Author: coordt Page 1 of 4

Final Music Blog!

On March 25, 2020

Hey Blog,

So, the time has come. Time to present the song that I have been working on all semester and I’m READY for it!

As you all know, I chose the song Prince of Heaven to play on the piano and my goal for this portion of the semester was to learn the left hand and implement it into the right so that I could play both hands together. With regards to staying on track with my musical growth plan, I was pretty on track. I learned the left hand by March 8 (2 days later than expected) but then was able to fluidly incorporate both hands by March 13 (which was a week early). Good thing I didn’t fall behind because this whole virus situation really messed up my practice schedule… and then finally, I filmed my video on March 24 which was right on time!

Here is the link for my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tupsemqj7Fw

I feel as though I played my song very well. I was pleasantly surprised that incorporating both hands together was easier than I thought and I definitely didn’t need all the time that I had planned for that portion. I got my fingering right during the entire song but I did have to slow down in certain spots to ensure that I was pressing the right keys. Nonetheless, I’m very proud of how I did on this assignment and definitely want to keep practicing my piano skills. I guess I’ll have to wait until this virus situation is over so I can purchase a piano!

Maybe I’ll be posting more blogs about my music class next year… who knows!

Thanks for coming along with me on this music journey!

Logging off for good,

COordt 🙂

What I Learned…

by coordt

On March 25, 2020

In Free Inquiry

Hey Cloggers,

I’m back with my recap of my free inquiry blog and I’m excited to be sharing my learning experiences with you all!

As you already know, I did my inquiry assignment on calligraphy and lettering. Here is a refresher of what I discussed in each blog:

#1: Intro

#2: Material Needed

#3: Block Font

#4: Cursive Font

#5: Block + Cursive Combined Font

#6: Banners

#7: Doodles

#8: Homework Planner

I got through a decent amount of material and I feel like this was the perfect amount for getting started with lettering. This amount will allow me to master and play around with these fonts and drawings without getting overwhelmed by a hundred different ways of planning my life (and I don’t want to be overwhelmed when I’m trying to organize cause that definitely defeats the purpose). Once I get more comfortable with various fonts, I can just head onto Pinterest to find more!

A few things I learned from this inquiry are that lettering and calligraphy are great ways to add flare and spice to otherwise plain assignments/projects and that there are so many resources online that can help people learn more. I found several Instagram and Youtube accounts of people who do calligraphy and lettering workshops for a living and I would definitely be interested in trying one out. Maybe some day!

Some tips I would give to someone starting out a similar inquiry are that 1. there are endless amounts of fonts – start simple so you don’t get overwhelmed, 2. practice often so you don’t lose your newfound skills and so you can continue getting better, and 3. buy nice materials (this does not necessarily mean expensive – check my materials blog post) so that you feel motivated to try out your cool stuff.

I have really enjoyed learning about this and I’m excited to keep working on different styles.

I’m sad to go but it’s been a blast!

Clogging off forever,

COordt 🙂 <3

Music Blog #2 (Round Two)

by coordt

On March 19, 2020

In Music

Hey Blog,

This past week has been absolutely crazy! In the span of one week, I have heard that classes are online for the rest of the semester, made plans to work in Victoria until April, decided to make plans to go home, packed up my life in Victoria, and travelled 8 hours to Vernon. I have been so overwhelmed with life stuff that it has been difficult staying on top of homework things (or even knowing what day it is), but I’m happy to be able to blog it out for a bit.

As you know from my prior blogs, I practice piano in either UVic’s piano lab or one of their practice rooms. With the whole practice of self-isolation, I haven’t been able to go in either and practice. And now that I’m home (and don’t have a piano here), I’ll have to figure out some options for practicing my song. Luckily, I did a lot of practicing right after reading break so I’m not feeling too worried. I have been looking at possibly practicing at my church but not sure if I’ll be allowed to enter the building while it’s closed (to keep germs out). I have also looked at possibly renting a piano but most businesses here are closed to promote social distancing. Even though it’s a bit stressful, I’m sure I’ll figure something out for the final check-in video next week!

It’s times like this, where I am not able to cram my learning, that I’m thankful that I was more on top of things before this whole virus situation hit.

Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to getting behind the piano again soon.

Stay healthy, everyone!

Logging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Bringing It All Together!

by coordt

On March 17, 2020

In Free Inquiry

Hey Cloggers,

This will be my final Free Inquiry post where I’ll be practicing and displaying my work for my calligraphy inquiry. It’s crazy how fast this inquiry has gone but I’ll be making a final post later that will talk all about what I learned from this project… so, stay tuned!

To bring all my lettering knowledge into one useful page that would help me, I created a homework tracker. This lays out all of the assignments we have due over the next 3 weeks (or most since some teachers are still updating us about their plans). I love the feeling of crossing things off on a list so hopefully this will motivate me to complete tasks! #OutOfSightOutOfMind

Here is a picture of my homework tracker:

I used various colours and fonts to put everything out on paper. I didn’t add doodles or banners because I think it would get too messy and difficult to look at. Maybe when school is a little less stressful, I can make one with more flare.

