Genius Hour Post Week 6

Doucette, K. Oct 12, 2017. "Williams PSL."
Retrieved from own personal library

Hello all my fellow blog followers. So this will be the last post about my genius hour research into the pumpkin spice comparison. Williams used pumpkin in different drinks to really pump up new flavours for the fall drink. However, Williams just didn't have any baked goods to bring in some more of that pumpkin spice flavour. This may not be what all stores are like however the store that I went into didn't have any new flavours of baked goods. This latte was super sweet. There was lots of whipped cream :) which of course would make anyone happy but the coffee taste was lost. Just overwhelming sweetness overload. Williams does offer more than one or two sizes they go small, medium, and large when making their drink comparison. Williams did just seem to be the only company that did just a drink for the fall flavours that came out. It could be an advantage in a way because they came out with 7 new drinks but could also be a disadvantage because some people want a treat with their drink and usually will try whatever is new on the menu first before buying anything they have already tasted. 

The Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Spiced Hot Chocolate, Hot Apple Cider, Sweet Chili Latte, London Fog, and Chai Tea Latte were all the same prices per size.

Small-4.00

Medium- 4.50

Large- 5.00

Pumpkin Chai Tea Latte 

Small-4.50

Medium-5.00

Large- 5.50

That's all for now folks come back to check out my ted talk as we discuss results of from genius hour project and how you can use this technique in your classroom to help bring our that digital, experimental, fun loving learner who needs something to become passionate about and bring their learning to life. 

Genius Hour Post Week 5

Doucette, K. Oct 6, 2017. "Coffee Culture PSL."
Retrieved from own personal library

Hey guys,

Back again, this time I tried coffee cultures pumpkin spice latte. I have to say it wasn't bad. Still had the great pumpkin taste but if your like me and aren't a big fan of coffee then you may not like this as much. It has a much stronger coffee taste and no added bonus of whipped cream :(. That's okay though it was still good and for the price it wasn't too bad. This company only carried two sizes however; small and regular. They have a few good baked treats such as a pumpkin spice muffin and a pumpkin scone (which I tried). The scone was amazing, sweet but not overpowering of any set flavour. It was also still very moist even without add anything extra such as butter or heating it up. When you first walk in to coffee culture there is a sign with the featured drinks. It included the pumpkin spice latte, the pumpkin scone, the pumpkin muffin and a matcha green tea latte (not to sure how this is related to fall flavours but I guess to each their own).

Doucette, K. Oct 6th 2017. "Pumpkin Spice
Scone." Retrieved from own personal
library

Pumpkin Spice Latte:
Small= 3.79
Regular= 4.29

Matcha Green Tea Latte:
Small= 3.79
Regular= 4.29

Pumpkin Scone:
2.69

Pumpkin Muffin:
2.39

Genius Hour Post Week 4

Doucette, K. Sept 25th 2017. "Starbucks Pumpkin
Spice Latte and Pumpkin Spice Muffin."  Retrieved
 from own Personal Library.

Hey guys,

So to begin I wanted to start my journey this week I will be exploring Starbucks version of the pumpkin spice latte. It seems that every year Starbucks was the one company who had the biggest pumpkin spice brand down pat every fall. With this in mid it is why we see pumpkin spice starting as early at the first week of September instead of October when it use to be. Starbucks has a much more rich flavour to their lattes. They are the best at what they do and for the price it better be. The pumpkin spice latte has a smoother taste with that good balance between pumpkin spice and coffee. They offer the most pumpkin spice products such as the latte, frappucino,  tea latte, muffin, scone, and bread. Starbucks offers one other flavour as well to make it more of a fall flavour which includes a salted caramel mocha; however if you want anything pumpkin spice this is the place to go. I will go over pricing right now but keep in mind a legend. T=tall=small, G= grande= medium, and v= venti= large. This will help when I break down the different prices of items based on their sizes. All prices may vary per location so this may not be exactly. I am just going by my local Starbucks.

