Intel Ranking Tool

After figuring out how to complete this assignment I found it to be quite interesting. I never knew that this existed and there are so many ways that I could use this within my classroom. Casie Linger was my partner and I'm very glad that she was. By talking on the phone and coordinating our ideas we were able to come up with a lesson on weather. I think that we really worked well together and came up with a nice lesson on how to interpret weather and compare student findings with other sources (Internet, TV, newspapers). This project definitely took two minds to figure out Google Sites and the ranking tool. Take a look at our lesson Weather and the Seasons along with our Visual Ranking Tool and let us know what you think.

Trying to Work Through It

Well, I've been trying to work through all of the assignments and get them completed. They are starting to become harder and more difficult to understand. I hope that I will do as well on this module has I have been doing. It makes me nervous to think about what will be coming up next, but I will work hard to correctly complete everything. I definitely have been learning new things that I can do within my classroom, which is very helpful in integrating technology!

Photoshop Express

This was also a lot of fun! I decided to do four photos, so I could play around with the different features. There were so many different options to edit the photos that it was hard for me to pick only one. This would be great to enhance a photo album and make it more interesting to view. I love how you can make it into a slideshow using different layout forms. I decided to make mine do a circular pattern and slide into place. I was going to pick an audio style, but I didn't like the way they sounded. Photoshop is definately something I could use again, whether it be personal reasons or in my classroom. I hope you enjoy my album.

Photo Album

This was a lot of fun to create! I didn't realize how easy it's to create an online photo album to share with friends and family. I decided to import my pictures onto Picasa 3 and then upload them into the Picasa Web Album. I was able to pick a title for my album, add captions, reorder my prints, and choose a cover picture. I love how there are so many free programs that can be downloaded on the computer for easy access and use. Here is a sneak peek of "My Life." I hope you enjoy!

Online Graph 2

I found this to be quite interesting, if I did it correctly. I found the number of students enrolled and the percentage in an IEP program. After computing the two I recorded some interesting facts. WV has the lowest amount of students on an IEP, but we are second to lowest in per capita income. Although, we have the lowest amount of student enrollment, which I’m sure factors into play.

In order to show my results, I graphed the states from lowest to highest per capita income. The order is as follows, Mississippi, WV, Arkansas, Utah, and Kentucky. However, my graph fluctuates. It seems to me that the poorest state doesn’t always mean that they have the most students on IEPs. Kentucky, for example, has the highest per capita income, but has the greatest number of students on an IEP. I found this to be quite interesting because I always assumed that the poorer the state the more students would be participating in an IEP program. My results indicate that the majority of states with a higher per capita income have more students on an IEP.

Please take a look and tell me what you think. My math skills aren’t always the greatest, which can be scary since I’m a teacher.

Organizing Work using Graphic Tools

This assignment was hard for me to understand. I know how to use the drawing tools in Power Point, but I wasn't sure how to organize my work. I'm hoping that what I created is correct. I decided to make a web where all of the items projected out from my home computer. I labeled and added web addresses and links to each item. I couldn't get Google Documents and my FTP site to open with my links, so I added assignment links that I have previously completed. I decided to add Photostory as another item since that was a major project that we completed. I saved it as a PPS file and it's 38KB. I tried every other file type and this was the only one that allowed me to click on the links. However, I also added an image of my graphic directly onto my blog that is a jpg file type and is 57KB.

I feel that this would be a good tool to use within my classroom to help students understand main idea and supporting details to a story. They could make a web of their own on PPT or we could make one together using our classroom projector. A Venn Diagram could also be made using the graphic tools in PPT. Here is my link. I hope this is right!

 

Online Graph 1

Making this chart was very easy and exciting to complete! I never knew Kid’s Zone existed and I will definitely use it again. This would be a great site for my students to use when they begin making their own graphs!

After making my bar graph, using Kid's Zone, I saved it as a picture using JPG file type. Then I embedded it directly onto my blog. I decided to change my mind about the web page format. I figured this was just as easy to view.

