2nd Webquest - Career Search

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

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/

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. 

Animoto video

Vegas Vacation

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

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:

• 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. 

Voicethread (Autobiography)

My voice thread is a recording stating the pathway that lead me to where I am today.  I chose to record and tell about my own life as an example of a autobiography.  Differentiating and recognizing a biography and an autobiography is a 7th and 8th grade standard.  I chose to use this voice thread as an introduction activity to the class, for example during the first couple weeks of school.  Standards state that students are supposed to write a biography/autobiography and deliver a speech.  Well, I know how scary and nerve racking it can be to deliver a speech in front of your peers.  Using voice thread to record what they want to say and playing it in front of the class may help to give them confidence the next time they really have to stand in front of a group and present.  An essay will still have to be written, but voice thread could be used as their speech.  They would then do the same thing after reading a biography of their choice, writing an essay and presenting their life story with images and recordings on voice thread.  My students will have to have a step-by-step process of what to put where, but I think they will be able to do it and have fun with it.

Standards:
7.5.1
8.5.1

Link to voice thread below:

https://voicethread.com/share/4371789/

My Webquest - Figurative Language

http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=188419

Hope you can take from this and use it in your own classroom. 

Hope everyone had a good Spring Break last week, if you had one.  Mine is coming up this Friday and I will have 2 weeks off.  I cannot wait because I have been going non-stop now that coaching high school softball was added to my list.  I look forward to viewing all your webquests. 


Kacy

Audacity/Podcasting - Interview Recording

Finally!!!  After trying to export my recording for a couple days now it decided to do the normal thing this morning.  Before, it would not let me export to any place.  Finally, it let me export to "Owner" in my computer files.  Then it was taking me to another screen of junk where I had to download more items, which didn't end up even working.  I don't know what went on, but my computer took me for a ride.  Once, I finally got my recording out of Audacity, I then uploaded it to my podbean account.  I then created a podcast of my interview where I copied and pasted the embedded code into this blog post.  Hopefully, the embedded code works and you can finally hear what I have been trying to tell you for days now.  Ha.

Here is my URL link.

http://kkestner.podbean.com/2013/02/24/interview-for-grad-class/

Okay, I finally figured out how to embed something, YAY!!! Have no idea where my brain is.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Comic Strip - Figurative Language

My comic book strip consists of a topic that is pretty big in 7th and 8th grade language arts classes.  It is a topic that is all over ISTEP and that is misunderstood by students every year.  I hope you enjoy it and let me know your thoughts on it.  These three multimedia websites were fun to interact with.  I wish I would have felt better when messing around with them, but that is life.


http://Pixton.com/ic:j4cz3hyd

I tried embedding like the instructions say to do, but it will not work.  I clicked the embed button and copied and pasted into my blog, but the picture of the blog won't come up.  So, here is a link to my comic strip until I can figure it out. 

Prezi - Writing Process

My link to my Prezi - Writing Process

http://prezi.com/ty2vb1xnawrw/writing-process/

I did my Prezi over the writing process because my students are currently reviewing it as ISTEP is coming up in a couple weeks.  

Picozu Editor

First off before I start posting all my blogs and everything, I just wanted you all to know that I have been at the hospital in the ER since yesterday evening.  It kind of put a small damper on things for this class as I was half way through my stuff and planning on being finished last night.  However, that did not happen because I got home at 4:00 in the morning and was so tired from the morphine.  I have tried to work, but I keep wanting to go to bed as my diagnosis was an enlarged spleen, a symptom of mono.  I literally thought I was dying that is how bad the pain was on the left side stomach.  The pain was a shooting type of pain, tightening my body making it where I felt like I could not breathe.  Anyway, the mono part is rather bizarre because until today I have felt just fine, eating great, etc.  The doctor says in my case I could have received it from one of my students though coughing or sneezing.  So, take precaution around sick children in your classrooms as they may have came into contact with mono.  Okay, on to the first blog of the pictures.

This is the picture that I think looks perfect and would not change a thing to it.  It was taken at the wedding I was in last July.  The photographers were not well known as they both run small local businesses and are friends of the family.  Their pictures are okay usually, but this one for some reason stuck out to me above all the other ones. 

This is a picture that was taken for Donors Choose an educational organization where different donors fund projects for classrooms such as books, supplies, technology, etc.  After a project is funded the teacher writes an impact letter, students write thank you letters, and pictures are to be taken of the projects.  Many students also like to draw thank you pictures as well.

This is a picture that one of my students drew.  We actually have desks that our students can write on with dry erase markers.  They can be easily wiped off and drawn on over and over again.  Perfect for some who are perfectionists.  Original and not edited.

