Digital Project Write Up December 4, 2007

                Throughout the weeks I spent working on my digital project, I have learned how to utilize different programs to create projects.  For this project I chose to create a photo story for the T.S. Eliot poem, Whispers of Immortality.  The first step in the creation of the film was to come up with images that would flow with the poem and give the poem meaning through pictures.  The next step was to download Movie Maker. I had never used this program so it took a bit of trial and error to figure out how to use it.  Once I decided on the pictures that I wanted to include, I then loaded them into Movie Maker.  The next step was to arrange them in order and space each image to match the length of time it would take to read each section of the poem.  When this was complete I then added the narration.  This step was my least favorite of the process. I do not enjoy reading allow, and feel I sound quite silly.   To add a little flare to the project I also included an opening and closing credit sequence as well as interesting transitions between photos.

                This project can be used in the future in several ways.  The first of which is a demonstration of how to create projects such as photo stories.  This is a great way to get students interested in things such as poetry.  By having them choose images to go along with the stanzas of the poem, they can reflect on the actual words and meanings of a poem.  If a student was to choose this as a project, they could be asked to write a paper to go along with the assignment.  In this paper, the student could explain the images that go along with the poem, and why they selected those images.  This project can also be used when studying T.S. Eliot.  It would make the reading of his poem “Whispers of Immortality” more interesting than simply having the class sit quietly at their desks and read.

                Overall, I enjoyed this project. I really liked learning the new technologies that are available to create movies and other projects.  Like I previously stated, the only part I did not like was creating the narration to go along with the poem.  This is something I need to overcome.   This was a good project and opened my mind to several positive ideas for the future.

Course Reflection December 1, 2007

 

                I have really enjoyed the last few months in this class. This course has taught me a lot about the different technologies that are out there and how I can use them to help with social networking as well as producing more interesting projects that can come in handy in the business world. In my last job I typically relied on PowerPoint to create presentations for the company.  With the programs that I learned in this class, I can now create more interesting presentations.  I also learned a lot more about blogging.  Before this class I had limited access to blogging, but now I have found several sites that will come in handy in the future for communications with different people in my life who live all across the country.

                Another aspect of this class that I found very interesting was the use of the wiki.  The wikispaces pages have taught me an easy way to collaborate with others, even when you cannot get together often.  This is also a great way to do group projects.  The lessons that I learned in this class were very informative and will come in handy in the future. 

                I enjoyed the lessons and projects in this class throughout the semester. They were all useful in learning how to use the different technologies that are available on the internet.  I felt that overall this class was well executed and very helpful.  The only suggestion that I have for improvement in regards to the class involves the different ways of communicating with the professor.  Throughout the semester we used WordPress and WebCt to communicate and get resources for the class.  Sometimes it got confusing where to find things.  I think that it would be helpful in the future to focus on one form of media to relay information to the class.

                Overall I really enjoyed this class and would recommend it to anyone who wanted to see how they can use the modern technologies in the classroom or to learn about helpful programs to help them in their own lives.

The PostSecret Phenomenon December 1, 2007

The PostSecret Phenomenon  

In the modern age of the internet there are all kinds of web phenomenon floating around.  One popular site is known as “PostSecret”.  This blog site encourages its viewers to send in secrets on homemade postcards, which are then posted on the blog.   This phenomenon has lead from homemade postcards on a blog to now having books published of the postcards as well as “Video Secrets” and “Secret Voices”. Many of the visuals on the postcards reflect, in some way the secret that is being revealed.  For example, one secret is:

 ”In my neighborhood, people piles their leaves in the gutter for the city to pick up.  When no one’s looking, I drive through the piles sending the leaves flying into the air. It makes me feel alive. P.S, – I’m a 50 year old housewife.”

The postcard for this secret is covered in pictures of autumn leaves.

If you were to tell something about yourself, how would you express it? What word/images would you use to describe your “secret”?  What would your postcard look like? Why would you choose the images on the postcard? How do the images of the postcard reflect the words on the card?

Remember- For this assignment your postcard can be something basic about yourself. It does not have to be an intimate secret.

