Thing #16 - Final Evaluation

Photopeach was a fun and quick way to get a cute slideshow up.  Here is my slideshow that I created:  http://photopeach.com/album/yllkju

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
My favorite discovery on this learning journey was obviously finding new things that are out there that can be used in the classroom and/or on a individual level.  My favorite find was the software Kizoa that is able to put beautiful movies together.  I also found Edpuzzle that I believe will be very useful in my classroom.

2. How has this type of program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This reminds me to take the time once in awhile to see what new and valuable 2.0 tools are out there that can help create a wonderful learning environment in my class.  Perhaps I will even continue with this blog and have a goal of searching twice a month if not once a month.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from the 16 Things exercises that surprised you?
I am always surprised that there are more things out there that have unique twists and ways of using it to simplify not only teaching in the classroom but also on a personal level.

4. What could I do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think it would have been neat to sometimes have 30 minutes in class to explore each others blogs once in awhile.  This way you could actually have a little designated time to look at some of the things they recommend and found themselves.  Maybe even at the end of the "16 things" students have a presentation on three of their best take aways.

Thing #15

Skype what a beautiful thing or at least Skype like things...lol.
Let me explain what I mean.  Skype has been awesome in the classroom many ways.  In my class we have this awesome thing called "Mystery Reader."  This mystery reader comes and visits the classroom and reads a book.  They send in three clues in the morning before they arrive in the afternoon before my class leaves for home.  The kids then try to guess who is the "mystery reader" by the clues given.  Many times we have had "mystery reader" call in over Skype or Google circles etc. When they call in the read a special book they have chosen.  It all works so well and the children love it.  This is just one way that we use it in the classroom.
On a personal level, my oldest son Cameron, is in Lishui, China teaching English and will be there for almost a year. As you can imagine I miss him very much but the invention of Skype like apps have made it much more bearable.  The app that we use is called Viber and it is an awesome way to keep in touch with people internationally for FREE!!  Yes Free!! It sounds to good to be true but it is true.  I can text, call and video call just like Skype for free.  This has been such a lifesaving lifeline for me.  I am sure my son would be fine without it.  So if you ever go over seas make sure to download Viber.  I don't really know how they make money but they do.  I was introduced to it by my sister the year before my son left because they were traveling Europe for the summer.  It worked well and she was continually sending me pictures.  Here is the link: http://www.viber.com/en/

Thing #14

You can find some good information from Podcasts but I just don't use them very much.  I do enjoy that not all podcasts are just audio.  I definitely prefer to not only hear but to learn watching something as well.  The podcast I finally decided to listen to is right up my field because it is based on technology ideas for K to 2nd grade.  The whole podcast was based on using iPads to enhance K-2

Many of the thing that it covers are: 

• How to use book creator on the iPad
• Endless alphabet app
• Educreation tutorial
• Organizing apps
• Quick voice to name a few...
• and my favorite....screencasting Apps to help differentiate your instruction.  

I particularly loved listening to the screencasting app. because I can use it for my summer website.

The link to this podcast is: https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/using-ipads-to-enhance-k-2/id663788743

Thing # 12-13

Discovery Exercise 1: 

I have been very interested in a few topics lately so I went on youtube and started searching under some of the topics.  I came across this one after about 45 minutes and watched it.  I found it very heartwarming and so important.  Basically it is about play and the importance of play in not only children's lives but also in adults.  That is why I chose this blog post.  It is over 15 minutes and it kept my attention the whole time so i felt it was good enough to share.
I liked how he was dressed all goofy so that might be one fun thing to do in my post if I decide to have it geared to my kids but that might be to silly.  It might be cool to do a post of experiments for the students.  Then we could do some of the fun experiments at school.  Melissa and I saw Steve the science guy and that was really fun so maybe something like that would be fun to create.  Another one of my favorite videos from YouTube that I always use is class is Jack Hartman and learning the teen numbers.  The guy is definitely goofy for my taste but he does have some great songs that the kids love.  Here it is:

This video is great.  I would love to figure out how they make all the slides come in and then move to video.  I love singing but again I don't want to look like a dork.  LOL  Jack Hartman is looking too goofy but the kids love....love this song.

Discovery Exercise 2:  Making this video is a bit awkward because I would rather not see myself.  LOL  It was a fun activity but I will start brainstorming ways to create videos and screencasts to use in teaching without showing myself.  This is great practice to start implementing for my website I am creating for parents to refer to in the summer.

Discovery Exercise 3:
There are some definite advantages of having learning videos available online using sites like YouTube.  First, videos can show a more fun side to learning something, a teacher can create playlists to use with lessons to jazz it up, class lessons could be recorded and used later for a flipped classroom or regular classroom and students are more engaged in visually stimulating videos.   Student-created work would also be very helpful if uploaded as long as the student work is protected and remains anonymous. A teacher could use student work videos to show examples to classes and the students would love seeing what they have done on a video. I love how using SchoolTube and / or TeacherTube are safe and protected.  You can also view tremendous amount of videos to refer to for your lessons.

Thing #11

I loved...loved this assignment.  One of the main reasons I loved this assignment is because I love to create memory videos.  This is based on presentation tools and I am already familiar with Prezi, Power point, Animoto etc.  So I decided to look at the only one I have never tried Kizoa.  Jackpot!! I love it and ended up spending way to much time on it.  I will definitely be using this again and have even thought about creating a video of each child in my classroom for mother's day.  Please check it out and see what you think.


What I really liked about the tool is that it is very easy to use and offers a very polished look.  You can make these beautiful animated collages with the video and I think that is really neat.  This would not be something I would have the children use, however, I could use it as a fun "Welcome" video with parents when they come on the first open house as well as it could be used in conferences.  Maybe I would make a short video on each child and then learning and send it to the parents the day before they arrive for conferences to help them get into the celebration mode.  Last but not least, also as a gift.  It is free except for the time I decide to put into it.

Thing #10

I really liked using the tool DoInk.  Although it was somewhat difficult to learn what to do and how to get it done, I liked my simple little duck animation.  In pre-k our children are very young so I am not really sure if they could create something with it.  I could always show a few of maybe my older students how to work it and see if they could take off with it.  I believe if they could figure it out they would enjoy using it and creating characters.  Also if I could get a few students to learn it they could in turn help other students that were interested to learn it.  I can definitely see me use it for a fun little addition to get children excited if need be.  Useful features were that when you hover over something it gives you an idea of what it is.  If you click on the question mark it also helps to give you more detail.  Hope you like my little flying quacker duck!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3faDuRqrWFnd1BxV0JMMzdrdnM/view?usp=sharing

Thing #9

Zoho docs seemed to copy google docs for the most part.  I created and uploaded my rough draft presentation of EasyBlog.org.  I did like how it would point arrows to the next step.  However, for the same thing I can use Google docs for free and Zoho costs money.  If I play for it a little more I may see why it costs money but I am happy with Google docs at this point.  My powerpoint is at this link: https://docs.zoho.com/home?rd=docs&plan=premiumTrial#allfiles  This will only work for 14 days because I have not paid for it.