Final Thoughts...

Technology is the KEY to Motivation!

As the course comes to an end I am amazed by the amount of new knowledge I have gained. Many courses so far have built upon undergrad work or professional develop. However, I can came to this class with very little background knowledge. I had heard of blogging, twitter, and skype but never used any of them.

I am leaving this class with a new bag of tricks overflowing with technology options to use with my students. It was exciting to see the reaction from my students when I introduced the projects and "tip of the technology iceberg" into the classroom. It is obvious that students are extremely motivated by working with technology. Using web based tools for students to share or show their learning is much more captivating that a paper and pencil. I also learned the importance educating my students about digital citizenship and incorporating NETS for both myself and students within lessons.

It was without a doubt overwhelming at times but going from Google to Storybird, Wiki, Diigo, VoiceThread, and Voki in 8 weeks will do that to person! As Meghan said to me after the first week, "Diigo, Wikispaces, and Voki...Oh My!" ;)

(I created this Tagxedo using my blog as the webpage, awesome!!)

Literacy Project

Below is the Literacy Project I created with my students. Using VoiceThread, we created a digital book using alliteration. Students loved using the technology and began reflecting on themselves reading their page. Students would comment, "too quiet" or "too fast". It started critical thinking and great conversations about fluency and reading for an audience. This was an aspect I did not even envision when I began the project. Students also loved viewing the video. We were able to share it with families on "Bring Your Parents to School Day" and many families wanted the link to share with more family and friends. I will definitely continue to use VoiceThread with my students this year and in the future. Enjoy!



To view it within VoiceThread, click here.

Ta-Da! The Final Version of Our Digital Story!

Below is Meghan and my Digital Story! We created a digital story about the Plant Life Cycle. Meghan and I worked together by using Google Docs. Sitting at home, miles apart, we were both able to add to the template, very cool! We used PhotoStory 3 to create the video and worked through many images, text, and music choices before coming to this final version. We are proud of what we accomplished, especially since we did not know how to create a digital story 2 months ago!

Within the classroom, I plan to use the digital story to introduce students to the Plant Unit. Knowing we wanted to use the video in this way, Meghan and I knew vocabulary would be an important part of our digital story. We also wanted to introduce students to the learning experiences they would take part in, what they would learn and be able to do by the end of the unit. At the end of the unit, we wanted to use the digital story again to review what students learned. I am very excited to use this digital story to "hook" my students as we begin a new science unit! This a video I will be able to use year after year with my students! Enjoy!



Here is the link to see the video in YouTube.

CT Core Science Framework:

• The life cycles of flowering plants include seed germination, growth, flowering, pollination and seed dispersal.

NETS for Teachers #1, 2, 3, 4

• 2.2 - Plants change their forms as part of their life cycles.

Digital Citizenship

(created in Wordle, click here to see original created by Camille Maydonik)

Just as we teach children about "stranger danger" in the real world we need to educate them about being safe and making good choices online. As any young child is naive about the dangers of our world they are also naive about the dangers of online. As educated we need to teach children how to think critically and evaluate information they find online as well as making informed decision about what do while surfing the world wide web.

As we have heard from numerous sources, we can not simply "block" anything and everything that may be inappropriate for children. We need to allow them to make their own choices about how to handle such situations once they have need educated on digital citizenship.

So here comes the question, How??? Below are three websites I particularly liked about doing exactly that...

Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum for Grades K-5 - resources with complete units planned to introduce students to thinking critially and making informed decisions when working on the interent.

Educate Parents About Cyberbullying and Online Relationships - We can educate children in school but they need support at home too! This website provides handouts for parents so they can learn how to educate their children at home.

Digital Citizenship Wiki - created by iste (where we get NETS) with resources for different grade levels to introduce digital citizenship to students in appropriate ways for their age.

NETS for Teachers #4
NETS for Students #5

Barnes Nature Center Field Trip

My class traveled to the Barnes Nature Center in Bristol, CT last week. We had a great time exploring and examining soil samples from different areas of the forest and living animals from the pond.

Enjoy the digital story!

Meghan said she couldn't view it, so I added the YouTube link here...

Digital Story Draft

Click here to see the digital story Meghan and I created together. We are still playing with music options. (Because we created it on her computer, she sent the video to me and I did not have the embed code to upload it directly.)

Any suggestions?

