Thursday, July 31, 2008

Mailing Your Final Projects

All projects are due by August 15. Please mail them to:

Chris Longe
7904 W. Bur Oak Dr.
Franklin, WI 53132

Movie Maker

I enjoyed working with Movie Maker today. I can't wait to send the video to my family. All About Me is nearly finished. I just have a few questions to finish it up.
Tweeter was great fun! I can't see myself checking it a lot but I enjoyed the responses.
From Tweets to Tunes, it was a great learning day! Things are starting to come together --compared to others I know who haven't taken this class, I now feel like an expert! Look forward to finishing projects tomorrow. Thanks to Chris and Deb and the supportive class.

MMME - Day 4

Busy, busy day. It was nice to get a lot of work time today. I needed a chance/time to get to know some of the sites that we had visited over the last several days a bit better. I feel pretty good about some of them know

Movie Maker was a bit frustrating to work with. I got bogged down moving slides around and trying to reposition the titles and sound bites that I wanted to go with them. In my opinion it would be nice if they linked at least pics and titles together. They were driving me nuts as I edited my movie. I finally got the hang of it, figured out a few short cuts and even managed to add a cool sound track. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

Listened to some free music sites. Downloaded a music trac to both Power Point and Movie Maker. This was a first for me, I'm not a big music guy and I don't own an iPod (old school), so I never got around to it. Adding music to a video presentation really gives it life, this is a feature that I will definitely be making use of.

Spent some time on the "Wordle" site. I can see where this could be kind of fun. I may use this to create a series of crazy vocabulary lists for my seniors or posters for my walls or door.

Nearly wrapped up my Power Point show. Struggled for a long time with trying to add an appropriate video clip. Had to settle for just a link. Everything I wanted was protected.

I got the chance to find  5+ new video podcasts. I didn't count the ones I'm already using on the Discovery Education site (my school subscribes already).

Twitter - Kind of fun. I know there are educational reasons to use it, but this technology will probably not be of the highest priority to master in the school year to come. Maybe a bit further down the road. 

That's about all for now. See ya' on Friday

Ken Francis

Day 4 Thursday, July 31, 2008

Today was comparisons and analysis day for me. I realize that the ultimate collaborative tool for Spanish projects is Voicethread with its multi-faceted options of still visuals, typed script, audio recording and sketching pencil. Microsoft Photostory is easy to use but has very limited scripting available. Students are able to record information for the visual presentation, a perfect fit for second language learning. I would need to contact the computer technician concerning the free download. MovieMaker is a similar venue with more options for customizing the presentation with a variety of entries, backgrounds and timing, not unlike PowerPoint.
I still need to determine if Pbwiki has advantages over wikispaces. I have used Pbwikis extensively but found that there are some drawbacks, such as a limited space and an inability to do tabbing with the tab key.
My final goal is to organize the Webpage which actually should be a work in progress with constant updates. I would like to create an attractive home page and have already inserted pictures from our student tour of Costa Rica in June. Has anyone worked with the Google site? I could use a bit of tech support! thanks

Fun day

Wow, today was filled! I had fun (and frustration) creating my power point and moviemaker projects! They take a lot of time but are very cool when finished! I am worried I won't be able to remember how to do certain things on them when I am on my own though. I hope my tech person is a willing helper:) I am enjoying this class and excited about using what I learned with my students.

Day Four

Learned more about the Windows Movie Maker program today. I added music add edited the rest of the movie. Should be able to put it on a DVD tomorrow hopefully.

Need to do a voice thread and power point tomorrow to finish everything for the week and for three credits.

5 video clips from melody

I found several sites for my curriculum:

Contrast differences amoung corporations. Concepts in Business and Finance 56 min.

Describe role of entreprenuer in a market system. Great Inventions with Bill Nye 55 min.

Identify careers that are influenced by international business. Travel to Brazil 18 min.

Identify the function areas of businesses. Business Basics, 10 separate videos on various aspects of business, 20 min. each.

Give examples of how businesses depend on workers with specialized skills to make porduciton more efficient. Get a Life 18 min.

Voicethread

I created a Voicethread today but would love to have others comment on it as well as being able to access and comment for anyone else in the class. If you have a Voicethread and want to share, please let me know. Mine is called "Joy's Jifs" if you want to access it. If you want to be added via your email address, please let me know and I will be happy to add you. Otherwise, I made mine public so you can access without an invitation. I want to show my class how the collaborative part works so I invite as many comments as possible. I know everyone is busy, too!

I felt productive today. I finished my movie and photostory and now have some tweaking to do before using in my classroom.

Day 4 John Muir Academy

Boy did I get a lot done today. I am working with Movie Maker II and it is very addicting. Tomorrow I hope to add music to my video. I am really burnt out today. I think my computer at home is to old to do many of these neat media projects. Maybe its time to get a new computer! Bye for now!

Twitter, etc.

Twitter was a fun experience! I could see myself using it a lot if I had internet at home. I feel like I got a lot accomplished today. I have a few things to finish up on my Power Point, and my movie. The movie is not going to be very long, but I hope I can use it in my classroom this fall. The week is going fast and I can't believe that we have our last day tomorrow.

Movie Maker

I'm not so sure about the tweeter, but it is good to know what it is. Movie Maker turned out great. I can see my students editing their own video. This is great because: A. I won't be editing their video B. They will be responsible for all aspects of their commercial and can show some of their creativity.

Success!

Happy Thursday! Today has been very productive. I am finally feeling successful. I look forward to using photostory at school. Thanks to Chris and Debbie for being so helpful today!

Moviemaker, PowerPoint and Photoshop

I have enjoyed working with these programs very much. Each one provides a different way to give a presentation. I like the way the images just flow together in Photostory. I believe it is a good idea to be familiar with all three because, depending on what a teacher or student is presenting, one program may be more practical than the others.

