I discovered one more hidden challenge for Week 3 (not telling where, ha-ha, go dig through Week 3 materials), so here is my vlog post! 👀😁 It is also a simple tutorial that may help someone... here you go!

Long Hot Weekend Challenge -- Done! :)

Challenge Photo: Family Time

https://www.instagram.com/tpashnyak/ 

I have truly enjoyed finding photos for this challenge by only using my recent photos or taking photos around the house. It was fun organizing random photos into a meaningful collage!

That's it -- 2020-2021 School Year is over! It has been a strange and exhausting but also fairly productive year. Will finish packing my classroom tomorrow and take a few days to relax, before jumping in my summer to-do list.

By the way, doomsayers who insist that technology will take over and kids will not want to connect have been proven so wrong, again and again, especially this year. I threw a pizza party for my online students today and they absolutely loved hanging out in "their" classroom (that they have only seen through webcam until today), talking about this past school year, and sharing plans for the summer. They did really well with technology and most of them earned Microsoft Office Specialist designation (PowerPoint, Word, and Excel). Yet, their online classroom community spilled right into the physical setting.

Grades are posted, a few of my online students are still taking their Microsoft Office certification exams tomorrow, and half of my computer lab is packed... Last day with students is tomorrow, than two post-planning days and I am done with this school year. Very few students were on campus today but, interestingly, most of my online students logged in to say hello, even though we were just reflecting on this past year and making plans for the upcoming year. 

While many people complained about hybrid learning this year, my kids did well. It was hard on me, working hard to engage students both in class and online, but all kids thrived. Very proud of them -- they are truly digital natives and rose to the challenge, by quickly learning new technology and adapting to new requirements.

Several of my kids volunteered to help with packing up the lab. Because our maintenance crew needs to polish floors, we are required to pack the entire lab and then unpack again in August. Probably two of most daunting tasks every school year...

My room is full of boxes, piles of cords, etc. Then back to what is shown below, in August...

Communities and Networks

Mintzberg (2015) argues that we need both communities and networks and states that "networks connect; communities care." He goes on to provide this illustration: "If you want to understand the difference between a network and a community, ask your Facebook friends to help paint your house.

In my opinion, networks are the foundational connections that bring us together and allow us to build deeper relationships. These networks could be social media platforms, such as Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.; work or school networks, such as working or studying together; common interest networks, such as similar hobbies; and many others. Many times, these networks intersect. We also belong to various communities, with varying degrees of involvement. 

https://hbr.org/2015/10/we-need-both-networks-and-communities 

I learned about digital badges many years ago, after attending a fascinating presentation by Dr. Charles Reigeluth. Here is a great article:

Reigeluth, C. M., Aslan, S., Chen, Z., Dutta, P., Huh, Y., Lee, D., & Watson, W. R. (2015). Personalized integrated educational system: Technology functions for the learner-centered paradigm of education. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 53(3), 459-496.

This week, after a very interesting Zoom recording on digital badges, my desire to implement digital badges in my classes has been reignited. I found this course that appears to be very promising and look forward to learning more, both in our class and by completing this course: https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/904071

I already have a number of badges via Credly. Here is one, for Georgia Virtual School:

 (Links to an external site.) 

My students are adding to my gray hair count tonight... AP College Board project submission deadline is 11:59 pm tonight, their submission page is already glitching, and two of my "ducklings" are still trying to finish.  Google Voice text messaging to the rescue -- parents and I exchanging nervous messages, waiting for these two super procrastinators to finish.

In retrospect, I can't really be mad at them because I am known to procrastinate myself... It's just more difficult to sit and wait for somebody else, I guess... What is your experience with procrastination?

AP Exam Surprise

I 💓 my AP Computer Science Principles kids, can you tell? 😅

Cupcakes were waiting for them when they finished their exam this morning. The best part for me? Most of my kiddos came to my classroom after their exam, to say thanks!  That made me reach for the tissues... I am blessed...

Curious about ducks? Read this post.

 As I was thinking about one of this week's topics, digital natives, on my way to work this morning, it has occurred to me that while digital natives think, learn, and understand the world around them differently from other people who have not grown up with modern technology all around them, they certainly have many things to learn.

Just as babies are babbling in their native language, because they have grown up hearing that particular language, digital natives need to sharpen their skills through authentic learning experiences. We do not expect children to use proper English (or insert your language here) grammar just because they have grown up in an English-speaking (or whatever language) environment. For the same reasons, we should not assume that digital natives are proficient in technology.

I teach AP Computer Science Principles and we use an approach called rubber duck debugging which allows programmers to troubleshoot the code. Even though ducks don't talk back, it turns out just explaining the code to somebody (or something) can help a computer programmer to find a problem.

While rubber duck debugging is not an application of Web 2.0, I think it may be one explanation of why we are fascinated with online communities. Are we programmed to communicate and talking things out activates our critical thinking? Is that why we crave social interaction? What do you think?

My students are taking their AP exam tomorrow morning and I have a surprise for them. You will have to wait until my next post to find out. :)

I think it is our responsibility as educators to make sure students are responsible online community members. They already have the skills and abilities to use social media networks but do they know how to be responsible digital citizens? 

Social media communities are wonderful, especially when Web 2.0 philosophy is applied and interactions are meaningful, instead of users simply scrolling through and consuming information without stopping and engaging in conversations with other community members. However, what happens when users are polluting communities, by posting negative, biased, or irrelevant posts?

For example, my physical community (large subdivision where I live) has a Facebook group and members often post questions. Sadly, there are "clowns" who typically jump in with stupid comments, instead of answering the posed question.

How do we deal with irresponsible community members? Who is responsible for regulating interactions? I am still wrestling with these answers but would love to hear your perspectives!