Virtual Class Meetings

I enjoyed our last two virtual class meetings. In the beginning of the semester, I don't think I would have been confident enough to try out all of the different programs and learn to use them by myself. For example, Skype and digital texts/videos would have been pretty difficult for me to figure out alone. However, social bookmarking, blogs, and Webquests I probably could have created independently with support from a tutorial and threaded discussions. Now that I am comfortable with all of the different types of technology, the virtual meetings are great! I have been able to spend more time exploring technology and discussing it with my classmates instead of wasting hours (and gas) driving! If it were my decision, I would meet in person a lot in the beginning of the semester and gradually drop it to every other week virtual. If more meetings were virtual, there would have to be some form of accountability to make sure everyone participated. Some people do great with the autonomy, but others need more structure.

My first Podcast

Today I created my very first podcast! I wasn't even planning on creating one during the school day, but I started experimenting with Gabcast and realized how easy it was! I made one with my students right away! All I had to do was create a channel (having no clue what that meant), dial a number (because there was nothing else to do), and it was cake from there! I was initially worried about taking too much instructional time away to create a podcast, so I admit I was very reluctant to try this with my students. Now that I know it only takes five minutes, I will create a lot more in the future! I highly recommend Gabcast to other teachers. I can't imagine another podcast site being easier. Check our podcast out!!


Gabcast! Miss Cunningham's Class #1



How I plan to use podcasts in my classroom: I was really inspired by the idea of a Reader's Theater! I will definitely be posting a Reader's Theater podcast by the end of the year. What a great way to integrate a content area, reading, and technology! Next year I would like to put important announcements into a podcast so that parents can be notified of upcoming events. Heather gave me the idea to let students create interviews (real or fictional). OR the teacher could really interview someone(ex. a WWII veteran) and play it to the students. I want my students to recite some of the poetry they just created and put it on a podcast. This way the parents who cannot make it to our poetry coffeehouse can attend "in spirit."

Photo Story

Today I learned how to use Photo Story. It was extremely easy after I learned all the quirks. I may decide to go back and turn the digital PowerPoints I made into movies through Photo Story. Check out my Claymation (Thanks to Cher's daughters Emily and Jenny).

I like all the features you can add to Photo Story that make it more like a video than a digital PowerPoint. I plan to use Photo Story to make a slideshow of all of our pictures to play during our fifth grade graduation. Also, in science we have been observing plant and animal growth under different conditions over a period of time. Next year I want the kids to take pictures of similar experiments to put in a Photo Story, where they can explain the scientific process and see the over time easier. Photo Story is also always great for reading books!

Digital Poetry Continued

You'll be so proud of me when you check out the digital poetry book I created with my class! Click where it says "Sick" by Shel Silverstein. The kids had so much fun with this! Next time I'll let my kids narrate, but I kept it simple this time. It was so easy with the template! Also, while you're on our poetry page, you can check out some student responses as a "before" activity for our poetry unit. Enjoy :)

Tutorial on digital book

View my tutorial on how to create a digital book on PowerPoint.

I am really glad I created my tutorial on digital books. I plan on sharing my tutorial with my colleagues in a staff meeting. It was easy to create, because I just typed what I would have wanted to know. It is simple enough to give people as a handout for them to figure out on their own. I chose to create a tutorial on digital books, because my students and I are making a digital poetry book on Powerpoint this week. I easily forget things if I don't take notes, so it was important for me to create instructions for myself to use in the future. I learned how to use the print screen button--it is so easy, and makes reading the instructions much easier.

Tutorials really do make a world of difference. I would like to make some simple tutorials for my students, such as how to create a PowerPoint presentation. The print screen feature is so cool. I can't believe I had never learned how to do it before! I like to make the kind of tutorials that I would like to read...short, sweet, to the point, and with important things in bold. If it gets too complicated you might as well read the manual--and no one wants to do that. Maybe I'll get really ambitious and help my kids create their own tutorials after they become experts in a program. They would get a kick out of the print screen button.

