C4T Assignment #1

C4T #1
The blog post that I had the privilege of being able to read was under the "Ideas and Thoughts" blog by Dr. Dean Shareski. In this post, he described how every year he creates a specific theme for himself which "carries him through". He has used elements such as music, photos, and videos to help build upon these themes. This past year, he created a video from pictures that he had taken every day for the entire year. Each city that he had visited was shown in pictures, lasting one minute for each city. In only twelve minutes, he gave his followers a glimpse of the joys that come from traveling abroad, ranging from the snowy cities of Canada to the sunny beaches of Florida and beyond.
My comment on Dr. Shareski's blog post gave him much praise for his video project. I enjoyed seeing a wide of variety of cities, landscapes, and cultures, along with the heartwarming moments he had captured of his own friends and family. In a nutshell, I wrote that it was, in my opinion, an excellent way to show the essence of each place in his travels, and to capture each moment for all of time. There was also a note from Dr. Shareski in the middle of the video that said if someone commented on which picture was his or her favorite using the keyword "coffee", he or she would win a Starbucks gift card. Naturally, I did what any college student who is addicted to caffeine would do and commented back about it. I wrote that the sea view at sunset of Mobile, Alabama was my favorite. I included in the comment that I favored it the most because I was from Mobile, and it reminded me of the beauty, pride, and faith I will always have in my hometown.
C4T #2
This week, I was able to get the chance to read the latest blog from Dean Shareski again. His most recent post actually put the spotlight on another educator, Jared Heidinger. Jared, who is a science teacher in Lethbridge Alberta, shared with Dean what had proven to be a joyful and effective way to get his students excited about learning their vocabulary homework every week. While playfully tossing his model helicopter around his classroom one day, and thanks to inspiration from his young daughter one morning, Heidinger brewed up the idea of creating the "Homework Chopper". Every Friday, a different friend of Heidinger will post a video of themselves, wherever they may be. They introduce themselves, what their job, career, or hobby may be, and will read the students the vocabulary words in the form of a news report. I got the chance to watch seven videos of Heidinger's friends, ranging from Dean Shareski himself, to the creator of the Disney Channel show "Phineas and Ferb", to professional hockey and basketball players.
I commented on Dean Shareski's blog stating that I felt like this was an excellent idea. As a future educator in the English and language arts field, I told him that vocabulary words would more than likely be a crucial component of my curriculum. Shareski also shared in his blog that because high school educators are most often so limited on their teaching methods due to tradition, resources, etc., he saw Heidinger's method as a great way to promote joy from his students. I strongly agree with Shareski about this. I feel that secondary teachers have, to an extent, left all of the creativity to be found in schools up to the elementary teachers. Just because high school students are older and more mature does not mean that they do not deserve fun and creative ways to be infused with their classrooms. I also shared with Shareski that I would like to take this idea, and hopefully be able to incorporate it into my classes one day. Even if it is not a major use of technology in schools, it is still a way to open the students' minds to people, places, and career choices that they may have never known before.