Production Process with Mat

While I was guiding Mat in the production process, I continued to ask questions throughout. We decided to do a SlideShare which wasn't part of the original directions for the project but we worked at his house so we didn't have much access to any technological tools for VoiceThread and Video. He was fine with that and so was I. I taught him how to make a works cited page and how to upload his powerpoint to slidecast. His creativity came out when he chose the cricket images and he had full control of the show. He really seemed to learn very quickly how to use all the tools for his show. I made sure that he understood all aspects of the production process and broke down each step for Mat so he could easily work through the project. It was enjoyable and he really seemed to have a feeling of accomplishment after.

"Guide on the Side"

As I worked more and more with Mat, I learned that being the guide on the side isn't as hard as I thought. All I had to do was just trust that Mat could do all the technological things that we did. I had to remember how it was when I was learning how to gather the information I needed for my SlideShare and Video I made. So I knew it was a learning process as we went along. It was good to see him catching on and I was glad that he was very cooperative with me. I used Inquiry-based learning by asking questions throughout the research process, it lead to other questions from him and I felt that he was really learning a lot. It was tool for exploration because as we got further into the project, he was beginning to learn to explore more areas that he usually wouldn't have done on his own. So I felt that it opened a new world for him. Overall, it felt really good to teach some of what I learned to him :)

Working with Mat

At the beginning of the week when we began to work together, it was a bit difficult trying to explain all the technological stuff that we learned in class to a 6th grader. I thought it was going to be a lot more work than what it was, however, we really worked well together and he was  great listener as was I to all questions he had. Mat is 11 years old and loves to play outdoor sports, while also having a love for gaming. He is a very smart young boy and when I asked him to pick anything he'd like to know he took awhile to think. Of course, I let him take his time and he finally came up with a question for me. He said he would like to learn about crickets in general but mainly why they make the noise they make. He was very eager to learn and it was a fun learning experience for me as well. I guided him with questions in order to allow him to open up and ask me more questions. His blog  didn't take long to make and he really enjoyed posting.

Spreadsheets

Using spreadsheets in the classroom is a great way to implement kids to do many things such as statistics and other mathematical calculations dealing with almost any subject! For instance, if students are studying geography, they can make a graph of different state populations around the US. Other uses can also be incorporated into the classroom such as counting the number of birthdays per month in the classroom. Another example would be to make a graph of how many students walk, ride bikes, ride the bus or get dropped off at school. These can be used as introductory graphs to place on Excel for students to get a feel for Excel.

For my unit plan, I thought of many different things that could be used for graphs. Since my unit plan has to do with learning about culture and addresses Kindergarten, I thought of a simple in-class study that could be done. Kids could go home and ask parents what their background or culture is. The teacher gets a count and tallies up the numbers. The kids then make a graph of each culture in their classroom and observe the numbers. This can put on Excel for the kids to use a form of technology. The questions I'd use would be:

Why is it important to learn of other cultures around us?

How do our cultures make the world any different?

Why is it important for us to know our cultures and backgrounds?

I think these questions are inquiry-based and can spark discussion because they don't require yes or no answers, they require in-depth answers to make kids actually think!

Movie Making!

This project was not as hard as I thought once I got started on the video itself. Although frustrating, it was easy to learn as I went. Movie Making and Digital Storytelling is an awesome way to incorporate technology into any classroom. For my video, I used a bunch of images that I gathered from the Internet, however I did had clips of myself talking. Since I worked alone, it was hard to get out and get someone to record me, however, I made due with what I had. I did play around with FreePlayMusic and Audacity but in the end I just used the music that was already provided on IMovie. I have a Mac laptop so I used IMovie instead of MovieMaker. The whole process was actually pretty fun being able to make a movie was awesome. I didn't know that I could do something like that. I can imagine if I was a young child, the excitement and accomplishment I would feel after finishing a big project such as this.

