I was a member of Edutopia this past year and became active in discussing ideas and interventions with other teachers through the forum. Edutopia is part of the George Lucas Educational Foundation that provides educators with current methods, models, videos and lesson planning materials.
One specific area of interest I looked at was project based learning in the classroom. I was able to read specific articles that shared teacher's experiences about what worked and what didn't work and how collaborative settings can enhance learning and social interactions. I was able to discuss with other educators through the online blog questions I had as well as browse through a library full of resources.
Edutopia Website
An article entitled, "Project-Based Learning: Real-World Issues Motivate Students" showed me some really neat project-based learning activities other teachers were doing in their classroom. Seeing activities first-hand through gave me some ideas to adapt and use in my own classes. Read the article and see the videos here.
As an Edutopia member, I received weekly emails that shared "hot topics" in education and resources to utilize through the website. I plan to continue my membership and read through Edutopia's resources continually for leading research and instructional activities. Overall, being a part of this online community was beneficial to me and my practice.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
IEP-Garage Band
For my IEP, I chose to learn Garage Band. Garage Band is a Mac application that allows you to create music tracks or podcasts. I decided on Garage Band because I knew students were interested in the program and I wanted to find a way I could use it to help them begin professional authorship. I had seen my students play with it to record songs and had once played with the musical options but became quickly overwhelmed.
After my learning experience, I then created a series of lesson plans that incorporate the use of Garage Band to create a podcast that shares a family story. I started by playing with the application. I read and viewed a few useful sites to help me get acquainted with the program and to guide my exploration. Specifically, Dave Jackel's video tutorial from eHow.com was very helpful. View the video here.
His lesson on exporting was also very helpful. View it here.
After exploring and getting familiar with the functions and buttons, I then worked on my script for my recording. I recorded a story my mother told me about a seal's spirit when she taught me how to cut a seal. I then added an introduction and story background. Finally, I exported it and published it as a podcast file.
Using what I had learned and this podcast idea, I created a unit for my Yup'ik I class on Preserving Family Stories. Storytelling is a powerful educational tool and is rooted in Yup'ik traditions of the oral tradition. In designing these lesson plans I had to keep in mind modeling and being explicit about direction and expectations for the development of the story project.
View my lesson plans here for my unit: Preserving Family Stories Using Podcasts
Taking the time to learn Garage Band was extremely beneficial. I was finally able to have a comfortable grasp over the application and its abilities. I plan to teach this unit this year and think my students will really enjoy the creation of their podcast. Learning this program has also opened up an array of possibilities to record Yuraq (Eskimo dancing) songs and Elder interviews. I'm very excited to incorporate other ways to use it in my classroom!
After my learning experience, I then created a series of lesson plans that incorporate the use of Garage Band to create a podcast that shares a family story. I started by playing with the application. I read and viewed a few useful sites to help me get acquainted with the program and to guide my exploration. Specifically, Dave Jackel's video tutorial from eHow.com was very helpful. View the video here.
His lesson on exporting was also very helpful. View it here.
After exploring and getting familiar with the functions and buttons, I then worked on my script for my recording. I recorded a story my mother told me about a seal's spirit when she taught me how to cut a seal. I then added an introduction and story background. Finally, I exported it and published it as a podcast file.
Using what I had learned and this podcast idea, I created a unit for my Yup'ik I class on Preserving Family Stories. Storytelling is a powerful educational tool and is rooted in Yup'ik traditions of the oral tradition. In designing these lesson plans I had to keep in mind modeling and being explicit about direction and expectations for the development of the story project.
View my lesson plans here for my unit: Preserving Family Stories Using Podcasts
Taking the time to learn Garage Band was extremely beneficial. I was finally able to have a comfortable grasp over the application and its abilities. I plan to teach this unit this year and think my students will really enjoy the creation of their podcast. Learning this program has also opened up an array of possibilities to record Yuraq (Eskimo dancing) songs and Elder interviews. I'm very excited to incorporate other ways to use it in my classroom!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Digital Story
The creation of the story started with a simple idea. I was sitting in the living room thinking about the possibilities and applications for my classroom, then my daughter woke for her evening feed. As I was feeding her, I thought about creating a story for her, a piece that I could share and she could now tell. I chose to to create a digital story in the form of a letter to my daughter Mazlyn.
