Digital Story Telling

Digital story telling is a fantastic way to have students express themselves. It is not very difficult, but I would not recommend it for the younger kids (kinder-2nd grade). The editing of the video is what gets pretty complicated, and it can be very time consuming. However, I do believe older children can do this sort of activity. Students 6th grade and up could easily do this sort of thing. One way to use it with smaller children is for story time. Instead of students reading the traditional book they can read a digital book that includes music. Another way is to have students (older) do a book report, or history report using this technology. Doing so would definitely add a spin to classic assignments. Story telling would be an excellent way to have students introduce themselves to the class. It could be an assignment for the first week of class. This is perfect for those shy and reserved students. Their video can do the talking! Posted below is the video I made on my hero, well in this case heroine. Like I stated above it was easy, but the editing drove me crazy! I have the really out-dated version of Windows Movie maker so it was difficult to manage. My video is not perfect, I could not figure out a way of making the words on the slides slow down, and I tried everything. I have to say I am proud of my video even though it has a lot of mistakes. I realized I didn't add my name on the first slide, but was too afraid to go back and edit because I had a very difficult time getting the video to play on another computer. I hope you enjoy it! let me know what you think.

My wish liks poster

http://www.glogster.com/sanflo/wishlist-glog-by-sanflo/g-6lkn9899j8804rqlhgsmma0


Here is the link to my "Wish List" poster. I posted a thumbnail, to get a better view click on the link. This poster is just basically things that I one day hope to get for myself. If I wasn't pursuing a career in teaching I would be somewhere in the fashion world. I read vogue religiously, fashion is definitely one of my passions. This is a wonderful tool for the classroom! Students can create their own wishlists for the holidays, or posters. Posters can be created on the first day of class to introduce themselves, or they can be created to present a project. It adds a twist to the traditional way of making posters. I think students as young as 3rd grader can use glogster and word cloud. They are old enough to follow instructions carefully and by this age they are more technology knowledgeable. In my opinion these programs are a bit more difficult than Word and Paint. They offer a lot more options which makes it more difficult to work, but this also makes these programs better! If students follow directions, and play around with the programs they will be able to use them properly.

Glogster and Word cloud

Word cloud was used to make this image. I found it difficult at first, but it was just a matter of getting familiarized with the software. This word cloud represents what I am against. It is politically charged, but I will not go into depth. Word cloud is a fantastic way to let students express themselves in a creative manner. I really liked it!


Glogster was fun too! It was easier to work than word cloud in my opinion. Below is the link to my poster.

Learning Styles

 I'm a hands on type of person, and I need visual stimuli. We have to remember that not everyone learns the same way. As future teachers we have to make sure we meet every child's needs. Diversify!