Teaching Someone Something Using Technology

I am so excited about my first library video. I was teaching the K5 how to check books out all by themselves. I decided that would make a wonderful video that I could use again and again. My kids were excited to be a part of it as well. It will also be on my library blog. I wanted to mention that I uploaded it to teachertube.com instead of youtube. Penelope and I had to do our podcast on if we felt teachertube could be useful to teachers or not. I SAY YES!

Podcast Project

Teacher Tube

Vocaroo

Here is a short message I recorded on Vocaroo to post on my Library Blog. I love how easy this was to do. I also love that it was free! Yeah for free!

Final Comments4kids

Week 13 I commented on several students from Rm 10 Pt. England Elementary School as they recited their Mihi in Maouri. I was really impressed with their efforts although I could not understand what they were saying. Eric was concentrating so hard on saying his speech and it showed in his facial expressions. Semi had a really hard time eating squishy noodles with chopsticks. I never get tired of commenting on kids work. They need that positive reinforcement that what they are doing is good.

My final comments for kids was Kobe at Pt England School. Kobe seems to be a very intelligent boy. He has a wonderful vocabulary. He is only nine and was using words like tactical, cautiously, and opponent to describe his recent Capture the flag game. I was very impressed and I told him so.

April 25, 2010

This was one of my favorite assignments. I was really WOWED by this 7th grade student and her PLE. I need her to come to my house and show me how to get this organized. She sounded so much older than her age. She really knows her stuff and she seemed like she enjoyed school. I was also impressed with her school. I loved that her assignments were on the computer and she just came in everyday and got busy. Self motivation is a wonderful thing to teach children. I also loved that she was emailing scientist in other parts of the country to check her work for accurancy. (He should be responding quickly. Shame on him!) She is well on her way to being a successful high schooler, college student, and career woman. Kudos to her and her PLE.

On to the next video - Two questions that can change your life. What a powerful little video. What is my sentence? I would hope that it would be - She made a difference in the lives of many children. Am I better today than I was yesterday? I want to ask myself that every day. You can never fully arrive at perfection but you can certainly aim for it. I want to be a better educator every day. I want to make a difference. The only way I can do that well is to stay educated and relevant. I need to meet the students where they are and motivate to AIM HIGHER. Great Video!

Google Earth

Neat tool. I need to play around with alot more to really make it useful. My cousin Trey will be getting married in July so I mapped a trip to the wedding location. Google Earth Project

Twitter/PLN

“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” Dr. Haim Ginot

I just picked this quote up off Big Universe on Twitter. They are part of my PLN. Also part of my PLN are Kelly Hines, Joe McClung, and Paige Baggett. So far I am following 16 people and have 6 followers. Doesn't sound like much but I am just really getting use to Twitter. I hope that number continues to grow. I am getting alot of useful information from the few that I am following. Still working on Classroom 2.0. I am registered but not entirely sure how to make this site work for me. I will figure it out now that I am seeing the real value.

April 11, 2010

I love this story The Zax by Dr. Seuss. I have this DVD and showed it during Dr. Seuss's Birthday Week Celebration in my Library. When watching the movie, I realized that I am being somewhat of a Zax when it comes to technology. I like to think I am coming around a bit. It is a wonderful thing to know what you believe in and stand your ground when necessary. However, it is an ignorant thing to allow the world to change around you and be unmoved by these changes. You then become irrelevant and no one wants to listen to you about important things. I still love my books over computers any day. However, I am willing to see that computers are a vital teaching tools in our classrooms today.

I, again, love this song by Stevie Nix. She is an excellent singer/songwriter. I don't agree with her personal beliefs but that doesn't change the fact that she can belt out some beautiful music. Wow - these children did an incredible job singing her song. I can see how she would be so honored that they chose to sings for her. What an honor that they in turn got to sing with her at Madison Square Gardens. Can't you just here the children scream when the teacher gave them that bit of news? I know from experience that children love the attention they receive from work they do at school. I am in the process of creating a library blog for the school where I work. You should have seen the way my students reacted when I told them I wanted them to write a blog post about the books they are reading. They were so excited. I made a really big deal about how they were going to be published on the web and how their friends and family could see what they were writing about. It got them excited about reading all over again.

That is what I have learned the most this semester in EDM. Children love to blog and show the world what they are learning. It makes them feel proud of what they are accomplishing. I love being a part of that. I want to make blogging a part of my future classroom. I truly see the benefits.

Here are some examples of the excitement in a child's face when he/she shares with the world what they are learning at school.

Mihi in Maori

Leopold Primary School


And lastly my work in progress - no pictures yet but you have to imagine their excitement. Please leave comments. They will be so excited!

KCS Library

Timetoast Timeline

Nate The Great

Just Breathe

Love this Song!

Kaia

Ok - so the first thing that comes to mind is "You had me at hello" - I mean you had me at Kaia. I am a mom and I don't mean that creepy. I just mean that if I had seen this blog on my first day of class then I would have found it hard to complain about any facet of technology.

Let's start off with her little movie with the pictures she took with her daddy. First of all I love the song playing with the movie. Just Breathe by Pearl Jam is one of the best songs I have heard in a LONG time. Put that song to a movie made by a sweet three year old and you got gold. I love that she and her father were finding beauty in things that weren't beautiful. What perspective! Great parenting.

Moving on to how we came to find out about Kaia. It is awesome that we get to share in this experience because Mr. Chamberlin participated in comments4kids. I looked at the excitement on this little girl's face when Dillon read her the story and heard her say play it again. Priceless! By the way, the class I raved about in my last post was ENG 226 with Jody Conrad. Dillon, the girl in EDM that created the video for Kaia, was in that class with me (both 225 and 226). Sweet girl. She touched a little girl's life with a story read via the internet. I thought to myself now this can touch so many lives all over the world. Human connection is a beautiful thing. I think of all the grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends who are away from the people they love. Now they can communicate face to face via Skype. The can create lasting experiences and memories through movies and blogs that can be shared with people they love. I am sold.

Now onto the father's concern about sharing Kaia with the world. As I said, being a parent I hear his concern. I applaud him for considering his daughter and how this could affect her both positively and negatively. I also appreciate that as a teacher he is looking at this as an avenue for future learning. Dr. Scott McLeod talked about fear on his blog. He feels like there is too much fear with regard to allowing the students to use the internet in schools. I commented that I have fears with regards to my children's safety. I always go overboard. But I feel that the fears I have come from a place of love. I hope that is how the school boards feel about the children they are charge of and that is the reason for internet controls. I know that Kaia father loves his daughter. It is so evident in his interaction with her. I know that his fears of putting his daughter out their for the world to see comes from a place of deep love. I thank him that he is taking that risk for the sake of learning. I pray that he is making the right choice. I am not that brave YET with my kids but I want to be. I would love for my kids to connect with children all over the world. I see nothing but positive things happening because this father is taking such a risk.

Bottom line - I loved this week's assignment. You had me at hello - I mean Kaia!