As EDTC300 comes to a close, I would like to share the ways in which I contributed to the learning of others. There were three main areas that I contributed to the learning of others: my own blog posts, Twitter, and commenting on others’ blog posts.
I do feel that even though I have contributed to others learning I have not contributed as much as I could have. I could have commented on more blogs than I did and posted more on Twitter. Saying that though I strongly believe that I did the best I could throughout this class. I really enjoyed learning throughout this class and learned a lot about technology and myself.
I can’t believe the semester is coming to an end, that means my learning project is coming to an end as well. I had such a great time learning how to create very different balloon creations from a dog to a pineapple. This journey has given me confidence in blog posting and using online resources to learn how to do a specific skill.
In week two I chose one of the animals my kiddos wanted me to make and I chose the snake. When I gave the child that asked for it they were so excited. They talked about it for weeks after they had received the balloon, I used YouTube to learn how to make this balloon animal.
In week three we used a tool that we have never used before to create a way of documenting our learning. I chose Canva. I really enjoyed using this tool and I have actually used it multiple times since using it for this post.
In week four I used a different source for my learning. I used Tik Tok for this weeks post. I found that I definitely liked using YouTube better. The videos on YouTube that I have used in the past were a lot more descriptive in what you had to do to create the balloon creation.
In week five I decided to create a horse. I again used YouTube I have come to really love using YouTube as a resource of learning. There are multiple resources for learning how to make a horse but I chose this video because I really liked how in depth the video goes on how to create it.
This week I tried something a little different. I still used YouTube, but I actually used a video that was not in English. I had to follow along with just what I could see what they were doing not what they were saying, I found this very difficult but I enjoyed the challenge.
For this week I went with a Halloween theme and created Pikachu sitting on a pumpkin. I really enjoyed this balloon creation because it was definitely a challenge. I followed Twisted Sister’s videos to learn how to make this balloon creation. I really enjoy their videos.
For this balloon animal making, there was a challenge I had to face…acrylic nails. Having gotten my nails done this week I forgot that they probably would make ballon creation making difficult. Was I ever right! Balloons don’t like pointy things, and trying to create a tortoise with sharp nails was definitely a challenge. I did succeed but, it ended up being a tortoise with 2 legs. Still cute though.
For week nine I came into the biggest challenge of my entire learning project. I broke my wrist falling on some ice, so, I had to create my final balloon creation with one hand. I had this huge plan to create this fire-breathing dragon. But, I had to adjust my plan when I broke my wrist as the dragon was to complex to do with one hand. Come to think of it it would have been interesting to see what would have come from trying ti create the dragon with one hand. However, struggling to blow up two balloons was hard enough I couldn’t have imagined trying to create that dragon with one hand. However, I can 100% say that I can make a pineapple with one hand.
My Top 3 Recommendations When it Comes to Learning How to Create Balloon Creations:
Youtube is the greatest resource for learning how to create balloon creations. With YouTube I would strongly recommend watching multiple videos on the same creation and find which one resinates and makes the most sense to you.
Get a good balloon pump because this will make or break how long it takes to create the balloon creation. I struggled using a small balloon pump for most of this journey. When I got a bigger one it made the balloon creating that much easier.
Purchase good quality balloons. I started out this journey with balloons purchased from Dollarama. Which made it very difficult to create anything because they kept popping. Once I purchased good quality balloons the popping became less likely.
I can’t believe this semester is coming to an end. This class has taught me a lot about technology in general, especially technology in the classroom.
I have learned a lot throughout this class about the importance of technology in the classroom. One major take away I have from this class is that what you post online is there forever. I belive it is important to have a positive digital presence, as well as understand and teach safety of social media.
Please enjoy my Canva presentation on my summary of learning. On each slide there is a video. It should start playing as soon as you switch to the slide but if it doesn’t you can click on the image and it should start playing.
