Digital Story

It's been an interesting week trying to put together this digital story because we have not been told be our cooperating teacher what we are going to teach! So it's been more theoretical than anything! :) But it has been a pretty cool creative process! I feel like a Hollywood movie maker making cartoon story boards and talking about "where we want to go with the idea." I can see where this is going to be extremely useful when trying to tell a story within the classroom! I think history has a lot of examples you could use or social studies. But you can also use it doing background on characters in literature as well and ACTUALLY telling stories. :) This activity is great and I can't wait to get our topic from our teacher so we can get it started and done!! :)

The Flu PSA

This is Pace and my very first VLOG!! Who knew we could get so creative? We decided to use photo story for our program of choice! As with most projects this one took a little getting used to. First, it was tough to figure out HOW to present our ideas in an audio/visual format. Once we knew what we wanted to present we had to find pictures and sounds to go along with it. So I'd say the organization of the project is what took the longest. Once every picture was in the right order it was much easier and flowed much better from then on. The text on the pictures took a little while to adjust and to make look nice but it ended up great. I think the voiceover is what got me the most confused. I think I recorded 12 different versions before I got the volumes levels and fade outs...etc all right. In the end We were able to compare what we wanted to convey with what was actually conveyed and I think we got the point across like we hoped! Getting to know how to use photo story was fun and if we did this again we would be much more prepared and could probably venture into some more advanced options that we wanted to try!

Vlogging?

I had no idea that this term existed. Mainly because I don't really "follow" people on youtube really. I know my wife loves the Shaytards and another one of my friends loves the talking fruit thing? I dunno...though I do suppose I follow David Mitchell's rants that he posts on youtube. If you haven't seen him before you definitely need to check him out. Search David Mitchell Soapbox and you will have hours of small 3 minute rants to make you laugh to your heart's content. Anyway...I guess I do follow him but I guess I never knew or understood the term "vlogging" until now.

I see this being used in a myriad of ways! There are so many different lesson plans that could correlate a vlog into it. Whether it is a teacher creating a vlog to watch in class, to post on the class website to view for homework, or by having each of the students create their own vlog! With all of the different options available it's hard to think of a reason NOT to do this in the class! The different programs also allow students with different talents able to use them better. Some kids might like to use a camera while others can find better use of photo story and being creative that way. No matter how they do it they will all end up with a pretty professional looking video by the end. What a cool way to communicate!

Podcasts

This was a very informative lesson this week. Mainly because I have downloaded and listened to podcasts but I never really gave much thought to creating my own. I always just shrugged it off as something that "professionals" do for their websites and something I wouldn't even begin to try to understand or try. But, little did I know, it was much easier and much more practical than I ever thought that it would be.

What a great way for students to have classroom access from their own homes or from any computer for that matter! If there was a lesson that was either important or complicated or whatever...the teacher can make a recording of it and make it available for the class to listen to at their own convenience. Students who might have extra trouble in the classroom could benefit GREATLY from a resource like this. It doesn't matter if they might miss something in the class so long as there is a backup plan for them online for them.

It's also a great tool to teach students how to do themselves! How awesome would it be for students to team up and make their own radio shows or PSA's or (insert a million ideas here)? It can encourage them to A) learn how to make podcasts but also B) take things that they have learned and turn it into a practical application for them.

You could also do a lot of spelling exercises repeating letters over and over. Repeating sounds (A says AHH sort of thing). There could be a whole world of things you could do to let students listen to their teachers outside of the classroom at their own pace. Really cool concept!

Google Part 2

This assignment really blew me away because of the fact that I had no idea that I could make a website. I've created blogs before and thought I was pretty good but I always thought that websites with links and interactive quizzes were for something that you had to hire out! Little did I know I could do all of this by myself! It really proves that all you need is a little instruction by someone who knows what they are doing. I definitely had my questions and a few hiccups but in the end I got there and it turned out great!

Now what does that mean for me and my class?? Everything! I always assumed that I would communicate to my students/teachers/parents just by email (thinking it was cutting edge and SO different from my upbringing). But now that I know how to do this I think everything has changed! There are so many things that can be useful for the class

About me: This is so wonderful to let students and parents get to know what I am like. It makes the "teacher" much more human and personable.

Announcements: Perfect to let students about what is coming up in the classroom and if there are assignments or projects coming up. It lets parents know what to encourage their kids to be doing as well.

Calendar: Just like announcements this lets students and parents see what is coming up and makes planning so much easier.

Resources: This allows the students to be able to visit websites either visited or talked about in class. It gives a great place for students to come to for research.

Homework: Speaking of keeping track of assignments for parents and students...this is so perfect to let students know what to do every night and what they can do to get ahead or caught up.

Quizzes: This is great for assignments that you want the students to work on at home and learning how to function with the internet and computers. Plus it gives instant feedback and you can see what students are participating in.

File Cabinet: I picture using this to keep all of the assignments I give in word documents or pdf's. This way "i lost my homework" can't be used so often. :)


This was awesome and I just hope I save all of my notes so I can repeat it once I get into the classroom! :)

Google Part 1

I live in constant amazement over how much is available to students nowadays. I'm not that old (or at least I don't like to think that I am) but even in the last 10 years things have changed so dramatically since I was even in high school. My dad is a principal at an elementary school and he tells me about all of the new things that the teachers are doing and all of the tools that they have available in the classrooms! I remember going to computer lab in the 4th grade and all of the computer screens were that same green color and all we got to play was Oregon Trail and number munchers (which were the BOMB at the time!). Even as the internet and nicer computers came out they were so expensive that classes only had one to share among everyone and there was next to no internet use at home.

So to have resources like Google with email, documents, maps, photos, books, etc...just astounds me! There are so many different ways to connect to your students, other teachers, principals, parents, etc that learning is now not just something that can only happen in the 6 hour period INSIDE the school. This assignment allowed me to use something that I had never used before. I am fairly computer savvy but google docs was never anything I used before. IT"S COOL!! Being able to share a document with other people was awesome. I literally watched as other people were typing adding their comments as I did my own. This would be such a great resource for students doing group projects. Especially since not every student will have the same software and without spending any money every student can be afforded the same opportunities. Exploring the different websites was fun because it opened my eyes to how interactive learning can be! It doesn't have to be lecturing and the teacher being in charge all the time. In fact, the more time you give students in (guided) practice the more they are going to have fun and are going to learn. This was just awesome! I loved learning more about the resources that are out there! Let's do more!

Why become a teacher?

Such a simple question and yet so loaded in a way. :) I'd have to say it's because it's where I am happiest. I started in this major when I was 21 because it was something that I thought I would love and thoroughly enjoy. However I got stumped when I was about 2 years behind in the math classes so I couldn't get into the program. That's when I started listening to friends and family and taking ALL of their advice. Bad news. So here it is folks...the list of my majors. Elementary Ed, English, English Education, Hotel Management, Film, and finally back to Elementary Ed. It's the ONLY place I have actually enjoyed going to class! I am someone who has to be motivated to REALLY get into what they do. If I am passionate about a project then I will go to ridiculous lengths to make sure it is awesome. That's how I feel about teaching! It's where my passion is. Elementary school is such an awesome place to form ideas and really have fun with learning! I have never quite grown up (ie there are Disney art prints on my walls at home) so getting to be around kids all day gives me an excuse to not (fully) grow up. I'd have to say teaching (as far as professions go) is my home.