Here is my Public Service Announcement.
http://voicethread.com/share/1221160/
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Favorite Digital Storytelling Tool
I don't think this is necessary or a requirement at this point but just to be on the safe side here is the link to my Favorite storytelling tool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaLsh45-e38
watching yourself online is not that enjoyable...took me a couple takes to where I found one where I wasn't making some goofy face =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaLsh45-e38
watching yourself online is not that enjoyable...took me a couple takes to where I found one where I wasn't making some goofy face =)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Classroom Blog
As I mentioned prior, blogging within the classroom can be an effective tool. While teachers can use it to communicate with both their colleagues and even parents of their students, blogging is also a great tool to fascilitate learning. Whether one focuses on elementary students or even up through high school, there are many different blogs that are used on a daily basis.
Elementary Blog...
Erving 1st Grade Blog
http://ervingfirst.blogspot.com/
Purpose: Erving 1st Grade Blog is a setup by 1st grade teacher Benjamin Rubin, from Erving, Massachusetts. With this blog, he posts his students assignments and the work they complete; along with the progress they make as a classroom throughout the year.
Type of Posts: With this blog, Mr. Rubin provides the assignments he gives to his first graders accompanied by pictures that match the work. He then posts the work his students provide. In addition to this, his blog contains links to prior archives and an information page regarding Erving Elementary School.
Other Thoughts: This page is great to see how even children as young as 1st grade can have a blog implemented in their learning. Although most of the children are too young to access the blog themselves, their parents have the ability to check out their child's work and the students can see their answers to questions firsthand. Also, posting the children's work currently, in addition to prior material portrays the progress the young students are undergoing with their education. The beauty of this blog as well depicts the creativity of the students and just how much Mr. Rubin truly engages his student's learning.
Middle School Blog...
Middle School Math
http://classblogmeister.com/1.0/blog.php?blogger_id=21564
Purpose: Middle School Math is a 7th grade blog setup by math teacher Mrs. McMurray. This blog aims to inform students of their assignments and provide them with a location to submit their work. Also, it has a question and answer section for the students to ask Mrs. McMurray about their work.
Type of Posts: This math blog includes written assignments to the students and provides each student with their own individual link to submit their work. The blog has a section for related links dealing with the current work or assignments and includes both archives for teacher and student blog entries alike.
Other Thoughts: Using a blog for a math class is a very interesting spin on the usual curriculum. While most teachers provide students with numbers to crunch, a blog requires students to incorporate writing skills and learn to put their math abilities into written verbiage. While this is an effective way to use different skills in math, the blog is effective in that students have constant contact with the teacher even outside of class with the ability to ask questions and get feedback; that coupled with the fact that they have the same access to group work with their classmates makes for an effective way of using a blog with math students.
High School Blog...
The Eagles Roost
http://bransonsbookbagblog.blogspot.com/
Purpose: The Eagles Roost is a blog setup up by Brenda, a media specialist from North Carolina. In the blog she updates current events happening at the school such as book fairs, etc. and also adds insight to possible new books for students to read. It really works well to inform the students and keep them in the mix as far as the school library goes.
Type of Posts: This blog is great as it not only includes written stories and headlines about important information, it too includes videos for students to watch which are quite appealing to the eye. There are also areas for students to keep up with the library through Twitter while simply reading blog lists that either the media specialist or students can post on.
Other Thoughts: I think blogging for a media specialist, whether it's high school or elementary school is a great tool. This blog includes many aspects of learning that pertain to not only a media center, but every class students have in their daily schedule. There are links to books that students comment on in reference to whether or not they recommend them. There is also a great deal of information on effective navigation of the library for help with book reports and other school related work. Finally, this blog is tremendous in that it allows students from other schools to visit and provide their thoughts on good book material through a live traffic feed.
Elementary Blog...
Erving 1st Grade Blog
http://ervingfirst.blogspot.com/
Purpose: Erving 1st Grade Blog is a setup by 1st grade teacher Benjamin Rubin, from Erving, Massachusetts. With this blog, he posts his students assignments and the work they complete; along with the progress they make as a classroom throughout the year.
Type of Posts: With this blog, Mr. Rubin provides the assignments he gives to his first graders accompanied by pictures that match the work. He then posts the work his students provide. In addition to this, his blog contains links to prior archives and an information page regarding Erving Elementary School.
