Family Animoto

This is my first Animoto video for my graduate class. The video is about my family and It was very challenging but I had a lot of fun creating it because it was personal. While creating this video, many ideas came to my head about the usage of such a program in my teaching. Examining my existing curriculum, I came to the conclusion where the use of Animoto will support my learning objectives. For example, Animoto could be used for the following ideas: * At the start of the school year, students could use Animoto to introduce themselves or their classmates. * Students can illustrate their own poetry using digital images they find on Internet or ones they take. * Animoto can be used to present research information to the class. * Students could illustrate step-by-step instructions for procedure writing. * Send students on a scavenger hunt, supplied with digital cameras. Have students assemble their digital images into an Animoto video to display what they found. I will try to get more familiar with the usage of Animoto so I could be ready for implementation during the next school year.

Richardson Chapter 3

Chapter 3

This chapter was enjoyable to read because it cleared some of my anxieties about blogging which I had after the first day of class. Many of the activities Richardson mentioned in this chapter are fun and engaging once the class gets comfortable using weblogs. I'm going try using weblogs in my teaching practice but I'm going to  start small as Richardson wrote in this chapter.  I'm going to post my homework assignments once we get comfortable using it as a whole class.  I will try for the next three weeks to work out the kinks so I could be ready for full implementation next school year. ( Juan Gonzalez)

 

 

Richardson's Reflection Introduction

Introduction:


Mr. Berners-Lee would be amazed on how close his vision of World Wide Web he developed over fifteen years ago is close to becoming a realization.  I guess in this informational age, millions of Americans are in some shape or form using the internet to publish their thoughts, respond to others or share files.
Richardson also wrote on how education is reacting slowly to the ever changing world around them.  Our students have been using technology in their homes that they are unable to use at their schools because of what ever reasons. Many districts including mine, don't have the resources to acquired technology because they don't see the importance and the benefit to the students.  In this day of standardize testing, administrators see these technological tools as a " risk instead of a solution" in our educational system. 

Teaching in an urban district has it's many challenges, and one specific obstacle is having access to modern technology in the classroom.  My school has come a long way from two years ago.  When I first started teaching in my school, I didn't have any computers or smart board to help facilitate instruction.  Things have change in the past couple of years.  I have six computers and a smart board available to me and my students. The school  created two computer labs for our use and many more educational tools.  I'm hoping this class will decrease my level of stress when it comes to using technology in the classroom. I was raised in a different generation, one that values the personal interrelationship instead of using computers or other interactive devices to communicate.