Sorry, I posted this a little late. I attempted to try it out with my class this afternoon to see if it worked, any changes needed to be made, etc. It actually worked rather well. Students did not finish though and will resume webquest / presentation tomorrow. I did have to fix a few things and did not have time until after my softball game that got made up. I coach for the high school just in case you were wondering. Anyway, my webquest is a career search for my students as some of them are very unrealistic as to what skills they have and what their post-secondary goals are. This webquest actually fits into my paperwork load that I have to keep on each student as they are of the transition age. This is the last assignment. I am going to miss this class......
http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=194998
Monday, April 29, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Educreations
Instead of creating my own website, I chose to explore Educreations. I have created a website before and wanted to explore something new. This multimedia site is very easy to use, but I was frustrated with the fact that I could not upload documents. I thought I could at first, so I spent all this time typing up some things, adding pictures, and making it look fancy. Then I tried uploading all of the stuff I created and it wouldn't highlight it because it was a document. On Educreations you can only upload pictures. I tired saving my documents as photos, trying anything I can to make what I created work, but it wouldn't. So, I had to picture hunt for images over my topic. My topic was "Parts of Speech", defining basic terms such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, article adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, and interjections. Along with defining the terms, I also showed how to label parts of speech within a sentence. I had perfect sentences created breaking the sentence apart, piece by piece to the end. However, I could not use them and had to find a picture of a sentence. That was difficult, but I found a simple one that I could write on and label. I like this site as I stated before, but another aspect I am not thrilled about is the fact that you cannot erase what you recorded. If you want to, you have to start the entire thing over and that is including uploading all the pictures again. I definitely see myself using this tool to in my classroom to introduce a concept or standard as well as for demonstration purposes. I can also see my students using this tool as an assessment piece showing what they have learned. It would be a fun partner activity.
http://www.educreations.com/course/lesson/view/parts-of-speech/6974636/
http://www.educreations.com/course/lesson/view/parts-of-speech/6974636/
Sunday, April 7, 2013
New imovie With Music - Long Story
Okay, so I watched the video I uploaded and my music did not play. Don't ask me.... So, I went back and hit a wrong button and had to re-do all my music. Then I had to upload the project and share it to my desktop again. It took forever once again, but I wanted everyone to see the movie I worked so hard on. So, here is my imovie with music and all.
imovie - Washington D.C. School Trip
I created my imovie over my trip to Washington D.C. last June with some students from my school. We had 6 chaperones and almost 50 students attend. It was a 3 day non-stop adventure. I saw so much stuff in one day than I ever have before. I learned a ton too and recommend that everyone visit Washington D.C. sometime in their life. However, I hated working with my mac to create this imovie. It took me forever to figure out and I am pretty sure I messed something up along the way. I watched the tutorials, but they didn't help me. I also called some friends that have created movies before and they said I just had to figure it out as I go. It took me a long time and would prefer something else if I could. I have liked everything we have done so far, but this was by far my least favorite. Maybe, I am just not good at that stuff. I hope your experience was better than mine. I hope you enjoy your tour. Once again, if something is messed up I apologize as so many things have gone wrong with this.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Professional Development Video
The professional development video that I chose to watch was titled, Educational Change Challenge. In the beginning of the video the narrator stated something about 25 students sitting in a classroom with one adult and if that was the best way for them to be educated. I think he meant that experiential learning needs to be taking place more than what it is. However, I began to ponder and I do not think having 25 students to one adult is best for their learning either, but our state/government obviously do not care because they keep taking more and more funding away. So, how can that be solved? Class sizes need to be smaller if we are considering the best way for a child to be educated, but that is the last thing that will happen. During the intersession the first week of spring break, I had 7 kids in my group and we got a ton done. I felt like I knew where and when they were going to struggle or succeed. My class sizes on a normal school day are small too, but only because I am in the special education department. The other classes have much bigger groupings. Class sizes keep getting larger every year, which means the rooms are getting smaller and it falls on the one adult to meet every child's needs. Cutting school funding every year tells me they could care less about education and what is happening in the classroom daily. This could easily turn into a whole other posting as I am sure all of you have your feelings on the issue, but that is another time.
The video narrator made a comment that I think applies to every teacher either one way or the other. He stated, "Am I preparing students for my age or their age." I have never heard that, but I think it stands out. I think technology is a huge part of this statement. I will say that I am up to date technology wise on what is available, but I do not always know how to use it. If I start to use it and it malfunctions the likelihood of me using the technology again is slim to none. I am just like my dad when it comes to that type of stuff. I am all for new technology here and there, but when it doesn't work it makes you not want to use it or be able to depend on it. I use technology everyday in my classroom, but not as much with my students hands on. I need to do a better job of that, because they are going to be the ones growing up with it.