For my final balloon creation, I decided to make a pineapple which was the easiest balloon creation I have made. I had the fantastic idea of making a fire-breathing dragon, however, I had an unfortunate accident. I slipped on some ice getting out of my car and ended up breaking my wrist. So, I had to make the balloon creation with one hand (thankful I still had my right hand) and my forearm. This was actually the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do before. Not only that but writing this blog post with one hand is rather difficult.
This is the video I used. I tried to put the video into this post but the video for some reason would not add to this post. Here is the link to the video.
The first step was to figure out how to pump up the balloon. From the beginning of this experience I’ve used my left-hand to hold the balloon while I pump up the balloon with my right hand. However, this time I couldn’t use my left fingers to hold the balloon so I had to improvise. I ended up holding the balloon with my right hand and used my knees to pump up the balloon. I did end up buying a bigger pump because my other one was very small and took a long time to blow up the balloon. So, with the other pump it still took me a long time to pump up because again I was using my knees. I tried everything I could do to take a picture of my self blowing up the balloon with one hand while trying to take a picture with the same hand is impossible.
The second step was to tie the balloon. If you have ever tied a balloon before you need to twist it over your opposite hand and twist the balloon under. Because my hand is in a cast my fingers are available but they are extremely swollen so I couldn’t use my fingers to tie the ballon. I also tried using my mouth as a way to tie the balloon. After trying for a good 15 min, I eventually had to ask my mom to tie the balloon for me.
The third step was to actually twist and create the pineapple. This was actually the easiest part I had to use my one hand to make the twists. Normally I would use my left hand to hold the twists but this time I couldn’t I had to use my forearm to hold the twists. This was the hardest balloon creation I have made but it was the most satisfying one. There were so many challenges to making this balloon when I finally completed it I felt extremley accomplished.
The top of the pineapple was the hardest to create. It took a long time to create this part. Once I did again felt like the greatest accomplishment of my balloon making experience.
The video I used was the same YouTuber that I have used a lot throughout this journey. They are definitely my favorite videos to use because they are easy to follow and to listen to.
I really enjoyed cyber sleuthing, my partner. I am somewhat of a cybersleuth myself when it comes to finding out about people. When I meet someone new I will search for them on Facebook, Instagram and the internet before I move forward with any communication with them. Not only that but I will if need be do a reverse image search. I really enjoy going into a deep dive into what I can find on someone. Knowing that the internet doesn’t exactly show who you are because most people put on a front of who they are on the internet. People don’t post pictures of themselves that they don’t think they look good or post something that would make them look bad. People post a version of themselves they want the world to see. For myself I have my Facebook set up so that anyone posting pictures about me is not posted right away, I have a say in what is posted about me or on my page. This way I can make sure the posts are up to what I want people to see about me.
Digital identity is essential, it is important because what the internet says about who you are is the first thing people see when they search your name. Having a positive digital identity is essential because the internet is forever. What the internet says about you is there forever. Your digital identity says a lot about you, what the internet says is the way that people will view you before they meet you. When you get a job some of the time your potential boss may search for your digital identity. If you have a negative digital identity it may affect the opportunity for your job.
The article Having Multiple Online Identities is More Normal Than You Think is an excellent example of what you post is what everyone sees. She was showing her pictures of her renovations but had pictures of selfies which made her feel as if she was narcissistic. I strongly believe that Instagram is a place where people feel comfortable posting pictures of themselves as a way to show who they are. It is what I see all over Instagram. I do not believe that she was narcissistic for doing this she was doing what everyone else does.
I decided to play around an hour of code, I first chose a grade 2+ code to start with well, let’s just say I struggled deeply with this. I made it past the first challenge with ease. Moved on to the second challenge and here is where I struggled I tried to do what they said and I eventually got it as you can see in the picture and then moved on to the next level where I am now stuck. I have tried all they have said to do and I can not figure out what they want me to do! I am definitely not a coder.
