Heather Boomer – Page 2 – learning blog of a teacher to be

golden retriever puppy beside the lion plush toy

Underestimating Sleep

On November 8, 2020

I wanted to discuss on this blog post the importance of sleep.

Photo by David Clode

Throughout all the different things I am learning in regard to taking care of my body and healthy choices this is definitely a factor that a lot of individuals including myself don’t take seriously enough. When you are asleep you are allowing your body time to rejuvenate, recover and rest in preparation for another day. This week I have really tried to focus on making sure I am getting consistent amounts of sleep each night and that I am roughly falling asleep and waking up at the same time. With work and some early classes being a factor I woke up at varying times but for the most part I was asleep by 11:00pm every night. This sleep schedule I created for myself allowed for at least 8 hours of snooze time each night. I have done prior research on this subject in a psychology class and I remember discussing some ways that can help make falling asleep easier, to list a few:

Avoid any type of artificial light (phone screens/TV) at least an hour before you plan to be asleep.
Get fresh air and exercise during the day, this helps your brain to release built up endorphins that will help your body to relax.
Have your sleeping space be peaceful, not too warm and dark.
Avoid eating/drinking at least a few hours before bed, especially items that are high in sugar content.

I found an article on the American Psychology Association website that breaks down what effects sleep, what could result in not having enough sleep and also more tips for getting a good nights rest. If this interests you, I would definitely suggest looking further into it. The semester is coming to an end and a lot of final projects are coming up to date. No matter how busy you think you are, always make time to get a good sleep it will benefit your mind and productiveness in the long run. Check out this video below for a better idea of why sleep is so imperative!

person holding white ipad on white table

Scratch Tutorial

by maryisobel

On November 8, 2020

In EdTech, Reflections

In this week’s class we explored different programs that can be used in elementary classrooms in regards to coding. I vaguely remember using one of these programs when I was in elementary school and never thought about it as coding when I was younger. I personally really like this program and I think it is a fun and easy way for young kids to start learning these types of concepts. For this post I have recorded a tutorial that I made for Scratch after spending some time watching some of the tutorials they provide on the program. I encourage you all to go check out Scratch!

Hitting a Slump

by maryisobel

On October 30, 2020

In Free Inquiry

This week in particularly has been one where I’m finding myself to be less motivated in regards to healthy choices. With Halloween coming up I find myself having access to lots of candy stashes everywhere I go! With it being around the midterm time in the semester I also feel like I have had a lot of different assignments on my to do list. This is making it harder for me to set some time aside to exercise because honestly I feel exhausted after doing a bunch of homework and I just want to unwind with some mindless Netflix binging.

Photo by Inside Weather

The weather is also turning around so I am not as tempted to leave my cozy home to go outside for a walk in the brisk October air. I am definitely noticing a change in body this week especially in my energy levels, I am spending less time being active and making poor eating choices. Putting healthy foods into my body makes such a huge difference and I have a more ambitious and motivated mindset when I do so. I did do some meditation a few times this week to help calm my anxious mind from looking at the upcoming deadlines that are approaching at the end of the semester. At this point I think it is really important to tackle weeks one at a time or else everything becomes very overwhelming way too fast. Since I have hit a bit of a lull this week my plan is to start gearing back into action starting on the first of the month which is also the beginning of a new week. I noticed I had more of a lazy week and I am not ashamed of it, sometimes your body and mind needs a rest, it is important to acknowledge that. I found this short animated video about making healthy choices, and its not to say that if you make any of the choices them deem as “unhealthy” you are doing the wrong thing, everything is good in moderation! I just find this to be an interested visual representation of the effects healthier choices can make on your overall well being.

EdCamps

by maryisobel

On October 30, 2020

In EdTech, Reflections

Photo by Chris Montgomery

In this reflection I want to talk about EdCamps, something we discussed in class at the beginning of the week. They are participant-driven conferences that are usually catered to k-12 educators although, I think EdCamps would be extremely beneficial for other careers besides education. Due to the circumstances we had to take this activity to the digital world and it was great! It was like being at a conference, there were a variety of workshops you could sign up for if that particular topic interests you. As a class we created different topics and started our own virtual EdCamp. These days collaboration is an essential part of the learning process. This activity is all driven by participant collaboration and engagement. When you have the choice, to pick something that interests you, you are much more engaged in the material which will be more beneficial for your learning overall. I appreciated being able to not only participate in one miniature seminar but several. By using technology I was literally able to float into other conversations and participate in their discussions with the click of a button.