As I reflect on the various fonts, banners, and doodles I have practiced, I am excited to keep developing my skills of lettering and calligraphy. I hope to use what I learned to continue organizing my life!

P.S. As I’m writing this blog, I have already been given 3 new assignments so I better add those #Overwhelmed #GoingCrazy

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂

News: Cohort Zooms Through Class via Online Platform!

by coordt

On March 17, 2020

In EdTech

Hey Cloggers,

For this week’s EdTech class, our cohort had to have class on the online platform called Zoom! It’s kinda of like Skype but I think it can have more people on it. It was a really awesome experience and went way better than I thought. It was also so nice to see everyone again and get to reconnect with our cohort after being away from each other. As crazy as it might sound, it’s been like 1 day without class and I truly miss seeing my peers everyday.

We also looked at a platform called Twine in today’s class. It’s a platform that allows you to create and tell interactive stories. Although it is somewhat tricky to navigate, we had instructions to help us get through some of the initial steps. If I implemented Twine in my classroom, I would definitely give the instructions to ensure students understand the task and do not become overwhelmed. I started working on a story about how COVID-19 is affecting our education but it was quite messy and all over the place and I got lost so I ended up just getting rid of that one (they can’t all be winners…). I would, however, like to keep working with Twine and get to know more about it because I think it would be a super fun and creative way to get students to tell stories. I might use Twine to submit an assignment that is due in the next couple of weeks – we’ll see what Carly thinks, but I think it could work.

I’ll keep you updated on my journey with Twine.

Oh, and my group is going to be using Zoom to work on an assignment next week because one student has an Android phone so we needed an alternative to FaceTime. So, shoutout to Rich for introducing us to this platform!

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Minecraft!

by coordt

On March 17, 2020

In EdTech

Hey Cloggers,

This week in my EdTech class, we had some awesome visitors. A grade 6 class visited our class and showed us how to play Minecraft and they have used Minecraft as a learning resource.

Some ways that they use Minecraft in their classroom is for math lessons. They use it to look at and learn about area, volume, and coordinates through building and moving around the map. They also explained that they used Minecraft to learn about Greek mythology and used various monsters to act as different ways of death in that day and age. Interesting stuff! The teacher also created a server that she could moderate. This allowed her to pause everyone’s screen to get the class’ attention, remove players who were not following the rules, reward players who were playing nicely, and finally, change the settings of the server (day/night, weather, monsters, and creative/survival).

I ended up playing on single player for a bit. I found a really nice beach front property and decided to build a house. Here’s what came of my beach house:

(I had to stop building before it was finished because I was getting so dizzy and nauseous from my screen moving – this is a good thing to keep in mind when implementing Minecraft into the classroom because some students may be affected by this similar to how I was).

I thought Minecraft was a super cool way to get students engaged in projects. I would use it more sparingly to allow it to be a different and exciting assignment #TooMuchOfAGoodThing

Maybe I’ll finish my beach house one day…

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂

The Last Shebang with Carly’s Crew!

by coordt

On March 17, 2020

In EdTech Inquiry

Hey Cloggers and Carly’s Crew,

Sadly, this will be our final blog post for the semester! This post will be a conclusion of our findings and we also want to share our personal opinions with you. We have attached our presentation that we will be sharing with our class! Here are our 3 biggest take-aways from our research and exploration:

1: There is no black and white answer.

We discovered that there is not one answer when it comes to effective use of screen time in classrooms. Each classroom is filled with different needs that a teacher needs to cater to and technology speaks to that. One year a teacher might use no technology at all but the next year they might use technology every day. The truth is that it is all about moderation and as long as we support students and their families by being upfront and honest about the purpose of technology we will have success.

2: Technology is not meant to replace face to face interactions.

Well look at us today! Video-calling on Zoom due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Thankfully technology is getting us through this hard time. With that being said, we need to note that technology is not meant to replace the interactions between students in classrooms. Instead it is used to enhance their knowledge and their educational network. If a student is researching a medical topic, what better way to get their information than from someone who actually works in a hospital every day? An online interview with a doctor would be an amazing experience for the student. We do need to ensure students are balancing their time between technology and real-life interactions but this can be a topic for discussion in older classrooms. Even us adults haven’t figured out the golden answer!

3: Technology is always evolving

Last but not least, technology is ever evolving. Teachers need to stay updated and educated with new programs and apps in order to best support their students. Sometimes the students might know more about the teacher and this would be a great opportunity for the student to “teach the teacher”. We as educators need to be okay with the fact that we don’t know everything and acknowledge our mistakes when they are made. Let’s just say when technology is involved, something is bound to go wrong! Problem solving and troubleshooting is inevitable in a technology class, but this is also a great opportunity to teach the students about helpful strategies for these situations.

