I'm Late, I'm Late!

So it is 10:45 on Monday night and I just realized I haven't done a reflection on my website and the course as a whole.

So building the website is rather easy. I have enjoyed it because although I have done it before, I have actually been able to learn a few things that I can't wait to apply to my personal writing site. I plan on making it more professional and developing it so it may be viewed by more than just friends and family. I have a deadline for this which is October when there is a huge writing conference in SC that I plan on attending if I can finish my manuscript for my book--which is why I am so late posting this blog. Anyways, the site looks very good and has come together well. I am really interested to see the different approaches by different fields and even my coworkers in the Elementary Education field aka the Triad. I have only hit a few snags when developing this site which is consistancy. It is a pain to make sure everything is the same btu hey it looks good! I can't wait to finish.

As for the class...

I have really enjoyed developing my tech skills and getting to know the people in the class with me. They have been helpful when learning different methods and different resources that I can change around and use for my classroom. The projects were not a drag at all and they were more fun than anything. Yes, there was a lot. No, it wasn't too much. And yes, there was more than enough help if I asked. I really couldn't ask for a better class to take during the summer. But I do see how some students might get lost if they don't have a good foundation with technology and have issues locating things on the computer or web and using them quickly.


Quick Notes

• I did hate the ePortfolio that we uploaded onto the PLP
• I did not like the Wiki and using it across different classes
• I suggest using the Wiki as an entire class and developing a mass website of material for one section of TPTE
• Blogging was a pain but I see it's uses and I plan on asking my students to do it
• Thank you for the fun activities to use in the classroom like the digital scavenger hunt I did with the Triad and the lesson plan that I did with Zack

Okay, I think that is everything for now. Thanks Jennifer!

The Little Swimmers That Could vs. The Little Director Who Couldn't

So here is my digital story called, The Little Swimmers That Could. I had a lot of fun making this, but there was definitely a lot of set backs. For example, I had the hardest time with iMovie in the lab on Tuesday. I was ready to go with everything I needed--accept for the story board I left at home. Yet, the program would not cooperate! I even went through all of the manuals and online help programs and could find nothing. So basically I sat there and wasted three hours of my life while watching others do what they could and I helped a few people. I was also able to learn how to modify multiple pictures at once with the photoshop that is on the computer in the lab.

Anyways, so new game plan was to go on Wednesday and take more pictures and videos with my actual camera and assume I wouldn't have issues. The kids were more than willing to help me out and I had a lot of fun goofing off with the kids in the middle of their instructional time and I took a lot of neat pictures that will probably end up going to the camp slideshow for the end of the year. Back onto topic...

I went to the library after a long day of work and I sat there for three hours, the equivalent of what it would have taken me in the lab, and finished what I needed too. There were a few issues though. The first one is that the library had the newest version of both photoshop and iMovie so I had to adjust to that and figure out what the heck I was doing. I ended up wasting a lot of time on google searching how to questions. It was not fun. The other thing I had issues with i that I could not figure out how to convert some of the audio files from my phone onto the computer. On Tuesday, I had no issues whatsoever but today the Macs were not having it! They are so user friendly until they throw a tantrum. I had no time to hit up the mac genius bar either. The one positive run in I did have is that once I got use to the program, I got use to it. It was a lot simpler than the old version of iMovie  AND you can flip the pictures you have uploaded into iMovie (not the videos though because I tried)!The only thing I wish I could have figured out is how to have a background song. But, I guess it is best because it wont break up concentration when kids are trying to read the screen OR you can read it for them OR you can have learners read to each other (only after you have had conferences with each child and know what their reading level is and who should read aloud to the class with full confidence).

All in all I see myself using this for big projects and presentation especially on parent night but I won't be using it in my ordinary classroom setting unless I have files saved up of things that won't change over time and I can use again and again.

My Computer Hates Me

So I am excited to be making an iMovie and working with photoshop and iMovie but my computer seems to be putting up a fight. Multiple times I've tried to crop, edit, merge, move around, etc and the applications seem to crash right before my eyes. It is driving me loco! I've considered throwing my computer out the window but Amanda voiced her concern and believes that would be a bad idea. So I guess not. I will probably go home and drink my sorrows away with koolaid and workout my frustrations by literally working out before I return to the lab on Tuesday. I am actually considering going to the library and working with it a little.

Now I feel better and I promise not to batter the computer up, tonight...

PLN-Integrating Technology With Lifelong Learning

 

Inspiration was an easy application and fun so I believe it will be a useful tool in the classroom. This sort of thing makes me hope I have a projector or a Smart Board or something to make incorporating this sort of program easy. I have also decided that I have a way of manipulating the situation so it is more likely I will have all of the cool computer stuff, I should be a technology specialist! It would be fun because I enjoy being a tech nerd and knowing how to do what on the computer and other programs. For the most part, I am good at it and if I don't know something, I pick up on it quickly. That was just a random thought for the blog and how to use everything we are learning in this class in the real school world situation kind of scenario doohickey.

