Cassidy Johnson's Education Exploration

Page 3 of 3

Starting the Day with Ice Breakers

October 8, 2022 / / 0 Comments

The focus for today’s activities was quick games that can be done right from the students desk to start the day out fun.

These quick questionnaire style games are an excellent way to allow kids to start opening up and for me as the educator to build a personalized relationship with my students. I would use these activities at the start of each day to get kids talking with the goal that the more the kids open up the more comfortable they will be speaking up in class. The inspiration for todays ice breakers comes from my EDCI 336 professor who begins every class with a similar activity in order to introduce us to different pieces of technology.

This first Icebreaker is an online game of Would you Rather. The picture and the idea for this activity comes from Dawn Ciulla and was found on Teachers Pay Teachers under the heading Ice Breaker – Would You Rather?, thank you for the fun google slides Dawn!

How to Use:

  • I may start out using these slides by having the kids vote by raising different body parts. The first one I may ask them to raise their hand then next time it could be raise your elbow, or nose or another silly action to vote.
  • I would be very interested in hearing the kids explanations after so I would be sure to ask if any kid wanted to volunteer a reason why they voted each way. By asking these expanding questions it is another way to get to know your students better and help the students expand their communication skills.

Adaption:

I would adapt this activity by having the kids stand up and walk to one corner of the room if they vote for outer space and the other side if they vote for the deep ocean. This may cause more commotion in the classroom but it gets this kids up and moving which is very important for brain development!

This icebreaker was also found on Teachers Pay Teachers curtesy of DizonDesigns and is best found searching Ice breaker- Roll A Question.

I would use simple questions at the start of the year to get to know the students and as the semester unfolds I would adapt my questions to fit the curriculum the students are learning. If I was working on counting in math class I would have the kids gather on the carpet and roll the giant dice and then as a group we would count out each dot on the dice before the student who rolled answered the question.

A fun way to get the students up and moving is by using a giant foam dice and having the kids toss the dice to one another and have them answer the question of whichever number on the dice their right thumb is on. I played this adaption of the game in EPHE 310 and it as a great way to practice hand eye coordination, communication and get the kids up and moving.

These are just two examples of quick and easy ice breakers that help build the relationship between student and teacher and get the kids communicating about themselves! I would absolutely join in on both of these ice breakers to share with my students.

Photo by Marvin Meyer found on Unsplash

The Importance of Being Media Literate- Week 3

October 8, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I am grateful to have been introduced to Jesse Miller’s: Revaluate, Rethink, Release Ted talk produced by TEDxWestVancouverED as it provided excellent insight on how our modern day use of technology is affecting our children and how we need to do better.

Miller does an excellent job on focusing on the POSITIVE CHANGES we can introduce to society to use media to stimulate and entice our children’s education. He also discusses the importance of children being media literate in order to protect themselves online.

Miller states that as society we have started to focus on teaching our children about the dangers of predictors and privacy online but we fail to prepare our kids for the consequences of their actions online. As parents and/or educators it is our responsibility to ensure kids understand that what they post online will follow them forever. We are at a point where most grownups know that once something is posted online it may never be fully deleted, but when are we teaching this to our kids?

Professionalism online is something I was introduced to after I was already grown and applying for jobs. If I had been taught about what is appropriate to be posting online and what should remain private at a younger age I would be better prepared to enter the world as a young professional. This online history is our digital footprint and what we put into the world is a large part of how we will be judged by people we have never even met. How we express ourselves online will have lasting affects on the jobs we get, the people we interact with and our reputation forever. As children continue to use technology at a young age the time to develop their digital footprint increases and so as Miller claims it is imperative that we teach our children what is acceptable to post and when it is time to put their phone down. Please check out the Ted talk for yourself below, it is only fifteen minutes and well worth your time!

TEDxWestVancouverED Jesse Miller: Revaluate, Rethink, Release.

After watching this Ted talk and hearing Jesse Miller discuss the importance of ensuring our children are media literate I started to think about how I can do my part to protect children online.

  • I feel one of the most important things I can be doing is using technology in appropriate ways within the classroom to help children engage with their lessons in new and exciting ways. By demonstrating and sharing different learning tools online I can help children access technology in meaningful ways.
  • By using these programs in a classroom environment I can lead by example and explain appropriate boundaries online and explain to the kids why we are using media for this lesson plan and then explaining why we may not chose to use our technology for a different activity.
  • Technology gives us access to information we could only dream off before and it is an amazing tool for the classroom. By constantly teaching our children when to engage with technology and demonstrating how to professionally use social media we are opening up many doors for our children’s future.

