It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of our technology course. What an amazing six weeks it has been! As I reflect on my experiences in this course, it is encouraging to see how much I have grown over the past few weeks.
From Nerves and Apprehension to Confidence and Excitement
I began this course with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was somewhat nervous and apprehensive as I felt my technology skills were somewhat out-of-date. On the other hand, I was excited to learn how I could effectively integrate technology in the classroom in order to enhance my student's education.
In the past six weeks, my confidence with regards to using technology has improved significantly. I have learned how to do things that I never thought I would be able to do! I created a blog and learned how to add pages and gadgets, and how to embed links on the blog. I learned how to create videos using PowToon and iMovie. I learned about resources such as Wordle, Timetoast, and Popplet. These are just a few of the new tools and resources that I have gained during this course.
Today, I can honestly say that I am so excited to apply what I have learned in this class to my future classroom! There are so many great technological resources that can enhance students' learning by encouraging communication, collaboration, and creativity. I have learned to embrace technology and to use it as an opportunity for growth and development in the classroom.
Insightful. Exciting. Challenging. Creative. Rewarding.
These are just some of the words that come to mind when I reflect on my Genius
Hour experience. This past Thursday, I finished knitting the last few rows of my scarf. HOORAY!
As I was knitting, I spent some time reflecting on what I have learned throughout
the past few weeks as I worked on my Genius Hour project.
The Basics of Knitting
Perhaps the
most obvious thing that I have learned throughout this experience is how to
knit. Six weeks ago, I had never held a pair of knitting needles in my hand. In
my research, I have learned about the different types of stitches, yarn, and
needles. I have also learned how to cast on and cast off stitches and how to
knit a garter stitch. Over the course of two weeks, I was able to knit a scarf
for my niece. Is it perfect? Certainly not. Have I gained new knowledge and
skills in knitting? Definitely! Having learned the basic knitting skills
and techniques, I look forward to trying new, more challenging patterns that involve
different types of yarn and different types of stitches. This Genius Hour
project is just the beginning of my knitting journey!
A Growth Mindset As I mentioned in a previous blogpost, my Genius Hour experience has taught
me the importance of maintaining a growth mindset. To be honest, I did not
enjoy knitting when I began my scarf two weeks ago. The first few days were
challenging and frustrating. I worked slowly and made plenty of mistakes. As a
perfectionist, these first few days were difficult as I had unrealistic
expectations that I would learn how to knit effortlessly with minimal mistakes.
This experience reminded me of the importance of recognizing the power of yet. There
is a difference between not knowing how to do something and not knowing how to
do something YET. I had to remind myself that learning is a journey and making
mistakes and learning from those mistakes are a natural, valuable, and
important part of that journey as they lead to personal growth and development.
Even during the frustrating moments when I dropped stitches or pulled my yarn
too tight, I maintained a positive attitude and reminded myself that I was
steadily improving as I developed new skills and knowledge. Today, I can honestly
say that I love knitting as I find it to be very relaxing and enjoyable.
Throughout
this Genius Hour experience, I have also learned about a variety of tools and
resources that I can incorporate in my future classroom. For example, PowToon
and iMovie are fun tools that encourage students to use their creativity as
they share their thoughts, ideas, and knowledge with their peers. The jigsaw
technique is a valuable teaching method that teaches students the importance of
cooperation, collaboration, and responsibility. Blogs can also be very useful educational
tools that encourage students to reflect on their learning experiences and to
organize and share their thoughts using written text, images, and videos.
Overall, my
Genius Hour experience has been very insightful. I have enjoyed
having the opportunity to explore a passion and to share my newfound knowledge
and experiences with my peers. I would love to incorporate Genius Hour in my
future classroom!
It is hard to believe it has already been a week since I began knitting my scarf! The past couple of days have been encouraging as I have seen considerable improvement in my work. In this reflection, I will look at two major improvements that I have noticed in the past few days. Fixing Dropped Stitches
As I have discovered from my own knitting experiences, one of the most common mistakes in knitting is dropping a stitch. Usually a drop stitch happens when it slips off the needle instead of being brought over to the other needle. Often this dropped stitch goes unnoticed until several rows later when you see a tear in the fabric or a ladder of horizontal unfinished stitches. During the first couple of days, I frequently dropped stitches and usually did not notice until several rows later. Thankfully, both my grandmother and video tutorials came to the rescue as they demonstrated how to pick up the dropped stitch and bring it back up to the needle. Here’s the video tutorial that I followed from New Stitch a Day:
New Stitch a Day: Knitting and Crochet Video Tutorials. (2011, Aug. 18). How to Knit Picking Up a Dropped Stitch. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayMDqGSqdKU&feature=youtu.be.
