New Web Page

Learning how to create my own web page has been such a thrill. I think this will be a great way to complete the home/ school connection that we all strive for in the classroom. Currently, my web page is dedicated to a research project however, very shortly I will be changing it to access my class home page. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the school year and stay in touch! A big thanks Regina for all your patience and encouragement. I really appreciate it and the class was truly refreshing!

Photoshow- 3/4/07

Hi guys!
Sorry for the delay in this posting. I have listed the link and steps for the Photoshow. Hope you have fun being creative. Oh by the way, it's also a free download!
PhotoShow: http://photoshow.comcast.net/
Follow the download instructions, it will post an icon on your desktop.
The program itself is very easy and self- explanatory, just follow the 1,2,3 steps : manage, make, and share (it really will do everything for you!)
Creating Your Photoshow:

1. After importing your photos, select "make", this will allow you to choose to make a photoshow and or other products
2. Select photoshow, the program will automatically set one up. You have to go in and edit the show to your liking. You can change the music, transformations, text, and many other formats through the edit button.
3. When you are done, select the "share" button and email a copy to whom you choose.
4. It is very important if you want to place it on your blog, YOU NEED TO EMAIL IT TO YOURSELF!

Placing To Your Blog:

1. You will need to log in to your email, you will notice that you will have two relating to the photoshow (1- the name of the photoshow & 2. sharing confirmation)
2. Select the one with the __name of show__photoshow (not confirmation)
3. select watch
4. double click sign-in to your account
5. enter your password
6. this will bring up the same page with added feature tabs
7. on the info tab, you should see at the bottom- Display on other Links
8. Keep player size small and copy the whole link
9. Log into your Blogger account
10. Go to Customize template
11. Select Add A Page Element
12. Select HTML/ Java Script
13. Title Your Video
14. Paste the link into the content box
15. Save

* If you know you are going to be placing more than one video on your blog, make sure that when you edit your photoshow, only have music for one of your videos. If not you will have two different songs playing at the same time!

Moderating & Ethical Blogging- 2/23/07

Hi!
I just finished reading the article Dr. Chatel posted on Blackboard. It is a very interesting article especially for teachers. The article, Moderating and Ethics for the Classroom Instructional Blog by Patricia Deubel, Ph.D., debates issues that we have been discussing in class on how can we use blogging safely in the classroom. It brings up a very good question of, What are the rules of engagement for blogging? Are we to give our students the free run to post their responses or are we to monitor their speech? I feel that blogging allows students to deepen their comprehension of material in a very important manner, peer communication. Peer communication is one of the ways that I have my students demonstrate their understanding of the lesson. In addtion, I feel that some students learn better from peer interaction than just teacher discussion solely. But how do you make sure that your students are following your expectations and more importantly respecting eachother's opinions? Dr. Deubel gives some pointers: 1.) provide posting guidelines, 2.) provide HTML support, 3.) give priority to student commentary, 4.) involve students in summarizing and moderating discussions. To conclude, I still worry about the monitoring of blogging however, it would help students develop their critical thinking skills and allow the students to reflect upon their responses and the responses of their peers. With good monitoring, would you allow your students to blog with eachother, if you know they are going to only be working on reaching instructional goals?

This past week's reading was very interesting. I really enjoyed the article fantastic Use of Technology. I thought it was great that Bell South has the funding to implement the technology into the school. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it really is a brand new school that had the technology upgrades. I think it is wonderful that the students are exposed to many new opportunites. In addtion, I also think it is a great way to have the home- school link, how important it is for parents to feel they are important in thier child's school life. I wish would all have a chance to be able to work in such a technology rich environmnet.

New Literacies Discussion- 1/23/07

1. As our group discussed we came to the understanding that new literacies include hyper text, blogging, and email.
2. Professionals need to upgrade to keep in touch with the "digital natives"- upgrading to how students learn now
3. centers, web quests
4. class meetings, mini-lessons, modeling
5. online research, professors, media specialists
6. monitoring systems (Baracuda Block)
7. guided instruction, key words, fascilitating research, modeling