10-Rep Learning ~ Teague's Tech Treks

Learning Technology & Tech Observations by Dr. Helen Teague

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Leaping Towards Leap Day ~ 2024

Leap Day

Do you know any Leaplings? That is a word to describe folks born on Leap Day.

Leap Day has become a fun and unique day that only revolves around every four years. 

Once every four years, people born on Feb. 29 actually get to celebrate their birthday.  Leap day and Leap Year is when an extra day is added every fourth year to help fix the problem that while our calendar year is 365 days, the solar year — the amount of time it takes the Earth to circle the sun — is 365.24219 days.

Leap Day was even the subject of a super funny episode of Frasier, during a Leap Year episode in 1996. In this episode, “Look Before You Leap,” Dr. Frazier Crane encourages his family and friends to Leap into a daring new practice in honor of Leap Day. 

When Frasier’s turn came to sing an aria at the PBS telethon, he choked! We pass around various versions of this excerpt in the faculty forums at our school.  Thought you might get a smile out of this one If you can find the Frasier episode (Season 3/Episode 16) that features Leap Day, it is fun to watch! 

Here’s a fun Leap Day math quiz that you may want to take and then share with your students! 

https://www.mathsisfun.com/leap-years.html

Happy Leap Day!

 

                                                                                      References

Frasier. (1996). Frasier Season 3 Episode 16 Look Before You Leap.

markapsolon. (2011, September 9). The haunting tape 14 (ghost caught on video) [Video]. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nyGCbxD848

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“What if” Answers for Graduate Assignments

What if you do not understand an online graduate assignment?

Graduate-level assignments often feature layered tasks culminating in a final learning artifact. Graduate-level assignments are connected to a specific graduate-llevel rubric.

While everyone has their own process and strategy, sometimes you may run into a particularly challenging assignment. When this happens, here are a few steps that may offer help for what to do if you don’t understand a graduate assignment.

In General: Begin earlier than you may think is necessary to preview assignment tasks.

  1. Step 1: Read the Assignment Carefully. The first step to take when you don’t understand an assignment is to re-read it carefully. With layered graduate assignments, learning research suggests repetition. For example, It is best to read an assignment a couple of times, take a short break, then return to refocus and read the assignment again. Read the assignment rubric. Point values in rubrics indicate the assignment items with the most emphasis. Focus on these items.
  2. Step 2: Check for in-class supports from Dr. Teague. Then come back and read the prompt again, keeping any of your instructor’s in-class comments in mind. Looking at your assignment with fresh eyes will often help you either eventually understand the assignment or identify what specifically is confusing to you.
  3. Step 3: Break the assignment into manageable tasks. Some folks create an outline of the tasks or follow the steps provided in assignment instructions.
  4. Step 4: Set a schedule to complete each manageable task.
  5. Step 5: Begin the task with even the smallest activity, such as reading one or more of the Class Resources, taking notes, and summarizing what you’ve read.
  6. Step 6: Research the Topic.
  7. Step 7: Check out ideas with a Classmate/Course Peer.
  8. Step 8: Check for Understanding with specific questions for the teacher or professor.
    This step is listed after all the others because waiting for a reply from busy teachers and/or professors can prolong getting started and may cause procrastination and FOGS (Fear of Getting Started).

 

What are your thoughts? What steps would you add, delete, or revise? 

All the very best cognitive wishes for the successful understanding and completion of your upcoming graduate assignment(s)!

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Video Review of Constructivism and Constructionism

Here is an updated video review of the Constructivism and Constructionism Learning Theories.

The video features a Microsoft digital storytelling app for creating interactive presentation called Sway. Here is the Sway link if you would like to scroll through at your own pace: https://tinyurl.com/TeagueSwayPVP

Vimeo video link: https://vimeo.com/teaguetech/piagetvygotskypapert?share=copy

 

Please note: This is a video excerpt from a Webinar I gave for graduate students and presented onsite in Tampere, Finland and Dublin, Ireland. This is a very low-tech, summary version of a much longer conference presentation. Participant questions and discussion are edited and gaps may be present. The video has been edited for time and content. Some edits are choppy and will never win awards. 🙂

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In Memoriam of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. quote on Moving Forward

Please enjoy a safe remembrance day on Monday, January 16th

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Happy New Year 2023

Happy New Year 2023

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Remembering Pearl Harbor Today

In pictures: The attack on Pearl Harbor (CNN)

 

President Roosevelt Speech — ‘A date which will live in infamy’… (You Tube)

 

Tulsi Gabbard Walking to Pearl Harbor in Memorium

https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1600449110884044801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1600449110884044801%7Ctwgr%5Ec481b92f4e3482fa6c8fcd23db853171a308b464%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcitizenfreepress.com%2Fbreaking%2Ffdr-speech-a-date-which-will-live-in-infamy%2F

 

Additional items posted throughout today.

