Final Project on Famous Iowans

Well we the Cookie Cutters, presented our final project today. Over the past week we worked with Web 2.0 Tools, Google Docs, Second Life, Podcasts, and Digital Video making. I have talked about this in previous bloggs. However I'd like to share my reflection on how our presentation went. We worked very well as a team, in fact I think our collaboration was superior. We each worked on the content by choosing famous Iowans and creating a page on our website specifically for them. We each took the time to find links that were fourth grade friendly and posted them on the individuals page. Then we found pictures of each Iowan and posted them on their corresponding pages. We each had a role in our podcast and had a lot of fun writing the script for interviewing Grant Wood. When it came to making the moving we worked together in finding pictures, adding music, and recording voice. Then we worked on editing our podcast and vodcast. This took a little bit but Gabe and Sara figured it out while I created rubrics for our students.

The best part was presenting to our fellow classmates. They seemed to be engaged as we made our presentation and shared why we chose to focus on Iowa History or more specifically Iowa History. They were given time during our presentation to do part of my fourth graders assignment. This was to find a famous Iowan that they were the most like or had the most connections with and write down at least 3 things they had in common with that individual. We also were able to ask their opinions on alternative assessment and what they might suggest adding to the lesson to allow for student customization. This would also allow for more alternative assessments to be present. My friend Lisa suggested Glogster as another way to have students present their work. I enjoyed their ideas and liked hearing how they could modify our lesson and apply it to their own classroom settings.

Lights, Camera, Action

Well.... in my EIT class today we offically became movie makers. My group and I did what is known as a vodcast. If your wondering what a vodcast is, Dr. Z suggested checking out Rocketboom. We took still pictures and set them to music and added our voice recordings over the music. It looks like an advertisement! We had a lot of fun. Our vodcast was about the life of Grant Wood. We used iMovie for our creation today but you can also use Photo Story along with iDVD. Of course iMovie and iDVD are for MACS and Photo Story is an easy download for those of you like me who normally use a PC. I truthfully have the most experience with Photo Story, but last year I made a movie using iMovie for my students to remember their fourth grade experience. I'll have to learn how to upload that to my blogg! When we finish our group vodcast I'll have to upload that to here too. I think I'll have to have our group expediter help me with that one!

Check out The Cookie Cutter's group website which has a podcast and vodcast in it! Also check back for example videos that I personally have made. They're so much fun once you get started life will never be the same!

Photo Available: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28248484@N06/4482821927/

Podcasting

I had my first podcasting experience today. I'm not quite sure I'm a pro at doing them yet since at this time I've only done one and it was with two other people. Our first step was to choose a topic to do our podcast about. We chose to create a podcast that would fit in a unit on Iowa History. We decided to do a radio show type of podcast where we interviewed Grant Wood. We than scripted out our show and then it was time to use Garage Band. Then we chose our intro music, hooked up our microphone and began recording. We had to edit our podcast to get rid of all the things we didn't want and make it sound more like a radio show by putting music in it where we weren't speaking. When you check out your finished product it is a pretty awesome feeling. The same feeling your students will have when they complete their own. So my goal for this next school year is to try it with my 4th graders!

Creating my Avatar

Joni Peony, is my name in Second Life or I should say she is my avatar. It is definitely a "virtual" experience. I've never entered anything like it. It was truly an awesome experience to recreate yourself in an avatar. We did this in my Emerging Instructional Technology class right along with Dr. Zeitz. He helped us navigate through the different virtual worlds. My favorite was choosing the clothes for my avatar and flying. Of course it takes a little bit of practice to learn how to properly navigate your avatar but after bumping into walls and other people you eventually learn how to "drive." If you've never tried it be sure to give it a go. I really would like to check out and see if there are any virtual worlds out there that I could share with my 4th graders. Second Life is not the place to take 4th graders much to my disappointment. So if any one has any recommendations I'd love to hear from you.

My friend and fellow classmate Sara writes a wonderful blog. She has taken the time to research more about virtual worlds. She found some virtual worlds that would be appropriate for elementary students. She blogged about them so check out her blogg to read more.