Social Networking-an educational outlook

Facebook and Myspace have the potential to be very educational, but they must be used with caution. These sites are blocked in our school system. When we were at new teacher orientation, they told us (targeting high school teachers mostly) to absolutely refrain from adding our students as "friends." I think they were more concerned about teacher-student "relations" than anything else like online predators/bullying (which is probably more prevalent).

Educational benefits: Students can type their thoughts on certain topics in the "notes" section in facebook (which functions as a blog). They can join groups pertaining to issues they support (or don't support and wish to debate on). Students could email messages to other students about homework assignments. They could post digital video or photo projects onto their websites. Not to mention, it's always good to learn technology for technology's sake (ex. typing skills, discovering new ways to communicate). Why not use a form of technology that kids are really "into" (which they are apparently already into networking sites, considering the percentages of students who already have accounts) and "trick" them into thinking they are just having fun when they are really learning! Why not take advantage of a learning tool that kids are already motivated about?

While I advocate for the use of social networking sites, I also think safety education is very important. I know that kids can hear "safety guidelines" over and over and over, but many times they don't take these things seriously until something bad happens. This is why we as parents and educators are responsible for safeguarding kids and protecting their sites from predators. I personally would not want to take the responsibility for my studnts viewing bad language etc. via Facebook or Myspace. Sites like Ning seem a lot more promising. These sites would be a lot more useful in the classroom if all students had internet access at home. However, like the PBS article said, maybe this should turn into a community issue (ex. keep the library open longer). My superintendent claims that he eventually wants each kid to have his/her own laptop to take home daily. While a great idea, I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of my kids taking a big laptop home on the bus each day...we would never see them again!

Social Networking-What Facebook means to me

From a personal standpoint, I love social networking sites like Facebook. In fact, this may be strange to say, but I really think my life would be a lot different without Facebook. This is not to say that I live through my computer, but I do rely on it for a variety of things. I communicate with old friends that I may not otherwise think to connect with. It also keeps me up-to-date on a lot of "happenings" around ASU, home, and the world! There are so many different "groups" to join for different causes you support or discussion boards to debate on certain topics. The email on facebook is easy to use, and the "wall" is nice for a quick comment. I think it's great you can write a simple hello on someone's wall without having to write a lengthly email. You can also search so many different networks and locate old childhood friends. Even if I don't care to really "reconnect," I always think it is interesting to see where people end up. Facebook is a great way of just expressing who you are in a few lines. You can sum up what is most important for others to know about you, and update it whenver you want. What I love about facebook the most is being able to download my photos to albums! It is an easy way to let all my friends know what is going on in my life. It also serves as a good back-up in case my computer dies or my hard copies disappear...they will be saved on the internet! I can look at my pictures with such ease, and it makes it easy if I'm out of town and want to show my grandparents or somebody a vacation. You can also type "notes" on facebook, which is somewhat like a blog entry. I really enjoyed facebook more when it was only open to college people, but I can definitely understand why everyone would want to use it. It is also kind of annoying to me now that they added all of these extra features...every now and then I'll get a request for some neat application, but more often than not they are annoying. All in all, I give Facebook an A++

Random

A. Even if you cite a source for a picture, it doesn't necessarily mean you're supposed to use it.
B. I made a few minor changes in my Zunal Webquest.
C. I love that I know how to make cool hyperlinks like this one to my webquest .

You know you're in the Reading program when.....

....you see the CVCC sign (for Catawba Valley Community College), and all you can think of is "consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant."

Delicious/Social Bookmarking

I really like Delicious bookmarking. I can already tell it will be very helpful for personal and educational purposes. It was so easy to sign-up! I can't believe I had never heard of sites like this before this class. Every time I think I am fairly caught up with all the new technology, there is always something new to learn! I had trouble downloading my buttons at home, (something about my toolbar) but the installation was extremely easy at school.

