Final Reflection on the Digital Learning Challenge

It has been a great year of learning!  I am so glad I completed all nine challenges of the "Digital Learning Challenge."  I have learned to incorporate so much technology into my teaching and even set up a classroom blog titled "Reading Rocks & Math Matters."  If you'd like to view my classroom blog go to the Swift River School home page and click on "Links."  This will take you to my blog. 

With Title One money I was able to purchase an ELMO document camera, projector, and laptop to use in my classroom.  This has been amazing!  No more making charts and laminating, or writing problems on the board.  Just slap up the page and zoom in as much as you want.  Write on the paper or write on your white board.  Want to show a video about hurricanes before reading a story?  Just hook up your laptop to the projector and show the video right on your white board.  I used my laptop and projector to introduce Reading Street vocabulary, to show videos, and to practice math skills with fun games.

I learned how to make a Voki of myself to introduce a lesson and our Book Swap, and then had my fourth grade students make a Voki to tell us about the invention they researched.  I learned how to put my photographs to music using Animoto.  I learned how to make a Podcast using Garage Band, of my first grade students reading a Reader's Theater script.  I learned how to use Wordle to make word clouds after reading all about whales. These are just a few of my technology highlights. 

My final thoughts are...if it wasn't for this challenge, I wouldn't have found all these cool ways to incorporate technology into my teaching.  Technology Rocks! 

DLC #9 Creating a Podcast Using Garage Band and iPhoto

 Creating a Podcast Using GarageBand and iPhoto

&

Uploading it to My Classroom Blog as Video

Standard 18:  Dramatic Reading and Performance

Students will plan and present dramatic readings, recitations, and performances that demonstrate appropriate consideration of audience and purpose.

Standard 27:  Media Production

Students will design and create coherent media productions (audio, video, television, multimedia, Internet, emerging technologies) with a clear controlling idea, adequate detail, and appropriate consideration of audience, purpose, and medium.

Step 1:  

First grade students will rehearse a Reader's Theater of the poem "Metamorphosis."

Step 2:  

Students will draw illustrations to go along with the poem, showing the different stages.

Step 3:

Using GarageBand, choose Podcast (new project) to record Reader's Theater.  Break the poem into small sections and record each section as a new project.  (I used "Creating a Podcast with GarageBand '09" handout given during the school year to help.)  Once you have recorded each section, save the file in GarageBand.

Step 4:

Take the completed illustrations and scan them into iPhoto so that they can be added to the final Podcast.  

Step 5:

Using GarageBand, choose Podcast (new project) and name it for the final project.  Next, select the Podcast Track at the top of the window.  Then, click the Media Browser button at the right corner of the GarageBand window.  Click the Photos tab at the top of the Media Browser and scroll down until you find Photos.  Once clicked, you will find the photos you scanned into iPhoto.

Step 6:  

Drag the photos onto the Podcast Track in the order in which they appear in the Reader's Theater.  Then click the Audio tab at the top of the Media Browser and you will see each separate Podcast of the Reader's Theater.  Drag each audio segment to the proper illustration, leaving a little extra audio time on the final audio piece to prevent a quick cut-off.  Each audio track will be longer than the photo, so drag the gray section of the photo to the end of each audio segment.  Once all audio segments have been added, match up all photo and audio segments end to end so that they will play continuous.  Rewind Podcast and hit play to preview.

Step 7:

When Podcast is finished, save the Podcast to your desktop.  Remove .m4a and add .mov to the end of your file name.  You will also need to delete  .m4a in the file name.  This saves it as a movie.

Step 8:

Go to YouTube and click the Upload tab at the top of the screen.  Then click Upload Video in yellow and you will be able to select your saved Podcast from your desktop.  Make sure you select "Private" under the Privacy Settings below.  It takes a few minutes for the video to be uploaded to YouTube.  Then your video is ready to share.

***If you have a classroom blog, Step 9 will tell how to upload the video to your blog.

Step 9:

Sign in to Blogger and click on your blog.  Go to New Post, give it a title, write a little description, and then click Upload Video.  You can upload your video right from YouTube and place it on your blog to share with others.

Reflection:

During the year I had experimented using a Podcast to record some of my students while reading for fluency.  They enjoyed this activity. I decided to have a small group of first grade students do a Reader's Theater of the poem "Metamorphosis."  I have never made a video before using my own audio and illustrations.  I have only uploaded photographs to Animoto and then put them to music.  

It took several days to complete the finished project.  My first grade students enjoyed recording the audio and completing the illustrations for this poem.  They were excited to see their completed Podcast and to share it with the rest of their classmates.  The technology teacher's input was helpful in guiding me through the process from start to finish.  I can't wait to try another!  Next time I may use KidPix for the illustrations because that is an application I have not used very much.

If you'd like to view my blog visit the Swift River School home page and click "Links."
You will find my blog titled "Reading Rocks & Math Matters."

