Valuing a Memory

“The NVIV (Next Vista Inspiring Video) series of posts are written by Rushton Hurley and designed to provide students and teachers with fascinating discussion prompts.”

In Valuing a Memory, Rushton features technology that helps people with memory loss by pairing Google Earth with a stationary bike.

Rushton gives the following prompts to accompany this video:

“What might you do to help tell the stories of places in your community to help the elderly reconnect to cherished memories?

Can you teach yourself to look for unusual connections like Hertz did? Can you talk with friends about what could be, rather than simply what is?

Can you think of a memory that you hope you will never lose, because it’s worth more to you than almost anything else?”

As I get older, this was very interesting on a personal level because I’ve seen some friends and family who have suffered from dementia. I think this would be great for students to see in order to motivate them to look at elderly people in a different way. Some young people see older people as an inconvenience instead of an inspiration. For many years, I’ve been a member of a hiking group that believes exercise helps keep your mind sharper. Seeing my friends who seemed old when we started, continue to hike in their 90s and are still sharp-minded was evidence of this.

Please check out the video and think of other prompts you might come up with. Please share.

Connections Crossing Cultures

“The NVIV (Next Vista Inspiring Video) series of posts are written by Rushton Hurley and designed to provide students and teachers with fascinating discussion prompts.”

In Connections Crossing Cultures, Rushton features the Speaking Exchange project, which connects CNA students in Brazil with Americans living in retirement homes.

Rushton gives the following prompts to accompany this video:

“How would you describe your school’s culture? Does it include helping others in some way?

One of the most amazing things about helping someone else is that it might take very little time, but become a huge part of how you see yourself. In this video, the students and the seniors are helping each other quite powerfully.

Is there some small way you could devote some time to helping someone else?”

This was very interesting to me because for the past year, I have been seriously trying to learn Spanish. This would be a great way for students to practice a different language and it would help those who are lonely to have someone to talk to. I think there should be more of this going on in all schools. I also don’t think we use the older generation as a resource enough. Many retirees would be thrilled to help but they just need someone to ask them. There may be some willing to share other skills like woodworking, amateur radio, cooking, or knitting that might interest young people.

Please check out the video and think of other prompts you might come up with. Please share.

Silver Linings

Recently during our Sunday School online meeting, we talked about focusing on some of the positive things that have happened due to Covid-19.

I love attending Sunday School on Zoom and Church services are available through Facebook Live. In the past, when we have traveled, I would just miss Sunday School and Church service but now I’m able to attend both.

One doctor talked about how he thought telehealth was here to stay and how it made life easier for many people who had difficulty leaving work and could confer with the doctor online.

I have been able to connect more with my knitting friends than I ever have. I attend weekly Zoom meetings with knitters from 2 different yarn shops. My knitting guild meets once a month on Zoom which means I don’t have to worry about driving somewhere at night and getting home late. I also attend a knitting retreat in Minnesota in June and the participants are able to meet online once or twice a week. Participants may come from all over the US and other countries.

I am able to attend many educational webinars to improve my teaching strategies. I’m impressed with how more and more webinars are becoming available and how comfortable I am with attending online webinars.

I have also attended environmental webinars through the SC Wildlife Federation. These webinars are recorded and offered free on YouTube. They are educational and informative for me personally and great to use in the classroom.

I love using the internet to stay connected, but many colleagues, friends and family were uncomfortable using technology, so this has really pushed many of them into learning how to incorporate it in their lives.

I believe students are more comfortable learning online now because they have had to learn this way. Teachers are learning how to teach online which can change the way that they teach. This is good because teachers can get stagnant teaching the same lessons in the same way over and over. Even after students attend school in person full time, I believe a lot of lessons learned by students and teachers will impact how and what is learned in the future.

I think it is important to teach students to look for positive outcomes during difficult times. Sometimes if we can change our perceptions, it helps us have better attitudes for coping with the current situation.

What silver linings have you found during this pandemic? Please share.

Photo by Billy Huynh on Unsplash

Without Internet

Recently I was asked about activities that students can do to connect others but live in a rural area without the internet.

This brought back memories of when I was growing up and the internet was never heard of.

Here are some suggestions for connecting with others without using the internet:

Pen Pals – Let students become Pen Pals with each other. Have them write weekly letters to each other sharing what they did that week and asking questions to get to know each other better. Students practice writing skills, letter writing skills, addressing envelopes, improve grammar skills, and spelling skills.

