Studying tips ?

Well looking around the university, you can see everyone is starting to realize that next week is our final week of classes. Being a first year university student isn't all it's cracked up to be. I was not prepared for my first semester finals like I thought I would be. Thankfully this semester I only have to write one final. One big English final. I know there are about a billion ways to study, and distress but for me, I find if I leave stuff until the last moment I get it done without any distractions. I found this super cool youtube video about studying that I really wanted to share with everyone; because I am assuming (and forgive me if I am wrong) you probably have more than one final to worry about. I thoroughly enjoyed my second semester more than my first semester due to the nature of the classes. 

Howdini.com, is a series of videos made to teach people how to do things from studying - managing stress - how to remember what you read, they are an excellent bunch of videos and I enjoyed watching them. 

new paths

Choosing a new path, isn’t easy. Sometimes, more or less most times things don’t work out as you planned, and things change. Everything happens for a reason. Deciding to go into education was what I always imagined I would do. Ever since I was little, I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to help kids, and teach them and make them trust me like I trusted my grade seven and eight teacher. Addictions counselling was my second choice, if I didn’t get into education. However, I did get in. But this second semester.. has shown me that I don’t want to be a teacher anymore. At least, not a music teacher. Have you ever turned your passion into a career, did it take something away from it? Because that’s what has happened to me. Now I am going a totally different direction, and things are scary. I’ll move to a new city, new province. New school, different friends. Leaving old ones behind. I’m scared, but I think a new found independence will be good. The best part? I get to start a new, and take what I’ve learned from this first semester at the university and use it there. I understand that education is very different from counselling, but things I’ve learnt will stay with me, and help me along the way. Things may be tough, and they may seem like they aren’t going the way I planned, but everything will work out. 

Everything works out in the end, if it hasn't worked out; it's not the end 

Technology Wordle

There has been so many things I have learnt in this class that I had no idea existed. Before this class I considered myself an above average technology user, I am on the computer everyday, and if you gave me a computer and asked me to do something I could probably figure out pretty easily how to. I'm not so much into the computer science side of computers but more the programs and applications you use on a computer. I have taught my parents how to use the computer and have shown them new and easy ways to do things, which is exaclty what this class does for me. I have really enjoyed this class and I feel as if this class will be the one I take the most away from.

I made this wordle uses the definitions of technology, computers, resource and education which I feel really explain this class as a whole. (Not to mention all the amazing youtube videos I've discovered due to this class).

I think this class needs to be a requirement for all education student now, especially because of the direction that the future is taking us.

six word stories

six word stories :)

This is one of my dearest friends and I, at a girls night I had. I always have fun when I'm with her, and we're always laughing.

this is from my trip to Italy last spring. It was the most amazing experience I have ever had, and I pray everyday that I get to go back

Youtube Covers: Copyright laws?

You know something I don't understand? Why is it when someone posts a cover of a song on youtube it gets taken down due to copyright? They aren't making any money off of the songs, and I mean if it was me, and people all over the world were sitting in their bedrooms and bathrooms doing covers of my songs I'd feel so honored. The weird thing is it's only some videos, so what are those videos that get taken down just to bad that the artist's don't want people hearing their song heard like that? or are they too good, and the artist is jealous. I mean I'm sure all of you heard about the Manitoba girl who did a cover of Lady Gaga's song Born This Way, and Lady Gaga was so honored she asked the girl to preform the song with her. I bet that changed this little girls life, and yet some videos still get taken down?

Maybe I just don't understand enough about youtube, and copyrights..

What do you think?

This is the little girl, I think she does an amazing song. I don't even really care for the new Lady Gaga song, but when this little girl sings it, I like to listen to it. Good for her !

Tech Task 5 - it finally let me upload it!

after weeks of trying, youtube finally let me upload my video :) so here it is!

