Ms. Independent

A family like mine

This storybird was composed for my digital storyboard assignment. This story celebrates family values. This is a creation of a family who is attentive, supportive, and active. Such family exist and their experiences are models for those seekink an example of an ideal family.

Link to Diigo

https://www.diigo.com/ditem_mana3/extract_annotations?link_ids=155624179


My Diigo library has 19 resources that are easily accessible for future reference.

https://www.diigo.com/user/itajamaica

Migrants among us

My students were blown away by the facts they learned from reading the biography of Cesar Chavez. I built on this lesson by challenging the students to find out who among the staff or their peers are migrants to the United States of America. As a substitute for individual pictures, and for protection, students suggested the use maps or flags. Using flags won out. So, a Voicethread was done to share what was learned about those who migrated to the USA.

Hartford's Circus Fire

An account of the 1944 circus fire that occured at the site where Wish Elementary School is now located. The narratation is done by Chase O. a 5th grade student.

Storybird sample

I have not fully mastered Storybird, but I find the Youtube tutorials very helpful. I do need some guidance in creating the cover page.

NCTE National Standards

The NCTE latest amendments to its national standards reflect the evolution in learning as it relates to learning in the 21st century and the advent of technology.

The article is presented in a reader friendly language for busy educators who can access it from their Diigo library. The text does provoke ones train of thought to cause the reader to wonder if the standards are being met as teachers prepare students to learn through technology.

I like how the standards address the legal and ethical aspects of multimedia education. I'm certain all teachers will frequently reference these sets of standards.

Storybird or Photo Story 3 ?

I did view the embedded tutorial on Photo Story 3. I found it very helpful.  Explored  Storybird presentation and registered for it. Still conflicted regarding which to use for the next project. I can create a Photo Story on immigration based on the curriculum; Cesar Chavez and migrant workers. However, with my skill, I'm leaning towards Storybird, but I need to connect it to a subject area.

I'm seeking suggestions for my 5th grade students.

Facebook aiding victims of cyberbullying

Have not thought of cyberbullying in recent months. Channel 8 caught my attention with its reporting on Facebook's new approach to addressing the problem.

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/health/yale-researchers-and-facebook-engineers-create-system-to-report-cyberbullying

Richardson's chapters 7&8

Flickr and Podcast; who coined these words? I'm intrigue by the spelling of 'Flickr'. I am positive the folks at Webster Dictionary are busy with updates as new digital terms emerge at a steady pace.

Technology has certainly offered educators and students many options for learning. Digital learning has taken the education of students out of the textbook. Through the use of Flickr, any school events can be digitally produced for review or for the archive. Think about having such a resource to convince the school board, donors or parents about the benefits of a possible learning field trip. This is especially true for learning experiences to far away places. Producing photos and videos on Flickr address different learning styles of our students.

Digital learning is the answer to the students who struggle in their academic class. Introducing these learners to the possibilities of Podcast will highlight their abilities as they manage the technical aspect of producing a Podcast presentation. Students can use Podcast to share their learning even at the national level. I'm excited to learn from students from different regions of our nation.

This class has open up a world of learning that I did not know existed. There are such a variety of Read/Write Web learning that I personally want to be selective in the ones I present to my students, so as a learning community we can grow in proficiency.

Animoto:Renown African Americans

During this month, February, my school, like many other schools in our nation will focus on studying the history of African Americans. My students will be impressed with this animoto video. Some of them will be in a state  disbelief when they learn that I made the video.

To celebrate the month, they will create a learning board in the hallway of African American inventors. They will compose poems. The class library will be suplemented with books about African Americans. The students will view related videos on Brainpop and Youtube. The month's celebration will culminate with a school wide concert.

This animoto video will lay the foundation for the learning activities related to Black History Month.
The students will request that the video be stopped for them to share their background knowledge of any of the individuals on the video. With this video, I want the students to learn about more African Americans than they do now. An extension to the initial activity will for the students to select an individual from the video for further research to do a presentation. They will find additional information in sites listed in my Diigo library.

http://www.aawc.com/paa.html

http://african-americaninventors.org/

http://www.blackinventor.com/

 http://animoto.com/play/07jkkYK1OsUYME0hntbf6w