reflection – Andrew Erickson

March 14, 2019March 21, 2019

Minecraft Reflection

I was very thankful for Heidi and especially her students to come and help us learn how to use Minecraft in the classroom. I enjoyed video games as a child but didn’t continue into adulthood except on a rare occasion. However, I’ve heard of Minecraft and the creative freedom it provides so I’m thankful for the experience as it will help me connect better with kids and provide exciting and engaing lessons. I thought it was interesting for using it to understand ancient civilizations. I also see the value of having the kids work together in multiplayer. It could be a great way to have the kids develop their core competencies.

March 14, 2019

Podcast Episode

Nick Henry and I will be recording a podcast and the schedule is set. The podcast name will be The Amateur Naturalist. We will be starting the podcast discussing the 13 moons. Nick will be our expert in that area and I’ll be asking questions, as I’m genuinely interested, and adding a few fun facts. The second half will be a deep dive into a bird. We’ll be discussing the Anna’s Hummingbird and it will start with a bird call that was taken from a Creative Commons source. I had a recording of an expert that I took from the field but the audio was of poor quality due to being outdoors and in the wind. So I’ll be summarizing and adding my own knowledge to the subject.

March 7, 2019March 14, 2019

Creative Commons

Among the topics we’ve covered, creative commons has been one of my favourites. I often find myself concerned about what I am allowed to use or not. I explored https://www.oercommons.org/ and https://www.curriki.org/

They both provide excellent resources. I will definitely be using these sites for my future practicum in grade 8. I always want to contribute back if I can and I’ll be posting some of my unit plans I created this semester. I’ll see if anyone uses them.