Digital Story with iMovie

Celebrate the Earth with Me

This week we have been creating digital stories in the classroom. We completed a short worksheet about digital stories, such as their purpose, what they can be about, and typical length. We learned what a story board is and looked at examples of both digital stories and story boards.

I think digital stories can be used a lot in the classroom. You take a topic and create a story about it and include music that goes along with it. Since kids today are so attached to the television and computers, learning about a topic in the form of a digital story is right up their alley.

Before you begin a story board, it is vital you complete a story board first. A story board is an outline of what your digital story will look like. You write down which picture you are going to use and a the accompanying caption. This lets you see an outline of the digital story and to envision what it will look like.

I decided to use a poem about the earth for my digital story called, "Celebrate the Earth with Me." It was one of the ideas listed in our TPTE booklet, and I thought since I will be teaching 1st grade next year that it would be a fun way to teach students about poems and the earth. This topic coincides with my inquiry based activity, which was Science (the water cycle) and my IWB, which was Geography and learning about the earth. I like how all of my projects this semester have been consistent with a theme. This digital story shows students the beauty of the earth and how we need to respect and appreciate it. In my classroom, I could use this digital story as an introduction to a lesson about recycling.

I haven't finished my digital story yet--I'm still working on the music and transitions, but I have all of my pictures embedded into it. Hopefully I will like the finished product!

Inspiration 9

I had a lot of fun creating this diagram for my TPTE class. Inspiration 9 was a lot easier to maneuver and figure out than the IWB/Flipchart activity, so it was nice to go from an assignment that took a lot of time to figure out to one that didn't. I think the hardest part for me was choosing the colors :).

Once I decided on the standard I would use, I drew out my storyboard. This definitely helped with this assignment because if I didn't have a layout of what I was going to do, then it would have taken me forever to make this diagram. The storyboard kept me organized. I'm a visual learner and I think this would help my students in the classroom learn new material, especially ones who are visual learners. First grade Reading was my focus for this assignment, but I think diagrams, maps, and webs would be very helpful when teaching Science and Social Studies as well. Timelines are a great visual to learn about history, and as a teacher, I can make my own using Inspiration 9. For science, any new terms I can add a picture to and make connections that the students can see. There are many ways to use this in the classroom.

I feel like my finished project looks very simple, but that was the point because it is for 1st graders and they can't handle too much information. However, if I were to make a diagram, map, or web for the older grades, I could include more information and more links.

So far, I've been hanging in there with all of these technology projects.

IWB Reflection

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of my Flipchart. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Once I decided what I wanted to do, I did not have many problems at all. When I was doing the change color to reveal, I had to try a few times to make sure the ordering of the text and layers were correct so that the words would show up when I used the fill tool.

Embedding the video was not hard at all. I'd say the hardest part was finding a video on the internet that I liked. I used one I found on YouTube that was created by a 2nd grade class that was very informational and entertaining. I thought it would be a good video to use since the focus of my Flipchart is for 2nd grade.

I think learning about Interactive White Boards as a preservice teacher is very beneficial for many reasons. When we are finally interning at the schools or even when we are hired as a teacher, we are going to be so overwhelmed with everything, from getting the classroom ready, organizing lesson plans to correlate with the curriculum, applying the TN standards, learning about the new school, etc. that we won't have time to learn about IWB's. We won't want to spend the time taking a course outside of school to learn how to create a Flipchart. Having learned the tools necessary to create one and to have the directions in our packet will prepare us for the day we are in the classroom. I am very thankful TPTE 486 covers this.

I think creating another Flipchart on my own for a different grade and subject level would be very beneficial to me and would let me see how well I really understand IWB. I will definitely be using Flipcharts in my classroom because they are entertaining and I know students will love them!

Interactive White Board project/ActivInspire

I officially started my Interactive White Board project and so far I like what I have done! I decided to do 2nd grade Social Studies and my title is "Our World." Second graders learn about the continents and oceans and how these look on a globe and world map. I thought this would be a great topic for my first ActivInspire experience. I spent some time filling out my Storyboard and that helped tremendously! Dr. Obannon was SO right when she said the Storyboard helps us. As I was working on my project, I would look at my Storyboard to see what would go on the next page and which activity I would do. This kept me very organized and I ended up saving myself a lot of time. It helps seeing the project on paper before you begin to actually do it because it can be overwhelming with so many options to choose from.

