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!

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

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)

 

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!