Movie Making in the Elementary Classroom

I enjoyed watching the videos by Leah Garrett, Lauryn Paul, Kellie Cash, Kaitlin Tingey, Mariah James, and Daren Parker. All of them were really well done.
When implementing digital story telling projects in the classroom, I think there could be several challenges. First, not all students are comfortable using computers. If a student clicks on the wrong thing, the teacher has to figure out what he or she did and try to save the story from being lost. Also, making a video would take a lot of time, either in the classroom or as homework. If it was sent home to be worked on, some students might not have siblings or parents who could help them gather pictures, music, and a storyline. Students with technologically inclined parents or families would have a real advantage. If the story was done in class, a lot of instruction time would be lost. An alternative would be to do one story as an entire class. Each student could be in charge of one scene in the story. The student could find the picture and narrate his or her page. This would speed the process up, and also give students the opportunity to still use the technology.

Diary of a Hamster

This is my Photostory video. It meets the 2nd grade Core Science Standard 3, Objective 1c: create pictures and stories about real animals and compare to make believe stories about animals. It also meets Language Arts Standard 8 Objective 6: Write in different modes and genres (journal writing).

Storyboard

This is my story board of "Diary of a Hamster." I got the idea for this story from "Diary of a Worm," by Doreen Cronin. The music throughout is "Queberts Canasta."

TPACK

TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. TPACK is using technology to teach a specific content area accurately using effective teaching strategies and management practices (pedagogy). To teach using technology, a teacher must implement the other two aspects of TPACK, pedagogy and content knowledge. The teacher must know how to manage the class and have strategies to teach. The teacher must also have solid knowledge of the topic he or she is teaching. When pedagogy and content knowledge are present, then the teacher can use technology to enhance the teaching/learning process. Teachers must be aware that using technology alone is ineffective when it is not combined with good pedagogical practices and content knowledge.

Synchronous Video Messaging

Another lovely shot. Talking on the phone and video chatting at the same time makes for a strange picture.

Asynchronous Video Messaging

This is my deer-in-the-headlight look. Not my best shot...

Week 2 PLE

The most useful thing I learned this week from the internet communications project was how to embed different documents. I never even knew Google calendar and documents existed. I also had no idea how to embed photos, pictures, and videos on a web page either. Actually, everything I learned in this assignment was useful, because I did not know how to create a webpage, use a webcam, or edit photos online. I didn't know what Blogster was either. I learned so much this week, and I am really excited about all the neat things I can do now. I have lots of options for fun things I can do using computers in my class and on my future class website that I wouldn't have even known to try before this assignment.

My Technology Experience

My technology experience is not extensive. I can perform all the functions on a computer I need to in order to perform in classes and stay in touch with others, but I don't spend a lot of time figuring things out on the computer and discovering how to use new programs. I can use the basic computer programs, but I could certainly become a lot more technologically saavy.