Tool 7: Digital Storytelling

I worked very hard at locating my pictures on Snapfish from 2005. Even had to call Snapfish to have them re-loaded in my account. I selected 35 of them and added captions. The music was from Juanes - La Camisa Negra which I downloaded from my CD. I chose this song as my daughters integrated music with Spanish language acquisistion and focused on Juanes songs and lyrics. I also created a narration of the important events of My Fund for Teachers grant in 2005 to study Spanish language and Mexican culture and history at the InterCultural Center for Languages and Culture in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico in July of 2005. My daughters accompanied me on the trip and we stayed with a host family in Cuernavace while attending Spanish language courses at Inter Cultural. We also made several side trips to explore Aztec and Mayan ruins, pyramids and museums in the surrounding areas. We ended our trip with a stay at Las Brisas in Acapulco where we enjoyed the beach and our villa and watched the cliff divers exhibiting their talents to the tourists. Unfortunately my digital story was unable to upload to my blog. I hope to share it with my student this school year. I think they would enjoy creating their own digital stories.

11 Tools Reflection

1. My favorite tools were Skype, Diigo and Digital Storytelling. I plan to use Skype as a digital pen-pal project. My students can share and learn from other students in other countries. I also would like to have students use Digital Storytelling to create a unique story using photos, music and voice narration.
2. My thinking about learning in my classroom has broadened to include many more digital tools for students. I clearly see that students are the drivers of technology and that I need to get on board and become a part of the future. Creating my blog is a great step in this direction.
3. I was surprised at my enthusiasm with the digital storytelling project. I went to great lengths to restore photo files and locate music for use in my video.
The final assessment on Atomic Learning gave me a reality check on exactly where I need to increase my knowledge of the tools for 21st Century learning.

Tool 11: Digital Citizenship

It is the teacher's responsibility to teach students digital citizenship. We cannot assume that they already know it just because they are a part of the digital world. According to Cool Cat Teacher, there are four major quadrants of digital citizenship:
1. Literacy - students need to learn to verify sources and make sure they are accurate.
2. Safety - students need to safely maneuver the internet.
3. Learning Strategies - using multiple sources of information.
4. Etiquette - respond using appropriate/proper digital etiquette.
All of these need to be modelled and reinforced with our students in order to provide them with both a rich and safe learning environment. We cannot only rely on the district's filters and must be vigilant with our students to keep them safe and yet allow them to learn and grow.

Tool 10: Exploring Mobile Technology and Apps

Some of the free apps I reviewed for use on the iphone or i touch were: Word of the Day; Google Earth; Constitution: Declaration of Independence; USA Factbook and NASA 3D Sun. I think the students would really enjoy learning U.S. History or Science using any of these apps. It would be great for English vocabulary reinforcement, as well.

I do not have an I-pad, I- touch or an I phone so was not able to actually work with them. My husband and daughter do have I-phones which I have used for driving maps and locating addresses, I struggle with my fat fingers/thumbs and typing in the necessary information on these devices. I know that my students though, will have no problems.

Tool 9: Sharing Information through Jing & Skype

I think that with Jing, students can add visuals to their online conversations. Many of my 5th graders already use social networks such as Facebook and will enjoy adding free visuals through Jing.

Skype has so many applications that could be used in my classroom. I love the idea of my students having e-pals to practice their language skills with. With a webcam they can actually see and get to know their e-pals.

Skyping an Author would be an amazing experience for my students. They could hear the author's voice and all share the story. They would then conduct an author study of the book input from the author - Wow!

Skype could also be beneficial in group projects. Students could collaborate on a project and send their draft to all on the group for comments and revisions. We could even produce a class newsletter.

The possibilities are endless!

Tool 8: Video Resources

http://www.hulu.com/watch/163100/national-geographic-animals-lions-devour-prey

http://www.hulu.com/watch/160307/biography-george-washington-american-revolutionary

http://www.hulu.com/watch/14826/national-geographic-environment-droughts-101

These videos are useful resources for my students for content instruction in both Science and Social Studies. Students are actively engaged in videos as they bring the subject matter to life. Videos are especially useful as a "set" or introduction to the lesson.

Tool 6: Wikis

I have used the PBWorks for Westat in a part time as a data collector for Westat. As studies were progressing, updates of completes or suggestions for techniques were posted to the wiki by the study manager. I am also quite familiar with Wikipedia - I had not thought of it as a wiki before.

I think that teachers could use a wiki to share ideas and update information on a given topic. This would be a great way to work on Roadmapping without all meeting at one place and at one time. Each teacher could update and make changes as time allowed.

I especially liked the ideas for Language Arts wikis including the continuing story idea. My students would really enjoy creating this and seeing changes to the plot with each student's input. I also like the Literary Analysis idea on a story that the class has read. We can look at all of the story elements with input from all students.