Service Project Session 3

The hardest part of the whole service project was actually completing the final product.  Leroy was doing everything he was supposed to be doing and paying attention until we had to do voice thread and actually creating the presentation.  It was too advanced for him to do by himself, so I was having to control the computer most of the time.  He did not understand how to work in Google Docs and in Voice Thread.  He created the story and how the presentation would be done.  But he did not do any of the final presentation except for picking out what pictures to use that he had found in an earlier session.  Overall, he learned a lot about different things on the computer but not as much as I thought he would when I heard the description of the assignment.  If I had to complete this assignment again, I would make sure to get someone that is in junior high or high school.  

Service Project Session 2

I asked Leroy about what he already knew about dogs.  This question was broad but I would narrow as he was giving me information.  He gave me some facts that he already knew such as, dogs bark to talk.  We then came up with questions to find out what he wanted to know about how dogs communicate.  We then sat down at the computer and researched on several different kid friendly websites.  The best information on this subject came from just simply searching websites that were provided by Google. I let Leroy work the computer as much as possible, he does not have a computer where he lives so he needed more help then I thought he would.  I showed him different things that he could do on the computer to organize, create and display a project.  It was easy to explain to a child how to use these programs because I had figured it out by doing it and exploring the programs and websites.  Overall, the service project is getting more interesting as we are doing research together.       

Service Project Session 1

For my service project, I got my boyfriend's son to help me with this assignment.  I started the assignment by asking him what he would like to learn about while we were sitting at the dinner table.  I thought this would be best because it was relaxed and I was not pressuring him in anyway.  He told me that "I want to know why dogs can't talk to people?".  We then talked about it and figured out that it would be a good essential question and would be interesting to learn about.  

Lee's Blog

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets can sometimes be difficult for any age of student to learn.  Microsoft Excel is the the main program that people learn to do spreadsheets on.  The problems I always come across in this program is getting frustrated that the program isn't doing what I want it to do.  That is the reason I now use the Numbers program on my Mac computer.  I believe it is more user friendly than Excel.  I would try and incorporate one of these programs into my classroom lesson plans by asking children to make simple spreadsheets just so they can get used to the program.  I believe that the could use these programs to do projects or simple things like keeping track of their own class grades.  I will make sure spreadsheets will be incorporated somehow into my lesson plans.

Here is a link to my Weather Tracking Spreadsheet

I want to live here!

This movie was filmed by myself and edited by iMovie. The movie is primarily video feed with a couple pictures from the internet. iMovie is an easy program on Apple computers that you can add and edit videos to create a movie. The video is about a family that is not happy with where they are living. They decide to research information about a place they found in a magazine. They decide to move and an old friend calls and wants to come for a visit. The movie is simple but cannot be understood without any sound. The movie is all narrative so you need to listen to the movie while you view it.

Editing the movie took the least amount of time because I have already made a five minute movie for another class. The hardest part of making the movie was trying to find time to film it in the sun. I did have help with the video from a classmate by acting in the movie with her children.

The tools that I used could be easily integrated in the classroom. iMovie, is easy to understand but would need a couple of days to be taught to the students. That would be the only drawback to using iMovie in the classroom. To integrate just the video recording part of this assignment to your classroom would be easy. Students could record their family at home on a camcorder, camera, or even a cell phone. Most elementary students these days have recorded some type of video already.

Making this movie was hard work and took up a lot of time . Although the work was not hard, it was just long tiring. I hope to integrate the technology use that I learned from doing this assignment in my class one day, after hours of teaching my students how to effectively use these tools.

7 Elements of Digital Storytelling

The 7 elements of Digital Storytelling are crucial to creating a great presentation. In my movie I am going to cover the idea of the best place to live. My dramatic Question that will be answered at the end of the story is, what place can you live in that would maximize happiness for yourself and/or others. The emotional content is that the son of the family that is unhappy living in South Texas, is that he is unhappy where he is living. If you are unhappy and have the means to move, then move. The story is about a family that is unhappy with where they are living. This relates to so many people that do not like the climate, resources, or things to do around where they are living. I do not have any music or sounds that support the storyline in my movie. The movie is short and gets to the point without distractions and too much information. The movie is well paced because each scene is carefully thought out so that there is not too much time in between scenes. My movie is a good example of Digital Storytelling and can be understood by many. Although the movie itself will not be nominated for an Emmy award, it covers all of the 7 elements of Digital Storytelling.


Here is my unit plan for the Best Place to Live Movie

Internet Resources

How could I use some other communication tools in the classroom?

I could use a chat/IM tool so that the students in my class can contact and ask questions about the city that they live in.  Sometimes when people judge a city on if it is a good place to live or not, they do not see what is not presented to them.  By using the chat tool students can ask questions and receive the answers back almost instantly.  This would help them truly decide which place they think is the best.  

Internet Resources that could be used by students.

How can I see using each of these tools in my future curricular integration plans?

Any of these resources will be helpful in any classroom.  Technology is such a big part of education now, that we use these resources on a daily basis without really knowing that we are.  Blogs are great for students to be able to display their work and get comments from people that are viewing their blogs.  Kid friendly search engines are great because children can get information off sites that the teachers know are safe.  The chat and Im resource is great for when students from one classroom want to communicate with students in another room and or across the country.  Email can be used to communicate with other students, family members, teachers, or pen pals.  When I was in elementary school we used email to communicate to students in other countries that were the same age as us.  Surveys are great for students to fill out or just use the information that is provided from the survey results.  Voip is just another way for students to communicate with other students.  This resource is a bit more complicated to use, but it is useful.  Images, sound and videos are great for students to hear and see what they need to know or what they want others to know.  All of these are great resources for any classroom and for any grade level.