Other Thoughts: This page is great to see how even children as young as 1st grade can have a blog implemented in their learning. Although most of the children are too young to access the blog themselves, their parents have the ability to check out their child's work and the students can see their answers to questions firsthand. Also, posting the children's work currently, in addition to prior material portrays the progress the young students are undergoing with their education. The beauty of this blog as well depicts the creativity of the students and just how much Mr. Rubin truly engages his student's learning.
Middle School Blog...
Middle School Math
http://classblogmeister.com/1.0/blog.php?blogger_id=21564
Purpose: Middle School Math is a 7th grade blog setup by math teacher Mrs. McMurray. This blog aims to inform students of their assignments and provide them with a location to submit their work. Also, it has a question and answer section for the students to ask Mrs. McMurray about their work.
Type of Posts: This math blog includes written assignments to the students and provides each student with their own individual link to submit their work. The blog has a section for related links dealing with the current work or assignments and includes both archives for teacher and student blog entries alike.
Other Thoughts: Using a blog for a math class is a very interesting spin on the usual curriculum. While most teachers provide students with numbers to crunch, a blog requires students to incorporate writing skills and learn to put their math abilities into written verbiage. While this is an effective way to use different skills in math, the blog is effective in that students have constant contact with the teacher even outside of class with the ability to ask questions and get feedback; that coupled with the fact that they have the same access to group work with their classmates makes for an effective way of using a blog with math students.
High School Blog...
The Eagles Roost
http://bransonsbookbagblog.blogspot.com/
Purpose: The Eagles Roost is a blog setup up by Brenda, a media specialist from North Carolina. In the blog she updates current events happening at the school such as book fairs, etc. and also adds insight to possible new books for students to read. It really works well to inform the students and keep them in the mix as far as the school library goes.
Type of Posts: This blog is great as it not only includes written stories and headlines about important information, it too includes videos for students to watch which are quite appealing to the eye. There are also areas for students to keep up with the library through Twitter while simply reading blog lists that either the media specialist or students can post on.
Other Thoughts: I think blogging for a media specialist, whether it's high school or elementary school is a great tool. This blog includes many aspects of learning that pertain to not only a media center, but every class students have in their daily schedule. There are links to books that students comment on in reference to whether or not they recommend them. There is also a great deal of information on effective navigation of the library for help with book reports and other school related work. Finally, this blog is tremendous in that it allows students from other schools to visit and provide their thoughts on good book material through a live traffic feed.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Flickr Pic with Notes - no copyright
Here is a picture from College of me playing football at William and Mary against N.C. State.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51002457@N07/4689154605/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51002457@N07/4689154605/in/photostream/
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tell a story in 5 Frames with Flickr
How could you use this activity to support literacy?
The use of Image Sharing on Flickr is a great tool that can be very useful in the classroom in many ways. For starters, a teacher could present their class with a series of 5 images. They then could require their students to describe what is happening within the frames. In doing this, the students would have to focus on proper grammer and structuring sentences effectively. The teacher then could require the students to form small groups of maybe three or four classmates and then switch their description of the pictures. The activity would then be to read their classmate's description to their group members and work on their skills reading aloud.
Here is the link to my story of my engagement in Disney World...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51002457@N07/sets/72157624241902922/
The use of Image Sharing on Flickr is a great tool that can be very useful in the classroom in many ways. For starters, a teacher could present their class with a series of 5 images. They then could require their students to describe what is happening within the frames. In doing this, the students would have to focus on proper grammer and structuring sentences effectively. The teacher then could require the students to form small groups of maybe three or four classmates and then switch their description of the pictures. The activity would then be to read their classmate's description to their group members and work on their skills reading aloud.
Here is the link to my story of my engagement in Disney World...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51002457@N07/sets/72157624241902922/
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Educator Blog
From an educational standpoint, blogging can be an extremely useful tool. Whether it is acting as a course syllabus, keeping parents informed on how their student is progressing, or allowing teachers to assemble their thoughts; blogging has become a widely used resource in today's classrooms.
As an educator, using different techniques to enhance student's learning is very important. With this in mind, using a blog to reach all different grade levels is important. One skill where this is apparent is in vocabulary. An effective tool for all students is as follows...
Learning Vocabulary can be Fun:
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/blog/
Purpose: Learning Vocabulary can be Fun is a blog aimed to point out successful ways to make learning enjoyable. With the topic of vocabulary, the blog provides examples of games and then why they are effective within the classroom.
