Month: November 2022 (Page 1 of 2)

Final ASL Inquiry

28 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

For my last week of documenting my learning of American sign language (ASL), however not the end of my ASL learning. I was able to put together what I have learned along with some new vocabulary to introduce myself.

I used Kadwing to create the subtitles

I feel very excited to be able to introduce myself in sign language. I could look at it as just stringing along vocab, as well as learning a few new words. However, I like to think the large population opens me up to meeting and connecting with. There are over 70 million people who are deaf worldwide and use sign language. American sign language is a specific dialect of sign language, meaning not all 70 million of these people speak ASL. However, ASL shares many similarities with other dialects, so I may be able to decipher other dialects.

Throughout the course, I have used a couple of different methods to practice all that I have learned. Certain apps and browsers show information in simpler or more visually appealing ways, some are more user friendly than others and some cost more than others. Some are designed to help me study by not giving me the answer, and I must remember them. Whereas others are used as visual review, meaning it shows or hints to the sign.

Wordle – randoms
Canva – groups of vocabulary

Videos with subtitles – youtube
Boomerang – 3 words I struggle with
Boomcards because it is a quiz but I know the answer right away, so it is also review – kahoot would work aswell

More ways I plan to use in the future when my ASL is more conversational

– Writing a play

– I want to be able to sign my favorite songs

How I would teach it in the classroom

– Deaf bingo
– Telephone: where we are alternating whispering and signing the word as it goes around. So that each person either has to switch it from sign to English or vice versa before they pass it on.

Why I would teach ASL in a classroom

Having the ability to speak ASL could benefit a future classroom of mine in several ways. The first and most apparent benefit is the case that I get to work with a student whose first language is ASL. Being able to speak ASL myself and introducing it to the class, would create a more inclusive environment. Secondly, I would have the opportunity to pass this skill on to my students. It is the type of skill you may use rarely, but it can make a world of a difference when you do encounter those opportunities to lend a helping hand through sign. It would be a unique class experience as well as a helpful lifelong skill that I could teach my students.

Design Lab Visit!

28 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

This week our class got to go to the design lab which had an overwhelming amount of innovative learning resources. There were so many cool learning tools being introduced, I made sure to take notes of the ones I could see myself using in the future or just found super cool. Unfortunately, I decided to leave that entire notebook at the design lab. I have been trying to find it to get it back, but so far no luck. This means that this blog post is going to be about all the parts I can remember of the top of my head. I think this is going to add some excitement to this post, as its all the fun and cool ones that stuck with me of course.

When we visited the design lab we were able to look at two different ways of bringing diverse resources into the classroom. We started off by looking at the resources that have been designed for teachers to grab and use as they please. The second option we looked at was the design lab with Ryan Mackenzie. He would come into our future classrooms and introduce some cool resources to our students. The second option included some slightly more complex resources, hence why Ryan comes with it.

In the resource room, I found some really cool things to look at. The teachers have access to a stuffed bat and a great horned owl for the students to learn from. I could imagine looking at these when learning about owl pellets, which I remember doing in grade 5. It could also be used to teach kids about predators as both these birds are, despite how different they look. There was also a preserved cat’s digestive system. This is a great way to show kids how organs really look and the process of preserving them. The similarities and differences between a cat’s digestive system and a human’s can be studied to learn more about our own digestive system. They also had several models of different parts of the body, a hand, an ear, a skull, etc. That can come apart so that the students can study the different parts and functions of those parts. They even had one of my personal favorites adding bingo! They have a crazy amount of resources range from high tech to low tech, making it accessible to everyone.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1077058033/glass-display-with-a-real-hipposideros?show_sold_out_detail=1&source=aw&utm_source=affiliate_window&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=us_location_buyer&utm_content=141392&awc=6220_1669686256_3a587833f02ee08b046ec57e51beff90&utm_term=0