This is the same picture, but edited using Picozu picture editor.  Just as I used this picture editor website, my students could as well to edit their own pictures they have drawn.  I think they would really like this and it allows for some freedom to be creative.  We have 8 macbooks in our classroom and all of our students have tablets now, which could easily be utilized for such projects like this.  I would have to take the pictures on my camera and download them as Google docs.  They could then be shared straight to the other students Google accounts.

 
This picture was way too big at first and would not even fit in the screen.  I had to scroll a long way down and a long way over.  So, I changed the height and width of the picture to fit within the screen.  The height was changed to 500 and the width was changed to 750.  I then used the filter category and clicked on Frames.  Frames added the black border around the edges and pointed out the imperfections a little bit on the desk, which I think makes it have some old style to it.  I continued to mess around with the filter category exploring all the options it had.  I would apply one and then undo it every time.  However, I also chose to add vignette and retro which made the color darker and realistic.  Lastly, I chose to add the filter emboss, which put a gloss covering on top.  I also added text to fill in one of the blury spots on the bottom of the photo, but it would not save on the photo.  I tried writing "Donors Choose Rocks!!!"  I tried to insert it over and over again.  It would appear on the photo, but when you saved it and went back to look at it, the text would not be there.  If I could figure that out, That would definitely be a feature I would like as well as my students. 

TED John Wooden

I chose to watch a video presentation of John Wooden: the difference between winning and succeeding.  I chose this because in the video he talks about succeeding in the classroom and in the field of sports.  I too am a teacher and coach, so it was evident that this video related to my real life.  

I feel this presentation could be viewed as an effective presentation, but I could see why some may feel it is not an effective presentation.  John Wooden was a well known sports player and coach, which appeals to many people.  He is very inspirational and speaks from true experience.  During the presentation, Mr. Wooden did not move nor did the camera.  The picture ran from his head to chest like it was zoomed in  He seemed very aged in this video clip, which could be why it was at the same angle the entire time.  Mr. Wooden knew his subject matter very well and you could tell, as most of it was stories from his past.  He was very confident in his speaking abilities as if he had spoken a million times before.  He knew the type of audience he was attending to because you could hear the audience laugh as if they were enjoying his speech.  I could tell he had prepared a script and rehearsed because majority of the time he looked at his audience when he was speaking, only to look down a few times like he was reviewing an outline or something.  His words flowed most of time, with no stumbles or stutters at all.  It seemed as if he had given that speech before or in fact he was just really good at speeches in general from being in the public eye. 

There was one part early one when Mr. Wooden stated a definition from the dictionary and I could not understand what he was even talking about until I went back and listened to it again.  I did not know some of the words and what they meant.  He also said the entire sentence, which was very long, rather quickly in one big breathe.  That made it hard to understand the words as well.  In the beginning, Mr Wooden's voice was very clear and loud.  Then, something messed up with the audio because and his voice grew shallower as if he was further away.  It came back to being clear and loud again, but the audience could may have been thrown off depending on how far back people were sitting.  I didn't notice because the camera was on Mr. Wooden the entire time.  There were also no visuals, but in this instance he may not have needed any.  Does one have to have all the steps to have an effective presentation or does majority rule?  However, I would recommend visuals of some kind because it can get boring quickly when you are just looking at the same picture for an extended amount of time.  I also recommend that the camera move around a bit rather than just park it on zoom for the face.  I also would have liked a view of the audience to see some of their reactions verses just hearing them.  

Introduction

My name is Kacy Kestner and I grew up in Indianapolis and have lived here all my life.  I just got a new apartment with my boyfriend of 4 years and have spent most of my free time trying to put some things on the walls.  I am known for buying the decor and leaving the walls completely bare for months on end.  This time I have tried to change my ways.  Ben and I met at Indiana State where he received a baseball scholarship and I received a softball scholarship.  We met at the beginning of our junior year when he transferred in.  He is from Aurora, Colorado just outside of Denver, which allows for a great vacation spot near the Rockies.

I am a second year teacher in the field of special education and love the challenges presented to me each day.  I also coach softball in the spring time.  This year has gone a little better as I lost my grandpa, grandma, and two dearest dogs that I grew up with just months apart from each other.  I loved them more than anything and want them to be proud of me.  I continue to be a better educator and coach each day pushing my students to succeed in life as well as academically. 

I like decorating my apartment, but I also have acquired the need to practice kickboxing.  I am into cutting coupons and making envelopes to help me save money.  I love dressing up and getting together with friends either going to dinner, movies, or just lounging around.  My new thing of the week is that I want a puppy and do not want to pay $499.00 for one. 

That is just a little about me.  I cannot wait to read yours.