Photo by Jo Szczepanska

I was quite excited to have an opportunity to discuss with other colleagues about different career options that are available to teachers. We mentioned how there are many places in Canada and all over the world that have a need for ESL teachers, lots of places would just take high school graduates so having a BED degree would make you quite desirable in most circumstances. We also discussed that there is a whole other side of administrative work that you could eventually progress to. This is something that really intrigues me because quite often I think about developing my career towards becoming a principle one day. During this class I felt that everyone was actively listening and participating, I thought it was such a great activity to do and I hope to do more!

Midterm Check-in

by maryisobel

On October 29, 2020

In Learning Piano

I have to say overall I am quite happy with my musicianship growth assignment this far. Taking some time amongst all my academic subjects and focusing on playing the piano has been a nice relief. Although I am still using my brain and it is a learning experience I find it a much more relaxing assignment and I thoroughly enjoy spending time doing it. Some weeks I have found it tricky to fit into my workload, but I usually manage to find at least 10 minutes on those busier days. I have appreciated that I am able to adjust the volume levels on my keyboard, that way I can always find time at night after everyone has gone to bed and my brain is fried of academic work to unwind with some music. With that said, I recently visited a friend whose home had a lovely piano and it became very obvious to me how much nicer it was to play than a keyboard. The quality of sound is the major difference, I feel that playing on a grand piano is a much more authentic and uplifting experience and I am disappointed we got rid of the one my home had. I had proposed in my template that I would be recording videos weekly of each song I chose to play. Although I have not followed through on that, I did post an initial video, then the one attached to this post and I will post the last one for my final assessment. I found a lot of the songs I was learning to be very repetitive and I moved through them quite quickly. Therefore the song I am sharing today is actually what I planned to perform as my final piece. I have caught on to reading music and finger placement faster than I anticipated and the pieces I am finding the most difficult are the ones that have both hands playing simultaneously.

Sheet Music for “African Celebration”

For many units in my piano book the songs focused mostly on the treble clef, which honestly was very helpful for me just starting out again. My criteria is still as I proposed it, the only modification being a different song for my evaluations. I am changing my final piece to “All of Me” by John Legend and I hope to sing along with it! I am so thrilled that I could use this assignment to learn piano again, I could not be happier about where I stand in my development this far.

Instant Images

by maryisobel

On October 25, 2020

In EdTech, Reflections

This week I felt inspired to try out some screen casting of my own since I have found them so useful in other videos I have watched through this class. Screencasts allow you to view someone else screen while also listening to a voiceover, it would be a great way to record a slideshow presentation. I saw that one of my other colleagues posted a screencast about adding a page to their menu bar so I wanted to make sure I did something different that could be useful to my fellow blogger newbies! My screencast shows this awesome plugin I found and swear by when creating blogs. I would like to incorporate photos that I take myself into my blogs but I find instant images so easy to use and find high quality photos that fit perfectly with my different posts. Anyways that’s enough for this blog post, I want to save some fun for the screencast!

Catching On

by maryisobel

On October 23, 2020

In Learning Piano

Photo by Marius Masalar

Over the last two weeks of working through my growth plan I have noticed that I am easily able to play a lot of these pieces, but I am penciling in some letters to remember the different notes. I am still struggling with properly playing the right amount of beats without playing some too fast or too slow. I have looked for apps that can act as a metronome and then I discovered if I google it there is one available to me there. I just recently found this and have incorporated it in to my playing and it has been very helping with keeping me on beat. I think I am doing quite well in regards to my growth plan and I am moving ahead much faster than I thought. The song for my midterm evaluation may be altered just because I want to have more of a challenge going forward. I have also been browsing around online for some more popular songs that I may end up switching to for my final evaluation. Ideally I would really love to sing and play along to a song for my final recording because when I initially thought about which instrument I wanted to play I chose piano knowing it’s a beautiful instrument to sing along with

Photo by Rachel Loughman

I have had a few moments of frustration with mixing up the notes, especially in the base clef. I was certain it was the right note and it did not make sense to me on why it wasn’t sounding right, but then I remember that FACE and EGBDF only applies to the treble clef so that cleared up a lot of my confusion! Again I am finding the music literacy sheets to be extremely helpful with teaching me the language of music. I am thrilled to be playing an instrument again and really enjoy the release of pressure I feel when I get to sit down at the keyboard and play.