In the design lab the resource that piqued my interest the most was Pixacade, where I designed my very own video game. Pixacade is a physical resource that pairs with an app. All you have to do is draw your name on a piece of paper and take a picture of it on the Pixacade app and play it in real time. It uses color coding to differentiate between the different parts of the game, like the moving parts, bad guys, collectables etc. The coolest part about this game maker that I found was that you do not have to restart your drawing if you make a mistake. For example, I made a maze-based game, but I accidentally made part of the maze to small for my character to fit through. Instead of restarting my drawing which is what I thought I would have to do, I was able to change the size of my character to fit through the maze. There are many customizable options in the app, some other cool features I found were enhancing my bad guys. I was able to make them shoot at me while I tried to complete the maze. I’m sure there are even more diverse options if I had some more time to play around with the app.

Another software I thought was super neat was keep talking and nobody blows up. this is a game designed to encourage teamwork. One students has the bomb and the rest have the codes to diffuse it. the student holding the bomb must explain it to their team, who will teach them how to diffuse it. I think this would be a super fun game at the beginning of the year to help the kids get to know to one another and create a team mentality in the classroom.

https://gamerant.com/keep-talking-nobody-explodes-tips-strategies/

Digital Portfolio – Week 10

18 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

What is a digital portfolio?

A digital portfolio is a place to collect and display documents, presentations, works, and others presented in a digital format. It is also known as an electronic portfolio or an e-portfolio. Digital portfolios can be used to display an individual, group, or organization’s work. It is a way to show one’s skills and talents in a professional, tidy and appealing fashion. An example of a digital portfolio person’s blog or journal, or a company’s or organization’s website. They use it to communicate their values and show what they have to offer.

How can they be used in the classroom?

Digital portfolios can be an extremely useful tool in the classroom. The teacher and or the students can share on the portfolio what they are doing in class. Digital portfolios have several different benefits in the classroom for both students and parents. It can help parents stay involved in their child’s education. Some parents had a horrible experience with school and are not comfortable with going to the school or having one on one communication with a teacher. Having a digital portfolio gives them the option to stay caught up with their child’s education and encourage them along the way. Digital portfolios offer students an alternative way to demonstrate their learning, they can share pictures, videos, writing, documents, and others. Another positive outcome of using digital portfolios in the classroom is that it lasts longer than a paper portfolio. I made several portfolios throughout grade school that I would just discard at the end of the year, but as we all know the internet is forever. Students can refer to their learning at any time and look at their improvements, a very encouraging experience that allows for learning and growth.

Seesaw

This week in class we played around with Seesaw, exploring a few of the many posting options that Seesaw offers. We were able to post videos, pictures, and even drawings. Another cool feature it offers is a voice-over that you can apply to pictures or videos. I would use Seesaw in a classroom as it is very user-friendly. It was easy to navigate the different types of posts as it is quick to learn. The teacher must approve each post before it is shown, which is a great advantage for keeping the students on track and making sure everything is appropriate. Students could use Seesaw to show off their work to their parents and peers (depending on the post setting,) creating healthy communication and an opportunity for positive reinforcement.

Seesaw – https://web.seesaw.me/

EdTech Presentations Part 2

16 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

Virtual Reality (VR) for learning

There are 3 types of VR

– Virtual reality
– Augmented reality
– Extended reality

Virtual reality

– Stand-alone – mobile as the entire computer and cameras are in the VR mask
– Tethered – immobile as it connected to a pc that holds the cameras

Examples

Titanic VR through through the PS4

Students can relive the titanic to teach them why it sunk. It also provides information and facts about the ship to enhance learning.

Costs around 500$

Metaquest 2

This is a stand-alone (mobile) VR head set that uses hand tracking technology to create a completely immersive and intuitive learning experience. Some of the softwares mentioned were librarium, hand physics lab, nanome, star chart

On librarium students can study in an interactive library. It comes with several courses already downloaded into the game, but you are able to make your own flashcards aswell as download other peoples.

