BubblePly

Now this is an activity I can see myself using in the classroom. I picked a video that looked similar to a comic. I thought that would be something that my students would pick. The children would enjoy narrating a fun clip such as the one I chose. This activity would definitely motivate my students to write. It reminds me of an activity I did with wordless picture books. I let the students look at the pictures and then had them make a story to go along with the book. Using BubblePly, students can view the video, and create text to go along with the clip. I enjoyed creating a story for Simon

Voki

I created a Voki tonight! It was pretty neat. I enjoyed playing around with the character and the background. My students would absolutely love this. I like to have my students present information when we work on projects. However, I have several shy student who do not like to get up in front of the class to speak. I think this would be a nice option for students who have a fear of public speaking.

Virtual Class Meetings

Meeting virtually has it's advantages and disadvantages. I really enjoyed have these two classes to wrap up all of the unfinished projects. Also, I think I was ready for a break. Being at home was nice and being able to fix dinner, and not have to eat fast food was also a plus. However, I could not see myself enjoying a class that met entirely online. My husband completed a few courses through University of Phoenix Online. He had a difficult time because it was hard to communicate through the computer. He had several questions and missed the face to face interaction. I think I would feel the same. I do enjoy the flexibility, saving gas, and being able to multi-task (my laundry has been piling up lately). It was a good experience, and I think that it would be nice to have this option in other classes as well.

More Movies!

I created a second digital movie in my classroom this week. We just returned from the zoo. Check out the video below to find out how much fun we had!

Gabcasting

Using Gabcast was probably the easiest thing we have attempted in this class...thanks to Caroline of course! I followed Caroline's instructions and voila...there it was! I didn't even have to try more than once. I couldn't decide what to do a podcast on, so I just read from a position paper on No Child Left Behind. I think that Podcasting would be very useful in the elementary classroom. It gives young students another way to present what they have learned. I liked Willowdale Elementary's take on podcasting. The students prepared a script to read for an online presentation. I could tell that these students' scripts had been well rehearsed. The students are working on so many different skills when working with technology in the classroom. Take podcasting for example. First, the student must be able to create a script. Some scripts may require research or reading before the script is created. Then, the student must edit and revise the text to make sure it makes sense to a particular audience. Finally, the student must rehearse the script (working on fluency by rereading familiar text.) Also, the student learns how to use new technology when recording the podcast. Talk about integrating the curriculum!!!

Wikis

I'll have to say...I had no idea what a wiki was until I took this class. I have heard a lot of people talking about wikis, but I have never had any experience with them. After viewing wikipedia.com and creating our course wiki, I have realized the possibilities of using wikis within my own classroom. My students enjoy posting on the classroom blog, but we could use wikis for the same purpose. Mostly, I have been using my blog to showcase activities and units of study. I post pictures of projects, field trips, etc and the students journal about them. Wikis could be used primarily for communication--Communication between students, teacher, and parents. I like the idea that everyone can add to the wiki. At first, I was a little nervous that anyone can change, edit, delete information on a wiki. I also thought that anyone could add information to the wiki. Now I know that one can set a wiki to private so that only authorized users can access the wiki. I don't think I would use a wiki just for my students, but I do think it is a great communication tool for teachers and parents, and occasionally the students too.

MovieMaker

My first experience with MovieMaker

When I took this class last summer, I created a movie about my honeymoon. I was so excited about what I had created, that I created a digital movie during the first month of school. I was a little nervous about creating a digital movie with a class of 2nd graders. However, once I got started, I realized that it WAS possible. During the first week of school, my students wrote in their journal an entry entitled "All About Me." Then, I edited their journals during a writer's workshop. After the students had read their entry out loud several times, I begin to let students record the narration for the video. This was a bit time consuming, but the students were so excited about being able to record their voices on the computer. Each time we get a new student, or we have a classroom video, the students beg to show our "All About Me" video.