As I gain more experience knitting, I have dropped fewer stitches. I find that I usually notice when I am able to drop a stitch and am able to prevent it before it actually happens. When I do drop a stitch, I tend to notice it sooner and am able to fix it myself without asking my grandmother for help.
Tight Knitting
Another common error for beginner knitters is to knit the stitches so tightly that it becomes difficult to insert the needle into the stitches. This was definitely something that I struggled with for the first few days. When I was first beginning to knit, I tended to grip the needles tightly and pull on the yarn tightly as I was not yet comfortable with the process of knitting. This resulted in very tight stitches that did not have any give, making it very difficult to insert my right hand needle into the yarn loop. If often took five or six tries to insert the needles which resulted in the yarn fraying. I did some research on knitting tension and found some helpful advice from Sheep and Stitch. From this blog, I learned that I need to be careful not to create my stitches using the tip of the needle as the tip of the needle is narrower and thus will result in smaller, tighter stitches. The next time I knit, I made sure to loosen my grip on the yarn, to loosen my pull on the yarn, and to use the full length of the needle rather than the tip. These changes definitely helped as I noticed an improvement both in the ease and speed of my knitting. I felt much more comfortable and began to develop a better rhythm of knitting.
It has been exciting to see such steady improvement in the last few days. As you can see in the picture below, lately my knitting has become more even and consistent. The length of the rows and the size of the stitches in the first half of the scarf seem to vary frequently. In the second half of the scarf, the rows appear to be much more uniform.
It is really neat to be able to visually see my progress as I develop my knitting knowledge and skills. As a perfectionist, there is a part of me that I could cut off that first, inconsistent patch of knitting so that the entire scarf would look uniform. At the same time, the teacher in me recognizes that the first section of my scarf was an important phase in my learning journey. That uneven, inconsistent section is a reminder that everyone is going to face setbacks or make mistakes when they take on a new challenge. The important question is, what will you do with your mistakes? Will you give up and let them overcome you or will you use them as a learning opportunity to grow and improve?
Yesterday was an exciting day as I began knitting my scarf!
Unfortunately, the pattern that I chose did not include very detailed
instructions with regards to the steps of knitting. The instructions were as follows:"Cast on 20 stitches. Row 1: Knit. Continue repeating this one row until the scarf is the desired length. Bind off, cut yarn, and weave in yarn ends using a tapestry needle." While these instructions may work for more experienced knitters, such minimal instructions are not the most helpful for someone who has never knit before and therefore doesn't know what "cast on" means or how to go about knitting one row.
Thankfully, there are a lot of great tutorials on the Internet. Two web sites
that I found particularly helpful were New Stitch a Day and Envato Tuts+. Both websites offer step-by-step video
tutorials for the various knitting stitches. For example, here is the video
tutorial from New Stitch a Day for how to knit the basic cast on which
is the first step to beginning a scarf.
New Stitch a Day: Knitting and Crochet Video Tutorials. Knitting 101: How to Cast on for Beginners.
Retrieved from https://youtu.be/-_WddlKqUUw
I found it helpful to watch both web sites’ video tutorial
about how to cast on as this gave me two different explanations or perspectives.
While both videos were essentially showing the same thing, sometimes the angle
of the camera, the verbal explanation, or the speed of one video was more
helpful than another. Also, watching two videos rather than just one helped to
reinforce the steps. When watching the first video, there was a lot to take in
as this was a completely new skill to learn. Thus, watching the second video reinforced
the steps and helped me to develop a better understanding of how to do the
stitch.
Once I completed casting on the stitches of the first row,
the next step was to learn how to do the garter stitch. Once again, I watched
both websites’ step-by-step tutorials on how to make a garter stitch. Here is
the tutorial from New Stitch a Daythat
I watched.
New Stitch a Day: Knitting and Crochet Video Tutorials. Knitting 101: The Garter Stitch for Beginners. Retreived from https://youtu.be/AKRAJEj7lcI.