Pros and Cons

Pros

– Hands on

– engaging

– Free software available

– Updating quickly

Cons
– Tech issues

– Can cause motion sickness

– Immobile

– One at a time

– Expensive

PlayStation Titanic VR link: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1591-CUSA10653_00-TITANICVRA151912

Meta apps:

Virtual reality field trips

Virtual field trips will open several learning opportunities. It gives teachers a chance to make the learning special by decorating the classroom, encouraging the kids to wear costumes, or bringing themed snacks for the students. There are several different free software’s that are available for enhancing virtual field trips.

YouTube – contains lots of free virtual fieldtrips https://www.youtube.com/
Quizlet – quizzes https://quizlet.com/
Kahoot – class wide competitive quizzes https://kahoot.com/
Jam Board – interactive sorting https://jamboard.google.com/
Bomb Cards – flashcards that tell you the answer right away https://boomf.com/collections/bomb
Canva – designing graphics https://www.canva.com/
Thinglink – used for making fieldtripshttps://www.thinglink.com/

Minecraft as a Learning Tool -Week 9

10 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

I was in grade 5 when Minecraft came out and I used the iTunes gift card I got for my birthday to get it. Best game ever! My little sister and I would play together, building houses, towns, traps, farms and whatever else we could think of. I have never used Minecraft education, but subconsciously I learned lots from Minecraft on its own. On one of my farms I had food dispenser that dispensed treats for my dogs. This dispenser would dispense the treats completely randomly, teaching me probability. I learned about gravity from blocks falling when I would break the ones underneath them to mine. A large lesson I learned from playing minecraft was area and perimeter. In order to figure out how much wood I needed to fill in my floors, I would figure out the area by using the perimeter.

Minecraft has two different modes, survival and creative. In survival mode, in order to live you have to gather food and collect resources. In creative mode students have access to all of the resources and can fly. These features enable them to build whatever their imagination desires.

As listed in the video by “” by PBS idea channel some other possibilities for teaching in the original Minecraft app is teaching physics by measuring how long it takes a block to drop. Teachers could use Minecraft to teach students about architecture by building famous buildings. Another idea is to give students a task where they must work together but they can only speak in whatever language they are learning.

The YouTube video by the PBS idea channel talks briefly about the Minecraft mod called computer craft which can be used to teach students coding. Another mod I found that could be useful for teaching is the vehicle mod. It introduces planes, fishing boats, motor boats, mining drills, tanks, and many more, each that come with accessories such as cabins, bases, tracks, and more. In order to, to build some of the vehicles students have to make separate parts, like the propeller, engines, tires, and more. One way to use this would be to teach mechanics, physics, the function and properties of a wheel. l and many other lessons. You can also teach young kids what a blueprint is, as one is required to craft each vehicle.

I plan to use minecraft in my future classroom in many subjects. Personally, I would love to use it for teaching perimeter and area, as it’s a great opportunity when students are figuring out how many resources they will need to make the floors and a roof of the students house. Students getting to design their own house is super engaging. The whole game being in blocks makes it an excellent starting point for learning perimeter and area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcFFSxw12qk – click this caption for a step by step tutorial on how to build this house

Sources

https://mcpedl.com/basic-survival-vehicles-craftable-addon/

Technologies that Support Diverse Learners

9 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

Here is a video highlighting technologies designed to support diverse learners in the classroom. Some of these technologies can make the world of a difference!

Zachary Perreault, Claire Massier, Jennie Thompson and Karis Buizer

Eye gaze technology – https://eyegaze.com/

Breathe with Sesame Street – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.sesameworkshop.ResilienceThinkBreathDo&hl=en_CA&gl=US

Seeing AI – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/seeing-ai

Immersive Reader – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-immersive-reader-in-word-a857949f-c91e-4c97-977c-a4efcaf9b3c1

Using Youtube to Learn ASL – Week 9

9 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/policies/community-guidelines/

Throughout my journey of learning American sign language, I have used several different tools and resources to help me. One of the difficult things about learning sign language is that some of the signs have complicated actions or movements. It can be hard to understand what exactly the hands are doing the first time learning a new sign. So what makes a good resource for learning ASL? When I am looking for resources, I look at whether it is a video demonstration or a picture, and if it is a real person or a cartoon. A resource that has really helped me with those difficult words is YouTube. Rather than pictures, that can’t move to show the actions or movement of the hands, it is way easier to understand a sign when it is demonstrated on video. Having someone demonstrate rather than just cartoon hands is very helpful as it shows the viewer where the sign is done (shoulder height, Head height, etc.)