Standards to follow

These videos are helpful for teaching beginning, emergent readers and writers. I'd develop lessons that meet the requirements for the following elementary grade state standards.
Writing Standards:
B.4.1 Create or produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
http://video.sesameworkshop.org; Doug E Doug and Elmo
B.4.2 Plan, revise, edit, and publish clear and effective writing.
http://video.sesameworkshop.org
Beginning, Middle & End Story; A and the Small Story
B.4.3 Understand the function of various forms, structures, and punctuation marks of standard American English and use them appropriately in communications.
Discovery Education player: The Three Level Study Guide: Helping Students Become Critical Thinkers

Reading Standards:
A.4.1 Use effective reading strategies to achieve their purposes in reading. Teacher Tube: Teacher tube videos: Whisperphones: Raising phonemic awareness; Phonicsface: Sound Blending Idea
A.4.4 Read to acquire information.
Teacher tube videos: The ABC Book; Circle of Smiles; BTLfanatic Between the Lions: If You Can Read "at"

C.4.2 Listen to and comprehend oral communications.You tube: www.MrDuey.com (see his list for great videos and show how kids can make their own)


Kathie

Podcast Portfolio

Here are 5 podcasts that would be applicable to my 6th grade science curriculum:

Title: Getting Solar Power for Less
Source: Itunes--NPR: Science Friday
Standard: Demonstrates an understanding that there are alternative ways to produce electricity

Title: Organism Sets Record for Extreme Living Conditions (Audio Only)
Source: Itunes--60 Second Science
Standard: Demonstrates an understanding that animals adapt to their environment using a variety of techniques

Title: Dr. Loopy Discusses Igneous Rocks
Source: Teachertube
Standard: Demonstrates understanding that some changes in the solid earth can be described as the rock cycle


Title: Mythbusters: Explosions
Source: Itunes--Discovery Channel Video Podcasts
Standard: Demonstrates an understanding that matter has properties that allow predictions to made

Title: Maggot Medicine
Source: Itunes--National Geographic Wild Chronicles Digital Shorts
Standard: Demonstrates an understanding that animals adapt to their environment using a variety of techniques

Movie and Music Day

The movies turn out really neat! They can be used as intro to my school year to gather quick interests!! Still need to find a better music spot, if possible. I really appreciate everyone's help.

SCIENCE STANDARDS: Gr. 4 (Movie)
C4.1 Use the vocabulary of the unifying themes to ask questions about objects, organisms, and events being studies.
C.4.3 Select multiple sources of information to help answer questions selected for classroom investigation.
C.4.5 Use data they have collected to develop explanations and answer questions generated by investigations.
C.4.6 Communicate the results of their investigations in ways their audiences will understand by using charts, graphs, drawings, written descriptions, and various other means, to display their answers.
C. 4.8 Ask additional questions that might help focus or further an investigation.

Busy day

I had fun working with Movie Maker and Power Point today. I've used these in the past, but I haven't played with them recently, so it was good to refresh my memory.

Twitter ... I don't know. It could be addicting, and I'm already addicted to email and instant messaging. Since none of my friends use it, I doubt I'll become a permanent fixture there, but I appreciate the time to look at it. [I like to be "in the know" as my boyfriend is quite the computer expert - although he thinks I'm just "playing" (he thinks I know more than I do - I just don't give up easy)].

Thanks for the work time and showing us all these fantastic tools. I'm excited to try a few with my students this upcoming school year.
Sarah
Below is a message I got from my techie nephew (He graduated from DePaul and has a master's degree as a IT... and is 30 years old - just so you know he's reliable). I thought some other people might be shopping for a new computer, just like me. I pasted his response about what to purchase:

Hey Aunt Kathie... I got your messages. I thought I would e-mail you and tell you what you need. First off, you said you need Windows XP. I tole Brad this, but I'm changing my mind after what he says next. That may be difficult because I don't see any new computers available with that. I know Microsoft was pushing vendors no longder supply that as an option. You could always build you own PC and install XP. Word of warning however...all new software in the near future won't be compatible with XP any more...Its nice how Microsoft makes you do that!

As for brands...stay away from HP or Gateway. They just load those PCs with cheap parts and junky software. I would stick with Dell on the Desktop end. That is what my mom has. We went cheaper for Deanna's family and got a brand named Acer. So far it has been fantastic and they got a lot more for thier money. You also have options on the laptop side. Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo are all good. I've always been a fan of Toshiba laptops and Lenovo is IBM's brand. I use a Dell at work nothing has ever gone wrong for me.

As for memory and CPU:(yes, this I need!) First off...you want at least a dual core processor. A quad core would be even better. All that means is that for a dual core you have 2 processors built in to 1 and a quad is you have 4 built in to 1. They will be coming out with 8 core soon and maybe 16. Its kind of crazy actually...I looked briefly and I didn't see anything that was not at least dual core...but you'll want to make sure. And RAM is the other thing you want to make usre you get enough of. You want 2 GB (Gigabytes) of RAM. Do NOT settle for less. Vista only runs good on 2 GB...even if you are getting XP, you may want to upgrade in the future to Vista. And the other number you will see is hard disk space. (Kathie's note: this is important: Unless you plan on downloading lots of music and video around 100 GB should be fine. All desktops these days are over 100 GB, but laptops still may not be. I noticed the cheap laptop on Dell.com is 80 GB...that should be enough. If you plan on getting music and videos you may want to look for 250 GB or more. And finally...make sure you get a DVD burner. I'm shocked not evey new PC has them yet. But after checking...most PCs come standard with DVD burners. Let me know if you have any more questions. Feel free to send me links to PCs you are interested in and I'll check them out...or I can send you some that I find too. Brad
I actually think that Iwill like twitter more than I thought I would. Ican definitely see how it can become very addictive. I really like moviemaker and power point. I didn't realize how easy these would be to use. I know my students wouldn't be able to actually create on these tools, but they could give me the info/pictures/etc. and I could put it together. I know they would love to see themselves or their work in a video. I have to put another plug in for google----absolutely love it. I used the google images to search for pictures for my power point and my photo story and I found tons more pictures that I thought would be more useful than the pictures on flickr.
Sheri S.

