Final Thoughts

This class went by so quickly! I can't believe we're nearing the end of the semester already. I've learned a lot, though, in the short amount of time, and I know that I will be able to transfer the knowledge gained into my classroom. Here's a summary of the assignments and some final thoughts about them:

Pageflakes Assignment: This assignment was pretty fun. I felt like I was making a digital bulletin board for my class--one that would be the "go to" site for all my students. It was easy to create, and once it's created, I can see how it would be easy to maintain. I foresee using this as the portal through which students could view Web Quests, hypermedia tutorials, etc.

Newsletter (word processing): I was so proud of this assignment! It really took some work getting Word to do what I wanted it to in terms of design, but I was really pleased with the finished product. The nice thing about working like in Word is that you don't have to know some of the more technical design elements and techniques to create an attractive newsletter for parents or students.

Blog: I was born to blog. I love blogging. I will blog until the day I die. A blog for my classroom or for parents is no exception. I think I will always maintain one. It's an easy, fun way to share what is going on in your classroom.

Inspiration: Another cool teaching tool. I enjoyed creating an interactive web for students to use as a learning tool and a model for creating their own. I think this program probably has a lot of additional uses that we didn't get to explore. I'd like to learn about those, too. My main complaint was the art you could use from was really dated looking. To update it, you'd have to have images stored elsewhere and import them to the program. That's not hard to do, but one-stop-shopping is best.

Google Docs: This was a project I wasn't too excited about at first. My experience with Google Docs was that it had less features and was more cumbersome than Word. However, the ease of being able to work on the same document from anywhere and the possibility of multiple people being able to share changes to a document make it an excellent tool for daily life and classroom life.

Hypermedia: I was really excited about this project. But I was also really disappointed with my results. I wanted the project to show the numerous ways to "read" a poem. I think I posted another hypermedia poetry project created by another teacher on my blog. He did a much better job creating an artistic experience for the viewer/reader. I'll keep playing around with this idea though. It has a lot of potential and I'd like to perfect it.

Wiki Page: This assignment was neat. I like the idea of being able to allow multiple people to access and edit a site. I also enjoyed learning about different technologies. I was especially excited to discover and research Wordle. I've been playing around with Wordle ever since.

Podcasting/Desktop Movie: I liked this assignment. Unfortunately, it was another example of being disappointed with my results. I wanted to do more with the music and sound and make that the focal piece of the movie, but just couldn't master it in time to turn it in.

Web Authoring: Creating a Web Quest lesson was fun. As I said on my last blog post, I wasn't sure about the value of a Web Quest until I started describing it to someone. The one-stop-shop assignment seems so much easier to use than stacks of handouts. Additionally, the teacher can lead students to appropriate resources.

Overall, I learned so much through this course. I almost, ALMOST, wish it could be longer so that we could spend more time on these projects and others. I can't wait to apply what I've learned to my classroom.

My Web Quest Experience

Visit my web quest page to see a lesson I designed for a high school language arts class. I have to tell you, this was TIME CONSUMING! And at first, I didn't see the benefit of a web quest at all. Couldn't I accomplish the same thing with handouts? But, as I described what a web quest was to a friend of mine, I found myself listing some of these important features:

• Links to APPROPRIATE web pages for research
• All resources are available at all times--students can't "lose" the information about the assignment
• Links throughout allow students to see how evaluation ties in with standards or process
• Parents can see exactly what was assigned, so there is nothing lost in translation
• etc.

I used Quest Garden to create mine. All the built in guides and resources were incredibly helpful. I used the 30 Day Free Trail, but I would gladly pay to use this web host, at least as a new teacher who might still need some guidance from time to time. The site had a tendency to be really slow, but the resources made the bugs worth it. At least for me.

My Video for Class

Wiki Wiki

Finally! I finished my wiki project. Next up, MOVIE! I have some fun ideas for this one!

Wiki Project in Process

I'm soooo far behind! I wish I could just turn in something half-complete so I can catch up with the class, but I can't. I get too much enjoyment from learning the skills that each project teaches to do a sub-par or incomplete version.

Anyway, here's where I'm at with my wiki. I've done the first analysis and included links, videos, and images. Tomorrow, I'll tackle the other analysis and the citations. Now, I've got to go pack lunches and do some work for work. Sigh.

