Canvas is intriguing since it can work or not work, according to the attitudes and interest the individual students have towards their education in general. Having been involved now for over 11 weeks in trying new ideas, new ways to reach a student, and trying to use new technological strategies has made for an interesting ride…so far. This journey is not over…yet. Students are tired, the staff is tired, and the administration is tired. Covid-19 has changed the landscape of learning. Students are either invested or have become disengaged. For me, it has been a thrilling adventure filled with lots of “high-fives” and “low-fives” because every day has been a challenge on some level.
Come with me on this foray into the world of Canvas as we showcase some amazing students, whom I have come to truly admire and respect.
Let’s begin: as we enter the world of COVID~what do they actually know, and think? Surprise-surprise!
Monday’s journey into finding out exactly how they feel and what they know.
Instructions
Student responses: many: they all deserve to be read.
I was pleasantly surprised with the number of responses I received. A record high!
As you continue to read the student responses moving forward, realize that they have their point of view, and adults have theirs. The level of maturity shown is evident from all perspectives. What an adult, like myself finds important, becomes almost non-existence in importance to them. That was so enlightening. The mindset of a teenager is always a road map to be explored. One part of me was not surprised and the other part of me was. The actual anger that they expressed was almost visceral, while the laissez-faire attitude was not. When you think about it, what would you have expected? These responses or something different?
Moving into reality: where they live and what is happening close to home!
Going from what they know/don’t know into giving them information to digest and respond to. Instructions below.
Student responses
Roselyn is one of my “thinkers” and here is her response in two parts because she says a lot.
Here we see statements like, “it doesn’t matter to me, why should I care, won’t impact my life” that make me want to pull out all my hair. Then you have the ones that pull out your heartstrings because they know what it means. They have had a direct hit on their family and their lives. They know. They care. They are concerned. That made my heart hurt for them. Everyone’s reality is based on their own experiences and just reading about it will not make it real. When it comes silently creeping into the house and destroys, then their reality shifts into another gear entirely. This is the stuff of life.
We finished off with a game about the Corona Virus. Some of the questions seemed easy to me and hard to them. When you don’t care – you don’t know. Unfortunately, this was not an unexpected outcome. I just hope that by the end the attitude might shift away from “I don’t care” to “I care”, but that is yet to be determined.
The student’s scores
Overview: a quick breakdown of scores to some of the questions.
To give some examples of questions: there were a total of 20.
Overall, I was surprised at the start of the week, but by week’s end, not so much. My only hope is that I made them think, look at it a little differently, see from their classmates that some are hurting, and some are dealing with this disease. The pandemic is real. It feels like a sci-fi movie but it isn’t. That was what I wanted to impress upon them, this is real. I hope that was accomplished and that learning took place.
Movin’ on – let’s breathe and relax a bit. Time for a spot of “fun” before finals come their way.
We need to lighten up a little as we enter the week before Thanksgiving. Too much stress is making all of us a little “nutszoid” and we need to get away from that. So here we go. Instructions follow below.
Student responses
Reading these just made my heart jump for joy. There were so many connections and memories that were shared about what is important in the long run. If you noticed, many of them were connected to family. I also responded to every one of them and tried to show how grand these were by inserting a picture that worked with each reply. I did not share all their replies. Some students said they enjoyed doing this because it was something they had never thought about before. Introspection and mindfulness help us to reconnect to our loved ones and even ourselves. Lovely interaction with this assignment. I felt it helped bring a new level to my relationship with each of my students. That bridge we have been building all semester is getting stronger. It is truly making it easier for me to relate to my students the more they share with me.
Movin’ on – into some puzzle time, music, and fun. Let’s join them, shall we?
Instructions
The puzzle starts out all jumbled up, as seen below. They have to figure out what it is. I did not let them see a preview of the puzzle since that would have made it too easy. I wanted them to do a little more work. Once they did it, some went back and tried to beat their time. As shown by Erica, in her consecutive attempts she became faster and faster.
The puzzle, followed by student responses.