Voicethread DLC #8

I did it!  First, I used Photobooth to snap a phot of myself and then I uploaded it to Voicethread as my identity. Then, I made a comment to the question about advice for new teachers.  Very easy!  More new learning!

Die Hard Red Sox Fans DLC #8

Die Hard Red Sox Fans

DLC #8

Challenge #8

I created an account at Animoto and created a music video with pictures and sound.  I  have always wondered how people do this and it was so easy!!  I can create 30 second videos for free and for a small price per month, longer ones.  Then I can share these videos with family and friends.  I definitely will make another.  At school, I can see this being used to highlight special projects, field trips, the science fair, the MCBA party, etc.  Very cool!  Is this how Christine puts her videos together on the Swift River School page?

Next, I read about a Prezi and that sounded helpful for presentations.  Sometimes presentations can be so boring.  It lets you use ideas, video, and images to tell your story.  You can also zoom in and out.  It's all done on a huge white board, without slides.  Something I may try in the future.

I also watched a video on "Wikis in Plain English".  Now I understand what a wiki is and how it makes more sense to set up a wiki instead of sending emails because you can edit, write, and save.  I liked the example of the camping trip and it was easy to edit, write, and save so that the campers had everything they needed for their trip.  Is this similar to google docs that we looked at earlier on in the challenge?

Lastly, I viewed Voicethread and will get back to you soon and let you know how that went as soon as I complete it.  Challenge #8 almost complete.  Yahoo!  Don't forget to check out my video from Animoto. 

Posted by putalaj at 4:54 PM 0 comments

I just made a new Voki. DLC #7

DLC #6 Thoughts About the Challenge & Job Alike

At first I was unable to post a comment, but then realized that I probably had to be signed in to Blogger and that was the case.  So far I have enjoyed the Digital Literacy Challenge!  I have been introduced to so much technology that I had no idea existed.  It's been fun creating the word cloud, setting up my blog, creating a music station, and creating a google document together as a staff.  I have also enjoyed exploring podcasts and videos to enhance my lessons.

The January 5th Job Alike at Erving was okay.  I signed up for Petting Zoo and did have the chance to try out the ipod touch and ipad.  I had never used an ipod touch before, and it took me a few minutes to learn how to navigate. Yikes!  I better get with it!  I felt like an idiot for a few moments. Trudy and I tried a little recording, but had some questions about how to use that specific camcorder, because it was different than the one I own.  I also checked out another type of document camera, but it was very fuzzy.  It was not an ELMO, and was very difficult to focus.  I guess I would have loved a little more modeling before sending us off.  Even if we had a brief explanantion at two stations and then had time to explore.  Then move to two more stations, get an explanation, and then try out.  For myself, and not having much prior knowledge of the items, it was kind of frustrating.  I actually want to learn how to create a link to a Title I page that I would like to create in the future and how to make a power point presentation.    

Pandora Music Station and iTunes University DLC #5

It was funny that part of our challenge this month was to create a station at Pandora online music.  Right before Christmas break I was with my first grade group and they were doing rainbow writing to practice their high frequency trick words.  I thought it would be fun to listen to a little music so I used Pandora to find a few songs.  After spending more time to create "my station" I tried many types of music.  I tried some easy listening stations and then created an instrumental station. I could see myself using this at times in the classroom just to set us all at ease. 

The next part of the challenge was to check out podcasts at iTunes University.  First, I explored the subject of math. and watched a video on K-12 Teachers TV.  The video was on geometry and showed a sixth grade class.  The focus was on polygons, angles, ratio, and explicit and implicit shapes.  The teacher had the students take pictures around the school of different shapes(polygons) that they observed.  He called these polygons out in the world the "real life story" and then when we call these polygons by math terms it is the "math story." They are windows in our real life, but in our math life they are called rectangles, quadrilaterals, and they have four right angles. They used their photographs to outline polygons they saw in their photographs and labeled them with capitals letters.  Some came to the front of the class and outlined their polygons for their classmates and labeled them on the smart board for all to see.  The teacher went on to question students as to the name of the polygons and used math terms to describe them.  Some of the math terms I observed was quadrilateral, isosceles, scalene, right triangle, parallelogram, parallel sides, acute, estimating the number of degrees in an angle, etc.  The kids were really engaged and I liked how they first took photographs and could then make the connection between "real life story" and "math story".  Cool lesson!

There were a few podcasts that I listened to.  One was through "Study Partner Math-Grade 4" and it told how to place mixed numbers on a number line and another was about factoring numbers.  The pod cast was helpful, but I think the teacher would have to be in the front of the room illustrating the important points of the podcast for those who learn best from visuals.

It definitely took some time to find the podcasts and videos that might be helpful to your grade level.  There were lots for higher level math and I have not found an easy way to narrow your search.  I'll have to spend more time checking out this site.  Thanks you technology teachers for introducing me to more technology ideas!    

