As part of the course, I also learned how to create a website, using Google sites, that could possibly be used for my classroom in the future. The website will probably need to be changed slightly, since some things on it are specific to the course, but it gives me a good foundation to start from. I enjoyed playing around with it and figuring out what looks acceptable and what does not. The line spacing was a problem for me at first, but I am okay with it now. Another thing I had a problem with was moving the images around. With this website tool, you cannot freely place the pictures where you would like to. I think the pictures are to close to the side, but that is how the tool places them on the page.
Next time, I will give myself more time to work on developing the website. With so much to do as the semester is finishing up, I did not have as much time to devote to it as I would have liked. So when making it better for my classroom specifically, I will spend more time making it as attractive as possible. Also, I will probably get family and friends to look at it and give me suggestions.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Facebook Activity
Throughout the semester, we have been trying out an activity on Facebook. The instructors have been posting important questions from each of the chapters, and we as students were supposed to be answering the questions, or liking the answers we feel are correct.
I think the idea behind it is a helpful one. It is to help us as students figure out what is important to take away from each chapter, and to work together to figure out the correct answers. I do not know how well the activity went however, since many of us do not use Facebook regularly or are so overloaded with other things and other classes. I personally admit that I did not participate as much as I should have, because I do not get on Facebook much and when I do get the time to its just to quickly see if someone has sent me a message that may be important. I have been so busy and stressed with work and other schoolwork that this activity was pushed down on my priority list. Also, I try to keep school things separate from social things, so by the time I get around to getting on Facebook, I have a lot of times forgotten about the questions. I did try to answer a few questions and like a few others, but if something like this is done again I will try the participate more regularly. I will not use this type of activity with my students since they will be too young, but posing questions and practicing things that will be on the test is a useful strategy to help even young children.
I think the idea behind it is a helpful one. It is to help us as students figure out what is important to take away from each chapter, and to work together to figure out the correct answers. I do not know how well the activity went however, since many of us do not use Facebook regularly or are so overloaded with other things and other classes. I personally admit that I did not participate as much as I should have, because I do not get on Facebook much and when I do get the time to its just to quickly see if someone has sent me a message that may be important. I have been so busy and stressed with work and other schoolwork that this activity was pushed down on my priority list. Also, I try to keep school things separate from social things, so by the time I get around to getting on Facebook, I have a lot of times forgotten about the questions. I did try to answer a few questions and like a few others, but if something like this is done again I will try the participate more regularly. I will not use this type of activity with my students since they will be too young, but posing questions and practicing things that will be on the test is a useful strategy to help even young children.
Everyday use of Storybird
After learning all about Storybird, I decided to use it with my little cousins to see how young children would respond to using it. I was babysitting four of them, two in third grade and two in fourth grade, and they loved Storybird! The only boy created a story by himself, and the three girls created one together. This shows how Storybird can be enjoyable for boys and girls in various sized groups. After I showed them how to create a story by picking a set of pictures and dragging the picture they wanted to use onto the page that was there, they were able to start from the beginning and do the whole thing themselves.
The stories are really short since they were excited to play together which they rarely get a chance to, but all of my little cousins who did these stories were very proud of there work. They needed a little help with some of the formatting specifics, but they were excited to use my laptop and type in their own stories. They had fun with the stories and wanted everyone to see what they had created, so here are the links to the stories. The Rockers! and The Sweet Old Lady I hope you enjoy them as much as they enjoyed making them.
The stories are really short since they were excited to play together which they rarely get a chance to, but all of my little cousins who did these stories were very proud of there work. They needed a little help with some of the formatting specifics, but they were excited to use my laptop and type in their own stories. They had fun with the stories and wanted everyone to see what they had created, so here are the links to the stories. The Rockers! and The Sweet Old Lady I hope you enjoy them as much as they enjoyed making them.
Storybird
A web tool that I learned about and really enjoyed was Storybird (storybird.com). This is a free tool that anyone can use to create a story about anything they can imagine, and even easily publish to the web. The website provides a large amount of pictures to choose from, which are separated into different categories. You begin by choosing a set of pictures based on the sample pictures shown or choose from a theme. The creators have the idea of inspiring a story from artwork, which is why the process is done this way. Once a set of artwork is chosen, the rest is very simple, and the author can be as creative and imaginative as possible with writing the story.
Since this tool is so simple to use, I am very excited about using it with my future students. It is a great tool to not only excite children about literacy, but to help them practice and learn more about reading and writing. If older children or more adults are not available to help, I may have to use Storybird mostly for creating a story as a whole class, but I could also use it in small groups. However, the children can pick whatever pictures they want and dictate the story. If children are able to spell and have a little more typing skills, Storybird is simple enough for them to use themselves.