Alan Watts on Life (and Education)

Wordle Poetry Image

As part of my research for my Wiki page (Which is past due, I know! Yikes!), I played around with this site. It's pretty cool if you can get your java setting and firewalls to allow you to do anything. Here's the image I got when I entered text from two of my poems.

Hypermedia Power Point Poem Experiment

Check out my hypermedia poem. It's kinda lame, but it was my first swing at it. Someday I'll perfect it, but right now I barely have time to tie my shoes.

For a much more neater hypermedia poem experience, check out this poem from the blog, Kevin's Meandering Mind. I have no idea how this guy has the time to do all that he does!

Google Docs

Click here to see my sample student grade book created with Google Docs. Fun tool. Just wish it had more formatting features!

Inspiration, Final

It's done! I found some great sound files on Writer's Almanac; taught myself how to lock portions of the file and leave other portions open to edit; and I finished it off with some embedded instructions for students and links to Dictionary.com. The result is an interactive guide to poetic elements using one poem as the main example and two additional poems as supporting examples. Audio and video links allow students to hear the poems being read so that they can dissect them aurally. I also want students to chose an image to correspond with the examples of poetic element they provide after listening to the secondary poems.

Of course, the image above is just a jpeg. But if you have Inspiration and want to interact with this assignment, let me know. I'll hook you up with the file.

Cheers (in an assignment well worth the extra effort),

Beth

Inspiration, Part 2

This is where I'm at with the project now. You can see I reorganized the poetic elements according to the effect they are supposed to have on the reader. From here, I'd like to link to some audio clips that will allow the students to experience HOW the poem affects what the reader "sees" and "hears" when you read it.

I welcome your feedback!

Inspiration

The Inspiration module is a bit more involved. Fun. Useful. But definitely more time consuming. Here's where I'm at so far. The idea is to interact directly with a specific poem to learn about poetic elements and their definitions.

Newsletter Assignment

I promised that I would publish my assignments for the class to see. I'm always true to my word. Here, for your reading pleasure (or displeasure) is my newsletter.

Pageflakes Assignment

I thought it would be fun to include links to some of my assignments here on this page. That way--assuming someone other than my instructor actually reads this page--you can see exactly what it is I'm talking about when I refer to Pageflakes or my newsletter creations.

Here's my "classroom" pagecast on Pageflakes. There's a lot that can be done with Pageflakes. I highly recommend you check it out.

According to their web site, Pageflakes, the social personalized homepage, is revolutionizing how we how we start with and use the Internet. You can easily customize the Internet and make it yours using ‘”Flakes” – small, movable versions of all of your web favorites that you can arrange on your personal homepage. You can also participate in the Pageflakes community, sharing your page as a “Pagecast” with a private group or with the world, and connecting with other users across the globe. Over 235,000 Flakes and 140,000 Pagecasts are available for thousands of uses and interests, including Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, news, sports, e-mail, local events, search, photos, music, videos – even interactive tools like a calendar and a to-do list – and just about anything else you do on the web at school, work and at home. The Pageflakes user community creates and helps each other discover more new Flakes and Pagecasts every day.

Pageflakes has thousands of Flakes (widgets or modules) including Facebook, a universal News Search, YouTube, Twitter, message board, blog, and hundreds of RSS feeds to choose from. Design and create a page that you can have for yourself or share with anyone you choose.

Cheers (to the flakes),
Beth

Teaching to the Techno Beat

I'm so excited! And I just can't hide it!

I know. I know. Enough with the Pointer Sisters. But let me at least tell you why I'm so excited.

It's this class! From the Pageflakes assignment to this blog assignment, I'm experimenting with fun ways to bring technology to and use technology in the classroom. The resources available to teachers on the Internet is seemingly endless. (Though you do have to exercise discretion and web savvy when looking for resources, or risk accidentally including some less-than-appropriate content into your materials.) I've really enjoyed scoping out blogs by other teachers, surfing Teacher Tube, and learning how I can create a web portal designed specifically to fit my students' needs. I've played with Toonlet in order to present a "fun" look at semicolons in my newsletter. I've found lesson plan resources from highly credible sources. All in all, this learning experience has been a blast. And, it's one in which the real-world application is obvious. Maybe that's the most exciting prospect of all.

Cheers (to technology),
Beth