Podcasts and Standards

Finding educational podcasts was difficult for me. I spent a lot of time online looking and getting frustrated. I don't think that I will use premade podcasts in my classroom. However, I think the students would enjoy making them.

Here is what I finally found....

http://adonnell.podomatic.com/player/web/2006-12-18T18_08_12-08_00
this podcast is of multiplication rhymes created by kids.

http://mathmagicians.podOmatic.com/entry/2007-05-02T09_00_25
this is a cute site for factoring that uses a Hershey bar.

http://springston.podOmatic.com/entry/2008-07-02T01_04_25-07
this is an example of an interview done by a young student with his Nana.

http://www.pennmanor.net/podcast/2005?HamMePoems.mp3
these are Me poems students wrote and recorded.

http://www.thedolphinpod.com/podcast.php
this is a site with many dolphin topic podcasts.

http://www.ashckschool.org
this site contains some geography work and author studies done by elementary students in the UK.

Some fourth grade standards that could easily be met in science are:
B4.1 Use encyclopedias, source books,etc....to help answer science-related questionsand plan investigations.
B4.2 Acquire info. about people who have contributed to the development of major ideas in the science and learn about the cultures in which these people lived and worked.
Some standards that could easily be met in social studies are:
A4.4 Describe and give examples of ways in which people interact with the physical environment, including use of land, location of communities, methods of construction, and design of shelters.
4.5 Use atlases, databases, etc... to gather information about the local community, Wisconsin, the United States, and the world.
A4.7 Identify connections between the local community and other places in Wisconsin, the United States, and the world.
B4.1 Identify and examine various sources of information that are used for constructing an understanding of the past...
E 4.3 Describe how families are alike and different, comparing characteristics...
E 4.9 Explain how people learn about others who are different from themselves.
E 4.12 Give examples of important contributions made by Wisconsin citizens, United States citizens, and world citizens

Thursday morning

Twitter was fun for 10 minutes, but I don't see how it could be of use to me. Moviemaker will be useful tool in the 3rd grade classroom.. It's basic enough for them to use it without me pulling out my hair. Thanks for your patience for helping. Looking forward to learning more about Powerpoint
Jan
Found a site from which to download some music musicmoz.com

Music for Video

I was able to download free music for my movie maker video from this site.

http://www.mp3.com/free-music/

Twitter

Twitter is an interesting site. I think I'm more of an email kind of girl.

Tweet, tweet!

Twitter seems like it could be a very useful tool, especially if you want to have instant contact with someone overseas. I thought the short discussion of confidentiality was interesting. I'm still "old-fashioned" and really don't want everyone to be able to see what I'm writing, so the lock down feature was a good addition. To me, it's strange and a bit frightening that some teenagers are so willing to share pictures of themselves or personal information. Definitely would need to discuss safety concerns with students at school.

Five Video's

Second try!

All Videos came from discovery Streaming "Thank you!"

Satellite Technology
Technology at work part one and two
Emerging Careers
The Development of Rocket Technology
GPS Technology

These will all fit my existing curriculum units for my exploratory technology course.

A.12.7 Explain how scientific and technological research can contribute to improved quality of life and a better standard of living
A.12.6 Use accepted methods of forecasting and projecting to developing scenarios of future tech needs and uses
A.12.1 Contrast the increasing complexities of technology with its ease of use
A.8.2 Explain the need for and application of knowledge and skills from other disciplines


Thanks for your patience

Dan Hertel

Photostory

Yesterday I finished my photostory. I want to use it for an intro to my banking lesson. I want to also give to my co-worker to use when we post the teller jobs.

ScubaMom website :)

Here's a site to check out for fun music!

www.scubamom.com

Chris

Day 3 Wednesday, July 30,2008

I was delighted to see the boxes for Wild Blue sitting on my doorstep last night. Good bye dial-up, hello high speed. The demands of my school and inability to do any type of visual searches such as YouTube required an upgrade.
My visit to Placon was an eye-opener. I will never look at a Jello cup in the same way again. I laude the incredible system that they have, but I couldn't help wondering where all the the millon Jello cups would eventually go.... landfills. Where I asked the engineer privately about this he was more than reluctant to discuss the topic and said they were continually research to discover products that were more recyclable.
As for the wikis, I am debating what are the pros and cons of using pbwiki versus the one we viewed in class. I am considering changing for the school year. Time to catch my car pool!!! Chau. Kathy

Day 3 - MMME

Whoops! I forgot to do my blog last night. I got wrapped up in my kitchen remodeling project and forgot. So here I am getting up early to send it in (5:30).

Yesterday I thought the field trip experience was worth the time. My experience at PLACON was excellent and worth a visit by everyone. They had a very heavy emphasis on the engineering and technical education end of things, but there were a fair number of jobs at the entry level requiring less than a high school diploma - that surprised me. Apparently, they could no longer hold to their old standard of having a high school education. I wish I had asked if workers were less prepared (lower educ. level) or if there was a low number of available worker. 

 During the Q&A session following the tour employee turnover was a topic. One of the main reasons for dismissal results from employees having greater than 4.5 absences a year. They sounded pretty strict about it, all I could think of were my students were in for a real shock. A great number of them working at the entry level would violate the attendance policy in short order. OUCH!

