Web 2.0 Tool - My First Voki!

I have learned so much in this class about technology.  I remember after the first night I already felt overwhelmed and the class had only first started!  I really like how in this class I learned about so many different technology tools that I didn't even know existed like Animoto, Voki, and different blogging websites or tools like Blogger and Kidblog.  Before this class, I thought I had an understanding of what a wiki was but was wrong.  Now, I have helped put together a class wiki which I think is awesome!  Another tool I think is cool that I learned about is the Diigo library.  I have always used "my favorites" but I think that Diigo library is better because all of your online resources can be together in one place and can organized into lists.  Although this class has been a little frustrating at times, overall I think that it was good.  I have learned a lot of technology tools that I can incorporate into my classroom and make learning more engaging for my students.  I am super excited to continue to explore these technology tools in my classroom. :)

AHH! Sharks! Final Literacy Project

I am very excited to share my literacy project with you!  Courtney and I worked together on our literacy project and I think that it came out so cute!  Our kindergarten and first grade students have been working on an animal research project.  The kindergarten students decided to complete their research project on sharks.  For our project, we decided to have the students write one fact they have learned using the books they have read and online resources they have viewed.  The kindergarten students did an awesome job writing their fact.  We then used the online technology tool VoiceThread to have the students read their fact and have their illustration visable.  The students were super excited to read their fact and hear their voice played back.  Courtney and I really enjoyed working with the students in completing this project.  I love seeing the students get excited about their work and knowing that they are helping us as well.  I hope that you enjoy viewing our project!

Here it is! Digital Story!

Courtney and I completed our digital story together to tie into our character curriculum at school.  We read The Peace Book by Todd Parr and the students brainstormed what they think peace is.  Then, the students wrote independently what they think peace is.  We decided to use iMovie on the iPad to bring the digital story to life.  There were some difficulties because the version on the iPad doesn't show the full image.  This was very frustrating and Courtney and I were going to re-do it.  However, the students work is visible and you can clearly hear the students.  The students loved recording their voices and hearing themselves!  They were so proud of their work!  We liked it just the way it is!  Enjoy!

The Adventure of Digital Storytelling!

Courtney and I have been working on our digital story.  Since the theme of our school is character education, we decided to do our digital story story based on a character book we enjoy reading with our students.  The book is called The Peace Book by Todd Parr.  We had the students write what they think peace is.  They really did an awesome job!  However, putting the digital story actually together has been an adventure.  We decided to use the tool iMovie which wasn't easy at first.  However, once we got the hang of it, it all came together.  I'm sure that there are still some adjustments that could be made.  I am looking forward to showing it to the class on Thursday and getting any feedback to improve it in any way!  

Diigo Diigo Diigo!

When I first heard about Diigo, I really didn't want to even sign up because I have always been a user of "favorites."  I put everything into my "favorites" list.  However, now that I have been experimenting with Diigo for a couple weeks, I like it!  I like how all of my resources are organized and I can easily find them by the tags that I gave them.  I would like to eventually organize them into lists because it would make things even easier to find, but I'll take one step at a time.  My Diigo is a work in progress, so let me know what you think!

Who needs a February break when you can have SNOW days?!

So Blizzard 2013 has come and gone and I still have not gone back to school yet!  Hartford doesn't have a February break, however, who needs a February break when we have had snow days Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and now tomorrow?!  This is great...however, I may change my mind in mid-June when I'm still in school. :)  Oh well, I'll just enjoy my time off now!

I saw this video taken in Hartford from the blizzard and I think it is so cool to see how much snow we got in such a short period of time...CRAZY!  I got 31 inches where I live...how much did you get?

video from YouTube

Fantastic Flickr!

My husband and I started a Flickr account when our son was born two years ago.  Since our family and close friends live in other states, we use it to save pictures to and have it set so that just those that are invited to can access the account so that they can see pictures of our family.  It is a great technology tool and we love it!  I never really thought about how it could be used in the classroom, however.  I found a website on ways to use Flickr in the classroom.  Check it out...I especially like the idea of creating virtual field trips...AWESOME!!

I DID IT! My first Animoto project!

This is my first Animoto project! I decided to create an Animoto for our next district read aloud titled The Shoemaker and the Elves.  Before we read each story, we teach the kindergarten and first grade students vocabulary words that will be found in the story.  Providing a visual with the vocabulary word is always helpful, especially for our ELL students.  They are able to make connections between the word and the picture.  I decided to create a separate slide for the vocabulary word, visual, and the definition so the presentation would be broken down into small pieces for them.  This Animoto does not include all of the vocabulary words for the story.  I chose vocabulary words that I felt the students would not know.  I also decided to repeat the slides since my students are so young and need to have things presented  to them more than once in order to understand.  The first time they see the slideshow, they will just want to watch it and be amazed.  The second time they view the slideshow, they will be more focused to read the vocabulary word and start to understand the definitions.  I am super excited to share this project with my class!  I know they are going to love it!  I am also looking forward to creating more Animoto slideshows to use within my class.  I feel it is very engaging and is a great learning tool!  Let me know what you think!   