When I created my first story using Storybird, it took no time at all to figure out how to use which is why it would be a good idea for classroom use. I was able to quickly pick a set of pictures and begin the creative process. One thing that was difficult was keeping track of the picture you want to use if there are a lot of pictures in the set. I lost one that I wanted to use, but there are so many that a found another that I liked as well. The only thing I would do differently next time is make sure that I move the picture to the page before I keep looking through the rest of the pictures. I enjoyed creating the story and I am sure others of all ages will enjoy it as well.
Since this tool is so simple to use, I am very excited about using it with my future students. It is a great tool to not only excite children about literacy, but to help them practice and learn more about reading and writing. If older children or more adults are not available to help, I may have to use Storybird mostly for creating a story as a whole class, but I could also use it in small groups. However, the children can pick whatever pictures they want and dictate the story. If children are able to spell and have a little more typing skills, Storybird is simple enough for them to use themselves.
When I created my first story using Storybird, it took no time at all to figure out how to use which is why it would be a good idea for classroom use. I was able to quickly pick a set of pictures and begin the creative process. One thing that was difficult was keeping track of the picture you want to use if there are a lot of pictures in the set. I lost one that I wanted to use, but there are so many that a found another that I liked as well. The only thing I would do differently next time is make sure that I move the picture to the page before I keep looking through the rest of the pictures. I enjoyed creating the story and I am sure others of all ages will enjoy it as well.
Friday, November 18, 2011
iMovie Landform video
This is a video I created using Apple iMovie software. I had to decide on a topic, collect pictures and music that complimented the topic I chose, and storyboard the video all before even beginning to put it together. This was a long process, but once I got to putting the video together it was very fun and students will enjoy watching videos such as this one. Older students will also benefit from making them if possible.
The process of making this video was very difficult. The most difficult part was collecting good pictures and music while adhering to copyright laws. This would have been easier if I was just using this video for classroom purposes, since I could use fair use policies, but since I had to put it on the internet the laws are more strict. Also, using pictures that are originally an appropriate size and resolution is very important to creating a visually crisp video quality. I also had difficulty deciding what type of music supported the topic of landforms. I think I finally found something that works well together.
Actually making the video was the most fun part. iMovie is a very simple tool to use once you know what all the buttons do. I enjoyed adjusting the motion of the pictures and deciding what transitions to add between some of the pictures. I would probably use this type of software to create simple concept videos for my young students, or to document a field trip that we may go on. Next time I make a video like this I hope to have the software on my home computer, or more time and access to the software to play around with it more. Also, I will either not put the video on the internet, find media that is no longer copyrighted from the beginning, or use my own pictures now that I understand how strict the laws are. I had to find two completely different sets of pictures for this project because I did not understand the laws when putting things like this on the internet, and that was very difficult.
The process of making this video was very difficult. The most difficult part was collecting good pictures and music while adhering to copyright laws. This would have been easier if I was just using this video for classroom purposes, since I could use fair use policies, but since I had to put it on the internet the laws are more strict. Also, using pictures that are originally an appropriate size and resolution is very important to creating a visually crisp video quality. I also had difficulty deciding what type of music supported the topic of landforms. I think I finally found something that works well together.
Actually making the video was the most fun part. iMovie is a very simple tool to use once you know what all the buttons do. I enjoyed adjusting the motion of the pictures and deciding what transitions to add between some of the pictures. I would probably use this type of software to create simple concept videos for my young students, or to document a field trip that we may go on. Next time I make a video like this I hope to have the software on my home computer, or more time and access to the software to play around with it more. Also, I will either not put the video on the internet, find media that is no longer copyrighted from the beginning, or use my own pictures now that I understand how strict the laws are. I had to find two completely different sets of pictures for this project because I did not understand the laws when putting things like this on the internet, and that was very difficult.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Animoto Tool
This is a video slideshow I created about my family and friends using Animoto!
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
I enjoyed creating this video, however there were a few drawbacks. One drawback is that the free version of Animoto only allows you to make 30 second videos. Also, you cannot choose which part of the music you want to use for the video. I would have liked to make it a little bit longer and possibly be able to choose which part of the song to use in the video instead of just from the beginning. It turned out that the majority of my video is only the talking part of the song I picked from the site which I did not realize would happen. Next time I use Animoto, I will make sure to either use a song from my computer, or choose one that has music from the very beginning. I could create a video for my future students to see pictures of my family, or just some pictures I find interesting for them to see. It was easy to use this tool to upload the pictures, and it created the video for you so that is good for people who are not as talented at making videos as others are.