Early Childhood Literary and Digital Storytelling Resources

Starfall is a website I have used with my students in the past. It is a great website to support below level readers who need reteaching with short and long vowel sounds and word families. The website is also great to support students who are working on fluency. Students can listen to story being read to them and track the print across the screen.

The Literacy Web from UConn has great resources! I especially like the Children's Literacy tab. This tab provides authors and books for primary students. Many link to the authors' website and other interactive online resources to support an author study or literacy circle.

ReadWriteThink is great website to support online writing. I found many "student interactives" for writing poetry under the classroom resources tab. This will be very valuable in the coming weeks when we begin a poetry writing unit. Students follow step by step directions to create different types of poems. Students can then print their poems to share and/or add to a poetry collection.

 Scholastic is another website that I have used with my students. There are seasonal activities that are available for students to explore throughout the year. For example, in October students have explore the ships that Columbus sailed across the Atlantic to come to the "New World", in November students explore a Pilgrim village and learned about the first Thanksgiving, and in December students learn about different winter holidays including Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Hanukkah. There are also articles and activities describing relevant news and other holidays in appropriate language for young children. Topics range from insects, famous people, weather, to the Underground Railroad.

Digital Story Telling Project

  

Meghan and I are working together to create a Digital Story showcasing a second grade Plant Unit using PhotoStory. Each year students learn the stages of growing a plant from a seed, plant parts, pollination and seed dispersal. Our digital story will introduce students to what they will know and be able to do, such as recording plant observations using a seed growth journal and examining a real bee while learning about pollination.

Any suggestions buzzing in your mind to support our project would bee appreciated! ;)

Digital Literacy Activites in a Diaper?!

At what age should children begin exploring digital literacy activities?

I know women I work with who start their two and three year olds on Starfall.com. Baby Dierk for example, was learning his letters on Starfall.com at age two and knew the letter T because he liked that the tiger roared. Baby Dierk proves that pre-school aged children can benefit from digital literacy activities.

In my school we do not have computers for students to use on a daily basis in the classroom but students go to the computer lab once a week. Starting in kindergarten, children work with a variety computer activities, either language or math based. Each classroom teacher is free to choose what their class will work on from week to week. Personally, in second grade I chose a variety of math and language skills that support what we are currently learning. For example, during our nonfiction unit, students explored digital Weekly Readers and collected facts learned and then compared topics, such as wolves vs. dogs. Because my second grade students have worked with a computer and know what the keyboard, mouse, monitor, CD drive are and their functions I am able to plan activities with computers in the lab starting during week 1. Through this class I am learning many more web based tools for my students to use, such as Storybird and Tagxedo.

Photo Story from Google Doc

Testing...

The size is off but here is it...

Google Reader

is a great tool to help you organize the posts from the blogs you follow. It is easy to be overwhelmed by all the posted that people are posting on a daily/weekly basis. Using Google Reader you can see each blog you are following and the most recent posts. You can also see a preview of the posts before viewing the entire blog. Looking through the preview is much easier than going to the blog, scrolling through each post on the page, clicking to older posts, etc. Thank you Google Reader! As I said before, I am very grateful for anything that saves time!

Tagxedo is neato!

Thank you Taini! This is a great website to use with students. They can create an image at the beginning of the year to share who they are.

Go to Tagxedo to create yours!

This is the one I created to showcase April words. The shape is an umbrella. How appropriate...April showers bring May flowers!

What can you create?!

NETS for Students 1 and 2
NETS for Teachers 1, 2, and 3

Empowering Students with Technology ch. 4-5

Alan November begins chapter 4 discussing the importance of students having access to primary source material. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) can make this possible. According to November  (2010) teaching with primary source material can  help students value the skills of the historian--asking important questions, seeking clues, constructing hypotheses, and presenting to authentic audiences. This process of working with primary source material is similar to a scientific process and inquiry based learning. With this process, students are asking the questions and finding their own answers. As teachers, we need to teach students that the answers are not always as important, as the questions they ask and the process they use to search for answers. By doing this students learn to think critically. Of course, students needs to taught and guided to ask and develop thoughtful questions. Teachers need to provide structure and direction for students to take in information and make meaning to understand it.

Chapter 5 describes the world of online learning. November introduces the idea of professional development for teachers available on their computers. This was especially interesting to me, as November suggests teachers can complete PD on their own schedule and even provide different topics of teachers' interests to help their students in their classrooms.