Creating the digital story was an amazing writing and publishing experience, however, I wasn't pleased with the final product. I had higher expectations but felt that the story didn't come together as I would have liked it too. I had planned to use it to share a personal narrative with my students but then I thought maybe the content was too personal for the classroom because it spoke to my religious views. Though I'm not for certain I would use this specific video for my class model, the process helped familiarize me with the creation of a story.
View my script here.
I edited and revised my written narrative then created a story table to organize the imaging alongside my story, picking photos from my own collection and borrowing a few from online sources. I did find areas to edit as I recorded and made necessary changes as I went through the recording. As I listened to my story, I found areas to add pictures to evoke a stronger meaning.
View my story table here.
Lastly, I began creating the story through iMovie, choosing my backgrounds, adjusting the timing and function styles, and then editing.
I also created a rubric to use in my classroom with students to create a digital story based on their Personal Narrative.
View my rubric here.
Here is my digital story, entitled, Dear Mazlyn.
Creating the digital story was an amazing writing and publishing experience, however, I wasn't pleased with the final product. I had higher expectations but felt that the story didn't come together as I would have liked it too. I had planned to use it to share a personal narrative with my students but then I thought maybe the content was too personal for the classroom because it spoke to my religious views. Though I'm not for certain I would use this specific video for my class model, the process helped familiarize me with the creation of a story.
View my script here.
I edited and revised my written narrative then created a story table to organize the imaging alongside my story, picking photos from my own collection and borrowing a few from online sources. I did find areas to edit as I recorded and made necessary changes as I went through the recording. As I listened to my story, I found areas to add pictures to evoke a stronger meaning.
View my story table here.
Lastly, I began creating the story through iMovie, choosing my backgrounds, adjusting the timing and function styles, and then editing.
I also created a rubric to use in my classroom with students to create a digital story based on their Personal Narrative.
View my rubric here.
Here is my digital story, entitled, Dear Mazlyn.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Philosophy of Education
Creating my Philosophy of Education video was less daunting than I expected it to be from a technical perspective. I reflected deeper into my personal philosophy while constructing the final edits and organization of the images alongside my audio. Providing the visual component brought life to my philosophy as a living document. I took images from the last 5 years of my interactions with kids in schools and specifically a Children's Book Unit I taught that I felt was very successful and representative of my philosophy of education.
I must say that using iMovie was easier than I expected it to be and once I took the time to play and understand all the "buttons", the movie started to fall in to place. I learned to be patient during the editing process just like editing a written piece. I learned how to successfully create my own philosophy video that represents me and my teaching.
I've used iMovie with my students but feel that putting this together has taught me more efficient and focused ways to use it in my classroom. I hope to definitely incorporate activities in which students actively write, publish and create using the tool. This project could be adapted for students to create a video based on their personal narratives written in class.
You can view my video here:
Or you can watch it live in B-6...
I must say that using iMovie was easier than I expected it to be and once I took the time to play and understand all the "buttons", the movie started to fall in to place. I learned to be patient during the editing process just like editing a written piece. I learned how to successfully create my own philosophy video that represents me and my teaching.
I've used iMovie with my students but feel that putting this together has taught me more efficient and focused ways to use it in my classroom. I hope to definitely incorporate activities in which students actively write, publish and create using the tool. This project could be adapted for students to create a video based on their personal narratives written in class.
You can view my video here:
Or you can watch it live in B-6...
Monday, May 2, 2011
Energy Conservation Project
Our assignment was to use the research method to analyze energy consumption in our life. I chose to look closer at my driving habit and to determine how much fuel I'd save if I walked to work than than drove. I asked myself, "How many gas and money can I save by walking to and from school everyday?"
Honestly, I became a lot more aware of my energy consuming habits after this project. Fuel is an expensive energy consumable right now selling at $5.65 per gallon in Bethel. I've had never really taken into account our (husband and I) daily fuel consumption and how much fuel we use driving to and from work.
