Web 1.0 < Web 2.0

Over the summer, I created a global activity structure lesson called "What's My Job?"  This project focuses on a unit on community helpers/occupations and challenges students to create a set of clues for other students to use to determine a specific job/community helper that they’d like to be when they grow up.  Students will also be able to look at the clues provided by others and try to guess which community helper based on the clues given.  After they make their guess, they draw a picture of what the person doing the job would be dressed like and send it back to the person who provided the clues. This is a global project in which students from around the world could submit and make guesses using the clues provided.  Students will be using their social studies skills applying what they’ve learned about all the jobs in the community.  They will also be using their literacy skills when writing up their clues and their problem solving skills when making their guesses. Students around the world are able to interact with each other and students also get a chance to learn about different jobs that may exist in other parts of the world but not in their area! Students may even get new ideas and change their mind about a job they’d like to have in the future after seeing the millions of occupations that are available worldwide!

If I were to change this project and implement it using Web 2.0, I would turn it into a wiki.  I think after having used a wiki the past few months, I have come to realize how easy and versatile it is.  Because this is a global project, using this tool would allow for more people to be involved.  The way the other project was designed, there were many steps involved in submitting and guessing, so there was a lot of back and forth.  Many of those steps could be eliminated because the wiki would allow everyone who is participating access. Results would be returned to students much quicker and the dialogue would increase.  I think it would benefit the students because the feedback would be immediate.  Especially with younger students, the learning is much more effective when they experience things right away. A challenge that I might come across is having too many people edit and trying to make sure that the dynamic of the project doesn't change with all of the students who want to participate. I think it would be a very popular project but there would have to be some limits as well.  Overall, I think this project would work better as a wiki but it would be worth it to try it on web 1.0 AND web 2.0 to find out.  Experimenting is the only way to really know!

Digital Video Editing

Digital Video Editing is something that is not necessarily new to me because I do have experience using programs like Windows Movie Maker or Windows Photo Story.  I have used them more with pictures rather than actual movie clips.  I have more experience with Windows Photo Story because I use that quite frequently with my students when we create digital stories in the classroom.  I either take pictures of the students or I take pictures/scan (taking pictures is much faster) of their work.  Usually the students have a chance to record their voices on the computer and then I insert music or sounds where appropriate.  This is something that I learned about when I was student teaching in college and the kids really enjoyed it so I decided that I needed to make a point of using them in my own classroom.  Some of the digital stories we have created together have been:

-A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener: We do this the first week of school.  I take pictures of the students all day long and we create a story of our daily schedule.  The students enjoy it and we watch it daily so they remember and get excited about what we do every day.  I also show it at Back to School Night so that parents get a good idea of what their child is up to each day! They love it, too!

-Shape Hunt: When we study shapes, I take the students on a shape hunt around the school and we take pictures of all the different shapes we see in and out of the building.  Then we put it together to create a story that tells all the shapes we see in our world around us.

-What Made This Shadow: When learning about shadows, students pick objects that create cool shadows and we place them outside on the black top on a sunny day. We take a picture of the shadow and a picture of the item with it's shadow.  When the story is finished it first shows a picture of a shadow and you hear the student's asking "what made this shadow?" and there is time to try to guess/figure out what it could be.  The next part shows the whole picture of the object.  This is one of my favorite digital stories to make. My students love it every year!

-Famous Americans: Students learn about all the famous Americans and at the end of our unit, they all draw a name out of a hat of a person we've studied.  They have to write a fact about that person and then we make costumes.  The students read their fact to the class as they dress like the person they chose.  I take pictures and they students record their fact so in the end we have a digital book about all of the famous Americans we learned about.  

I am always looking for new ways to incorporate digital videos into my curriculum since I already know how much my students enjoy it.  I enjoy it as well! Even though this isn't really new to me, I have learned a lot about some of the techniques and tools involved in digital video editing that I wasn't using before.  I hope that as we continue working with these programs, my knowledge will grow and I will have a library full of more ideas that I can incorporate into my classroom!:)