Doucette, K. Sept 25th 2017. "Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Loaf."
Retrieved from own Personal Library 

Pumpkin Spice Latte/Salted Caramel Mocha:
T= 4.25, G= 4.95, V= 5.25
Frappucino-Salted Caramel Mocha and Pumpkin Spice:
T= 4.25, G= 4.95, V=5.25
Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte (hot or iced):
T=3.65, G=4.25, V=4.65
Pumpkin Muffin & Pumpkin Scone:
2.95
Pumpkin Loaf:
2.45





This week we also did something cool in our technology class that I wanted to share on my blog. We did a jigsaw activity to look at a whole slew of different apps or websites that integrate many different learning tools. This jigsaw activity was interested to look at because we were able to divide ourselves into groups and learn about a few different apps each that we then were able to teach our other colleagues. One that stood out to me was one called coogle which my colleague David had looked at and introduced to us. I really liked it because I could use it to organize my thoughts, especially for this project. What is neat about this feature is you can add people to the conversation and they can also include their thoughts as well. There is a chat function as well so you can configure before even posting something on the page. It is also extremely colourful to make things seem more organized into sections. I can find what I am looking for right away based on the specific colours I had associated with each idea. Instead of just looking at a black and white mindmap and seeing where everything fell. This could be one way to integrate brainstorming using technology into the classroom. Here is my example using my genius hour project.

Genius Hour Post Week 3

Hey Guys,

Doucette, K. October 25th, 2017. PSL Latte &

Salted Caramel Apple Oat Muffin. Own

Personal Library

This week I went to McDonalds to try their version of the pumpkin spice items. First of all they have changed everything this year and have decided not to focus on just pumpkin spice. They have changed the menu to a more fall type menu with different items. Also their pumpkin spice latte is different than any of the other type of lattes from other chains. Here is the breakdown. The pumpkin spice latte is now a caramel pumpkin latte. This makes the latte more sweeter with a much more taste. The caramel takes over much more of the flavour which sucks if you are looking more for the pumpkin spice flavour. Also this version does not come with whipped cream so it seems to be one of the ones around that does not include this feature. It still has a stronger coffee taste but does have more of the flavour taste than Tim Hortons pumpkin spice latte. The pictures are of the new fall line up for the baked goods at McDonalds. They offer a salted caramel apple oat muffin and a salted caramel apple Danish. Both were very delicious even though there isn't any other pumpkin spice items besides the latte. They are also offering another type of latte a French vanilla latte. I also tried this and it did have a much smoother taste than the caramel pumpkin spice latte. I enjoyed this much more. I do also like the fact that you can get a different size for the hot drinks. They offer the lattes in small, medium and large while Tim Hortons only offers lattes in medium size. Here is the break down of prices:

Doucette, K. October 25th, 2017. Salted 

Caramel Apple Danish. Own Personal

Library

Small Caramel Pumpkin Latte/French Vanilla Latte: 2.99
Medium Caramel Pumpkin Latte/ French Vanilla Latte: 3.59
Large Caramel Pumpkin Latte/ French Vanilla Latte: 4.09
Salted Caramel Apple Oat Muffin: 1.29
Salted Caramel Apple Danish : 2.69

Thanks again come back next week as I break down the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Menu.

Project Based Learning (PBL)

This week we have learned about different ways to present any project based learning activities we may want to include in our classrooms. One was using a site called Popplet. This site allowed the user to interact with a subject by organizing it into a flow chart fashion. You can also use this site to include group members and see how they answer the questions as well. My example is a religion lesson. I should have flowed this better but this was my first attempt. I had a question at the beginning which lead into the different ways in order to explore the topic. At the end the students would be assigned a short report on what they learned throughout the exploration piece.

Next I used goggle drive to make a digital story. A digital story may be a neat way to present. It is similar to a slide show. You can add voice clips, movies, pictures, etc., in order to tell your story of what you are learning. My story would be a lesson about pregnancy to childhood. I used pictures of my son to show the progression of him throughout the years. I chose to do mine more as a photo essay since I had so many wonderful photos I could use to tell my story.


Also in order to give your students a bit of a break you can do a "fun" activity to break things up. But you can sneak some learning as well. I have made a cross word puzzle about the 7 sacraments of the Catholic Church. Instead of a formal review you can use this to get them to remember certain names of things they need to know for a quiz.

Genius Hour Blog Post Week 2

Doucette, K. (Sept 11, 2017). "Tim Hortons Snack.
Retrieved from own personal photo library

Hey guys,

So I started my pumpkin spice journey this week. In my original post I did say I would start with Starbucks but hey Tim Hortons was closer so this is where I decided to start. I have to say I really like the latte from Tim Hortons although you can only get it in one size (medium). If you love the taste of your espresso drinks then this is the one for you. It gives you that espresso taste while throwing in the hint of pumpkin spice. It has that touch of sweetness when you first drink it because there is whip cream on it but that does melt really quickly. The muffin is more the most part awesome except for the cream cheese filling. I really don't like the filling as it is really sweet and takes away from the pumpkin taste of the muffin. The muffins last year when came not prefilled were so much better. But now they changed the filling as the company decided to go with a prefilled muffin. They are also now more expensive than the regular muffins. If you're looking for more pumpkin spice at Tim Hortons you can indulge in the pumpkin spice iced latte which is like a regular iced latte but includes a pumpkin shot and whipped cream. Also if you want to spruce up your coffee why not add a pumpkin shot to it. This can be added to any drink (i.e. hot chocolate, iced coffee, regular coffee, French vanilla, etc.)

