For our Focused Task we looked at the Grade 6 Social Studies section of the illustrative examples. The task asked students to look at China in the last 50 years and find relevant pictures for those 50 years. Students are then required to copy and paste the pictures into a Word document, with captions/brief summaries for each picture. At first, we decided on an interactive timeline. After some initial work with this, however, we decided to create a movie instead. The idea was still there, however - to choose a series of pictures that would illustrate China within the last 50 years.
We went back centuries, however. We felt that, in order to understand any country's present state, one must have a general understanding of that country's past.
The movie itself took many hours to create, as we both had very little experience with the program (Windows Movie Maker). However, it was actually quite easy to get used to and understand. Unfortunately, it was not uncommon for the program to shut itself down. We quickly learned to save our work often . . .
I enjoyed doing the task because I have a personal connection to it - I am Chinese! Though I have never been to China before, it was really interesting to learn about the country. As I searched for pictures I became more and more interested in China . . . I would love to visit someday. In addition, I already had the music that was chosen for the movie on my computer. The difficulty was choosing just one or two songs. All of the songs have a traditional, but modern, flair to it.
I would actually like my students to perform this focused task. Of course, the students can modify the task to make it meaningful to themselves. They can do a Power Point, create a website, or even a photo-journal. The students can use pictures, video, sound, or anything that they feel will relate to the task. This is not a difficult task. Even though the task takes time, if the students have an interest in the topic, the students will put their best effort into it.
As I went around the room, looking at the other focused tasks, I became quite interested in Comic Life. I think this is a great media for kids to do projects on. I believe that everyone enjoys stories, and when kids can make stories with pictures (even stories with pictures of themselves in it!) students will always succeed. The ability to stretch, change, or distort all pictures and words is very appealing to me.
Some comments that people had about our focused task included, "what kinds of lessons or activities lead up to this focused task?" and "I really liked the pictures that you chose, but maybe provide a limit to the students on the amount of pictures they can use." These comments got me thinking a lot. Maybe providing a limit on the amount of pictures a student can use will limit their creativity . . . or maybe it will help keep them focused . . . maybe it depends on the kid . . . what kinds of lessons would lead up to this? It seems that this focused task would work well as a culminating, or final project. The students will probably have had a lot of exposure to the type of material already . . . or, maybe they will come across a lot of new information as they work on their project . . . again, it depends on the individual . . .
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Showcase - Blogs
Here are the resources from our presentation (blogs). They can also be found on Stephanie's blog.
Edublogs
http://edublogs.org
-can sign up as an individual or as a school/campus. School/Campus ranges from $900/year to $6500/year
EPals
http://www.epals.com
-Great educational blogging site. Useful for teachers that want to be able to easily connect to other classrooms. **Need to sign up for a free license before you can use it
Word Press
http://wordpress.com
-Free blogging site. Great free features. Also has “premium” features that range from $10/year to $90/year.
Teachers First
http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogbasics.cfm
-If you are unsure about how to use a blog or why to use a blog.
21 Classes
http://www.21classes.com
-can sign up an entire class for free, or have a paid classroom for $8.95US/month
Xanga
http://www.xanga.com
-quick and easy sign up for a personal blog
School Of Educators
http://schoolofeducators.com
-example of a blog for all types of people with a career in education
Dextr’s Xanga Site
http://www.xanga.com/dextr
-has many resources of lesson plans on a variety of topics from novels and books to holidays or special days (groundhog day).
In addition to the resources, I want to add a couple more things to the presentation. I was unable to present everything that I found on the ePals website . . . I barely scratched the surface . . .
The ePals website has 16 million students and teachers registered in over 200 countries. It is also the internet's largest global community of connected classrooms. There are also many features and benefits to the website:
- The website provides a straight forward overview of the site. The overview explains all the benefits of creating an account with ePals.
- There is a "Classroom Match" feature that allows you and your class to connect to any class around the world. By doing this, you and your class are able to collaborate in projects, exchange emails, share ideas, and communicate through blogs.
- You and your school can apply for an ePals SchoolMail account. This email account has all the features of regular emails, including special features such as: privacy and content control, instant language translation (in eight languages), anti-spam filtration (able to customize this as well), and much more. Administrators can also monitor all incoming and outgoing messages. Filters can be set up as well (choose from a list of words to be filtered or create your own)
- Teachers can also create a SchoolBlog account. Some special features include: public areas, parents-only areas, student/teacher-only areas, streaming audio and video, and much more.
- There are also forums and discussion boards as well. Students and teachers can join in existing discussions or create their own. Users can search the teacher forums, student forums, or parent forums. This is a great feature as it allows anyone to see what certain groups are interested in. For example, in the parent forums, parents can post requests for electronic pen pals for their children. In the student forums, students can recommend books to each other . . . I've seen a few book clubs in the forums.
- There is also a section called, "efilms." Unfortunately, access is permitted to the US only. However, I was able to see the types of films available for viewing (National Geographic videos, Supersize Me, etc.). This section allows for comments as well where teachers and students can discuss the film. There is also a review for the featured film by an ePals administrator.
- There is also a section called "Focus Areas." This section is rather comprehensive in its content. For example, the US Inauguration is one focus. There are links to president Obama's weekly address. There are links to forums, blogs, pages, and projects related to this focus area. There are also "contests" that pertain to the topic as well.