As an educator I vow to find new and exciting ways to use blogs, websites, social media to connect my students to the world. I believe that by demonstrating appropriate behaviors with technology I can do my part to help children understand the consequences of technology while still understanding the privilege’s it allows us.

Most Likely to Succeed Film- Week 2

September 26, 2022 / / 0 Comments

This week I watched Most Likely to Succeed (2015) directed by Greg Whiteley and I must say it is a great watch. The film explores schools that have taken big risks in education and managed to get some shocking results. The film follows a San Diego based public charter school called High Tech High that uses a project based approach to learning rather than the exam based education most of us grew up with.

These projects kept kids ENGAGED in what they were learning but more importantly it allowed the kids to take charge of their own learning. This hands on approach gave the kids opportunities to explore open ended questions and create cross curricular projects to demonstrate their learning. These projects were chosen, designed and created entirely by the kids.

When something went wrong it was on the students to problem solve and explore different solutions to fix the project. At the end of the term these projects are shown off to the local community, instead of one teacher grading the work the entire community can see and learn from what is taking place at High Tech High.

This deviation from a strict curriculum allows educators the freedom to focus on what is exciting to the students.

Photo found on Unsplash by Jon Tyson

The teachers at the public charter are on one year contracts which encourages innovation and the need for continued passion and motivation to continue learning and growing along side the kids.

This project based style of learning PREPARES the kids for the real world by giving them skills in communication, work ethic, leadership and teamwork. When one student did not pull their weight the entire project would fall apart and everyone needed to come together to complete the project on time. This approach to teaching did not focus on memorizing facts, instead the kids were pushed outside their comfort zone and as a result they learned why the information was important rather then just forcing the facts to memory.

This depth of knowledge is shown to stay with a person longer then merely memorizing the information for an exam. This style of learning gave the kids opportunities to fail in a safe environment so they could learn from their mistakes without fear of repercussions in the form of bad grades. While parents were concerned that this method of teaching may prepare them for the work force, they were unsure how it would get them into a good college. The risk of exploring deeper education did pay off as High Tech High students still test above the state average in SAT scores despite their education not being focused around memorizing and prep for the test.

I learned that the job opportunities in our nation are changing to be focused around technology and creativity. Being given a chance to explore and create without limitations or judgement should be the bases of our education system.

As the world changes it is our duty as educators to change with it, project based learning gives kids a chance to receive hands on experience that will prepare them for the new exciting job opportunities in a technology forward nation.

Original project planning on Trello

Ice-Breakers as a Classroom Tool

September 26, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unplash

Children get bored. As educator’s it is imperative to our students success that we find ways to keep children engaged and excited about learning.

Being a successful learner stems from balancing working hard and taking down time for SELF CARE. As the teacher in the classroom the responsibility to balance the kids day falls to you.

ICE BREAKERS and MINI GAMES are a great way to take a breather from learning while remaining stimulated and actively participating within the classroom. These activities are a great way to start the year by getting the class comfortable with you as the teacher, along with meeting their new classmates and future friends!

Students being silly: Image found on Unsplash by Austin Pacheco

Ice-breakers can be used in a controlled environment to allow oneself to be silly and have some fun. Throughout the year mini activities can be used to transition the energy within the classroom. They also give the kids a chance to go outside and incorporate more movement into the day. Having these activities ready is an excellent way to ensure you have extra resources available if a lesson plan takes less time than expected, or the group is visibly losing focus.

The Mission:

To use open education resources to find and plan ice-breaker style activities and explore how they can be used to stimulate students while adding more movement and practical problem solving techniques into the kids day. These activities will certainly be fun and an excellent way to break up the day but I also believe they have a place in teaching within the curriculum in a unique way.

How will this look?:

Each week of the semester I will post at least one ice-breaker style activity along with the specific benefits and suggested modifications to adapt the activity to different age groups, relevant current events or the curriculum.

These activities differ from a lesson plan because of the length of activity, lack of materials and their heavy reliance on play style learning. By the end of my exploration I am expecting to have a collection of ready activities to try out as well as research on the best times to use these activities and the benefits they will have.

Newer posts »

Attributions

Image Attributions

© 2025 Cassidy Johnson’s Education Exploration

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