Type of Posts: This post is designed using diagrams and examples of various games to be used when teaching the vocabulary. There is also a detailed walkthrough identifying the different grade levels and the activities that work the most effectively for them.
Other Thoughts: This blog is a great tool for all different grade levels when teaching vocabulary. Incorporating games for elementary age students immediately associates learning with enjoyment and fun activities. For middle schoolers, the games begin to get harder and actually require some problem solving and information recall. Lastly, the high schoolers can use opposition of words to really further their understanding of specific terms and it also helps prepare them for college level exams such as the SAT that are vocab heavy.
Another great educational use for Blogs is in Library Blogs. As this tool is made available by media specialists, the Blog can provide not only useful information about the library and the resources at hand, but also help the librarian to communicate with other teachers allowing the media center to be most effectively used in facilitating learning. Here are some examples,
Virtual Cheesecloth:
http://virtualcheesecloth.blogspot.com/
Purpose: This blog is ran by Amalia Connolly, a media specialist who uses her blog to facilitate her own learning with the ever changing world of technology. She really looks to emphasize how technology can be best suited to reach students from all different ages and abilities.
Type of Post: This post is designed using a collection of writeups, diagrams, and links. The diagrams are pictures relating information to the writeups Amalia presents while the links access technological information, educational standards, and various other learning material. She also provides a nice bit of detail on various conferences she's attended and the information she's gathered from well know figures within the media specialist world.
Other Thoughts: This is definitely an interesting blog but not for the resources it provideds to students. Instead it's quite interesting to see how technology is shaping the way in which experienced educators are approaching technological advancements. While Amalia has been a media specialist for a handful of years now, she is constantly looking to keep up with the changing times and find new insightful ways to expand her repetoire as a teacher. I found the most important part of her blog to be the section where she comments about a conference she attended on Ithaca's campus where the keynote speaker ended his talk by posing the question, "(how can we) help students to go beyond the basic questions and to continue the learning journey?" This in itself is what teaching is all about and one of the main reasons I hope to work with young people for a career.
Another blog I found to be interesting dealt with library blogging once again.
UNI Book Blog:
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/library/
Purpose: This blog comes from University Laboratory High School in Illinois. This blog is kept by the media specialist and acts to inform the students of current events while also keeping them up to date on media technologies.
Type of Posts: This post is a website displaying the high school's library home page. From here, the students are able to post to a blog, search both catalogs and online databases for references that the school has rights to, and find out other important information for the library.
Other Thoughts: I think this is a tremendous tool to have for the library of any school. As I commented in Module one about the ways in which a library could use a wiki, I think blogging goes hand in hand. As you can see the media specialist has a link to her own blog where she not only tells a little about herself, but she also provides video imaging through media clips while also posting current events on her page. This is a great way to keep the students involved and up to date with school events. In addition, having the home page for the students to reference books and other materials is useful with blogging as like the Wiki, the students can provide feedback to the librarian about what worked well and what may need to be tweaked in the future.
As an educator, using different techniques to enhance student's learning is very important. With this in mind, using a blog to reach all different grade levels is important. One skill where this is apparent is in vocabulary. An effective tool for all students is as follows...
Learning Vocabulary can be Fun:
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/blog/
Purpose: Learning Vocabulary can be Fun is a blog aimed to point out successful ways to make learning enjoyable. With the topic of vocabulary, the blog provides examples of games and then why they are effective within the classroom.
Type of Posts: This post is designed using diagrams and examples of various games to be used when teaching the vocabulary. There is also a detailed walkthrough identifying the different grade levels and the activities that work the most effectively for them.
Other Thoughts: This blog is a great tool for all different grade levels when teaching vocabulary. Incorporating games for elementary age students immediately associates learning with enjoyment and fun activities. For middle schoolers, the games begin to get harder and actually require some problem solving and information recall. Lastly, the high schoolers can use opposition of words to really further their understanding of specific terms and it also helps prepare them for college level exams such as the SAT that are vocab heavy.
Another great educational use for Blogs is in Library Blogs. As this tool is made available by media specialists, the Blog can provide not only useful information about the library and the resources at hand, but also help the librarian to communicate with other teachers allowing the media center to be most effectively used in facilitating learning. Here are some examples,
Virtual Cheesecloth:
http://virtualcheesecloth.blogspot.com/
Purpose: This blog is ran by Amalia Connolly, a media specialist who uses her blog to facilitate her own learning with the ever changing world of technology. She really looks to emphasize how technology can be best suited to reach students from all different ages and abilities.
