Today was a day to keep learning about digital stories and how we can improve them. But, we also talked about our lesson plans and what those need to be about. At first I was very confused but now I see that you want us to think outside the box. We need to be as creative as we can so we can help our students the best we can and get them engaged. They must be engaged in what we teach or we will lose them. Technology and using many outlets will keep them engaged and doing fun things while learning.
I guess what I learned from today was that I really need to think about my past and future lesson plans and involve media and technological influences in them. Learning that now and putting them into my practice lesson plans now will help me in the future. I think it also helps me to think about how I can use technology for my everyday living too. My younger sister came up to me yesterday with help on an assignment and I was able to help her using new media tools and she loved it. I can help people even now to prepare to be a technological teacher.
From all of this, my student will be using technology and will want to in my classes. Therefore, I will need to keep that in mind while doing lesson plans. I really feel like it doesn’t have to be big projects but adding simple technology will help them too. It will keep them engaged and will excite them for more technological things we do in class in the future if I can help them enjoy it.
Video: Why We Need To Teach Technology in School
Click here for link
I found this video searching for one talking out technology in school. It is very simple but it gets across a point. It tells teachers they need to use media in the classroom or they will be left behind. It shows how improvement in technology in the past has changed so much and how it will continue to grow and we need to keep up and help our students keep up too.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Digital Stories #2 and Did you know 3.0
I am having a lot of fun working on the digital stories. I really enjoy photostory and how easy it is to use. Working as a group helps too. We are working collaboratively on this assignment that makes it easier and we help each other when we get stuck on an idea. We all give our input and are able to make the digital story even better. I like the tools available with photostory in making our digital story look great.
Photostory is a great free service that I can use in my other classes and share with my other colleagues to help them make their lessons better. We can learn this technique to help us be better teachers in the future. Photostory to me is a lot like PowerPoint but I actually like photostory better. It is easier for me and you can do a lot more it seems with it to help teach a concept in a new an interesting way.
I am excited to introduce photostory to my students when I am a teacher so they can make their own digital stories. Since I will be teaching Drama I will have a unit on scriptwriting. They could write a script and make a short movie out of it using this program. They could find pictures to represent what their script may mean to them and go along with their script. I really didn’t think that I would use media like this in my classroom but know that I know about it I can see the value in using it. The students will have fun and will learn while they are doing it.
Did you know 3.0
This video has a very interesting point of how influential technology is in our lives. It not only is so very impressive now but it will only get more impressive and we will be more involved with it than ever before. This tell us as teachers that we should incorporate technology in our classroom because that is what our students will be used to. We should also do this so we can keep up with our students and their technological knowledge. They will be able to teach us things I am sure and we should include their technological skills and abilities into our lessons.
Photostory is a great free service that I can use in my other classes and share with my other colleagues to help them make their lessons better. We can learn this technique to help us be better teachers in the future. Photostory to me is a lot like PowerPoint but I actually like photostory better. It is easier for me and you can do a lot more it seems with it to help teach a concept in a new an interesting way.
I am excited to introduce photostory to my students when I am a teacher so they can make their own digital stories. Since I will be teaching Drama I will have a unit on scriptwriting. They could write a script and make a short movie out of it using this program. They could find pictures to represent what their script may mean to them and go along with their script. I really didn’t think that I would use media like this in my classroom but know that I know about it I can see the value in using it. The students will have fun and will learn while they are doing it.
Did you know 3.0
This video has a very interesting point of how influential technology is in our lives. It not only is so very impressive now but it will only get more impressive and we will be more involved with it than ever before. This tell us as teachers that we should incorporate technology in our classroom because that is what our students will be used to. We should also do this so we can keep up with our students and their technological knowledge. They will be able to teach us things I am sure and we should include their technological skills and abilities into our lessons.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Digital stories #1 and Nasa Video
This week we took a look at digital stories. I have never learned about these before. I really feel they will be great tools for our students. I think having us make a digital story in our content area will be good for us and give us a chance to understand what they are and how we can use them for our students.
In my classes now, I can use digital stories to help improve and give ideas in writing my lesson plans I am coming up with. Also this will be very helpful to me as a theatre education major so I can learn how to use this technology now before I get in the classroom and the students want to make videos and things like that. I have never made a video like this before so it’s going to be a great experience making one and learning how to do it.
This is going to be a great tool for my students in theatre. When they are trying to come up with an idea for a script they can use this tool to make a storyboard for their own scripts. It will also help if I teach a film unit. They can make a mini movie with a digital story. They can research playwrights and do digital stories on them. They can also make a digital story telling a plot from a play they we may be studying, not only giving the plot but pulling out some ideas from the plot and presenting an interesting point the play may be bringing up.
Video:
The video we watched this week was a great example of what our students can produce for a good digital story. I think it was very well done. It posed a good question and let us know about things that we may have not known before. I didn’t know so many astronauts have died. I think the music went well with the story and enhanced it very nicely. I enjoyed the video and I am not a science person at all. I think these digital stories will be good to make to help our student enjoy the subjects a little more.
In my classes now, I can use digital stories to help improve and give ideas in writing my lesson plans I am coming up with. Also this will be very helpful to me as a theatre education major so I can learn how to use this technology now before I get in the classroom and the students want to make videos and things like that. I have never made a video like this before so it’s going to be a great experience making one and learning how to do it.
