Looking at my Journey

I feel I have come a long way in this class.  I do not think of myself as a very tech savvy person and had not used any of the tools in this class before.  Also I have never really worked with a Mac outside of just typing a paper.  I still feel uncomfortable on a Mac, but I can certainly see some of the benefits they offer.  It is nice that all the programs on them are so compatible and it is easy to move items, pictures, and sounds between programs with ease.

During this class we covered a lot of tools!  Some of these tools I really enjoyed while others I did not.  The Web 2.0 tool that my group had for our presentation, Glogster, was a tool I thoroughly enjoyed.  I am not a very artistic person so using an online tool to make a poster made it a lot cleaner and organized.  I know that there will be students of mine like this that will also benefit from being able to use computer to construct projects rather than traditional methods.  In a sense it puts all students on an even playing field since one student can’t get by on a project simply because they are a good artistic.  If a student puts the time in on with one of these tools like Glogster, they can make a nice project.  Tools that I feel the same way about are Animoto, Storybird, and Pixlr.  One tool I did not really like was Timetoast.  I felt a lot was missing from this tool to make it effective.  I think it is a good idea and has some potential to be fixed into a great tool, but as it is now just missing too much for me.  I think that not being able to put in BC dates is a huge flaw that I cannot get over.  Also every date needs a specific date which is something I do not like.  Some events do not occur on one day or even one year.  This is a tool I will most likely not use.  I do not see the purpose in using Picasa Web Album either over other slide show tools like Power Point or Google Docs.  Overall though there were a lot of great things we learned in this class that I will have to keep in mind going forward into my teaching career.

I believe the most important thing I learned this semester was how to make a flipchart.  In my placement at an elementary school right now they use a flipchart almost every day.  I can easily see how being able to construct my own will be a huge help for me.  I used the flipchart I created in this class to teach a lesson at my placement and the students loved it.  It kept them so engaged through the entire lesson.  The students also learned a lot during the lesson, and I don’t think I could have taught them the topic as well without it.  Creating a flipchart can be time consuming, but with Promethean Planet teachers have a terrific resource to lessons.  I know that is where my mentor teacher found the ones he used in the class.  He would look up a flipchart in the subject we were covering, go through it, and pick out the parts he wanted to use.  It was quick and simple, but highly effective.  I know already of all the tools I learned in class, creating and using a flipchart is going to be the one that I use the most in my career.

Now I am at the end of the class and I have so much to show for it.  I have my website, my video, my flipchart lesson, Web 2.0 artifacts, and this blog.  There are not a lot of classes that leave you with so much to show for it.  This is why I believe this was one of the most useful classes I have had.  I had my ups in down in this class for sure, but I think I ended with a good understanding of a lot of tools.  

Website

This week I my classroom website has really started to come together. I am not quite done with it, but close. It is really starting to look like something I can use going forward. The process hasn't been as difficult as I originally thought. During my placement in a high school this semester, they had class websites for each class so it is something I know I will need to know how to do. I am not sure what grade level I will teach, but having class websites in high school are so important because it helps students adjust to how things will be if they decide to go to college. Also for younger grades I think websites are an awesome way of communicating with parents. I think being able to show off young students work in a classroom website would be so rewarding for students. If I was able to go on a website and see my class projects when I was in elementary school, I would have thought it was the coolest thing ever. It would have served as a great motivation for me to keep performing at high levels. Technology is advancing so quickly that students must be exposed to it at an early age and as often as possible. A classroom website is a good way to get students exposed to a website that you have complete control of. You are able to provide them with the tools, websites, and information that you find appropriate all in one spot. I look forward to completing my website and learning the more advance things I able to do with websites. I think it may take some time setting up a site, but once it is up the benefits are endless. Link to my classroom site

Digital Story

This week and last I spent a lot of my time creating a movie for class. I used picture I took at home in Philadelphia to create a video of a tour of Philadelphia. Doing this project took time, but I really enjoyed doing it. I think I learned a lot during this project. First I learned the benefit of choosing a topic I am highly interested in. I was very excited to make a video of Philadelphia and show classmates my hometown. I think I worked harder on this assignment because I felt more invested in this. This is something I should keep in mind while I am teaching. If I am able to give my students my freedom on topics during assignments, they may feel as I did during this project and work harder. By providing choices to my students, they feel involved and engaged in the assignment. This isn't something that I will be able to do all the time, but when it is possible I should.

