Adapting to an ever-changing world, will lead you to a better life!

“9 Essential Skills Kids Should Learn” by Leo Babauta, is a great article on alternative teaching methods for our children. In this article he explains that in many cases parents “stick to the system” because of the fear of change. He believes that as parents we shouldn’t fear change; but instead, embrace it. Parents need to start going against the norm to find more effective ways of teaching their children. He states that the world is constantly changing and children need to be able to constantly adapt. All of the 9 points made are very interesting and valid, and they are the reason why I chose to blog about this article.

I agree with the notion of an ever-changing world; it’s obvious to see that there is a huge change in the world nowadays then even 5 or 6 years ago. I remember my old flip-phone which at the time, I thought was an amazing piece of technology. Since then, I have owned the iPhone 3GS, 4S and now the iPhone 5; all of which have improved greatly, and all of which would put my old phone to shame! The way we educate our children is changing as well; therefore, we need to adapt and come up with better methods of teaching them. We have so many new pieces of information at our disposal, and we need to start putting them to use. We need to encourage our kids to solve some problems on their own; learn what works and what doesn’t, teach them that what’s in now probably will be completely different in a few years. I completely agree that we need to adapt to a changing world, the better we can adapt the better our lives will be. Charles Darwin would agree, don’t you think?   

A little bit of technology can go a long way!

When my students are absent or want to review an audio file from one of the lessons; its pretty easy for them to do so. Unfortunately, they don't always know how to do it. This is why I've created a screencast to walk them through it. It's straightforward and easy for them to follow; the only thing you need is the internet and a video player... Enjoy!

“Ain’t No Fun if the Homies Can’t Have None” – Snoop Dogg

I feel ideas should be shared. Sometimes our ideas are limited for a variety of reasons; others can take these ideas and improve on them in many ways. Maybe my idea on its own is good, but with a few tweaks from someone else, it could be great! The maximum result is coming out of our collaboration; two minds together are stronger than one, on its own. 

From a young age we are taught to be quite territorial about our belongings, “sharing” wasn't really in our vocabulary. So it’s natural to feel the same about sharing our ideas, “what’s ours is ours” as they say. However, as we grow sharing is encouraged more, and we are considered selfish if we don’t share. I feel that as long as permission is given, sharing is the best way to go. I do see a large difference between coping and stealing though; if we expand on something or just use it without any credit, that’s wrong! Always ask for permission.

The biggest thing I took from the video was the mention of justifying our copying but vilifying those who copy us. The example of Steve Jobs admitting to stealing with a smirk on his face in the first clip, then turning around and basically declaring “thermonuclear war” on Android for copying Apple is a perfect example of this. He had no problem copying when it benefited Apple; but when it cut into their profits, he “lost his lid”! I can also relate this to my personal life. Honestly, I’ve copied others when it benefited me; on quizzes, on people’s style, etc. and I justified it, but I thought it was “greasy” or “lame” when I caught someone copying me. We shouldn’t think in these terms, if we are willing to copy someone, then we should accept when we are copied. Ask for permission, and if it’s given, then copy away my friends… what’s the worst that could happen? You tell me…

Videos provided by YouTube.

Shared materials from my presentation for EDUC 932

Hey everyone, here is all the necessary materials from my presentation today...

Here is the link to my PowerPoint presentation 

My Rubric can be found here.

Finally, here is the hard copy of my handout.


Thanks again for listening to my presentation, I appreciate it!

A lesson for the students, but also for me!

My favorite lesson from this semester was one I did with my sophomore ESL university students on Long-term and Short-term goals. The lesson started with students reading a short article on “Future Plans: Long-term & Short-term” to create a base for the lesson. Then together, we discussed the differences between short-term and long-term; and I introduced some new expressions for them to use to explain themselves. After that, I had students write a short paragraph listing 2 of their short-term goals (by the end of the semester) and 2 long-term goals (within 5 or 10 years). I encouraged them to try to use one of the new expressions in their paragraph. From there, the students got into pairs and shared their paragraph with their partner. I encouraged them to support their opinions with concrete examples and it seemed to go over quite well.

Next we moved into larger groups (4-6 members) and everyone shared their goals with the group. After that, I had 3 or 4 volunteers come up to the front of the class and share their short-term & long-term goals. Once the volunteers had completed their task, I allowed for some feedback from the audience and a short Q&A session. I was surprised with how detailed each of the presentations were, and with how creative the questions got.

