Weekly Blog #9

So, this week was a fun class. I learned, or rather verified, several things about myself.

1. I can't keep a straight face for very long.
2. I should not be in movies.
3. Ice melts (I know that is not about me, but it happened)
4. I prefer to be "behind-the-scences" of film making.

Making movies was very exciting.  It was much more fun than the other technology classes.  They sound boring.  I am excited to learn how to learn how to edit.  (Although, I am not looking forward to watching myself "act.")

I think making movies in an elementary school classroom would be entertaining, educational, and not that hard.  Even though I don't have the courage of the rapping teacher, I could guide students in preparing for and creating a movie of their own.  I would be so interesting to see them write and act in their own production.

Students in my current practicum have so much energy and creative ideas.  If they were to make a video, it would be really educational for them.  They would learn how to work together to get their ideas across and learn to have patience to get the job done.  The final project would be entertaining for everyone, but the students who made it would have to know the information really well since they are recording it.  I, as the teacher, would make sure of that.

Of course, making a movie requires a lot of expenxive resources, like a camera.  That is not something every class has laying around.  Many schools can't afford such "luxuries" that do not directly increase test scores.  However, I think it is important for students to have that oppurtunity, so I would either bring my own from home or apply for a grant like Mr. Johnson did.  Although, I would have to learn how to write one first. . .

I am not a big fan of science, so I don't think I would film science experiments like we did in our class very often.  If students wanted to do so at home, I would be all up for that.  When I was in high school, we filmed movie trailers for our book reports.  That was a lot of fun.  We each had to read a book and know it well enough to pick out the important parts.  Then we had to select the order of the scenes and film them to match the genre of movie trailers.  It was a lot of fun.  I know that book really well now.  Plus, we got to watch them all in class, so we got to see everyone else's work and learn about their books, too.  Overall, very educational.

Nothing says education like fun.

Or maybe it is nothing says fun like education.

I can't remember.

Weekly Blog #8

Educational Videos were one of the first bits of technology to be used in classrooms. Once a TV became available to teachers, videos became a common way to break up the monotony of listening to the same teacher everyday. Now, they are probably the easiest way to incorporate "technology" in schools.

These videos are mainly commercially made and require little effort on behalf of the teacher. He or she simply selects a video, reviews it before showing it, and pops it in the player. The students sit and watch, perhaps taking notes or answering questions. If the teacher was really on top of things, there would be a discussion afterwords, an assessment of feelings or thoughts connected to the film.

This use of videos CAN be productive, helpful to students, or informative. However, movie time in class, at least for me, was a time to relax, sleep, be thoughtlessly entertain, and not a time for gaining knowledge. I can remember a few things I actually learned from videos, but not much that I didn't also learn somewhere else.

That is not to say that I didn't love educational videos, because I most certainly do.  Well, some of them anyway.  The classics like School House Rock, The Magic School Bus, Bill Nye. . . All great.  I was always a fan of the educational cartoons like Animaniacs and Hysteria! as well.

To make videos more educational, and actually useful in a classroom, students need to be involved. They can look for videos, determine if they are quality and educational, and then share them with others.  As a wise teacher once said, "It isn't always the video, it is the preparation for the video that has the impact on learning."

Teachers can make videos of themselves for their own students, like several of the videos we watched in class, or they can make them of the students.  Having to prepare for a film can motivate students into doing their best.  All of these videos can be shared online and used in other classes where the tools for making their own are unavailable.  Making videos provides deeper learning than simply watching them, or even talking about them can provide.

Of course, making a quality video is not as easy as you might think.  It takes planning and preparation, organization and materials.  When all of these things are present, all you need is a good subject and you are on your way.  I think we should go make one. . . 

Weekly Blog #7

Visual learning is the most common learning strategy in use today (myself, just now). There are tons of various ways to learn, but that is probably the most popular. The sense of sight is the most dominate sense and often trumps the other senses, so visual images have a bigger impression on most people than hearing does.

Being able to organize information in more than one way will help more children acquire the information. Those who need to lay everything out can learn just as much as those who need to focus on one thing at a time when multiple instructional strategies are used. I have seen a great variety of learners in my practicum and they all go about learning in different ways. Some can look at a book and have no idea what it is saying until I point out the exact sentence they are looking for. Others have the whole passage practically memorized in a matter of minutes.

For those who need to see the connections between facts, the concept map would be very helpful. I really liked seeing the items laid out all at once so I made my own about the homework I have to do.

It was really easy and can be used by anyone which is great.

This doesn't really help those students who are auditory or kinesthetic learners, but they usually get help first since lecturing is one of the easiest ways to teach, and moving or doing is used when possible.

The visuals used in the classroom are very helpful for ESL students. Modeling and pictures helpt them to connect English words to ideas and helps them get past the language barrier that hiders learning.

I really liked the Kidspiration Program. I thought the set-up and design were easy to use and stimulating for elementary kids. The pre-made lesson activities were fantastic. I love the story board that can switch from bubble/brainstorming form to written outline forms so easily. Most of the ones we looked through during class were useful and informative. Most of the activities I found only were not as helpful.

My Visual Learning Assignment: Kidspiration

1. Double Final Consonant
2. http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/resources/kidspiration.htm
3. I chose this lesson because it was an activity that I thought kids would find easier if it was visual and not simply written. It can be an assessment tool to see how much students understand. Also, I chose this because it is something that I never learned about in school, so it is a good way to teach something they might not get otherwise.
I feel the technology enhances the learning process by allowing the students to move and manipulate the words. By doing so, the students are under less pressure to be perfect the first time and have the luxury of rearranging things until they are correct. They can think in whatever way makes the most sense to them. The colors make the words come alive and they still get the writing practice. I think the technology hinders learning because students do not get the practice of handwriting. Also, the activity does not teach anything, it only is a means of assessment.
I faced the challenge of finding a lesson plan that actually used Kidspiration and not Inspiration. I like Kidspiration a lot more for elementary lesson plans because of its simplicity, color, and overall friendliness.
I learned how to use some of the features of Kidspiration that I didn't know before. Actually, I didn't know anything about Kidspiration so all of it was new. I especially like the ability to flip between written outline form and concept map form. I think that would be very beneficial to students who prefer one way, but need to use the other.
I spent a little more than an hour over the course of 3 days looking through kidspiration lesson plans and using Kidspiration. And then I spent even more time analysing the activity and writing this blog post.
I found that most of the activities had at least one or two things I would change before implementing them into my lesson plans. Most of them had to do with the flip between sentences and picture not lining up.