Technology is the Future (Class Reflection)

As I sit here, at Barnes and Noble, sipping my caramel machiatto at 10:30am on a Sunday morning, I am realizing just how effective and "instruction" changing this course has been for me. Although I have taken technology courses before, I've never seen such success with technology within my classroom before this course. My literacy project blog and my Read180 digital story were possibly two of the top highlights within my classroom throughout the entire year. I also have no doubts that the Web 2.0/ Webquest will be the third.    Through this course, I have developed many useful skills and time savers related to technology. I will definitely be using Evernote in the future, along with Google Docs, Google Sites, and Blogger. I think the most important concept I realized in this course was that in order to use technology, you need to be engulfed in it constantly. In the last class I took with Arzt, I had no real application of it due to in being in the summer. My goal for this summer is to keep blogging and researching technological tools for the classroom. Practice makes perfect right? 

Hicks' Human

After our Skype session with Troy Hicks Thursday, I was happily surprised to find that he is an extremely down to earth guy. He doesn't have all of the answers. He's still trying to fight through his own problems and short falls when it comes to technology.

What I especially enjoyed was that he wasn't afraid to throw out many other resources and tools that we're found in his book. Since the class has ended, I've checked out little bird tales and using PowerPoint for creating digital books. Both great tools/resources and I definitely recommend you checking them out as well! Overall, I thought the Skype session was incredibly beneficial and engaging; nothing better than receiving tools and advice straight from the experts!

My Reading Wiz's

I could not be more proud of my Read180 students for helping me create an introductory piece for learning the reading strategies. Each student focused on a different aspect of this video. From recording to editing, from writing the script to acting, my students helped me make this vision reality. I cannot wait to show them the final product after our spring break. They're going to be thrilled! But enough about what I think of it, check it out for yourself!




Soo... what'd you think?

Overall, I had a blast creating this digital story. At first I thought it would be a little much for my students (and also take a lot of time away from direct instruction). However, we quickly developed a system and only used 10 minutes a day on it! Although my students and staff have not seen the final product yet, they were already proud, stunned, and inspired just by viewing the rough draft. As stated above I CANNOT wait to show them the final product. If I could do anything differently, I would definitely have more than one student be filmed for each speaking segment. I found that some students were difficult to be heard due to their tone of voice. It seemed like I could either have them scream or not be heard at all. Non-speaking roles might be better for these students. Other than that, I feel as though this piece will definitely be used in classes to come!

Remarkable Readers

My class has agreed to help me teach others the strategies we use everyday in our reading room. Although this is a rough, rough draft, I feel as though these guys are really getting their point across already! :) Please let me know what I can do to make this more effective for my future classes and school!

...after reviewing this on Blogger, I realized that half of the digital story is missing! That will be the first thing I fix.