Genius Hour Reflection Post 4

Welcome back everyone!

Before I get into some of my own driving routes for visiting multiple Ontario Parks in one trip, I have an update to make. Since this past week has been unnaturally nice for this late in September, I decided to take full advantage and visit another Ontario Park to cool off in. On Tuesday after class I made my way down to Rock Point Provincial Park, bringing my total now to 25, only 88 to go. It was only a quick afternoon trip, but it was greatly enjoyed!

Fallavollita, E. (2017, September, 26). Rock Point Provincial Park. [Image].

Now, getting back to some more routes. First, let's take a look at a driving route that I took this past summer, exploring some of Northwestern Ontario. 

Starting from Port Carling in Muskoka, I took the six and a half hour drive to Pancake Bay Provincial Park.  We stayed in a yurt at this park since it was just a one night stop. 

 

Fallavollita, E. (2017, July, 11). Pancake Bay Provincial Park [Image].

Continuing on was another six and a half hour drive to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Though the drive times may seem long, we had such an amazing view the whole time, it was well worth it. 

                                              

                                   Fallavollita, E. (2017, July 12). Driving along the shores of Lake Superior. [Image].

                    

                                      Fallavollita, E. (2017, July 12). Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. [Image].

We stayed at Sleeping Giant for a few nights since there was so much to do and explore. Since the weather did not cooperate the whole trip, we decided one of the rainy days we could take a trip to Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park. From Sleeping Giant to the Falls, it was an hour and twenty minute drive. 

                                      Fallavollita, E. (2017, July 12). Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park. [Image].

The falls was quite the spectacle as they are dubbed the Niagara Falls of the North. Definitely a must see if you are ever in the Thunder Bay area. After our few day stay at Sleeping Giant, it was time to head for the descend back. Our first stop was an hour out at Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park. Since the park is only a day use park, it was a great distance for a quick stop to explore the canyon. 

                                        Fallavollita, E. (2017, July 15). Ouiumet Canyon Provincial Park. [Image].

From the Canyon it was another six hours and 10 minutes of driving along the TransCanada highway taking in the majestic views of Lake Superior. Our next stop for an hour was Batchawana Bay Provincial Park. Now between Ouimet and Batchawana there are many Provincial Parks to go an explore. Due to my time limit and having to get back to work, we forwent these parks and put them on our list for another trip. 

                         Fallavollita, E. (2017, July 13). Batchawana Bay Provincial Park. [Image].

Making our way back home we decided to stop at one more park that was en route. Four hours from our departure we arrived at French River Provincial Park. Another quick visit to explore and stretch our legs before we made the three hour last stretch home. 

                                    Fallavollita, E. (2017, July 16). French River Provincial Park. [Image].

In 5 days of our camping trip we were able to visit 6 Ontario Provincial Parks! Some parks require more time to be spent at to fully enjoy all that it has to offer while others you can spend a few hours to explore and appreciate. 

Fallavollita, E. (2017, October, 1). Camping Driving Route [Google Map Screenshot].

Like I said earlier, along this route there were many other Parks that we passed. My Mom and I have already started planning other trips we can take that will include these parks while going further North. 

There are so many different routes and options that one could take when trying to visit all of the Ontario Provincial Parks. It cannot all be done at once unless you have a very large amount of time on your hands. I wish I did but unfortunately I don't, so I have to break these trips up and visit the parks a little at a time. I want to be able to fully enjoy all that these parks have to offer so I also don't want to rush the trips. It is going to take a lot of planning and time to visit all of the parks, but it will be done. 

We already have our next big camping trip planned for next summer where we will be visiting another four Parks as well as some Spring and Fall camps where more parks will be visited! 

Until next time, keep on exploring!

Using Haiku Deck

I decided to look more into Haiku Deck for my genius hour learning object. Haiku Deck has been dubbed the new PowerPoint for education. I think that this platform is a great tool to use for students to demonstrate their findings from their genius hour projects. Haiku deck has the ability in a fresh and flexible way to collect and present facts, share ideas, tell visual stories, illustrate processes, capture evidence, and explore connections between words and images. Students can tell a story of the journey and process of their genius hour using Haiku deck. Students can communicate their message and findings clearly using a variety of visuals and texts. The platform encourages storytelling, which allows for students to not just read verbatim what is on slides, but to elaborate on what each slide entails through its visuals. The way that Haiku Deck ensures that there is not an overload of information on each slide is by shrinking the text size as more words get added. This allows for students to choose better word choices to convey their message in fewer words as well, increasing their vocabulary. Haiku Deck will allow for students to unlock their creative flow to present their work of their genius hour project in a manner that would make them feel proud of their work

Genius Hour Reflection Post Three

Welcome back all!

