iMovie

After much time and frustration my iMovie video is finally finished. This is an awesome idea for making learning interesting, but I do not think I will be using this in my classroom. I am a bit of a perfectionist, so this video took a lot longer than it should have. I chose a topic on the Civil War because some children think this is a boring topic. I could possibly see myself using this video idea for a shorter, simpler video, but I think I may have my work cut out for me if I try using this tool often. Cool idea, I just don't think it is for me.

Excel

The Excel spreadsheet project was fun! I always thought Excel was very complicated, and I never had a real use for the program. However, the idea to use Excel for an interactive quiz is great. I chose "Parts of a Sentence" as my topic. While working on the project I thought of tons of other topics and ways to use this in my classroom. I will definitely be using this tool as an enhancement to teaching and learning. I did think that the formatting was at times difficult, but the outcome is very worth it.

Inspiration Inspires

Using inspiration to create a diagram was both fun and efficient. The quick and easy to use graphics, templates, and editing tools made creating this diagram less stressful than previous diagrams I have created before. I enjoyed browsing through the many graphics supplied, and that's actually how I got my idea for this matter web. Setting up the design and layout was fairly easy, however, I did have some difficulty getting the linking arrows to curve correctly. I also enjoyed how you can add a link to the words as seen on the main topic in this example. I have linked an education site that supplies more detailed information on the topic. Overall, this is a great tool that I will most definitely use in my future teachings.

Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

This video is made from the popular Animoto Web2.0 tool. The whole video creation and editing was free, however, it is only 30 seconds. For longer, more advanced videos, a membership is required. I chose a few pictures from my trip to Myrtle Beach this summer. The Ripley's Aquarium was a great place to visit, and I got a ton of great pictures; so, I decided to share some of them here!

Scavenger Hunt

The scavenger hunt was awesome! Although I think we had one of the hardest topics, the hunt was a lot of fun. Our group got to search for opposites throughout campus and take 10 different photos. Some other topics were: colors, shapes, and alphabet. The activity was a group and individual project. The group took the pictures together and uploaded them. The individual part was a presentation of the pictures found. Below is a slideshow of the presentation I made. I will definitely try and use this in my classroom if I have all the right tools. I think that this is a fun and unique learning project.

Digital Images + The Classroom

I really enjoyed the digital image assignment. I liked using the five different picture collecting techniques: digital camera, scanning, free online image, screenshot, and clip art. Picture taking is a hobby of mine, and so, this assignment was really fun to me. I think that the digital camera, clip art, and free online images will be the most useful to my special education classroom. I think that the screenshot and scanning may be more useful for another type of classroom. Images will be a helpful tool to incorporate into lessons for special needs children. Many students with special needs get a great benefit from visual learning; so I can definitely see myself using this in my classroom.

Lesson Plan

I really enjoyed make the lesson plan, however, it was much more difficult than I expected. Describing all of the standards and steps were a little time consuming, but the biggest challenge was modifying the lesson plan for special needs children. I chose to work with Mariannina and alter her English lesson plan to meet the needs of children with learning disabilities. The task was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but when all was said and done I really enjoyed the assignment.