November says the following traits are needed to be a successful online learner:

• motivation to take the class
• self-discipline and responsibility
• the ability to work independently
• parental support

Are you a possible successful online learner?

November also provides a list of traits that are needed to be a successful online teacher:

• devotes time and energy to teaching online
• is available to students
• is creative and willing to experiment
• breaks down curricula into clearly organized, clearly explained smaller units
• focuses on concepts, no class periods
• integrates curricula

Could you be a successful online teacher?

I think I would be a better online student than an online teacher... I am just beginning steps into the online world. I think I would need more experience exploring the web before I teach from it.

VoiceThread Project

This is the VoiceThread I created with my students. We shared it today. It was perfect for "Bring Your Parents to School Day". Many parents asked for the video when I told them I could email it to them.

I am going to add a page describing alliteration but please enjoy my students alliteration book so far...

NETS for Students 1, 2 and 6

Digital Story Practice

Experimenting with PhotoStory I created a Digit Story showcasing "My Life as a Beach Bum".

(Dedicated to my mom, who taught me how to have fun in the sun!)

Click to enjoy on YouTube!

VoiceThread 911

HELP! I have been recording my students' voices on my cell phone using the VoiceThread app but their voices do not play back on the website or when I share the work in progress through email...

Anyone else try it yet? Any success??

Thanks!

Digital Storytelling Preparations

As I view teachers digital stories that are used or will be used in the classroom, I think the most important point I am taking away is how important it is to speak clearly and slowly. I know I can talk very fast. I need to keep in mind that I need to talk in what may seem too slow to keep my story successful.

Any other suggestions that you have come across for a successful digital story to be used in the elementary classrom?

Diigo Account

Link to my diigo account is below. (Click the diigo icon!)



As I continue to add to the website, I am liking the tool more and more. Professionally, it is helpful to have everything in one place. I was definitely started to get overwhelmed with all the websites and where to find them all. I was searching through my blog looking for old posts trying to find websites I posted.

Personally, I AM LOVING IT! :) With my wedding only 85 days away I have many websites with contacts and pictures of my reception location, photographer, flowers, bakery, wedding and bridal shower invitations, gift registries, shoes, bride's maid dresses, accessories, and even my wedding dress! I kept carrying my laptop back and forth to my mom's house to share the websites with her. Now all I have to do it log into my diigo account. Thank you!

Community Vocab. Animoto

Every year in second grade we teach a social studies unit where students learn about the different types of communities and community helpers. As we learned in our Content Area course, front loading vocabulary is very important. Using this animoto I will be front loading vocabulary with actual photographs, realia, while also hooking their attention and motivating them for the learning that is soon to come. Enjoy!




NETS for Teachers 1, 2, and 3
(Follow link for standards' specifics NETS for Teachers)

Empowering Students with Technology - Ch. 1-3

Alan November's book, Empowering Students with Technology, provides educators with the fact that technology motivates students! I think we have all heard it and maybe even defended the point ourselves, but Alan November books begins to show us how. November also puts students in control. He believes students should be in charge of their own learning. Another point he makes, which I am very drawn to, is that introducing the use of technology can not be just something else to add to pile. Technology needs to be integrated and thinking about teaching and learning need to change to make that possible.

November discussing the important of teaching students how to be critical and evaluate the material they find on the Internet. We need to teach students how to MAP.

• M - Meta-web information: evaluate the structure of the information on the web. This begins with being able to understand the information within the web address itself. (I never knew could get so much information from the web address!)
• A - Author: evaluate who the author is of the website. Ask yourself does this person have the credentials to understand and deliver the facts or could this information be his/her opinion?
• P- Purpose: evaluate the web site's purpose. Is the site trying to sell a product? Persuade with ideas? Share information? or Entertain an audience?

As November points out, blocking students' access to the Internet is only a short term victory. We need to educate students far beyond turning a computer on and off. It is our responsibility to teach them how to be critical thinking when it comes to information found on the world wide web.

November also stresses the need for teaching students to have global communication skills.

• One way to do this is through the use of Skype. Students can with students in other schools within the town, state, country, or even the world. Using Skype is a great way to replace the traditional pen pal. Students would get instant feedback and responses from their "pal". November warns though; the technology is easy, students need to be prepared for different cultural backgrounds and understanding when communicating with someone of different cultures.
• Parents can also use Skype or another videoconferencing device to be part of the classroom community. This always busy working parents to "drop by" to see what is going on in the classroom or be part of their students' learning.
• Posting students' work online is another way to establish communication outside the classroom. As we saw in some teachers' online blogs, we can have children's work posted for families and friends to comment on. Family and friends across the country would never have this opportunity to communicate in this way without the web.

