Gabcast! Catlett ELL #1
Friday, July 31, 2009
We have arrived
But where are we? I have stayed above water this week, but I have so much to learn. I am most happy about using Photo story and epals. Epals has already set up my blog and a teacher in Italy contacted me about getting our classes in contact! I am now spending more time on my laptop at night than my husband!
Podcasting is something I had been exposed to in an elective class. We came up with some great ideas for using podcasts in grades 6-12. I think I might start with audio content that I can link to on my blog or web page. Then the students would be able to access it, even though someone across the world could not. One idea I definitely will try is recording a radio show or current event update. I am interested in how writing and fluency will improve as a result of these recordings!
I linked to a podcast in today's entry via Gabcast...see above!! I can link this to my blog.
Podcasting is something I had been exposed to in an elective class. We came up with some great ideas for using podcasts in grades 6-12. I think I might start with audio content that I can link to on my blog or web page. Then the students would be able to access it, even though someone across the world could not. One idea I definitely will try is recording a radio show or current event update. I am interested in how writing and fluency will improve as a result of these recordings!
I linked to a podcast in today's entry via Gabcast...see above!! I can link this to my blog.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
MM and RSS
Movie Maker has been frustrating. I don't feel confident at all using it, but I did make a 43 second video with title and credits. Judging from the comments around me, others are having difficulty as well. Simultaneous video and audio is not automatic. Movies would be great for filming skits and interviews in class. Irrelevant or lengthy video could be cut out.
Pageflakes site is down so I can not yet experiment with RSS. I did watch the Common Craft video about RSS and thought I understood. Then when I went to the NPR site and my iGoogle site, I was clueless. I find this happens a lot!! The Common Craft video compared RSS to Netflix and that makes total sense. I look forward to having an RSSS to all my favorite sites. On my pageflake that is public, I could subscribe to certain sites for class use!
We also explored Webspiration this morning. I am able to use Inspiration at school so the tools are the same. When we get our epals set up we could possibly do some brainstorming with kids across the ocean using Webspiration. I spent some time looking at epals.com last night and they offer great tools that I cannot wait to use.
Pageflakes site is down so I can not yet experiment with RSS. I did watch the Common Craft video about RSS and thought I understood. Then when I went to the NPR site and my iGoogle site, I was clueless. I find this happens a lot!! The Common Craft video compared RSS to Netflix and that makes total sense. I look forward to having an RSSS to all my favorite sites. On my pageflake that is public, I could subscribe to certain sites for class use!
We also explored Webspiration this morning. I am able to use Inspiration at school so the tools are the same. When we get our epals set up we could possibly do some brainstorming with kids across the ocean using Webspiration. I spent some time looking at epals.com last night and they offer great tools that I cannot wait to use.
Kindle and Badongo are not curse words
I just read two articles about Amazon's Kindle. Don't think I want one. It is light weight and portable and is improved over the original. However, like one of the authors said, there is just something about holding that book in your hand. And it is not helpful for research and working in multiple texts at one time. It does seem that the future for Kindle looks bright if it could be made cheap and durable enough for students to use. Time will tell.
Badongo is a free place to store and share files. I am not having success with this so I am going to try Zshare later.
We read about visual media this morning. I really enjoyed the article I read about doing a photo project that brought the family in on the learning. This focused on what families value and teach their kids. I see possibilities for my classroom, as my students are all Latino. Their parents trust the school and respect the teacher as the authority. I have always struggled with parent involvement and this might be a way to encourage that. Just an idea. The challenge is to find ways that learning can draw from real life.
Badongo is a free place to store and share files. I am not having success with this so I am going to try Zshare later.
We read about visual media this morning. I really enjoyed the article I read about doing a photo project that brought the family in on the learning. This focused on what families value and teach their kids. I see possibilities for my classroom, as my students are all Latino. Their parents trust the school and respect the teacher as the authority. I have always struggled with parent involvement and this might be a way to encourage that. Just an idea. The challenge is to find ways that learning can draw from real life.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Page Flake
I now have a page flake as my web page/homepage. Others can access it to see my flakes. One of those is a mini blog that I can use to touch base with parents and post important announcements in Spanish and in English. Right now it announces the beginning of school. I also have a calendar where events can be posted.
When I get it all figured out, websites can be added and storage space is provided. I could use that flake as a place for student slide shows or videos to be posted.
With the ability to make more than one page, I could make a separate page that could be more personal just for me. It could focus on adoption and current events, almost like a blog but with more elements. Friends and family could follow sites that I follow. (similar to the "links" or "blogs I follow" that appear on the side of a blog.)
A separate page could serve my school needs and a separate one could be for my daughter. She would be able to easily navigate to her favorite site...disney princesses.
When I get it all figured out, websites can be added and storage space is provided. I could use that flake as a place for student slide shows or videos to be posted.
With the ability to make more than one page, I could make a separate page that could be more personal just for me. It could focus on adoption and current events, almost like a blog but with more elements. Friends and family could follow sites that I follow. (similar to the "links" or "blogs I follow" that appear on the side of a blog.)
A separate page could serve my school needs and a separate one could be for my daughter. She would be able to easily navigate to her favorite site...disney princesses.
Digital Success
I spent hours yesterday and last night and now today, and I finally made an Animoto and a Voice Thread. I understand how to do it and would be able to teach my students how to use these programs. Voice Thread is best used with photos or power points that are already saved on your hard drive or jump drive. Comments can be made with text, voice and even a pen that you can use to draw on the slide during the "show." The kids will absolutely love this! They are already familiar with power points so they could quickly learn how to upload them into Voice Thread.
These things combined with epals.com could potentially change my ELL classroom this year!!!!
On to Photostory...I love it!!!! Much faster and easier to use than the online apps we have used. I will definitely be able to use this in my personal and professional life. I can see using it as a lead in to a new unit. The kids could watch my photo story or slide show to activate their background knowledge and to really pique their interest. At the end of the year I could have a good bye slide show for my 8th graders. The kids could create their own show using images from the Internet or photos they took for a science project.
These things combined with epals.com could potentially change my ELL classroom this year!!!!
On to Photostory...I love it!!!! Much faster and easier to use than the online apps we have used. I will definitely be able to use this in my personal and professional life. I can see using it as a lead in to a new unit. The kids could watch my photo story or slide show to activate their background knowledge and to really pique their interest. At the end of the year I could have a good bye slide show for my 8th graders. The kids could create their own show using images from the Internet or photos they took for a science project.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Readability
In other news, we read about multimedia and digital documents today. We saw how to determine the readability of a text after discussing the fact that online texts are often way above our students' readability levels. As teachers, we really have to teach and guide students in reading and viewing multimedia documents. Just like us, they get distracted and off track when they follow hyperlinks and never get back to the original text. We can suggest to students that they read or skim the entire text before they explore any of the hyperlinks. Teachers can also instruct students in note taking and tracking in the online environment.
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