 

Hawaii remembrance to draws Pearl Harbor survivors

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Animated Word Cloud Comparisons

Animated word clouds add interest to instructional practices in the school and workplace. Using word clouds to compare and contrast ideas. Populate a word cloud generator with text either, transcribed from spoken discussions or copied from written online discussion boards.  Add animation for interesting effects. Students can analyze various word clouds for the similarities and differences of perspective and summation. Older students can create and produce the word clouds.

This word cloud represents the discussion of 29 graduate students, learning online from three different states. MonkeyLearn was used for the initial word cloud instruction. PicMonkey was used for animation, layout, effects, captioning, and gif file creation.

Wk1DiscussionWordCloud

 

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Creating a Class Recipe Infographic with Piktochart!


 

https://create.piktochart.com/output/56f99f4ef4b8-tec-521-summer-recipe-shares

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Memorial Day Remembrance

As Americans we celebrate Memorial day, each and every year.  Some gather at their homes with family and friends, some at cemeteries, and some at national monuments.  We, as Americans, honor this day to our fallen service men and women in uniform.  This is an important day for America and must not ever be forgotten. Many question the act of war, the death of many and length of some combats. That right is given to each of us, through the dedication and sacrifice of our military and their immediate family. Agree or disagree with all or some of our combats, we all can agree we dedicate today to our lost heroes. Their sacrifice was to ensure our freedom – We must treasure this freedom enough to live up to it.  They have ensured a free United States of America.
God Bless America.
Jim McShane

Memorial Day by JanetZ

Photo by Janet Zepeda

 

 


Additional Memorial Day posts

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Tolkien Reading Day, Friday March 25 – Activities and Scavenger Hunt

Tolkien Reading Day Art and Math Integration Icebreakers/Early Finishers Activity/ Extra Credit Scavenger Hunt

Personalized, shortened link to this post: https://tinyurl.com/HobbitTeague


Tomorrow, March 25 is Tolkien Reading Day, sponsored by The Tolkien Society. Tolkien Reading Day has been organized by the Tolkien Society since 2003 to encourage fans of all ages “to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien by reading favorite passages.”

 

Icebreaker How-To’s: 

Project this book cover and, as students walk on (or after the bell, whatever is your instructional practice), ask students to go on a mini-middle Earth scavenger hunt.

Hobbit Book Cover

Image Source: https://www.dustjackets.com/pages/books/49742/j-r-r-tolkien/hobbit-the

 

Students find the following: 

  • All the triangles in the book cover (by number or diagram)
  • All of the circles in the book cover  (by number or diagram)
  • One other geometric shape (give the shape and the number)
  • An item represented 13 times
  • In what year was The Hobbit first published? 
  • Using our current year, how many years ago was The Hobbit first published? 
  • How old was J.R.R. Tolkien when The Hobbit was first published? 
  • Your Choice (consider sharing as a Reply to this post)
  • Your Choice (consider sharing as a Reply to this post)
  • Students write their own question and provides the answer

 

*****Be sure to honor the purpose of the day and read your favorite section of The Hobbit! Click here to go to the Library of Congress to see an excerpt of The Hobbit: http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/hm051/98102207.html

 

Happy Tolkien Reading Day!!

via GIPHY

 

 


For More Information

Education World Hobbit Scavenger Hunt – https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/internet-scavenger-hunt/the-hobbit.shtml
PDF file of the Scavenger Hunt: https://www.educationworld.com/sites/default/files/Internet-Scavenger-Hunt-Hobbit.pdf 

The Tolkien Society ~~ https://www.tolkiensociety.org/

gif via GIPHY

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