1. When you select the sentence for your postcard, all ideas must be ok’d by me to assure they are appropriate.

2. Once your idea is ok’d create a homemade postcard with a line on it about yourself. (Have the postcard reflect what you are telling about yourself in someway).

3. Write a 1-2 page summary of why you chose the graphics on the homemade postcard. How do they reflect the idea submitted on the postcard?

4. You will have have 5 minutes in class to present your postcards and explain the meanings behind them.

You will be graded on the follwing items:

-Thought invloved in creating the postcard

-Description of the project in the paper

-Presentation

The Flight of the Kiwi: An Interesting Assignment October 30, 2007

The Summary: 

In the box on the side of my blog is a video of “The Kiwi”.  This short film shows the dedication and thought that one little kiwi puts towards his dream of flight. I think that this film would be a great teaching tool for any language arts class.

The Assignment:

After playing the film for the class the teacher should ask the class to first think of the obvious reasons for the plot:

1. Why does the kiwi have to find an alternate way to “fly”?

2. Why would the kiwi want to fly?

Then go on to expand the line of thinking:

1. What other animals cannot accomplish certain actions?

2. How could these animals follow the “path of the kiwi” in order to acheive their goals?

After discussing the reasons for the kiwi film and the other ways that the message can be used, the teacher should then assign the following assignment:

The Noble Flight of the Kiwi

In the film that we watched the Kiwi did not let the fact that he is a flightless bird stand in the way of his dreams. Though it was a little unorthodox, the Kiwi still found away to fly. After watching this film you should reflect on the ways that others overcome obstacles and excel.

In 3-4 pages write a short story about a charachter that must think outside the box to accomplish their dreams. When you have complete the short story make a visual project to accompany your store. This can be anything from a comic book to a short video.  The more creative the better. Just make sure it is about a charachter overcoming hardships to achieve their goals. This could mean anything from a fish who wants to walk on the land to a deaf person who wants to experience an opera. The thing to keep in mind is that the dream cannot be something that the charachter can easily achieve.

This assignment will not only help mold your creative writing skills, but will also help you to think outside the box. It will enable you to think of creative ways to solve a problem. This will come in handy throughout you schooling as well as in your daliy life.

You will be graded on the follow:

-Is the short story well thoughout?

-Did you proofread and make corrections?

-Was your visual project well thoughtout?

-Does your visual project reflect the short story?

Pew Internet and American Life Project October 21, 2007

The quiz “Where do you fit in?” is a fun quiz that gages where you fit in with the rest of society when it comes to the quiz-taker and their use of technology.  It then averages the score and compares the results to others who have taken the quiz.

I was in the “Omnivores” catergory. This meant that:

Based on your answers to the questionnaire, you most closely resemble survey respondents within the Omnivores typology group. This does not mean that you necessarily fit every group characteristic.

Omnivores make up 8% of the American public.

Basic Description
Members of this group use their extensive suite of technology tools to do an enormous range of things online, on the go, and with their cell phones. Omnivores are highly engaged with video online and digital content. Between blogging, maintaining their Web pages, remixing digital content, or posting their creations to their websites, they are creative participants in cyberspace.

Defining Characteristics
You might see them watching video on an iPod. They might talk about their video games or their participation in virtual worlds the way their parents talked about their favorite TV episode a generation ago. Much of this chatter will take place via instant messages, texting on a cell phone, or on personal blogs. Omnivores are particularly active in dealing with video content. Most have video or digital cameras, and most have tried watching TV on a non-television device, such as a laptop or a cell phone.

Omnivores embrace all this connectivity, feeling confident in how they manage information and their many devices. This puts information technology at the center of how they express themselves, do their jobs, and connect to their friends.

Who They Are
They are young, ethnically diverse, and mostly male (70%). The median age is 28; just more than half of them are under age 30, versus one in five in the general population. Over half are white (64%) and 11% are black (compared to 12% in the general population). English-speaking Hispanics make up 18% of this group. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many (42% versus the 13% average) of Omnivores are students.