So, I decided to go back to the one that we were shown in class but try the other one I picked my miner in Minecraft and tried that one instead I made it past the first level with some struggle and moved on to the next one, and I have now stuck once again and can no figure out what to do. I have pictures here so I’m hoping someone can figure out what I’m doing wrong and comment so that I can try and get past this level.
I then tried another one, I tried a pre-reader one which was making shapes with code, follow along to see how that went for me. This coding took a really long time to load, I got nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get past the first level while I waited for it to load. I was able to choose between easy, medium, and hard. I choose easy as I struggle with every other coding that I have tried already. The first level was definitely very easy very my style of coding. For the third level, I thought I was being smart when I put the directions that the little monster thing would go, but I was wrong twice so I had to readjust what I put to get past the level. I then got to create my own maze, I thought I would be fancy and make it a Christmas winter-themed maze, and try to make it difficult. However, you only get so many moves to get through the maze so I had to remake the maze to something a little less complex. This was actually a lot of fun I really enjoyed it. It definitely didn’t feel like I was making code although I still don’t know how I was making code when it was so much fun and it was super easy. Needless to say, I am a beginner when it comes to code and if I ever was not that I ever will because I do not have the digital literacy for that, but a career in coding, I definitely need a lot and I mean a lot more work.
As for importance, coding is important because it is what computers and the internet are made up of, if someone would not create the code for the internet we wouldn’t have it, therefore, it is extremely important. As for my knowing how to code, I’m not sure if I will ever use it in the future apart from showing my students this website and allowing them to play around. It mjay spark a carrer in coding for the future of one of my students. As for if they need help with a level… I will have to definitely practice in the future to be able to help my students with levels past level 1 or 2.
For this blog post, I did a deep dive into the grade 3 curriculum as this is the grade that I hope to work with in the future, therefore, I wanted to become familiar with the curriculum when it comes to digital literacy. I have found that in grade 3 art there is an indicator for searching on the internet for a picture to use as a resource for their art piece, which connects to digital access. It only connects if the school has access to enough laptops or tablets for the students to use. There is also another outcome in art that allows the use of computers in the classroom with the investigation. Again this only applies if the students have access to a computer or tablet at school or at home.
There is also an outcome in grade 3 health where asks to discuss what it means to contribute to the safety of self and others. This is a great place to talk about safety on the internet when it comes to what you are sharing or what you are searching for. This connects with Digital Health and Welfare, Digital Rights and responsibilities as well as Digital Security and Privacy.
Upon deeply looking into the grade 3 curriculum there weren’t many opportunities to teach digital literacy without first becoming creative in how you would apply this in the classroom. Meaning there are many outcomes that you can tweak to apply digital literacy and learning to but you have to think deeply about them first before applying them and making sure you are still hitting the outcomes.
When it comes to how I will be integrating digital literacy in my classroom there are a few things that I will be implementing. I will have an online source for communication with my students and parents such as sandbox or a source like that. That way they are always in constant connection with me instead of via email because that sometimes takes longer to reply to. I believe that having constant communication with my students is important because they can feel like they can ask me any questions they may have about an assignment or homework they are working on. I will also make sure that my classroom at least 2-3 times a week keeping in mind availability will be able to use a computer or tablet. In the use of searching for a project or playing an educational game online. I will also be implementing safety lessons about using the internet at home or at school. Talking about what safety on the internet looks like. Keeping in mind of course the age that I am teaching. If I were teaching a younger group we would be talking about not sharing our locations on the internet. I strongly believe that digital literacy is important in this ever-changing world and being online has become a much more widely used thing. If you have suggestions about how to incorporate digital literacy in the classroom please leave a comment!
For this learning project, I decided to make a tortoise. One thing I didn’t have was black for the eyes and brown for the shell so I used red for the eyes as well as yellow for the shell. Now here’s the kicker, I recently got my nails done and boy is they long… do not I repeat do not get your nails done if you plan on a career or a hobby of balloon making. One tying the balloon was extremely difficult I had to re-tie the balloons I can’t even tell you how many times not only that but I let out the air in the balloon quite a few times and had to re-pump it a number of times. Two long nails equal balloon pops. I am glad I had quite a few yellow and green balloons because I popped so many trying to twist and fold the balloons. This was actually the hardest part about making the balloon animal, adapting to my extremely long nails.
