Rolling Change

As I stated in my last post, clearly a Promethean board in a classroom would be beneficial in getting students to get involved in currculum, no doubt about it.  And in an ideal world, all classrooms would have one.  All classrooms would also have as many computers as students, endless numbers of gadgets, etc., etc.  We all know that these things don't always happen, primarily due to money- or lack thereof.  I did a little more research on my own on the Promethean board.  From what I can tell, they cost about $1299.  I know my sister-in-law said her entire school got them this year.   I can't even begin to wrap my brain around how much it would cost just one school to install them.  With budget cuts and all, I'm not even sure how her school could afford them.  I automatically got this mental image of the principal rolling change in his office... hehe.  However my sister-in-law's school managed to obtain them, they have definitely been a source of motivation, encouragement, and excitement for the students in her classroom, and they certainly embody the "rolling change" we are all seeing in the topic of technology in the classroom.  So I guess the only question that remains is...  Who wants to buy me one?  ;)

Students Go Promethean

So, I talked to my sister-in-law the other day, and she said that the students in her classroom LOVE the Promethean board.  She said that they each have little remote controls that they can use kind of like "buzzers" when they play interactive games and activities on the board.  She also has students come up to the board and manipulate the lesson by working problems, leading discussions, etc.  How many teachers would like to have a tool in their classroom that gets students excited about learning lessons?  Ummm.. yeah... all of them.  So far, I'm thinking the Promethean Board is a must have.  :)

Boarding the Promethean Plane

I think I mentioned in some assignment or discussion post in the beginning of this class that I am interested in Promethean boards.  My sister-in-law teaches 3rd grade in Rutherford County, and she just got a Promethean board this year.  She seems to really like it but is still getting used to it and learning about all of its cool features.  I was able to briefly see some of its features when I visited her classroom after school one day about 4 months ago.  I know it can be worked from the computer and interacted with on the board itself.  I would like to know more about what it does and the benefits of having one in a classroom.  I would also like to have some ideas on how to involve the students in the use of it during lessons.  I am excited about learning more about the boards, especially because I know someone who will let me come play with one.  :)

I Have a Story to Tell

This girl knows how to tell a story.  Believe me.  I can talk until YOU are the one blue in the face.  But, when it comes to telling a story using pictures, music, narration, and more, I could easily get scattered. I have seen my fair share of presentations and documentaries (I am a Nat Geo junkie... I love a good documentary) but never really thought about how to create one myself.  With the digital storytelling assignment, I was able to choose a topic and create a digital presentation that illustrated that topic with pictures and narration. 

I chose to complete my presentation on how to make a meal from start to finish.  This presentation could be shown to any age life skills class or elementary general education classes and leads students through choosing a recipe, making a grocery list, grocery shopping, and preparing and serving the meal.  I chose fun and colorful pictures from the web and narrated the script myself.

I plan to use digital storytelling as a way to present information to my students that is fun and will grab their attention.  Digital storytelling could also be used as a student assignment in higher grades.  Students could work individually or within groups to create a digital story to display what they learned about the given topic.  It would be a fun alternative to the old standby- Powerpoint.

Of course, any learning experience would not be complete without the occasional hiccup.  I got rather frustrated with how time-consuming it was, but I imagine that that would get easier with more experience.  I also had to record my narration about 12 times, no joke.  I could see how some students may not have the skill set or patience to complete a project like this, but if several were assigned throughout the year, (beginning with a simple version including pictures and a music track and leading to a final version with pictures, movie clips, music, and narration) it would give the opportunity for students to build on prior knowledge and master the use of this form of technology.

When you compare digital storytelling to a more traditional method of presentations, well- it doesn't really compare.  Why continue using only Powerpoint, overhead projectors, and the like if we have this moving, attention-grabbing method at our fingertips?  And besides, who doesn't like a good movie?  :)

Porta...What??

When I heard the term "Portaportal", honestly, my first reaction was "she made that up".  No kidding.  Then, through accessing the website and looking around, I began to realize that it was for real.  Not only was it for real, but I began to realize that it could be just what I was looking for to cure my cluttered Favorites Menu problem.  I might be the only person who does this, but every time I find a website I like, or sometimes even an item or page on a certain website (like a recipe or retail item), I mark it in my favorites so I don't lose it.  It was almost an addiction... seriously.  I'm no hoarder, but I could not bear to part with some of them.  I had recipes in my favorites that have been there for 3 years... you get the picture.  Clearly, I could not have my recipes on my Portaportal assignment for this class, so I have created two separate Portaportals: one for work and one for play.  :)

In completing the Portaportal assignment, obviously, I found several educational websites that will be very useful to me in my future teaching career.  I really liked how I could organize them by category, or however I wanted, really.  Super cool.  As a teacher, I imagine that I will have a Portaportal very similar to the one I created for this class that can be accessed throughout the year by myself, my students, and even other teachers.  I think that asking the students to create their own Portaportal would also be a fun activity.  They can create a school-based Portaportal with websites they can access to help create projects, to utilize with assignments, etc.  I would also encourage them to create a personal Portaportal, like I have, that will contain their favorite sites that they visit on their own time.

When I think back to how I used to keep track of my favorite websites, I am reminded of endless scattered sheets of scribbled www's.  Over time, I figured out the Favorites Menu was a good fool-proof way to keep track of them, but it quickly became overwhelming to sort through.  I am an "everything has a place" kind of gal, and websites listed randomly with no order was seriously beginning to give me the creeps.  With Portaportal, you can create one with several different domains, separate the domains into different Portaportals altogether (work, play, etc.), and let's not forget that you can access them from ANYWHERE because they are web-based.  Get your favorites cleaned up and organized!  It's a no-brainer, really.

Blogging, Video Showcasing, and Social Bookmarking, Oh My!

So, I posted my discussion post on Chapter 3 today.  I was more impressed with this chapter than any other thus far.  This chapter is like a first aid kit for the technologically inept.  I dog-eared every page that contained a tool I felt was useful, and just about every page is marked.  I talked about all of my favorite tools in my discussion post, so I'll spare you the details here.  I came away from reading about all of these tools feeling excited and more equipped than I have ever been to teach today's computer whizkid.  I stated in my previous post that I was feeling insecure about teaching with technology because I don't know much about today's technology.  Well, if blogging is a hammer and social bookmarking a tape measure, I feel that my tool belt is full!

Catching Up

Well, I'm going to be totally honest and admit that beginning this blog assignment had completely slipped my mind until this weekend.  I have been utterly consumed in creating and perfecting my still-not-perfect classroom webpage.  It has been submitted, and now I can move on.  :)  The main topic dominating my thoughts this week is maintaining this constant juggling act that is online class participation.  This class is one of three that I am currently taking while working full-time and being a wife and mother.  By this week, I have figured out a system that works for me, which is a good thing. 

I felt total glee as I submitted my classroom webpage assignment this week because I am so very proud of it.  I never would have thought of utilizing a website as a teacher, mainly because I never saw my teachers do it when I was in school.  This class has been a huge wake-up call for me and has made me realize that technology has changed a great deal since I was in school.  I have come to the conclusion that I need to swim or sink when it comes to using technology in my classroom.  I have chosen to swim.  And, turns out, swimming is fun after all.