Visual Essay

In addition to the written essay for our "This I Believe" project, we were prompted to create a visual representation.  It wasn't as painful as I was expecting it to be!

I enjoyed trying to think of creative (and sometimes cheesy) ways to transfer my words into pictures.

This wasn't my first time making a video, but it was my first time making a visual essay.  I've always used iMovie, so Windows Movie Maker was kind of difficult to grasp at first.  Once I learned the basics, I was creating like a pro! :)

I could see myself using video projects in my classroom.  For example, if we did a unit on "Romeo and Juliet," a fun way to end it would be to create a "movie trailer" highlighting the important aspects of the play.  Or it could be applied to an excerpt in a novel; each group is assigned a different chapter and they have to make a video.  It would interesting to see how each group portrays the characters because it would be different from group to group.  Or I would have my students creating a "moving poem."  I did that in my video class in eleventh grade and it was really cool!  I selected a poem and used video images I captured to create a story.  I wish I still had it because this poem lent itself to this type of project because each line has a zillion different possible images.

Overall, I enjoyed this project!

Top Ten Coolest Tools for Schools

After much deliberation, I have selected my top ten tools from my SEDU183's classroom's blogs.

10. Pinterest. While I enjoy using Pinterest to waste my time, I think it is very limited in the classroom.  However, it can be beneficial for elementary school teachers to use in order to find crafts for their students.
9. HyperPhysics.  I've never taken a physics class, but from what I hear, it can be difficult.  This is a good resource for students who may have trouble with that subject.
8. Animoto.  I think this tool has more of a purpose outside of the classroom, but I can see how it has some redeeming qualities.  It can be used by students to make projects more flashy.
7. Wicked.  I'm not a science teacher, so this website doesn't have any personal use, but I can see how it would be beneficial for science teachers.  It allows students to have a hands-on portion to their learning.
6. LeeSummit.  Once again, I don't think I would be able to use this resource, but it seems like a great tool for elementary educators.
5. WikiSpaces.  This is useful to teachers of all levels, and allows parents to become involved in the classroom as well.
4. Virtual Book.  This is a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom, but also encourage students to read.
3. High School English. This is a tool I can use!!  This is an extremely beneficial resources for students as well as English educators. 
2. Student Publishing.  This is so cool!  It's a website that allows students to publish their own books!  This is a great motivator for students, and can be used in a variety of ways!
1. Super Teacher Tools.  This website has it all!  It has everything from review game generators to seating chart layouts!  This tool gets my number one spot because it can be beneficial to all educators at all levels.

Cool Tool for School!!

How many times have you been completely confused by the theme or tone of a poem, short story, or any other type of literature?  Sometimes it isn't easy to decipher what the author intended.  I've found an AWESOME tool for English teachers to use when teaching these lessons, and teachers of other subjects could definitely find this useful!

wordle.


Basically, wordle is a website that allows you to input text into a box, and produce an image.  The image features commonly used words in the passage--the bigger the word, the more frequently it is used.  This allows students to directly see which words are used the most, and based on these words, students can determine what the author's tone or theme is.

Let's try it out!

1. Go to wordle and click on "create"
2. In a separate tab, open Robert Frost's poem "The Flood"
3. Copy the poem's text and paste it into the large box on the "create" page of wordle
4. Hit "go"
5. Determine Frost's tone based on the words most frequently used

This excercise could be converted into any subject!  The fun of this tool is that students can then save their images to the wordle gallery, and then explore what their classmates created.

TweetTweet!

Twitter. Only recently have I started getting into tweeting and Twitter in general. I had been using it just to follow friends and celebrities, but the other day in SEDU183, my eyes were opened to the countless uses of Twitter!! I never even thought of incorporating it into my PLN by adding fellow educators and other helpful sources. I've created multiple lists in order to keep my homepage orderly, and one list is entirely devoted to education. I think this is a great way for educators to share their ideas and projects with other professionals in their realm!
I'm unsure about using it actually IN the classroom, but I definitely think it has numerous uses for teachers to use to develop their PLNs.
Follow me, @becki_leonard , on Twitter!

Playing with PowerPoint

Last week's assignment was concerned with PowerPoint. We had to create a lesson plan based on the state standards, and decide where we could incorporate a PowerPoint. I chose the ninth grade English standard about conventions (spelling, grammar, etc.). I used a PowerPoint to convey proper use of apostrophes and commas, along with easy fixes to common spelling errors. My slideshow incorporated three fun activites that kept the students engaged; ideally, my presentation would have been done with a SmartBoard so students could directly interact with the PowerPoint.
My prior experience with PowerPoint made this assignment easy. I was familiar with animations and different techniques, and I tried to incoroporate them to make my presentation seem professional and interesting. This was, however, my first time writing a lesson plan. Even though I was intimidated at first, I was able to figure out the format and what exactly needed to be included in my lesson plan.
After we created our projects, we presented them to a group of two other SEDU183 students. This allowed us to experience PowerPoint in different subjects, which was pretty cool! I was able to see the technology incorporated in a biology and social studies slideshow, which also broadened my view of what PowerPoint could actually be used for. We ran through our lesson and evaluated each other--my group did exceptionally well in creating effective and interesting presentations.
This was a fun excercise that allowed us to be creative. It also reminded us of how useful technology can be in the classroom.