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
I enjoyed creating this video, however there were a few drawbacks. One drawback is that the free version of Animoto only allows you to make 30 second videos. Also, you cannot choose which part of the music you want to use for the video. I would have liked to make it a little bit longer and possibly be able to choose which part of the song to use in the video instead of just from the beginning. It turned out that the majority of my video is only the talking part of the song I picked from the site which I did not realize would happen. Next time I use Animoto, I will make sure to either use a song from my computer, or choose one that has music from the very beginning. I could create a video for my future students to see pictures of my family, or just some pictures I find interesting for them to see. It was easy to use this tool to upload the pictures, and it created the video for you so that is good for people who are not as talented at making videos as others are.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Final Interactive Spreadsheet
Another project we were assigned to create was an interactive worksheet. I chose to use second grade math as the subject area. I went through and decided that I wanted to use the "Algebra" standard and create a worksheet using sequences. An example of it can be seen below.
I enjoyed creating this interactive worksheet. It was very interesting to put in the equations to make everything work. I got the equations in pretty easily without much problem, but even if something ended up wrong, it was interesting to go through and find what caused the problem. I thought it was fun to see how these type of worksheets work, and I think that my future students will enjoy it as well. I could use this in the future for many different subjects in my classroom. This will give my young students a fun way to practice concepts, and use the computer for things besides playing games.
Being the first time I had created a worksheet using Microsoft Excel, this was a very long and tedious process. There are so many small things that seem minor, but can cause problems with the worksheet. One thing I had a problem with was making sure that the worksheet would be on just one page when printed. I don't think that would be a problem if I just use it in digital form because I do not have to much information on the worksheet. As a result of trying to fit it all on one printed page, the spacing is small between the rule and the sequence, which can be confusing. However, on the computer it all fits on the screen at one time with adequate spacing. So for future uses, to make the process easier, I will not have the interactive worksheet printed off. Other than that, I would not change anything else about the process.
I enjoyed creating this interactive worksheet. It was very interesting to put in the equations to make everything work. I got the equations in pretty easily without much problem, but even if something ended up wrong, it was interesting to go through and find what caused the problem. I thought it was fun to see how these type of worksheets work, and I think that my future students will enjoy it as well. I could use this in the future for many different subjects in my classroom. This will give my young students a fun way to practice concepts, and use the computer for things besides playing games.
Being the first time I had created a worksheet using Microsoft Excel, this was a very long and tedious process. There are so many small things that seem minor, but can cause problems with the worksheet. One thing I had a problem with was making sure that the worksheet would be on just one page when printed. I don't think that would be a problem if I just use it in digital form because I do not have to much information on the worksheet. As a result of trying to fit it all on one printed page, the spacing is small between the rule and the sequence, which can be confusing. However, on the computer it all fits on the screen at one time with adequate spacing. So for future uses, to make the process easier, I will not have the interactive worksheet printed off. Other than that, I would not change anything else about the process.
Interactive Spreadsheet
This is an example of an Excel worksheet created to practice compound words.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Inspiration Digital Diagram
Below is a diagram I created using Inspiration software. This software can be purchased for a small fee, but it is very useful and fun to use with students of all ages. This diagram is a literary elements concept map using a story from a first grade language arts book.
As I said, this is a diagram I created, but the software is simple enough to be used for teachers to create diagrams with young students, or for more computer efficient students to create diagrams on their own. It may take some practice and explanation the first time, but after that it should be very easy to use. Inspiration software can be used for any subject to create graphic organizers, idea maps, concept maps, and other digital diagrams. If possible, I would use Inspiration in my classroom to create different diagrams for my students and with my students. These diagrams can help explain different subject matters in a way that is easier for everyone to understand. They can assist and encourage organized thinking while being interesting and aesthetically pleasing. I would use it to project during a lesson and possibly print the diagram to post in the classroom also.
There were a few difficulties that I encountered while working with Inspiration, but nothing major. It was difficult for me to get the spacing of all of the objects in the diagram in a way that is easy to follow and understand. Also, the sizing and different colors of the diagram were a challenge, because I wanted to make sure that everything was appropriate for the topic and age level. All of these challenges just take a little time and playing around with the program to get everything worked out. Next time, I will make sure to plan everything out, especially the organization of the bubbles, more carefully. Overall, everything went smoothly though. It is easy to insert graphics from the program, or copy and paste them from somewhere else. Also, linking text to outside websites is easily done by clicking the link button.This program is a lot of fun to use to create tools students can use more than once.