     The learning objective for this lesson was quite simple; my students were able to put their goals down on paper, and they were able to use language to explain their aspirations to the class.

The reason this was my favorite lesson is because it allowed me to hear my student’s plans for the future. It gave me a gauge on where they were in life and where they wanted to end up. It really opened my eyes to the “trials and tribulations” they go through in an attempt to obtain their goals. I actually learned a lot about myself listening to them; as most of their plans were quite inspirational and displayed a lot of hard work. Honestly, it gave me some perspective on my life and lifestyle as well.

Until we meet again…

Do I really have an online rep that's respectable? You tell me...

My online reputation is somewhat limited at this point. Sure I have a Facebook and Twitter account but that's basically where it ends. If you do a Google search on the name "Colin Beaton" my profile and information doesn't pop up. Wait a minute... yes it does! In Google images- there it is, my picture! Hold on a minute... WHAT!? After clicking on the link I have discovered that I'm a part of the hockeynightinkorea webpage. I remember giving the other members my info, but I certainly didn't know that they had a picture of me (one that isn't of me playing hockey by the way), so I guess I'm a little more popular than I thought! Looks like "you learn something new everyday" after all, well at least I do.

Despite this surprising revelation, I still feel that there is a lot of work for me to do in order to build up my online reputation; steering it towards a direction I like. It has started to go in that direction since the beginning of this course (EDUC932). I've begun to implement tools like blogger, which gives me an opportunity to blog about things that interest me. Through these blogs, I feel that a better representation of who I am will be available online for people to discover. If all goes well, I hope to use my blog, tweets or maybe even other tools (I haven't discovered yet) to strengthen my online reputation into something I'm comfortable with, in the near future.

Techniques for more effective presentations

I believe there are multiple techniques needed in order to become a more effective presenter. They include preparation, knowledge of our material, practice, confidence, clarity, use of technology, knowing our audience and the ability to answer questions effectively. With these techniques, anyone will be able to build a more effective presentation.

It all starts with preparation, anyone who is prepared has an excellent chance to succeed. The more prepared we are, the better we know our material; making our presentations more effective. Preparation and knowledge of our material also limits the chances of a curve ball being tossed at us during the presentation. Going over and practicing our material goes hand-in-hand with preparation. The more times we go over something, the better we become at delivering it, which in turn, leads to more effective results. The quote "practice makes perfect" can be applied to any presentation.

Being prepared and ready builds up our confidence. In football terms- offences that go over film during the week and find defensive tendencies (man coverage vs zone, when teams like to blitz, etc.) are more prepared for when they see these coverages in a game. This makes them more confident that they can execute their plays, yielding better results on the field. Presentations are the same (prep + confidence = success.)

The ultimate goal is to give a presentation that everyone can understand, therefore clarity is key. Speaking clearly, keeping a focused message, implementing technology that highlights our key points and using terms and phrases that everyone can understand are all crucial. As is knowing your audience, because we need to know who we are delivering our message to. Different audiences require different techniques; so understanding who is receiving our message is an important aspect. We must be able to answer any questions that arise during or after our presentations as well. Often times the audience will ask questions; if we anticipate them, we can answer them better. If all of these techniques are followed and preformed successfully, I feel that any presentation will be more effective.

Developing a Multimedia Based Identity

I would like to improve as a teacher in many areas; most importantly in the area of incorporating technology into my classroom, so I can create more engaging lessons. I use power-point frequently, but I feel there is a lot for me to learn in order to grow as a more tech savvy instructor. The classroom is shifting form a "pencil and paper" based classroom to a "paperless" classroom rapidly. Therefore, learning how to properly use tools like blogs, Web 2.0 and schoology are crucial. Using these tools leads to a more efficient classroom which is beneficial to both the student and the instructor. 

Technology is here to stay, especially in the modern day classroom, so being able to use it effectively and efficiently is a must! The purpose of this class is the utilization of multimedia; therefore, I feel that I will learn the necessary tools needed to become a more tech friendly instructor. In today's class we were introduced to tools such as prezi.com and NETS which I feel will greatly benefit me in the classroom. With more tools like these at my disposal, my ability to develop more engaging lesson plans will be heightened.