Next I learned about two video creating programs. First I began by using iMovie on a Mac. The program gave me trouble at first, but it become easier to use as I got the hang of it. What I really did not like about iMovie was I could not save it and work on it at another computer. This meant I would have to go to the computer in class anytime I wanted to edit the video. I decided that this was not good for me because I wanted to really take my time with it and work on it more at my leisure. Since I have a PC, I began to use Windows Live Movie Maker to do the video. It was a change so I had to spend some time learning it, but the program was very easy to use as well. I really enjoyed how easy it was to save to my computer multiple time. I liked this because if I want to see what my movie would look like if I completed changed an aspect I was able to save it, make the change, and then just reload the saved one if the changed wasn't something I liked. This saved me time when trying new things with the program.

The last thing I learned was the benefit of taking my own digital photographs. It took me time to gather the photos I took, but since it was something I was interested in I had fun doing so. Once I had my photos, I was free to use them and did not have to worry about copy write issues. I could use,adjust, or edit the pictures however I wanted. I also used one of these pictures to edit using Pixlr and it was fun to change a picture I actually took. This again teaches me that in my class if I want student to do work with photos, I should allow students to take the pictures themselves if this is an option. It makes them feel more invested in the assignment.

Digital Diagram

This week we worked with digital diagrams on Inspiration.  I thought this was a great tool to use for all grade levels.  Diagrams are so common in every subject and this tool makes creating a diagram so simple and fast.  I can easily see myself using this to quickly create diagrams to use in all subjects to hang around the room.  They will be great for helping introduce a topic, or to create at the end of a unit to help review for a test.  They are so simple to create that students can create their own.  I do like the classic diagram on the poster board where students have to write out the information because I think it helps it stick more, but I can see this tool as a way for students to organize what they will put on a poster before they start.  It being on the computer though is great because it allows for links to online sources.  This is nice because you don't want too much information on a diagram so the links provide a way for student to obtain additional information.

I wish I had known about this tool before this week because I recently attempted to make a diagram through Microsoft Word and it was a mess.  It was so difficult and time consuming.  By the time I was done with it, it did not look nearly as good as if I had done it with Inspiration.  Having had to create a diagram that way and then with Inspiration really helped me appreciate how useful this tool is.  This has been one of my favorite tools we have learned so far.

Animoto

Make a video of your own at Animoto.
Animoto is a tool I like a lot. It is great for creating short videos made up of images. I really enjoy how easy it is to use and I think it has some good practical uses in the classroom. The main way I could see myself using an animoto video is to introduce a new topic we are about to cover. It can give them a real quick view at what we are about to be learning. Also with the images and the music it really is an attention grabber to get them engaged. I think another great use is to use it as a review concepts. I think since the videos are so short they can quickly be viewed to refresh students memory of what they have been learning. I could see my students viewing the same video several times and quickly remembering each of the items in it. The animoto example I made was of the first 10 U.S. Presidents. I think this is great because I can break down the long list of all the presidents and make several short videos. This way students can focus on one group at a time and eventually learn them all. Longer videos can be made, but that requires an account. I would definitely like to be able to create longer videos, but I do see a great use even for the short ones. Also since they are easy to make, I could just create a few short ones in place of one long one. Lastly I can of course see myself sing this tool through having my students make one. It is very simple to do and I feel students will really get into the idea of creating their own video. Students probably see similar video all the time online so for them to actually be able to create one I think would really get them engaged.  Overall I think Animoto is a terrific tool that both my students and I will enjoy using.