Wiki Lesson Plan

Well, I’m still getting used to blogging. I am not the best writer so every week I have to mentally prepare myself to sit down and clear my mind before I work on an entry.  I have to say, at first I didn’t like having to write about a specific topic each week.  But now that I am in charge of deciding my own subject matter, I am stuck!   I am still getting used to how to get my thoughts down on paper (so to speak) and working on not rambling on (which I do often).  So far this semester, we have learned a ton about wikis, podcasts, videos and blogs.  It’s actually been pretty interesting.   My biggest problem in this program since the beginning has been finding ways to implement these cool technologies in a classroom full of five year olds.  Their skills are limited since most of them can’t read and write independently yet.   I just created a lesson plan using wikis that I think actually came out pretty good.  I tried to find ways to let my students participate as much as possible but I think it’s a good starter lesson for teaching the kids how wikis work.  The authentic problem is that the local library wants to create a community wiki that allows kids to share their favorite stories.  My students will choose stories they enjoy and practice retelling and creating a summary using beginning, middle and end.  The students then have the chance to help create the wiki by typing in the title of the book, their name and as much of the summary as they can handle.  Then the wiki can be edited and shared by members of the community so any local student can share their favorite stories as well.  The wiki can be used by the library when people want recommendations for good children’s books.   It would be awesome to actually contact the local library and see if it they’d like to actually do something like this.  It would encourage other schools and classrooms to try using wikis with their classes as well.  I think this would give my students a good idea of what a wiki is and how it was used and it would be a good way to gradually integrate wikis into our curriculum in a way that is accessible to the younger students. 

Social Networking: Helpful or Harmful?

 Social Networking is becoming a regular topic of interest these days, even in schools.  I know that many people are all for using it in the classroom, while there are also plenty of people against it.  I have to be honest in saying that I haven't used it in my classroom as I haven't really found that it has a place being that I teach 5 year olds.  They are still trying to learn how to be social with each other IN PERSON, so I don't feel the need to expose them to social networking sites which will only complicate things further at this point in their lives.  

In general, I think as long as kids are careful and responsible while using social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook, they are valuable for staying connected and in touch with friends and family, but I don't feel that has a place in the classroom.  I don't necessarily feel that it is devoid of any educational value, because they use their writing and reading skills, maybe more than they would if it didn't exist.  They could just sit in front of the TV or play video games instead so I'd say that social networking is at least better than that.  It's just extremely important that kids are using these sites appropriately so they don't end up in dangerous situations. 

I think when kids explore social networking in interest-based ways that can be a really good thing.  It shows that they have the capability and the initiative to discover things beyond what they are learning in school or even at home. I find that with my own students they learn so much more when they are interested in a topic and I think that can be said for anyone.  As long as they are being cautious, I see the educational purpose in allowing students to use social media to be able to seek out their own personal interests and passions. 

Podcasts....

I have heard about podcasts for quite some time now, but never actually delved into the world of podcasts to see what they were all about. Now that I've actually had the experience of actually creating one, I have to say that I think they are pretty cool.  In my last few blogs, I know that I have mentioned that my struggle throughout grad school is finding ways to incorporate these new technologies withing a classroom of little ones who don't have a ton of independence.  With podcasts, I know that I would have to do most of the work to actually save, edit, and create the podcast so they can be shared, but the overall creation of what is recorded on the podcast is absolutely something that my students could come up with themselves.  I am starting to think of all the ways that I could have my students use podcasts because I know they would really enjoy them.  We have created digital stories in our classroom in which the students record their voices along with pictures and they absolutely LOVE doing that so I can only imagine their excitement level during a project like this.  Podcasts are easily shared so it would be such a great way for my students to demonstrate what they have learned, share information with others and communicate with their friends and families what they are working on in school.  Since podcasts can be about anything, it would be so easy to use them across the curriculum.  It would be a great activity to have the students listen to each other's podcasts and give feedback to each other.  They can learn something from each other and practice giving constructive criticism to each other which is something that all kids can use practice with, even the little guys.  I could see how creating podcasts could build my students confidence and self esteem and it would definitely be something they would be enthusiastic about no matter what the topic.  If I know one thing, I know that my students are conceited (in a good way) in the fact that they love to hear or see themselves (OR both) talking so I can guarantee that this would keep their attention and they could learn a ton! They could even record their voices reading stories they write, stories we've read, or doing reader's theater.  The possibilities are endless!

Ohhhh, so THAT'S what a Wiki is!