November gives new meaning to the term life-long learner... He reminds use that our students might have more experience with web-based tools than we do. Giving students the ability to teach the teacher would be a new concept in many classrooms but image the motivation!

According to November (2010) teachers can empower students by teaching them how to seek answers to their own questions. As teachers our role shifts from providing all the learning to helping students identify what it is they want to learn and help them locate resources to find their answers.

My questions to you...

(as they are the ones bouncing around my mind as I read)

• This is an overwhelming change in thinking, how do you begin? Where do you start?
• How do you feel about this overall change of student control?
• How would your administrators view this overall change of student control?
• How would parents view this overall change of student control?
• How would students view this overall change of student control?
• How would this align with new Common Core State Standards? (CCSS are driving my district's current curriculum overhaul, which was just completely rewritten in the summer of 2010, not even two years ago...)

Digital Story Telling 4 Kids

This blog provided many tools that would inspire children. I liked how this blog was focused on displaying tools specific to the type that students would want to work with. Below are three that I liked the most: (Click names of tools to view their sites)


Goanimate is exactly that, animated story telling. To sign up is free but to create "school videos", which are are created in a private school friendly environment, there is a fee of $8 a month.


Makebeliefscomix allow you to create your own comic strips. It is very simple. First you choose your character, your scene, and add thought or talking bubbles. There is a teachers resource page with many ways to use comic strips such as introducing vocab and teaching social skills.
Check out my comic strip... http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=29181960C685298


Glogster is an electronic poster where students can "pin" or "post" images, words, quotes to show their learning or share something about themselves. Instead of making posters like we used to as a visual for, say book reports as an example, students can create a glogster.


*Using any of these website students would be meeting Standards 1, 2, and 4 for NETS.
(Follow link for standards' specifics http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS-S_Standards.sflb.ashx )

There really are "50+ Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story"

After exploring Alan Levine's blog, "50+ Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story" I have decided I personally like presentation tools best to create a digital story. My favorite tool was Slideshare. Because I still get overwhelmed by the information that can be displayed in more "professional" blogs I loved how Alan created a page with the tools listed by the type of tool. This gave me a clue as to what kind of digital story I would be viewing, ie comic, mapping, audio, etc. I also liked how he used the same story about his dog Dominoe to create each digital story. This allowed me to see how each type of tool was different. I did not have to create my own in each to simply see a finished product.


(Thank you Alan, anything that saves me some time is a blessing!)


To view the 50+ tools organized by tool type follow the link below.
http://50ways.wikispaces.com/StoryTools

Blabberize!

While exploring possible digit story tools I found Blabberize.com. Kids will love it! Using an image you are able to insert a talking mouth and record a message. You can make any image come to life! (My favorite was the polar bear signing "Ice, Ice Baby".)


Check out my educational blabberize below.





If you want to make your own, check out blabberize.com


*As a teacher I would be meeting Standards 1, 2, and 3 for NETS.
(Follow link for standards' specifics http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS-T_Standards.sflb.ashx )

Math Voki

Inspired by Taini's math Voki!

Model Educator and Teacher Blogs

As I explored the never ending ins and outs of the different blogs there were two that stuck out in my mind.

1. Tales From a K-1 Classroom: live, love. teach, share
and
2. Lessons from the Fourth Dimension

"Tales From a K-1 Classroom" looked as if I could have designed it! I'm pretty sure that's why I liked it so much, it was very visually appealing to me. I also liked how, Sara, the author (see, fate that I like her blog (; ) included resources for other teachers to use. Some blogs feel more like a place to post what their classes are doing, where Sara's blog also provided support/resources for others. The only this I was not I did not like were the many, many photos of her students. Maybe I am the minority on the subject but I would not want my child are part of a blog for the world to see, education blog or not.

Click to enter Tales From a K-1 Classroom 

"Lessons from the Fourth Dimension" was another blog that also offered resources for teachers. The first post on the the page was a list of books recommended by the fifth grade students. I like that idea, students usually like recommendations better when they come from peers rather than teachers. The author also had a blog about tips to keep the school year running smoothly from the start. There were some good pointers from sub plans to starting a parent email chain. The author also included Animotos and digital stories that were created with her students. With these posts were the steps the students took to create these digital items and any trouble shooting tips for other teachers and students to be successful with similar projects. Thank you!

