My Digitial Storytelling

I’m not a big fan of the whole technology scene yet but because of this class and especially because of this particular assignment I am beginning to have a little fun with it all. In my first slide I presented my dramatic question which is “how can different objects and or people influence someone in writing an imaginative paper?” I like this question because there can be many different answers; especially if they are coming from children. Emotion is another element that I think I bring up because when you look at something or see someone, you get this feeling of inspiration whether it be that you want to be a superstar like Carrie Underwood or a “rad” surfer dude or dudette. I asked my boyfriend this question and we basically had the same answer in that the first thoughts that you think in something you see is your imagination coming to life. Without an imagination there would be no fun in life. As kids we use our imagination more than ever and as we become adults we tend to forget about our imagination but for me, a life is not a good life without an imagination.

My storyboard:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc5tgnpb_3fq8sswc9

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc5tgnpb_4czmnjmhj

Slideshare

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ccee3e0ef72140445cc9

Why is writing important?

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Why is writing important?

View more presentations from Kari Harris.

Digital Storytelling

Below you will find a link to the slideshare presentation that I prepared and could possibly use to teach my students the importance of writing. Digital storytelling is kind of complicated but as is with all technology it just takes a little getting used to. Kids will defiently enjoy using and being subjected to this type of learning because when they play educational video games and things like it, they can relate. Digital storytelling can be used in many different ways. You can use them to teach a lesson or have the children get into groups and make one of their own on a topic that they chose.

Slideshares, slidecasts, and voice threads can all be used in classroom setting and be very successful if they are used in the correct way. Slidecasts are simply slideshares with sound linked to them. In the link below I demonstrated the correct use of a slidecast. I think it would be wonderful not only for me but for the students. I would love to have them each write a short letter to a random soldier or if they knew of a soldier they could write to them but then I would have each student type it up and put it into a slide and allow them to decorate the slide as they wished. After that I would let them create a voice thread attached to their slide and let them thank the soldiers or say whatever they thought was appropriate and then I would combine all the slides and somehow post it so the soldiers could see it or send to one soldier in particular and then hopefully he/she would share it with their fellow comrads.

These are some great tools and I believe that in the future they will be used more and more. I don't know if I would use the slideshare and voice threads on a regular basis but I know I would love to make use of them. I might just use them for special occassions, for example the different holidays or to show school pride. If I was to use it scarcely I would be able to utilize it as a special thing that we only get to do sometimes. Then maybe, I could use it as a motivator for kids to do their work and behave on a daily basis. I might have a chart or something set up, maybe on a number basis, and for everyday a single student is good or does something great, they recieve so many points and as a class they would have to meet a certain number before we could use that type of technology.

I am very anxious to put these methods to real life use, trying it out on students and seeing how they take to it. I hope you can take from my ideas but if you don't like mine, maybe you could come up with some of your own.

Internet Resources

We live in a world where technology is rapidly changing and shaping our everyday lives and to prepare the future of our society to be successful, we need to introduce technology as early as we can, without overwhelming the students. Like I said before, students need to know about the advances in technology and what they can do for you but as an elementary student I believe it is too much to take in all at once and I think that the technology process should be spread out just like the different steps in reading and writing. I have come up with a list in a works cited document that will lead students to explore their internet resources and find new ways of learning other than just listen to a boring teacher lecturing. Essay Paper Blog.com is a great site that I found and believe that it answers many frequent questions that students have about writing papers and the different types of papers that are out there. Easthartford.com came up with a presentation type poster that displayed different types of writing styles and how to go about organizing them and setting them up in a way that allow the paper to flow.

I would love to use the videos that I found on You-Tube in teaching the students how to do a bubble draft and the importance of organization in a paper. I’m not sure of the name of the girl that has done these videos but she has several others that pertain to learning to write and tips to help get started and I believe she has done a great job and she’s very entertaining I guess you could say. I believe that using this technology and inviting the kids to use it would empower them to want to learn and do more with their internet resources.

Essential Questions???

EQ: How do I write a paper?