This is going to be a great tool for my students in theatre. When they are trying to come up with an idea for a script they can use this tool to make a storyboard for their own scripts. It will also help if I teach a film unit. They can make a mini movie with a digital story. They can research playwrights and do digital stories on them. They can also make a digital story telling a plot from a play they we may be studying, not only giving the plot but pulling out some ideas from the plot and presenting an interesting point the play may be bringing up.
Video:
The video we watched this week was a great example of what our students can produce for a good digital story. I think it was very well done. It posed a good question and let us know about things that we may have not known before. I didn’t know so many astronauts have died. I think the music went well with the story and enhanced it very nicely. I enjoyed the video and I am not a science person at all. I think these digital stories will be good to make to help our student enjoy the subjects a little more.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Technology articles and Educational video
This video will be very helpful when I teach movement lessons. This woman is very good at pantomime and will be a good starting point for the students to see a very good mime at work so they can see how it is to be done. I think it will be interesting for the students to watch and bring some differentiation into the lesson too.
Technology articles
Skype
In the article “Skype Use in the Enterprise” it says that “Skype got its start as a virtual Internet phone company and owes much of its growth to the fact that users can make free calls to other Skype contacts regardless of their location.” Skype is a free downloadable tool that now comes with many computers. If a computer has a web camera built in anyone can use the free service of video to video calling with any other person who has it too. Not only this, but you can call people’s landlines with Skype but there is a fee attached to this. For my purposes of education value, I would just use the video calls that would be free.
When students learn to act whether it be performing a monologue, scenes or pantomime they love to get feedback from other students. Students can assess each other but I think if we as a class could use Skype to talk with other schools (like pen pals) and perform our monologues or scenes for them this would be a really neat concept. Students would be able to watch how other students from different parts of the state and country or even internationally are performing and what they are learning. In return in can be beneficial for the other students we will be working with too. This is just one benefit of using Skype.
Another idea of this is that students who have Skype at home could use it to communicate and even work with other students in the class on their performances. This is all from the comfort of their own home, or wherever their laptop is! In an article, “7 thing you should know about Skype” from www.educause.edu/eli it gives this experience a college has had using Skype,
“Faculty at a Tribal College in Arizona developed a project to collect oral histories and build a library of recordings of Native American languages that are disappearing. Students from the linguistics and history departments participating in the project interviewed members of dozens of Indian Nations across the United States and Canada and made digital recordings of those conversations. Traditional long-distance phone service was relatively expensive, and cell phone coverage for many Native American reservations is spotty. Nearly all of the reservations included in the project had at least one satellite Internet connection, however, and the organizers of the project decided to use Skype to conduct the interviews.”
These students were able to use Skype to further their education and I believe that it will be a tool that will be used a lot in time to come.
In the same article,“7 thing you should know about Skype” it gives us some ideas on what the downsides of Skype are, “The sound quality from Skype is not as consistent and reliable as that of landline or cell phones. Skype also raises a number of concerns about security and resource consumption.” I would also add that not everyone will have a computer with a web camera and therefore couldn’t participate from home if they needed to.
“Skype Use in the Enterprise.” Tech and Trends. October 9, 2009 • Vol.31 Issue 25 http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Fp3125%2F32p25%2F32p25%2F32p25.asp
“7 things you should know about...Skype” Educase Learning initiative . December 2007,
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7032.pdf
Virtual tour of Globe Theatre
In Utah students are able to participate in a competition every fall down in Cedar city, known as the Shakespeare competition. Students get to learn Shakespearian monologues and scenes and one acts and go and compete with other schools from around the state. The students look forward to this time of year and it helps them feel a sense of accomplishment whether they win or not.
Before the students participate in this competition I feel it is important to have the students study Shakespeare and his time. I want them to understand the time period and what it would be like to perform back then with the same pieces of theatre they will be performing. To help in this endeavor or teaching these students what it is like I found a very helpful website that is a virtual tour of The Globe Theatre.
The Globe theatre is where many of Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. The Globe theatre was actually burned to the ground during a performance of Henry VIII. But, “The foundations of the Globe were rediscovered in 1989, rekindling interest in a fitful attempt to erect a modern version of the amphitheater. Led by the vision of the late Sam Wanamaker, workers began construction in 1993 on the new theatre near the site of the original. The latest Globe Theatre was completed in 1996” (Shakespeare Resource Center)
Because it would not be cost effective to take the students to London to see The Globe theatre this website I have found can let the students go on a virtual tour of the theatre. It shows the theatre from different perspectives. It lets the students see how the theatre looked back in the day of Shakespeare. After seeing what it looks like, It might be fun for them to think about how it would be to act on that very stage. Or even think about what it might be like to be a audience member. The poor people actually got to stand in front of the stage and the rich people got the balcony seats. The students can see all of these perspectives on this tour and will have fun virtually being at the Globe theatre. Now this virtual tour is just computer generated and not real video of the actual theatre so it’s not the best and lifelike but I think it is good enough to have the students go on and see what it looks like.
References
Shakespeare Resource Center, http://www.bardweb.net/globe.html
Shakespeare’s Globe, Virtual tour. http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/virtualtour/
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Picassa Pictures changed
In case the other pictures don't show up. Here are the four pictures changed.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Digital photos and Top ten things You do not learn about teaching in College Video
This week learning about digital photos and Picasa was great. I haven’t worked with Picasa very much. I think it’s a great program that can help you enhance and work with pictures you have taken. I enjoyed enhancing and changing the pictures I chose to use on this assignment. I think it is great that we can crop the photos to focus on what we want to. I am not the best photographer so it helps me!