Now, I am getting ready to try again. We just took a trip to the zoo last month. My students asked if we could make a new movie about our field trip. I have many pictures from the trip. So, I printed out each picture and pasted them into their journals. The students had to write about what was going on in the picture. We have edited the entries and are beginning the recording this week. Hopefully I will be able to add this new video to my blog very soon. Check back by to view my 2nd digital video!

Photosharing

Today I experimented with some of the photosharing. I wanted to upload some of my students pictures to my classroom blog so I could create a slideshow. I explored Snapfish and Picasa. Snapfish seemed pretty user friendly. However, I could not figure out how to export my album to my blog. I tried using the URL in the properties, but it did not recognize the feed. Then, I decided to try Picasa. Picasa has a blog option, but I was never successful at linking the album to my slideshow. I am going to continue to work on this. My class recently took a trip to the Asheboro Zoo. I was hoping to add these pics to my class blog. We'll see if that ever happens...

Electronic Books

Creating digital books has been my favorite assignment thus far. I think this is a useful tool for any age group. It has been a big motivator for my students. My students are much more eager to write in their journals if they know it will later be published in a digital book. Earlier in the year, we created our first digital video. The students were required to practice their part of the book several times before it was time to record. The students worked very hard to prepare their part of the video. They were more inclined to revise and edit their work several times to make sure it sounded just right.



Now, we are working on a digital book about the 100th day of school. I took pictures all day during the 100th day of school. I printed the pictures out and pasted them into the students' journals. Then, the students wrote about the picture. Now, we are in the process of recording their voices with the text. The students are so excited about recording! Many of the students wrote too much and I had to shorten it so that I could fit the text in the slide. When we are finished recording the rest of the book, there will be a link to it below. If you would like to view our digital book, click on the icon below. Enjoy!

Webquests

I am familiar webquests, and have even created one, but I have not used them in my own classroom. I think webquests are great! I have looked at several online and have saved many to my social bookmarking account. It just seems that when I go to open the resources, many of the sites are currently unavailable. I guess some of the sites that were used at the time have gone down for some reason? Anyway, I created my webquest (Solids, Liquids, and Gases, Oh My!) because my 2nd grade class is getting ready to go to the Science Center to investigate the properties of matter. I thought that this webquest might prepare them for the trip. I wanted the students to have some background knowledge before visiting the Science Center. We will be working on the Properties of Matter unit for the next month, so I am hoping that my students will be able to utilize this webquest. Also, I found several other webquests on Matter and included them as extra resources on my own webquest. If you are a 2nd grade teacher, you might want to check them out! Click below to check out my webquest...

Creating Tutorials

After several attempts at using Jing, I finally decided to take the easy road and try a simpler way to create a tutorial. My biggest obstacle with using technology in the classroom is time. It is very difficult to teach 2nd graders to use these new programs when there are 14 of them and only 1 of you...and I am one of the lucky ones. I only have 14 students in my classroom, whereas most teachers have at least 20! Learning how to create a tutorial was very beneficial. I decided to create a tutorial on how to create digital books, since this is what we are currently working on in my classroom. I would like to continue creating digital books, but it seems that this one has been very time consuming. I thought maybe if I could print the tutorial out for the computer lab teacher, she might be able to let the students work on digital books during our computer lab time. This would work out much better because each student would have his/her own computer. It is my goal to have each student create their own digital book by the end of the year. Hopefully, I will be able to post some of their books on my blog when they are complete. You can click on the icon below to view a tutorial on how to create your digital book. The template is also below.

TUTORIAL

POWERPOINT TEMPLATE

Facebook vs. MySpace

I have always been skeptical about using social networking sites. I know that almost anyone can access your personal information. When we were required to create a social networking account, I decided to try Facebook, because I have heard so many negative things about MySpace. The only reason I would choose to continue using a social networking site is to keep in touch with old friends. When I created an account, I found several people I went to high school with and have not spoken to in a long time. However, I do not feel that social networking sites would be an appropriate technological tool to use with 2nd graders.