Resources:
History Channel/Discovery Channel
- This is a great addition to reading non-fiction novels, articles, etc.
- Easy for students to navigate
The video narrator made a comment that I think applies to every teacher either one way or the other. He stated, "Am I preparing students for my age or their age." I have never heard that, but I think it stands out. I think technology is a huge part of this statement. I will say that I am up to date technology wise on what is available, but I do not always know how to use it. If I start to use it and it malfunctions the likelihood of me using the technology again is slim to none. I am just like my dad when it comes to that type of stuff. I am all for new technology here and there, but when it doesn't work it makes you not want to use it or be able to depend on it. I use technology everyday in my classroom, but not as much with my students hands on. I need to do a better job of that, because they are going to be the ones growing up with it.
Resources:
History Channel/Discovery Channel
- This is a great addition to reading non-fiction novels, articles, etc.
- Easy for students to navigate
Goanimate book video
Out of the Dust preview by kestnerk on GoAnimate
Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate.
I selected the book, Out of the Dust to create my video over. This book is age appropriate as the main character is 13 years old, the same age or close to the same age as my middle school students. The other resource teacher and I teach an 8th grade reading class that switches half a year. The class has to incorporate history-based texts as the students are pulled from their history class a semester and added into our reading class. This truly is a benefit for these kids as reading, especially non-fiction reading, is a struggle for majority of the students. Out of the Dust is written in a poetry format incorporating stanzas instead of paragraphs. There are breaks between stanzas and some of the lines only have 3-4 words. This format makes the book bearable to read for my students and not so overwhelming. There are unexpected events in the story that bring you in, directing your attention. Because this story is written in a poetry format it includes a ton of figurative language. (Simile, Metaphor - a really big metaphor throughout the entire story, Personification, Alliteration, Repetition, Onomatopoeia, Idioms, and Hyperboles) Learning definitions and examples before hand help to explain the story as well as understand it.
Standards:
7.1.1 - Identify and understand idioms and comparisons - such as analogies, metaphors, and similes - in prose and poetry
7.3.7 - Explain the effects of common literacy devices, such as symbolism, imagery, and metaphor in a variety of fictional texts.
7.5.6 - Use varied word choices to make writing more interesting and more precise.
8.1.1 - Analyze idioms an comparisons - such as analogies, metaphors, and similes - infer the literal and figurative meanings of phrases.
8.5.6 - Write using precise word choices to make writing more interesting and exact.
Activities:
Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate.
I selected the book, Out of the Dust to create my video over. This book is age appropriate as the main character is 13 years old, the same age or close to the same age as my middle school students. The other resource teacher and I teach an 8th grade reading class that switches half a year. The class has to incorporate history-based texts as the students are pulled from their history class a semester and added into our reading class. This truly is a benefit for these kids as reading, especially non-fiction reading, is a struggle for majority of the students. Out of the Dust is written in a poetry format incorporating stanzas instead of paragraphs. There are breaks between stanzas and some of the lines only have 3-4 words. This format makes the book bearable to read for my students and not so overwhelming. There are unexpected events in the story that bring you in, directing your attention. Because this story is written in a poetry format it includes a ton of figurative language. (Simile, Metaphor - a really big metaphor throughout the entire story, Personification, Alliteration, Repetition, Onomatopoeia, Idioms, and Hyperboles) Learning definitions and examples before hand help to explain the story as well as understand it.
Standards:
7.1.1 - Identify and understand idioms and comparisons - such as analogies, metaphors, and similes - in prose and poetry
7.3.7 - Explain the effects of common literacy devices, such as symbolism, imagery, and metaphor in a variety of fictional texts.
7.5.6 - Use varied word choices to make writing more interesting and more precise.
8.1.1 - Analyze idioms an comparisons - such as analogies, metaphors, and similes - infer the literal and figurative meanings of phrases.
8.5.6 - Write using precise word choices to make writing more interesting and exact.
Activities:
- Writing down examples of figurative language terms from the text in notes
- Practicing writing poems using figurative language incorporating symbolism of seasons and colors
- Creating a narrative poem from a famous picture during the Dust Bowl - using figurative language and facts from the Dust Bowl.
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