Final Thoughts

I felt that I have met my goals for this second weekend. I came into this class with knowledge of PowerPoint. There were a few things I wanted to learn in PP. I wanted to learn how to better use the animation. I wanted to have a presentation loop and the animation come on their own without me having to click the mouse. I learned that! I was so excited about that. This weekend I also played with the program Kidspiration. I made a worksheet comparing the Creek and Cherokee Indians. I am moving to a new grade next year and wanted to have something I could contribute to the veteran teachers. Kidspiration I felt wasn't really kid friendly for the age group I teach. I feel I would spend more time correcting mistakes than the students learning. I feel that I have learned much in this class. I feel that I have greatly added to my knowledge of technology and I am so excited to take it to my class. I plan on spending the rest of my summer creating PowerPoints for the students!

Final Project

For my final project I am creating an open house PowerPoint to show during my Open House. Open house can get very busy and having the basic information continuously looping on my screen. I am going to be using my LCD projector. I am glad that this assignment was created. I wanted to do a PP last year for open house, but never found the time. I put lunch prices, buses, and PTO info on the presentation. Parents often ask about that at open house and I can't always spend the time delving into lunch prices and PTO dues. I would like to add pictures of myself and my paraprofessional but I won't be able to get pictures before the assignment is due. However, I will be inserting pictures of myself and Mrs. Neumeyer when I return to school. I will probably edit the pictures of the administration. I learned how to make animation show up one after the other. I couldn't figure out how to do that on my own and I am so happy that I learned that this weekend. I plan on sharing this with the other 2nd grade teachers at my school and any others who would like to use it. Hopefully I can keep this same format and edit year to year.

Kidspiration

Since I am teaching a new grade next year I decided to create something that I knew I would use. I created a worksheet comparing the Creek and Cherokee Indians. On the actual worksheet I placed pictures to depict the area I wanted to compare. However, on the outline I had to edit it so it make since to the students. I removed the pictures from the outline because I thought the students could add their own interpretation to the outline. They could draw their own pictures. I enjoyed Kidspirations, but I still didn't feel that for the grade level I teach (2nd) the students with limited computer experience and only going to the computer lab once a week I think they would struggle. For the students that are tech savvy I could incorporate this into their advance differentiation. Personally I felt it took too long to create this worksheet. I do like the graphics that I can use. It makes the learning more visual to the learner. I could use Kidspiration on my LCD projector and the class can participate in the creation of a concept map, making a worksheet or creating a graphic organizer. The science section has a graphic organizer for life cycles and we will study that this year. I would have to edit and make it appropriate to second grade. Creating worksheets is a definite plus. The version I have a school is not an updated version. I will have to play around with the program at school to see what I can accomplish.

Goals for second weekend

Goals:

Become more familiar with Kidspiration
Find ways to incorporate Kidspiration into my classroom
Become acquainted with Powerpoint 2007
Learn new Powerpoint tricks
Make a jam up PP presentation for Open House

Question from MI & Technology: A Winning Combination

4. What does it mean to help our students achieve the state of flow through the integration of technology and the multiple intelligences? Describe an experience that you have had, either personally or with your students, when you have experienced this feeling of flow while learning technology.

Flow is when the student is relaxed and engrossed in what they are learning. I refer to this as "zoning out." The student is engrossed to the point where what is going on around them is mute. To integrate technology and MI for student learning you must let them flow in their best MI. If a student learns best through movement then they should try to achieve flow through some kind of movement. Maybe a very visual and moving online game. Technology can be integrated in many different ways with the MI.

Using Excel and Photoshop I have experienced a flow. In learning Excel I had to teach myself and therefore was totally engrossed in the program. I had to learn how to use it in a couple of hours and had to make sure that I was pretty comfortable with it. In Photoshop I achieved flow very quickly and only broke the flow to ask a question. I also achieve flow in many different areas of learning, not just with technology.