I was proud that I saved just about $30 and five gallons of fuel that month by walking to work. Clearly, in the long run I could save myself up to $350 a year if I walked to and from year if I walked to and from work each month. Even just walking during four months out of our school year would save considerably. Not only did I conserve fuel and expenses, I also gained physical benefit by exercising six days out of my week. Of course, it took ten minutes longer to get to work, however, the benefits far out-weighed the slight inconveniences. By walking, I started each day with a fresh perspective and felt better all-around. After school, walking home gave me a chance to reflect and unwind from the day's emotion and events.
I chose to perform this experiment during our fall season. Clearly, gas consumption rises during the winter months due to the falling temperatures and the need to "warm-up" the truck before driving to school. It would be interesting to compare fall and spring semester's energy savings. The price of gas and consumption of fuel just continues to add up and you realize how much you really could save.
Saving our truck four miles each day doesn't seem like much of a factor but when I weighed in the larger picture, it was clear how much of a difference walking can be. Walking four miles a day wasn't so bad. It wasn't just good for our earth, it was good for my health!
Reflection on presentation of video:
I literally was LOLing and shrieking OMG when I watched myself. I have some awkward tones and can tend to talk fast. Sometimes, I noticed myself looking into other parts of the room and not focused on my audience (the camera=students). I wonder if I do this unconsciously in my classroom when I deliver lessons?
Thank goodness we weren't required to post this video! All in all, it was a very effective reflection tool to help me "see myself" though a pretty straightforward lens! I am going to take the advice and do this every year, maybe even quarterly!
Download my project report here.
Download my PowerPoint presentation here.
Honestly, I became a lot more aware of my energy consuming habits after this project. Fuel is an expensive energy consumable right now selling at $5.65 per gallon in Bethel. I've had never really taken into account our (husband and I) daily fuel consumption and how much fuel we use driving to and from work.
I was proud that I saved just about $30 and five gallons of fuel that month by walking to work. Clearly, in the long run I could save myself up to $350 a year if I walked to and from year if I walked to and from work each month. Even just walking during four months out of our school year would save considerably. Not only did I conserve fuel and expenses, I also gained physical benefit by exercising six days out of my week. Of course, it took ten minutes longer to get to work, however, the benefits far out-weighed the slight inconveniences. By walking, I started each day with a fresh perspective and felt better all-around. After school, walking home gave me a chance to reflect and unwind from the day's emotion and events.
I chose to perform this experiment during our fall season. Clearly, gas consumption rises during the winter months due to the falling temperatures and the need to "warm-up" the truck before driving to school. It would be interesting to compare fall and spring semester's energy savings. The price of gas and consumption of fuel just continues to add up and you realize how much you really could save.
Saving our truck four miles each day doesn't seem like much of a factor but when I weighed in the larger picture, it was clear how much of a difference walking can be. Walking four miles a day wasn't so bad. It wasn't just good for our earth, it was good for my health!
Reflection on presentation of video:
I literally was LOLing and shrieking OMG when I watched myself. I have some awkward tones and can tend to talk fast. Sometimes, I noticed myself looking into other parts of the room and not focused on my audience (the camera=students). I wonder if I do this unconsciously in my classroom when I deliver lessons?
Thank goodness we weren't required to post this video! All in all, it was a very effective reflection tool to help me "see myself" though a pretty straightforward lens! I am going to take the advice and do this every year, maybe even quarterly!
Download my project report here.
Download my PowerPoint presentation here.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Internet Resources
Useful Internet Resources
Going online is an everyday practice, taking attendance on Power School, checking email, entering grades into Power Grade. It's all part of a daily routine. Reading online news to know the latest local, state, national and even world events. I use a variety of websites online that aid my instruction but which ones are the best and most useful in my profession now?
I teach 9th grade Reading and Writing as separate classes and have a vibrant group of students eager to read new and interesting literature. We are always reading rich stories and writing about our lives and topics that are connected to us. Having a library of supplementary resources to access and use immediately is really useful throughout each unit. These are the top three sites that I regularly to aid my instruction and planning:
1. Teen Ink
2. WritingFix
3. Slideshare
Here's why...