This past week I needed to take an image I received and crop it. I tried to figure out how to do it and I didn’t have Picasa on my computer and I didn’t even think to use that. If I had had this lesson a week earlier I could have used that to crop it! Now I know where to go for all my cropping and enhancing of my images needs. This lesson of digital cameras can come in handy with my other classes if I need to do a presentation that I have to take pictures of the students I am teaching and things like that.
I can use this information we learned this week as a drama teacher a lot. I will be putting on plays and taking pictures of the students during their plays, scenes and even monologues. It will help them see what they look like while they are performing and help them with their acting. Picasa also helps you make your photos look better. This will come in handy if your pictures come out with red eyes and you can take that out. I can also have the students take pictures of their classmates while they are performing and help their classmates become better actors. I really am excited to use Picasa in the future.
Top Ten Things You Do Not Learn About Teaching in College
I really enjoyed the video this week. It showed some things that are true and funny. Since I am just learning to write lesson plans I can see how #9 is very true. It would be easier to come into school than to write a sub plan when you are sick. I’ve tried to make my lesson plan applicable to anyone who reads them but still, for drama some the sub probably couldn’t perform a pantomime for the class when I am doing a direct instruction lesson plan.
This past week I needed to take an image I received and crop it. I tried to figure out how to do it and I didn’t have Picasa on my computer and I didn’t even think to use that. If I had had this lesson a week earlier I could have used that to crop it! Now I know where to go for all my cropping and enhancing of my images needs. This lesson of digital cameras can come in handy with my other classes if I need to do a presentation that I have to take pictures of the students I am teaching and things like that.
I can use this information we learned this week as a drama teacher a lot. I will be putting on plays and taking pictures of the students during their plays, scenes and even monologues. It will help them see what they look like while they are performing and help them with their acting. Picasa also helps you make your photos look better. This will come in handy if your pictures come out with red eyes and you can take that out. I can also have the students take pictures of their classmates while they are performing and help their classmates become better actors. I really am excited to use Picasa in the future.
Top Ten Things You Do Not Learn About Teaching in College
I really enjoyed the video this week. It showed some things that are true and funny. Since I am just learning to write lesson plans I can see how #9 is very true. It would be easier to come into school than to write a sub plan when you are sick. I’ve tried to make my lesson plan applicable to anyone who reads them but still, for drama some the sub probably couldn’t perform a pantomime for the class when I am doing a direct instruction lesson plan.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
My Beliefs
Before taking this class I didn’t think that using technology in my lesson plans was that big of a deal. The only thought of technology use in my class as showing video clips of performances and things like that to my theatre classes. After reading the Net Standards I see how I can and must implement technology in the classroom. I know see there are many uses in the class. I can get them to do blogs, do webQuests for projects and prepare PowerPoints to enhance their learning.
These students we are teaching are all about the internet and having media with them at all times. In the video clip millennial generation we see how important technology and having it with them all the time is. Since this is the case it is imperative we apply this in our classes. In the article, “The New WWW we see how students need technology or they will be bored. They are so used to using it in daily life that if we don’t implement it in our classes they could get bored. I really do now see how important this using these tools in our teaching is. We need to keep up with the times and use those things that will help our students learn the best and I think technology is a great way to do this.
These students we are teaching are all about the internet and having media with them at all times. In the video clip millennial generation we see how important technology and having it with them all the time is. Since this is the case it is imperative we apply this in our classes. In the article, “The New WWW we see how students need technology or they will be bored. They are so used to using it in daily life that if we don’t implement it in our classes they could get bored. I really do now see how important this using these tools in our teaching is. We need to keep up with the times and use those things that will help our students learn the best and I think technology is a great way to do this.
Lessons Learned
Before taking this class I thought I was pretty confident in using the computer and the internet. After taking this UNI survey it turns out I am just an apprentice in most categories. This is because I am familiar and have used most of the tools and resources but am not sure on how to implement them into my lessons. I have a lot to learn as to how to apply what I know into my lesson plans as a teacher.
I have learned from reading the standards that it is important for teachers to learn and use technology in their classes and in their lessons. From watching all of the video’s and readings that technology is something that is here to stay and is only going to keep getting more important as the years go by. We as teachers need to be up to date on the things our students are using and know how to help them with these new technologies and apply them to our lessons.
I have learned from reading the standards that it is important for teachers to learn and use technology in their classes and in their lessons. From watching all of the video’s and readings that technology is something that is here to stay and is only going to keep getting more important as the years go by. We as teachers need to be up to date on the things our students are using and know how to help them with these new technologies and apply them to our lessons.
Strengths & Weaknesses
My Strengths according to the Net standards are that I can “implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning.” My strength according to the UNI survey would be number seven. I have worked as an aide in special education so I have seen a lot of the resources available to help students with special needs. I am sure there are many out there I don’t know about but I feel I can find out about those easily and help my students with special needs.
My weaknesses according to the Net Standards would be that I Teachers understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK–12 schools and apply that understanding in practice. I know there are a lot of rules as to what goes into technology and copyright and those things but I don’t feel confident in teaching them or know all of them. In the UNI survey number six it talks about the copyright law of 1976 and the multimedia fair use guidelines of 1996. I don’t know what these are and need to look into them. Another weakness I have is I do not know what the ICN is. I have never used it and would like to learn more about it.