Using Dropbox

If you're looking for a place to keep your files and access them from anywhere in the world then dropbox.com is the place you need to go. All you need to do is sign up for an account. It's free for basic storage and if you need more storage then you pay a fee. I use dropbox all the time because it is hassle free and I don't need to worry about carrying around a flash drive that I may lose. I also use it as a convenient way to back up my files. Basically you can use it for whatever your needs are. I personally put slideshows, video footage, pictures, and other important documents in my box. It has an RSS feed and you can share files with whomever you want.

So go install dropbox and start sharing. If you have any questions watch this youtube video:

Empowering Learners

As I've been following a few professional blogs I am seeing an overall question arising.....How do we empower learners? As teachers we want them to be actively engaged and motivated about what we are teaching them. What can we use in technology to help ourselves teach them to become independent learners? First of all I believe we as teachers need to rethink how we approach learning. In the book, Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools by Solomon and Schrum there is a chapter dedicated to students and learning which agrees with the idea that we have to understand how students learn before we can use specific teaching methods to help them analyze, synthesize, and communicate information. Jane Hart, a fellow blogger, calls it The Smarter Approach to Workplace in which she uses an acroymn to summarize her article entitle State of Learning in the Workplace today.

Social Media In Learning By:Jane Hart
http://janeknight.typepad.com/socialmedia/atom.xml

I also have been enjoying learning a little more about Curriculum 21 which I first learned about on the Langwitches blog. It is all about why our K-12 curriculum has to change to relfect new technologies and allow for globalization. Heidi Hayes Jacobs introduces Curriculum 21 Essential Education for a Changing World. This concept goes hand in hand with empowering our students to learn.

Langwitches Blog:
http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/12/empower-students/


Curriculum 21:
http://curriculum21.com/index.php?path=/home/book

Link to Amazon to purchase Curriulum 21 By: Heidi Hayes Jacobs:
http://www.amazon.com/Curriculum-21-Essential-Education-Changing/dp/1416609407/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275092286&sr=8-1

When it clicks:)

So I'm not sure this actually has to so with technology...well maybe in a round about way. I had the most awesome experience with my fourth graders this week. Technology in our school district is very basic and this is because no one has taken the time to go out there and discover all the cool gadgets that we can incorporate into our classroom so that is why I decided to get my master's in Educational Technology. Anyways I'm off track..back to my students. I've been working with my students on using Microsoft Power Point. This is the first time most of them have ever done anything like this. They are so intrigued and are loving. I just have to show them one time and SNAP!!! they get it. I just took some time to step back and watch them. Their faces were full of excitement and they were helping and encouraging one another. They were showing me things they were discovering left and right. I wasn't the center of attention and it was the most amazing experience. So while teaching has its bad days....I'm saving this memory to bring back the smile. I love those "aha" moments!

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Missouri

View more presentations from joniwalvatne.

Voice Threading

Voice threading is an awesome way to talk with others. I can see how fun it would be to use this for group presentations. I really liked the video that showed us how to use voice thread. I thought the mother and the children part was very funny:) I think students would have so much funny putting their voices to pictures. I also like that you can mark up the pictures. I personally prefer to comment by text. This is because number one I'm reserved and number two it allows me to organize my thoughts. I'm not a person who can easily answer questions or form opinions with little time to think on them. So this is why I prefer to text. I really like that Voice Thread would allow differentiation in my classroom. This possibly would even allow customization for students???? Any thoughts????

My First Experience With Video Conferencing

Using Adobe Connect is a pretty neat way to connect to others. I can see this being used between students and teachers during after school hours. Instead of office hours teachers could list a time in which they would connect to students through video conferencing. Students could also conference between themselves on projects and such. Students who maybe take vacations during the school year or are involved in exchange programs could also use this to check in with their classes. As a teacher you could join up with other professionals and share ideas and actually share things you've tried. Other teachers would be able to actually see what you've created. I also see why families who have distance between them use this to keep in touch with one another. What an awesome resource! With the positives there were a couple negatives. The lapse in time when speaking was a little bit of a challenge. We had several people chatting at the same time which made it hard to hear what everyone was actually saying at times. However, when we disconnected the cameras we could hear much better. As far as my personal dilema......I realized I had to talk closer to the microphone which is on my webcam. I bet I looked like I was going to eat it the closer I came to it:) Maybe I need to try yelling into it………