Ebooks (B Posting)

Our second storyboard was turned into an e-book using Power Point. When we first handed in the assignment, it was only to get feedback by Dr. Baylen. We spent one class period reviewing everyone's e-books and seeing how creative people became. I volunteered to show my e-book in class because not only did I want to share it with my classmates, but I also was curious of what needed improvement. When Dr. Baylen played my e-book, there were very little adjustments that I needed to make. The main adjustment was separating my interactive quiz from the actual story. He especially loved my pictures becaue I drew them myself. My story flowed in a different direction than most of the students because other people focused on school, while mine was focused on dancing. However, everyone is creative in their own way and all the stories that were shared were great.

In a previous blog about this activity, I shared what was learned from this activity and what challenges I faced. This is basically a follow up to that blog. When Dr. Baylen reviewed my e-book in class, he mentioned that I needed to hide the sound icon so it doesn't show up on the slide when the story plays. This was one of the challenges I faced in creating the Power Point because I had no idea how to hide the icon. When I asked him in class, he explained that I needed to bring the picture forward in order to hide the icon underneath it. This made everything much easier for me and definately improved the quality of my story. I had no problem readjusting my story because I knew how to do everything I needed to do to improve it. This is one of my favorite activities because it helped me to learn more about computers, not only as a student but as a person too. It increased my knowledge of technology and now I can apply the knowledge I have in the classroom as well as out of the classroom.

Movie Maker (E Posting)

During our class today, Dr. Baylen introduced Movie Maker to us. He explained that we would be doing a project where we would create our own movie. It sounds difficult at first. I know when I first heard about this, I asked myself "How am I going to be able to do that?" When he brought us through it step-by-step, it all unraveled and started making sense. It's all just a matter of dragging and dropping. I am anticipating this project because I think I will have fun with it. This project involves a lot of creatively and uniqueness and I absolutely love being creative and unique with my work. Since we can create any type of story, I think I'm going to make a movie of my life.

The Simple Joys of Technology (C Posting)

The article entitled, The Simple Joys of Technology, talks about how students from the small town of Camelot, Idaho are so excited to use technology in their classrooms. Technology is motivating students to want to learn because it is always changing and exciting. All teachers in the state of Idaho must pass a technology competency exam. Once they pass, they will receive a certificate. Each student has a webpage of all their schoolwork. The students also publish an online newspaper. Teachers thought it would be very beneficial if students stayed in touch with their projects on the Internet. Every child is involved with using technology in one way or another. From kindergarten to sixth grade, every level of teachers incorporate technology into the classroom. Higher grade levels are helping lower grade levels in learning and using the technology that is part of the curriculum.

I found this article to be very interesting. The one piece of information that caught my eye was teachers taking a technology competency exam. I think this is a great idea. If teachers really want to be successful in incorporating technology into their classroom, they need to know what they are doing and how to use it. From the content of the article, it seems that students love using technology. It can make learning fun and exciting because every new project/activity involves using different tools. Students are being exposed to something different than the usual ways of teaching. I found it very inspirational to read about how each grade level has their own curriculum for incorporating technology. And the most astonishing fact is that children as young as kindergartners are using technology. If every school in the country was as successful as this one, then I am all for technology!! To view the full article, click on the title of this posting.

Reading with Will (B Posting)

As part of our learning experience, we were assigned an activity called E-book Reading Experience. The assignment consisted of reading two e-books to a specific child and then reflecting on the experience. Our professor assigned five e-books that we needed to review prior to the actual activity. Out of those five, we needed to choose two and observe and interview the child to see how they reacted to the e-books. The purpose of this assignment was to show us how we can use technology in the classroom to enhance our students learning experience.

Initially, I found this activity to be fun and exciting. It was going to give me an idea of what it was like to use technology and allowed me to see how children would react to the use of it as well. The only worry I had about this project was finding a child because I did not know any child nearby. I ended up going to the Family Resource Center and was introduced to a boy named Will. Now, I was able to complete the assignement. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake because all children love books, regardless of whether or not they are e-books or regular picture books. I walked into this assignment with high hopes of it being successful because it seemed to me that children would enjoy these types of books. However, my hopes were way too high. It was not so successful, but I am glad that it was an assignement.

I learned a lot from this activity. I learned that technology does not always have an advantage in the classroom. From this experience, it seems that traditional ways of teaching would be more successful. I also learned that I prefer traditional ways of teaching over using technology because that is what I am most familiar with. However, I would like to become more familiar with technology, so when I do use it in the classroom, it will be successful. The biggest challenge of this project was to keep Will's attention. Throughout the reading of the e-books, WIll fidgeted and his attention flew in all different directions. In order to overcome this challenge, I needed to ask him a question here and there to throw his attention back on the story. Another challenge was interacting with Will to get his viewpoint on this activity. He barely answered my questions verbally. Every answer was usually a nod yes or no. He did not seem to interested in the e-books and this also made it difficult for him to give me an answer. I tried to get the most out of him, and that is all I really got. As a person, I learned that in order to become what you want to become, there are going to be challenges that I need to be prepared for. As a learner, I learned that technology isn't always the best way to get the point across. If it doesn't work, then it's not the right method. The best way to ensure that students learn the most is to use what you think will be the most successful method for them.