A goal I would like to make for myself is to teach my students about copyright and things like that. As a theatre teacher we will be using a lot of resources from the internet for monologues, plays and things like that and we will need to know what they can use and what they have to get the rights for and things like that. Along with this I would like to help the students stay safe and be ethical on the internet. A mini class I could go to is offered on UEN called, Internet safety for educators that helps educators learn about the threats that are out there to harm our students and gives teachers resources that can help them do this. Another goal I can work on is to learn about Video conferencing and how it can help me as a teacher. I found a on-line tutorial at SearchUnifiedCommunications.com that can help me learn more about this. It offers the basics, implementation and explains telepresence.
My weaknesses according to the Net Standards would be that I Teachers understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK–12 schools and apply that understanding in practice. I know there are a lot of rules as to what goes into technology and copyright and those things but I don’t feel confident in teaching them or know all of them. In the UNI survey number six it talks about the copyright law of 1976 and the multimedia fair use guidelines of 1996. I don’t know what these are and need to look into them. Another weakness I have is I do not know what the ICN is. I have never used it and would like to learn more about it.
A goal I would like to make for myself is to teach my students about copyright and things like that. As a theatre teacher we will be using a lot of resources from the internet for monologues, plays and things like that and we will need to know what they can use and what they have to get the rights for and things like that. Along with this I would like to help the students stay safe and be ethical on the internet. A mini class I could go to is offered on UEN called, Internet safety for educators that helps educators learn about the threats that are out there to harm our students and gives teachers resources that can help them do this. Another goal I can work on is to learn about Video conferencing and how it can help me as a teacher. I found a on-line tutorial at SearchUnifiedCommunications.com that can help me learn more about this. It offers the basics, implementation and explains telepresence.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
PowerPoint #2 and How Not to Use PowerPoint
This week, as we finished up our PowerPoint, I learned that they are not too difficult. I was worried that they would be hard to incorporate into classes and hard to make. While working on them the last couple of weeks I have come to see how I can incorporate them into my classes and that it will be a great tool to help the classes I will teach.
In school now I have been learning about making lesson plans. With this new skill of PowerPoint I have been able to use this and put them into my lesson plans to make them more interesting and visually pleasing. I am glad we have learned about PowerPoints so I can use them in my classes right now.
I am excited to use PowerPoints in my future classes. The book we are using in class gave some good ideas on how to use PowerPoints with the students. This will not only be a good tool I can use while giving lessons but also the students can use the PowerPoint to show what they are learning in class. This can help them to do projects and things like that in a fun way.
How not to use PowerPoint
This video was very enjoyable to watch. Even though it was funny I still got a lot out of it. As I am just leaning PowerPoint he gave some great suggestions. I learned not to put too much on a slide so as to make it easier to understand. He also talked about how important the color scheme is. I should have watched this before my webquest because we got docked for the color scheme which now I know if very important to the presentation.
In school now I have been learning about making lesson plans. With this new skill of PowerPoint I have been able to use this and put them into my lesson plans to make them more interesting and visually pleasing. I am glad we have learned about PowerPoints so I can use them in my classes right now.
I am excited to use PowerPoints in my future classes. The book we are using in class gave some good ideas on how to use PowerPoints with the students. This will not only be a good tool I can use while giving lessons but also the students can use the PowerPoint to show what they are learning in class. This can help them to do projects and things like that in a fun way.
How not to use PowerPoint
This video was very enjoyable to watch. Even though it was funny I still got a lot out of it. As I am just leaning PowerPoint he gave some great suggestions. I learned not to put too much on a slide so as to make it easier to understand. He also talked about how important the color scheme is. I should have watched this before my webquest because we got docked for the color scheme which now I know if very important to the presentation.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Power Point
This week was a fun class. I am not too familiar with PowerPoint because I have been out of college for a while and it wasn’t something classes required to do back then. I am glad we are doing these so I can learn how we can incorporate it into my future classroom. We did a music PowerPoint with flashcards and it was fun. I love music and as a drama teacher I can incorporate the similar project to my classroom.
As a student now I can use this PowerPoint knowledge for projects and lessons I have to teach in my other classes. . The book we used that we used, 50 PowerPoint activities, will help me think of fun and exciting ways to incorporate PowerPoints in my lessons. I can help others in my groups who may not be too familiar with PowerPoints too.
Now that I have learned this new tool of PowerPoint I will be able to make my future classes that I will teach more visual. There is one activity that is about creating characters. I think this would be a fun activity for my future class because it will help in scriptwriting lessons. The students will be able to make PowerPoint activities while they are coming up with characters for their scripts. They can also do this while they are trying to create their own character they will be portraying.
As a student now I can use this PowerPoint knowledge for projects and lessons I have to teach in my other classes. . The book we used that we used, 50 PowerPoint activities, will help me think of fun and exciting ways to incorporate PowerPoints in my lessons. I can help others in my groups who may not be too familiar with PowerPoints too.
Now that I have learned this new tool of PowerPoint I will be able to make my future classes that I will teach more visual. There is one activity that is about creating characters. I think this would be a fun activity for my future class because it will help in scriptwriting lessons. The students will be able to make PowerPoint activities while they are coming up with characters for their scripts. They can also do this while they are trying to create their own character they will be portraying.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
WebQuest Final and Do you Believe in me Video
WebQuest
As I was working this week on learning more about how a webquest works I found it to have been very helpful in learning what a webquest could be useful for. I was skeptical of it at first about how I could use it in my own classroom. It is hard to incorporate things like this because theatre is so hand on. I found this week while working on the webquest that it can work in a drama setting.
