Course Reflections

   What an intense eight weeks! I am amazed at how much was packed into it and how much I learned. More importantly, I'm thankful not only of what I did learn, but what I will actually use with my classes. I'm excited to try all the digital tools we used to create wonderful pieces. Tools like: blogging, wikis, Animoto, Google Hangout, Skype, digital storytelling, just to name a few. It's hard to pick a favorite assignment. I was very proud of how my Animoto turned out. I'm actually going to use it on my school's website. It was the easiest media tool to use. I put a great deal of work into my digital story which was an I Am From poem. It was very personal so it meant a great deal to me. Working on my literacy project, I think I was the most surprised. I had kindergarten students use the video option on iPads and they took to it like ducks to water. It was amazing. They are so young yet so capable! We underestimate them. Blogging was time consuming but well worth it. It really focuses your thoughts, which would help students tremendously. It's also very interesting to read the replies to the posts. I can see the tremendous value in using Skype in the classroom. As a librarian, knowing how expensive it is to book authors in person, this alternative is great. Students get an almost one on one experience with the author. Definitely going to try that.
   Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this course was the collaboration we enjoyed with each other and the incredible help we received from our teacher. Those lessons go much farther than book learning can. It supplies us with more confidence to try new things and collaborate with colleagues in our own workplace. That's worth it's weight in gold. What was frustrating was the feeling of not having enough time to complete everything, and worrying about technology breaking down. That creates a lot of stress. All in all, I feel like I've just been through a crash course in digital media and I came away with invaluable knowledge. Thank you Judy! Thank you cohort!





                   

Can't Get Enough of Mo!

   As a school librarian I chose to focus my literacy project around an author study. I work with a small kindergarten class and one of their favorite read alouds is Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems. It is an interactive book in that the main character, Pigeon, is talking to the reader throughout the book. Mo Willems, the author, is a three time Caldecott Honor winner and has written several Pigeon books, as well as Knuffle Bunny books. The students never tire of listening to his stories and his books are consistently checked out of the library over and over. I met Mr. Willems at a book convention and got his new book signed. He is a very nice man and I wanted to share that experience with the students as well. He also has a wonderful website for children and teachers with loads of activities, lesson plans, a blog, and videos. Pigeon has his own fun website as well.
   I decided to open the unit with a read aloud of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! It is Mr. Willems first Pigeon book and follows the format of Pigeon talking to the readers.  The digital tool I used with the students was an app called iDraw, which students used on iPads. After reading the story I directed students to draw Pigeon and write his name. iDraw is a simple to use app and the students had no trouble drawing. Once they were finished they were to pair up and interview each other talking about their pigeon. The directions I gave were to think of questions to ask their partner about their drawing. While they asked the questions, they were filming the interview as well. The kindergarteners had no previous experience using the camera option on the iPads, yet they took to it like water. I was amazed at how little trepidation the students had and how adept they became at filming. I plan on having them film more of themselves. I used MovieMaker to create the author study for students and teachers to use. My hope is that teachers will see how easy it is to use MovieMaker to create their own author studies, and how students can participate using traditional methods as well as technology. They aren't afraid of using digital media so we shouldn't be either.
    The literacy piece in this project for the kindergartners was discussing author's intent, empathizing with the character, reading and writing the word pigeon, as well as listening to many stories by Mo Willems. Here it is, hope you enjoy it.



 

                                                                        
                                                                       

I Am From...

   I love poetry. There is something about using a few words to express a multitude of emotions that is so simplistic, yet so bountiful. I love choosing just the right word to describe something. I love the rhythm of poetry. It can sound just like a song. Poetry can get right to the heart of the matter, whatever that may be. Children are natural poetry writers. Their honesty allows them to be. They have yet to be corrupted by convention as adults have.
   One of my favorite poetry prompts is the I Am From... poem, created by George Ella Lyon.
http://georgeellalyon.com/where.html
It is a powerful tool to get to know oneself. It makes you think of how you came to be you. Since it is in list form, it is easy to create. I think every student should write at least one I Am From poem. Middle school is a great time to write one but younger students can do it as well. There is no wrong way to create this poem. It just takes some thinking and remembering. Digital storytelling is a wonderful medium for students to use to create these poems. They can be as creative as they want. There is power in narrating their poem and hearing their own voice, as well as finding images or photos. Here is my attempt at the I Am From Poem. Try one with your students!

 

   Wow, just had a Google Hangout session with the author of one of my textbooks. What an amazing convenience and tool! The author lives in Canada and there were nine of us in two separate rooms able to talk to her. Cassidy, the author, is a 1st grade teacher who has her students blog throughout the year. I'm new to blogging and am just beginning to understand the value of blogging with students. The benefits are far reaching, such as making global connections, practicing writing skills, and most importantly, developing critical thinking skills. I had difficulty seeing any value in having a 1st grader blog when they have no keyboarding skills and are not able to read or write. What are they blogging about? So I asked Cassidy during the Google hangout and she helped me see how valuable it is for 1st graders. Even though they can't read, just being on the computer and using the keyboard is helpful. It is but an introduction in the beginning of the year to the whole process of blogging. The student presses whatever keys and Cassidy translates underneath what they had to say. Being that they are 1st graders, they don't have a lot to say in the beginning. Which was my fear that it would be extremely time consuming to translate each student's thoughts. As they become more proficient with literacy, they will get better with using the keyboard. I suppose one could liken it to having a child play on a piano for the first few times. You don't forbid them to play until they've learned the keys and notes. And the more they play the more comfortable they become and start to learn which keys produce what sound. Then when you introduce more formal learning, they are that much more familiar with it.
   I realized I do that with kindergartners. I have let them use iPads without any real instruction just to let them get used to the devices. They all started to learn very quickly on their own what they could do with them. Yes, Cassidy inspired me to have more faith in what young children can do if we only just provide the opportunity.
Here is an interesting article addressing the naysayers of computer usage and young children:http://www.wiu.edu/thecenter/articles/gold.html