Thing #11 - Prezi

  The following is a Prezi presentation I created based on our Plant unit.  I had a hard time getting used to Prezi and its components.  I have use Power Point for years, so it was very different and hard to move around in.  However, the longer I did, the more I liked it and saw its value.  Power Point is based on 'slides', whereas with Prezi everything is all on the same page.  Students can easily maneuver around the page and go directly to the content area they need.  It is internet based, so they can access it from school computers or from home.  I love the easy capability to insert internet pictures, sites, and UTube.  We have been watching seeds germinate in the class, but I added a time-elasped version to my Prezi presentation that allowed students to watch them every step of the way.

Thing #10 - Feedback

  When I showed this presentation to my students, they were very excited.  They loved seeing themselves put to music.  The students would comment about what they had experienced throughout the year as they looked at the pictures.  It was a nice time of reflection, especially this time of year.  When I asked them what could I have done if I had chosen to use a voice-over, I was amazed at the ideas they came up with, but especially the fact they remembered clearly the activities and told me I should talk about what we were doing in the lessons.  THEY remembered what we had done, and offered text suggestions.  It was nice to know they had remembered what they had been taught.

Thing #10 - Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

  Digital Storytelling can be a valuble tool for both students and teachers.

1. Students will be allowed another avenue to share what they have learned.  How fun it would be for most of them to put their knowledge in a digital story format?  They could also use it as another means of projects.  Diorama's were popular in the past, but with digital storytelling students would have the capabilities to add so much more information and effects in a interesting way.  I did not use a voice over with my presentation, but if used for assessment or projects, I am sure students would be very creative.
2. As a teacher, digital storytelling would allow me to grab the students attention in a different way.  It could be used for a unit introduction, teaching a lesson, or, as I did with my presentation, allow the students to see pictures taken of themselves throughout the year.

Thing #10 Photo Story - "Our Year in Review"

   The following link is a digital story using many of the pictures I have taken this year in the classroom.

http://thirdgradehappenings.weebly.com/slide-show.html

Thing #10 - Digital Storyboard

Storyboard.  I created a storyboard based pictures from my class doing cooperative, hands-on math and science lessons.

Thing #9 - Public Photo Sharing

Below is a link to all the photos taken during the Math/Science activity.  Included is the editing I did before posting.

https://picasaweb.google.com/momofjanda/Math?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGNk_LQn-TmCg

Thing #9 - Dital Images

Picasa
Below is a picture I took of students measuring weight during a Math/Science activity.

http://picasa.google.com

I uploaded it to Picasa and used the editing tools there to enhance the picture.  I wanted to target the students at this table, but there was a lot of clutter behind them.  I cropped out the background students and added some text to explain what they were doing.  After adding the text, I changed the color of the text to blue and italicized it.  I also used the auto color feature to allow Picasa to give it the right amount of light/darkness contrast.
I will use the edited picture below, as well as many more I will be editing, in my class newsletter.