This week has been so busy! I am still working on "high quality question control" along with answering questions through email and reviewing some of the voice threads and blogs that the ECDC and the CCMS students created! I must say that my favorite part of this week has been reviewing all the wonderful voice threads and blogs that have been created due to this awesome service project. It is obvious that everyone involved in this service project has done a great job of introducing the technology and tools to their students. I can clearly see that the students were able to create a blog and execute a voice thread, all with great creativity. This experience will be very valuable to the young students were had the opportunity to participate in this project.
While reviewing the open-ended questions throughout the blogs, I have come across some really high quality questions. This is a great sign because I can see that the ECDC and CCMS students were provided with some really great questions to assist their thought process about their research projects. Overall, I have enjoyed being able to see what everyone has been doing during this service project. It has enlightened me and given me some really wonderful ideas! I will continue to review questions and voice threads throughout this final weekend of our service project!!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Service Project-Week Two: Change in Plans!
Unfortunatley, there has been a slight change in plans with my role in this current service project with CCMS (Corpus Chrisit Montessori School) and the ECDC (Early Childhood Development Center). I did my best to contact the student and parent to which I was assigned, but I was not able to get a hold of them in time to complete our service project according to the project outline. I am a little bummed out because I was really looking forward to assisting my student in his/her research project. Not to worry though, I have been given a new role in this service project.
I just found out this week that I will be assisting the overall project in a very different way. I have been asked to review the blogs, voice threads, and interaction questions posed by my peers who are still currently active with their student in this service project, either at CCMS or the ECDC. I think that this will be an interesting and challenging new task, but I am up for it. I hope that I will be able to offer positive and constructive suggestions that will be helpful for my peers. I have sent out a mass email to everyone involved in the service project to let them knew that if they have any questions about the service project they can contact me. In addition to responding to these questions, I will has also been assigned the task of reviewing the blogs of those involved in the service project to offer suggestions and constructive criticism concerning their voice threads, interactive questions, etc. That pretty much sums it up for this week!
I just found out this week that I will be assisting the overall project in a very different way. I have been asked to review the blogs, voice threads, and interaction questions posed by my peers who are still currently active with their student in this service project, either at CCMS or the ECDC. I think that this will be an interesting and challenging new task, but I am up for it. I hope that I will be able to offer positive and constructive suggestions that will be helpful for my peers. I have sent out a mass email to everyone involved in the service project to let them knew that if they have any questions about the service project they can contact me. In addition to responding to these questions, I will has also been assigned the task of reviewing the blogs of those involved in the service project to offer suggestions and constructive criticism concerning their voice threads, interactive questions, etc. That pretty much sums it up for this week!
CCMS Visit Observations
I had the opportunity to go and visit the Corpus Christi Montessori School. For general knowledge, the Corpus Christi Montessori School is a dual-language charter school which is funded by the state alone. Prior to this visit, I had never been to a Montessori based school. Although, I have previously read about the theories behind Montessori schools. Actually visiting the school in person was a much more engaging experience and I really enjoyed myself. I learned a lot about the environment of the classrooms, the work cycle, and the positive attitude of the Montessori School here in Corpus Christi.
The learning environment of the Corpus Christi Montessori School is one of a kind. First of all, the students are in multi-age groups; first grade through third graders are grouped together and fourth through sixth graders are grouped together. This offers many benefits for the students because they are able to learn from each other's strengths. The classrooms are very open and inviting with plenty of natural light spilling into the room. Each classroom had at least two living animals and several plants. There are groups of desks around the edge of the room, but there is a large open area in the middle of the room where students are free to work individually on the floor at their mats. Most of the classrooms flow into another room where more students and learning can be found. It is my opinion that this open, flowing environment is very inviting for the students. In addition, I observed a great deal of respect between the students, teachers, and the administration at this school. In fact their three main rules are: Respect of self, Respect of others, and Respect of the environment. That pretty much says it all!
When the students walk into the classrooms in the morning they walk into a prepared environment with work already laid out on the counters. The work is laid out in order from simple to abstract. During this time in the morning the children have a three hour uninterrupted work cycle, which Maria Montessori strongly believed in. During this work cycle the students have the freedom to choose the order in which they complete their assignments. The teacher has many manipulatives and strategies available in the classroom that assist the students in completing their assignments. I was able to observe the students during their work cycle and I noticed that every student was engaged, on task, and well behaved. It was a beautiful sight to see!