Active Board

This week and last we started work on the Promethean Active Board. I really enjoy this tool and was unaware of all the different things that can be done with it. When I was in school we did not use these boards so I do not have that much experience with them. To be honest I have been kind of intimidated by them and thought it would be too complex for me to use. After having the lesson and seeing them in use at schools, I think that I will certainly use them. I did not know that some lessons have already been created online that can be used. I know that all of them will be prefect, but they will serve as a great starting point when I am creating my own lessons using the Promethean Board. Also I see that you do not have to be elaborate when using the board. They can be a huge help when it comes to just taking notes on the board and is clearer for students to read. Also the way I have seen the Promethean Board used the most is with the teacher bringing up a document or worksheet so they can write on it on the board. This is so much more effective than the traditional overhead projector I am used to. It is much cleaner and also allows for the teacher to restart it and write on the same document again. So if they teacher is doing a problem on the board they can do the problem and then clear it and let the students do the same problem on the board. The Promethean Board is going to be something I will use a lot in my class and is crucial toward incorporating technology into the classroom. I look forward to working with and learning more about this tool.

Digital Imaging

This week we worked with digital imaging. Specifically we use digital cameras, worked to resize them, and use Picasa and Google Presentation to share them. I think images are a great way for me to reach my learners. Being in special ed. it will help greatly to give students a visual image or representation to go with the things we are learning in class. I learned a lot through these activities, mostly with saving them and the importance of resizing them. I did not realize the amount of space photos take up and how much space can be saved through resizing. These are important things to know not just as a teacher, but also in general with my own personal use with images. There are so many things students can do with digital images. They can use them to create presentations, share with their parents what they are doing in class, or with digital scavenger hunts. As digital imaging becomes more and more common, it is increasingly important that they learn these skills we did in class to be able to do things with the pictures they take. Also I think it is important they see how easy it is to manipulate photographs so they see why it is important not to believe every photo is authentic. A lot of times in society images are altered to make people look good or bad, for marketing, or just to trick people. Knowing to research a suspicious photo is very important in today's society.

Slide Show Presentation

Digital Scavenger Hunt

This week we went out and did a digital scavenger hunt.  I thought this was a nice way to do something different in a class.  I think it gives student s a chance to do a fun activity, but at the same time expand their thinking.  Some of the things on the scavenger hunt were difficult to think of something to take a picture of and it made us think critically about it.  For me as a special educator, I think it will be important to have activities to help students think critically because they may have trouble doing so in the classroom.  This digital scavenge hunt is an activity that I can see myself using for my students.  I thought another way to encourage students to think more critically is to tell them their picture wont count unless it is different from all other groups pictures.  This would force student to think outside of the box even more.  I do think that this activity would not be suited for young children, but for older students I think it will work nicely.  Also it is important to trust your students to walk around the school gathering these photos.

Not only is this a good activity to help student think critically, it also has student do work with the a picture editing program after.  This is a nice way to link to extend an activity and have students get experience with a photo program with pictures they worked hard to gather.  This part of it completes the assignment and give the students a way to show of their pictures.

Wordle

This week a new Web 2.0 tool was introduced to us, Wordle.  With Wordle the user is able to create a word cloud which is a group of words put together in random order and direction.  I did not really like this tool because I do not see it being very useful.  I can see myself using it maybe as a different way to display the names of students in my class, or help students see which words show up most in a speech, but I do not think Wordle has much use past this.  Not only do I not see much use for Wordle, I think that it is too difficult to share your word cloud with people.  It is nice that you do not need a Wordle account, but this also means the user cannot save their word cloud or share it easily.  The options you have if you would like to share your word cloud with others is to print it or take a screen shot.