After I watch the video, I make a list of the words I am struggling most with, as well as any tips to help me remember them. Sometimes I put two vocab words together in my list, so I can focus on learning the small differences between those two signs. To solidify my learning, I try to go through the list of words once a day, each day. This helps me keep the vocabulary, instead of forgetting it when I move on to next week’s learning goals.

This week I learned how to sign my fruits and vegetables on YouTube. Here is the video I used in case anyone else wants to check it out! I really like this video because she gives tips and tricks for memorization as she teaches the signs. She also teaches some basic sentences using the vocabulary at the end, which is super helpful as sentence structure is very different in ASL.

Learn how to sign on youtube

My list of words to study extra!

pineapple
blackberry
mango
pea pods vs string beans
berry vs cherry

EdTech Presentations

8 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

What makes a good class blog?

Class dojo

Classroom dojo is a free classroom resource to connect teachers, students and parents. The Teacher creates their classroom dojo and sends the students and their parents a code to join. It is a private site so they will need the code to access it. The teacher has the ability to make posts and monitor who is logging onto the app, both parents and students. It is a fantastic way for parents and teachers to stay in touch, by the teacher posting notices and announcements or private messaging. Parents are able to view their kids’ posts and projects to observe their progress. I would say that the best part of the app is in the beginning when kids get to customize a fun avatar as a fun engaging activity.

https://www.classdojo.com/

Google sites

Google sites is a website used for building public or private websites that automatically saves to your google drive. Teachers can use it to remind parents of upcoming activities by posting announcements and forms. It is also awesome for posting resources for the students to access from home. This site has some cool features such as a section to set up polls for the students to answer. Another cool feature is the real time editing teachers can do as a pair when they share the site with one another.

https://sites.google.com/new

Jotform

Jotform is an app you can download for your phone or access the internet through your computer. On this app, you can make surveys and polls for the students to access in the classroom. You can also use it to make forms, which present as printable pdfs for parents at home. It includes a simple and effortless way to save, by having a button that emails the work to you. As a teacher, you can link your professional social media accounts for parents. A large positive attribute of this app is that it runs as public or private depending on your preferences. This app is public so it is important not to post any of your own or students’ personal information.

https://www.jotform.com/

Seesaw

Seesaw is a website designed to keep teachers and their student’s parents informed on what is going on in the classroom. This site is fully private, meaning parents need a code to access it and it is not seen by the public. It is free and easy to navigate, making it simple to post announcements for parents. A cool feature of this app is that teachers can add a second teacher to the site. This would be ideal for a co-teaching situation.

https://web.seesaw.me/

Using tech to make the classroom more inclusive!

https://edu.google.com/intl/ALL_ca/workspace-for-education/classroom/

Virtual classrooms

Virtual classrooms include real-time meetings like zoom and teams, but it also includes interactive websites like bright space and google classrooms. The beauty of these classrooms is that they are always accessible. It gives the students an alternate mode of instruction as well as the opportunity to privately message their questions. These types of sites provide an excellent place for students to catch up on coursework if they missed a class.

Immersive reader

Immersive reader is a feature on word that reads your document to you and highlights the words as it goes. It is accessible for free through the school district otherwise, it would cost students money. Immersive reader has many tools to help students of all levels to improve their schoolwork. The speed of the reader is adjustable to go faster or slower. It can highlight all verbs, nouns, adjectives etc, which would be helpful to teach parts of speech. Immersive reader is able to translate documents for students struggling with the language. It can change the background of the document, as it is easier for some students to read off a certain color other than white. It is important to be careful that students do not become dependent on immersive reader.