To learn even more about this software and see more examples, click Inspiration.
As I said, this is a diagram I created, but the software is simple enough to be used for teachers to create diagrams with young students, or for more computer efficient students to create diagrams on their own. It may take some practice and explanation the first time, but after that it should be very easy to use. Inspiration software can be used for any subject to create graphic organizers, idea maps, concept maps, and other digital diagrams. If possible, I would use Inspiration in my classroom to create different diagrams for my students and with my students. These diagrams can help explain different subject matters in a way that is easier for everyone to understand. They can assist and encourage organized thinking while being interesting and aesthetically pleasing. I would use it to project during a lesson and possibly print the diagram to post in the classroom also.
There were a few difficulties that I encountered while working with Inspiration, but nothing major. It was difficult for me to get the spacing of all of the objects in the diagram in a way that is easy to follow and understand. Also, the sizing and different colors of the diagram were a challenge, because I wanted to make sure that everything was appropriate for the topic and age level. All of these challenges just take a little time and playing around with the program to get everything worked out. Next time, I will make sure to plan everything out, especially the organization of the bubbles, more carefully. Overall, everything went smoothly though. It is easy to insert graphics from the program, or copy and paste them from somewhere else. Also, linking text to outside websites is easily done by clicking the link button.This program is a lot of fun to use to create tools students can use more than once.
To learn even more about this software and see more examples, click Inspiration.
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Hunt! (Picasa and Google Presentations Slideshow)
Our class was divided into groups and each group participated in a different scavenger hunt together. My groups task was to find a real world object beginning with each of the letters A-F and take a picture of it. Since we were on campus, it was difficult to find some of the letters, such as A and K. However, we did our best to think of, and find objects for those letters. Some of the letters were easy to find objects for and quickly take pictures of. It was a lot of fun, and I think that my future students would enjoy practicing letters and vocabulary this way. I will use this in my future classroom, most likely together as a class since I will be working with younger students. The only thing I would do differently as the teacher to make it easier for younger children would be to brainstorm possible objects with them before beginning the search, and making sure there is something for each letter before introducing the activity.
After doing the scavenger hunt with my group in class, these are slideshows I created to document our findings. I used Picasa for the first one and Google Presentations for the second one. Both are free tools provided by google for photo and information sharing.
Both of these tools can be used for sharing pictures with one person or with many people. Google presentations can be used to create presentations besides picture sharing also. These are useful because they are free and can be accessed from the web at anytime. I will most likely use these tools for creating presentations for my class and with my students. These tools are fairly easy to use. Uploading pictures to both is simple and can be done fairly quickly. The only thing I think I would do differently with the slideshow next time is choose a different type of background.
After doing the scavenger hunt with my group in class, these are slideshows I created to document our findings. I used Picasa for the first one and Google Presentations for the second one. Both are free tools provided by google for photo and information sharing.
Both of these tools can be used for sharing pictures with one person or with many people. Google presentations can be used to create presentations besides picture sharing also. These are useful because they are free and can be accessed from the web at anytime. I will most likely use these tools for creating presentations for my class and with my students. These tools are fairly easy to use. Uploading pictures to both is simple and can be done fairly quickly. The only thing I think I would do differently with the slideshow next time is choose a different type of background.
Smilebox!!
This is a Halloween invitation I created using the tool Smilebox. This tool can be used to create a variety of fun things for different themes and occasions. Visit the Smilebox website to explore all the possibilities. I think a lot of people would enjoy it as much as I do.
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| This digital invite created with Smilebox |
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Solar System Glogster
This is a Solar System poster I created using Glogster. Glogster is a free tool that can be used to create posters online. Creating this poster was interesting, and can be fun for older children to showcase some interesting things that they have learned.
Glogster is one of the more difficult tools to use I have learned about so far. Thinking of ideas to create a poster and collecting the materials was simple, but navigating the Glogster tool was fairly confusing. It took a lot of time to learn how to use it and to get everything to work the way I needed it to, such as moving and positioning objects. I doubt general education teachers would have time to navigate this tool with their students, but it may be a fun project for a technology type class, if available. Next time, if I use this tool, I will give myself more time to work with it, since I now know how much effort it takes to create a Glogster poster.
