Their strategy for achieving equality and excellence is based on the construction of a publicly funded comprehensive school system that does not select, track or stream students (ie. no EQAO testing) during common basic education. Finland has also focused on spreading their school network so that students have access to schools from their homes whenever possible. If it is not possible for a student (i.e., rural areas), then free transportation is provided for students to access more widely dispersed schools. I also admire how Finland focuses on inclusive special education within the classroom and how they utilize various instructional efforts to minimize low achievement.
Finland has short school days and fills the rest of the learning time up with school sponsored educational activities. They believe that a good portion of learning is done outside of the classroom. This helps to build community and foster identity in students. 

#7 Canada

Gersophile. CANADA: Flag. November 7, 2010 [Online Image]

Sourced from: http://bit.ly/2eBK97G

English and French literacy are key components of the the Canadian educational system. Canada also has the world's highest ratio of college graduates. Provinces such as Ontario are going toward child-cantred approaches of education and are working to identify and help students who are at risk of not succeeding early on, to help ensure success in the long run. Also students of different schools, backgrounds, socio-economic status all perform well. 

Resources:

Fair Reporters October 25, 2015 The Best Education Systems in the World 2015

Sourced from:http://fairreporters.net/world/the-best-education-systems-in-the-world-in-2015/

MBC Times. 20 Best Education Systems in the World. February 9, 2016 

Sourced from: http://www.mbctimes.com/english/20-best-education-systems-world 

Online Assessment

See below for a quiz I created using Google Docs regarding the book I Need My Monster, written by Amanda Noll.