The Corpus Christi Montessori School is certainly one of a kind. The atmosphere that they create is a that of a community and a family. This type of environment is a great way to nurture learning and creativity. The set-up of the classrooms are definitely different than the majority of those that you will find in public schools. The Montessori classrooms have much more open space and are not as rigid as other classrooms I have observed. Also, the classrooms each have a peace table where the students can resolve and work out their differences. I have never seen this at any other school, and I think that it is a wonderful idea. This gives the students the power and the responsibility to work out their own issues. Although, I must say that one of the biggest differences that I observed was the fact that the Corpus Christi Montessori School offers basketball, volleyball, violin lessons, chess club, yearbook club, drama club, and newspaper club for their first through sixth grade students. How cool!
I will certainly take what I have learned from my visit to the Corpus Christi Montessori School and apply it to my future classroom. I believe that the methodology in which they implement is beneficial to the overall success of the child as a whole. The staff at the Montessori School does a wonderful job of nurturing their student's individual learning needs. I am thankful for the opportunity that I was given to visit this school. This was be a lasting memory for me. I have never seen so many students who were so eager, engaged, and excited about learning!!!
The learning environment of the Corpus Christi Montessori School is one of a kind. First of all, the students are in multi-age groups; first grade through third graders are grouped together and fourth through sixth graders are grouped together. This offers many benefits for the students because they are able to learn from each other's strengths. The classrooms are very open and inviting with plenty of natural light spilling into the room. Each classroom had at least two living animals and several plants. There are groups of desks around the edge of the room, but there is a large open area in the middle of the room where students are free to work individually on the floor at their mats. Most of the classrooms flow into another room where more students and learning can be found. It is my opinion that this open, flowing environment is very inviting for the students. In addition, I observed a great deal of respect between the students, teachers, and the administration at this school. In fact their three main rules are: Respect of self, Respect of others, and Respect of the environment. That pretty much says it all!
When the students walk into the classrooms in the morning they walk into a prepared environment with work already laid out on the counters. The work is laid out in order from simple to abstract. During this time in the morning the children have a three hour uninterrupted work cycle, which Maria Montessori strongly believed in. During this work cycle the students have the freedom to choose the order in which they complete their assignments. The teacher has many manipulatives and strategies available in the classroom that assist the students in completing their assignments. I was able to observe the students during their work cycle and I noticed that every student was engaged, on task, and well behaved. It was a beautiful sight to see!
The Corpus Christi Montessori School is certainly one of a kind. The atmosphere that they create is a that of a community and a family. This type of environment is a great way to nurture learning and creativity. The set-up of the classrooms are definitely different than the majority of those that you will find in public schools. The Montessori classrooms have much more open space and are not as rigid as other classrooms I have observed. Also, the classrooms each have a peace table where the students can resolve and work out their differences. I have never seen this at any other school, and I think that it is a wonderful idea. This gives the students the power and the responsibility to work out their own issues. Although, I must say that one of the biggest differences that I observed was the fact that the Corpus Christi Montessori School offers basketball, volleyball, violin lessons, chess club, yearbook club, drama club, and newspaper club for their first through sixth grade students. How cool!
I will certainly take what I have learned from my visit to the Corpus Christi Montessori School and apply it to my future classroom. I believe that the methodology in which they implement is beneficial to the overall success of the child as a whole. The staff at the Montessori School does a wonderful job of nurturing their student's individual learning needs. I am thankful for the opportunity that I was given to visit this school. This was be a lasting memory for me. I have never seen so many students who were so eager, engaged, and excited about learning!!!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
CCMS Service Project-Week One
This is the first week of my service project with Corpus Christi Montessori School. I have been assigned to a student from CCMS and their parent. I am very excited to get started with this service project. It will be my responsibility to assist this student during their research project over parts of a flower. I will help my student and parent create a blog for this research project, which will include weekly reflections, google document links, and a voice thread.
This week I have been preparing for my first meeting with my student and their parent. I have attempted to contact my parent and student in order to meet with them, but I have not been able to contact them by phone or email. In the meantime, I have been looking over some specific resources in preparation for this meeting: 21st Century Learning, How to Help Your Child Excel, and The Art of Asking Good Questions. These resources are very informative and I even sent them to my CCMS parent so that they could benefit from them as well.