If I were teaching a little bit older children, I would maybe try to have them create a Glogster about their family or a project they have done. We could even create a class Glogster about a topic of their interest. However, since I will be teaching younger children, I doubt I will be able to do those things with them. I could possibly try to create a Glogster with them altogether, but I think it would be to difficult and time consuming for them to try themselves. With everything that needs to be accomplished in school, I doubt the time that would be needed for such young children to figure Glogster out would be available. However, playing with this tool in free time at home is very enjoyable and can be helpful in developing a deeper understanding of a certain topic. If I have time outside of school, I could even create a Glogster for my students to learn from that we would explore in the classroom.
Glogster is one of the more difficult tools to use I have learned about so far. Thinking of ideas to create a poster and collecting the materials was simple, but navigating the Glogster tool was fairly confusing. It took a lot of time to learn how to use it and to get everything to work the way I needed it to, such as moving and positioning objects. I doubt general education teachers would have time to navigate this tool with their students, but it may be a fun project for a technology type class, if available. Next time, if I use this tool, I will give myself more time to work with it, since I now know how much effort it takes to create a Glogster poster.
If I were teaching a little bit older children, I would maybe try to have them create a Glogster about their family or a project they have done. We could even create a class Glogster about a topic of their interest. However, since I will be teaching younger children, I doubt I will be able to do those things with them. I could possibly try to create a Glogster with them altogether, but I think it would be to difficult and time consuming for them to try themselves. With everything that needs to be accomplished in school, I doubt the time that would be needed for such young children to figure Glogster out would be available. However, playing with this tool in free time at home is very enjoyable and can be helpful in developing a deeper understanding of a certain topic. If I have time outside of school, I could even create a Glogster for my students to learn from that we would explore in the classroom.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Wordle!
I've recently had the pleasure of exploring the Web 2.0 tool Wordle and creating a wiki to help teach others about it with my partner in class, Taryn. This tool is used to create interesting word clouds that can be filled with any words you choose. Check out the Wordle wiki to learn more about how to use it. Here is an example of something that can be created on Wordle.
Wordle is very simple to use and the website can be easily navigated. I easily figured out how to enter words and create the word cloud. While exploring this tool, Taryn and I also ran into a few difficulties though. We could not figure out how to find word clouds we created after saving them to the public gallery. Therefore, I suggest printing or saving them somewhere else if you would like to keep it for future use. Another tip we later learned was to add a ~ between words in a phrase to keep it together in the cloud. Next time, I will definitely use these two hints to make a better Wordle, and to be able to use the same one more than once. I can use this tool when I begin teaching young children to create name clouds of every student in my class, and even alphabet charts with words that begin with each letter. This can also be very intriguing for children to help create as well.
Wordle is very simple to use and the website can be easily navigated. I easily figured out how to enter words and create the word cloud. While exploring this tool, Taryn and I also ran into a few difficulties though. We could not figure out how to find word clouds we created after saving them to the public gallery. Therefore, I suggest printing or saving them somewhere else if you would like to keep it for future use. Another tip we later learned was to add a ~ between words in a phrase to keep it together in the cloud. Next time, I will definitely use these two hints to make a better Wordle, and to be able to use the same one more than once. I can use this tool when I begin teaching young children to create name clouds of every student in my class, and even alphabet charts with words that begin with each letter. This can also be very intriguing for children to help create as well.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Website Evaluation
I recently did a website evaluation on Funbrain, an educational game site for children in preschool through 8th grade. You can visit the site by clicking the picture above, but I'm going to share a little about evaluating websites.
Evaluating websites is not a very difficult task, but it is very important and can take some time. Before exploring a website with students, you should first explore the website yourself: learn if and how it works, check out the accuracy and credibility of the information and authors, and decide if it can be used by everyone (including children with special needs). This was a simple task for me with the funbrain site. I was able to easily navigate the site and figure it out. However, I had difficulty finding contact information for the authors and editors of the website. Next time, I may try exploring the website more before actually doing the evaluation.
This evaluation tool will be very useful for me in the future. I will need to use it when trying to assess if a website is worth having my students spend time with; educationally, interest and usability. Funbrain is one that is good for a variety of ages, but I'm sure there are others out there that are not.
Evaluating websites is not a very difficult task, but it is very important and can take some time. Before exploring a website with students, you should first explore the website yourself: learn if and how it works, check out the accuracy and credibility of the information and authors, and decide if it can be used by everyone (including children with special needs). This was a simple task for me with the funbrain site. I was able to easily navigate the site and figure it out. However, I had difficulty finding contact information for the authors and editors of the website. Next time, I may try exploring the website more before actually doing the evaluation.
This evaluation tool will be very useful for me in the future. I will need to use it when trying to assess if a website is worth having my students spend time with; educationally, interest and usability. Funbrain is one that is good for a variety of ages, but I'm sure there are others out there that are not.
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