*Digital Storytelling*

Digital Storytelling is another option of telling stories using technology. The stories can be about anything and everything but should be appropriate. Digital storytelling uses the available tools of the computer and Internet, and morphs it with words and narration, with the final outcome being an interesting multi-media mix of images and voice. Numerous tools can be used to create a digital story from a basic powerpoint to dedicated digtal-story program. What is awesome about digital story telling is that it can be used in all subjects and across the curriculum!
Ideas
Source:http://www.eaglepnt.k12.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=1894

Beginning of the year-

• make a movie to introduce yourself (this can be posted to the internet so others may view it later)
• have student make a movie of a rule(s)
• show off student work from last year (work can be digital photos or scanned)

Social Studies

• student can make a movie of historical event or person
• plan a dream vacation. Pick a country to visit and discuss/list information, pictures, how to get there, etc. 
• story about how to make a traditional meal

Science

• student can make movie to show growth of organism and explain what is going on

Math

• student can explain how problem was solved (each step can be scanned)

General

• students can make a review of sections of the unit or key concepts; then they can be posted to the web as a study guide
• if some work is shown and explained this may help students and parents understand what the expectations are

LA

• Digital Story Telling- Anyone can draw their own pictures (have them scanned), use their own photos, or get pictures online then narrate their story.  The story can be fictitious or true.  How about getting rid of the “What I did during My Summer Vacation” essay and allow them to bring in photos and use PhotoStory 3 to “tell” about their summer.  If they don’t have photos they can be found online.
• Poetry- record one line on a picture
  
  
  10 Tools for Digital Storytelling in the Classroom
  Source: http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2011/06/10-tools-for-digital-storytelling-in-class/

Global Education Communities

As I started my search to see what is out there for our students to connect globally I first went to google. I typed in "connecting students globally" in the search engine and came across ePals. 


"ePals is the world's largest K-12 learning network. ePals is the leading provider of safe collaborative technology for schools to connect and learn in a protected, project-based learning network. With classrooms in 200 countries and territories, ePals makes it easy to connect learners locally, nationally or internationally."Our global community reaches more than 600.000 educators and millions of students in over 200 countries and territories. ePals technology enables these learners, who speak over 136 different languages, to connect, share, collaborate and learn.Membership in ePals Global Community is free, including the use of ePals safe and secure email platform, and access to all ePals collaborative projects and thousands of classrooms world wide with which to do them. ePals also offers select premium services for a fee."


You can search random classrooms around the world or certain classroom with a particular project or topic. You can limit your search down by age as well. When you find a classroom you like you contact them. There is a lot of information about the site and a lot of other things to do on it. What a great resource!

Food for Thought-Educational Blogs

As my internship is soon approaching I have been thinking about having my own classroom. I have been writing down ideas about teaching and my classroom setup/environment and I am excited to see how my host teacher does things. That being said, I read three articles by Angela Bunyi from the scholastic.com site. The articles discussed classroom design, classroom library, and classroom management. 

Classroom Design
by Angela Bunyi 
Expert teacher, Angela Bunyi, presents six easy recommendations for setting up your classroom.

I liked how Angela made gave her classroom a homey feeling. The lamps and soft furniture are great ideas. I thought it was interesting that she said she "got rid of her teacher's desk". I don't think I will do that but I definitely want to put my desk somewhere that won't be a focal point. I want my classroom to be about my students. 

A Balanced Classroom Library
by Angela Bunyi 
Angela provides tips for setting up large classroom libraries to help students self-select books.

I was never the biggest fan of reading but after taking child's literature class (Early Childhood requirement) I fell in love with reading! Thanks Hilary Seitz! Building a great library has been a goal of mine and Angela presented some great ideas. One thing I learned is that a lot of times kids pick books by the covers (even I do that) so it's a good idea to put them in bins with the covers facing out forward. 

Classroom Management Based on Trust
by Angela Bunyi 
Classroom management strategies based on mutual trust work well in Angela's classroom.

One of the most important things I have been wanting to learn is good, class management; this was one of my goals for internship as well. I think you can be the greatest teacher and know your "stuff" but if you can't keep your class under control, it will be a little hard to teach (and learn for the students). One of the main things Angela discusses in this post is "rewards" for class management. She is not a fan of bribing kids with stickers, food, etc. or using punishment. Rewards is something I go back and worth on. It will be something that I will have to work with or experiment with and decide in teaching. I do like how Angela stated how she likes to do "a random reward" and I definitely think I will do something like this. Angela said "I love good surprises. Just for the heck of it. Like last year when it was really cold, I placed a nice hot cup of coco on each child's desk before school started. And yes, I threw in some candy stirrers and marshmallows too. Or I'll just say, "Hey, we need a PJ day." It seems more fun to me that way, and when I provide this upfront, the kids stay happy. I don't want to dangle the carrot along. I just hand the carrot first and know they will appreciate me more and go further knowing this."

Assistive Technology

It has been estimated that 54 million people or 20.6 percent of all Americans have some level of disability (standards.gov). Assistive technology helps make life easier for people with disabilities. Assistive technology (AT) can be defined as any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities (standards.gov). Assistive technology is not only something that runs by a computer but it can also be something concrete like rails or low, custom furniture.