I hope that everyone has had a great week!I hope that everyone is in the camping mood as we embark further along my Genius Hour journey. Last week I told you that we will take a look at at some longer trip opportunities that will take us through a variety of parks at once. Well I never break a promise so here we go.

Taking a look at the Ontario Parks blog under driving routes, they provide five amazing routes that take you along different regions of Ontario. Breaking them down we have the Hurontario Route, Algonquin Ottawa Route, Georgian Bay Route, Lake Superior Route, and last but not least, the Rideau Heritage Route. Now these preplanned routes don't take you to all of the provincial parks but they do encompass 35 of the 113 parks. Not a bad start I must say. Let's take a closer look at each of these recommended routes!

Hurontario Route:

Parks Blog. (2016, August 23). Hurontario Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/hurontario-route/#more-14886

This route takes you through 8 Ontario Provincial Parks. Travelling between the landscapes of Midland and Kingston, you will encounter wind-swept pines, rocky outcrops of the Canadian Shield and the lush mixed forests of the Great St. Lawrence Lowlands. Parks you will be visiting include Frontenac, Bon Echo, Lake St. Peter, Silent Lake, Petroglyphs, Balsam Lake, Awenda, and Sibbald Point. 

Parks Blog. (2016, August 23). Hurontario Driving Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/hurontario-route/#more-14886

Algonquin Ottawa Route:

Parks Blog. (2016, August 9). Algonquin Ottawa Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/highlights-of-ontario-route-ottawa-algonquin-toronto/#more-12069

Driving through this scenic route will get you to 7 of the Ontario Provincial Parks. A bevy of waterfalls and rapids to explore along this drive. While embarking on this journey you will visit Arrowhead, Oxtongue River-Ragged Falls, Algonquin, Rideau River, Charelston, Sandbanks and Presqu'ile Provincial Parks. 

Parks Blog. (2016, August 9). Algonquin Ottawa  Driving Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/highlights-of-ontario-route-ottawa-algonquin-toronto/#more-12069

Georgian Bay Route:

Parks Blog. (2016, August, 9). Georgian Bay Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/georgian-bay-circle-tour/#more-12068

Driving this route will take you through a variety of iconic tourist spots. 10 Ontario Parks are featured within the route which include Awenda, Wasaga Beach, Misery Bay, Chutes, Fairbank, Killarney, French River, Grundy Lake, Killbear, and Oastler Lake Provincial Park. 

Parks Blog. (2016, August, 9). Georgian Bay Driving Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/georgian-bay-circle-tour/#more-12068

Lake Superior Coastal Route:

Parks Blog. (2016, August, 9). Lake Superior Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/lake-superior-coastal-route/#more-12067

Dubbed as a 'bucket list' driving route, this route takes you through Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay along the Trans Canada Highway with views of the majestic Lake Superior. 6 Ontario Parks are featured on this trip including Pancake Bay, Lake Superior, Neys, Sleeping Giant, Ouimet Canyon and Kakabeka Falls Provincial Parks. 

Parks Blog. (2016, August, 9). Georgian Bay Driving Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/georgian-bay-circle-tour/#more-12068

Rideau Heritage Route:

Parks Blog. (2016, August, 9). Rideau Heritage Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/rideau-heritage-route/#more-12070

This last route takes us to visit 4 Ontario Parks along its route. An alternative drive to major highways, this route takes you across a bevy of landscapes. Rideau River, Charleston Lake, Murphy's Point and Frontenac Provincial Parks are all featured along this route. 

Parks Blog. (2016, August, 9). Rideau Heritage Driving Route. [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/rideau-heritage-route/#more-12070

This portion of my Genius Hour project has allowed me to explore some recommended driving routes to some Ontario Provincial Parks based on regions. While each route does not encompass all of the potential parks in the area, it does a good job of spacing the parks out and including a good amount. As I keep on exploring more routes that connect Ontario Parks, I am confirming my passion for camping and the outdoors and increasing my drive to visit all of them. So far in this course, I have learned a lot and have been able to apply what I have learned to demonstrate new visuals and methods of putting presentations together, something I failed miserably at beforehand. 