From the multi-media point of view - The Discovery Education Site is great. My district subscribes to it and I use it fairly regularly each year. I like the flexibility of being able to show the entire video or a short sequence. This is a great resource.

The wiki video by Common Craft was interesting. I had always thought of wikis as a huge evolving dictionary. I guess the wikipedia thing is too ingrained into my brain. The video put a more every-man, everyday spin on it. I may be able to actually find a use for that angle on the concept.

Voice threads looked like a cool way to do a class project. I didn't notice, but I hope there is a security/accountability piece to this technology. I can see students leaving some undesired comments if its too anonymous.

That's all for now

Ken Francis

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I have to admit that although the voice thread and streaming Discovery video sites were very interesting and useful, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed today. I know that I just need to use these sites and play with them a little more to feel comfortable. The tours were great to hear about. I was excited to hear that these companies were all really looking for their employees to have social skills and the ability to work well with others and take responsibility. This is something that even I can start working on and stress with my students and their parents.
Sheri S.
This course is definitely enhancing my repertoire of technologies to apply in communicating not only in my teaching life, but in my personal one as well. I appreciate the breadth of different media tools, and am happy to hear we will have time in class to work further on what we have learned so that I can feel some level of confidence with them when the week is over!

Free Sound

I discovered a website called the Free Sound Project. Their aim is to create files of sounds and sound effects that are available for all to use under Creative Commons license. So check it out and use it when you need that one little sound clip! They also encourage "sound artists" to upload their contributions.

+Wednesday

I think a lot of the new ideas I'm taking from this class will help me build community among the students I teach. I have some unmotivated children that don't like to work independently in grades 4 and 5. By letting them blog a reflection and write about their feelings about what they learned from the lesson of the day, I think they'll be writing and communicating in a way future employers will we want them to. It's like giving kids time to talk, but not allocating time away from other valuable things that have to be accomplished during the day.

I could see setting up a blog where they write, then I comment on the writing and reflecting daily. I think they'd love to create an avatar. By allowing them time from our reading and writing lesson to work on technology like this, I'd really just be letting them do the independent problem solving and creating on their own.

I've see clips on teacher tube, IPod, and podcasts that will work in my classroom. I have students that just don't get enough computer time in or out of school. I want to give them the gift of learning that will give them confidence in themselves.

Voicethread (Post 4)

I had the chance to go through the voicethread tutorial this evening and can see so many uses, both personally and in education for this program. This class is helping me to look at technology the way my students see it and I suddenly feel like a kid in the candy store! When you don't know what is available online, you don't know where to look and this class opened up new avenues for me to connect to my student age group (high school). Even if I am not proficient at using any of this new techie stuff, at least I will be in the loop when the students are discussing it. One of the most important things I do as an educator is build rapport with students. Knowing the technology is essential in building rapport today. So, thank you for this class!

What do employers value?

Last May, a large group of teachers from Fort graduated with our master's through UW-LaCrosse's Learning Community. (Has anyone else's done this program?) We meet one weekend per month for two years. We started and ended each day with a community circle. It had a powerful effect on all of us and we became a very close, tight knit community. Of course, we wanted to implement the community circle in our classrooms. Some of the teachers have meet a high level of resistance from administrators. It seems some of the administrators feel it is not a valuable use of time in the school day.

Yet it seemed to be a common thread in everyone's remarks after the tours this morning that employers are looking for people who can get along with others, are responsible and reliable, and are good at problem-solving. These are the qualifications they valued and at WPS, were listed before any specific skill set or degree.

I know community circle is a way to develop many of these skills. Maybe sharing the employers remarks will give the administrators enough to reconsider their position.

MATC IT Program

Great tour!
The presenters were very informative, energetic, personable and dedicated to their profession. I was pleasently surprised to learn of the job availability for their students and the good salaries they start at.
There are few females in this area and employers are always looking for them. Consequently they offer Tech Girl in the summer and the end of October to introduce girls to technology. The cost is only $30.00 for the 5 half days in the summer and 2 full days in October.
I am looking forward to camcorders and Moviemaker tomorrow.

Wednesday

Today I toured American Family. It really looks like a nice place to work. The best application I can make of our tour is to reinforce the importance of communication skills for my students.

I really am eager to get some work time for our projects. I feel like I am behind others. I can't figure out how to paste links to video clips into powerpoint. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I am really learning a lot here. Thanks to everyone!

Tour Day

Greetings! It was another great day and thanks for the Discovery Streaming! This class has been wonderful, with so many great ideas and challenges. It certainly makes us aware that we are in a time when there are so many new technology tools and sites that we need to be aware of for everyday life! Could we have a short course on our cell phones? Mary Lynn

Tour Day

Tour Day

Tour Day

Day Three

Our 'visit' discussion after lunch today was interesting. A lot of it I expected people to say but it was interesting to hear about all of the different places that people went and all the good and bad points of each.
The voice thread was great. I would like to try my own tomorrow if we have time.
I have most of my editing done on the Movie Maker program. It is a lot easier to use that program than others that I have seen.
I have really enjoyed this class. We have been learning about so many cool things that I want to use use with my classes and share with others.

Wednesday

I went on the UW Engineering tour. It was very educational and I learned a lot about what they look for in in-coming students. One thing that I found fascinating was a comment our tour guide made about math. He said that very often students who have taken a lot of AP math classes in high school come in without a depth of knowledge in the more basic math curriculum, and therefor struggle in college. It seems that we are pushing accelaration too much in education right now.
I also found the nuclear power plant tour very interesting. Our presenter illustrated how vulnerable our athmosphere is, and it is scary to think how CO2 emissions are just going to accelerate more with China and India cathching up with our western energy consumption. He said that if those countries don't change their dependency on coal, all the conservation we do here is virtually pointless. I am re-thinking my anti-nuclear stance.

