Dr. McVerry

Blog 1: I attended my Vietnamese church service this past Sunday. Last week, I was informed that we would be combining our church service with the New York church. However, that plan fell through because not enough members can make the drive up to New York. Therefore, we will just have our annual program back in CT as usual. I am still participating in a skit. However, the interesting part of this skit is that we are playing parts to a song. Each line is a different character who is broken, later “fixed” by Jesus. 

Blog 2: The teenagers and children are still singing “Do You Hear What I Hear?”. We are going with my idea of the kids sing the first stanza, the teens sing the second, and we all sing the third together. We had trouble singing on time and the children kept forgetting which parts they sang on their own and which parts they don’t. 

Blog 3: In my Philosophy class, we’ve been doing panel of discussions and presenting informative slides on different topics. One of my friends presented the “social trends” of 2019. It was very fun and interesting to look back at the year. These trends included the “Number Neighbor” where you text someone with the same number as you except for the last digit, the instagram egg which is the most liked photo on instagram, and the bird box challenge where you blindfold yourself and do daily things. I found the presentation to be very entertaining but also informative. 

When Learning and Assessment Diverge:

• Too often we do not know who we are assessing when we assess students today 
• A student is not just a data point - rather a student is a complex body of experience gain over long periods of time
• We need to see that we should be assessing bodies of experience and judging how students can be used now and in the future for better learning and development in order to render assessments fairly, usefully, and meaningfully
• Target Assessments tell us how many people out of a designated population have a hit a certain target
• Some target assessments just tell us how many people not only can hit the target, but understand what the target means and why it works the way it does 
• People learn well only when they are motivated or care about what they are learning 
• People over time use concrete experience to find patters and sub-patterns 
• Too often, schools take reading texts as the main focus of experience necessary for learning 

(I double dipped by making my last blog about the third reading) 

#Dosomething #Write #Reading #Week2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTJgAqqpmw4 

#teachsomething #week2 #writing (updated version, the link works)

Connected Learning: PLNs

• Howard starts using social media in the classroom and wanted to learn from more experienced educators 
• Online webinar - 150 educators and librarians from the worldwide come together on twitter 
• Settling on a time for regular twitter chats can grow into an open, voluntary, shifting, and growing community that uses the same media they are teaching their students
• These people (Edchatters) are among the first to evaluate and maybe adopt new media that show educational potential  
• Passionate learning networks (PLNs) is defined as the people you choose to connect with and learn from 
• Shelly: A Global Netweaver, curator, PLN builder 
• Shelly has a must of resources for educators who want to use Skype and videoskype to go global with their classrooms 
• Shelly maintains a wiki of social media and resources for educators, and published a screencast about how to build your PLN using twitter
• Students can build their PLNs by starting with blogs to show them how to participate by commenting 
• If teachers share their experiences, they’ll begin to appreciate the power of the PLN when other people thank them and tell them how their students were enriched by it 
• PLNs are about open conversations - as long as you’re listening and contributing, the conversation continues 
•  

Screencasting 

• Screencasting is a digital video and audio recording of what occurs on a presenter’s computer screen
• it is an effective instructional format that can be used for tutorials, demonstrations, digital storytelling, and narrated powerpoints 
• A screencast can include different elements, such as music, sound effects, audio, and graphics 
• It as emerged as a prominent teaching tool on the internet; students can learn by example, seeing step by step in great detail on what to do 
• By being able to pause, it gives students the option to move at their own pace 
• Flipped: What can be done in a classroom can now be done at home & vice versa 

#read #week2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8bct2_ix4U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZBHc5mKuRQ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kesCKoaCNkE 

#week2 #learnsomething #bookmarks

• Monday: This week, I focused more on my eye. I started off with eyeshadow, using a light brownish color rather than something bright. I applied the color in my crease, blending back and forth in wind wiper motion. Then I took a darker brown and focused more on the outer corner of my eye to accentuate the shape of my eye. I blended that dark color into the previous color. After that, I decided to step outside my comfort zone and add some color, experimenting. I took a gold champagne color and with my ring finger, I pressed it onto the middle of my lid. My finger seemed to keep the pigment more, getting as much color as possible. I blended that gold color into my crease & and the outer corner. I left a gap under the brow bone so the eyeshadow wont seem too out of place. 

