So, session three. First, I have to say that I really appreciated the break from grad classes as the new school year is starting up - it has eased the "to do" list quite a bit this week. I continue to enjoy searching out and listening / watching different digital stories as we work through this class. Many give me ideas for possible stories that I could do either on a personal level or for my students. I'm even tempted to let the students loose and create their own, but I need to check with other departments to be sure that I'm not stepping on any toes. At a minimum I could share with the other teachers all of the great resources and sites that we've been discovering in class.
I'm really still very happy with VoiceThread and I've been planning (yes, planning analog)some of the presentations that I want to create for particular lessons in two of my classes. I would have to say that the most frustrating thing for me right now is that I can think of a million applications for biology and that's the one class I'm not teaching this year! I'm also excited to start playing around with Animoto, but I haven't been approved yet (or my approval is sitting in the school's spam folder that I can't access).
I've had a wonderful time with the photos - it's forced me to pick up my camera and now instead of thinking I have to take pictures, my attitude has changed to what pictures will I find today and even though we've completed the required 28 photos, I find myself carrying my camera with me almost all the time now. I've even started a checklist of "images" I want to capture for some of my new presentations. I kind of wish this class had been a little earlier this summer as I'm finding tons of ways to incorporate what we've been learning about but I feel a time crunch as I have to use some of the presentations that aren't quite ready yet. Oh well - I guess my little OCD will have to be put on the back burner as it really isn't practical to try and have ALL of my presentations completed now.
Sorry for the delay in posting as I was unable to access the internet from home last night!
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Ann, I am totally in agreement with you. I too really needed the break. It's been a tough month with the death of my wife's Grandpa, my Grandma, my wife's surgery, my dog's surgery, finishing up summer jobs and now starting back up with school. I don't think I would be able to get by if I didn't have the break. I may have had a breakdown. Anyway, on to my real point. I too believe that what we are doing really grabs me and makes me think about all the possible areas of implementation. I love the idea that we can utilize this stuff to make our classes more efficient and entertaining. My only gripe would be that with all the time we spend trying to complete this stuff, it doesn't seem like it leaves enough time to actually implement it in our classes. By the time we get time to do this I'm not sure that I will really remember how I wanted to implement it in the first place. I just wish there was a little more time to learn something, give it a practical implementation, and then move on to the next topic versus cramming a bunch of different tools into a weeks worth of work and then trying to find time during the next weeks worth of work to actually use what we've learned. I think it is awesome that you've created an attachment to your camera and wish I could say the same but for me it is still a struggle to take the time to take a picture. I think it is a wonderful trait and will serve you well in the future, I just hope one of these days I will become one of those people because I find myself so often saying "man I wish I would have taken pictures of that". Enjoy what is left of your break as it will too soon be over with.
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ReplyDeleteOne thing that I try and do in my classroom is take a series of pictures each day. Now a lot of time I am busy so I will assign a student to take pictures for 5 minutes each day. That gets them experience with a different type of technology and allows them to interact more with the class. Now with the Animoto, you could import those pictures and use the video to explain and promote your class to other students and parents.
I love that you are carrying your camera with you. There are so many different images that I would love to capture, but I simply don't have my camera with me. Do you think that you will continue to carry your camera, even when class is over?
ReplyDeleteI have been carrying my camera with me and have caught a few really fun shots. In the meantime, I have been contemplating the purchase of something a little beyond the point and shoot - so I've been holding off on taking tons of photos...
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