Wednesday

My tour to Thermo Fisher was very interesting and informative! I enjoyed seeing the work environment and learning of their expectations for people they hire. It is very important for us as teachers to help our students be team players, problem solvers and have initiative. I think we do that to some extent every day, but I think it is a good reminder to incorporate even more activities to encourage their growth in these areas.

The discovery learning site seems like it has lots of great things to use and much more user friendly that youtube or teacher tube. I like Holly's idea of using wordle to have the students make one about themselves..typing in their attributes, hobbies, etc. My mind is spinning with ideas on how to use voicethread...book reports, presenting stories, etc. I'm interested in reading what others plan on doing with it!

Day 3

UW Engineering was a neat tour. Lots of information!!
I think it's important that students know that colleges are looking for students to not only be book smart - but be world smart as well. We talked a lot about the future which was fascinating.

I'm excited to get to work tomorrow. Voice threads look fun!
I can't find a video for 1976 on Discovery, but I'll keep looking! :)
Sarah

Jan's 4th Entry!

I've enjoyed learning MORE new websites this afternoon. Now the challenge is to when to find the time to explore more of this. I think I can use voicethread with my grade level with some of their reading units.

Although I enjoyed seeing the Engineering Campus, I don't think I can find a use to nanotechnology in my room. In other words, I think the morning could be better spent!
Jan

American Family

The trip to American Family was very interesting. There are many professions within the company - media specialists, attorneys and nurses. Promotion is also encouraged within the company. The company has its own in-house post office, which sends out over 300,000 pieces of mail daily.

UW-Engineering

The fieldtrip to the UW Campus was AWESOME! I really thought most of the things would be over my head when I learned it was the engineering department, but it was really great. We learned about nano-technology and exactly how small it is by doing a quick hands-on activity. We also discussed nuclear energy and how the different ways we use energy is affecting the environment. I could have definitely stayed and learned more there!
Day 3 John Muir Academy

The tour of UW College School of Engineering was great! I learned a lot about the field of engineering. Did you know that there are fourteen different majors in the school of engineering? That was news to me! We also talked with a Senior student majoring in BioMedical Engineering. He told us about his high school and college educational experiences and what plans he has for the next couple of years. Once he graduates in December he plans on going to law school. He is interested in the policies and patents revolving around this field. We were also shown the nuclear reactor on campus and had a short presentation. Very thought provoking. In all I enjoyed the experience.

Field Trip to American Family

Another wonderful day here at the John Muir Academy. The American Family tour was outstanding and well delivered. It was enlightening in the fact that I was not aware of the complexity and the fact that we had a mini ecocity at this facility. Other than contracting their food it is totally self sustaining if need be. That alone is amazing.

Thank you,

Dan

Field Trip to

I, too, thoroughly enjoyed the morning spent at Thermo. I was wondering if we are to be writing a journal throughout this week. I've been doing it for myself as a means to reread and reorganize my thoughts and notes from the day. I realize how much we accomplished yesterday when I made a list of the websites visited and work done. I also realized what I still need to do!

ThermoFischer

Thermo Fischer provided a very professional atmosphere. They are a very goal orientated business that stresses teamwork. They provided some great insight in what they do and what they are looking for from our students. There is no entitlement in the business world and for ThermoFischer. Each is expected to do their part at a very high level and each person must be able to accept critisizm. Everyone answers to someone. These are areas that I feel we must work on with students. When they get into the real world, mommy isn't going to be there to help them out and there are no trophies given for simply showing up for work. You have to learn and be productive.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

I absolutely loved photostory. I think that I will be able to use this quite a bit in my classroom, especially since my 4yr-old students always love to see themselves in/on something. I know my daughter will also love it. I also really liked exploring itunes. I have an ipod and I use itunes quite a bit, but I didn't realize how much more it could offer. It is very exciting. Here is my portfolio of podcasts/videos that I would use in either my classroom or professional development.
1. itunes: Sesame Street-Rhyme--This video podcast has the characters talking about what a rhyme is and singing songs to demonstrate and have the students practice rhyming. Good to introduce rhyming, show easy ways that kids can rhyme, and practice making up own rhymes. WSTS 1,3,4,6,7
2. itunes: Sesame Street-Dance--This video podcast stresses the importance of exercise and taking care of ourselves. Good to use as both information for the students, but also as a management tool (I use a lot of music and movement to keep the kids focused and excited about learning). WSTS 2,4,5
3. itunes: Storynory-Twister--This audio podcast talks about tongue twisters and gives stories that demonstrates tongue twisters. Good to reinforce letter sounds, rhyming, and nonsense word making. WSTS1,2,3,6
4. teacher tube: Pay Attention (video)--Great for professional development, especially on differentiating teaching. WSTS 9,10
5. teacher tube: Elephant Song by Eric Herman (video)--This video sings a song and has animation that has children interact with the adult to talk about what makes various animals what they are (i.e. elephant is elephant because has a trunk and stomps through woods). Good to engage interaction of students, learning of animals, assessing knowledge of students of animals, problem solving. WSTS 2, 3, 4, 8
I am also so glad to be learning so much about google. I think it is my new favorite thing on the internet. Thank you for making this class so accessible and doable. I feel very confident in exploring and trying all of these activities--so much so that I'm working on my own website. Something I would never have done in the past.
Sheri S.

Great Day!

