Blog 6: Have I Found a New Pet?

What is up, everyone! Welcome back! I have been going through some school websites in my free time, you know, for nostalgia, and I decided to view my old high school's website and see any updates recently made. The school is a Grades 9-12 secondary school called Olympic Heights Community High School. Honestly, I don't remember what the website used to look like, but it looks good now! Browsing through, I found some interesting web page links, for example, a link to a web page providing the school calendar and detailing the block schedule for the entire year. Pretty helpful resource, if I may say so myself. Another web page link redirected me to a page encouraging students and parents to download the school district app. The app has many different helpful features, from providing parents and students with important times (class changes, lunch, start and end of day), to allowing parents and students to utilize the app as a way to ensure safety in the community. Which, fascinated me that they added this feature, because another web page link directed me to a page informing students that they must wear their ID Badges on campus. I assume this action by the school is a direct reaction to the horrible event that occurred at Stoneman Douglas High School a little over a year ago, being the fact that the schools are relatively close to each other. I will leave the link to the website below, as well as a screenshot.

Speaking of screenshotting, I used VoiceThread recently to complete an assignment and I think that is the magic tool to use in my future class. The website allowed to use screenshots I took while editing three random clips together on Premiere by Adobe. In retrospect, I wish I had been a bit less monotone on it, but I will keep that in mind for when I implement them. I think that I will use this tool for incoming students to the class each year so they can become more familiar with the software before I formally teach them. I will also have some VoiceThreads for some tips or skills I couldn't potentially cover in class. I just have to make sure I am more charismatic, and my screenshots and descriptions need to be more informational. Check out my last blog to hear about my experience!

Another experience I had that allowed me to see some of the cool technological items teachers could use in their classrooms to enhance the student's learning, growth, and development, was my tour to the FSU Tech Sandbox. Oh my gosh, talk about Disney for this generation's intelligentsia! The 3D Printer is always a pleasure to see, and the VR though the Oculus is an awesome experience (the scary game made me rethink some things, not going to lie). I also thought the "3D" pens were pretty cool, but I know they have more potential. I think the pens are still at a very early stage, however their function still boggles me. Now, let's get to the bread an butter of the Sandbox: the robots. Oh wow, the robots they had were cutest, most awesome things I have ever seen! They are little robots named Dot, Dash, and Cue, and their function is to teach kids at a young age basic coding skills, and the robots learn along with the student! Now, I know what you are thinking... well actually I think you have two thoughts: 1)"These things should become the new class pets!", or 2)"Umm... this is the plot to iRobot...", yes, you are right! But, they are so cute, and they will actually help the student understand computational thinking as well as create a relationship with an item they get to raise themselves. Now, don't worry, I have some pictures of the robots for you, I'll insert them, but do yourself a favor: try to contain yourself...

But, that's it for this week! Till next time!

-The Tank

Olympic Heights Community High School Home Page