I was inspired by Cher's idea about making a school-wide bookmarking site. I always get so many emails about useful websites for school, but they are all lost in my email folders somewhere. I was thinking about it a lot today because I got a new teacher computer (which means my old teacher computer will be the students' new computer). I was frustrated because my Favorites won't be on my new computer. Then I remembered DELICIOUS...yay! Well, as I'm writing this Cher just told me her school-wide attempt to use Delicious didn't work, because her county didn't let her add the buttons. The buttons work at my school, though, so I'm going to give it a try. We'll see. Either way, I'm so excited about my new flat screen computer!!

Online Publishing

Check out this site on online publishing. It is an awesome ALA website that describes ways students can become authors online. It mentions several child-friendly internet resources to create digital stories, book reviews, and E-zines.

Digital Poetry

I thought of a digital idea I want to try in my class. I'm about to do a unit on poetry, and I'm going to introduce my favorite poem "Sick" by Shel Silverstein. I think it would be cool for each kid to act out part of the poem. Then I can take pictures of them and have a digital poem! I guess this is only exciting to you if you know the poem.

Update: Now that I have created a digital poem, I have been thinking about other reasons to use digital texts in my class:
-It uses less paper
-storage is easy
-easy to publish
-my students (and anyone else) can view it forever
-can be used to inform (give directions on how to do something)
-can be used to entertain (record memories from a class trip)
-can be used for struggling readers-they can read a book with auditory/visual support with the click of a button!

Communication Software

I really enjoyed making my Springdoo video (except for the whole part about having to watch and listen to myself). It was a fairly easy process compared to what I was expecting. I just had trouble figuring out how to upload it in the beginning. I hope it is as easy to use in school as it was for me at home. Some of my classmates had bad stories of how it worked one place and wouldn't work other places. When I get more comfortable with it, I want my students to send a video to our penpal in Kuwait.

I'm so proud of myself for figuring out Gaggle! When I first tried to add the user list it kept saying "file corrupt." I also felt that the site was a little confusing. It would have taken me a while to find where to go if we hadn't all been figuring it out together. On a positive note, I emailed the Gaggle people and asked them why it kept saying "file corrupt" (and expecting to get a non-helpful automated response back)....and they immediately sent me a template to download! I was so impressed! I finally got around to adding my students' user names/passwords in. We are going to start emailing as soon as I can think of some good topics to email on. Someone said literature circles, which I think it a great idea! I think the chat room could be even more beneficial than the email. I still need to learn how to work the chat room, though.

Digital Book

Here is my PowerPoint book titled "Meet Miss Cunningham." I will use it to introduce myself at the beginning of each school year. I was so excited to learn how to use PowerPoint in this way. I can't believe I wasn't taught this before now! It is so easy! I will definitely be telling my colleagues how to create digital books. I can't wait to make one in my own classroom to put on our website.

Update: I almost feel comfortable enough allowing my students to create their own "About Me" digital stories. It is pretty simple with the template. Now that I have created a "How-to" guide tutorial, I hope to teach a workshop on digital stories at my school.

Check out my tech video

Check out the technology video I put on here from Youtube. It is very powerful, and will make you want to use more technology in your classroom. Click on "A Vision of K-12 Students Today."

Class Blog!

I'm so proud of myself! I made a classroom blog at wordpress today! I'm so excited to use it with my kids. I'm going to spend a day or two just modeling how to use the site first, though, so it doesn't turn into a disaster. Tomorrow I'm going to link it to my regular class webpage so it will be easy for my kids to link to it. AND not only did I create the blog, but I used slide.com to download a slideshow of my kids! I'm about technologied-out for the night! Check it out, though. http://carolinecunningham.wordpress.com/

Update: Our classroom blog is coming along nicely! At first it was like pulling teeth to teach the kids how to get to it. Now it is linked to our school page, and the students are so used to visiting it that they never need help finding it anymore (that is an accomplishment in itself). It is very useful to me, because the kids never have to type in web addresses. They always know to go to the class blog and find the appropriate heading. This made our webquest very simple. I also used the blog to let the kids write comments about poetry before our poetry unit. I have uploaded our biome PowerPoints, our digital story, and other poems to the blog so that the parents can understand what their kids are doing. I also hope that my blog will serve as a great example for my students next year. It will be a great storage device for me, too!

