Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The New Hotness

Ok, so you know how I like to try new things, especially when it comes to projects. Well, I'm attempting to unveil two new technologies at this trimester's Exhibition: iMovie and Glogster.

We used iMovie for our writing project, a movie based around a visual response poem. I am almost certain that they turned out splendidly. We'll see when they are premiered next week. Keep in mind that they might be a little rough around the edges, but it was an experiment, and a very involved experiment at that. I can't wait to see them. For the most part, they're all done. The only students that didn't finish theirs were ones that were absent on Friday. I'll do my best to make sure they have something to show.

Glogster is a program where you can create a "Glog," which is basically a digital poster. We used Glogster today for their reading project. These glogs are stored online, so they can be accessed and worked on at home. Students know their usernames and passwords. If they forgot them, they can access them in the class GMail account. (They know how to do this, I showed them today.) Again, this was quite an experiment. We'll see how they turn out. Students will get a chance to work on them again the remaining days of this week. Extra work at home, of course, will help.

Keep in mind that our other amazing project, the Virtual Field Trip must be presented at the Exhibition, as well. This can and should be worked on at home. It's stored on the class wiki and students definitely know how to get to it.

I'm very proud of how well my students work with computers. They pick up on things very quickly. I really feel like the time we spend with technology is time well spent because we're using it to enhance important skills. In other words, we're working on important fifth grade academic skills and making them more interesting, meaningful, and engaging by using technology along the way.

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