Digital Story 1

What?
So What?
Now What?
This week we started learning about digital stories. At first I wasn't so sure how I felt about the digital story board. I felt it was a little too much effort for two minutes and some pictures. Then after I saw some really powerful ones it made me start to appreciate them.

I thought the digital story was really cool because it combined so many of our senses. I think that because you are able to use words, and a song, and pictures, the message you are trying to send is passed so much more easily. I loved how the one about the holocaust used the music, to its fullest. The way it combined the speed of the music with the speed that the pictures filtered through really worked.

Now that I have seen the powerful effect of digital stories I really think it would be a good tool to use in the classroom. It would be a really cool hook for the start of a new section in Social Studies, or Art, or really any part of the curriculum. I think it would be a cool way to get the kids interested in the section.

I couldn't pull up the NASA video. Instead I just pulled up a photography digital story. It was really cool because the girl was talking about all the different areas that she takes photography, and then showing the actual photography. I think this would be an awesome way to present a portfolio, along with the actual art. Digital stories can really open up the possibilities for lots of different avenues of show casing work.

Fall Break Reflection

Fall break was amazing I would love to be writing about that ;) but the program has been awesome so far as well! I thought it was going to be really hard to be in the same classroom for four hours every day, but I actually really like it. I enjoy getting to know all of the other students so well. It makes it so nic for working in groups (which we do so often) because we are all so familiar with eachother, and its not hard to get a hold of one another. Even before I got in the actual program, but had begun taking Elem Ed classes I have been so impressed at how passionate the teachers are about their subjects. Their passion rubs off and gives a sense of purpose to the class. It is so nice to know that the things we are learning in class directly relate to the proffession I will be going into. Basically I just really like the program. I am a little nervous for student teaching but also very excited. I like that we get to start having such hands on experience with our proffession so early on in the program. I am excited to go into teaching and to implement all that I have learned.

WebQuest Fix Ups

This week in class we are just finishing up our WebQuests. In the past weeks we have been getting all the information together and deciding how it will fit into what we want the children to know in a well thought, and organized way. This past week we have been doing all of the tedious stuff like making sure the words line up correctly, and that everything is worded correctly.
It has been kind of a long process getting this project together. It has been nice to become acquainted with these different technologies not just for my future classroom but also for my current knowledge and use. I don't feel like I am the most computer savvy person but the world is getting more and more technological, and the more and more I learn about it the more I can use it to my advantage in my current life and in my future classroom.
In some ways I think it would be difficult to do when you have your own classroom to take care of and make one of these. At the same time, it is an activity that will keep the students occupied for a good amount of time, and if put together correctly it will teach a lot of important information. Plus I also like the fact that this will give the students a great opportunity to use technology as a learning device.
I watched the Schoolhouse Rock video and it was awesome. It is such a good reminder that we learn the best when we enjoy what we are doing. They do this so well with Schoolhouse Rock, because they make fun catchy tunes, and use cartoons, but it is not just for enjoyment, they also do a really good job of teaching what they are trying to teach. I like how they used repetition, but still gave a variety of different situations to make sure the students understand the idea in all different circumstances. All together Schoolhouse Rock is a winner.

Web Quest 2

In class this week we are still working on putting our web quests together. This week instead of focusing on gathering the information so much we started on putting the information that we gathered into the power point so that it can b accessed. I think this is a really good thing to realize because it is nice to have training on how long it will really take to do put something like this together. It is also good to start to see how to put the instructions, and assignment into the perspective of the student.
I think that web quests will be very useful in class because not only is it a fun and different way to learn, but it is also a really good opportunity to let the students use technology, and get a grasp on new ways they can utilize it in their learning.
I also tried to watch the "We didn't start the Fire" video. and it was really cool to see all the cool gadgets that it has. It's nice to be able to have a free and very useful resource. We have a really cool opportunity to help our students with that. It could be a really cool resource in the classroom for learning and exploration.