So far, I have used the Erase to Reveal, Change color to Reveal, and Identify and Label, and the Magic Revealer. The step-by-step instructions in the packet are very clear and I wouldn't have been able to get as far as I have without them. I think I may include one more interactivity to my project, but that will have to wait because I have to pack for the beach! My flight leaves tonight, but I will finish the project as soon as I get back.

I think Interactive White Board activities are a GREAT addition to the classroom. Kids love coming to the board during class and the activities are tailored towards kids' interests. The Magic Revealer is so much fun to use! As well as the Erase to Reveal and Change color to Reveal. It is a fun way for students to learn. Since you can reset the pages, students can quiz themselves as many times as they need to when they are studying. Interactive White Boards can be created for any age group--they are so versatile! I think this project has been my favorite so far and I can't wait to use them in my classroom one day.\

ActivInspire--My Experience So Far

We have started to work with ActivInspire and at first I felt very overwhelmed. After having two classes to practice with it, I feel like I am starting to get the hang of it. Dr. Obannon said that it is something that you have to mess around with and play with and once you do this, you will feel like you understand how it works.

I feel like since this there are so many different options you can choose from, I will have a hard time deciding on which interactive activity I want to do. I can choose from pull tabs, fill in the background, erasers, ordering, matching, making patterns, etc. This will be the hardest part for me because I am the most indecisive person known to man.

I still need to decide on a topic and lesson area that I want to focus on. I have already used Science in this class, so I will probably choose something Social Studies, Math, or Reading based. I am not sure which grade level I would like to do, but since 4th grade was my focus for my Inquiry Based Activity, I will probably do 1st or 2nd.

I am glad the midterm is over with. I scored a 94% and I am very happy with this grade. This is evidence that I am understanding what we are learning and that I am finally starting to get the hang of how to use technology.

Digital Images

 

I didn't know much about digital images on the web and what is considered legal and what is prohibited in terms of using people's photos. I think this is something that everyone needs to know before they use pictures off of the web. I'm glad we were introduced to websites such as www.pics4learning.com because I only knew to use Google images when I needed pictures. Pics4learning contains tons of free photos for educational purposes, and this is exactly what I will need in my classroom one day.

It's important to know how to resize pictures: go to Tools and click Adjust Size. Simply dragging the arrows does not officially change the size of the picture. You can only make pictures smaller--if you make them bigger, they will be blurry. It's also important to name the images you save so when you go to upload them, they are easy to find.

I chose to make a slideshow of sunsets from around the world. The pictures are absolutely beautiful. I found them on Pics4learning, and they are pictures from places such as Santorini, Laguna Beach, Peurto Rico, etc. It was nice to look at these pictures on such a gloomy day outside. I put a caption for each photo and included atleast 3 tags for each one. Putting the slideshow in my website was not as difficult as I expected--you just go to Insert and click Picasa Slideshow and voila!

I will use photos in my classroom a lot. I think it's important for children to have a lot of visual images to look at when they are learning. If we are talking about another country, they need to see the geography and the way the people live there. If they see it, they will be able to remember it better and will feel more connected.

Resource Wiki

I thoroughly enjoyed making the Resource Wiki. I can honestly say I was very lucky because all of the team members in the Elementary Resource Wiki worked hard and diligently to help create it and it looks amazing! I will now be able to have a place I can go to if I want to find online resources for certain subjects, or if I need to find a good teacher website. If I want my students to play a game that will help them learn, I can go to the Games page on the wiki to find some great websites. I really like WebQuests and so having many to choose from and look at will be helpful in my classroom.

I think it's interesting to see what the girls in my Resource Wiki thought about websites without having to meet up with them. Even though I have only met a few of them, I feel like I know everyone just through the wiki. I hope the sources I posted can help the other students in TPTE with their learning. I enjoyed this group project because everyone worked hard and wanted to help each other.

I can see myself using a Resource Wiki in my classroom one day, especially for a group research project. Students can post websites and sources on the wiki for others to look at outside of school without having to take time from the class period to do the research. Students won't have to meet as a group as often because they can discuss through the wiki. I can keep track of their progress by looking at their wiki, as well as be able to tell who has done a lot of work and who needs to bring more to the table.

I am glad we got to learn about Resource Wikis because I know I will use them in my classroom one day.