In terms of our experience with the whole partner inquiry process we both had a lot of fun! Although the research section is important, we both felt that we absorbed the most from our conversations that we had in person! We both agree that working with a partner was extremely beneficial in supporting our learning. That is all we have for you!

Clogging off together for the last time,

Carly and COordt 🙂

Best Applications for High School Students!

by coordt

On March 15, 2020

In EdTech Inquiry

Hey Cloggers and Carly’s Crew,

We’re back with another EdTech Inquiry blog post and if you look at the past two posts, I’m sure you can guess what we’re discussing this week. That’s right, high school applications.

This is a bit more difficult of a topic because they aren’t a lot of online applications that teach high schoolers what they need to learn. At this point in their life, CoolMathGames.com isn’t all that cool anymore… (or maybe it is, who knows honestly?) But we’ve taken to the internet to research some good ones that will help high school students in one way or another.

So let’s get into it!

#1: Google

No, we’re not just talking about a Google search menu… Google has a variety of applications included in an account that can be extremely useful for students. Some of these include Google Drive, Docs, Slides, Sites, and Classroom. Each of these apps gives students the ability to use a different platform but all on one account (easy organization!) Google also gives students the ability to share their work with other Google users; this means that if students are working on a group assignment, they will be able to work collaboratively whether they are together or not. Finally, within the Classroom app, teachers can set it up so that students can even submit their work online. Online homework means that there’s no ability for their “dog to eat their homework” #Score for teachers!

#2: Remind

This application does exactly what its name says: reminds. It allows teachers to give reminders for certain assignments and homework all through technology – this means no paper notices being sent home that get lost… It also offers group chats which can be really helpful for group projects/student questions. This aspect also takes mandatory social media out of the picture (for those who wish to stay offline).

#3: Seesaw

This application is an online portfolio. It allows parents to see student work and check in to see what students are working on. Students can also choose what they wish to post which ensures that student privacy remains intact. This is a great app for giving parents a chance to see what their child is working on which still remaining respectful of students’ wishes.

Although these applications aren’t necessarily going to teach much of the curriculum, they will make a student’s learning experience easier and more accessible.

Check in next week to see our concluding thoughts on this entire inquiry. It’s gonna be a longer one, but you won’t want to miss it.

Clogging off for now,

Carly and COordt 🙂

Getting Back in the GROOVE of Things!

by coordt

On March 7, 2020

In Music

Hey Blog!

I’m back with another blog except this is my first blog after my midterm check-in! I cannot believe that the semester is more than half over and I’ve already learned the right hand portion of my song. It’s exciting stuff and I’m looking forward to getting back in the groove of things and practicing my song! 😛

My goal for the end of term is to be able to play the right and left hands together. I also want to play the song fluidly and use correct fingering (which was also apart of my goal for the midterm). In my Growth Plan, I wrote that I wanted to learn the left hand by March 6 (which was yesterday) and I’m proud to say that I have accomplished this goal. I learned how to play the notes of the left hand and since there is a lot of repetition, it was decently easy to pick up. I am, however, a bit nervous to begin incorporating the two together because the timing does not always match up. We will see though… I’m not afraid of a challenge. I can also always ask Aria for help because she is a bit of a piano prodigy.

One challenge I have had with learning the left hand is that my pinky gets a bit sore and tight. I think this has to do with it being quite weak but I’m hoping practice will help strengthen it. Obviously, I have to be mindful of it and not overdo it but so far, it seems fine.

I’m looking forward to incorporating my two hands together… this will really make me feel like a true pianist!

Logging off for now,

COordt 🙂

Making it Pretty: Doodles Edition!

by coordt

On March 7, 2020

In Free Inquiry

Hey Cloggers,

For this week’s calligraphy post, I’m working on DOODLES! Doodles will really allow me to add flare to my final blog of planning.

Since I’m not very artistic, I (once again) turned to Pinterest for #inspo. There was a decent variety of pictures with different themes of doodles. However, I gravitated most towards the nature/outdoorsy doodles so my page mainly has those. I also started a Pinterest board so I can add lots of doodles to it and practice them!

Here is a picture of that doodles that I did:

I found that doodling was much harder than lettering and banners. I found a variety of doodles on Pinterest but lots of them we’re totally not my style or had like 395 steps to complete. I wanted simple things that I could recreate and add my own touches to… maybe I should expand my searches and look further than just Pinterest.

I messed up on a couple doodles and some were super random but that’s the name of the game I guess #ABBA

I’m excited to practice more doodles and maybe become America’s Next Top Doodler #IfYouKnowYouKnow #TyraBanks

Check in next week to see my next endeavour on this journey of becoming artsy #PrayersForClaire

Clogging off for now,

COordt 🙂