Tyler Letkeman Visit

Hello readers,

      This week our class "Internet for Educator" has the pleasure of welcoming our second guest of the semester to our classroom. Our guest was Tyler Letkeman, a High school English teacher with a background in math and physics. Tyler is a former Brandon University graduate and tech savvy teacher  who came in to share different tech tools to create meaningful tasks and improve your health/environment of the classroom. Throughout this blog post you will be introduced to a quick recap of Tyler's presentation and the tech applications shared to be used within the classroom.

Tyler's Philosophy

      Tyler viewed old tech and new tech not to be equal. Both have their own unique experience for the user and method for which that experience is created.  His biggest statement is new tech is not always better, Pen and paper is always quicker then starting up a computer and starting up word. Its important to find where technology makes sense in its use and enhance learning, not buffer it.

Different Ideas and methods to apply tech within the classroom

       At the beginning of each English class students get the opportunity to write for 20 minutes from a given prompt. This time is to be nondisruptive and for students to just write getting any thoughts they can out onto paper. Once done students evaluate their writing, revise and peer edit each others thoughts and hand them in. From here Tyler publishes them into books with the web based application Blurb to be shared with other classes within the library. His thoughts behind this is writing that has an audience (Peers) makes it authentic,  creating writing for the teacher strips it of its authenticity. Publishing students work makes writing accessible for all to read will motivate students to do best work.

Application used: Blurb 
URL: https://www.blurb.ca

      This next activity is a great use to challenge students to think outside the box in a abstract way. Activity is called the best word challenge, students have the task to write one word that describes the given photo. Students have 15 minutes to submit their word along with a  short explanation to why they chose that word. On Google forms Tyler created a way for students to submit and poll which word was the best descriptor. After the activity Tyler usually shares the results on Twitter or on other social media platforms. This activity is a great way for students to deeply think and reflect on their thoughts while defending their reasoning behind a chosen word.

Application used: Google Forms
URL: https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/

       Shakespeare is a topic or unit many students find to be dry and difficult to understand. Tyler has found away to make Shakespeare plays, specifically their scenes more appealing to students. Tyler has gives his students the task to create their own social media accounts on any platform and document their interpretation of each scene through social posts and stories. With this method students are able to show what these plays may look like in the modern world with the use of modern tech. Instagram or Snapchat is used to recreate each scene. The next hurdle for students is Shakespeare’s language which tends to be a student’s primary barrier to enjoying his plays. Understanding what’s being said has to come before anything, but motivating students to learn obsolete words is a struggle. Quizlet Flash cards are used to test and challenge students to study and learn on their own. Tyler has created many different study sets, and even created games for his students to study with and get competitive with fellow classmates. Students can join by URL or QR code.

Application used: Instagram, Snapchat, Quizlet
URL: https://www.instagram.com
           https://www.snapchat.com/l/en-gb/
           https://quizlet.com

Tyler's activity that he loves to do with his students for I Love to Read Month is to get students to create memes related to reading or stories in general. This activity is entirely optional for students to participate in but can be only done during free time or when done all of their work is completed. Tyler's favorite memes receive a spot on the wall displayed for all to see. For students to complete this activity they use the application Impflip to generate their own memes.

Application used: Impflip
URL: https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

My Thoughts

Tyler coming into our class was a great resource for the class and myself to learn more about technological applications we can use within the classroom. He shared great insight on how he incorporates his tech applications right into his lessons in a seamless way that does not hinder a students ability to learn. It rather enhances the ability for the student to relate to the material or view it in a much more appealing way.
      I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Tyler's presentation. If you have any ideas, comments or thoughts of how you plan to or use tech within your classroom please share in the comments, or lets start a conversation on Twitter @MrKeilback

Feel free to follow Tyler on Twitter: @Tyler_JL or @MrLetkeman

- BK