Back to inspiration...I used the applications and theories that we are learning and using in this application to make a cheat sheet for teachers. The web is rather easy to read, but it is large and takes up a lot of space. I had issues making it fit the one page rule and being able to read it at the same time. I made the Microsoft Word Document printout a handout by adding questions and lines for teachers to make notes to understand the different in what makes a Wiki accessible compared to a Teacher's Classroom Website. They are both accessible in their own way. So it was a rather complicated mixed thing and I felt like there needed to be a place for notes to explain what is what.

All in all, it is an easy one for the kids to use. It can be a little difficult with making the webs themselves and allowing them to be readable but it could be worse.

A Long Week

This week has been a long one for me with my Reading Education 430 coming to an end. After scrambling like a chicken with my head cut off to gather all of my portfolio materials and inquiry, I am glad to be able ot do something more relaxing. I have learned that a blog helps you do this because you are able to reflect and just has “me” time to do as you see fit. For example, I took “me” time last night and created a worksheet to go with the Digital Scavenger hunt. I will share it with Amanda and Chloe later and I have already gotten feedback from Jennifer about it. I enjoy that because I know that I did something that I can use in my classroom at a later date and it combines multiple subjects together. Furthermore, it gives the students an activity to do on a field trip.

Now experiencing the actual scavenger hunt was something amazing by itself. It caused us, three grown adults, to use our brains and work together as a team. We built communication skills and collaborated together to achieve our goals. It is a great experience and it also forced us to navigate the campus as a group.

The process of taking the pictures was easy and Amanda did an amazing job with her photos. I took the pictures and shrank them, while Chloe put them together on a presentation. The slides look great and we did an awesome job together. The topic is a fun one and it has learners actively participating and making connections of language to the outside world. I’m a nerd because I love it so much.

We did run into some issue with putting the photos into the presentation though. I had to go back and shrink some of the photos twice because they were too large to put into the slide show. To work through this, we were forced to communicate even more and multitask. What was amazing is how we were able to all work on the presentation, on different slides, and it would automatically update. This is another example of the whole cloud computing idea and how awesome it can be when it works correctly.

I am proud of our presentation and I plan on using this in the classroom.

Imagination

Here is my Picasa presentation. The theme is imagination and it was a pretty easy thing to do, which means it is something that I think can be used in the class room for 3rd and 4th graders. It is also useful to display kids' artwork or presentations either to the class or their parents for any occasion. I could even post it online, like I am now, to share it as well.

I came up with this particular theme because I feel that imagination is necessary to survive in today's world and I want to encourage it within my classroom.  The free web based image was a picture I found through google. It is a picture of a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. My digital photo as an image I took on the pedestrian walkway. The structure has been argued to be anything from junk to art. It shows the diversity in imagination and creativity. The third image I have is from the Big Box of Art. It is of a robot spaceman and human spacemen. The fourth image is a screen shot I took from my computer of the first chapter of one of my projects. The fifth is a scanned picture I found from some art a kid made at camp. Its focus is creativity. I felt that all of these images coincide with the theme of Imagination at it's best and they are all different showing the variations of it.

The process of putting all of these images together wasn't difficult and I feel like it is basic enough that it would be easy to teach in the classroom. I did think finding the link to embed the image was rather painful because I couldn't find it until Jennifer pointed it out. So the user-friendly aspects could be tweaked just a bit.

As Prescribed by the Doc...

Hopefully this will be my final reflection on our wonderful Elementary Education Group 3 Wiki. I honestly just don't care about the Wiki anymore. I know I should not feel this way but I can't help it. I believe I've done all I can with the formatting, the linking from page to page, and posting all that is required by the rubric so I think I should be graded accordingly. However, if I were to leave the Wiki alone and not attend to it, I believe I will be penalized for others' laziness and lack of paying attention to the rest of the site format. And it should be noted that this belief comes from looking at input/additions from both sections. I'm not trying to point fingers at Jeff's group. Because of this, the whole site is frustrating and it is no longer fun and I don't care to engage it. I feel like by going back and fixing others' mistakes after everything has been formatted and made clear makes me seem like the kid that does all of the work in the group on the project but everyone gets an A anyways. I especially feel this way even after I had commented on pages saying, "Hey we need to put this in alphabetical order." It becomes less of a collaborative wiki and more of a burden for one person/a small portion of the group. But once again, this all goes back to communicating and the lack of it from the beginning on our group wiki. We are all guilty of that. This is also why I suggested that there be a class wiki and not a small group like we have. But for that you must read my other blog!

On a positive note, what I do like about the online side of this is that a professor or teacher can look at the history and see who did what and if something did become a one or two person show. I hope that comes into play if the site is not unified. The only catch about that is that a lot of work was done under my name while we were in the lab but that was all stuff we did together so it was all three of us. There is no way to mark that and make that known separately. 

