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!!