530 wk 6

Well here we are, 15 credits down and I dont know how many to go. I am glad to see that we are at the half way point. 530 was a great class and I am glad we got to use tools like animoto, voicethread, and prezi. I have enjoyed seeing the work that I was able to create and I am looking forward to including these tools in my classroom. I may begin to use these tools as soon as next week and I will have my students using some of them soon. My only complaint seems to be a common theme for me during this program and that is that we cover too many of these tools too quickly and I don't feel like I get enough of a chance to master any of them. I am looking forward to the next class and I am glad that I can begin to see the fruits of my labors in the classroom.

530 wk 5

Things are starting to get crazy for me! I am busy coaching everyday and I don't have anytime to do anything. I feel like I am falling behind on my work, but as far as I can tell I am keeping my head above water. I had a bit of fun making the pecha ketcha, but it didnt turn out as cool as I hoped. When I started on it I lost some momentum and lacked a really good theme. I used a topic that I know would be useful to me and I am satisfied with how it came out. Its not quite as cool as my prezi (which I really enjoyed after I figured out how to use the program). The group work will be trouble for me as I will be out of town the next two weekends so I hope I can still do my part and be fair to my group members. Finding even an hour in my schedule can be pretty impossible!
I have enjoyed this class and I feel like we have learned some things that will be useful to me in the classroom and will develop into great learning experiences for my students. I am looking forward to starting our next class and I am glad Louis is teaching!

530 wk 4

I continue to be impressed by Gar and his presentations. I have really enjoyed watching the videos and even the book has proved useful and interesting. I was not quick to buy into his principles, but the more I listen and read, the more I like it. This week for once I felt like I was on the same level as Gar when it came to the dicussion about presenting. I agreed with his ideas of being a natural, understaning your time and place, and so on. I have always been a natural presenter, so at least this week I didnt feel blown away by his ideas.
I was also interested in Prezi. I have stated before that I don't feel like I get a chance to master any of the tools we use and that I wish we would experience less tools and go more in depth. Prezi took me a really long time to get through all of the instructions and for quite some time I was sure that I didnt get them all. Once I got the hang of it (and it took a long time) I kind of enjoyed it. I dont know that I will ever use Prezi to present an idea, but I could make an assignment for the kids and I am sure that they would enjoy it! I think it is a cool way to storyboard or share pictures to tell a story and I will keep it in mind in the future!

530 wk 3

This is a very interesting week. As I get further into presentation Zen I become frustrated. This is a great tool that I think we need to focus more on. I have stated earlier that I feel like a jack of all trades and a master of none in this program, and presentation Zen is no different. I really have enjoyed reading the book and especially watching the videos with Garr, but I don't feel like I will master any of these techniques without more practice. I need to focus more on these topics to really get good.

On a more positive note, I have really enjoyed voicethread and I see a lot of potential there. After working with animoto, I am really excited to use this in the future. I could easily make short videos for introduction of topics in class and I can see my students using animoto for a digital storytelling assignment. This is a great tool that is easy to use and really fast. I also like that they have free music for you to use, because sometimes that can be a hassle.

530 wk 2

This class is interesting to me and I feel like we are working on stuff that I can use in the classroom. These tools could even be taught in the future if I needed to teach a computer class. The Zen approach is more interesting than I thought it was going to be and I think that I will keep this book when the class is done. This is a good reference and I can use it in the future to continue to remind myself how to make a good presentation. I was glad to see that the analog approach is not frowned upon because that is always the way I have done things. The voicethread tool is interesting to me, but it has been pretty clunky thus far. Once I figure out how to use it and really get comfortable, I think I can make use of it in the classroom. Its really neat that they offer a pro version for educators for free. I look forward to learning more about this tool and to continue working on my presentations.

530 WK 1

I should have blogged earlier, things are already a little fuzzy. One thing that I can tell you is that I am interested to see where this class takes us. I have never done any digital story telling, but I have seen it done and I know that I could find a use for it. I think that I could use it in the classroom and also use it as an assignment in almost every class that I teach. I the Zen method of presentations seems interesting as well. I took into consideration what we learned this week and already began to apply it to my presentations. I am looking forward to continuing to learn about these techniques and how I can apply digital story telling in the classroom. I think this will be one of the more useful and interesting classes yet.

525 WK 6 final blog

The strategies that I will incorporate most in my classroom are advanced organizers and objectives. I use objectives right now, but I do not always share them with the students. Objectives are often something that I graze over in the beginning of a lesson and never clearly refer to them. If I began to share the objectives of the lesson and unit I can communicate a more clear purpose to my students.

Advanced organizers are also something that could be more useful than I origionally anticipated. The more structure and organization I can add to my lessons, the more learning will take place. If I start the lesson with a good question or someting else to prime the pump, I will have students that are more involved and hopefully more interested students. These stratagies alone will improve my lessons and incorporating more technology a long with them will help too.