- The "Projects" allows teachers to use full projects. These contain essential questions, objectives, a culminating activity, project elements, and national standards being met. Teachers and students can connect to other classrooms and work collaboratively on these projects. Projects range from Global Warming to Natural Disasters. A project calendar is also provided (what should be in each email when collaborating with another classroom).
- There is also an extensive "How To" section. Which makes it extremely easy for anyone to get started.
- As I mentioned in class, there are many links to resources as well. My favourite one, which I briefly mentioned in class, linked to National Geographic's website.
In addition, a link to an essay written by David A. Huffaker from Northwestern University, can be found on the ePals website. He explains what blogs are, how they are used, and what benefits may arise from using blogs:
http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/gradstudents/huffaker/papers/Huffaker2005_LetThemBlog.pdf
Also, there is an information piece on the website that teaches you how to meet National Standards with ePals:
http://images.epals.com/nets_whitepaper.pdf
This Showcase has made me realize the potential that online collaboration and blogs have in the classroom. It is so neat to be able to communicate with people all over the world, and because of the instant language translator, not have language barriers get in the way. Students can see how their lives in Canada differ from the lives of students in Japan. How does our way of life contribute to Global Warming compared to the way of life of an Australian student? What books are popular in China?
Edublogs
http://edublogs.org
-can sign up as an individual or as a school/campus. School/Campus ranges from $900/year to $6500/year
EPals
http://www.epals.com
-Great educational blogging site. Useful for teachers that want to be able to easily connect to other classrooms. **Need to sign up for a free license before you can use it
Word Press
http://wordpress.com
-Free blogging site. Great free features. Also has “premium” features that range from $10/year to $90/year.
Teachers First
http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogbasics.cfm
-If you are unsure about how to use a blog or why to use a blog.
21 Classes
http://www.21classes.com
-can sign up an entire class for free, or have a paid classroom for $8.95US/month
Xanga
http://www.xanga.com
-quick and easy sign up for a personal blog
School Of Educators
http://schoolofeducators.com
-example of a blog for all types of people with a career in education
Dextr’s Xanga Site
http://www.xanga.com/dextr
-has many resources of lesson plans on a variety of topics from novels and books to holidays or special days (groundhog day).
In addition to the resources, I want to add a couple more things to the presentation. I was unable to present everything that I found on the ePals website . . . I barely scratched the surface . . .
The ePals website has 16 million students and teachers registered in over 200 countries. It is also the internet's largest global community of connected classrooms. There are also many features and benefits to the website:
- The website provides a straight forward overview of the site. The overview explains all the benefits of creating an account with ePals.
- There is a "Classroom Match" feature that allows you and your class to connect to any class around the world. By doing this, you and your class are able to collaborate in projects, exchange emails, share ideas, and communicate through blogs.
- You and your school can apply for an ePals SchoolMail account. This email account has all the features of regular emails, including special features such as: privacy and content control, instant language translation (in eight languages), anti-spam filtration (able to customize this as well), and much more. Administrators can also monitor all incoming and outgoing messages. Filters can be set up as well (choose from a list of words to be filtered or create your own)
- Teachers can also create a SchoolBlog account. Some special features include: public areas, parents-only areas, student/teacher-only areas, streaming audio and video, and much more.
- There are also forums and discussion boards as well. Students and teachers can join in existing discussions or create their own. Users can search the teacher forums, student forums, or parent forums. This is a great feature as it allows anyone to see what certain groups are interested in. For example, in the parent forums, parents can post requests for electronic pen pals for their children. In the student forums, students can recommend books to each other . . . I've seen a few book clubs in the forums.
- There is also a section called, "efilms." Unfortunately, access is permitted to the US only. However, I was able to see the types of films available for viewing (National Geographic videos, Supersize Me, etc.). This section allows for comments as well where teachers and students can discuss the film. There is also a review for the featured film by an ePals administrator.
- There is also a section called "Focus Areas." This section is rather comprehensive in its content. For example, the US Inauguration is one focus. There are links to president Obama's weekly address. There are links to forums, blogs, pages, and projects related to this focus area. There are also "contests" that pertain to the topic as well.
- The "Projects" allows teachers to use full projects. These contain essential questions, objectives, a culminating activity, project elements, and national standards being met. Teachers and students can connect to other classrooms and work collaboratively on these projects. Projects range from Global Warming to Natural Disasters. A project calendar is also provided (what should be in each email when collaborating with another classroom).
- There is also an extensive "How To" section. Which makes it extremely easy for anyone to get started.
- As I mentioned in class, there are many links to resources as well. My favourite one, which I briefly mentioned in class, linked to National Geographic's website.
In addition, a link to an essay written by David A. Huffaker from Northwestern University, can be found on the ePals website. He explains what blogs are, how they are used, and what benefits may arise from using blogs:
http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/gradstudents/huffaker/papers/Huffaker2005_LetThemBlog.pdf
Also, there is an information piece on the website that teaches you how to meet National Standards with ePals:
http://images.epals.com/nets_whitepaper.pdf
This Showcase has made me realize the potential that online collaboration and blogs have in the classroom. It is so neat to be able to communicate with people all over the world, and because of the instant language translator, not have language barriers get in the way. Students can see how their lives in Canada differ from the lives of students in Japan. How does our way of life contribute to Global Warming compared to the way of life of an Australian student? What books are popular in China?
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