flip cameras and Imovie

Students learned imove for 2nd time using Flip camera. Went to art exibit and took footage. STudents uploaded movies and used to produce iMovies. Fun class.

Looked over bulletin boards together. Worked on websites for webquests. Students learned to upload images and videos to google. Productive class.

Class VII

30% of the class was out for illness.  I was planning to go over the creation of a webquest in the initial plan, but didn't want to go over all the instructions again.  I decided to "switch gears" and instead show the students who were present how to create iMovies and videos.  To follow-up, I assigned the reading of chapter 12 which is about movies.  The multi-media project will involve making movies, but the movie won't be the main focus.  Webquest is a major project in itself, so I want to devote plenty of time to it, and to the entire class.

We'll see how that works.

Class VI

We established Delicious accounts and discussed evaluating websites.  Then we discussed conducting searches and search engines.  Not an outstanding class, pretty average.

Class V-We concentrated on Power Points.  Although I'm able to do this with my Mac Book, I was not able to use the iMacs in the lab to upload a video clip into a Power Point.  It may be a application problem.  I was using Keynote.  We reviewed "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of Power Point creation and presentations.  We looked at everyone's bulletin boards.  Some of the students forgot to complete the reflection questions for the board.  We discussed the uses of the bulletin boards and when centers should be used instead.  We investigated different WebQuests and discussed the parts of a WebQuest.  Class went fairly smoothly.  

Class IV

Bulletin Board Night!  Students were very busy and worried about their bulletin boards.  I conducted a pre-assessment on the KTIP lesson plan and found that three of my students (30%) had never written a KTIP lesson plan.  The other 6 differed greatly in their experience and knowledge.  I discussed small group strategies in the classroom when students have vastly different knowledge and skill in any given content area.  We decided that it would be best to pull each group individually and review KTIP lesson plans.  In each group, I reviewed the relationship among assessment, instruction and objectives (the cycle).  I also reviewed the three types of assessment, pre, formative and summative.   I decided to remove modifications from the lesson plan for this first activity and add it to the second lesson plan they must write so that I didn't overwhelm the students unfamiliar with lesson plan writing.  

Assignment: The students will email me a copy of their lesson plan to be graded.  I will add comments on this lesson plan and assign a grade.  The students will have the option of resubmitting the lesson plan, and the first and second will average into a final grade.  This will insure that they look at the comments and act upon the suggestions.

Overall, my most effective class.  Students were engaged in our small group instruction on lesson planning and said that this was very beneficial.  I didn't plan to have the small group instruction.  I expected to be able to do a whole class review of the KTIP format.  I was also amazed that although I had presented all this information during an earlier class, most of the students hadn't retained this information.  This might be due to the two weeks off for weather, or that the ppt wasn't effective without immediate application.  This is true of 3rd and 4th graders so I am assuming this is also true for adults. 

The groups were not able to complete their bulletin boards, and most stayed late.  Some groups planned to meet to complete them before the next class meeting.

The following two classes were cancelled due to weather.  I assigned reading during our absence, but because my students and I were without electricity and snowed or iced in most of this time, I kept the assignments short.

This class focussed on updating the website and adding a link to another site.

We also created blogs on blogspot.  We discussed the relevance of blogs to instruction.

We then went over the rubric and instructions for the interactive bulletin board.

I created and presented a ppt (only one this time!) on the purpose and function of an interactive bulletin board.  I also showed an iMovie and we discussed the relevant use of iMovie in the classroom. I asked them to begin to collect pictures or videos they'd like to use in an iMovie.

I put them into bulletin board groups according to subjects of interest and grade level they hope to teach.  I allowed them to work in groups for the last 30 minutes of class to plan their bulletin boards.  I provided each group instruction on selecting Core Content and Program of Studies according to grade level.  This is especially difficult for primary teachers because grades K-3 are combined without recommendations on grade level.  I then showed each group how to do a search on subject specific Power Points they can embed in their lessons.

I think this time I was able to plan and implement a class that stayed within the time limit and paced my students.  It was a good combination of active and passive learning.  They enjoyed working together in groups.

I gave the students the option of either turning in a log describing their work on the bulletin board, or to copy me an email they will send to their group members describing their work.  This option allows me to see what each person contributes and lets all the members know what is being done.  I will see how this works.  I think next time I will have them post their work on Blackboard so that I can more easily assign class credit.

Class II

My instruction included establishing a website on google and IM.  We discussed strategies for using IM, the pros and cons.  The students were much more vocal, especially the future middle school teachers, who felt IM in groups so that all the comments are visible to the teacher, will be a great strategy for classroom discussion, especially for quieter students.  We also had a great discussion on whether or not to allow text-messaging languages for these discussion.  I said that I felt that this depends on the objectives of the activity and that, writers from the early 20th century would be a little "freaked out" by our forms of written language.  Language is constantly changing as are the rules.  We then discussed the impact text messaging may have on written language in the future.  

I created and presented a ppt on lesson planning/objective writing and Dr. Miller's ppt on chapter 2.   I also showed a KDE ppt on Core Content, Program of Studies and DOK.  One of my students tried very hard to stay awake.

Assignment: Post to Blackboard three objectives that may be met with an interactive bulletin board.

Reflection:

In the future, cut down on the number of ppt's in a given class.  I ran out of time this time, but still let my students go on time.  First week I under-planned, the second week, over-planned.  I'm hoping with experience, I will get this "just right" pace for a 2 hour 40 minutes night class.

 

Class I

I felt very "off balanced" this first night of class.  The student were nearly silent.  My instruction included reviewing the syllabus and the description of the digital profile assignment.  I also did a pre-assessment activity involving post-it notes to find out their comfort level and experience with the digital technology described in the course syllabus.  This livened them up a little, but still, they were frightfully quiet.  I explained the purpose and value of pre-assessment strategies in planning instruction.  Still...pretty quiet.  I showed the You Tube Video "Did You Know" and asked for feedback.  Still...very quiet.  Finally, I let them go 25 minutes early.  This resulted in lively, and positive feedback from my students.  I could have run for public office and won.  Next week...plan more activities.