Okay, time to be honest.  I had no clue what a wiki REALLY was up until about 3 weeks ago.  I know.  That sounds ridiculous, but it's true.  I've heard of Wikipedia, obviously.  And I probably use it weekly.   When people first started using Wikipedia, I remember them saying it was a source you can't technically trust since anyone is free to put whatever information they want on there, but I didn't really listen to that.  Not that I ever cited anything for a paper or project from Wikipedia, but I will admit that I get plenty of information from there and for the most part, I go by whatever it says.  Probably not such a great idea, but I know I'm not the ONLY one.  So when we started learning about Wiki's a few weeks ago, of course, that was the only knowledge I had of what a wiki is, and even then I still didn't know that much about it.  Now I get it! It's not as complicated as it sounds.  Before this semester started, someone asked me what I would be learning about in my classes and I told them "wikis, blogs, and podcasts" and they asked me what that meant.  The only part of that question I could answer was about blogs because those,  I am actually familiar with.  They had me stumped at wikis and podcasts.  The other day someone asked me the same question and I actually gave them a relatively knowledgeable (at least, I think) answer about a wiki.  I explained to them how a wiki works and how you go about adding/editing information to wikis and told them about the affordances of collaborating with others when using wikis.  I'm not going to lie, I felt pretty smart!  That person even admitted to me they didn't really understand how Wikipedia worked and I was able to clear that right up for them!  I think my next step is figuring out how to use a wiki in my classroom.  With a lot of technology, it takes me some time to figure out how to incorporate it with the little guys since they are so limited with their capabilities.  Sometimes it ends up being more work for me but I think this is doable.  I just need to figure out what the affordances are of using a wiki in my classroom and find the best way to use it to enhance their learning so that it actually makes a difference.  I think it can be done, it will just take a lot of thought and experimentation!

Blogging about Blogging!

So here I am, writing a blog about blogging.  First off, I know that not everyone is a believer in blogging, or blogs in general.  I don't really have a feeling about them one way or another, but I am more of a blog reader, than a blog writer.  I think it's important to note that when you are writing a blog, you have to want to be writing it, and you also have to have something interesting to say so that people actually want to read it. I know that many of the blogs that I read (fitness, DIY, cooking blogs, etc) have relatively short posts which makes it easy for me to keep up and follow on a regular basis so I think it's important to keep it short and sweet so that readers don't get overwhelmed with the amount of information on the page and decide not to continue reading.


I know plenty of teachers who have used a blog I their classroom for educational purposes, but I've never tried it myself. Some teachers use it for themselves as a way to reflect on their teaching and happenings in their classroom.  I think that is a very valuable way to use a blog. Others can see your insights and creative ideas but also learn from your mistakes if you write about things that you did that didn't go as planned during a lesson.  As long as the information shared is interesting, I know lots of teachers who would be willing to read about a teacher's reflections.


Another way to use a blog in the classroom is to get your students involved.  Either having a class blog or having each student create their own if they are independent enough, having them experience the world of blogs could teach students a lot that they can't learn about just by reading books or having class discussions.  A class blog would be great to teach the class how to work together as a community and could foster lots of conversations that end up on the blog for readers to read.  The possibilities of things the class could blog about are endless and it would also give parents and family members a place to see what's going on in the classroom.  For the older grades, it could be a place of reflection and dialogue between students and also a way to provide feedback to each other.  This will allow for growth, progress and understanding across the board on many different topics.  It allows students to also work on writing skills so it is a great way for teachers to have lessons that are cross curricular.  


Overall, I think blogs are a good idea in the classroom. It is just a matter of people getting comfortable and figuring out how to use them in a way that works and that benefits the students. 

All About Me!

My name is Sara Ross and I am in my sixth year of teaching Kindergarten at Antietam Elementary School in Woodbridge, Virginia. I am originally from the Woodbridge area and I attended Antietam Elementary as a child.  I even teach Kindergarten in the same classroom that I went to Kindergarten in way back in the day and took over for my very own Kindergarten teacher! I graduated from Radford University in 2008 with a degree in Elementary Education with concentrations in special education and English and I am certified to teach kindergarten through sixth grade, although my passion for teaching lies mainly with the little ones.  Technology has always been an integral part of my life both in the school setting as well as at home.  I have always encouraged her students to embrace the use of technology and I consistently incorporate technology on a daily basis to enhance my students' learning in the classroom.  With such advances in technology and the growing demand for it's daily use, I feels it is important to link it to my students' lives in and out of the classroom.  My participation in the ITS program at George Mason University is making it possible for me to expand my knowledge on the subject and continually add to my understanding and implementation of technology in education. 

As far as blogs go, the only experience that I have with them is reading educational blogs or blogs on cooking or fitness.  I have never had my own blog or written on a blog, so this is a whole new world for me.  I also don't consider myself to be very creative, especially when it comes to writing, so I am a little bit apprehensive about writing a post each week and making sure that is interesting enough for anyone to want to read.  If I were writing a blog about the happenings of my daily life in the classroom as a Kindergarten teacher, I could probably go on for hours and tell millions of funny/interesting/amazing stories about my students.  I think this whole experience of writing about my learning through the ITS program but I am positive that overall I will benefit from it and walk away with another tool I can use in my classroom.