Sunday, October 14, 2012

My Movie


Honestly when the instruction sheet for this assignment was handed out, I was not thrilled about completing it because it seemed very complicated. However, once I began the assignment I found that my accusations were completely wrong. Adding the pictures and music was very simple. The only thing that threw me off once was not having everything in the same folder. Creating this movie was my favorite assignment this semester! I had so many ideas for themes to create mine on, but decided to do my favorite thing in life- My Family!! Movies can be created in the classroom for several different reasons. Teachers can create these for educational purposes, or for keepsakes. When my daughter was in first grade, she brought home a CD of songs and pictures of her class throughout the entire school year. This was a great gift from her teacher that we will cherish forever. If teaching students in the higher grades, a teacher can assign them to make a movie on a specific topic. I think that this project would be something that they will definitely enjoy working on.
The NETS-T standards that this movie met was:
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.
a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes

2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning
Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S.
a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats
d. Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning


4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital
culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.
a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources

Allowing students to create movies is a great way for them to research and use creativity to present information that they have acquired. Teachers can model responsibility by teaching students about copyright laws and when to give references and credit for using songs or pictures published by the original owner.

Web Tools


 Web 2.0 tools are free, valuable resources that could easily be used in a classroom. Web 2.0 tools include blogs, wikis, podcasts and even photo and video sharing. The web tools assignment provided a number of great resources that I plan to use in my classroom. For this assignment, I created a rubric, crossword puzzle, a quiz, and a worksheet. The website to make the rubric had pre-loaded options for grading different assignments. For example, I chose to create a rubric that would be used to grade a poster. I was able to read through the guidelines, such as creativity, used X number of pictures etc. I chose the criteria that I wanted to grade and adjusted the points for each area. This is a quick and easy way to grade student's work. When I was in school I loved to do word searches and crossword puzzles, so creating the crossword puzzle for students to complete is something that I will do in my classroom. This process was also very simple. The website gives you the option to choose the size that the puzzle will be and what direction the answers can be in. After making those selections, I typed the words that I wanted hidden in the puzzle and hit create. Fun & Simple! Creating the quiz took a little more time to enter information into, but still seems like it could save a teacher a lot of time. The website for the worksheets had several templates to choose from. I choose the blank map above and added the text instructing the students to use a specific color to shade in different areas on the map.
Here are the websites that I used to create the following:

The Web Tools follow the NETS-T standard:
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S.
a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
d. Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning


Teachers can use these web tools to accompany just about anything taught in the classroom. These are so simple to create that a teacher can quickly revise these to fit the learning needs and abilities of any student. Like stated in the standards, not all information has to be learned from a book. Teachers should use these free resources and create fun and engaging activities for their students.