Not only that but I quickly realized that typing on my laptop is extremely hard with nails, not that it’s not doable as I’m doing it right now, but I’ll tell you this blog post is taking me a lot longer to write with the nails. I watched this video for making the tortoise.
Now for the fun part talking about how the balloon animal actually went. This wasn’t a necessarily hard balloon animal to make when it came to the shell. It was only a couple twists and then you had to push the balloon twists through the first balloon twist to get a shell-looking thing. Now, this is what I struggled through. As I previously mentioned these nails have made balloon animal making difficult but that’s an understatement. When I tried pushing the balloon through the whole I popped it not once or twice because that wouldn’t be bad… I popped it a total of 6 times before I finally figured out how to work with these beautiful yet useless nails. Once I got the shell done I moved on to the head and feet.
This was also a struggle because you also have to make a fold with a whole and then push the balloon through again. I learnt from my mistakes before and this one only took me 3 balloons to figure it out. Once I got the head figured out I moved onto the feet. Now the first two feet went great. Then I moved to the back feet, let’s just say this tortoise has only two feet because I proceeded to try and make the back feet and my wonderful nails pooped the rest of the balloon. I’m not going to lie I may have given up at this point, I had the shell the head and two feet and decided that this tortoise for the purposes of my frustration would only have 2 feet. So there you have it a tortoise with two feet and red eyes, honestly, it’s pretty cute and I’m happy with it. I just hope the future of my balloon-making isn’t as difficult as this one was. If anyone has long nails and has any suggestions on how to type or balloon twist with these things I’d greatly appreciate that!
For this balloon creation, I decided to really embody Halloween. I made Pikachu on a pumpkin. This was definitely one of the hardest balloon creations that I have created to this date. This balloon creation comes from a Twister Sister tutorial. They are also one of my favourite videos to watch because they are great at showing how to create the balloon and go slower than most videos. The one thing I found with these videos is that she talks a lot at the beginning of the video and you have to fast-forward to get to the actual balloon-making.
For this balloon, you start by tying two balloons together and then start by creating the pumpkin, easy right? We’ve done this before… no definitely not any easier the 5h time around. Once you create the pumpkin you then create Pikachu. Now, the pumpkin is hard, but Pikachu is harder. Upon creating Pikachu this is where I should have taken a picture before I put the face on it because it looked like a rabbit sitting on a pumpkin instead of Pikachu. After I added the face it started to look like Pikachu although I still see a rabbit sitting on a pumpkin. I’ll let you decide which you see.
One of the hardest parts of this balloon was actually creating the tail. I struggled with creating the lightning bolt shape of the tail as you can see in the picture it looks like a straight line which is definitely not what Pikachu’s tail looks like.
This balloon creation looked rather easy to create upon watching the video the first time but I found that I am terrible at making balloon twists the same size. I had to actually make this one a couple of times because my first couple popped as I was creating it. With this one you have to create twists then fold it over and create the same size twist again and again. This was not as easy as I thought it would be.
As you can see in the picture, each piece of the pumpkin is a different size. I tried my best to re-create it the same way but, I eventually had to just create my own rendition of the pumpkin or I would have spent hours upon hours re-creating the pumpkin.
For this video, I tried something a little different. All the videos I have used in the past have been English speaking and explained each step in English. For this one though I chose a video of a different language and had to read each step and watch the video over and over again till I could figure out what was happening. This was not easy. I was used to being able to listen to the person talk and follow along that way but for this video, I had to actually read the steps and try to understand what was happening. This became easier as I continued through the video. I am glad I chose a more simple balloon creation over something that was more complex.
I enjoyed trying something new this time was a great and difficult experience.
Taylor Derbowka ePortfolio 