It was interesting to compare our math averages to the national averages. Since I'm a fourth grade teacher it's interesting to see how much we are behind the national average. This definitely provides me better insight into the future for my students.
Even though we are behind the national average it isn't that much of a gap. In 2007, we were only three points behind the national average, which I don't feel is of grave concern. Yes, we do need to work toward reaching and exceeding the national average, but I know that we are doing our best! I feel that if we continue to work toward meeting that goal then we will succeed. West Virginia has a lot of wonderful teachers that strive in helping their students meet their educational goals and will continue to improve math scores. As you look at this bar graph, you will see how we aren’t following far behind.

Image Formats

Here is the image formats assignments. Here are my links to my narrative and spreadsheet.

Narrative
Spreadsheet

Graphic 2 Screen Grab

To obtain my picture I searched the Internet for beaches in Mexico. I wanted to search this specific item because that is where my husband and I went on our honeymoon. As a result, I found this breathtaking photo. I then pressed the Print Screen button and pasted onto Microsoft Paint. Once on Paint I copied and cut the photo and placed it onto a new window, so I could get rid of the web page part. Then I added text by using the text box option. I saved it as a bmp.jpg file and clicked the add image button in my post. My photo is 641 x 479 pixels and the size is 60.3 KB. I never knew what the print screen button did and I think that it's so amazing that you can do things like this.

I could incorporate this tool into my classroom by combining different pictures on the subject that we are studying. For example, if we were studying about "The First Thanksgiving" I or the students could look up different pictures and facts on the Internet and place them onto Microsoft Paint. Then, we could combine them into a slide show on our projector making a presentation. This would be great for whole group discussion and interactive learning!

Graphics from Scratch

This was a fun and easy assignment. I used Microsoft Paint since it was already available on my computer and easy to access. I'm not very artistic, so it isn't the best drawing in the world. Since it could only be five lines I used the curve line for my eyes, the pencil for my nose and mouth, and the airbrush for my hair. I incorporated brown paint into my eyes and hair since that is my original color. After I was finished I saved it as 24-bit Bitmap. Here is a link to my self-portrait and I will also upload it directly to my blog for your viewing pleasure.

Reading

I'm feeling a little since of frustration. I had a lot of difficulty on this assignment, so I'm not sure if I answered the questions correctly. For some reason I didn't fully understand the article and had a hard time interpreting the research being conducted. I hope that I have made some since to my interpretations, but I wouldn't doubt if I'm completing off. Regardless here is a link to my narrative.

Presentation Module Reflection

Oh my goodness!! I think this assignment took me longer than anything else I have done all semester. Even though reflecting is a good way to understand how and why you are doing something it takes a lot of hard work and thinking skills. I never thought that a reflection would be so difficult, but it was hard for me to combine all the information into one area. I definately learned a lot about how we have used the INTASC and ISTE standards, as well as, Bloom's Taxonomy and incorporated them within our learning module. I'm not sure that I answered everything correctly or to the extent for which it was asked, but some of the items I had a hard time understanding. I also hope that the tables I have created are correctly formatted. I definately dug deep down to produce this reflection and I hope that my hard work pays off. Here is my reflection for your viewing pleasure.

Tools for Teaching

Another week down and there is so much that I have learned. I'm so glad that we have been learning all of these new tools for technology. I can't wait to use them within my own classroom. I never knew how much you could use technology within a classroom until now. A lot of things I struggle with, but when I figure them out it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing new goals. Hopefully the semester will continue with success.

Jeopardy Modification

This was definitely time consuming, but I think well worth it. I focused on fourth grade English/Language Arts material. I also decided to incorporate their school colors, because school spirit is a high priority. It was hard to think of questions for each category and the corresponding topic. It also took me a while to realize that I needed to hyperlink all of my numbers to their correct slide. However, after figuring out the obstacles everything began to fall into place. I plan on using the game to reinforce my students Language Arts skills.


Here is my link:

English/Language Arts Jeopardy Review Modification

Photostory Lesson Plan

Since I had already used Photo Story for my self introduction this was fairly easy to create. I enjoyed putting my lesson plan into a story using narration. Yes, I finally got my microphone to work!! By using Photo Story, the lesson seems to become more involved and personal. I'm definately glad that I learned how to produce this product. I hope you enjoy the show!