We certainly were busy today. I enjoyed working with both Photo Story and Animoto. I completed projects in both but was not able to retrieve them at home so I am concerned they did not get saved properly. I put my granddaughter's photo on magmypic and she looks lovely, although magmypic spelled the word maternity incorrectly on the cover. Found Flickr to be a wonderful site for pictures. Delicious is a great tool but, again, it didn't seem to convert to my home computer.
Some videos I thought were good are:
Teacher Tube -
1. Don't Laugh at Me
Great song and message.
2. Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things
Very famous people having normal characteristics.
3. Did You Know?
Great for teachers to view to realize where kids are with the use of technology. Some of the statistics would be even more astounding today because the most recent statistics were from 2006.
You Tube -
4. Creeping oobleck
Video shows oobleck on a vibrating surface.
I have students make oobleck after reading Dr.Sues' book about oobleck as an introduction to the chemistry unit. This video would be great to show them after they have had a chance to play with the oobleck.
5. Optical Illusions
We observe optical illusions after studying the eye. Students always enjoy these illusions.
These are some I already have and some new ones.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow to complete some unfinished projects and starting new ones.

Portfolio for Patty

PORTFOLIO BLOG Patty Snyder

Name of source

Name of Clip/Podcast

Educational or Professional Use

Academic Standards

google

e blogger

Communication and information exchange for the district Kindergarten teacher.

Teachers are connected with other teachers and the community.

google

e blogger

The Snyder family blog, sharing info and photos, and Mom’s calendar! : )

personal

itunes

podcast

Storynory

Audio story of approx 15-minute stories. Plan to use for rest time.

Draw a picture to illustrate a part of the story they liked.

A.4.2 Read, interpret, and critically analyze literature.

A.4.3 Read and discuss literary and nonliterary texts in order to understand human experience.

C.4.2 Listen to and comprehend oral communications.

D.4.1 Develop their vocabulary of words, phrases, and idioms as a means of improving communication.

teacher tube

Pay Attention

Will suggest it for our technology inservice.

Teachers are able to evaluate themselves.

teacher tube

Don’t Laugh At Me

Play when the Kindergartners are with their fourth grade buddies. Follow with a character discussion.

C.4.1 Orally communicate information, opinions, and ideas effectively to different audiences for a variety of purposes.

C.4.2 Listen to and comprehend oral communications.

C.4.3 Participate effectively in discussion.

D.4.1 Develop their vocabulary of words, phrases, and idioms as a means of improving communication.

E.4.2 Make informed judgments about media and products.

E.4.9 Explain how people learn about others who are different from themselves

E.4.14 Describe how differences in cultures may lead to understanding or misunderstanding among people

Pandora

Any music

Prep time for teacher.

Transition times for the children, especially coming in the morning and coming in from recess.

Teachers are able to plan different kinds of lessons.

Teachers know how to manage a classroom.

itunes

Brain facts

Professional development.

Teachers know how to teach.

Teachers are able to evaluate themselves.

Love the projects!

Loved the animoto and photostory! I plan on doing both with my students. I made a poem example to show my students too introduce the photostory project to them. I know they will love it too!Flickr was an excellent resource for photos to use! Animoto was great too! What a fun way to teach them how to practice uploading digital pictures and pictures form the net.

Found some good sites(all but one on itunes):
Aesop's fable podcast - an audio of many fables. WSTS 1, 3, 4
Princeton Review Vocabulary Minute - great for spelling hints and word knowledge/word choice. WSTS 1, 3, 4
Meet the author - many authors talk both by audio and video. Great for author studies! WSTS 1, 3, 4, 6
Miss Davis' Math Magic -helps with concepts such as composite numbers and multiples.WSTS 1, 3, 4, 6
Schoolhouse Rock - nouns, conjunctions, interjections. (Teachertube) WSTS 1, 3, 4

Photostory 3 download at home = no luck

I was unable to download the Photostory 3 at home. It requested that I download some other media devices in order to make the download complete and my older, slower computer just doesn't have the stamina. Hopefully will be able to work on the rest of my project in class. I am planning to do a longer photostory as part of my 3 credit requirement.

Video Clips

Some useful video clips I found:

On Itunes Store: Subcategory - Arts
TED Talks - Ideas Worth Spreading:
1. Episode 50: Amy Tan on Creativity
2. Episode 97: Isabel Allende tells tales of passion
Both of these video podcasts would be useful in my Multicultural Literature course that I teach to juniors. As we only have time to read 3-4 books in a semester, I always try to offer other authors for students to explore on their own. Students can view the video, freewrite following and discuss.
Standards addressed: English Language Arts: C.12.2.6 - Listen to, discuss and comprehend oral communications: Relate a speaker's ideas and information to prior knowledge and experience. C.12.3.2 - Participate effectively in discussion: Consider the ideas and opinions of other speakers thoughtfully before responding.

3. (Also on TED Talks) Episode 147: Emily Oster flips our thinking on AIDS in Africa.
Ostser is an economist, who discusses the AIDS epidemic as it relates to poverty and U.S. foreign policy. This videocast would be shown as an example for students to consider using in their research of a multicultural issue for their extensive research paper project and presentation.
ELA Standards: F. 12.1.2 (Research and Inquiry): Use research tools found in school and college libraries, take notes, collect and classify sources and develop strategies for finding and recording information. F. 12.1.6 Evaluate the usefulness and credibility of data and sources by applying tests of evidence...

4. Teacher Tube - category: most viewed. Title: Think before you post.
A good short video clip showing the sometimes negative results of posting one's photo online for all the world to see, collect and manipulate. A great tool to get students talking about their online habits and how to be safe. ELA Standards: E.12.2.2 Make informed judgments about media and products: Recognize and explain the impact of various media on daily life.

5. Streaming Discovery Education: Videos: Modern Research Skills for Secondary Students: Research 101 - Mastering the Library. Although a little dated, I think this 22 minute video presents the basics with some sound research tips. Most importantly, it reintroduces the library to students - a place many have forgotten actually houses a wealth of good source material for papers and projects. I would use this with freshmen to navigate through their first extensive research paper. ELA Standards: F.12.1.2 (Research and Inquiry)Formulate questions addressing issues or problems that can be answered through a well defined and focused investigation.