• Wednesday: I watched a video and learned from my friend the next step of eye makeup which is eyeliner! Eyeliner is the black drawn line on the eye that can form my eye shape. It makes a huge difference by making my eye pop. I started off simple, drawing a thin line rather than a wing on my eye, using liquid eyeliner. However, i start to progress and draw a slight wing, making sure both of my eyes match. I do this by extending a line from my bottom lash line. After I match my wings on both sides of my eye, I close/connect the end of my wings by drawing it down creating almost a triangle shape to get that wing figure. It turned out average because i didn’t try to do a big wing. I went for something more simple and easier. However, since it was only my first time doing eyeliner, my hands weren’t steady so the lines weren’t that clean. 

• Friday: Today, I focused on my eyebrows. My eyebrows were a little difficult to do because it wasn’t clean. However, I was still able to shape it and apply the product lightly, yet dark enough to look natural & fill in the sparse areas. I had some trouble with the front of my eyebrows bc the hair is lighter and I kept filling it in too much. I tried to outline my eyebrows with concealer to hide the hairs in order to make it look clean. However, you can still somewhat see the hair. Overall, I thought that it came out average. Next time I just need to clean it up in order for it to look flawless and work on applying my brows with a “lighter” hand. 

#week2 #learnsomething #write

• Connected learning combines personal interests, supportive relationships, & opportunities
• learning with access to information and social connection that embraces diverse backgrounds and interests of young people 
• Interests: learning is motivating when it grows out of personal interest 
  • Research indicates that interest helps us pay attention, make connections, engage in deeper learning
• Relationships: learners need support from peers and mentors to press through setbacks and challenges
• Opportunities: Success beyond a classroom requires connections to real-world career and civic opportunities

Reflection would drive learning in a connected space because it allows us to think back and evaluate. By examining our experience with existing knowledge, we are able to come to a conclusion of what needs to be worked on. That way, we are learning from our mistakes or how to be better overall.

#week2 #read

My quantified self mainly consists of how i manage my time. I set aside time for my hw & an estimation of when I should be finished. I also make sure I give myself as much free time as possible to relax & not be stressed. If I’m hanging out with friends, I track my time by how long I’m out & when I should be home. Overall, time management is everything and it’s something I like to keep track of during my everyday life. I also keep track of how many chapters/pages I read whenever I'm at work, setting aside a goal to reach each time i read. I keep track of how many episodes I wanna finish within a day/week if I'm binge watching a show. While i drive, i like to keep track of how many songs are playing or how much gas I'm using. I don’t necessarily keep track of my followers, but I do like to track who likes my pictures. 

#week2 #write 

We Are All Cyborgs Now 

• we are all cyborgs - every time we look at a computer screen/phone 
• if we print out our computer, it'll be thousands of pounds 
• we have a second self (present ourself in digital life) people are interacting with us online whether or not we are there 
• everyone carries wormholes in their pockets (A to B immediately)
• you can stand on one side of the world, whisper & it’ll be heard on the other side
• kids today have an instantaneous culture 
• machines are helping us be more human; co creating eachother all the time (things are beautiful & it’s still human connection, just done in a different way) 

Big Mother is Watching

• this author is obsessed with her sleep cycle app (hovering so self-righteously over 8hrs of sleep, sends to friends, instagrams it, etc) 
• lives by the quality percentage of her sleep (grades her day based on her sleep Ex). B+ for 88% sleeping quality) 
• cheats bc staying up messes with the way she likes to believe/present how she lives (pretends they don’t exist in order to protect her fixed reality)
• “actionless sleep & good sleep aren’t the same thing”
• 2013, man convicted of man slaughter using “Strava data concerning his speed on his bike”
• people track things centered around health, hobbies, and things they’re curious about based on the way we navigate in this world 
• happiness is rooted in transparency; knowledge is the source of peace; life is made of data - life that is readable (changeable) is life at its most optimized 

#week2 #reading