Activity 3: Digital Storytelling

After looking at both ZooBurst and StoryBird, I opted for ZooBurst. I liked the more professional look of StoryBird's images, but there was less opportunity for originality. I think the ZooBurst pictures are kind of lame, but easy to add and manipulate. I struggled most with thinking of ways I would want to use this in my teaching. My most "academic" idea would be to give my language arts students a way to publish their own stories and demonstrate their understanding of basic story elements (plot, setting, characters, climax, resolution, denouement, etc). I don't know if I would use this as a way for students to present research information. I know you can import your own photos, but it just doesn't have the sleek look of something like Prezi.

I wanted to take creating my own digital story in a slightly different direction than simply focusing on story elements or presenting information. I decided to write my own story with a moral/lesson embedded. I think that I would use ZooBurst to develop community building in my classroom by having my homeroom kids write their own ZooBurst stories that teach a moral or lesson and then using them in conjunction with Responsive Classroom and our weekly Second Step lessons.

Activity 2: Pimp My Presentation

I gave my 5th graders the option to use Prezi last year as one way to present information they learned. I had only heard of it, so I created an education account and gave them the login information so they could make their own and I would be able to access all of them in my own account. While many students preferred the tried-and-true Powerpoint as a method of presenting information, there were still a good number of students who tried out Prezi... many of whom became experts at navigating and creating within the program.

This is the first real Prezi I have created all on my own. I decided to start simple and create something to use on the first day of school to introduce myself to the kids in a different way. I think they'll get a kick out watching this versus listening to me drone on :)

I found it fairly simple navigate and can see why the kids figured it out on their own. There are tons of different templates to use and embedding images or videos can be done in just the click of a button. My favorite part is that you can make something very very tiny, nearly invisible to keep your presentation looking "clean" but you are able to zoom in on those objects as part of the "path" your Prezi follows. It gets a little finicky doing this, but I think it's worth it in the end. As far as privacy settings for each Prezi, there are options to make the presentation "Public" and available to everyone on Prezi, "Hidden" in which only those with the link can view it (that's what mine is set at), or private (only you can view and edit). Sharing is available by using a web link or an embed code. It can also be downloaded as a zip Prezi file if you have the Prezi app on your hardware or as a PDF (not sure how this would work exactly...)

Activity 1: Blog Bling

Below is a video demonstrating a subduction zone. I would use this video each quarter with my science class to provide a visual for the process of subduction. I think this is a quality video because it was created by a valid science website and shows not only a computerized subduction process but also actual footage of what is happening at a subduction zone below the surface of the ocean. I use video clips daily with my science students because the primary focus of our study is what happening below the earth's surface, thus it is not anything they can witness for themselves.

Reflection

How could a blog be useful in your classroom or professional life? 

CURRENT EXPERIENCE: I currently use the blog format regularly on my section of our 5th grade team website to post weekly lesson and homework updates for my math, language arts, and science students.  I also use it to update my homeroom families on general homeroom happenings for the week. I try to motivate the kids to view the homeroom portion by including a Weekly Poll for the kids to answer. 

As a teaching team with the help of professionals from Bethel University, we also created a 5th grade writing blog using KidBlog where we plan to post student work from the school on the blog over the summer. We invited in the Bethel pros in to teach our students about blogging - the what's, how's and why's. We required permission from parents ahead of time and probably had about 50% of the parents approve their children's writing to be posted.

FUTURE EXPERIENCE: I have recently begun tutoring a 9th grade student for the summer in reading/writing. She doesn't love to read or write, so I decided to try having her set up her own blog and use that as a way to share her thoughts, responses, and reflections on what we read together and what I assign her. I think she is fairly pumped to try this method of "schoolwork" so I am excited to see where I can take a blog as an alternative way for a student to share their ideas.  

I think a blog would be fun to use with my math students. I have thought about posting a "Problem of the Week" type of question each Monday and having students find the answers on their own, but perhaps using the comments feature to provide hints for those struggling, cheer each other on, or announce when they have solved it. In Language Arts, I would like to really build on the use of a blog for my students to share their writing, as I discussed earlier. We were too late in the game to really get this up and running this past school year, so I would like to start it right away in the fall.

After checking out some of the other blogging sites, which do you think would be the best option for you? 

I am most familiar with Weebly, as I already use that both professionally and personally with families and now on an individual student basis. It was very easy to show the 9th grader I am tutoring how to get hers set up. Since we are starting to use Kidblog as well, I am looking forward to learning that tool better as well.

Web 2.0 Kickoff Thoughts

I love to incorporate technology into my teaching because I think it authentically engages my kids more in their learning (and often their parents as well). Many of my coworkers signed up for this course and since I love any opportunity to collaborate, I had to sign up too! I feel pretty comfortable with technology, but it is a constantly evolving world so I hope Summer Camp will help me keep up and introduce me to new ways for my students to show what they know. Along with that, I need to understand more fully the logistics of privacy and permission guidelines when it comes to students. I feel pretty comfortable with using technology - I am never afraid to try something new. I have been using Moodle, Flipped Classroom & iPads, Khan Academy, etc regularly with my 5th grade students for the past year. This summer I am tutoring a 9th grader in reading/writing, so I've decided to try out the use of blogging with a student for the first time.