Well do a breakdown of what each item costs.
Pumpkin Spice Latte: $3.70
Pumpkin Spice Iced Latte: $3.70
Pumpkin Spice Muffin: $1.60
Pumpkin Spice Shot: 30 cents

Here is just a simple clip of someone else trying the new pumpkin spice items. I do not personally like cold coffee but for all those who like iced coffee this might be the review for you 😉.

Rainbow Fish Assessment

The quiz I chose to create pertains to the story Rainbow Fish by Ernst Borgnine. This assessment has a few short multiple choice questions that deal with the book itself. Feel free to listen to the book to refresh your memory here. Happy quiz taking.

Genuis Hour Post Week One

QMI Agency. (Dec. 4th, 2014). "Combination Cup Comparison"

Retrieved from:

Today, I am going to explain a little more about what I've learned about Genius Hour to help delve into the project I plan to take on.

Genius Hour to me seems like a place for me to explore a way of learning through something I enjoy. Rather than have the teacher say here is the topic and here is what you need to do, I know have some creativity over what I want to explore using different topics I should cover.

In my Genius hour project I wanted to explore the world of coffee. Working in a fast food chain myself while also juggling being in school full time, being a mother full time, and working full time I realized I do end up enjoying caffeine probably more than I should. My favourite time of year for my caffeine intake is the fall because pumpkin spice everything comes out. So for my Genius Hour I wanted to bring you into this world. Tell you where maybe the best tasting latte or baked good can be purchased or the cheapest. I'll be comparing prices, taste, and quantity to ensure that what you are trying is the best you can get. I mean this is my opinion so you may have to try them for yourself but hey why not.

For those of you who have never tried a pumpkin spice latte. Here's a short clip from first time drinkers to tell you what you've been missing. 😁

Copyright

Hey guys. In order to understand technological advances in the education system we need to take up an important issue and that would be copyright issues. When faced with the dilemma of whether to show a video in class or use a picture in a slide we must understand that there many be copyright implications that come along with it. As an educator it is important to know that we also need to follow the copyright rules or else we may find ourselves in some hot water. Many times we will want to show videos from YouTube in our classrooms in order to effectively show our students an example from the lesson we are teaching. However we must read all the fine print in order to see if we can really use this in a public setting such as a classroom. Many copyright rules will state that it would infringe on copyright rules if shown in a public setting such as your classroom. Here are some examples of how to effectively label images if taken from a website (in this case Flickr) in order not to infringe on copyright rules.

Brown, V. (2011, December 28). Baby typing on a keyboard. [Online Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/vintuitive/6585812185/

Jones, D.R. (2014, September 7). Child on a computer [online image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/15198147976/in/photostream/

By adding captions on the bottom of the photo you are highlighting where these images came from and giving recognition to the artist. This will cover you when using these items in whatever capacity you need them.

Here's a little bit about me to better see who I am :).

My passion heart map tells you more about what I really love/like in my life. There are so many different things that surround my life that make it complete and these are just a few different areas that I find myself embedded in.

You can also follow my All About Me page on Pinterest. You find some pictures of my family (since they are my life) and myself. You'll notice there are more of my son well of course he is number 1 man in my life with my husband coming a close second :). Also engaging with my friends. All pictures are from my wedding day since that was one of the most important days of my life. There are also different things I like such as memes from certain shows and from my sport of choice (cheerleading).


Speaking of  cheerleading, many people don't understand why it is my passion. Well this is actually a clip from a cheerleading competition my high school went to (this is not my year however but one of the years after I graduated). Many people think that cheerleading is just raw raw wave your pompoms but people don't understand that there is a lot of work that goes into perfecting a performance and placing during any of the competitions you encounter. Just like any other sport you strive to be the best you can be and be number 1 while also trying to have fun. I am now more of the coaching side so I get to bring these new athletes to the top and give them the same passion I had.