CED535 Week 1

This class should be interesting. I do not currently have a WIKI that my students look at, or a blog for them. I have concerns about these types of communication. I know that our administration does not want us encouraging our children to sign up for an email, or other kinds of Internet sites. I guess my boss is worried that if something happens the school would be responsible. While reading one of the assigned chapters for this week, I was happy to read that statistics are low for incidents with children. I guess I'm interested to learn how to use these sites for educational purposes, in a middle school setting. It's not that I don't think it can be done, or useful. These sites are new to me and I don't know how to use them yet.......but hey.........that is why I signed up for this program. I know my students would enjoy doing these types of activities, but I need to learn how to do it and make sure it's safe for them. My other concern is time. I feel like we are learning great things, but they seem to be time consuming. I guess it'll become easier with time, but right now I feel overwhelmed. Last........ I just worry about putting my students names, pictures, or videos on the Internet. I still don't feel like anything is "safe". I need some convincing! Hopefully these are all concerns that will no longer be on my mind when we finish.

CED530 Week 5

Well.........
Almost done with another class!! I'm going to be very--- happy when I get the Pecha Kucha out of the way. I just looked at the rubric and realized, I need to go back and re-work it a little. I'm sick of looking at it to be honest!! I have an issue with talking (I am a teacher haha) so this 20 seconds per slide is torture. I feel like I can't get my point across in that short of time. But........... I'm really excited to make a Christmas animoto! Unfortunately I STILL have not gotten confirmation on my account :( so the animoto will only be 30 seconds.

The rubric assignment peeked my attention the most this week. I just got home from a 2 day convention about differentiated assessment. Rick Wormeli was the presenter and he did a phenomenal job! We talked about rubrics for a little while, but he has a great deal of information in his books that I have. I'm going to take the information from his books, as well as our class and see what I come up with. I am familiar with rubrics, but I don't use them as much as I should.

CED530 Week 4

Last week, I really enjoyed doing the 30 second Animoto. (I'm waiting for my educator account still) Even though I only made a 30 second one, I thought it was really cool!!! Out of all the things we have done in this program so far, I loved this site. I had so many ideas going through my head. We have a science/social studies fair coming up in March, so I'm going to use the Animoto for the presentations. I'm also going to use it for my personal photos as well.
Thoughts for this week......
I think Prezi looks cool. I have an account I just haven't had time to explore yet. I'm just excited to get to the actual presentations. Sorry Louis, but I'm not a fan of papers and citing sources in APA. That's why I didn't want to be an English teacher. hahaha No offense if you read this
Overall, these past two weeks have gotten me excited about presentations. But......I'm still unsure how the Pecha Kucha is going to go. That should be interesting. I'm sure I can do it, but I really like to talk! My students wish I wouldn't talk as much as I do.
I really liked the book Presentaion Zen and I will definitely refer back to it in the future.

CED530 Week 3

I'm still not sure if I like the whole idea of voicethread. I don't like the way my voice sounds when I play it back. I would rather just talk through my presentation. I do like the whole idea of zen with presentations, but I'm not buying into voicethread. I would rather create a zen presentation and talk my way through it.
I can't believe how bad my power points are!! I really realized this week how much they parallel all the things you shouldn't do. WOW!!! Oh well, that is why I'm in this program. I love the stories that we have been watching. I feel that every class and every new concept I learn have been great. I'm excited to use these teaching tools in my lessons. I'm kind of worried about the Pecha Kucha though. I like to talk and I don't know if I can contain myself to small amounts of time per slide. I guess we will wait and see. I don't really have a choice I guess. haha

CED530 Week 2

The voice threads and digital story telling are going to be interesting. The voice threads are cool because they can be used for so many different ways in the classroom. One of the thoughts that popped in my mind about voice threads, is the ability to give directions on them. If I have a project that I have done for years with my students, I can make a voice thread for it. This way the students can see and hear the directions on the Smartboard. They can see what the outcome is going to be as well. I like the idea of allowing them to hit a button on the board to hear the directions again. I wont have to repeat myself a thousand times.......maybe. haha
I think there are so many options with voice threads and I'm excited to get started. Although, don't like the sound of my voice when I hear it on a recording!!!! I don't know if I'm going to like that part.

CED530 Week 1

I'm really excited about this class. I think it's going to be fun creating work for digital story telling. HOW COOL! This is so funny-----I thought I was the queen of presentations for my classes. I thought they were so ........... cool, engaging, fun, interactive........but after doing some of the homework and readings we were assigned, I now realize that I was wrong. HA HA
I admit to using PowerPoint presentation in my classroom. I thought it was a great tool and the kids seem to enjoy it. I make sure I add games, links, movie clips and pictures to my presentations. One thing I found very interesting and my mind keeps going back to it, is that the left side of the brain is emotional, musical, and moody and the left side is dexterity, facts and hard data. Thus, you can wreck the communication process if your not using logical information. Makes sense, but I never really gave it that deep of thought.

CED525 Week 5 Strategies

Generating and Testing Hypothesis
When people see these words they think of science class. This strategy should be used in every classroom and not just in the science rooms. This strategy makes students think deeper about the concept, or lesson that is going to be taught. The book gave the example of historical investigation for social studies. Students construct hypothesis about historical events for which there is no agreed-upon resolution. I love this activity because my students can discuss their thoughts, listen to other students thoughts and build a great discussion. Sometimes this can even lead into a debate. My students love doing debates, so this strategy always seems to bring an exciting class period. Overall, this is a great strategy for seeing what your students already know and what they need to learn from you.