I found that I could use this for my future students to help them learn more about the history of theatre. I think it is a good way to have them learn about certain playwrights too. I can do this by by setting up webquests and have the students learn that way. I feel it is a great way to help them learn and it will be fun for them.
I am happy we are learning these things to help our classes be more interesting. Instead of just getting up and teaching to the students I will be able to have them learn in different ways than traditional teaching methods. I really am finding this class to be very helpful and it’s giving me great ideas to help me teach.
Video
Do you believe in me?
I really enjoyed this video. I think that it is a good reminder to any teacher or a to be teacher the main reason why we should be teachers. We need to believe in these students and help them reach their potentials. It was also a good reminder that as teachers we need to believe in ourselves and the impact we can have on our students. This video gets me excited to help the students succeed.
As I was working this week on learning more about how a webquest works I found it to have been very helpful in learning what a webquest could be useful for. I was skeptical of it at first about how I could use it in my own classroom. It is hard to incorporate things like this because theatre is so hand on. I found this week while working on the webquest that it can work in a drama setting.
I found that I could use this for my future students to help them learn more about the history of theatre. I think it is a good way to have them learn about certain playwrights too. I can do this by by setting up webquests and have the students learn that way. I feel it is a great way to help them learn and it will be fun for them.
I am happy we are learning these things to help our classes be more interesting. Instead of just getting up and teaching to the students I will be able to have them learn in different ways than traditional teaching methods. I really am finding this class to be very helpful and it’s giving me great ideas to help me teach.
Video
Do you believe in me?
I really enjoyed this video. I think that it is a good reminder to any teacher or a to be teacher the main reason why we should be teachers. We need to believe in these students and help them reach their potentials. It was also a good reminder that as teachers we need to believe in ourselves and the impact we can have on our students. This video gets me excited to help the students succeed.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
WebQuest
WebQuest
The WebQuest is a new and interesting way teachers are now discovering, using, and I believe, will continue making for their students in the future. The idea that some homework or assignments in class is all done on the internet is an interesting one for me. It is a new phenomenon that I think is very handy for the students. I don’t think I ever thought about this happening when I was in prep school. I kind of wish we had things like this when I was in High school.
I think it is a great help to the students for example, if they miss a class and your assignment was a WebQuest, they just have go on the internet to see what to do and can do it. I think it is a great way to save paper and a good way to teach research to the students. I think it will be a great resource to my students in class. I will be able to help my students in this way.
One way I could incorporate WebQuests into my classes is to help them in their research of theatrical things. For example I could do WebQuests to help them find more info on different playwrights. I could also help them find links and resources for plays we are reading and help them research different meanings of the plays. One last way I will mention is I could help them see design elements on the internet that would help them understand those things.
Video
I could not find the Three Steps video that we were supposed to watch this week. I decided that I would search Teacher Tube Video’s media and see if there were any videos that pertained to Drama, my content. I came across one that looked as if it was made by a young student. It is called Langley photo story – drama. I think this video could be valuable to my students to show them how simple a script can be. They could make a movie like this. Take a simple story have a conflict and show pictures that go with it. It’s like drama made easy.
The WebQuest is a new and interesting way teachers are now discovering, using, and I believe, will continue making for their students in the future. The idea that some homework or assignments in class is all done on the internet is an interesting one for me. It is a new phenomenon that I think is very handy for the students. I don’t think I ever thought about this happening when I was in prep school. I kind of wish we had things like this when I was in High school.
I think it is a great help to the students for example, if they miss a class and your assignment was a WebQuest, they just have go on the internet to see what to do and can do it. I think it is a great way to save paper and a good way to teach research to the students. I think it will be a great resource to my students in class. I will be able to help my students in this way.
One way I could incorporate WebQuests into my classes is to help them in their research of theatrical things. For example I could do WebQuests to help them find more info on different playwrights. I could also help them find links and resources for plays we are reading and help them research different meanings of the plays. One last way I will mention is I could help them see design elements on the internet that would help them understand those things.
Video
I could not find the Three Steps video that we were supposed to watch this week. I decided that I would search Teacher Tube Video’s media and see if there were any videos that pertained to Drama, my content. I came across one that looked as if it was made by a young student. It is called Langley photo story – drama. I think this video could be valuable to my students to show them how simple a script can be. They could make a movie like this. Take a simple story have a conflict and show pictures that go with it. It’s like drama made easy.
Friday, September 25, 2009
• Why we should or should not use the Internet in education?
The internet is a valuable resource to teachers today. There are many great things available that would never be available without the internet. For example, a teacher of geology can go online and show in real time earthquake activity. The internet also has access to original sources of literature, music, and historical information. As a drama teacher this would help the students find plays to read that may be checked out of the library and they will be available to them on the internet. Students can see simulations of those things the teacher may be teaching. Students can collaborate with others with just a click of the mouse. The students can also publish what they have done and put it on the internet for others to see. This is helpful to drama because students could put their scripts online for others to see. Lastly there are many teacher resources for teachers to find and help them with their lesson plans and even to find more information about their subject.
• Why we should evaluate the sites we use?