The last demanded topic for the blog: Slide show

I am actually a little upset I had to leave early due to a family emergency because I was really excited for my topic. I came up with the bright idea of having my theme be Imagination. I felt there was no better theme for me to choose because I didn't want limits on what I could do and what pictures to include. So with an imagination, there are no boundaries to keep you from exploring anything and everything. I had also already picked out a few photos, took a few photos, and had planned what to use for it so that I may finish it tonight. So, I look forward to creating it this weekend and posting it into my next blog and explaining what each picture was and how I elected to use it.

Here's my blog just as The Doctor ordered!

The Great Compromise

As most that are reading this already know, we have had some issues with our fellow Wiki collaborators. However, we hope that it has all ended tonight. As a group, we have agreed on a format and we have clearly posted it on the homepage. We will see if they conform to this appropriate format. I will also say it irritates me that they have apparently laughed at any and all changes we have made and they have changed it without communicating a reason as to why they did it. I feel our group wouldn't be as upset if we had a reason why they formatted the way they did. I will say that I am happy I have posted all of my links and as of now, everything is unified. When it comes to the due date, you can look at the history and see that we did do what we were suppose to. But it's whatever, I have other things in this class to worry about!

On a lighter note, I really enjoyed the lesson plan I did with Zack. We worked very well together. While it took us a bit of time to think of an idea, once we did it was smooth sailing. He showed me the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for Kids website and that is where we came up with the idea of having the students listen to the instruments and do some research on them. After talking, we decided on using Disney's Peter and the Wolf film to combine Music and Literature. I feel like we developed a strong lesson plan and the worksheet is solid as well so I plan on saving it and using it in my own classroom one  day. I do like the ABCD lesson plan objective format. It makes complete sense and as someone who had never written one before, it made it easy. It makes me more comfortable as I write a new lesson plan this week for my Reading Education 430 class. What I did find difficult is coming up with accommodations for students depending on their age, disabilities, or whatever could hinder them from doing the assignment without assistance.

This week has started out great and I am looking forward to the whole image thing on Thursday.

A Busy, Busy Day

The beginning of this week in TPTE 486 was a rough one for the Elementary Education group. Before class, we had received numerous emails about adjustments made to our Wiki. This left us curious about what they had done. When we inspected it as a group, we didn't like the changes. This poses a possible problem for our collaborative group project because how are we suppose to communicate effectively with the other members of the page without stepping on their toes?

We went back and changed a few format things on the pages and we have them all looking the same, but what if the other group doesn't agree with it? I don't like that part of my grade, the presentation part, is based on students that I don't know or interact with. I feel like the idea of these Wikis and this project should be done class by class. This would show us how we can collaborate with other teachers who teach different subjects and allow us to pull all of our resources together and develop a solid website. This would also give us the chance to help each other incorporate different subjects into our own teachings and it also allows us to share our strong sources. The only difficult thing would be trying to not steal the lock from one another if we were in class working on it. I would suggest finding a new host site that allows you to develop different pages off of one Wiki at the same time. But these are just my thoughts on how to improve this particular project.

Tech Reflect

 This week in class was rather interesting. The last thing we did on Thursday was work on the group Wikis. This has left me excited as I am looking forward to collaborating with other future Elementary School teachers. I  also see how this will be helpful if you are assigned the task of keeping up with a school webpage. It is valuable information that can be used for many reasons. I am actually planning on taking this Wiki publishing practice and applying it to the Swim Club here at UT. It will be easy to keep everything up-to-date and it will allow the Exec Board to inform new swimmers about the team and the things we do from practice, volunteering, and social events. I think one of the other things I enjoy about the Wiki is that you can save and go. This blog is like that as well and it makes writing so much easier because you can stop what you are doing and attend to something else and then you can return and you won't have lost your place. That is a great feature to have access to when you have other obligations i.e. work, kids, dogs, etc.



All in all, I really enjoyed the week and although I felt we went at a slow pace, it was an informative one and I am looking forward to next week's lessons.

Web Evaluation Resources

When searching for helpful information on the web, I use Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators to weed out websites that should not be used in the classroom. The evaluation articles are handy when trying to find educational information on the web.

Giving It A Shot

Being forced to blog about life and/or my training before I hit the classroom is a rather painful experience. While it shouldn't be because I am a writer, it is because I'm not someone who enjoys writing thoughts onto paper, or in this  case typing it on the internet, and allowing the world to view them. However, if I keep the content focused on the classroom; surely it won't kill me...

Taking TPTE 486 seems a bit redundant for me because I tend to be a bit of a tech-nerd and know how to deal with technology and if I don't, I am quick to pick up on it. With that being said, one of my goals of taking this course is to become quicker and more efficient on the computer and the applications being use on them. Another goal is to develop teaching skills when it comes to procedures on the computer and how to effectively communicate to students what the expectations are and how to reach them. The last goal I have is that I hope I am taught that I do not know as much as I think I do when it comes to technology.

This is A Fish Out of Water swimming out.