This type of project could be easily used for any student or group of students to tell their story. They could tell a story of emotion, of personal life experiences. They could also use this project to show case what they learned during the duration of the lesson. It could be a like a final product showing their teacher what they learned. In my case, I told the story from a student point of view. I started off with my title clip which just had the title of the project and then my name and class. I then moved onto a picture of the world in hands and added an affect of a star shooting across the screen. On this clip, I recorded my voice on IMovie. I did this throughout the video on the clips that just had images on them. I alternated throughout the video, myself talking and still images. Throughout the movie, I used music playing in the background and messed with volume controls accordingly. At the end of my movie, I added a clip with credits on it. I did this by saving one my powerpoint slides as a jpeg and inserting it into my movie timeline. The video has two different songs which I acquired on IMovie. One of the songs is called "Dewdrops" and the other is called "Acoustic Sunrise."

Although my video was far from perfect and probably strayed away from the rubric in more ways than one, it was a great learning process. I think that with more experience throughout the years, the skills to make movies in the classroom can be perfected! I feel that I will definitely use this tool in my classroom whether it be a whole class project, a group project or quite possibly individual projects. With all the stress and frustration aside, I feel that this project would be beneficial for our students!

Digital Storytelling

The unit question I chose for this project was "Why is culture significant?" for grade K. As I planned out my storyboard, I tried to incorporate all 7 elements of digital storytelling. Firstly, 1) point of view was included because, of course, this digital story was being told by one of my students. The 2) dramatic question is, evidently, the unit question being asked and is eventually answered at the end of the presentation. 3)Emotional Content is definitely addressed because this story is dealing with culture and the acceptance/importance of culture from a young child's point of view. The 4) Gift of Your Voice is encompassed in this presentation the entire time, to show that the student has learned and wants to share their story in their own words. The 5) power of the soundtrack is used to emphasize a colorful story line, since our topic is culture. 6)Economy is used because the story doesn't give too much information but gives out the learned content evenly and lightly so the audience can see their story. 7) Pacing is used evenly throughout the story staying longer or shorter on necessary clips.

Storyboard

Activity Plan

Culture/K SlideShare

Unit Plan

As the semester flies by, we learn about all different kinds of technology that can be used in our future classrooms. There are so many new applications that I never knew too much about. Some main tools that I have gained knowledge about are SlideCast, SlideShare, and VoiceThread. The possibilities for use of these technological tools in the classroom just seem endless. All of these tools are used for Digital Storytelling. This is where students can tell their stories through use of pictures, sounds and even their own voices. They can display work, show artwork or just use it as a fun way to communicate within their classroom community.

In relation to my unit plan, these tools could incorporated easily. Many ideas flowed as I thought about and played with these tools. It was fun for me, so I know that if children use these tools it could easily be an exciting way to get them more involved more than ever. In regards to SlideShare, the activity below displays a sample project done by a Kindergarten student. They explore their own culture through research using the Internet, kid's search engines such as ajkids.com. They can use search engines to find different images, information and even sounds or music that relate to their culture. The main concept is for the kids to have an exciting way to learn about their culture with use of technology. After making a PowerPoint presentation, the children can upload what they did onto a simple SlideShare. Here, kids can display what they learned about themselves and their culture. They can possibly comment on each other's work, as well. 

VoiceThread is another tool that I was introduced to. This can be an essential tool that can be use in the classroom. For my particular unit plan, a sample project would be as follows... The children would find one photo from their SlideShare presentation that interested them the most or an image of a favorite part of their culture. For example, if a child's favorite part of their cultural project was a dish such as Arroz Con Poyo, they could upload a picture of that dish onto the VoiceThread. After doing this, they comment preferably using a voice comment but can possibly use text and tell the class what the picture is. Also, expand on what the picture shows and how it's a part of their culture. She could say, "This is a picture of a traditional Hispanic dish. Arroz Con Poyo, it is one of my favorite meals and it's very popular in the Hispanic culture." Of course, not everyone's culture is going to be Hispanic so it would correlate with each student's culture such as Asian, African, or maybe French. 

