Week 13 - Application Review

The image editing application I decided to review was Picnik.  I have been using this application for years now.  It is very user as well as kid friendly and has fun effects to use on photos.  Some features picnik has are basic edits, photo effects, text, stickers, and frames. 

                In the basic edits tab you can crop your photo to your preferred size.  You can also change the colors in your photo with auto-colors or the neutral picker.  This is the area you can also find the tool to sharpen your image.  The last tool that can be found in this tab is the resize tool that you can use to change the size of your image.  Under the effects tab is where you can really start to have fun editing your image!  Some effects that you can use on your image are black and white, sepia, boost, or soften.  Under the text and sticker tabs your can add text and stickers to enhance your photos.  On my example photo below you can see that I added text to my photo.  There are several fonts and colors to choose from.   The frames tab allows you to add frames to your photos.  There are holiday frames, basic frames, and different shaped frames to choose from.  Below on my example photo I used a basic simple frame. 

                I could see this application used in the classroom for any grade level.  This tool could be used in art class to create digital art.  It would be a great way to bring art and technology together.  This application could also be used in a language arts lesson while creating a story.  Photos could be uploaded and edited and then printed to add to a student created story.  There are many possibilities in ways that you could use this application.  It is very disappointing that this tool will no longer be available after April 19^th. 

                The office tool I chose to look into was Google Documents. This tool has a lot of features that are present in Microsoft Office’s tools, such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint. I have never used the program, to create documents, but I already have a Google account, so I have access to their tools and have used them in passing. One of the features of Google Docs I use the most is the ability to open PDF documents from Gmail.

Much like the very expensive Office software, you can create documents and apply all sorts of different formatting to them. However, the choices for fonts and formatting are limited to whatever ones Google chooses to include in the program, so it is not as deep as the Microsoft software is. I am not very good at using Excel, but my husband is, and he told me that Google Docs’ Spreadsheets are not as powerful as Excel’s. He said that Google severely limited the functionality of the software, so “power users” can’t get as much out of the spreadsheets. I also used the presentation software in Google Docs and found that it can create basic slide shows, but not with as many features as PowerPoint.

One of the parts of Google Docs I can see myself getting the most out of in a classroom is not actually even related to the documents themselves. It is the ability to share files between different Google users so that everyone can create and edit the document. For example, in my class, we could take all of the students to a computer lab, and give them all access to a shared Google Document. This document could be used to start a story, and let everyone add to it. They would be able to see the updates from their classmates in real time. They would also be able to proofread each other’s work instantly and provide their classmates feedback on the story. Then we could go over to a presentation and everyone could add their own visuals to tell the story with pictures, maybe even ones they create with a service like Picnik!

Week 12 - Websites

I created a resource website for my students and their parents.  I wanted to use this website as another communication tool for my students and parents.  They will be able to find their homework assignments, testing information, school news, and helpful resources they can use at home. I decided to add in the homework assignments to my website because parents are always asking me what their child's homework is.  I figured this would be an easy way for them to check their child's homework nightly.  I always wanted to add in a school calendar to keep parents up to date on the happenings going around at our school.  All of the things I added to this website is a tool that the parents/students can use at home.

My Classroom Website
 

Week 11 - Concept Maps

The first thing I thought of when creating a concept map was to create one with different story elements.  I work with these story elements weekly with my students and having them create a concept map to show their understanding of their story would be great.  We create concept maps all the time on paper but to be able to create one on the computer would be much better and I think my students would enjoy it more.  Another area my students see a lot of concept maps is in science.  Below I created a concept map of the life cycle of a butterfly.  This would be a great science project.  Students could choose something and create its life cycle or food chain.

Starfall.com Lesson Screencast

Every week  my students get the opportunity to work in the computer lap or on the lap tops.  It is a great opportunity to bring technology into the classroom but I feel like I spend most of my time running from student to student to get them on the correct website/activity.  Screencasting is a great way to teach a mini lesson on the activity we will do on the computers.  I put together a mini lesson on how to use the website starfall.com.  I think the students will really benefit from it.  This assignment was a great motivator and I can't wait to put together a screencast for logging in and setting up an accelerated reading test.  

