This week’s assignment involved investigating Google Maps. I enjoyed doing this because I was able to look around the globe to places I have yet to see! This was also a cool assignment considering our current situation here in the United States. While we are nearing a nation-wide quarantine, it was nice to be able to look around Google Maps since we clearly cannot go anywhere right now!
The map I made included places to visit in Arizona. I chose this because I have visited Arizona in the past but I was not able to visit all the sights that I had wanted to because the state is so big! We took a family vacation to Arizona in 2018 and we went to Phoenix, Sahuarita, and Sedona. In the future, I would love to visit Havasu Falls and Flagstaff. Hopefully I will be able to go back sometime soon!
So far in our GEN2108 Web Tools online course, I have learned so much! From Flipgrid to Twitter, I have branched out in the world of technology. I was never really a tech-savvy person, so I was a bit nervous for this class in the beginning. Luckily, I have yet to run into any road blocks!
I have started to love using technology as a way of communicating with other educators and learning from them. I am becoming more and more confident every day in my abilities to use technology for education and I cannot wait to have my own classroom and use these tools! Technology also makes the classroom more inclusive. This is especially important for students who may have special needs when it comes to learning. Technology makes communication and learning much easier for students who may struggle. Since I am such a strong advocate for inclusive education, the use of technology will help me make my classrooms comfortable for all of my students.
The most intriguing thing I have learned so far is the Sustainable Development Goals. Before taking this class, I had never heard about it and I was shocked! We only have ten years left to reach those goals and it is so important that we start teaching our students about it. We will not reach these goals if no one takes part!
I also learned how influential Global Education is. It is not just for educators, but for students as well. Students are able to reach out to other students that they normally would have never met! This creates relationships and bonds between students. For educators, they are able to learn from each other and ask questions and get opinions. Global Education is the future of education and I cannot wait to see where it takes me as an educator!
For this week’s assignment, I chose to watch the French film The Intouchables (2012). I chose a French film because I took four years of French in high school and thought it would be cool to see if I remembered any of the language. To be honest, I did not remember much but I really enjoyed the film. This movie touched my heart in a way I did not expect it to!
It is about a paralyzed man who is searching for a full-time caretaker. There are plenty of perfectly qualified people for the job, but he did not like any of them. Then a man shows up late for the interview, is rude and disrespectful to everyone in the room, and that is who evidently gets the job.
The two men start off with a rocky relationship but overtime they become unlikely friends. They form such a strong bond and become best friends. It was a lesson for the caretaker to be more giving and respectful and it was a lesson for the paralyzed man to be more accepting. Both men gain a new appreciation for life throughout the film.
They lived in a very wealthy neighborhood, which was much different from what the caretaker came from. He was originally from a poverty-stricken part of France, so this was a big change for him. Because of this, it made them very unlikely friends. The culture was very similar to that of our culture here in the United States. They traveled by car, ate regular food, had a normal climate. Obviously the only difference was that they spoke French and not English!
While I knew some of what they were saying, I relied heavily on the subtitles during the movie. I have never really enjoyed watching foreign films because I do not like subtitles, this movie gave me a new appreciation for them! I would recommend this movie to anyone who has the time to watch it. It truly is a beautiful story (based on true events, too!) and will touch the heartstrings of many.