It is important to evaluate the sites we use to make sure we are not providing our students with inaccurate information. There are many sites done by people who are not qualified to give the information yet it is out there for anyone to read. We need to make sure it is reliable and accurate. There is also a lot inappropriate content on the internet. We need to make sure the sites we have chosen do not have anything offensive to our students. We need to make sure there are not links to inappropriate sites too.
• The questions you would ask yourself to evaluate a site.
1. Who is the author/s and are they credible or an expert in their field?
2. Are there citation/bibliography and are they trusted/verified?
3. Does the author say things you disagree with or does it disagree with other things you know/have seen before on other sites?
4. Do the pictures add to the information?
5. Where does the information come from?
6. What does the URL say about the website?
7. What is the intention of the author?
8. When was the site created and is the site kept up to date?
• Ways you can keep your students safe while surfing.
One way we can help our students stay safe on the internet is to teach them the do’s and don’ts. Teach them what sorts of information is ok to give out. Help them to know they shouldn’t respond to offensive or dangerous chats, e-mail and things like that. With this, teach them they should never meet anyone they met online. Invite the students to talk with their parents about rules at home. If we have computers in our classrooms we can put filters on our computers and block sites we know are dangerous. We should tell our students to come to us if something inappropriate comes up while they are surfing .
"We didn't start the Fire" video
I really enjoyed this video. Not only do I like that song but it made the history in the song come to life. I think it is a great example of how teachers can turn their content that may be a little dry into exciting material for their students. With the technology today we can do fun things like this. We can also have our students do projects like this. I can have my students of theatre take a song from a musical and make a film out of it like this, showing pictures from the history of the play and things like that.
The internet is a valuable resource to teachers today. There are many great things available that would never be available without the internet. For example, a teacher of geology can go online and show in real time earthquake activity. The internet also has access to original sources of literature, music, and historical information. As a drama teacher this would help the students find plays to read that may be checked out of the library and they will be available to them on the internet. Students can see simulations of those things the teacher may be teaching. Students can collaborate with others with just a click of the mouse. The students can also publish what they have done and put it on the internet for others to see. This is helpful to drama because students could put their scripts online for others to see. Lastly there are many teacher resources for teachers to find and help them with their lesson plans and even to find more information about their subject.
• Why we should evaluate the sites we use?
It is important to evaluate the sites we use to make sure we are not providing our students with inaccurate information. There are many sites done by people who are not qualified to give the information yet it is out there for anyone to read. We need to make sure it is reliable and accurate. There is also a lot inappropriate content on the internet. We need to make sure the sites we have chosen do not have anything offensive to our students. We need to make sure there are not links to inappropriate sites too.
• The questions you would ask yourself to evaluate a site.
1. Who is the author/s and are they credible or an expert in their field?
2. Are there citation/bibliography and are they trusted/verified?
3. Does the author say things you disagree with or does it disagree with other things you know/have seen before on other sites?
4. Do the pictures add to the information?
5. Where does the information come from?
6. What does the URL say about the website?
7. What is the intention of the author?
8. When was the site created and is the site kept up to date?
• Ways you can keep your students safe while surfing.
One way we can help our students stay safe on the internet is to teach them the do’s and don’ts. Teach them what sorts of information is ok to give out. Help them to know they shouldn’t respond to offensive or dangerous chats, e-mail and things like that. With this, teach them they should never meet anyone they met online. Invite the students to talk with their parents about rules at home. If we have computers in our classrooms we can put filters on our computers and block sites we know are dangerous. We should tell our students to come to us if something inappropriate comes up while they are surfing .
"We didn't start the Fire" video
I really enjoyed this video. Not only do I like that song but it made the history in the song come to life. I think it is a great example of how teachers can turn their content that may be a little dry into exciting material for their students. With the technology today we can do fun things like this. We can also have our students do projects like this. I can have my students of theatre take a song from a musical and make a film out of it like this, showing pictures from the history of the play and things like that.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
UEN and Did you know 2.0 Reflections
UEN Reflection
In working with the UEN website I have learned a lot about how it can be beneficial to my future classroom. UEN has many great tools for teachers to use to enhance their lesson plans and help to make their curriculum more exciting and fun to teach. One example of this in particular is an interactive that is helpful with my scriptwriting unit I will have to teach. I found a fun interactive to help explain to the students what a setting is. It is called, my imaginary city. With this the students can build their own setting and have that be the starting place for their scripts.
I found UEN very helpful by helping me understand my core curriculum. We can put a link right on the website of all of the standards we need to teach our students. This can be available to anyone visiting my UEN site. I love how inside each of the core curriculum links there are ideas of lesson plans that teachers can use. This is very helpful for me as a new teacher to understand how lesson plans work.
The Pioneer Library is a great tool teachers can use to enhance their teaching. While looking around through Sirs Discoverer I found a neat article about the art of ventriloquism called, “Voice Magic.” This is a very helpful article that can incorporate many of my standards I need to teach, like scriptwriting and voice. I took a look at soundzabound. It had free clips of music that could add spice to any scene or monologue a student would want to perform.
I think the UEN website is a great resource for teachers. It contains a lot of great information for teachers. While I think this is true there seems to be a lack of resources for Drama teachers. I was disappointed while looking through the interactive that there were no theatre specific ones. There were two music, two art and even an architecture but no theatre interactives. However, while looking Pioneer I did find a great recourse that took me to many links while searching under eThemes. As I become more familiar with UEN I am sure I will find more new and exciting things I can use to become a better teacher.
