WK 4 Publishing Project

My AR project has been interesting to see how it unfolds, but making into a movie to share as a presentation has been even more challenging.   What seemed like an easy project has been tough.  I am tried several times to find my sound and have not had any luck.   The project itself has been an eye opener for me, but the technology can be a challenge at times.   I am anxious to try out some news and keep data along the way and see where it leads me~  

I have really enjoyed looking at other people's projects throughout this class and hope to motivate my team members in 3rd grade to take this challenge on as well!   So much research out there, but it is more meaningful to do it yourself and see the progress.   I would strongly encourage anyone to do the same!

WK Comments on Jodi Zeigler's Blog

"I am the framework for everything that happens in my life". What a powerful message Zander sends with his tenth practice of possibility. It seems so easy to sit back and place blame on others to make ourselves feel less guilty. The true test is our ability to see how challenges and situations fit into our game of life. What have we done to bring different situations into our own lives? If we actually spend some time looking into the situation it is humbling to think about all of the different ways in which we welcome things into our lives without even realizing.

Owning up to everything that happens to us and choosing the being on board approach opens one to the possibility of a much more graceful journey. Taking responsibility for everything in our lives allows us to quickly get back on the track we were on before a challenging situation or event that may have occurred in our lives. When you grace yourself in this manner it leaves you free to choose again and move on.

Of all messages I have read from Zander I feel this is by far the most meaningful message! This is a great strategy to teach our young students. So many times students have an excuse for why their work doesn't get done and never does it include any choices of their own. They do not seem to see how they have brought certain situations upon themselves. What a powerful lesson to teach, being the board.

Lori Irwin said...

Jodi,

Wow, you were able to pull something out of the chapters that has a huge impact if we let it. We all are equipped with some special ability that helps us get through the tough times in life. The game of life is played everyday and we can choose to have that graceful journey or one of regrets. It is so easy to see what other people are doing wrong then to look in the mirror and say what can I improve on today? If we would own our own junk and realize that even though we are human, we are also the only person who can change something within our own lives. If we are always pointing a finger at someone else then we don't take any time to work on ourselves and in the end we are the loser. I agree with you and Zander that this is a critical message to learn ourselves as well as teach our students to do the same. Imagine a world where everyone stepped up their own game... we would all be winners!

September 25, 2010 12:04 PM 

WK 4 Reading

I loved the section that told a children's story about a girl who was in second grade and came to school with Leukemia and was wearing a scarf to cover up the fact that she lost her hair.   The kids snatched it off of her head and laughed nervously.   This could have been a disaster for weeks to come, but the teacher intervened and turned it all around.   As the book stated, she reframed the meaning of the child's strange appearance and released the girl from her new identity that was created that day.   She came in the next day and had shaved her head and showed that baldness could be a possibility or an act of choice.   Some of the children went home and wanted to do the same.    What this showed me was how important it is to take situations we are all faced with and change the outcome.   The teacher could have just punished the students who laughed and there would have been more problems.   But, instead she took a tough situation and made it better by showing them a different perspective.   Too many times we look at things as black and white and don't realize that gray is not always bad!

WK 4 Comments on Tamara Collin's Blog

Tamara Collins

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

Week 3 MAC: Free Choice

The digital age for our children is truly here. Just the other day I walked into the classroom of one of our 4th grade teachers. She was in the middle of using the Promethean Board (interactive board) to teach adjectives to students. I sat there observing the little faces of the students and couldn't help to be mesmerized by how intently they were watching the board.

That same night I was putting my son to bed when he asked for me to read a book to him. I told him to grab a book, but instead he came back with my iPad. He crawled next to me in bed, slid his finger across the the iPad to unlock it and selected a Dr. Seuss app. The app read the One Fish, Two Fish to him. What I found most fascinating is that a two year old understand hows to navigate through a piece of technology such as the iPad as if it were second nature.

My son will never really understand what it means to dial a rotary phone or use a public phone for that matter. But what most scares is that if I were to allow him to use the iPad to read a book regularly he will never have an interest in reading a traditional book or read book where you don't touch the pictures and expect them to sing and dance. I suppose too much of any one thing is a bad thing. Balance is key.Posted by Tamara Paris Collins at 5:58 PM 

loriluvboyds said...

Tamara,

I so agree with your comments of how important it is to balance out technology with the old fashioned materials. I love books and always buy the younger kids in my family those for Christmas and Birthday presents. I want them to realize how much fun reading can be so it will continue for the rest of their lives. But, I also want them to learn the newest technology so they can be on the cutting edge. I think it is super important to have both of them. We were just playing Yahtzee and when it was time to calculate , I used my head and the younger girls in our family got out their phones and used the calculator on there. Nothing wrong with either way as long as you don't lose the ability to use both.

September 25, 2010 10:09 AM

WK 3 Free Choice - Busy Teacher's Cafe

The URL for this website is:  http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/

This was a great website if you are in grades K-6.   There are forms created, centers to copy, and strategies for all the subjects.   I found a themes page that gave me tons of information covering all subjects that deal with apples.   I plan to do this in the fall and won't be able to use everything I found here.    What an amazing site and nothing was blocked or asked for money... even better!   

They had a couple of cartoons that dealt with nutrition but what I liked is you could print them out and have the students fill in the speech bubbles and then from that have them create a story.   That would cover reading and writing, but most of all critical thinking skills would have to be used as well.   If you teach elementary, this site is priceless.. check it out!

Oh yeah, and they a calendar for each month with a ton of writing prompts and ideas.   This is part of the example for the month of December.

WK 3 Comments about Denise Cullen's Blog

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The purpose of my Action Research project is to provide empirical evidence that digital storytelling can improve the member training and public outreach programs of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Qualitative research methods were used to compile the findings. Upon completion of the research, analysis of the data concluded that digital storytelling projects can positively influence member training, by way of improved awareness and better fellowship.  It can be deduced that public outreach programs of the Coast Guard Auxiliary can likewise benefit from digital storytelling projects and resultant media elements.  To continue this inquiry will require further authorization from higher-ranking Coast Guard Auxiliary officials that see the benefits of research participation to the modernization goals of the organization.

Lori Irwin

Denise,

I am so excited to see that we are both using Digital Storytelling for similar and different reasons.  I have used it as a way to motivate my struggling students to get excited as well as comprehend what they are reading.   It is refreshing to see that it also works well with the service world out there.   Everyone tells stories, but it is nice when stories can help all ages to excel in what they need to do.    Thanks for sharing your action research information with us.    I think that was definitely thinking outside the box and I love that!   Good luck in wrapping up your year end project.

Sunday, September 19, 2010 - 03:37 PM

WK 3 Comments on Karen William's Blog

Week 2 - Free Post

During my Action Research Project, The Partnership for 21st Century Website at http://www.p21.org/index.php was very beneficial for me in understanding what specific skills our students will need to be competitive for the 21st century.

Posted by Karen R. Williams Blogs at 10:50 PM

1 comments:

Loriluvboyds said...

Karen,

I went into your link to look at his website and loved the graphic with the descriptions of the arches on the rainbows. Under Learning and Innovation Skills it talked about critical thinking and problems solving and personally I feel like those are incredibly important. The focus still needs to be on content, knowledge and so on, but they need to know how to think for themselves and problem solve in every subject as well as in life. Thanks for sharing the website with us, 

Thanks, Lori

September 19, 2010 10:05 AM