Artifact 2: Book Trailer

Creating a book trailer was my favorite assignment from this class.  I love making video slideshows of family pictures and am very familiar with iMovie.  However, I never thought of using it to create a book trailer.  I created a trailer of a book I was going to use as a read aloud in my classroom.  I played it for my students and they couldn't wait for me to start reading the book.  It was a great way to get them hooked.  In a couple of weeks, my students are going to create their own book trailers for a book they read.  Then I'll be creating QR codes so they can easily see their classmates trailers as well.  The kids are so excited, I know some of them are already secretly creating trailers because they just can't wait to use this fun technology.

Lifeboat 12

Artifact 1: Creating a Screencast

Creating a screencast was the most intimidating aspect of this class.  However, it really wasn't that hard.  Yes, I had to try it a couple of times, and yes I still find things that could be better about it, but I'm super proud that I did it and now I'm inspired to make more.  One way I plan on using this technology in the future is to show students who are absent from class how to do their assignment at home or as a tutorial for parents who want to help their child at home.  Both of these would be a powerful way to use screencasts in the classroom.  The one I created was to show parents how to log onto Seesaw.  Next year, I will post this to my newsletter so that parents have a resource in case they don't know how to get started.  I also think having students make screencasts for their First Grade buddies on how to do use a certain application would make them feel so good.  Here's mine!

Multimedia Tools in Education Reflection

This class really challenged me to try out some technology tools I had never used before or even thought about using in the classroom.  Podcasts and screencasts always seemed very intimidating to me and something I always thought only others did.  Learning how to create them so that I can use them to enhance my students' learning was mind opening.  Now I am thinking about a million different ways I can utilize screencasts to support student learning and even assist the parents of my students.  I also think having students create them would be a great way for them to teach each other - once again showing what they know.

I also found great power in learning about audio recordings in the classroom.  Understanding the research behind students listening to books and the great vocabulary, complex story plots, and fluent reading they're exposed to when putting on the headphones, made me feel better about letting and even encouraging my students to listen to books.  In fact, it reminded me to encourage my reluctant readers to give it a try.  One student was so proud of the fact that he finished a book that he came in with a big smile on his face and couldn't wait to check out another Play-away from our MRC.

Finally, I enjoyed the chance to explore graphic design tools.  I had never used Google Draw before and trying it out gave me another tool that I can now use to make classroom posters, flyers, and art for websites and student handouts.  Plus, I can see the value of teaching my students to use it as well.  Students love to use technology and seeing the wonderful pictures they can make using it, only encourages them and helps keep them engaged.  For those who find drawing with paper and pencil to be difficult, using graphic design tools opens up a whole new window of opportunity to be creative and proud of their work.  My goal is to continue to create more of my own original artwork for classroom posters and learn how to print them on our poster printer.  That way, I can tailor them to my students and what our classroom community needs.

Incorporating Graphic Design in the Classroom

Being able to create graphics using tech tools today is comparable to being able to color inside the lines back when I was a kid. It's a skill students need to have in this digital age.  Thank goodness it's a fun one for most kids and thanks to all the evolving tech tools available, it's getting easier and easier to do in the classroom.  I love creating things that are visually pleasing but it does take time.  I would certainly like to create and share more graphics with my students since having key visuals really does help, but more importantly giving them the tools and time to create their own is crucial.  By having students create their own graphic designs around their learning, we're supporting them as they learn in different ways.  This not only appeals to our creative and visual learners, but to all learners.

As a society, we're expected to absorb and react to information at a neck-breaking pace.  Visuals allow us to do that.  That's why the saying, "a picture tells a thousand words," is so true.  Having a visual helps us have an anchor for our knowledge and a way to organize and retrieve it from our brain.  So as we're looking to support the learners in our classroom, having common visuals to refer to, or asking students to make their own, is definitely one way to help our students cement their knowledge.

Myself and another teacher co-sponsor our school's student council.  We host school events throughout the year, and advertising for them is a big part of that.  I made the image on the left in Pages for a parent flyer for our STEAM night.  We needed a logo that wasn't copyrighted and we wanted it to be uniquely ours.  What's funny is that I made this, and then a student made a hand drawing.  Neither one of us had seen the each other's work.  Look at how similar they are! Teaching our student council members some of these tech tools for graphic design seems like our next activity!  We certainly have some very creative and talented students who would love to learn how to make cool graphics.  Student Council ended up using both of these on posters and thank you notes.  Isn't there just something about kids' drawings that make them so endearing?

My graphic design

Student's Beautiful Artwork

Artifact 2: Using Padlet to Collaborate

The most favorite and most challenging collaborative activity was Classroom Connection assignment.  In this assignment, I chose to work with a teacher friend of mine from awhile ago.  We paired up our fourth and first grade classes to learn about Keystone Species.  My fourth graders worked on researching and writing about different animals that were keystone species and the first graders asked questions about them.  The last step was to have my fourth graders reply back to the first graders with a video response.  The kids really loved sharing their learning and becoming the experts on the animals and ecosystems.  Knowing that first graders would be looking at their art, asking questions, and then listening to their video responses provided an authentic audience for my students.  It encouraged them to do their best work and really take pride in it.  Here's the link to the Padlet we used: https://padlet.com/ringstrup/n2ca3vfxrj6n

In reflecting on this activity, I think I might use Flipgrid next time because of the ease of the video feature, but I like how the first graders were able to post their questions in response to the fourth graders' artwork of their animal.  This was my first try at connecting with another class outside of my own school.  It was a little intimidating at first, but now that I've tried it, I can see so many other ways to use this kind of connection to bring learning to life for my students.  This first grade class was similar to the students that I teach other than their age.  I would love to connect with a class in another country or socioeconomic status to help my students also gain empathy as well as knowledge about other cultures.

Artifact 1: Collaboration using Google Slides

One of the collaborative activities I plan to do with my students is based on the nonfiction reading we did during our guided reading groups.  Students read about the transcontinental railroad and other engineering accomplishments such as the Erie Canal and the Hoover Dam.  Our essential question being: What are the effects of technology on people and the environment?  This activity would require students to work together to evaluate American engineering marvels and choose one to create a slideshow presentation on.  Students would then have a chance to vote on the engineering marvels for a special display in the Museum of Science and Industry.    
                                         https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zwsSawtKkLzRTm-  
                                         u992VaQVuG48xXJTiNBWD3wnwJ7Y/edit?usp=sharing

I can't wait to do this with my students because it requires them to think deeply about the reading that they have already done and then go back to research more.  Then as a group they must evaluate and decide together to support one engineering marvel as the best.  This requires them to find support for their opinion and be persuasive.  The discussions will be rich and meaningful and the collaborative nature of this activity will be highly engaging for students.  

Collaborative Web Tools in Education Class Reflection

            My journey continues and this time leading me even further outside my classroom's physical walls.  Learning about collaborative technology tools has allowed me to see how it's now possible for my students to easily collaborate with each other.  I have always been a teacher who worked to design projects and learning where students could work together because collaborating brings so many advantages to the classroom: discussing, deeper thinking, sharing, cooperating, decision making, and evaluating.  In the past, this always had to be done face-to-face.  Now students can use tools like Google Suites to collaborate with each other and even with students in other classrooms.  Real-time internet based applications let students see each others' work, chat ideas, and work together at any time and anywhere.  This is mind blowing and opens the doors to so many possibilities!  Taking this class allowed me to learn about new tools to do this effectively and gave me the chance to apply them in my classroom.  I have learned some of the great applications of these tools and also some of their limits.  As I've tried them in my classroom, I've also learned better ways to manage the use of these tools and leverage them for the best and most efficient learning opportunities.