Video Reflection
The video I watched was “Did you Know 2.0.” It made me think of how different the world is now than when I was in Elementary school and Jr. High. Back then there was no internet for the main population of people. In High school I was just learning about it and didn’t really use it much. School dynamics are really changing because of all the new technology. It made me think of where drama is heading. Since almost all the students and people in general have access to a computer and the internet, I wonder if Internet movies and things like that will become more popular and if they will start having award shows and those things for it. This is something as a drama teacher I would need to watch out for and teach the students about.
In working with the UEN website I have learned a lot about how it can be beneficial to my future classroom. UEN has many great tools for teachers to use to enhance their lesson plans and help to make their curriculum more exciting and fun to teach. One example of this in particular is an interactive that is helpful with my scriptwriting unit I will have to teach. I found a fun interactive to help explain to the students what a setting is. It is called, my imaginary city. With this the students can build their own setting and have that be the starting place for their scripts.
I found UEN very helpful by helping me understand my core curriculum. We can put a link right on the website of all of the standards we need to teach our students. This can be available to anyone visiting my UEN site. I love how inside each of the core curriculum links there are ideas of lesson plans that teachers can use. This is very helpful for me as a new teacher to understand how lesson plans work.
The Pioneer Library is a great tool teachers can use to enhance their teaching. While looking around through Sirs Discoverer I found a neat article about the art of ventriloquism called, “Voice Magic.” This is a very helpful article that can incorporate many of my standards I need to teach, like scriptwriting and voice. I took a look at soundzabound. It had free clips of music that could add spice to any scene or monologue a student would want to perform.
I think the UEN website is a great resource for teachers. It contains a lot of great information for teachers. While I think this is true there seems to be a lack of resources for Drama teachers. I was disappointed while looking through the interactive that there were no theatre specific ones. There were two music, two art and even an architecture but no theatre interactives. However, while looking Pioneer I did find a great recourse that took me to many links while searching under eThemes. As I become more familiar with UEN I am sure I will find more new and exciting things I can use to become a better teacher.
Video Reflection
The video I watched was “Did you Know 2.0.” It made me think of how different the world is now than when I was in Elementary school and Jr. High. Back then there was no internet for the main population of people. In High school I was just learning about it and didn’t really use it much. School dynamics are really changing because of all the new technology. It made me think of where drama is heading. Since almost all the students and people in general have access to a computer and the internet, I wonder if Internet movies and things like that will become more popular and if they will start having award shows and those things for it. This is something as a drama teacher I would need to watch out for and teach the students about.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Google Sites and Pay Attention video clip
"Google Sites"
I really enjoyed learning about Google sites this week. Google sites is a wonderful place where teachers can direct their students to go for information they need to know about their classes. I am excited to use this tool for my future classroom. Students seem to always be on the computer and if I can get them to go to the site they will be able to keep up on what is going on in the class, even if they didn’t pay attention in class or just as a reminder. Not only this, but their parents can go on the site and see what is going on in the class.
The announcement tab is a fabulous way to inform students about upcoming events. Since I will be teaching Drama I am excited to have a place to announce auditions for upcoming plays and Drama Club activities and other things like that. Students are always wondering about when auditions are and this will be a handy way to inform them in advance.
The homework and calendar tabs are helpful to the students and parents alike. I can keep it updated and they can look and see what is due and what was covered in class. It may be helpful to the students if they are sick or have to miss class for some reason to go on the site and find out what they missed and keep up with the class work.
I really like the tools page too. I had fun finding links to put on this page. This will be helpful for the students to find good websites for their assignments. I can upload video clips from YouTube of their recent performances and I bet the students would really enjoy watching themselves on the site. I am excited to make a real one for the classroom I will have someday in the near future.
Video clip "Pay Attention"
I really enjoyed this week’s video. It made me think about how I can use technology in teaching theatre. While it was talking about pod casting I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for students to learn and practice their voice-over skills. They could also use the pod cast to recording their monologues or scenes and then listen to how they sound and improve and even help them memorize. Students can also use cameras to make movies or film their plays they are working on. They could make commercials for the plays that are coming out and show them to the school during assemblies. This video made me think a lot more about how important the media tools are to students because they are so familiar with them and enjoy using them.
I really enjoyed learning about Google sites this week. Google sites is a wonderful place where teachers can direct their students to go for information they need to know about their classes. I am excited to use this tool for my future classroom. Students seem to always be on the computer and if I can get them to go to the site they will be able to keep up on what is going on in the class, even if they didn’t pay attention in class or just as a reminder. Not only this, but their parents can go on the site and see what is going on in the class.
The announcement tab is a fabulous way to inform students about upcoming events. Since I will be teaching Drama I am excited to have a place to announce auditions for upcoming plays and Drama Club activities and other things like that. Students are always wondering about when auditions are and this will be a handy way to inform them in advance.
The homework and calendar tabs are helpful to the students and parents alike. I can keep it updated and they can look and see what is due and what was covered in class. It may be helpful to the students if they are sick or have to miss class for some reason to go on the site and find out what they missed and keep up with the class work.
I really like the tools page too. I had fun finding links to put on this page. This will be helpful for the students to find good websites for their assignments. I can upload video clips from YouTube of their recent performances and I bet the students would really enjoy watching themselves on the site. I am excited to make a real one for the classroom I will have someday in the near future.