I am looking forward to meeting with my student. I plan on asking the student some questions concerning their specific assignment during the meeting and getting them signed up for a blogger account. Also, I would like to start a KWL chart in a google document that the student can link in a blog reflection for that week. (Each week the student will post a blog reflection in their blog and I will post a blog reflection in my blog.) We will start with what the student already knows and what she would like to know. Later, we will go back and fill in the other part, being what the student learned from the project. After this first meeting I will have a much better idea of my student's specific project and the student's knowledge of the topic.
You can go and check out my google document if you want to see the specific open-ended questions that I will be asking my student at our first meeting.
This week I have been preparing for my first meeting with my student and their parent. I have attempted to contact my parent and student in order to meet with them, but I have not been able to contact them by phone or email. In the meantime, I have been looking over some specific resources in preparation for this meeting: 21st Century Learning, How to Help Your Child Excel, and The Art of Asking Good Questions. These resources are very informative and I even sent them to my CCMS parent so that they could benefit from them as well.
I am looking forward to meeting with my student. I plan on asking the student some questions concerning their specific assignment during the meeting and getting them signed up for a blogger account. Also, I would like to start a KWL chart in a google document that the student can link in a blog reflection for that week. (Each week the student will post a blog reflection in their blog and I will post a blog reflection in my blog.) We will start with what the student already knows and what she would like to know. Later, we will go back and fill in the other part, being what the student learned from the project. After this first meeting I will have a much better idea of my student's specific project and the student's knowledge of the topic.
You can go and check out my google document if you want to see the specific open-ended questions that I will be asking my student at our first meeting.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Many Uses of Spreadsheets in the Classroom
This is a chart that I made based on the estimated and the actual costs of a sample wedding budget which I created in excel format. This is just an example of how spreadsheets and graphs can be utilized. I think this kind of project, utilizing excel spreadsheets and charts, would be great to do with students in the classroom. If you want to see more, check out my "Wedding Planner Spreadsheet"
Spreadsheets are a wonderful tool that can be utilized in the classroom. There are many possibilities for integrated spreadsheets, and graphs made from these spreadsheets, in your class. I would love to incorporate a WebQuest with a particular spreadsheet project for my students. I think that this would be a fun way for the students to interact with technology while learning about a new subject or topic. In my opinion, it would be best to use an inquiry-based approach for introducing this new concept of spreadsheets to your students. An inquiry based approach is basically one where you seek for information by asking questions or questioning things. For example, I would ask my students questions about the new tool, being the spreadsheet, to get them thinking of questions that they may have. There are three particular guiding questions that I would use while introducing this new concept of spreadsheets to my students. These three guiding questions are listed below:
1. How can we use spreadsheets to collect and/or analyze information?
2. What kind of information can we collect in a spreadsheet?
3. How do spreadsheets help us learn more about a set a data or information?
In conclusion, spreadsheets are a great learning tool which, in my opinion, should be introduced to children at an early age. This will most likely not be the last time that your students will see and work with spreadsheets. Therefore, this will be a skill that your students can take with them for the rest of their lives. There are endless possibilities when it comes to incorporating spreadsheets in your classroom. Give it a try!!!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Movie Making Magic
Here is a video that I created from a "student sample" point of view. I really enjoyed the entire process of making this movie.
There are some wonderful tools available for movie-making, which will certainly benefit your students' learning environments in the classroom. Windows Movie Maker is a fun and user-friendly tool that you can introduce to your students at an early age. You can find Windows Movie Maker right on your desktop under the "start menu". Windows Movie Maker is a great way to get you students excited and enthusiastic about learning. Not to mention the fact that they will feel a sense of validation when they are able to share their completed movie with an audience. The learning possibilities are endless with this movie making tool. FreePlayMusic is an audio tool that can be accessed through the Internet and it is free. This is a great way for your students to learn about technology and incorporate some audio into their movie projects. Audacity is another great audio tool for the students to use. Audacity is a free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. Both of these audio tools are easy to use and they will enhance your students' learning experiences.
These are wonderful tools that can be used in the classroom in a variety of ways. I would love to use Windows Movie Maker in my classroom. For example, I would have my students create their own movie about fractions, such as the sample movie provided above. This would not only introduce the students to new technology, it would also familiarize them with fractions. Windows Movie Maker, FreePlayMusic, and Audacity are flexible tools that can be integrated into any curricular area.