Click HERE! for my PowerPoint! (It doesn't show any of the animations, so some of the slides look weird)

Chapter One Response

In my SEDU 183- Technology for Teachers class, we are reading "Personal Learning Networks" by Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli. This short, paperback textbook is asserting that by using "the power of connections" we can transform the classroom and the way students learn. In the first chapter-- "Understanding the Power of PLNs" --many large, drastic topics are discussed. I decided to focus this response on the subchapter titled "Big Shifts."
Overall, this section discusses how education is moving from one end of the spectrum to the other in six ways. Those six ways include:

• Analog to digital


• Tethered to mobile


• Isolated to connected


• Generic to personal


• Consumption to creation


• Closed systems to open systems

The section suggests that schools, grades K-12, should make these shifts. However, that got me thinking. At what age is it appropriate to introduce technology? Clearly it would be beneficial for the upper grades (9-12), but what about K-5? Even though those younger children probably have access to computers and the internet at home, how useful can it be in the classroom? I can understand if a teacher uses a SmartBoard or a document reader like we used in class (which I personally think is really cool!), but having students do work on computers that young doesn't seem practical. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 87.6% of students age 5-9 use the computer for games, while 42% use the computer for school work.(http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_018.asp). This statistic shows that at such a young age, computers are generally only used for fun activities, which can only be slightly beneficial in a classroom; it is not practical for students at that age to learn solely through computer games, even if they are educational. Like I said earlier, computers do have a clear benefit for older students, but in my opinion, it doesn't seem beneficial for younger students.

Analog to digital. Basically what the authors mean by this is switching from paper to digital. This is one of the few points in this book (so far) that I have agreed with. Not only does cutting down on the amount of paper in the classroom drastically help the environment, it's just plain easier. Remember how you'd get a bunch of papers to take home in elementary school and then forget them in your desk for weeks? That doesn't happen any more since parents have direct access to online newsletters or email lists.

Tethered to mobile. This is about switching from desktop devices to mobile ones such as iPads, laptops, even internet-capable cell phones. The text cites a statistic that 70% of Egyptians only have internet access through mobile phones. I didn't believe it! So, I checked the source, found the website article, and relized it was true. Now that I think about it, it makes sense. Switching from having a desktop computer with internet and a non-internet phone to a phone with internet seems practical. However, it cannot be assumed that most teenagers have this kind of access. I think that's the hard part with all of this technology usage: not everyone has access outside of school. Sure, if a school has computers for students to use, then it could be beneficial. But some students may not have those resources at home, therefore they could not participate in any of the technological assignments outside of the classroom. I think an excellent idea along the lines of mobilization is laptops. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 58% of public schools had laptops available for student use (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=46). Laptops provided by the school for students to take home and do school work on seems like a great idea to get the ball rolling on mobilization. That way, every student would have equal access and equal opportunity to complete a technology-based assignment.

Isolated to connected. I think this part is scary. The book is saying that students are moving from being individual, isolated learners to collaborative learners with people from around the world. It sounds great, but what about all the "bad people" on the internet? In some cases connections would be fantastic. For example, a language class could email or even instant message with students from another country to practice written language skills. This would be more quick-response and interactive than writing letters to a pen pal would be.

Generic to personal. "...we pursue our own interests and passions." While individualized, independent education might sound beneficial, I personally think it is detrimental. If a student has the ability to choose what they study, then every student might not recieve as great of an education. I think to a certain extent-- like being able to pick your own topic for a research paper-- individualization is good, but as far as total independent learning, I don't see how it could work.

Consumption to creation. This part is great! It talks about how students not only absorb information they find, through the internet they can also create their own information for share. This would allow students to feel more engaged with the academic community, even if what they share is a poem about their dog. I think this would allow students to become more connected with the information they wish to learn.

Closed systems to open systems. "...planet-scale sharing." This goes along with the last point: students can access information from not only closed, local systems, but also larger, global systems and databases. This could be good, but what about all the "bad stuff" that student's shouldn't be accessing during school hours? This section led me to think about blocks and restrictions on the internet in schools. I remember it being very frustrating that you couldn't used GoogleImages at all, so finding pictures was difficult. But I feel as if it is necessary. Having some, obviously not all, sites blocked keeps students on-task and safe. Sites such as Facebook shouldn't be unblocked, but blog sites can be genuinely beneficial and should not be blocked. This is a tricky problem that schools face, and I think it is better to play it safe than sorry.

These six areas of shifts in education prove to be controversial and difficult. This book calls for total transformation, but in some cases I don't think that is beneficial or practical. For the most part, this book has many great ideas, but they are too large and would never work in the "real world." Even though I think teachers should implement some technology into their cirriculum, I do not think it is necessary to totally switch it up and possibly risk the education of their students.