Exploring WatchKnow DLC #4

I have spent a lot of time exploring educational videos on the WatchKnow site.  I have not had a chance to view any with students yet, but have recommended a few to Diane to take a peek at to use with her fifth grade students around fractions when we get back from vacation.  Two of the videos I liked were actually in song form.  The first was called "Fractions Song" (Basic Overview) and is was a song that used an apple pie to discuss what a fraction was.  The words numerator, denominator, improper fraction, and mixed number were sung and the words were also flashed onto the screen.  It was very basic, but a good one!

The next video was called "Fundamental Interactions of Equivalent Fractions" and it was also in song form.  It was a cartoon man rapping about fractions and how to compute equivalent fractions.  It also had pictures, math vocabulary words, and explanations.  I think kids would find it appealing.

The other two fraction videos I would recommend were by the same person.  They were "Changing Improper Fractions into Mixed" and "Changing Mixed Fractions into Improper Numbers".  The man gave a very clear explanation and I liked how he drew illustrations of a mixed number to go along with his explanation and then showed the quick way of multiplying the whole number by the denominator and then adding the numerator to turn the mixed number into an improper fraction.  He did the same for changing an improper fraction into a mixed number.  He told what the 14 and 3 represented in the fraction 14/3 and went on to draw 14 pieces and showed how it takes 3 pieces to turn it into a whole and circled groups of three pieces.  It was a very clear explanation for students.

Lastly, I viewed some videos on multiplication facts and learned some more cool tricks.  I found that the videos not only would be great to show to students, but also were helpful to me as a teacher, in that they gave me ideas on how I could introduce math concepts to my students.  Watching veteran math teachers and college professors introduce concepts in ways I never thought of was very helpful.  This was inexpensive professional development!  

More New Learning DLC#3

So I had never heard about Google Docs until just recently.  I can definitely see myself giving this a try.  I have typed up so many things as the secretary for the Greenfield Girls Softball League and when I was Corresponding Secretary for the Erving PTO that I would sometimes have people proof.  Not to mention all the proofing I have done for others.  I love how you can create, share, and then edit the document online.  It will be so much easier to keep track of any changes and suggestions.  I also read about how 3rd grade classes wrote a Halloween story together.  That was a cool idea! I will now think twice before clicking Microsoft Word.  I will try Google Docs instead.  Thanks Christine! 

On another note.  Today I introduced a new leveled reader about The Capitol Building.  Before reading, I took my class on a virtual tour using my laptop.  It would have been even better if my ELMO and projector that I had ordered with Title I money was availabe to use.  Hopefully, in the near future.  Technology is definitely on my mind these days.   

Technology Resources I Checked Out DLC #2

Wordsmyth-I like the Children's and Beginner's dictionary at Wordsmyth because they have easy to read entries with simple definitions.  You can also make a vocab quiz or crossword puzzle.  I tried making a quiz with some Reading Street vocab words and the sentences they created as a cloze exercise seemed very basic.  I didn't care for it. 
Lexipedia-I could see myself trying this out.  You can look up a word and it gives you nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, synonyms, antonyms.  Pretty cool!
Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online-This dictionary has an index to quickly connect words to images.  I looked up the word frost and it gave me two images.  I also looked up volcano and it showed a picture of a volcano during eruption and it even labeled the volcano.  That was pretty neat!
Wordle-At school I had difficulty using Wordle so I went with Word It Out instead.  I played around with Wordle at home and I like it so much more.  It seems easier to create your word cloud.  There seems to be more you can do with the color, font, and display of the words.  I am going to try using Wordle next time.  I also took a look at all the ways to use Wordle and got some great ideas like: Having your class reflect on what they have learned, using it to take a poll about a topic, character traits, self-esteem boost where each person writes a word to describe the person or something nice and then a wordle is created all about that person, and using it in math to create a word cloud all about fraction vocabulary. 

I don't always have access to the computer lab during the day because a class is using it.  It would be helpful to have a few laptops that could be checked out for students to use for projects like these.

The Empty Coaster made by Jack at Pic-Lit

The Starfish Story

My First Blog Experience DLC#1

b-l-o-g, blog.  The first time I heard of the word blog was when my son Jack, now in 4th grade, was in first grade.  His teacher set up a blog and showcased their writing pieces.  It was so cool to see the writing Jack had been doing in class.  Sometimes the writing was from a prompt or science lesson, and other times a follow up from a fieldtrip.  After viewing the blog, we were able to leave comments.  The class would check the blog at school and view the comments left by family members.  They were so excited to see what family members had to say.  I actually went back to the school website recently to see if the first grade blog was there, and it was!  Thanks Mr. R. for introducing me to a blog.

I have to admit that creating my blog page has been fun.  I chose a template, added a few pictures, and then wrote about my first blog experience.  It was really easy!  Soon, I will play around and learn how I can improve my design.