Voice Thread Project

Voice thread is another wonderful tool students can use to tell a story. I find it especially beneficial because it is simple to use and easy to follow. It gives very concise directions as to creating a voice thread. By doing this, this program will be easy for young students to follow and use without creating confusion or using much guidance. I think an interesting voice thread activity for students would be to use it to not only improve computer and application skills but as a way for students to get to know one another. Students could create a voice thread introducing themselves to their fellow classmates by showing pictures of interests or family members. It's a pleasant and less invasive way for students to introduce themselves to their peers and finding common interests. As a teacher your could also use that in the same way to introduce yourself to your students. Students can find commonalities between themselves and you and perhaps see you as another personality instead of just a teacher. As always this application could always be used in all academics and subjects to teach something specific. I thoroughly enjoyed this application because of all of its possibilities.

To comment on my Voice thread:

Alli's Voice Thread

Online Storybook

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

This application has several uses for the classroom. A student could tell a personal story or tell a story that enables them to teach a lesson to their peers. Online storybook could be used as a tool for teachers to facilitate an otherwise boring lecture and create a more exciting means of divulging necessary information. There is a lot of options for using an online storybook. While this application has some amazing uses and advantages, it is important to have adults facilitating related assignments with this particular program. I feel this way because it offers many advertisements to buy and spend money. This could serve as a distraction for younger, less independent students. If used appropriately, Online storybook could have endless possibilities in the classroom.

Picasa Slide Show

Picasa is a refreshing way to tell a story and add some personality to it. I was able to share an important part of my life by reliving it through story telling. In the classroom Picasa can be used for storytelling both fictional and non fictional. Students can find pictures of their own or pictures of the internet and tell a story about themselves or an assigned topic. It just adds more diversity to the numerous technological advancements that can be added to the classroom. At this point I would say I am fairly comfortable using this program. A little more time working with the program could only benefit my abilities and my comfort level. I enjoyed using the Picasa program to tell my story.

Comic Life Poster

The comic life application has several real life uses for in the classroom. Students could make wanted posters describing famous musicians, political figures, and other important people in whatever they are learning about. Students can also tell stories from their life. They could also make sense of and summarize longer stories, in their own words, on this program as well. Comic life is fun and educational but at the same time allows students to reflect their individuality. Comic life is a fairly easy program to use and I am pretty comfortable with it. 

Digital Video Project

   As a classroom tool, iMovie could be used for many different learning opportunities. Student's could use iMovie to dig deeper into a subject of interest such as Science subjects or a particular sport that a student is involved in. By doing this, students are demonstrating their skills with the program but also being able to individualize their abilities by making their skill personally relatable. Students could also use iMovie as a fun and interesting way of getting involved in a subject that perhaps they would traditionally not find interest in. Students could use iMovie as a way to explore subjects such as English literature or Shakespeare. iMovie is a way to draw in a child's interest by using hands-on learning and allowing students to add their personal flare to it.

At this point I still have a lot to learn about iMovie. I am not completely comfortable with the program yet but plan to by the time I am an intern at an Elementary school. I have a broad sense of how to create simple iMovie's but would love to venture into the unknown and become an expert of sorts.

PowerPoint as an instructional Tool

Powerpoint has many diverse advantages to be used within a classroom. Powerpoint can be used as an efficient lecturing technique in which teachers strategically create powerpoint presentations and present them to their students for lecture purposes. When Powerpoint is used in this fashion, it makes it possible for students to refer back to. This serves as a multi-dimensional teaching tool because students with different learning capacities have something to refer back to incase they need extra time or forget something important. Powerpoint can also be used for students to serve as teachers. They can create Powerpoints of their own and use them as teaching tools for other students. Powerpoint allows them to become familiar with computers and programs that will further their computer saviness overall. It allows students to use their creativity and personal flare while encorporating important general computer knowledge. I am fairly comfortable using powerpoint in the educational setting. There are probably a few new neat tricks that I am unaware of regarding the program but I think the more I use it, the better I will become.

Master's in Special Education

I've known for a long time that I was going to acquire a Master's in a field related to Elementary Education. I think I have finally decided on what particular field. As an Education major I am required to take a class about Inclusive teaching to involve Intensive Resource (IR) children in the general Education population and separately in their own classroom. Part of the class requirement for 482 is to spend time in local IR classroom's. Thursday was my first opportunity to spend time in my assigned classroom. Upon arriving in said classroom, I was given an overwhelming amount of information regarding the daily schedule, routine, and each child's disabilities and goals set to accomplish for the school year. I was also given a brief but very informational run down on basic rules regarding working with students because of the severity of some of their disabilities. The teacher informed me that some of the children had tendencies to take advantage of adults and that while their behavior may appear cute at the time, it really shouldn't be viewed that lightly. Often times these children are a lot more intelligent than well-intentioned adults give them credit. Needless to say, I was intimidated and overwhelmed by the thought of doing something wrong and "jumping right in." My first "jump right in" opportunity appeared when I was asked to work with an Autistic child. He was instructed to read his homework words to me and then color the corresponding pictures. I tried to test my knowledge by not looking up each child's disabilities and try to figure them out myself. I had about 60% success rate because I kept questioning my judgment. After working with a few other students, I slowly gained confidence in myself and my abilities to help rather then detract from their learning environment. After an hour and a half in that classroom I have an overwhelming appreciation and admiration for what those teachers and aids do to better their students' lives. I think I have found my master's program.