Accessible in the view tab of word

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZObtfKJpsY-lywwLvYQbdA

Nearpod

Nearpod is a program for making your presentation more interactive in the classroom. Teachers are able to upload presentations or start from scratch. It allows the teacher to add virtual field trips, quizzes, games, polls, and more to their presentation. Students sign into the presentation with a code from their device and can follow along with the presentation as well as interact. At the bottom of the screen, there is always a whiteboard accessible to jot things down and add notes throughout the presentation. After the presentation, the student’s submitted results are emailed to the teacher for easy marking. This app is accessible to diverse learners by allowing audio submissions rather than written. an issue with this resource is that each student would need an individual device which is not always a possibility.

https://nearpod.com/

Computational Thinking – Week 8

5 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

What is Computational Thinking?

Computational thinking is the ability to recognize patterns and deconstruct for the purpose of problem-solving or finding a strategy. The same way a computer breaks everything down into algorithms, computational thinking requires the person to break things down into steps. This type of thinking is a great tool for abstracting important information. It allows the student to sift through the information and pull out only what is important. This type of thinking is used in day to day life when we make a to do list, as we are breaking our day or week down into easier, more manageable steps. Computational thinking is also involved in any type of strategy making. It helps us to find the best and quickest way to a specific result. Computational thinking is used constantly to make our actions more efficient and our lives easier. Computational thinking is an essential life school in and out of the classroom.

How Does it Fit into the BC Curriculum?

Computational thinking is crucial in every subject of school. For example, it is used in math to develop strong number sense. In math, we no longer want to teach kids mindless steps or how to plug numbers into an equation. Nowadays we are trying to teach students the meaning of their procedures, we want students to understand what it means when they are adding or any other mathematical procedure, not just how to reach the answer. This is where computational thinking comes in by having students break it down and look at what is really happening. Also in math, there are often many ways to get to one answer. Computational thinking allows the student to evaluate these strategies and pick the most efficient one for them. In science one of the big ideas is that living things are diverse but can be grouped, this is where computational thinking comes in. Students are able to recognize patterns in certain species to be able to group together. In English language arts at any grade, students often start with an all about me unit. This unit is to help them look at all the special little parts that come together to make them who they are. Students are asked to look at themselves and deconstruct to best of their ability the parts that make them unique.

How does it fit into every day life?

Nowadays people’s lives are filled with a million and one things. Our hobbies, our sports, our careers, our education, our family, our friends, our health, and lots of other things to work on. Computational thinking helps us make the most of our time by abstracting the important stuff, decomposing daunting tasks into smaller ones, and finding the most practical strategy Students will be able to use computational in their future careers. Any type of builder or mechanic requires computational thinking to break their job down into steps. Any type of manufacturer or inventor needs to be able to break their product down into pieces and understand how it works. Any job that requires communication could be improved by strong computational skills. The key to efficient and persuasive communication is being able to abstract and relay only the important information. Overall, strong computational skills make people more efficient, which is beneficial in any career. It is all about being able to break things down to find the fastest, most efficient way to get the desired result. Making the most of our time is crucial in the 21^st century to avoid burning out.

ASL Nursery Rhyme – Week 8

4 November 2022 / kbuizer / 0 Comments

I have been using both apps since last week and have learned lots from them. What makes this such a successful tool is that it is constantly in my pocket, when I have some time to spare, I can pull out my phone and do a quick review. I find myself practicing between classes and always getting some studying in before I go to sleep.

One of the things I have learned from this app is the children’s nursery rhyme, “row row row your boat.” This would be a unique lesson to teach in a classroom as it would give the students a hidden talent, that could one day help them connect with someone through signs. It may even be what sparks a learning journey of sign language for one of the students. After all my grade one teacher taught us the alphabet in sign language, and here I am learning it now.

Row Row Row your Boat

https://www.arkonadental.com/kids-dentistry/

The other thing I have been continuing to work on this week is the basics chapters in the book, “Signing: How to Speak with Your Hands,” by Elaine Costello.