As far as the presentation of the tool, I thought the group did a nice job especially for having to go first.  I see it will be helpful for my group to walk through the presentation on our own before presenting to make sure we do not come across any problems like this group did with Java.  Also I realize that it takes a lot longer to create a Glog on Glogster than it took to create a word cloud on Wordle.  This means we are just going to have to get the class started, and I think we should keep the whole class working on creating the same exact Glog so they can stay on task.  Also this will better ensure that we get to show them the things that we feel are important.  We can share our artifacts at the end so the class sees what a finished Glog looks like since I know they will not finish one in class.

Web 2.0: Glogster

This week I worked with and explored Glogster.  Glogster is a website where users are able to create an online poster.  I thought Glogster was a good tool for classrooms because it allows for all students to be able to create interesting posters.  Creating posters is an activity used in every subject area and in almost every grade, and Glogster offers students a new fun way to create posters.  If my classroom has the technology for all students to get onto Glogster, I would definitely use this tool.  Another cool feature about Glogster is that students are able to add videos, sound, and pictures to their posters.  This makes the posters more interactive and interesting than traditional posters.  As a special education teacher some of my student may not be able to make actual poster boards so creating one on Glogster would be an excellent substitute for them.  For this reason I am going to be sure to keep Glogster in mind when having students create projects.   

Inquiry Based Assignment

For this assignment Laurel and I worked together to put together an activity for 5th grade student receive special education services in a social studies class.  I think that we did a great job and learned a lot about finding good websites for students.  One major thing I learned is that a good website for one group of student may not be so good for another.  I think we all really benefited from the fact that everyone in the class really created excellent activities.  Everyone had perfect sites for their target students.  Like I mentioned not all of these sites would have worked for our students, but they worked for the grade level and subject they were intended for.  It was important for Laurel and I to find websites that were not overwhelming and distracting for our students.  Many students with special needs have trouble focusing so I site with too much going on would have been no good.  I really enjoyed putting together this activity and can easily see it being one I could use.

There were some other minor lessons I learned from this assignment.  One was the benefit of having someone to work with while putting together an assignment.  It was nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and catch some of the simple things you may overlook.  Another little lesson I learned was the importance of explicit direction.  By missing something simple like, not putting the name of the website or stating to answer in complete sentences, students can be easily thrown off.  This was a good lesson I learned a lot from.

Web Quest

This week we did some research into web quest assignments.  I really enjoyed this assignment because I had never experienced a web quest before.  I see how they have a amount of benefits in helping students organize a research based assignment.  I also liked how we got to learn what to look for in these assignments and what makes a good one and what makes one not so good.  I think these assignments, if done right, have excellent academic value and are something the students will enjoy doing.  Must of these assignments were built for groups to work together, but I can see some room for them to be done individually.  I believe that they could be used by just one student if you have an advanced student who you are trying to find more advanced activities for them to do.  This would work if you found a web quest that covered an extention of the material the class is working on, and is something that interests the student.  I certainly think I will use these later on my career when developing a lesson over in depth material.

Website Review

During the website review I learned the importance of taking the time to look into the validity of websites I am thinking about using for class.  It did not take very long to look into the site to figure out if was a reliable or not, so I can see how taking that little bit of time really pays off.  The specific site I looked at was Thinkfinity, and I really thought it was a great site that I could rely on as a teacher to find new ideas and strategies for teaching.  I think it would also be important to teach students in my classes how to also evaluate websites for when they are working on research.  There is a lot of stuff out on the web, and it is an important skill to be able to sort through all the sites finding which ones are worthwhile.  So overall what I would take away from this is the ability to evaluate websites I could use in my teaching and the importance of teaching my students this same skill.

Expectations for course

During this course I expect how to learn how to use various tools on the web.  Hopefully I will then be able to take these tools and apply them to my classroom when I am teaching.  Currently I use the Internet everyday, but still don't understand how to use many of the features out there.  I want to learn how to use a site to share videos, pictures, and information to my selected audience.   By the end of the class I think I will be able to decide which of these tools will be best for my classrooms.