Type of Post: This post is designed using a collection of writeups, diagrams, and links. The diagrams are pictures relating information to the writeups Amalia presents while the links access technological information, educational standards, and various other learning material. She also provides a nice bit of detail on various conferences she's attended and the information she's gathered from well know figures within the media specialist world.
Other Thoughts: This is definitely an interesting blog but not for the resources it provideds to students. Instead it's quite interesting to see how technology is shaping the way in which experienced educators are approaching technological advancements. While Amalia has been a media specialist for a handful of years now, she is constantly looking to keep up with the changing times and find new insightful ways to expand her repetoire as a teacher. I found the most important part of her blog to be the section where she comments about a conference she attended on Ithaca's campus where the keynote speaker ended his talk by posing the question, "(how can we) help students to go beyond the basic questions and to continue the learning journey?" This in itself is what teaching is all about and one of the main reasons I hope to work with young people for a career.
Another blog I found to be interesting dealt with library blogging once again.
UNI Book Blog:
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/library/
Purpose: This blog comes from University Laboratory High School in Illinois. This blog is kept by the media specialist and acts to inform the students of current events while also keeping them up to date on media technologies.
Type of Posts: This post is a website displaying the high school's library home page. From here, the students are able to post to a blog, search both catalogs and online databases for references that the school has rights to, and find out other important information for the library.
Other Thoughts: I think this is a tremendous tool to have for the library of any school. As I commented in Module one about the ways in which a library could use a wiki, I think blogging goes hand in hand. As you can see the media specialist has a link to her own blog where she not only tells a little about herself, but she also provides video imaging through media clips while also posting current events on her page. This is a great way to keep the students involved and up to date with school events. In addition, having the home page for the students to reference books and other materials is useful with blogging as like the Wiki, the students can provide feedback to the librarian about what worked well and what may need to be tweaked in the future.
Wikis Visited
My Wiki
http://rutterwiki.wikispaces.com/
Here's a list of Wikis I've visited thus far...
http://www.wikipedia.com/
Wikipedia is a public Wiki used as an internet encyclopedia that users have the ability to post and make edits to any time.
http://21stcenturylearning.wetpaint.com/
21st Century Learning examines an array of learning possibilities for future education. Through videos and other links we can see the opportunities for new technologies and curriculum to keep up with our constantly evolving society.
http://westwood.wikispaces.com/
The Westwood Wiki was set up by a teacher within the school and it acts to inform others about educational material within the school and the resources available. Some of the material listed is project information, current events, and other educational material.
http://rutterwiki.wikispaces.com/
Here's a list of Wikis I've visited thus far...
http://www.wikipedia.com/
Wikipedia is a public Wiki used as an internet encyclopedia that users have the ability to post and make edits to any time.
http://21stcenturylearning.wetpaint.com/
21st Century Learning examines an array of learning possibilities for future education. Through videos and other links we can see the opportunities for new technologies and curriculum to keep up with our constantly evolving society.
http://westwood.wikispaces.com/
The Westwood Wiki was set up by a teacher within the school and it acts to inform others about educational material within the school and the resources available. Some of the material listed is project information, current events, and other educational material.
Pagecast Sharing
I'm definitely new to all the Pageflakes and Blogging but here is a list of some of the Pagecasts I've been keeping up with.
My Pageflakes page: http://pageflakes.com/jrutter/30012721
Here are some pages I've been following:
* http://www.pageflakes.com/ben.knear/21117396/ ~ this is a list of sports updates and news
* http://www.pageflakes.com/Whitespartan21?26381660/ ~ this is an example of a Physical Education teacher and the way in which he structures his class for the semester
* http://www.pageflakes.com/CookChef/14280172/ ~ this page looks at cooking and some interesting stories accompanying culinary headlines
My Pageflakes page: http://pageflakes.com/jrutter/30012721
Here are some pages I've been following:
* http://www.pageflakes.com/ben.knear/21117396/ ~ this is a list of sports updates and news
* http://www.pageflakes.com/Whitespartan21?26381660/ ~ this is an example of a Physical Education teacher and the way in which he structures his class for the semester
* http://www.pageflakes.com/CookChef/14280172/ ~ this page looks at cooking and some interesting stories accompanying culinary headlines
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)