Overall, they had a good time, and this is a good overview of the results. Pleasantly pleased with how they took to it. Many found it a nice break from the usual educationally oriented BR and DB that I have been pushing out. I wanted to share doing something fun while using the brain in a new way. They might not realize it but doing a puzzle is using certain brain functions. In the article (link below), it tells how the brain is working while engaged in doing a jigsaw puzzle. They also mention memory skills, visual-spatial reasoning, stress reliever, and more. Mainly, puzzles are good for you! Like Cheerios and Oreo’s! Yes? Yes! (I took the following excerpt from this article.)
“Jigsaw puzzles exercise the left and right sides of your brain at once
Your left brain is logical and works in a linear fashion, while the right brain is creative and intuitive. When you’re doing a jigsaw puzzle, both sides are engaged, according to Sanesco Health, an industry leader in neurotransmitter testing. Think of it as a mental workout that improves your problem-solving skills and attention span. It’s no surprise that Bill Gates admits to being an avid puzzler.”
https://www.starnewsonline.com/ZZ/sponsored/20180820/7-surprising-benefits-of-doing-jigsaw-puzzles#:~:text=Your%20left%20brain%20is%20logical,industry%20leader%20in%20neurotransmitter%20testing
When I was a kid we used a deck of cards to play Concentration. I created a Concentration game. I inserted YouTube videos of music to help them get their “groove” on as one so aptly put it.
What the puzzle looked like from beginning to end.
Student responses
Roselyn: I liked this puzzle and the music. I listen to this song almost all the time with my little brother. It got me in the groove a little bit
Tamija: I finished the puzzle which I liked and watched and listened to the videos, I liked them.
Nya: Enjoyed the puzzle and music. I really liked the rap Will and Jaden did and Carlton was my favorite in the show, so that was my favorite part.
Nyviair: The puzzle was good, it’s been a minute since I played a memory card game. The song Boogie Wonderland reminds me of childhood because I watched the movie Happy Feet a lot as a jit.
Italia: I liked the puzzle and enjoyed the music. I think the fashion back then made me question how far clothing can be taken to another level, which was cool. There wasn’t really that much that I thought about the last video. I have seen it before a long time ago and I though it was intriguing to watch.
Shaquerria: Did it and what I thought about the puzzle they was fun to do and the video was good to watch I liked how they started singing.
Lakayla: I thought it was fun and playful and brought back memories from watching the show with my family.
Stephon: I thought it was fun.
Let the good times roll!
Instructions
Movin’ on – Let’s Call it a Day!
Canvas, wow, what a journey. This is not over…yet. I would like to offer a little retrospection here – if you do not mind. Many ideas worked, and many flopped. Engagement vacillated from week to week, and sometimes it was not really about what I was asking for, but about their mindset. Students either were willing to do anything I asked for, or they were not. They were hard to “read”, but I never gave up. Not once did I throw in the towel because I only had a few engaged: the lowest number of responses were below 10 while the highest number was at the beginning of the semester with 33 and above. Midway through I saw the numbers level out between15-20 responses. I found that students were very interested in knowing who was answering, however, I hid that from them until they answered. The one time I did not do that, during our political week, I actually saw more involvement because they wanted to add their “two-cents” into the conversation. That should have told me something, but all the teachers here in the school said to hide the replies until they had done it themselves. In actuality, seeing others respond makes them want to be part of the conversation, so moving forward, I shall change that setting.
I have had a blast sharing my journey with you and hope that I have given you some insights into the teenager’s mind, the motivations, the confusions, anger, hurt, and concerns they are dealing with at this time. All students are not on the same level in the grasp of their world, but that is okay. Just having them open up and share with me (and you) was a delight. I give them all a round of applause and a standing ovation. I hope you are with me on this. Thank you for riding the roller coaster with me and come on down for the next ride – you just never know where it will go; which is just fine with me!
All submissions were granted with permission from all students before posting. Image with approval from Pixel free photos. All mistakes, errors, etc. are mine and remain mine! That’s life. In a nutshell.
Older and Hopefully Wiser 