Service Project Session 3

This session was mostly filming the scenes we had planned out in our storyboard from last session.  The students were both very excited to share the information they had learned during our experience.  This goes to show that when you allow the students to create their own questions it helps to maintain their interest throughout the entire project.  The students were fully engaged for every session, and they learned several facts about the ocean in the process.  The first thing we did this session was go over the lines from the script one last time.  I then reminded the students to try and stay still and look at the camera while filming.  We then shot each scene in the order that they were to appear in the movie.  I took at least two full takes of each scene to allow for any unseen editing issues.  By the time we had completed filming we were almost out of time for the session so we completed the last column of our KWL chart and posted a blog entry on the students' blog over what we had done this session.  We also reviewed Jeremiah's and Jessica's student blogs and made posts there.  The students and parents were both excited to see the final product of the last couple of weeks worth of work.

In retrospect I should have practiced the lines with the students a few more times than I did.  I also should have been more prepared for emergencies.  I brought two sets of freshly charged rechargeable batteries for my camera, and both of them were dead.  Because of this I had to film the movie with my phone, so the quality of audio and video wasn't as high as it could have been.  I also should have allowed more time to film so we could have tried filming in more than one location.  I have learned much from this project, and I can tell my students have learned from it as well.

Adaptive Tech Bonanza!

Our trip to the disability office was a vastly informative experience.  There are so many great technological resources available to people that I was not aware of.  My notes have a complete list of the things we looked at, as well as a brief description.  There were several items that stood out to me, as well as several that I was familiar with already.  I had never heard of the Audio Notetaker software that we looked at.  I was interested in this program because it develops good studying habits, so I looked at their webpage.  The software allows you to do a number of things with an audio recording.  The program separates the file into phrases and words that the user can color code.  It also allows the user to attach PowerPoint slides to the notes, making for a fully comprehensive study guide to go along with the audio.

One of the programs we saw that I was familiar with was Kurzweil 3000.  My fiancee uses this software to read her e-textbooks, and it has made a huge difference for her.  I can see how this program would benefit anyone.  I have trouble staying focused while reading large sections of text, so I am sure this software could be beneficial for me.  Not only does the program read the words on the screen aloud, it does so in a fairly pleasant voice.  The paragraph being read from is highlighted on the page, as well as each individual word as it is read.  This contrast paired with good audio makes this program a must for people who struggle with reading.  I had a great time learning about all of these adaptive technologies, and I hope the information will benefit you as well!

Service Project Session 2

Everyone has had a time in their life where they were having so much fun they didn't realize how much time had passed.  This was definitely the case for me during this session.  Our original plan was to research our questions, create a storyboard and then work on the blog post.  We got started researching the unit questions that the students developed last session.  We used the methods and websites I had introduced them to during the last session.  Both students seemed equally comfortable doing their own research on the internet, and the only times I had to take over was when Manuel was having trouble typing.  I introduced Manuel to the idea of a works cited page, as he is a little young to have experience with them.  Hudson was familiar with them, so I didn't have to explain much to him.  We kept track of the sources in a Google document, which was another new tool the students were introduced to.  Because Manuel wasn't as comfortable with typing Hudson did the majority of it.  I was sure to ask Manuel to do some typing in order to get him more familiar with it.

The students were interested enough in this topic I had to do very little of the work for them.  Because they were having so much fun researching their topics we lost track of time and didn't get to spend as long on the storyboard as we had planned.  We did get a finished product, and each student had a piece of paper with their lines on it so they could practice them between then and our next meeting.  The blog post they put up this week was a little short because of our time crunch, but we should have plenty of time next session to make up for it.  This project has taught me many things already, but one I have learned is that if the students are interested it is in their nature to use inquiry as a tool.  With the little amount of assistance I gave them these students were able to complete their own research.  I can't wait to have my own classroom and put everything I have learned to work!

Service Project Session 1

Working with students is something I always look forward to, and this service project is no exception.  I have been looking forward to meeting with my students and starting our learning adventure since I heard about this project.  Now that it is actually here it is even better than I had hoped.  I met up with the two students I am working with for this project on Thursday afternoon.  One is a first grader named Manuel and the other is a fourth grader named Hudson.  When I finished explaining to the two of them what exactly this project entailed they were both ecstatic about getting started.  We began by making a list of potential topics that they were interested in researching.  The list consisted of several topics, but the one both seemed most excited about was the ocean.  After settling on our topic, the students came up with an essential question of "What kind of life is in the ocean?".  The students then came up with two unit questions each to answer.  We then began our KWL chart.  While we worked on the KWL chart I began to introduce the students to how to research for reliable data on the internet.  When they came across a minor question such as, "what does a whale shark look like", I would plug the question into either Youtube EDU or sciencenewsforkids.org and either pull up an image or video.