Pros and cons of content filtering in schools

Content filtering is a way to block content based on an analysis of what it is rather than the source or other criteria. mostly it is used to filter emails, web access and to get rid of spam mail. In schools content filtering is needed. you cant just allow students to go on whatever websites they feel, or be looking a porn? (okay the porn was a little far). But i mean, think about it, when you were in high school what websites were you mostly on? Facebook, newgrounds, and other mind numbing boring websites, to waste time on. How do i know you are guilty of this? because everyone is, me included. Even at my job now I wish our websites weren’t blocked. More and more content filtering is taking place. Whether it do be to keep people on task, or to hide things from young eyes it’s nothing you can stop. However you can be smart about it, are you going to be that teacher that blocks as many sites as possible? Or the teacher who is cool and fun and lets their students have free time where they can go on the computers, and play different games. It’s all about discretion, and age. You’re probably not going to block the same sites in a grade 4 class that you would in a high school. .

I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out cons to content filtering, and so far, I've only come up with the fact that your students will be mad at you. but that's something you have to deal with. if you’re smart about it, and take the time to actually look at the sites you are blocking and see if they can really do any harm.

So make the right decision and be smart about it.

Technology take over?

Just recently my mother and I had a conversation about the fact that I am always on the computer, or texting and i am never actually on the phone conversing with them. She brought up the fact that eventually we are all going to forget what each other sound like. I then proceeded to try and explain to her about our class where we all participated in the online class. Needless to say I had to physically show her the program and explain very slowly. My mother uses face book, plays solitaire and is actually a decent typist, but she still doesn’t understand why no one uses the phone anyone. So then I asked myself, are we slowly losing our connection to our friends and family because of things like texting, twitter and Facebook. I don't know about you, but the way I find out when my extended families birthdays are is through Facebook, and then instead of calling them to wish them a happy birthday, it's so much easy to type up a quick "Happy Birthday, hope your day goes great!” Does it bother you, when your own family members don’t call you on your birthday and wish you a happy birthday?

Creative Process

As an Arts Education student, learning to become a music teacher for elementary school. I’m working on my own creative process and my own ways to become better at my music. I want to be able to teach kids to be okay with exploring different possibilities and different ideas within their music, and with their music skills. So many of us are taught when we’re younger that there are only one way to do things. That there is only one way to paint, one way to draw, and as teachers they are taught there was only one way to grade. On the finished product, I find that today that is our biggest problem; in my aesthetics education class we are learning to focus on the creative process instead of the finished product. I have found that this has helped me also, as an artist. I focus so much on getting things done, and what they will look and or sound like when I have finished, that I don’t have fun with it anymore. I have lost my imagination. I’ve decided as a new teacher that my philosophy will be to let children explore their imagination within a safe space, which I hope will be my classroom.  That way I will be able to--instead of giving them a grade on if their flower looks like the other students flowers—grade them on the process they took to get to why their flower looks the way it does. What things they used to create this flower, and why they decided to make it look like it does. So what if their flower doesn’t look like a rose, or a lily; did the student have fun making it, and indeed present me a finished product? If yes, then why isn’t that good enough for us as teachers? Why do we find the need to grade our students on making sure what they made looks like we imagined it to look like, if all flowers looked the same, where would the beauty be? I take a ceramics class every Wednesday from 7:00-9:00. Three hours, I took it last semester as well. My problem? Starting too many pieces at once, rushing to get them all done, and not doing my best on them. I would be so excited to take them home, and display them that I wasn’t working to the best of my ability. I wasn’t so much focusing on the time it took to make them look how I imagined them too, as much as if I got them done, I could start something else. Last semester there was a young girl in my class, age 9 or 10. She had the same problem I did, she painted so many pieces that she didn’t do as good as she could of, if she slowed herself down. I recently saw a piece of work from this semester of hers, that she took her time on, it was unbelievable. So I thought to myself, if I slow down, only do a few pieces I could really be good, I mean I’ve been painting since I was 8. Currently I’m working on a vase, with glazes, if you’ve done ceramics you know that with glazes you have to do three coats of every colour. It is a very drawn out process and people often do other pieces while waiting. It’s taking all my patients but I have a feeling the end product will be exactly what I’m thinking it will be. I’ll post a picture, of my end product, just to prove how focusing more on the process then the end product can really come through.