This is a question that no matter how old you are, you will continue to ask and
continue to learn new strategies in order to write a great paper. You can write or
construct a paper in many different ways. Middle School English is a really big writing
stepping stone in a student’s progression. It is a transformation to go from elementary
school scribbles to middle school essays.

UQ 1: What goes into writing an imaginative paper?
UQ 2: What is the correct number of drafts I should do?
UQ 3: How are paragraphs created?

I chose to use these questions because I believe that they are asked or
thought about on a regular basis. They go along with Bloom's Taxonomy because
students are eventually going to have to learn how to write and construct long and
descriptive papers; as well as research papers and many others. These questions could
also be used with Gardiner’s method of multiple intelligence because there is not one
correct way to write a paper; there are hundreds.

TEKS for the three unit questions:

What goes into writing an imaginative paper?
110.15.b.15.A
A clearly defined focus, plot, and point of view; a specific, believable setting created
through the use of sensory details; and dialogue that develops the story; and

What is the correct number of drafts I should do?
110.15.b.14.A.B.E
Plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for conveying the intended meaning to
an audience, determining appropriate topics through a range of strategies. Then develop
drafts by choosing an appropriate organizational strategy (e.g., sequence of events,
cause-effect, compare-contrast) and building on ideas to create a focused, organized,
and coherent piece of writing. Finally, revise final draft in response to feedback from
peers and teacher and publish written work for appropriate audiences.

How are paragraphs created?
110.15.b.17.A
Present effective introductions and concluding paragraphs; include specific facts, details,
and examples in an appropriately organized structure; and use a variety of sentence
structures and transitions to link paragraphs.

My Style

I really enjoyed reading Davids' blog. As far as technology goes, I am very indifferent on whether to utilize it more or not utilize it at all. If were talking about elementary age students, I think it is too much information in such a small time. At this age, children are being forced to learn so much, from learning to walk in a straight line to addition and subtraction of single digit numbers and that may not seem like a lot for an adult but when it comes to a child who doesn't really have the attention spand for hardly anything it could almost be painful in way. Forcing them to learn how to blog or to take part in a group collaboration, is pretty ridiculous. The most I ever did on a computer, was paint and maybe take an Accelerated Reading test and that was it and maybe once I reached 3rd grade or something like that I may have been exposed to researching but it was all in small amounts. I think that, this type of technology should not be in a classroom of any kind that contains students under the age of 10.

Now, if you are talking about middle to high school level of teaching, I would totally agree that more intense technology should be used; especially once you got into college. I still don’t believe that blogging should be used very much, if at all, in middle school because kids are still adapting and learning and if somehow they get off into the wrong blog; it could possibly be very dangerous. High school students are more aware of what is going on and what a safe blog is and what bad blog is and they can avoid stuff like that if they so chose. At this age, students are doing research projects, biographical essays, and utilizing the computer and the resources within it, in almost every class, at least once or twice a year. Yet, I still don’t believe this type of technology, blogging, should be used in high school. College, defiantly yes! I don’t really care to blog other than Facebook but I do think it is a good tool to know how to use and to be comfortable using. If I were to use some of these tools in setting up a project for my class to do, I would defiantly have to be teaching high school or older. For example, I might have them do a project over the Holocaust and within that project they would have to create a collaborative google document, using the information that they each gathered about the Holocaust and submit it to me. Then they would have to present the information to the class, either by a collaborative slide show or by creating a group webpage and publishing it.

Learning/Teaching Styles

Inquiry Based learning is a good and effective way of teaching. It allows the students to take what they already know and apply it to the lesson of the day. By allowing the students to practically do it all themselves, they can learn by trial and error. They will eventually being to ask questions and then you as the teacher begins to associate what they don't understand with their everyday lives. With that said I believe that project based learning also associated with the students real life experiences. By choosing a project that will incorporate things in which they are familiar with, will allow the process to go a bit smoother because they will be a little more confident in what they are trying to accomplish. There are millions of different projects that can be given out that relate to a students everyday life and I believe if teachers used more projects like that, that are fun and exciting and something that the kids can relate to, I believe the outcome of the projects will be more successful.