Traveling Story – The teacher starts the story with a prompt or several sentences. It is mailed to a student who adds three sentences to it and mailed to the next student. This continues until the last student finishes the story and sends it to the teacher. If the student didn’t finish it, the teacher can finish it. The teacher can type it up and fix any mistakes. Copies of the finished story can be sent out to all of the students. Students can practice reading the story to their parents.

Treasure Hunt – The teacher can create a treasure hunt involving letters or words or sounds. The teacher can put students in teams of two and send the treasure hunt to them. Students have to find things in their home or yard that have the letter, words, or sound in them. Students can call each other to help each other. Once the form is completed, they can send it back to the teacher.

Riddles – The teacher can make a sheet with riddles and send them to the students. Students can be on teams and once they figure out all the answers, one of them can fill out the form and send it back to the teacher.

Class Bingo – The teacher can make a bingo sheet with a fact about a different student in the class without giving a name. Students call other students in class and try to find out which fact is about which student. Students who find the student for each square can send the bingo sheet back to the teacher.

What other activities could students do to connect with their classmates without using the internet? Please share.

Photo by Mikaela Wiedenhoff on Unsplash

Keeping a Good Attitude

I saw on the news that this health crisis is affecting people’s emotional health. People are tired of being cooped up inside and being in close quarters can make people cranky.

Here are some things you can share with students that may help them keep a good attitude:

Exercise

There are a lot of YouTube videos that have workout routines. I do a walking routine at home every morning to get my heart going. I feel pretty good after I exercise.

Sunlight

Go outside in the sun and get at least 20 minutes of sunlight. People who stay inside do not get enough Vitamin D. This can affect your moods.

Connect

Connect with others either through video chats (Skype, Zoom, Facetime), or call people you don’t normally call. I have a hard time with calling but now I would rather do that then feel isolated.

Letters

Mail a letter to someone and let them know that you are thinking of them. Before the internet, we used to mail a lot of letters. Maybe students can become penpals with another student and regularly communicate this way. This would help handwriting, spelling, sentence writing, and letter writing.

Cooking

Food is always comforting. Trying a new recipe can be exciting.

Reading

Reading can be a great way to escape the real world. Reading outside in the sun can be doubly beneficial.

Gratitude Journal

Keep a daily journal with what you are grateful for. This helps to focus on the positive instead of the negative.

What would you suggest would help others keep a good attitude? Please share.

Photo by Gian Cescon on Unsplash

Graduation Ideas

In Graduation 2020 - Ideas When #RemoteLearning from Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator, Lisa Nielsen shares,

“ Graduation in 2020 will be unlike any graduation before it. While the thought of losing the traditional pomp and circumstance is difficult, there are some innovative options available.”

She also gives some suggestions and I thought about some other ideas that are possibilities.

Zoom:

Depending on the number of students have a Zoom graduation where the principal gives an opening speech. The valedictorian and salutatorian can give a speech. Then the principal calls the name and the graduate in cap and gown states they are there. The principal virtually hands the student diploma. After all names are called, the principal can give a closing speech.

Second Life:

Years ago I used Second Life a lot for professional development. Students and parents could attend a graduation ceremony in Second Life. The same ceremony that takes place in real life can happen in Second Life.

Video:

Our church records the Sunday Service and incorporates videos in the service. The same could happen with graduation. Have each graduate take a picture of themselves in cap and gown. The school can make a video of the ceremony with recorded videos of speeches. Then the principal call all each graduate’s name with the picture of the graduate inserted.

What other possibilities can you think would be possible for graduation? Please share.

Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash

Video Chats

Last week I was able to do a lot of video conferencing with people around the world.

·      I Skyped with a friend of mine in my county who was feeling lonely and isolated.

·      I used t with other educators and talked about the current situation in their part of the world.

·      I talked on Jitsi with a class of 15-year old students in Austria and I learned some new things about Austria.

·      I chatted with knitters on Zoom who hope to attend a knitting retreat this summer.

·      I chatted on Google Hangout with another knitter in my area because our knitting group isn’t able to meet at our local Starbucks. We usually meet weekly there.

·      I met with other professors from my university and had a “mindfulness” session on Zoom.

·      I’m on Skype several times a day connecting with other educators on “HLWSkypers.”

I highly recommending giving these things a try. It will help you and your students feel more connected and less isolated. Remember that all parties would need download the same app and open it to connect to each other. These are great ways to stay connected with your schools, friends, and family.