1. Teen Ink-- http://www.teenink.com
Teen Ink is a colorful and interactive site that allows teenage writers to begin publishing and reviewing a variety of writing. All genres of writing including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, persuasive are represented. Students can submit work to be published online and may also be featured in their publication. One of the peer- features I like about is that it allow students to participate in active responding and receive immediate feedback from readers across the nation. Teen Ink places them in an environment of talking about writing and publishing as young professionals. It’s also a great site to use for modeling and editing.
Anyone can access the site but in order to share and respond to published writing, one needs to set up an account with their email address and create a Teen Ink identity through a username. It is a fairly easy one step process.
In my classroom, I’ve used the site as a way to introduce professional online publishing and responding. Students submit their personal narratives, poetry, book and movie reviews, as well as, read and comment on others writing. At left, one of my student's personal narrative was published, and she shares her story of her "Uppi" (In Yup'ik, grandfather is translated in the word Apa). She calls her Apa, "Uppi".
The site has also encouraged young writers of literature and poetry to submit their work on a regular basis.
2. The Northern Nevada Writing Project and WritingFix-- http://writingfix.com
Generating fast-write prompts daily for my students is necessary in our writing classroom. WritingFix has an online prompt generator that is a quick and easy way to find a prompt for the day that may relate to the unit you are teaching. Not only does it offer a wide variety that appeals to all types of personalities, it offers fun and interactive 6+1 Trait resources for drafting and revision that teach the traits using online instruction and downloadable materials.
One of my f
avorite items that I’ve borrowed is the trait post-it notes that are can be used as a self-responding or peer-reviewing check-off (example at left). The students find it easy to respond to the checklist and students starts to communicate and generate new ideas. There are also lessons and websites posted by model teachers that correlate with writing units you may be teaching. The writing program itself is based out of Nevada but has spread to further audiences.3. Slideshare-- http://www.slideshare.net
Slideshare offers free viewing of many different content area lessons and provides teachers with guided presentations to help instruct and train you to deliver a great lesson. Many varieties of presentations are shared and a written script of the presentation is also published below the slideshow. The slideshow plays as a movie with a direct fast-forwarding feature to flip through slides.
ous authors and pieces of literature, Slideshare is useful to provide students with a visual method of learning by seeing images and reading important facts and information. You can upload your own presentations created on PowerPoint (or other presentation applications including even imovie) to also contribute to the sharing of presentations with people of many professional backgrounds. It is compatible with sharing document, PDFs and videos, making it a great resource for research, connecting with others and sharing ideas.One more notable site that I have to mention:
This I Believe-- http://thisibelieve.org
Based on the old 1950s NPR program "This I Believe", it was a radio show hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow. During the sorrow of the Cold War and racial tension, the radio show encouraged essays that shared guiding life principles. Today, though the radio show no longer exists, this site houses all the archived essays and audio recordings. You can search by theme to find a related essay by people like Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Tony Hawk, and Muhammed Ali. These essays are a great resource that allows the students to experience a live reading from the author that heightens the normal reading experience.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
School tech culture
Below is the link to access my "Anthropological Assessment" of the technology culture at my school (Bethel Regional High School).
View it here.
Technology is such a powerful, useful tool in my classroom that I depend on using each day. It is part of what I teach now in hopes of my students becoming responsible composers, researchers, networkers, and investigators. Even further, it expands their creativity and learning, becoming stronger readers, writers and thinkers.
This assignment helped me realize all the potential with our current technology offered at our school, and more importantly, the opportunity I have to further learn and teach my students through multi-media literacy projects. Despite the limitations we do have with network/connectivity issues and the demand for more technology, we are so privileged to have our current resources.
View it here.
Technology is such a powerful, useful tool in my classroom that I depend on using each day. It is part of what I teach now in hopes of my students becoming responsible composers, researchers, networkers, and investigators. Even further, it expands their creativity and learning, becoming stronger readers, writers and thinkers.
This assignment helped me realize all the potential with our current technology offered at our school, and more importantly, the opportunity I have to further learn and teach my students through multi-media literacy projects. Despite the limitations we do have with network/connectivity issues and the demand for more technology, we are so privileged to have our current resources.
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