My Webquest

I created a Biome Webquest through Zunal.com. My students are researching a particular biome in small groups in order to create a Powerpoint presentation for the class. I hope the Webquest will help them with their research. I tried to keep it simple, since my kids get very distracted and click everywhere they can! My quest can be viewed at the following website:
http://zunal.com/webquest.php?user=7567

Update: I was very impressed at how well my students worked on their Webquests. They were so enthralled that they were doing science in the computer lab (oh, imagine that)! Just the presentation was stimulating enough to keep many of them interested. I have a better idea of how much information I can put on future webquests. If I had put many more links on there, the kids would have lost focus. I think most of the time the fewer links the better so they will really take their time. Check out our class website to view the Biome PowerPoints they created after researching via books and the Webquest.

A funny technology Poem

http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/rememberwhen.htm
A funny technology poem

Class Webpage

So here is my class webpage. I just created it this past week, so it is still in the works. I'm just impressed that I figured this much out. Check it out!! Next year I hope to use it a lot more, and hopefully parents will check it out for homework assignments, etc.

http://qp.lincoln.k12.nc.us/QuickPlace/kiscunningham/Main.nsf/h_Toc/451552b8236632a085256f260015445f/?OpenDocument

Update: Now that I have a class blog, my webpage almost serves no purpose! My blog can do everything that the webpage can do and more! Plus, to edit my school webpage, I have to save to a template on my computer (in other words, I can't edit it unless I'm using my own computer or flash drive). I can edit my blog anywhere easily!

Projector

I finally learned how to use our school's projector in my classroom. I was kind of avoiding it because it is such a hassle trying to borrow the projector/laptop in the first place, much less trying to plug everything in etc. It actually worked very well. We were able to look at lots of videos of fractions from United Streaming (another great teaching website all teachers should use)!! I'm excited about using our projector/ELMO more. I'd like to write a grant to get one that is solely for my room to make it even easier.

As of April, I have received my own projector that I only have to share with one other teacher. We have watched several videos via United Streaming. My students have enjoyed watching their own digital PowerPoint books through it. I have also been able to better explain how to navigate through programs such as PowerPoint. Since I can teach them using our projector beforehand, we do not have to waste valuable computer lab time working out kinks. Still waiting on that promised SmartBoard!!

Smart as Springdoo

I FINALLY made my Springdoo video. It was actually very easy for me to record (no webcam problems etc.) I just wasn't uploading it correctly. So for those of you that haven't tried it yet, don't be scared! After you record, press the button that says Springcast (I was dumb and kept pressing springmail b/c I thought that was how you email it. Then, once it's downloaded, go to My Caster at the top (I think) and find the link somewhere on the page. Next, copy the link and paste it in your email to everyone through nicenet. Hope this helps!!

My video: http://www.springdoo.com/M1F9B97C10FEB6565B

I plan to use Springdoo or another type of communication software so that my students will be able to communicate with people around the world. For example, this year we have been writing to other fifth graders in Alaska and soldiers in Kuwait. It is important to me that my students see how powerful technology is, and how it can overcome thousands of miles! Not to mention, it is instant and free! Springdoo is blocked on my school computer, but I am trying to either get it unblocked or find a new type of software.

Elephant Math

Inspiration Bubble

Literacy and Technology

When I think of literacy, I think of reading and writing. I guess one of the first stages of literacy is learning beginning alphabet skills, phonemic awareness, etc. The next stage is being able to read quickly, effortlessly, and accurately. The most important goal in reading is to comprehend. Comprehension is necessary to function in society.

I'm sticking with my original definition of technology: Technology is used to make our lives easier (ex. communication, research, building bigger and better things). Although sometimes it is hard to believe when your computer crashes or when you drop your hole puncher into your screen and ruin it (don't ask). If this definition is not good enough...learn more about technology and Wikipedia it!! :)