Friday, February 27, 2009
7 Elements of Digital Story-Telling
Digital story-telling is based on the idea of combining the art of telling stories with a variety of digital multimedia, such as images, audio, and video. Most digital stories include some combination of digital graphics, text, recorded audio narration, video, and music to offer information on a particular theme. Digital story-telling is a powerful tool which can be used in your classroom to enhance the learning environment for your students. There are seven main elements of digital story-telling, which are important to its overall success in the classroom. If you implement these elements into your digital story-telling lessons, then your are bound to have positive results. The seven elements of digital story-telling are outlined below:
1. Point of View: What is the author trying to say? From whose perspective is the story being told?
2. A Dramatic Question: A dramatic question is one that will be answered by the end of the story. This dramatic question leads to a resolution which may be predictable or may be a surprise.
3. Emotional Content: Serious issues that speak to us in a personal and powerful way due to emotional paradigms such as love, loneliness, or death/loss.
4. The Gift of Your Voice: A way to personalize the story in order to help the audience understand the context. This is a powerful tool that tells who you are and sets the mood for listening.
5. The Power of the Soundtrack: This includes music or other sounds that support the storyline. The soundtrack is used to set the mood for your story.
6. Economy: Basically this means, using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer with too much information. Therefore, the story-teller needs to choose key points and let the audience fill in the patterns.
7. Pacing: Pacing is related to economy, but specifically deals with how slowly or quickly the story progresses. Pacing is the secret to successful story-telling.
The project plan and storyboard, which I have created for my digital story-telling movie technololgy integrated plan, certainly incorporates these vital seven elements of digital story-telling. In fact, these seven elements are the basic outline for my project plan and storyboard. My project plan and storyboard both have a strong point of view, and include a dramatic question, which is answered by the end of the lesson. I made sure to incorporate emotional content into my project plan/storyboard as well, in order to draw my audience in and keep their attention. Also, I made sure to incoporate the "gift of my voice" and the "power of a soundtrack" into my project plan/storyboard. These are elements of digital story-telling that allowed me to personalize the story while supporting the storyline. In addition, I made sure to keep the "economy" element in mind to ensure that I provided my audience with just enough content to tell the story but not an overload of information. This is another vital element of my project plan/storyboard because it allowed me to focus on the main points and let the audience fill in the patterns. Last but not least, my project plan/storyboard was created with "pacing" in mind. Pacing deals with how slowly or quickly the story progresses and it is the secret to successful story-telling. If you want to learn more about my digital story-telling movie project, then check out the Storyboard. You can also check out my Google Document which provides more specific information regarding my digital story-telling movie technology-integrated plan.
1. Point of View: What is the author trying to say? From whose perspective is the story being told?
2. A Dramatic Question: A dramatic question is one that will be answered by the end of the story. This dramatic question leads to a resolution which may be predictable or may be a surprise.
3. Emotional Content: Serious issues that speak to us in a personal and powerful way due to emotional paradigms such as love, loneliness, or death/loss.
4. The Gift of Your Voice: A way to personalize the story in order to help the audience understand the context. This is a powerful tool that tells who you are and sets the mood for listening.
5. The Power of the Soundtrack: This includes music or other sounds that support the storyline. The soundtrack is used to set the mood for your story.
6. Economy: Basically this means, using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer with too much information. Therefore, the story-teller needs to choose key points and let the audience fill in the patterns.
7. Pacing: Pacing is related to economy, but specifically deals with how slowly or quickly the story progresses. Pacing is the secret to successful story-telling.
The project plan and storyboard, which I have created for my digital story-telling movie technololgy integrated plan, certainly incorporates these vital seven elements of digital story-telling. In fact, these seven elements are the basic outline for my project plan and storyboard. My project plan and storyboard both have a strong point of view, and include a dramatic question, which is answered by the end of the lesson. I made sure to incorporate emotional content into my project plan/storyboard as well, in order to draw my audience in and keep their attention. Also, I made sure to incoporate the "gift of my voice" and the "power of a soundtrack" into my project plan/storyboard. These are elements of digital story-telling that allowed me to personalize the story while supporting the storyline. In addition, I made sure to keep the "economy" element in mind to ensure that I provided my audience with just enough content to tell the story but not an overload of information. This is another vital element of my project plan/storyboard because it allowed me to focus on the main points and let the audience fill in the patterns. Last but not least, my project plan/storyboard was created with "pacing" in mind. Pacing deals with how slowly or quickly the story progresses and it is the secret to successful story-telling. If you want to learn more about my digital story-telling movie project, then check out the Storyboard. You can also check out my Google Document which provides more specific information regarding my digital story-telling movie technology-integrated plan.
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