Week 8 - Mapping

View Important Landmarks Around Michigan in a larger map

While teaching in Detroit, Michigan I found that my students are not familiar with their state.  They do not know any other cities around Detroit or some of the major landmarks that most of us are familiar with in Michigan.  One of our social studies objectives in our curriculum is to be able to identify and describe some Michigan landmarks.  I put together this map to highlight some interesting things around Michigan.  I thought my second graders need to be familiar with the great lakes, capital building, their school, and the Mackinaw Bridge.  I also wanted to add some personal touches so I add the college I went to along with my co-teachers college she attended.  My goal at the end of this lesson is to make sure the kids have learned that Michigan is a large state with a lot of interesting places to see and visit.  

I think google maps would make this lesson interesting because the students would be able to "travel" from place to place.  While traveling around the map we can also work on our directions traveling north, south, east, and west.  There are a ton of things we can bring into the classroom to teach about Michigan and this map would just be the beginning!

Week 7 - Podcasts

With the definition of HPI described at the beginning of the chapter, where the goal is “to achieve, through people increasingly successful accomplishments, directly tied to organizational goals that are valued by all stakeholders…” (p. 135), there are several ways to apply these ideas to a classroom. The idea that a student’s education is valued by the stakeholders is an important idea to keep in mind. In the case of a student, there are many who have a stake in their educational future. The student, the teacher, the school, the parents, their family, and even society as a whole will benefit if the student performs well in class. This leads to the ideas of human capital and organizational complexity that the chapter discusses. 

The first way to integrate the idea of human performance improvement theory into a classroom setting is to make sure many of these stakeholders are directly involved with the student’s growth and performance. Making sure that not only the teachers and students are in control of the student’s educational future ensures success. Additional human capital could yield higher performance increases than simply throwing more money at a student could. The idea that more human capital leads to better success for the students also means that the student has a higher potential of being well behaved and acting better at home, as well as possibly participating in more after school activities, means everyone benefits from the student’s growth. 

The next idea that integrates human performance improvement into a classroom is organizational complexity. This ties directly to the previous idea of human capital. In this case, the teacher, or even the student themselves, acts as the mediator to all of the different parties who hold a stake in their future. They coordinate the efforts of the various parties to make sure everyone is acting in tandem to ensure success. However, the problem with this idea is that teachers have a complex level of involvement because not only are they managing these connections, they are doing so for dozens of students. Some are also more willing than others. If a teacher is able to coordinate the efforts of the various groups, such as all of the parents, they will have a better chance of successfully organizing the behaviors that could benefit a student’s educational future.  

While looking for an educational podcast I was searching for one that I would actually use in my classroom with my second grade students.  I came across a podcast called Storynory.  This podcast highlights all types of stories for kids.  It ranges from fairytales, new children’s stories, myths, poems, and adventures.  I’m always looking for new stories to bring into the classroom so my students are familiar with all genres. The link to this podcast is here http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=94571049

I think podcasts are a great tool inside and outside a classroom.  There are several that I came across that would be useful to teach kids in the classroom.  I found that there are a lot of science and social studies podcasts that could be used.  These can be used in a listening center during workshop or small group instruction.  It would also be neat to create a podcast with a group of students.  Schools could do announcements every morning or teach other classes about a given topic.  The opportunities are endless.  I also found that there are podcasts geared toward teacher resources.  This is a great tool to use to communicate with teachers around the world.  Podcasts could also be set up for professional development opportunities.  Again, the ideas are endless.  I’m glad that this tool was introduced to us because it will for sure be something I will use in my classroom.    

Week 6 - Embedding Media

My students LOVE learning educational songs.  It gives them a fun way to learn the material and remember it.  This is one of the videos I showed them when we were learning about pronouns.





Sometimes when my students do not have prior knowledge about a topic we are reading about in our opencourt stories I like to show them pictures so they can become more familiar with the topic.  For example, a few weeks ago we were reading the story How the Guinea Fowl got her Spots.  My students had no clue what a guinea fowl was so we looked for some pictures and information before we started our story. 

We then did some research online to figure out where the guinea fowl lived.  They originated in Africa. 





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