The students' enthusiasm for the project didn't fade at all during our first hour together.  Upon completing the first two columns of the KWL chart we began the students' blog page.  After deciding on a name, I had each student come up with a one sentence introduction to themselves and their blog.  After writing the sentence on paper, I had each student type their own section of the first blog post.  With the first grade student I had to assist him in using the keyboard as he hasn't had much experience with that yet.  The fourth grade student was already proficient at typing, and all I had to do to assist him was edit a few punctuation errors in his sentence.  By the time we finished posting their first blog entry and deciding on a template and background for the blog we were out of time.  I told the students that next week we would be designing our storyboard and doing research on our topic.  They were both so excited about this that the first thing they mentioned upon meeting back up with their parents was the fact that they get to make their own storyboard next week.  This week could not have gone any better than it did. I am not sure who is more excited for next week, the students or myself.  The parent permission letters can be found here and here.

Copyright knowledge

As educators we have a much greater responsibility to fully understand copyright laws and resources.  Misuse of copyrighted materials can result in a lawsuit.  There are many things in a teacher’s daily life that can be affected by copyright issues.  This can affect things as simple as handouts shared online or distributed in class, to movies and videos being played.  Using the fair use checklist will help an educator to determine if they are covered under fair use.  The fair use checklist considers purpose, nature, amount and effect of the use.  Roughly speaking copying 1/10th of the work is covered.  Another key issue to consider is will the use affect the revenue stream?  In other words, is the author losing out on any money because of the usage.

When looking for free images look for Creative Commons licenses or visit http://www.flickr.com/commons, but ensure to include a reference to the author.  Google images has an advanced search option that allows specification of the usage rights of the images returned in the search.  The TEACH Act is another important resource to consider as well.  Another valuable resource is http://creativecommons.org/.  This has an excellent resource for licensing your own work.  Blackboard has an agreement that allows linking to YouTube, Flickr, and Slideshare without gaining additional permission, but this may not be the case in your classroom, so be sure to check.  The “Copyright Dos and Don’ts” .pdf file in the library guide for ETEC 3310 has an excellent list of resources, most of which were previously mentioned. There are more links in my notes from this session as well.

Batman and the Robin Wannabe

I have never created my own movie before, so this project was a great learning experience for me.  There are a lot of cool features built into Windows Movie Maker that I didn't expect from a free program.  I was surprised at how easy it was to trim and compile all of the scenes into one movie.  The transitions that are built into the program were really neat too.  I was also surprised at how easy it was to complete the audio with Audacity.  It was just as easy to trim the audio as it was the video.  Once I figured out how to isolate the audio from my movie in .wmv format (using Windows Media Encoder...tutorial here), then convert it to .wav format on the site media.io, it was just a matter of breaking the one long file into appropriate length sections and inserting them where they belonged in the movie.  Getting the audio to sync with the video took a little bit of tweaking, but it wasn't difficult to do at all.  The music selection on freeplaymusic.com was impressive.  I didn't expect anywhere near as thorough of a selection to choose from.  Also the way the site was organized made it very easy to navigate.

I can definitely see using these technologies in the classroom.  I plan on teaching elementary special education, so I may not be able to have the students create a movie independently, but we can certainly make one together as a class.  This is something I would have loved to have done when I was in school, and I am sure students today feel the same.  This kind of technological incorporation is exactly what today's students need to keep them interested in the learning process.  I can also create my own videos to add into any lesson, which will be a great benefit working in a special education classroom.  I can also imagine using Audacity to create audio files that the students can play back as they need them.  This could be used for books at a station, or even alone as a tool to help students retain key information.  This was a great session, and the information I gained made all the time and effort well worth it.

Spectacular Spreadsheets!

If you are anything like me when you hear the word spreadsheet, you groan in dread of dealing with it.  Through the course of this last session I have found some really neat ways to use spreadsheets that I never would have thought of.  Your class is taking a poll? Spreadsheets can do it.  You want your students to present their data in a more organized fashion?  Ditto.  And using these programs are not as difficult as you would imagine.  With the help of a few simple walkthroughs and thirty minutes of my time I was able to figure out basic math formulas in a spreadsheet, as well as more complicated features such as IF.  The MAX and MIN functions were also new to me, as my past experience with spreadsheets is limited to inventory for retail companies.

I have already seen several good examples of ways to use a spreadsheet that I haven't considered such as using it to calculate the cost of a field trip, or the uses I mentioned earlier like class data collections.  Honestly, I never even considered using spreadsheets for my students.  I pictured myself using them regularly to keep track of grades, but never in the contexts I have seen now.  The things that can be done with a spreadsheet are truly inspiring, and I look forward to using this asset in my own classroom in the future.  Below is my example.

Wedding Plan Budget