Video clip "Pay Attention"
I really enjoyed this week’s video. It made me think about how I can use technology in teaching theatre. While it was talking about pod casting I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for students to learn and practice their voice-over skills. They could also use the pod cast to recording their monologues or scenes and then listen to how they sound and improve and even help them memorize. Students can also use cameras to make movies or film their plays they are working on. They could make commercials for the plays that are coming out and show them to the school during assemblies. This video made me think a lot more about how important the media tools are to students because they are so familiar with them and enjoy using them.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Weekly reflection and Video
Everything Google
In class this week we learned all about google and some of its tools. I had never even known a lot of these things existed. It was fun to learn about them. The Gmail documents is something I think could benefit a lot of people. I wish I had known about it a long time ago. For a long time I only had open office and a lot of the word documents couldn’t open up on my computer. With this you don’t have to have word and everyone can use it for free. I think this can help benefit the kids so they can collaborate together on assignments. For example if my students have to write a script they can review each others' scripts and leave comments for them to improve.
The calendar portion of google is a neat way to keep classes and schedules organized. I seem to be on the computer a lot and if I can have my schedule right there telling me what I need to do, that is very helpful. As a teacher I could put my classes in and reminders of due dates and things and help them out that way.
igoogle is another cool tool we learned about. One benefit I can see with this is how you can pretty much put anything on your page you need to get to quick and easy. It can save you time and as a Drama teacher you need all the time you can get!
Video Reflection:
The video I watched was,”Introducing Web 2.0”. It introduced many different websites some of which I knew and others which I need to look into. I didn’t know there were other Wiki sites. I only knew about Wikipedia. It talked about how in this age of media collaboration could be taken to a new level. I think this is true. With the introduction of new media tools people can communicate from any place. As a teacher this can be beneficial to communicate with the students as well as having the students communicate with each other.
In class this week we learned all about google and some of its tools. I had never even known a lot of these things existed. It was fun to learn about them. The Gmail documents is something I think could benefit a lot of people. I wish I had known about it a long time ago. For a long time I only had open office and a lot of the word documents couldn’t open up on my computer. With this you don’t have to have word and everyone can use it for free. I think this can help benefit the kids so they can collaborate together on assignments. For example if my students have to write a script they can review each others' scripts and leave comments for them to improve.
The calendar portion of google is a neat way to keep classes and schedules organized. I seem to be on the computer a lot and if I can have my schedule right there telling me what I need to do, that is very helpful. As a teacher I could put my classes in and reminders of due dates and things and help them out that way.
igoogle is another cool tool we learned about. One benefit I can see with this is how you can pretty much put anything on your page you need to get to quick and easy. It can save you time and as a Drama teacher you need all the time you can get!
Video Reflection:
The video I watched was,”Introducing Web 2.0”. It introduced many different websites some of which I knew and others which I need to look into. I didn’t know there were other Wiki sites. I only knew about Wikipedia. It talked about how in this age of media collaboration could be taken to a new level. I think this is true. With the introduction of new media tools people can communicate from any place. As a teacher this can be beneficial to communicate with the students as well as having the students communicate with each other.
Friday, August 28, 2009
My Ideal Classroom
My ideal classroom would have a small proscenium stage. Since I will be teaching drama the stage would be a must so the kids would have a place to perform. I would want desks too for them to do their work on. I would put up on the walls Playbills (programs from Broadway shows), posters from shows I have directed/been in, and drama masks. I would want a piano because music and theatre go hand in hand.
My students would have a love for the theatre. They would be excited to be there and want to learn and explore human emotion and will express it through writing scripts, performing different characters and reading theatre. Their parents will be supportive of the arts and see the importance of it in their children’s lives as they see them grow and develop through the theatre. I will be friends with the home economics teacher who will want to help with costumes for the shows and the shop teacher will help build the sets because he sees the importance of the theatre. The music teachers and dance teacher will be good friends since we will be working on the musicals together.
The teaching techniques I would use would vary greatly. The students would all learn differently and therefore I would use different ways of teaching. Some days I would lecture, some days I would have them teach, and some days they play games to learn the subject. For technology I would have them watch movies of theatre performances in class. I would have them learn about sound and lighting for the stage. They may also use video to record themselves to watch and see how their performances are.
I hope to have the students by the end of the year to have learned more about themselves through theatre. I hope to teach them about how to present themselves and become better people. Theatre helps in all aspects of life and so my goal is for the students to develop a love for theatre and retain the important lessons they have leaned about themselves through theatre.
My students would have a love for the theatre. They would be excited to be there and want to learn and explore human emotion and will express it through writing scripts, performing different characters and reading theatre. Their parents will be supportive of the arts and see the importance of it in their children’s lives as they see them grow and develop through the theatre. I will be friends with the home economics teacher who will want to help with costumes for the shows and the shop teacher will help build the sets because he sees the importance of the theatre. The music teachers and dance teacher will be good friends since we will be working on the musicals together.
The teaching techniques I would use would vary greatly. The students would all learn differently and therefore I would use different ways of teaching. Some days I would lecture, some days I would have them teach, and some days they play games to learn the subject. For technology I would have them watch movies of theatre performances in class. I would have them learn about sound and lighting for the stage. They may also use video to record themselves to watch and see how their performances are.
I hope to have the students by the end of the year to have learned more about themselves through theatre. I hope to teach them about how to present themselves and become better people. Theatre helps in all aspects of life and so my goal is for the students to develop a love for theatre and retain the important lessons they have leaned about themselves through theatre.
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