Animoto/Photostory 3

I enjoyed working with Animoto and am excited to try creating some other mini music videos that I can incorporate into my teaching. I think it would be fun to introduce this to other staff at an inservice as it is a quick learn with immediate gratification!

Off the top of my head I can think of so manu uses for Photostory 3, across all curricula and age groups. I am anxious to get online tonight to try editing my story and add some music to it. Hope I have good luck accessing it outside of our classroom.

Bella


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Day two(Video clip/Podcast Requirement)

Today we accomplished a lot!
Finished my Animoto and Photostory. Had a chance to work on my movie.(Easy Program... ...so far.)

Video clips and podcasts
1. You tube- Will use this for track and field instruction also cross-country. Excellent video of top athletes and their particular form. wsts 1,4,6,7,10
2. Nat. Geog. Podcast World's Tallest Tree to go along with organism unit. wsts 1,4,3,7
3. Nat. Geog. Podcast Maggot Medicine Oranisms unit "Animals that are useful" wsts 1,3,4,7
4. Mr. Dewey .com- Use fraction rap during our fraction unit. wsts 6,7
5. Use itunes for Bird Parade final presentation for imovie. wsts 10,3, 1, 9


Still need free music for my movie.

Post 2 July 29,2008, Tuesday

Animoto is certainly a quick, snappy idea to introduce a new topic and create interest. I am fascinated by the posting of my Animoto to YouTube and can't wait to see if there will be any viewers. I know that my students will match the enthusiasm that this old teacher has for the publishing of their work, also. The variety of sites that we investigated were very diverse. I was a bit disappointed that the itunes did not have the amount of options that I had hoped would be available.

Exciting New Information

At the end of the day Tuesday, I am pleased with the number of new sites and strategies to which we have been exposed. I had no idea this many technological tools were available to us. There are obviously numerous applications to education, but also to our personal lives. I need time to digest the multiple ideas we have learned thus far before I can feel a level of comfort with this. Thanks for engaging and intriguing us!

Wonderful Day!

This was another great day with many new ideas and experiences. By the end of the week I certainly will have gain many new places for ideas for the next school year. Thanks so much for your patience and assistance! MaryL

Video Clip Portfolio

Another great day! I am really excited about my animoto and my photostory.

Here are five video clips/podcasts that I would like to use in my classroom:

1. Sea World (Podcast) - "Killer Whales"
Anything with whales is exciting to a Kindergarten student. I would use this clip as an
introduction to an ocean unit. WSTS #1, 3, 4.
2. National Geographic (Podcast) - "Antarctica Family Robinson"
This is another clip that provides a lot of information in a short time on a level that
Kindergarteners can understand. WSTS #1, 2,3,4, 9
3. Aesop'sFables (Audio Podcast) - "The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox
Students can listen to fables being read to them. This could be used in a literacy center.
WSTS # 1,2,3,4,5.
4. YouTube - "Lucy's first day of Kindergarten"
This clip chronicles Lucy's first day of Kindergarten, and how she overcomes her first day
jitters and anxieties. I would show this to my students during the first week of shool to let
them know that being worried about starting school is a natural thing. It would also be a neat
clip to show to parents at orientation. WSTS # 1,2,3,4,6,7,9,10.
5. TeacherTube - "Schoolhouse Rock - A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing
This clip is really fun and cartoony anf the music is very fetching. I would show this clip to my
students at the end of the year when we begin to talk about "first-grade stuff".
WSTS #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.
I feel as though I was very productive today. I did an animoto, began gathering some educational podcasts, created a magazine cover, and got a avator email from my daughter/grandson in response to the one I sent them. I've got ideas in the works for the power point and two photostory projects. Thanks for all the information. Lots to sift through and digest.

MMME - Day 2

Wow! Information overload. We are covering a lot of material that is not only interesting but I can invision a variety of uses for it. However, I can see that I will need considerable time to digest what each site has to offer, how to navigate it, link it, integrate it, ... It just seems like I will need to round out the brief introduction from class into a better understanding during the weeks to come. The school year may start to soon.

Favorite item of the day - iTunes free video clips. I like the ability to save in my personal files a video segment. This will eliminate the missing links to videos that I have experience in the past. No more last minute scrambling to find a suitable replacement.

See ya,

Ken Francis
http://multimediamadeeasy.wikispaces.com/

Check out the class wiki!

Deb

Cool Stuff

If you have pictures. We found a place for them.
Animoto was a great way to place your pictures and give a brief exciting picture blurb. It could be used for a students understanding in a visual representation.
Ideas website looks great. The alignment with standards and the worderful free digital photos are great for all.
Flickr.com has a long line of usable pictures as well.
I still need to do some work on Pod casting. I found audio really well, but the video was rough.
I'm looking forward to using Photostory for student projects-reading time lines, sequence, etc..

Jan's Portfolio of 5 sites

1. Podcast Radio WillowWeb #26
Technology Standard A4.5 Use a computer and communication software to access and transmit information

2. Podcast Discovery Channel Grand Canyon
Geography A4.4 Describe and give examples of ways in which people interact with the physical environment, including use of land, location of communities, methods of construction, and design of shelters

3. Podcast Discovery Channel Great Wall of China
Social Studies 4.4 Describe the ways in which ethnic cultures influence the daily lives of people

4. Bill Nye the Science Guy - 44 - Rocks & Soil 1/3

Youtube Science E.4.1 Properties of Earth ScienceInvestigate that earth materials are composed of rocks and soils and correctly use the vocabulary for rocks, minerals, and soils during these investigations

5. Youtube NWF Backyard
Science: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANISMS
F.4.1 Discover how each organism meets its basic needs for water, nutrients, protection, and energy* in order to survive

Photo Story 3

I enjoyed working with Photo Story 3 today. The potential exists for creating impressive presentations. It was a satisfying feeling to be able to import a series of images, edit them, and put them in a sequence that tells a story.