(images provided by Google Images)

 

Diigo - HELP!

From: http://www.arikhanson.com/2011/01/25/7-reasons-diigo-should-be-your-social-bookmarking-tool/

So, I have been spending the evening trying to figure out Diigo (I know, exciting!) and I am really struggling with understanding how it all really works.  I think I was able to put the "diigolet" in my toolbar as mentioned in Richardson's chapter 6, but I don't know what to do now.  Do I find a website that I use often and save it into the library? And how do I do that?  I tried playing around with it, but it is like a second language to me and I wasn't able to do anything.  I would really appreciate some help...any takers?

Dog with a Blog!

So, my kindergarten and first grade students are always talking about this show called Dog with a Blog on the Disney Channel.  They have told me about it numerous times, but since taking this course I decided to actually check it out.  It looks really cute...and hey if dogs can blog then so can I! :)  Check out the clip from the promo!

Blogging and Wikis

In chapter 3, Richardson provides a step by step guide to creating and customizing your own blog.  I felt that this was very helpful for me since blogging is something I have never done before.  I really appreciated the tips that Richardson gave for what you can do under the "template" tab.  You can customize your blog page and really make it yours.  You can change the font, template, and add in links and pictures.  I am looking forward to using this chapter as more of a reference if I have any more questions.

Chapter 4 is about wikis.  I didn't really know what a wiki was and still am a little unsure.  To me, it seems like it is a big data base or blog where someone can post something and then another person can come along and edit the information that was posted before?  Wikis is something that I would like to know more about and obtain a better understanding of.  I would also like to know how wikis are used within the classroom setting.  Richardson suggested that wikis could be used as an online text for your classroom's curriculum.  This seems appropriate for older students, however, I am looking to see how it can be used with my kindergarten and first grade students.  This is something that I will look further into. 

Richardson Chapters 1 & 2

I was flipping through our book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms and something that I read really stuck in my mind. In the preface it was talking about what the central message for the book is. Richardson said, "in order for us to prepare our students for what is without question a future filled with net-worked learning spaces, we must first experience those environments for ourselves" (Richardson, 2010). I feel as an adult, I have a pretty good understanding of the new technology in our world now and what its use is. However, after reading further into the book, I was questioning myself. I want my young elementary students to be prepared for what their education in a digital world is going to be like. Therefore, I want to learn whatever I can to help integrate new technology and techniques into my classroom. Since our students are going to be moving into the direction of doing everything via the web, teachers have to learn all of the technology tools in order to prepare our students. Some technology tools that I think teachers should learn to use in the classroom are blogs, wikis, audio and video casting, and utilizing skype and/or webcams.  

By giving my kindergarten and first grade students more independence to go onto the computer and try new projects using the web or typing on a blog, I am nervous about the inappropriate material they might come across. I like the ideas in chapter one on how to approach this with elementary students. Richardson suggests going on web tours first before showing your students anything and simply teaching them that if something comes up on the web, they quickly hit the back button and move on. It is also important that before you do anything with your class on the web, get all of your parents permission first. I like how teachers before their students' blog posts go viral, they look at them first and decide whether it can be published or not. I noticed this on Mrs. Norton's blog and I'm sure that it is the same for other teacher or school blogs as well. One of the weblogs I really liked was the blog that principal Tim Lauer created from Portland, Oregon (Meriwether-Lewis Elementary School). I think that it is an awesome way to get information out to parents, students, and the community. My teaching partners and I create a newsletter that we send home weekly, but it would be great to put everything onto a kindergarten and first grade blog that parents could go to and access information from. We could post their homework assignments, pictures, or even share the students' work. I am excited to learn more about different technology tools I can use with my young students and integrate into my classroom!

New literacies and NETS

New literacies is the new way of teaching literacy.  Students in the classroom are now reading on ipads, developing presentations through various internet web sites, and video chatting with students in other countries.  This is the direction that our literacy curriculum in schools is going.  The NETS created by the International Society for Technology in Education (ICT) are standards created for  students and teachers to follow so that they both learn and effectively use the skills to function in the new digital world.  In my kindergarten and first grade classroom, my students could read during reader's workshop with the ipads we have at our school.  My students would be practicing how to read and explore with electronic books.  They also could utilize different softwares on the ipads or mini laptops to help with their reading comprehension and other literacy skills.  When working on these skills using a form of technology, my students would be practicing the NETS for students standard number six, "Technology Operations and Concepts" (from NETS for Students).  I am excited to see how I can bring what I learn in this class into my classroom so that I can teach my elementary students how to learn and be effective with technology going into the digital world that we live in.