Digital Story

In case you were unable to view my video from dropbox, here it is.  Enjoy

Here is the link to my Digital Movie from my dropbox account.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60697831/My%20Movie.wlmp


I worked along with my ELA teacher to create a story we could use in the classroom.  We had students create a public service announcement about a topic important to them.  They then shared them on their blogs after presenting them to the class.  Students could leave feedback for eachother on their blogs.  I enjoyed learning to use Windows Live Movie Maker. 

Enjoy and feel free to share and leave feedback.

Hoping this helps.

I've received feedback from my peers that my UDL book can not be viewed using the link provided.  I downloaded it onto my computer and then uploaded it to dropbox.  Here is the link.  Can you please let me know if it works. Thanks so much

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60697831/57702-Why_Me-en-us.zip

Try this.

I've received feedback that my book link is not accessable.  Try this link

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5851357739286221071#allposts

I got this link when I click on my book and it came up in a new window.  Is that how everyone else did theirs?

ELA Book Builder

Here is the link to my book. Enjoy!

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=57702&page=1

WHY ME is about an albino child who doesn't look like the other kids.  All she wants is for people to understand that even though she looks different, she is still a person with feelings.

I came up with this story line because I have a friend who is albino.  Growing up she was always looked at by others has wierd.  They would stare at her and treat her as if her disease was catchable.  My goal is for young children to read this book and understand that albino children are just like everyone else. 

The ELA teacher I'm working with thought the idea had a good story line.  She suggested I keep it simple so even the youngest children can understand.  This book can be implemented in the young grades.

UDL Book Builder can be used by my ELA teacher in the middle school.  Kids can create stories and share them with other students.  Its a great way to share a message or lesson. 

Other teachers can use the book I created to start discussion topics.  It would be best to use my book in ELA and Social Studies.  Teachers should read the book first and then discuss with students about being different.  Students can then create charts or Venn Diagrams displaying similarities and differences.  Students can then write their own short story of someone they know who is different. 

Week 7 Assignment

Assignment#1

Write a brief reflection on each article and post on the blog.

Using the ADDIE model to Design Second Life Activities by Shiang-Kwei Wang and Hui-Yin Hsu

            Being part of an online class, I sometimes feel a lack of socialization.  I feel that we log on to Blackboard, complete and post our assignments, and then never get much feedback from our peers.  This is one downside that has always turned me away from taking an online class. I feel alone trying to figure things out on my own when in fact I like to interact and communicate with my classmates; it makes me feel like part of the classroom learning community.  It’s hard to learn the personalities of a person without seeing their face or hearing their voice.  Second Life is a 3D multi-user virtual environment that has changed the way online classes function.  Students can connect with each other through an avatar.  The avatar can show the users personality, body language, etc.  Because the document management feature is poor on SL, it would need to work in partnership with another program such as Blackboard or Google Docs.  I like the feature of both text and voice chat and 24/7 unlimited access to the classroom.  SL offers more features in their program than most online class system do.  The downsides discussed in the article relating to SL are understandable.  If you’re using an old computer with old software, you will need to upgrade.  Slower computers may freeze up with the high end hardware requirements.  When weighing the pros and cons, SL still sounds like the better option when taking on online class. 

Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education: The Instructional Dynamics of Picture Books and Primary Classrooms by Dawnene D. Hassett and Jenn Scott Curwood

            Wow, have times changed since I learned to read!  Technology today is nothing like it was when I was in elementary school.  Just around the time I was entering middle school, the computer become popular in my classroom.  Reading was done with paper books in hand and writing was completed with a pencil and paper.  Technology today has made it possible for young students to read and write on the on their laptop, iPad, Nook, etc.  Should we change the way we do things in education to keep up with society around us?

Reading children books, surfing the internet, and using digital media all involve decoding and comprehending modes.  Multimodal and modes can range from font, text, color, page size, point of view, etc.  Modes can be used to change the meaning the author is communicating.  Along with the many traditional roles the teacher plays, three additional roles are needed in order to facilitate the children’s learning of complex, multimodal, and electronic worlds.  The three roles are: teacher as resource manager, teacher as coconstructor of knowledge, and teacher as design consultant.  When faced with multimodal texts, teachers need to initiate open-ended activities and create a space to allow linguistic and cultural differences presented by the students.  With proper support, this can occur in all classrooms today, even with our youngest learners.   

     Assignment#2

 I'm not going to lie, this site was confusing to navagate at first.  There was so much going on around me I had to focus on one thing at a time.

My avatar is the girl in the picture.  I could not get a frontal view of her. I am talking to a man who wants a friendship.

 Discuss with ELA teachers and list ways to incorporate Second Life in ELA instruction, applying the concepts of multimodality to the teaching of ELA.

        Second Life can be used in ELA as a virtual classroom.  When discussing this with the ELA teacher we decided to try to expand this idea to the building and having all students interact with each other instead of interactions with just their classmates.  On my team, we brainstormed the following ideas:

      Set up a PRIVATE virtual classroom only to students in the building

     

       Have all students taking period 5 ELA in the building log on during class time to have an interaction between students in different classrooms.  

     

      Assign building wide “assignment” for students to complete, each student must reflect on a minimum of 5 peer assignments of students that are not in their class

Week 6 Assignments

Gamestar Mechanic.

            Listening to the statistic from Gamestar, it is not surprising that 97% of kids play video games.  They are constantly connected to the internet through their cell phones, laptops, and video game system; those children are constantly exposed to the video gaming industry.  If this is what children find interesting, why not use it in the classroom to enhance learning.  Playing games teachers kids how to become critical thinkers as well as experiment and test their theories.  On Gamestar Mechanics, the game alley section allows students to post games they created and receive feedback from other people playing their games.  This all fits in perfectly with the new 21^st century learning classroom.  Creating games can become a cross curriculum assignment where students learn to program in math, design and implement in Art, and write scripts for the information boxes in ELA.  Scratch is another program that works like Gamestar.  Between the two gaming and programming sites, along with many other site, students become creative and are proud to take ownership of their work.  In the ELA classroom, you can use Gamestar to discuss the 5 literary elements; character, plot, conflict, setting, and theme.  Students can discuss and collaborate, learn to solve problems, make positive decisions, take risks, achieve goals and cooperate with others.  The possibilities are endless for teachers when using gaming in the classroom.

My philosophy of using games in the classrooms

Gaming should be used by teachers to incorporate into their current curriculum.  Gaming allows teacher to discuss topics that students are currently learning.  It teaches the students to become problem solvers, experiment and test their theories, and achieve goals set forth.  Students  don’t realize their learning because their having fun “playing”.     

            For example, in math, when programming a scratch to move, you discuss angle relation, movement on a coordinate plane and points, slope, etc..  This can then be brought to ELA where students can write instruction for players. 

Assignment#3 Game Scenario

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60697831/A%20Game%20Scenario.pptx

Edmodo

•          Students can write summaries after reading a chapter in a book. Classmates can then respond to summaries. 
•          Students can answer question while reading a specific chapter so they can remember the important points from the book.
•          Teachers can post articles related to what the students are learning.  This will give students real world perspectives.
•          Teachers can post games related to what they are doing in class.  This gives the student “extra practice” while having fun.