A few examples include:

• Toilets and showers equipped with grab bars for persons who may fall easily or require supports
• A computer that can be programmed to talk for individuals who cannot speak
• Wheelchairs, both manual and power, for individuals who cannot walk due to paralysis or weakness in their legs
• Hearing aids and other amplification devices for individuals with hearing loss
• Large screen computers for individuals with visual problems
• Devices that operate lamps, radios and other appliances through a remote control switching device, that might be attached to a person's wheelchair (standards.gov)

Not only has assistive technology made daily life easier for people with disabilities but it has greatly helped in education too. School districts are required under law to provide appropriate AT to students with disabilities under the IDEA act. IDEA says AT can be a service or a device and that is must be provided for free by the school (after there has been an IEP). Deaf and hard of hearing is a common disability in schools. There are a variety of tools to help with this disability. They include: hearing aids,hearing implants,sound amplifiers, speech amplifiers, lip and speech learning programs, electronic sign language dictionaries, sign flashcards, text telephone, and many more. A child might also have a signal dog or a "communication aid person" as services.

I will incorporate awarness of AT in my teaching by keeping up on the latest devices and services; reading articles, visiting webinars, communicating with the resource teacher in my school and other staff, and possibly going to a conference. I will keep a record of resources for families as well. As I teacher I want to provide the best practice, experience, and environment for my students and part of the solution is to learn about the different resources out there. I think it's a good idea to learn about your students before the school year begins and see if there are any devices or services that any of the students will be using, this way you are prepared to help them. 

References:

http://standards.gov/standards_gov/assistiveTechnology.cfm

http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/ATBasics/Foundation/intro/index.php

http://www.abledata.com/abledata.cfm?pageid=19327&top=13436&deep=2&trail=22&ksectionid=19327

http://medgadget.com/2005/04/nanoscience_mee.html

Resources: 

http://atlaak.org/ Assistive Technology of Alaska. It provides webinars and other information about AT.

http://www.abledata.com/abledata.cfm?pageid=19327&ksectionid=19327 tells about the different products out there and where to find them for different types of disabilities

Skype: Great Tech Tool

I have been hearing about Skype for sometime now and have always wanted to try it; this assignment was the perfect opportunity for me to look into it. Skype is a software that allows you to make calls over the internet and it's free! You can also video with people and chat too. Over 30 million people are using Skype and it has become a hit worldwide. Families, friends, and the rest of the world can connect with each other where ever they are.  I am really excited to try out Skype with my family in Russia. My uncle has had it for awhile and has been asking us to get it. I haven't seen him and his family since I moved here 16 years ago. 


Not only is Skype a great way to connect with people but it is a great teaching tool. Many teachers are implementing Skype in their classroom and are using it for a number of purposes. Below is a link I listed that discusses 50 ways Skype can be used in a classroom. Some of my favorite ideas were: connecting with an author or artist the class has been studying, inviting guest speakers, learning another language from people across the world, connecting with students who are ill, and lastly but not least taking a field trip!


Two video 's: first one explains Skype and the second ones shows how to use it

http://youtu.be/m1mflr-kQlk

http://youtu.be/KH80vs8DweU

Link: 

50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom

There were 5 categories and each one had great ideas and links:

• Promoting Education
• Promoting Community
• Skype Ideas for Teachers and Parents
• Resources for Getting Started and Using Skype
• Finding Others Using Skype

http://www.teachingdegree.org/2009/06/30/50-awesome-ways-to-use-skype-in-the-classroom/

Connecting Classroom Blogs

I followed Heather, Rochelle, Brianna, and Peter this week. After looking at my classmates blogs I learned that even though they all looked different we all have the same theme of using the blogs to better equip ourselfs for teaching. I noticed everyone is reading articles and looking at resources and taking away beneficial information from them. I like the idea of blogs and sharing them with classmates because we can see how everyone is  interpreting information; it's a good way to see other perspectives and get ideas.

I also followed the scholastic blog. Since there are many authors on this blog I chose to look at an article called " Planning a Productive Summer for You and Your Students" by Beth Newingham.

Here is the link:

http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2011/06/planning-a-productive-summer-for-you-and-your-students.html

Beth Newingham is an elementary teacher who is partnered with Scholastic; she publishes articles for them. Newingham presented 10 great ideas for the summer but my favorite part was her own classroom library! She posted a short virtual video on how she sets up her library. This was really interesting to me because I have taken a few literature classes already (and am taking one right now) and I have been hooked on children's literature and read alouds. I liked this author a lot so I checked out her blog and she has many great posting and ideas! I found a neat resource that she uses. It is called "Teacher Book Wizard" and it helps you find reading levels for books (and other books tools as well). 

Here's the link directly to her library video:

http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2009/10/classlibrary.html

Here's the link for the book wizard:

http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do 

Just thought I would also share a great book I just read about reading (which I'm sure a number of you have already read).

Source: http://onceuponagoodtime.com/2009/05/25/reading-magic-family-summer-reading-program/

Copyright

I read the article called Copyright 101 for Educators: Winter 2003 by Wesley A. Fryer. The main thing I knew about copyright before reading more about it is that it is illegal to use other people's work. I didn't realize how severe and in depth the laws were about copyright. If you barrow anything from the internet or anywhere else you need permission from the person who produced the work. Teachers and students use other people's work being it for making lesson plans or doing a research paper. Copyright knowledge becomes important in teaching. Teacher's have a responsibly to educate the students about the wrong and right of using people's work. Fair Use is a guideline for teachers about copyright laws. In the article Fryer discussed the four factors to be considered when determining fair use:

1)the purpose  and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

2)the nature of copyrighted work

3)the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

4)the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Understanding that I will be using Fair Use in education I would like to learn more about it.