While the video tutorials were certainly
helpful, it is a very different experience once you need to do the stitch
yourself! Thankfully, I was at my grandmother’s house when I began the project
so she was able to give some extra guidance as I completed the first few rows
of stitches.
Here are the results of my first night of stitching!
I must admit, knitting is much more challenging than I
thought. It took over an hour and a half to knit that small piece of fabric. My
fingers and hands are not used to doing such intricate movements and thus I
have been knitting very, very slowly. While I am a little disheartened as I
thought I would be much further than I am after an hour and a half of work, it
is still exciting to see the progress that I have made. So far, this has been a
good lesson in patience for me. I need
to remind myself that this is a learning process and that I chose knitting
because I wanted to challenge myself. Thus, as I reflect on this project, I am
realizing more and more the importance of having a growth mindset. Rather than
viewing setbacks or mistakes as failures, I need to see them as a necessary and
valuable part of growing and developing new skills. This project will take
effort and dedication, but it is an exciting challenge! Thus, I will stay
positive and remember that, regardless of my speed, my scarf is taking shape,
one stitch at a time!
Today I was faced with the toughest decision (yet) of my
Genius Hour project: choosing the yarn! Imagine walking through two aisles of a
craft store where all of the shelves are packed with yarn in every colour
imaginable! Beyond the multitude of colours, there was also thick yarn and thin yarn, glittery yarn and
frilly yarn, wool yarn and acrylic yarn. How do you choose?!
Thankfully I received some advice from my grandmother before I went shopping.
She suggested choosing a yarn of medium weight. Very fine or light yarn can be
quite challenging to work with as it results in very small stitches which are difficult to see and time-consuming to knit. Thick yarn helps the project to
move along more quickly as it creates big stitches, but can be challenging to
work with due to its bulkiness. Thus, yarn of medium weight is great for
beginners as the size of the stitches are fairly easy to see and are not too
time-consuming to knit.
Thus, after admiring the beautiful skeins of yarn for half
an hour, I finally decided on this medium-weight yarn:
My niece has beautiful blue eyes so I thought the mix of neutral and bright
blue hues in the yarn would be a great choice for her.
The next step was to choose the needles. My grandmother has
a seemingly endless supply of needles, so I was able to borrow a pair from her.
As I learned in my research, the thickness of the needle determines the size of
the stitch. Yarn packages typically recommend the size of needle that would
work well with the weight of the yarn and the yarn I selected recommended size
5 needles. My grandmother had two pairs of size 5 needles; one pair was
fourteen inches long and the other was ten inches long. This led me to do some
further research on what length of needles was recommended for beginners. Most
blogs and websites recommended the ten inch needles as beginner knitters tend
to find the shorter needles less cumbersome to hold and work with. Taking this
advice, I have decided to use the ten inch needles. If I find I am having
trouble using these needles, I can always switch to the other ones.
Overall, I have really enjoyed the first few steps of my Genius Hour project.
While I have seen my grandmother knit a few times over the years, I never really knew
the details of knitting. I have now learned that yarns have different weights, that needles have different thicknesses, and that it is important to consider these details when deciding which yarn and needles you want to use for a particular project. I love learning new
things, so it has been fun to research and explore a new topic. Through this process, I have
also learned how useful blogs can be in providing information, ideas, and
advice. It has been really helpful to read the experiences of other knitters
and to gain new insights as these knitters share their knowledge and advice. It
is amazing to see how the Internet allows knitters from all over the world to
connect and create a learning community where they can share their ideas and
learn from one another. I am excited to take what I have been learning and to
apply it to my own project as I prepare to begin knitting my scarf!
This past week I began doing the research for my Genius Hour
project. Having never touched a pair of knitting needles before, I knew there
was a lot for me to learn! I decided to begin my research online using the
search words “knitting for beginners” and quickly found a plethora of knitting
websites and blogs containing tutorials, patterns, and advice for novice
knitters such as myself.
Choosing a Knitting
Project
Originally, my goal was to knit a blanket. I searched for
free blanket patterns online and found a few that piqued my interest. When I
shared my plan to knit a blanket with a few of my family members who knit, they
gave the feedback that a blanket might be too ambitious, overwhelming, and
time-consuming for someone who is just learning how to knit. After discussing a
few different projects with them, I decided that a scarf would be a better
beginner project. I always wear scarves in the fall and winter, so I would love
to learn how to knit my own!