Here are some links:

Google Hangout – free; you may have to have a google account and need to download the Google Hangout app; can be on phone, iPad, or computer

Zoom – free version is for 40 minutes at a time; up to 100 people; need to download the app; phone, iPad, or computer

Jitsi – free; only works on Chrome browser;

Skype – HLWSkypers – free, need to download the app; phone, iPad, or computer

What other platforms do you use to connect with others? Please share.

Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash

Relevance

In Stop Pretending and Make School Relevant from A Teacher's Life for Me,  Michael Soskil  shares, 

“The content we teach has real applications to make the world a better place. It's our job as teachers to help children see the connections.”

I believe the biggest problem teachers make is to not show students the connections they have to the new learning that is being taught.

We get so brainwashed by the powers that be about timelines and standards that we forget about the students we teach.

We know that we have to teach certain concepts and skills and we have a limited time to do it. Usually, a curriculum specialist or a department chairperson will have a suggested time frame to teach specific things. All of these things need to be completed so that students are given the information they need in order to do well on the standardized tests that they are given.

By being so wrapped in all of the rules, regulations, and standardized teaching that we forget that students are not robots. They all are not “programmed” to learn at the same speed and retain all the same information.

Students learn differently and at different speeds. I don’t care how many days, months, years, and even decades that they try to make all students fit the same mold, it is never going to happen!

Until we recognize and embrace the individualness of all of our students, we are doing them a great disservice.

We need to show students why they are learning specific skills and how they will apply this learning to their lives. They need to know why it is important that they learn this information.

We need to remember that we teach students, not subjects, not standards, not rules and regulations.

How do you teach these connections? Please share.

Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash

An Emotional Connection

In Information Without Emotion Is Rarely Retained from  @DavidGeurin Blog by David Geurin shares,

“For me, I think a great day is when students are learning the objective, and the learning is also connecting with the heart… The lessons that stay with us the longest connect to our emotions.”

I totally agree. When I learn something, I have to feel some kind of emotional connection to it if I’m going to remember it.

I look back at some elementary school lessons I learned, and I realize that the reason I still remember them after 50 years is because I had an emotional connection to them. I learned to really love reading because my third grade teacher thought I was the greatest thing in the world every time I finished a book and could tell her about it! I remember reading the book Charlotte’s Web and wishing I had a friend like Wilbur because at the time, I was feeling very lonely. I remember learning that friends can betray you because when my friend left me for someone she thought was more fun, it hurt my heart. I remember learning math exceptionally well because we had a physically abusive teacher.

When I went to high school, I learned about how to write better because my English teacher had us write from the heart. He didn’t want us to just spit back words but wanted us to justify our opinions. I learned to stand up for myself when I felt my biology teacher was unfair to me. I learned to join a new club (the drama club) even though I was scared and I was so glad that I took the risk.

When I retired, I taught myself to knit and spin yarn. I learn new techniques often and if I like the result, I can remember how to do it. This learning makes me so happy because I really enjoy what I’m doing.

So, as you can see, a lot of my learning is connected to my emotions.

My husband had a lot of trouble in school and he is always telling me that no one made his learning relevant. He never seemed to have any emotional connection to what he was learning.  

I need to remember this when teaching. I need to find a way to have new learning make an emotional connection to all of the students. Each student might not have the same kind of emotional connection so I need to be aware of each student’s interests and preferences. If I can do this, I believe that students can be more successful in remembering the information they are learning.

How do you help your students have an emotional connection to their learning? Please share.

Sharing Too Much

In How Much to Corral? From Sioux's Page, Sioux asks,

“How do you decide what to keep to yourself and what to keep on paper?”

I tend to share way too much according to my husband! I like to share what we are doing or where we are traveling to with others. Some people share the same interest or have been to where we are going and can suggest interesting things to see and do there.

I do not share information like phone numbers and addresses online with people unless it is in a private message. I think sharing stuff like that is just plain creepy unless you are making arrangements to meet someone.

I also don’t share stories about people that I wouldn’t say to their face. I feel like nothing is private once it is shared so I want to know if it gets back to the person, they won’t feel uncomfortable about my sharing the story. I usually let that person know I was talking about them too.

In our house, we have this saying that if we have nothing nice to say, don’t say it at all. I usually follow this unless it is a rant about a company that I think is worth sharing with others. I would want to know this information as a fellow consumer and if someone has problems with a company that I might use or buy from, I want to know about it.

My husband worries about my sharing about our travels so he hopes that I wait at least until we return before telling people about where we went. I usually do that unless I post a picture without any indication about where we are. Then if someone asks me about it, I will send them a private message.

What do you share with others online or in private? Please share.