Click to enter Lesson from the Fourth Dimension

Diigo List: Blogs

My favorite blog by far was the one titled, "Why My Six-Year-Old Students Have Digital Portfolios: Getting Smart". At first glance I was intrigued but not sure if I like the idea that the "world" had access to these students' blogs. My first thought was privacy and safety from a parent point of view. As I entered and explored the class' actual blog I was happy to see that the children created digitally drawn images of themselves and that the children where heard but not seem in their videos. Some other class blogs had pictures of the children and honestly, I did not like that anyone had access to them.


I viewed some students "Responsibilities, Rules, and Relationships" postings and I liked how the students lead their own discussions but the teacher was able to dig deeper and pull more from the students as needed. While filming, the teacher had the students think more critically about their responsibilities, rules, and relationships. Well done!


The students' first blogs were similar to ours. Each child simply posted something. As the students were only in the first month of first grade the teacher translated what the text said. It is amazing to scroll through their work and see how far their academic ability has come; as well as their technology ability. Wow! They have surpassed my blogging abilities! Students have videos, texts, illustrations, StoryBird books and even audio of them reading. It is a great collection of work.


From the parent side, parents must love the opportunity to see what their children are learning through video clips and blog posts. From the student side, they must get so excited to see comments from their family encouraging their learning.


Want to be amazed too? Click the link below...
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337

New Literacies for New Times - Chapter 3

While reading this chapter I followed the link to "Internet Project: Preparing Students for New Literacies in a Global Village" from the Reading Journal. Here a question was posed, "How do we teach children to continuously become literate?" My thoughts exactly! We know that technology is always changing and we need to change and evolve with it. As adults this is hard enough. How do we stay ahead of it and in turn teach our student to evolve and keep up? The "Internet Project" is one suggested way. I searched through some of the web based projects involving webquests and websited to interact with Flat Stanley and Journey North. I think students would be excited to be part of each web based project.

You can find the article from Reading Online by clicking the link below.
http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=rt/3-01_column/index.html

The next heading introduced WebQuests. I am familiar with webquests as they were part of technology classes I took during my undergrad work. I particularly loved the link to the WebQuest page or WebQuest.org. Using the tab on the left side of the screen I clicked "Find WebQuests" and was able to search an online database for various WebQuests. I searched for Jan Brett WebQuests and was provided with numerous choices. I explored some that looked promising to use with my students. Many were still functional while others had many links that were no longer available. All in all I should be able to use at least a couple.

If you are in need of a WebQuest follow the link below to search for your topic!
http://questgarden.com/search/

New Literacies for New Times - Chapter 1 and Storybird.com

With new technologies introduced with the use of the Internet in the 21st century there has been the creation of "new literacies". According to Leu, Leu, and Jone (2009) new literacies allow students to identify important questions, navigate complex information networks to locate appropriate information, critically evaluate that information, synthesize it to address those questions, and then communicate the answers to others.  The Internet has become a place where millions of people from all over the world are able to communicate and interact with each other. As educators, we need to prepare our students for the "work" they to can be part of using the Internet. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) created The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS). NETS are the standards for what students, as well as teachers, need to know (knowledge) and be able to do (skills) in the digital age. NETS for students include standards for collaboration and communication, creativity, critical thinking, and digital citizenship. Standards for teachers include profession growth, digital age learning, as well as digital citizenship.

While exploring, I feel in love with Storybirds! After taking a tour of Storybird.com I created my own account for myself and my students to use in the classroom. Storybird is an interactive website where adults and children can create their own digital books for others to share. When creating a book, you can choose your artwork provided by different artists and the theme for your book. Then you add the images and type your own text onto each page. Once a book is finished you can view it on your computer, email it to others, and order a published paper copy of your book.

Storybirds is an amazing tool I can use with my students in my class. They can choose the artwork and make their own books to share with friends and family as digital versions and/or purchase a published copy of their books. How could students not see themselves as authors with Storybird?!

Follow the link below to enjoy my very first Storybird book!

http://storybird.com/books/happy-heart/?token=37b4np

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

I feel like a fish out of water... Newbie!!!