Storyboard Two (B Posting)

A few weeks ago, we were assigned a project called our 2nd Storyboard. The project initially involved making a story and putting it together on Power Point. The story needed to reflect one of our five stories from our very first assignment and mine was based on my student teaching experience. It was called A Tiny Dancer and was about a littler girl who finds confidence in herself with the help of her teacher and fellow classmates. I found this project to be interesting because I love getting creative and putting my imagination into my work. Along with making up a story, we needed to have more than one character because we had to express different voices as we recorded the sound. Pictures were required and they needed to be our own pictures, whether hand-drawn or from a digital camera. Following our story was an interactive quiz. The quiz consisted of ten questions related to the storyline. It seemed easy at first, but nothing is as easy as it may seem.

This project has helped me to learn more about technology and the ways to incorporate it into the classroom. I never really thought about using Power Point beyond what I normally use it for. It was something that was always there, but I never knew how to use it in a different way. I have learned that there are many ways to use Power Point creatively and effectively in a classroom.

There were a few challenges I came across in putting my story together. At first, I didn't have any digital pictures to use for the story, so I had to hand-draw all of them. It was difficult for me because I'm a perfectionist and my drawings are not perfect. However, I did the best I could with them and the results were not that bad after all. Another challenge that I had to overcome was learning how to transition from slide to slide because there needed to be a specific amount of time for each slide. Not every slide needed the same amount of time. A third challenge was the interactive quiz. I found this to be the most difficult because there were so many steps that needed to be followed precisely in order for the quiz to work.

I overcame every one of my challenges in this project. Although I wasn't very fond of my own pictures, I used them anyway. After mintues of playing around with Power Point, I finally found out how to transition the slides and make sure that there was enough time on each of them. The last challenge was the most difficult one. the interactive quiz seemed so in depth that I was extremely confused. However, when Dr. Baylen went step-by-step in class, it became more understandable. In order to overcome challenges successfully, one must experience them and them try to solve them on their own. I think it is the only way someone can truely learn something from it.

This project has helped me to learn a few things about myself. As a learner, I have learned that I need to expand my horizons and go beyond enemy lines to fulfill my goals of using technology in the classroom. There are so many ways to bring technology in the classroom and with each new project I experience, there is always a new door of opportunity that opens up. I plan on using Power Point in my future career because it is such a great teaching tool.

In the Classroom, Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards (A Posting)

This article describes how teachers are choosing to use weblogs in their classrooms because they are more convenient and are another way for students to express their thoughts. A second grade teacher, Mrs. Dudiak, took her students on a field trip to a Native American farm. When they returned, her students wanted to do nothing else but talk about their wonderful and exciting trip. So, instead of discussing their thoughts and feelings, Mrs. Dudiak had her students sign into their classroom weblog. They wrote about many things including learning to use a bow and arrow and sitting in a teepee and petting a buffalo. Mrs. Dudiak found that weblogs allow her students to interact more quickly and she said that they opened up a lot more online than they do in the classroom.

Weblogs are becoming more popular throughout classrooms. Teachers like blogs because they do not require as much effort to maintain. A man named Will Richardson says that, "with blogs, class doesn't have to end when the bell rings." He makes a rather great point. An advantage of weblogs is that they allow students to be involved and active outside of the classroom as well as in. Teachers also feel that weblogs allow them to give feedback to their students more quickly. Many teachers say that students put a lot more thought and effort into their blogging than their handwritten work. Although teachers are finding it difficult to keep up with their blogging during the summers, many are encouraging their students to handwrite their work and then post it on their weblog. Mrs. Contner, an assistant principal says, "if it gets the students excited about learning, we might as well try it."

This article was chosen because it caught my interest. One of my inquiry questions was how weblogs can help improve the classroom. This article answers my question almost perfectly. Teachers are choosing to use weblogs more often because students can be more free and open with their peers. It is less time-consuming and easier to follow-up on. Students enjoy blogging, and if they enjoy blogging they will enjoy learning as well. To view a full version of the article, click on the title of this posting.

Response to Kristen W. (D Posting)

Thanks for the comment Kristen! I think sharing the games and e-books with my godmother's girls is a great idea. They love anything that keeps them interested. Since these games and e-books are very interactive and creative, I know they will love it! It's hard, though, because they live in New Jersey (where I'm originally from) and I really don't get to see them that often. However, I will definately save all my games and creative projects for them because when I do see them, it'll be a great way for me to show them how hard I've been working to become a teacher. It'll show them that if you work hard, you can acheive anything...and I want them to be motivated and ambitious, just like me! Thanks for your thoughts!

PS - Do you have anyone that you can share your projects and games with?