Of course, the possibilities are endless with use of these tools. They are all fun new ways to engage your students.

Unit Plan- Melinda Tru

View more OpenOffice presentations from MelTruj.

Internet in the Classroom

With technology having such high importance in today's world, I have found that it will be essential to use a great technological tool in my classroom-the Internet. I have recently found how to use many different Internet tools in my classroom that I never knew could be implemented into a solid curriculum. Internet usage would be of significant help in the classroom because not only would students be getting educated on technology, they would also be engaging in activities at the same time that would help their knowledge grow. This Internet usage would also be very fun and exciting for them that they wouldn't even realize that they were learning such important content at the same time!

There are many different tools that can be used for a variety of educational purposes in the classroom. For example, I found that using blogs can really help students share ideas in a safe community about different topics. In my case, it would be over culture or different cultures. I would allow students to use IM services and Chat services to connect with one another interactively as well as possibly connecting with different classroom throughout the world. This would be a fun way for students to share ideas and really engage in discussion. E-mail projects could also be incorporated into my unit plan easily with pen pals and different e-mail projects where students could interact with different classrooms around the world with different cultural backgrounds. Another good tool would be online surveys where students can be assessed or share their opinions on different projects or units done in the classroom. VoIP is an advanced tool that could be used by students to interact with different children of different backgrounds where they can learn first hand through their words what their culture is like. Images, Sounds, and Videos could also be searched through different search engines designated for each one. Students can search these different items to learn about different cultures' music, videos on certain cultural rituals and images that show different cultures. Incorporating the Internet!

Blogs in the classroom

Blogs are a part of technology that has emerged within the past decade. Blogs are very popular in a wide range of areas. People use blogs on websites such as twitter or myspace to update people on their lives or just share personal thoughts or ideas. However, blogs can also be used among business people and even in the classroom.

It's a great way for people to share ideas about a certain topic and be critiqued by their peers with constructive feedback. An example of use of blogs in the classroom could be when doing a group project. Students can use their blogs to post their findings on a blogger website where their group members can easily access the information to collaborate all their research. They can also comment on any blogs and blogs are easy to go back and edit any information. Teachers can use blogs to communicate with their colleagues about activities, curriculum ideas or anything they'd like to share with their co-workers, maybe share a website they found on some good classroom ideas. Students can use blogs to reflect on things they've learned in the classroom. Maybe their teacher can instruct them to write in their own words the highlights of what they've learned during a particular lesson. Blogs are a great tool to integrate into the classroom. Blogs are a part of today's technology and technology is a fun, creative way to engage students in important learning!

An example of a great blog to follow would be David Warlick's blog!

Inquiry- and Project-Based Learning

The need for both inquiry- and project-based learning into a unit plan is essential. In order for a lesson to be thoroughly taught, a teach must incorporate different activities that engage the learner both mentally and physically. For the learner to be immersed in the topic and to really become educated on the subject, they must be go through a series of different learning methods. Inquiry-based learning will help the students answer questions facilitated by the teacher, themselves and other peers. It will help them learn through seeking knowledge on their own. Project-based learning will give the students hands-on experience. This is great because many children are bodily or kinesthetic learners. Also, it's great because they get to incorporate their creativity into many of the project-based activities. It opens many doors for these young learners.

For my particular unit plan, my topic was on Culture. The grade level I chose was Kindergarten. My essential question was "How does culture affect me?" My unit questions were as follows:
"Why is culture significant?"
"What are parts/features of my own culture?"
"What do you think about culture?"

The importance of inquiry-based learning in this unit plan would be great because much of the knowledge the children will be learning will be completely new to them. These are young learners so many questions will arise so therefore many inquiry-based learning will be implemented.

The significance of project-based learning is also high because of the topic that is being studied here. The possibilities of projects for this unit plan is endless and opens oppurtunities for children to learn about cultures in many creative ways. We created a Unit Plan to help guide us in our future projects for this class!