All About Me PowerPoint

All About Me Title
My Family
My Hobbies
My Work
One Special Thing
The World When I Was Born

These are the topics for each slide of your PowerPoint show. Do a little research and put up a video of an event from the year you were born (we'll show you how to get it from United Streaming on Wed. p.m.)

Deb

Video Clips/Podcasts for Education

Here are the video clips and/or podcasts I would be able to use with my 1st grade class. All items were found at Teachertube.com

1) Classroom Rules
Standard 5: Teachers know how to manage a classroom.

2) Schoolhouse Rock: A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing
Standard 1: Teachers know the subjects they are teaching.

3) Fun Plant Facts & Crazy Carnation Coloring
Standard 7: Teachers are able to plan different kinds of lessons.

4) Daily Calendar Math
Standard 4: Teachers know how to teach.

5) Be Kind to Your Erasers
Standard 5: Teachers know how to manage a classroom.

6) Water Cycle by David Bydlowski
Standard 3: Teachers understand that children learn differently

So much!

It's amazing how much is out there! I can't believe it... and good stuff too!
I'm excited to try using cueprompter.com with my students when they're giving speeches to a group, which so many of them struggle with.

I have used Delicious and PhotoStory before, but it was good review. I haven't accessed my Delicious account since last summer. :)

iTunes and Pandora were fun to search. I'm excited about all the tools I'm learning about!

Thanks!

Animoto and Photostory

I really like Animoto and Photostory. I enjoy scrapbooking and now I can do it electronically! I can see myself using this at school to do descriptive writing, book reports, etc.....

student


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I'm wondering if it's all possible to do a better project with just doing one project rather than scattering myself with two. Any hope for this to happen?
Jan

29 July and having some fun!

Today was awesome and Animoto made the morning fly by. My only hurtle (I resemble that comment) is that we are so limited as a class with the ability to get access to a computer lab. I will be adding this to my curriculum if we can use it in our IMC. I also finished my Voki! Too cool!
On another note, the lunch was really good. This has been. so far, the most fun I have had taking 3 credits. Very user friendly and great concern on the students well-being.


Dan Hertel

Homework

I have really enjoyed all of the new things we've learned this morning. It's amazing how much is really out there if you know where to look and I think that becomes one of my biggest frustrations - searching and searching and never finding what I'm looking for.

Animoto is very cool! While I like the fact that it develops the video on its own, it would be nice to be able to make edits, though. As for upcoming things, I would really like to know what the expectations are for the other assignments. I would like to be able to go home tonight and work on the assignments and feel comfortable when I leave that I'll know how to do it. Thanks!

Day 2 John Muir Academy

This morning was great! I love using some of the media web sites we have been shown. I brought some pictures which I thought were on my flash disk, but they weren't. So I ended up using the CD to retrieve my pictures. I need more practice loading pictures. They always end up disappearing into thin computer air! Magmypic was fun. I did create a couple of magazine covers and they turned our really neat. Still a lot of information coming at us so I feel a little overloaded, but I'm keeping up. I am enjoying the time to investigate and actually create a project of two.
I, too, was wondering about the projects' relationship to curriculum. Also, did I hear correctly that designing a webpage is also an option for the 3 cr project?

Tuesday Reflections

I'm a little overwhelmed with the websites. There is so much to poke around with on the sites. As I do this I get lose with the new information going on. I suppose what I'm experiencing feels a like a ADD student. I would like more time to process how I can use this with my 3rd grade curriculum. It would be great to have some breakout sessions with levels similiar to yours to brainstorm ideas. As usual, there's not enough time to talk to adults ........................................
Jan

projects

Are we supposed to show you the finished projects that are listed for the 2 credits? Also, will the 3 credit project have to be related to my instruction or something I have to use with my students?
Kathie
Add IllVill to your page

flickr fun

On the first page after the flickr home page you can choose "groups." (the choices are photos, groups, people) If you enter "black and white" or "children" or whatever terms fits your search, then you get groups of photographs that match your search. The pictures look high quality and maybe easier to search.

On the "explore" pull down menu on the same page, the "world" and "places" are neat tools that could have lots of educational applications. The "world" has a world map background and two search options. I did forests as the first option and then Canada as the second. The photos appear as small thumbnails and then in addition, they tag the photos origin on the map. Cool!

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Monday, July 28, 2008 Day 1

☺ I am finally able to post a day late and am enthusiastically embracing the information from the first day. It was delightful creating a voki, and I am devising several opportunities to use that venue for my Spanish classes. I think that even at the first year level it would lend itself to a brief explanation of personal information in the target language. I am continually trying to upgrade the "old skool" assessment format of testing, testing, testing by incorporating the newest technology items. I have to be able to relinquish some of the other activities which were so entrenched in my methodology, but I know this is a step into the 21st century that I have to make. I am very pleased that I am understanding so much more about the Web2.0 world that I entered last summer at the CESA workshop. This class is precisely what I had hoped it would be - the next level, but a great refresher of some of the areas which overwhelmed me with too much information last August. I am ready to meet the challenge.

Tuesday, 7/29

Hi Deb and Chris,

I think part of the problem with remembering all these websites is the terms are not what I expect. I feel like the kids I teach who have problems with language.

For example, I wanted to keep this blog open to write to you during the day, but it keeps closing when I go to other Google options. The google sites is what I call a webpage writer. I don't use these terms and it's hard to remember them.

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