Reflection on Storytelling

The story I told using digital photos was about RARA camp safari, the camp I have worked at for the past two summers. It is a camp in Rochester for underprivileged children. The parents of these kids only pay 5$ a week, because it is subsidized by the government. I absolutely love working there because it is so rewarding. I know the kids have rough family situations at home, so it makes me happy to see them enjoying themselves in a camp setting.
This digital storytelling idea is a great tool to use as a teacher. I was thinking about incorporating it for a "star of the week student". Each week, which ever student is assigned to be the "star" can make a project in which they tell a story through pictures. This will give my class a good insight into the students' life and allow them to learn about a new technology outlet. I really liked the tool I used, slide.com, because it was very self explanatory. I will definitely use it again in the future and in my class when I'm an educator!

Digital Storytelling

This is the digital story I made using www.slide.com. I chose to tell a story about my experience working as a camp counselor, because it really has proved to me that I still want to become a teacher. Seeing how happy the kids are when you greet them each morning, reminds me about how passionate I am toward helping kids learn!

Mainstreaming special ed students

Today in my TE 448 class we talked a lot about special education and the importance of mainstreaming those kids, so I wanted to write a blog post in response. I feel it is very important that the special education students are placed in "normal" classrooms, rather than designated special needs classes for a variety of reasons. First of all, by being in the classroom with other kids their age they have a model of how students should behave in a classroom. If they are only exposed to other struggling kids they might have a much more difficult time learning the proper ways to act in a school setting. Also, it is extremely beneficial for the "typical" students to have the special needs kids in the class because they learn about different disabilities (physical or learning), and how to respond to different kids. They are still able to form friendships and help one another out, making your students well rounded individuals.
Lastly as talked about in my class today, the teacher has a HUGE role in making this a productive classroom. While mainstreaming would be very difficult, if the teacher sets an example that the special needs student belongs, other kids will follow. This was a great lesson I learned today and wanted to pass it on (especially for those of us that are general ed. majors, it is useful)!!

Personal Learning Network...

I think personal learning networks are very beneficial. Whether you are building a blog, twitter, portfolio, or wiki, it is a great way to make information accessible. I definitely am so glad I have been able to incorporate a lot of new types of technology into my TE studies, because after this class I will have many resources that have already been started. I will use the sites for both my personal portfolio along with when I have a classroom of my own in a few years :).
Having a vast PLN though, can become a bit overwhelming I will admit. Multiple websites containing all different things can be hard to keep track of and update, which is why I enjoy combining things we've learned into one place where it is all there. In general PLN's help people expand and reach out to people they have perhaps never met, or communicate with friends, students and parents in a visual way.

Presentation With Added Audio!

Presentation- Mini Lesson!

Flickr Crazed!

I am so glad we learned about flickr in this class, because honestly I have used it so much lately. Whether it has been for class projects, or for personal photo shopping and editing, I absolutely love it. It is such a useful tool, and it really could be educational. I was thinking for elementary students if working on a book report, teachers could incorporate flickr by asking them to use images of characters and create thought bubbles or conversations etc. That would enhance the book report and use of technology! This class just gets me excited to start teaching, so I can use these tools in creatve ways:)