Activity 3 - Storybird

I love love love writing so I loved loved loved playing with Storybird this week!  I have been looking for different creative ways to expand Technology with my students and this has incredible potential.  

As much as I loved playing around with pictures and text, I did find it challenging to have to stay within the parameters of one artist and the predesigned format of a book.  So with students, I would definitely start by creating a class story.  I think it would be too overwhelming for primary kids to do on their own.  But (like everything), I can see some kids loving this and doing it on their own at home with a parent.  I think it even has potential for use with older struggling readers.  The ideas are endless!   And here we go........

Activity 2: Pimp My Presentation (Or: Feed Your Math Brain #1)

Well here we are in week two.  Part of my position next year will be teaching HP Math to first and second graders (the other part will be teaching Technology, Grades One and Two).  I have wanted to play with the "flipped classroom" idea and thought it would be fun to post math challenges on my website that kids can view at home and bring in answers (or questions) to school.   I played a little bit with Prezi for this idea but found that its format would not work for what I envisioned.  Animoto did the trick and I created my first (rough - still learning!) math "brain food" challenge about Turkey Vultures.   Here it is:

Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.


As I said, my plan is to post regular math challenges that utilize "real life" examples for kids to use.  I call them "brain food" for the kids' math brain.  Originally, I had thought of creating Youtube videos using Imovie and Garageband but Animoto is quick and easy for some of the simpler math concepts and ideas I will use in the fall.  What fun!

Blog Bling - Activity One

Woo hoo!  The first week of summer camp.  It has been fun to explore some of the features within Blogger.  I can tell already I will be playing with colors, fonts, designs, etc. as we go.  This is one of the aspects I find very fun about blogging and websites.    As for classroom applications...  Last year, I taught Technology to grades one and two and will do the same for part of my position next year.  I felt like I was kind of stumbling around in the dark much of the time as everything was new - being a specialist (as opposed to a classroom teacher), working with first graders, teaching on a cart, etc. etc.   I can't wait for a second year of Technology to refine what I did.  As for which blog site I will utilize, I will probably stick with Blogger since it is already connected with my gmail account.  Last year, I had a technology blog (through Blogger) and posted "think about" types of questions once a week.  Kids could respond online and earn "CARES" incentive coupons.   I plan to continue this next year and would also like to figure out a way that second graders can create their own blogs.  Blogger was blocked on kids' gmail accounts so I want to explore other blog opportunities this summer that primary kids can utilize.  Ideally, I would like kids to be able to connect this with curriculum from their classrooms and help them create a space where they can learn in a different way.

Here is a video about internet safety for kids.  It is a great way to get them to understand how "anybody" can be "anybody" on the web.  There is a picture book that goes along with the video.  Faux Paw was one of our favorite characters last year!