Question to Damion Frye October 9, 2007

After I read the article “Spreading Homework Out So Even Parents Have Some” it was suggested that I email Damion Frye to find out more information on the way he keeps parents involved. I sent Mr. Frye an email asking what he did about parents who did not have internet access. This is his response:

RE: Teaching Question‏

From: Damion Frye (dfrye@montclair.k12.nj.us)

Sent: Tue 10/09/07 12:12 PM

To: L T (ltstrickland@hotmail.com)

The students are given 10 minutes in class on Fridays to copy down the topic (or I pass it out to them if it is longer) and they begin their responses.  They then, if the parent does not have access to a computer, give the topic and their response to their parent.  The parent then writes their response down and sends it back in by the following Friday.  Out of all my students, only 1 parent has informed me that they do not have an internet connection or access to the internet.  This was actually the first year that I have done it online, it used to be where all the students and parents had to write their responses.  However, since I respond to each student and parent I got to be too hard to handwrite all of my responses.  So I justtype them up now and the conversation remains (paperless – for the most part) and online. Feel free to ask any more questions!!!  Take care. Damion Frye 9th Grade World Lit Montclair High School 100 Chestnut St. Montclair NJ 07042 973-509-4004 dfrye@montclair.k12.nj.us How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.                                                             “The More Loving One”  W.H. Auden

Early Blogs October 9, 2007

Spreading Homework Out So Even Parents Have Some October 8, 2007

When reading the article “Spreading Homework Out So Even Parents Have Some”, I had several mixed opinions.  This article is about Damion Fry, a ninth grade English teacher at Montclair High School in New Jersey. Fry has a class blog that requires the parents to post about whatever their kids are learning for that week. It is required that the parents post a response or tell why they were not able to post or their child can lose points.  While the article said that Fry has only taken points from a student once, I still feel like it is not right. Even though it was not enough points to change the child’s grade, it is not right to make a child suffer because of their parents.

I also take issue with the fact that the parents have to post to the blog. Believe it or not there are still many households that cannot afford  to own a computer. This may not be a reality in the town of Monclair, where people such as Buzz Aldrin, Steven Spielberg and Yogi Berra have made their homes, but it is still a common situation in many households. Even if parents have Internet access outside the home it can still be very difficult.  Many adults are not allowed to use office computers for anything except for work. I know that I have worked at a law firm where any outside web access was blocked. It was blocked because they had fired so many people for searching the web while at work.  So people who don’t have a computer at home and can’t use one at work are limited to using one at the public library (which has limited hours) or pay to use the computers at an Internet cafe or Kinko’s…let’s be realistic. After working all day and having to get home to make dinner, clean the house, take care of the kids and keep the slightest bit of sanity, venturing out to search for a computer to make a post is probably not in the cards.  Not to mention the time it would take to read the assignment that you are to be  posting on.

This idea of having parents read and do homework to help them get more involved is great for stay-at-home parents or rich parents who have extra time, but this is not a reality for many working moms and dads. I know when I was growing up my parents had to work all the time and didn’t have the luxury to sit and do homework. They were traveling for work or not getting home until late. There are many kids who, like me, are latchkey kids whose parents have to work hard to take care of their families.  It would be great if parents could spend all their time helping and bonding with their kids, but unfortunately that is not the way the world works.

Walk for a Cure September 25, 2007

I am participating in a walk to raise money for the Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation in October. This is a problem that effects not only the lives of the people who suffer from it, but also their friends and families.  Please help me raise money for this event by clicking on my Pledge Page and making a donation. Remember, Every little bit helps.

Dr. Tim Tyson September 16, 2007

I found Dr. Tim Tyson’s Closing Keynote speech to be very informative. I think that is would be a good speech for anyone interested in the education of children to see, not just teachers but parents as well.  Tyson made the students a promise that if they produced exemplery work he would put it on his pocast and itunes.  This has encouraged the students at Mabry Middle School to take pride in their projects.  This form of education seems to work because students are not interested in simply moving from grade to grade, but rather feeling like they have made a contribution.  In his speech Tyson included five different student presentations.  Each presentation was a well contructed project from the 6th and 7th graders at Mabry Middle School.  Dr. Tyson had two students, Tia Riedlinger and Josh Schwartz, come out and tell what this type of learning opportunity meant to them.  I thought it was great that it lead the students to want to persue movie making outside of class. I think that what Dr. Tyson has done for the students at Mabry Middle School is amazing and more schools should take that kind of interest in their students.