PE6- Flash CS5

My Flash project is at a standstill. I wanted to continue to watch my Flash tutorials to see all the possibilities. I was constantly amazed. I cannot believe all the work that has to go into creating movement for an animation. One of the difficulties I was having is my reference to sizes. I really have none and don’t understand what I would need to change sizes to. I think that will all be trial and error for me. Tonight I my focus was on creating animation inside animation.  Having a class in Month 6, which will require me to use Flash is going to be great for me. I am glad I went through these tutorials, however, I will be watching each one again.

Week4_Final Video

PE5- Flash CS5

Animation is something I’ve been spending more time on. I have been exploring the many motion presets and how to create them so that I can reuse them. I have been applying all the things that I have found so that I can retain them, however, I am learning so much information in a very short time and my retention is not so good. I find that I have to go back and review videos.  Lynda.com is awesome. I know I will be using Flash in month 6 and I am very glad I am watching and using it now. As I watch and watch again, it is becoming easier or a least more familiar.

PE4- Flash CS5

Flash allows you to move animation and change focus on each animation individually. This creates more depth and changes where the viewer focuses. I am amazed at how some small changes and details create an entirely new presentation. I am also learning how to create layers after, to allow things to appear when I want them to and creating more movement. I realize that my uploaded video does not look very impressive, but I did learn a lot creating it and it did take me a lot longer that it may appear.

Week4_Reading

Week 4 Reading

PE3- Flash CS5

I am learning the importance of importing images as a new layer so that I can apply effects to each layer. I have spent a lot of time on just a few images but I am learning a lot. Flash is a really great tool, however, it is a little overwhelming. I also made the mistake of saving my work as a document which removed all the effects I created. I am looking forward to using this tool and learning more about it.

PE2- Flash CS5

I am discovering some of Flash's incredible options. With Flash you are able to import images and layer them. I didn't really plan out what I was going to do because I had no idea of Flash's capabilities but this images is what I have created so far. This program would help me create a beautiful web page with images and animations.

PE1 Flash CS5

I have begun to explore Flash CS5. This is my first experience with it so I have been creating as I watch the tutorials. I learn best by doing, so my creation is not very original. My focus is on learning the basics so that in the future I can get a little creative. So far, I love this tool. It really looks amazing.

BP12 Make Beliefs Comix

                                                     http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/

BP11_My Comment on Karen Gearns Blog

Find out what I wrote on Karen's Blog about Animoto

BP10_My Comment on Anna Dooley's Blog

Follow this link to my comment on Anna Dooley's Blog

BP9_MakeBeliefsComix

MakeBeliefsComix.com is a place to create comic strips. The site provides characters that are drawn displaying several different emotions. You can choose a character and its emotions, then place a text balloon above them and type in some dialogue. When your comic is complete, you can print it out, email it or share it on line.

This site is wonderful for motivation and to engage students in writing dialogue. My kindergarten students can work as a whole group (on the Smart Board), or for those more advanced students, individually. Students can create their own comic strips by choosing a character then choosing its mood and typing in dialogue.  These comic strips can be beneficial in teaching reading, writing, and literacy. It can also be used to teach social skills and appropriate responses to different situations. As a springboard for conversation and discussions, it can be a tool for teaching appropriate behavior and empathy. I would absolutely use this site with my students for many lessons. Besides having students use their imagination and create their own stories, I would present them with a character with dialogue and another character without. Students can make decisions as to responses. We can use these comic strips to incorporate new site words and vocabulary words. The comic strips can also be a tool for teaching students to work cooperatively and have students each pick a character and have dialogue with each other.

Providing students with the empty talk balloons gives them the opportunity to think imaginatively and to practice language skills as well as to practice reading, and communication skills. A recent addition to this site is that they provide printable. You can print out comix templates and students can use this to write on and color.

W3 Reading

Week3 Reading

Blog Post #8

W2 Reading

My Mind Map

BP7_Comment to Anne Alsup

Follow my link to see my comment to Anne Alsup

BP6_Comment to Sonni Jackson

Follow this  link to my comment to Sonni Jackson

BP5_Web 2.0 Tool

BP5_Wordle

Wordle is a wonderful tool that can be used at any grade level to visually enhance a lesson or to kick one off. I have used it with my kindergarteners as both an introduction to some lessons as well as a culminating activity at the end of others. Wordle is a tool that allows you to create word clouds from words you either type in as text or retrieve from the web. You have the option of changing font color, size, and shape or layout of the text. If there is text that is entered more frequently, that particular text will appear larger in the world cloud. This feature allowed me to use this tool to survey my students and for them to see the results instantly. An example is asking students their favorite color and giving them the opportunity to type in their answers. The color chosen most often will appear large than the others. Your completed Wordles can also be printed or shared.

