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Minecraft
Today I learned about minecraft. I always heard about it from my past students, but have never tried it before. If fact, I always told my students to leave minecraft at the door, and talk about it after class, but after trying it today, I realized that there are so many amazing applications for it in the classroom. Students can play together and collaborate. Teachers can run an instructors platform where they can limit certain functions and enable others. There are different worlds, and so many possibilities.
Edutopia has some fantastic uses for it in schools:
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/minecraft-in-classroom-andrew-miller
Here is a tutorial on minecraft to get you started!
Minecraft photo from:https://www.deviantart.com/woopwoopwoop11/art/Minecraft-wallpaper-253892642
Video Conferencing
Today, we had a video conference. We used Facebook messenger to connect and discuss our psych midterm. It was awesome!
Virtual Reality
Today, we experienced virtually reality. It was amazing!! We were able to visit an archeological dig site is Spain without having to leave the room. It would be a really cool thing to bring into classrooms. Students would be super engaged and could explore material that may otherwise be off limits. VR could also be used in art classes to do virtual painting, or even a math class to build models and measure angles.
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Augmented reality is used really commonly in social media such as snap chat and instagram. It is when you change a real image.
I have never experienced mixed reality, but it is the idea that you can put images into real life situation using technology such as google classes. Cool!
Roasted Beet and Quinoa Salad
This morning, I made a salad that was so delicious I ate it for lunch AND dinner. I often crave meal salads, and end up going to a restaurant and paying way too much money for something that is only fake healthy. Never again after today’s homemade, fresh, fast and oh so tasty salad.
Roasted Beet and Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup of quinoa
- 1 beet
- 1/2 an onion
- 1/2 and apple
- baby kale
- 100 grams of goat cheese
- 3 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder (or fresh garlic!)
- 1/2 tsp basil
- salt and pepper to taste
Step One – Cook the Quinoa
Bring 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups of water and salt to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool.
Step Two – Roast the Beet
Peel and cube (one cm) the beet. Lightly coat in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast at 350 for 15 minutes until soft. Cool.
Step Three – Dressing
Mix Olive Oil, Vinegar, Basil, Garlic Powder, Parsley, Salt and Pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
Step Four – Assemble Salad
In a large bowl put the cooled quinoa, cooled roasted beet, thinly diced onion, chopped apple, kale (as much as you like!), and crumbled goat cheese. Pour dressing over top and enjoy!
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Classify it
Classifying organisms is part of the Biology 11 – Life Sciences Curriculum. It is an essential skill for biologists, but also for people interested in getting outdoors and being aware of what is around them. With classify it, this skill is turned into a game. It is for people aged 8+, and is free on android and apple devices.
Pros:
- It’s fun!! I downloaded this app and didn’t want to stop playing with it!
- It has descriptions of each target group that you are classifying, so not only is it good practice, but it can teach you about what makes a mammal, for example
- It is free
- It helps students get comfortable with the classification process in a low key environment
- There is no registration, students can add any name they want, and play!
Cons:
- It is an american app, so usage information is being sent across the border
- It is addicting. Each level unlocks a card, and you can collect cards, making students want to keep playing!
I would definitely recommend this app to my students. I wouldn’t give class time to play with it, but I would show them and have them play it for homework! I think it’s really fun!
Here is a screen capture of me playing it so that you can see what it is all about:
Galinhada!
Brazilian Chicken and Rice Dish
After spending four years in Brazil, and coming back to Canada, I’ve really started to miss Brazilian food. In this post I will share a common dish that I have adapted to make with easily available ingredients here.
Start by seasoning two pounds of chicken thighs. Add two cubes of chicken stalk and 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the chicken, mix well and let stand for one hour.
Start with the chicken thighs, heat two tablespoons of olive oil, and brown the chicken thighs. Add one chopped onion, 2 chopped celery stalks, and one tomato. Fry together for 3 minutes, until onions are transparent.