Choosing a Pattern
Having decided on the project of a scarf, I began to search
for a knitting pattern. I quickly discovered that there are many different
types of stitches in knitting. There are several basic stitches such as the
garter stitch, the purl stitch, and the stockinette stitch. There are also more
intricate stitch patterns that use different combinations of garter and purl
stitches. The website Craftcookie was helpful in my research as it provides
a picture and brief explanation for each of the different stitches
.
The majority of the blogs and websites I read recommended
the garter stitch as this is one of the easiest and most common stitches in
knitting. You create a garter stitch by
knitting every row. Thus, the garter stitch is a helpful stitch for beginners
to learn as it allows them to practice doing a lot of stitches and to get a
good feel for the rhythm of knitting.
Hosking, B. (2012, September 24). Example of the Garter Stitch. [Photograph]. Image retrieved from http://bit.ly/2dTsIiN
Taking this advice, I chose a pattern that used the garter
stitch as I felt this would serve as a good first project to learn the basic
skills of knitting. I chose the Basic Garter Stitch Scarf pattern from Craftsy. In the pattern, it
discusses how you can adjust the number of stitches and rows in order to make
the scarf narrower or wider and longer or shorter based on your personal
preference. This gave me the idea to make a child-sized scarf for my niece. I
have always wanted to give her a special hand-made gift and I thought this
would be the perfect opportunity to do so! After consulting with my
grandmother, we decided that a good-sized scarf for a toddler would be
twenty-five stitches wide.
Macauley, V. The Basic Garter Stitch Scarf. Image retrieved from http://craftsy.me/2cUGpeU
Being Flexible
It is interesting to see how my original plan has changed
after doing my preliminary research. My original goal was to make an
adult-sized blanket for myself. After reading various websites and blogs and
discussing the project with other knitters, I decided that a better beginner
project would be to knit a scarf instead. Then, after exploring a number of
different scarf patterns, I decided that I would love to knit a child-sized
scarf for my niece Chloe. This was a
great reminder of the importance of being flexible and learning from others who
have more experience in the field. I learned that sometimes it is wise to
adjust your goals based on new information you discover. While my ultimate,
long-term goal is to knit a blanket, I want to build towards that goal
gradually as I develop the different skills needed over time. Thus, my goal for this
Genius Hour project is to knit a scarf that will help me to develop the basic
skills of knitting. Being open-minded, discovering new information, and
adjusting my goals are all part of the learning process as I explore the world
of knitting! I am looking forward to the next step in this learning journey as I purchase my knitting supplies!
In my "Teaching Digital Learners in a Digital Age" class, I was introduced to the idea of Genius Hour. Genius Hour is a educational approach that allows students to research and explore a topic of their choice for a set period of time (i.e. one hour per week). Thus, students take on a more active and engaging role in their learning as they choose a project that they are passionate about and spend time exploring, creating, and problem-solving as they build their knowledge. I was intrigued by the idea of introducing Genius Hour in the classroom and was even more excited to find out that we ourselves would be choosing a Genius Hour project! I think it is a great opportunity for us to build new knowledge and skills while learning how we could implement Genius Hour in our future classrooms!
For my Genius Hour, I have chosen the project of learning how to knit a scarf. My grandmother has always been a fantastic knitter. From socks to blankets to stuffed animals to scarves, my grandmother can knit anything! When my siblings and I were young, we often received hand-knit sweaters as gifts for Christmas or our birthdays. Last Christmas, my grandmother knit coffee mug cozies for all of her children and grandchildren - twenty in total! While I have always admired her knitting and have always wished that I knew how to knit, I have never mustered up the courage to actually give it a try.
This past year in particular, I have developed a greater interest in knitting. Last September, I became an aunt for the first time to beautiful little girl. Often when I am scrolling through Pinterest or Facebook, I see a lot of cute knitting ideas for babies and children. I would love to be able to make various hand-knit gifts for my niece!
This opportunity to do a Genius Hour project, therefore, has given me the perfect opportunity to stop making excuses and finally explore my interest in knitting. I am really excited to challenge myself and try something new. Stay tuned to this blog to see my progress throughout the next few weeks!