Much Better than Favorites!

Social bookmarking is the new favorites! I worked with Furl's social bookmarking system a little in a previous class. I failed to use the bookmarking system outside of the class. Since I was unable to access my Furl account, I decided to try Delicious. It seems just as easy to use. It is still a work in progress, but if you would like to access my social bookmarks, please click below.

DELICIOUS

Now I have TWO!!!

Blogging is so much fun. I just wish I had more time to spend in front of the computer. I have really enjoyed setting up a Blog for my classroom. It is much easier to update than my class webpage and my students can help by typing the entries. I have been trying to keep my webpage updated this year, but I haven't been very successful. Now, with my students' help, I am keeping my parents more informed about the events taking place in the classroom I always take a lot of pictures during the school year because our grade level usually makes a scrapbook for each student, or a DVD. I have been uploading the pictures to the Blog and letting the students type an entry to go with each picture. The class has posted entries about schoolwide celebrations, classroom activities, and units of study. The students first write in their journal and edit before they are allowed to post. I require the students to do this first so that I can help them edit their work before it is posted to the Blog. My students are more motivated to write in their journal, but they are even more concerned about editing because they know that their parents, and lots of other people will be reading too! Click on the class picture below to visit my classroom Blog...

Gaggle for Kids

Only a few of my students have a computer at home. Even fewer have an email address. I guess 2nd graders are really too young to have an email address. I was pretty excited to learn about gaggle.net. I think it would be a great way to practice letter writing. Students in 2nd grade are expected to learn how to write a friendly letter. Email is a fun way to teach students how to communicate. I have friend who teaches Freshman English in another county. He has just registered his class on gaggle.net. I told him about this class and my plans for using gaggle.net in my classroom as well. He suggested that our students be email penpals. At first, I was concerned about the age difference and worried a little about the comments the highschoolers might make to my students. However, after researching Gaggle, I found that all emails are monitored and the students are held accountable for what is written. I can't wait to get started. My students have enjoyed writing to penpals in the past. I am sure that they will enjoy emailing even more!

I Can Springdoo...Can You?

Skype vs. IM

My brother introduced me to Skype over the weekend. He already uses it and had it downloaded on his computer. I was unsure of how Skype could be used in the elementary classroom. My brother, student of UNC Chapel Hill, uses most of the technology we have discussed or will be discussing in this class (ie. Skype, Facebook, AIM, etc.) My brother's girlfriend is in Koppenhagen on a School of Business trip. He was able to speak to her using Skype. I asked him why he chose to use Skype instead of just chatting on Instant Messenger and this was his response: I do usually talk to friends using AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), but in IM, I am not able to hear her voice. Skype is just another way to communicate while she is out of the country.

It amazes me that there are so many ways to communicate in todays world. I am unsure if and how I will use Skype in my classroom. I will play around with it a little more and maybe I will come up with some ideas for implementation in the future.

Kidspiration Bubblemap

Literacy and Technology

I believe literacy is the ability to read and write to convey a message or communicate with others. The ability to communicate with others is becoming much easier due to the increasing technological tools available (ie. cell phones, email, IM, gabcasts, podcasts, etc.). Technology is the use of tools to assist in daily activities. When I think of technology, I think of computers, laptops, cell phones, etc. However, I learned in a previous class that a pencil can even be considered a technological tool. I am amazed at how quickly certain tools become obsolete. Even in my lifetime, I have seen electronics change drastically. Technology makes life seem a lot easier at times, but it can also complicate things when you don't know what you are doing.

I'm Bloggin!

Here is my 3rd attempt at a Blog. I am excited to learn more about how to use Blogs in my classroom. I would like to create a Blog that can be used to communicate to the parents, but most importantly, I want it to be created by my students. I am sure that 2nd graders will have a difficult time at first, but it's worth a try!