For next week I am going to be going over some of my own driving routes that encompassed more than one provincial park visited and compare them to the routes that the Ontario Blog had. 

See you all next week! :)

Below is my digital story as part of my Project Based Learning Badge. I choose to tell a story about my job in the summer and what it is like being a kid in the Kids Klub program that I run.

Genius Hour Reflection Post Week 2

Welcome Back!!

So far so good on my Genius Hour progress! I have been looking at quite a few different Ontario Provincial Parks and their location and proximity to others. I can tell you that I have a lot of planning and thinking to do regarding trying to plan all of these trips! I have been to 23 out of 113 parks (woohoo), still a lot more to explore. 

Camp Scout. (2017). Balsam Lake [Online Image] Retrieved From:  http://www.campscout.com/campground/ON0440/

This weekend I went camping at Balsam Lake Provincial Park! It was a shorter trip with a late start on Friday but nevertheless, it was great just being able to get outdoors. Due to my time constraint to only being a weekend camp, I only stopped at the one park so that I can enjoy my time here and see everything that the park had to offer. If I did have more time there were a few other parks that I could have stopped and visited along my route. There was Sibbald Point which we passed en route to Balsam Lake which is situated on Lake Simcoe, as well as McRae Point and Mara Provincial Parks, just on the Northern Shores of the Lake.

My time at Balsam Lake Provincial Park was action packed like any other park I've visited. We went for some nice hikes that took us through hardwood forests and meadows in the morning before it got too hot. In the afternoon we started canoeing and paddled our way to the beach to enjoy a nice cool off swim and then continued on paddling and exploring some of the lake. 

                             Fallavollita, Emily. (2017, September 16). Hiking and                                                                             Canoeing at Balsam Lake Provincial Park. [Image]. 

With another trip under my belt that brings my grand total of parks visited to 24, just over 20%  completed. Next week I'll be looking more into some longer trips that will encompass a lot more parks to visit. See you back next week!!

Building an Online Assessment

This week we are learning about online assessment tools. For today we have used Google Forms to conduct a quiz. From the instructional videos we had to choose from, I selected the Crash Course in Literature. From this I choose Jane Eyre since it is my all time favourite book! :) We then compiled 5 questions based on the video to include in our quiz. Good luck to everyone taking this quiz! It shouldn't be hard at all!

Reflection Post #1

   Genius hour is a self proclaimed project that gets students motivated and inspired to learn about something new. It is a creative way to get students motivated about learning and to share their passions with others. My Genius Hour Question is: How can I organize trips to visit all of the Ontario Provincial Parks?
I have a huge passion for the outdoors and camping. It has become mine and mom's mission to visit all of the parks within the Ontario Provincial Parks. Instead of going to one park per trip all the time which would take forever to complete, I would like to find out how to combine parks within one trip to effectively plan these trips. There are so many parks (72 to be exact) that this can be overwhelming and difficult to plan effectively. Through this Genius Hour assignment, I hope to create routes and trips that I can explore all of these parks. Below is an montage of the stunning colours of fall within Algonquin Provincial Park which I plan on visiting this fall.








  In the past two classes I have already learned a whole bevy of neat tech tricks that always baffled my mind on how to do. I'm still not perfect at them but with some more practice I hope to master these skills!
 A classroom activity that I can use in my own classroom could be students creating their own google slides for assignments. To do this, I would have to ensure that all the students have access to a computer, so booking the computer lab might be a good start. They would all have to have their own Gmail address as well to access this. A way to adapt this is to also not to have each student set up with their own account, but rather to have students set up in groups and share an account. While in groups, students can organize mini presentations and answers to questions that could easily be shown in class to everyone.

Edtech2. (2014, July 3). Students Presenting [Online Image] Retrieved from http://cindy-leones13.blogspot.ca/2014/07/illustratein-chart-differentiating-past.html 

Copyright

Teaching about copyright is an important lesson in the classroom. It allows students to recognize the value of ones work and to be able to protect that work and to encourage original thinking without plagiarizing. What would be most important to teach students are the different domains of copyright. Being able to discern what is and is not okay to use and how to properly site and give credit to others work within their own work.

Carvalho, A. (2014 November 25). Child With Laptop [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=6884

San Jose Public Library. (2008 August 9). Children using the library computers {Online Image}. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjoselibrary/2839927173/