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Add two cups of uncooked rice, 2 teaspoons of parsley, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Stir together and add 4.5 cups of water.
Cover, and boil for 30 minutes, or until water has evaporated and the rice is creamy.
Enjoy an easy, healthy and DELICIOUS meal to warm your soul. Saudes!
Open Access – Open Research
Open Pedagogy is an access-oriented commitment to learner-driven education and as a process of designing architectures and using tools for learning that enable students to shape the public knowledge commons of which they are a part.
Public Domain
Education:
There are many platforms that offer courses that are free, to provide information to curious learners. For example:
(ET)MOOC – Massive Open Online Course Educational Technology & Media:
ETMOOC is a place that provides all information for a course online, free to anyone – but feedback was only delivered to paying students, enrolled in the course. The resources were available online for people to study – the greater good – to better the world!
Coursera,Edx and Udacity:
Free online courses available to anyone. You can watch videos, read textbook and take quizzes online. There is no feedback provided.
Resources:
Open source resources are things like textbooks, that are free to use. Here are a couple of places to access open resources:
ERAC
open.bccampus.ca : open textbooks
Research:
space – a place where universities publish papers and research, one version before the final version, available free for everyone.
Most University have one: dspace.library.uvic.ca
Story – Jack Andraka
He was a young boy who lost his uncle to pancreatic cancer. He was interested in how to detect pancreatic cancer earlier, and did research by getting access to papers by emailing professors for and getting their pre-published drafts. He ended up figuring out a way to detect cancer for a $3.00 test. This is the importance of open access research – he really had to fight for information.
Copyrights
With all of these open sources, it is important to remember and respect copyrights. Many sources (textbooks, images, journal articles, etc.) are protected by copyright, and you can’t use it. Be aware of copyright laws!
Fair Dealing – protects users. In copyright infringements there are a few loop holes that allow users to use material without getting into legal trouble.
Copyright Matters: A book to help teachers understand copyrights.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is the in between space full copyright protection and open source material. It is a space that allows authors and artists to share their work, in a
Allows users to choose an agreement licence that they choose:
You can allow or disallow adaptations and commercial uses. It is a non-profit organization that gives people a platform to share their work for public use.
Instructions to attribute sources:
Include: Title, author, source, and license
Link to the author or source!
Tip: Go to google, advanced image search settings, filter by usage rights!!!
Dog, https://www.pexels.com/photo/portrait-of-a-dog-257540/ license CC0
Whole 30 Pulled Pork
Pulled Pork is often served at summer BBQs, and filled with BBQ sauce, sugar, and other processed, unhealthy things. Today I want to share a light, delicious way to enjoy pulled pork.
Into a slow cooker, add all ingredients and cook for 6-8 hours on low. Remove from liquid and pull apart with two forks.
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds of roughly cubed pork shoulder
- 1 onions, thinly sliced
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup of orange juice
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 3 tsp. salt
- 1 package of dried shitake mushrooms
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After cooking in the crock pot, all the ingredients come together in a tender, juicy, delicious pulled pork. YUM!
enjoy
Taco Salad
One of my FAVOURITE childhood meals: TACOS.
But the way we did it, it was a heavy, high calorie, not overly healthy dish. But I would like to introduce you to grown up tacos – all the deliciousness, none of the guilt (It’s a salad!).
- The Meat:
- Lean Ground Beef
- 1 Tbsp. Chili Powder.
- 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder.
- 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder.
- 1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes.
- 1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano.
- 1/2 tsp. Paprika.
- 1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin.
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt.
Fry up beef, add in the spices, and pronto!
Cook the meat
Add the spices with a little water
2. The Salad:
You can get creative if you like, but I am a traditionalist.
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Onion
- Avocado
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3. Mount Your Salad, and garnish.
I tend to make a bed of lettuce, sprinkle with tomato and onion, and add the meat on top, with salsa!!
Emily Oliveira 