I have used this tool with my students to create word searches where they were given words to find and highlight. This was reinforcement and review to previously learned sight words and high frequency words.  Students also created their own Wordles by typing in these same words. This was also a great reinforcement and practice for these words.

At the end of themes we have created Wordles to summarize things we learned or words we associate with the topic. An example of a Wordle we created for Fall was words we associated with the fall such as pumpkin, leaves, acorns, etc.

My students love this tool as much as I do. It is a great way for the class to collaborate to achieve a product as well as present information in an attractive and creative way.

 

http://www.wordle.net

BP2_iGoogleScreenShots

Home Page

AR

ETC

FSO

W1 Reading

My Literature Review Mind Map

BP4_Web 2.0 Tool

            The web 2.0 tool that I chose to explore is Shidonni. After creating student accounts, this site allows children to create an imaginary pet and an environment for then live it. They can do this by drawing it on the Smart Board or using a mouse. Once their drawings are created they become animated and come to life in the virtual world they create. The pet can either walk or fly, depending on the option chosen by the student. This is perfect for my kindergarteners. Words and stories can also be added. This process encourages creativity and a prompt for students to write their own stories. Students can continue to interact with their pets by dressing them and feeding them. Caring for their very own unique virtual pet promotes a sense of responsibility. This site also provides a service of creating a custom-made toy from the drawings made by the students. I would use this feature to create one pet made by all students for our classroom. It is a wonderful way to show students the results of teamwork. Shamir and Korat (2007) investigated the use of electronic books to support literacy development. Their study found that these books did help improve literacy development and that the improvement was partly do to the meaningful context of the story reading. I feel that having students use a site such as Shidonni and create their own stories creates intrinsic motivation for this literacy development in the same successful way found to be true with electronic books.

            Shidonni not only promotes computer literacy skills it also provides a safe platform for students to become engaged and creative. One of the social aspects of this site is the ability for students to invite friends to play and share creations. This safe environment only makes this possible for children who know each other’s usernames to connect. Pets can also be integrated into games where prizes are new art tools to use and create with. This site is a child’s stepping-stone into the virtual world, where their creativity comes to life.

Shamir, A., & Korat, O. (2007). Developing an Educational E-Book for Fostering Kindergarten Children’s Emergent Literacy. Computers in the Schools, 24(1/2), 125-143. doi:10.1300/J025v24n0109.

BP3_Diigo Group

BP1_Google Reader

     Scholastics is a site provides so many resources for teachers as well as a platform to network and collaborate with other teachers around the country. I use this site to find creative lessons, printable, and mini books for my kindergarten class. One of my favorite tools on this site is the video. I use the videos on interviews with authors as a kick off to our author study. These videos provide a connection for the children with the author before they even begin reading their books. I also show some author videos before students write their own story, just for a little inspiration.

     Kindergarten’s 3 R’s: Respect, Resources and Rants is a blog by a kindergarten teacher, Michaele Sommerville, for kindergarten teachers. This blog provides kindergarten teachers with information and ideas about classroom management, classroom layout, helpful ideas with delimas, as well as monthly theme and daily activity ideas. I found this site to be helpful even in the area of room setting up my classroom. Blog posts from other teachers is also a great aspect of this site. Other teachers bounce off posted ideas and expand on them. It is like a giant brainstorm of kindergarten teachers.

     Edutopia is wonderful place for educators to read about and watch other teachers in action. This site provides blogs sharing new ideas and showing how they are implemented.  Aside for reading the most current happenings in education, the two places I visit most often are the project-based learning tab and the technology integration tab. These places provide me with ideas and possibilities for my classroom and for my Action Research project.

     TED is one of my favorite sites.  The name of this site is derived from people in the areas of technology, entertainment, and design, giving speeches at a TED conference. Its premise is to provide a platform of ideas worth spreading. TED is a site I learned about in the EMDT program. After watching the required videos on TED, I continued to search the site and watch other stimulating and informational videos on my own. The videos were thought provoking and provided different perspectives. This is a site that I will continue to visit as a source of inspiration. I also have provided the link to colleges.  I love this site and I think that every teacher should check it out.

     Classroom 2.0 is a new site to me. I chose to subscribe to this site because it is a network of people that I would like to follow. My AR project is about incorporating technology to improve literacy and I found this site to have a wealth of ideas on how to do that. My goal is to explore and implement Web 2.0 and this site is going to help get me there.

BP2_iGoogle Screen Shots