Working out at Home

by maryisobel

On October 23, 2020

In Free Inquiry

Since graduating from high school and not playing competitive sports anymore I have found myself being a lot less active without that additional encouragement. What I’ve noticed the most in the loss of muscle in my legs and arms and I have been trying very hard to regain that back over the past few months. I have found great resources on Instagram from many fitness influencers who have been posting tons of home workout videos throughout this pandemic. With social media being so easily accessible I would highly suggest finding influencers to follow on various platforms, such as YouTube, Instagram or Facebook.

Photo by Jonathan Borba

Bodyweight exercises can be highly effective for regaining muscle mass and I have already noticed more definition in my shoulders and back from doing them! I purchased some very basic equipment like bands and dumbbells, that enhance my workout so I can use a larger variety of exercises that target more specific muscles. As mentioned in another blog, I have been participating in yoga through online classes. I have seen huge improvements in my flexibility which has helped a lot with the way my body moves. I’ve had sports related injuries in the past that still cause my joints to ache and yoga has been a great warmup for me before getting into strength training. I have attached some of the Instagram influencers whose videos I watch for workouts, you should definitely take a look at their feeds!

Photo by NeONBRAND

@roseytimestwo

@dmirgonfit21

@alexa.pleikoizik

Back to the Basics

by maryisobel

On October 22, 2020

In Learning Piano

This is the adult learners book I am using.

A few weeks back I began to rekindle my piano playing abilities and purchased myself a keyboard. I use to play when I was younger, almost 15 years ago and I am finally getting myself back into it. At first I thought I would be able to use a lot of my old sheet music but it was very child orientated, which meant extremely beginner based. When I did piano, theory was a big component that I would have to complete before going back to my next lesson. At the time it was something I never wanted to do, looking back now I am grateful because it has made reading music not as frustrating this time around. I have also found the different music lectures and worksheets to be helpful with reminding me of all the different components to look out for when reading sheet music. After the first week I found myself sticking to my growth plan quite well, although the first two units which I planned to do over a two week period were completed within the first week since they were very basic. A lot of the different songs I am playing are definitely beginner level and they are truly helping me concentrate on the fundamentals of playing piano again. Occasionally I have been attempting to play along to more popular songs and easy piano tutorials from videos that I find online. I struggle most with playing both hands at the same time unless the note movements are the same, but in more intricate songs that is not the case. It is definitely a work in progress as I am trying to retrain my fingers positioning and movement.

Ode to Joy, the song I learned to play at the end of week one. See video below!

Video Editing

by maryisobel

On October 18, 2020

In EdTech, Reflections

I have never been someone who does videography or even a more professional style of photography. A lot of times when editing photos or long video clips I use very generic apps that are highly rated on the app store. One problem with this, is that usually the picture quality suffers because some applications actually make a picture look worse and more blurred out. They also are very limited in the range of actions you can complete unless you buy a subscription, to the extent that you can edit is very basic. One of the assignments for this upcoming week was to explore a few different programs to use when editing video clips. I have a HP laptop that uses windows software so I made sure to download the programs that were compatible for my device. DaVinci video editing was the one recommended and some of my other instructors have encouraged that software as well. The file size was quite large for my computer and after having it for a couple days I noticed other functions on my device not working the same (camera and audio). I went through the coinciding workshop with the DaVinci video editing software and I found it to be very useful. It was the highest quality of editing tool that I have ever used and it was easy to navigate through because the workshop had very specific steps to follow. On other applications I have used, I’ve been able to do very minimalistic editing that included shortening and cutting out clips. DaVinci showed me slide transitions, ways to manage the sound and how to add titles to the clips.

Photo by Avel Chuklanov

After reading through other classmates posts, I noticed that a colleague of mine had also dealt with similar computer issues with the DaVinci software. They used an editing app called Inshot, which I found easily on the google play or apple store for free download. I took the app for a spin and found it extremely easy to use and the quality of the work it produced was very impressive for a free app. I definitely plan to use this again in the future! I hope you enjoy this compilation of my sweet boy Bentley.