Digital Video

I take a lot of pictures of my kids and use them to share or as story/writing prompts. I never thought about using video instead or in addition to photos. I videoed my dogs the other day playing in the backyard. I thought it would be a great prompt to get kids to write because there were so many ways to interpret it. One could either assume they were playing or they might think they were fighting. You could end up with all types of great writing pieces.

The one problem I had with uploading the video was that the volume goes up and down. I now need to work on editing it to fix that problem. I think part of it could be fixed by using a video camera versus my digital camera. The downfall is that I always have my digital camera on me but not my camcorder.

Dog Video

Overstream

Wow, what a cool and simple was to give your kids a visual and make text individualized! I used Overstream to add captions to a video of The Gingergread Man. I teach Pre-K so we really work on labeling items, however this would also be great for beginning readers. Youtube read the entire story but I wrote the words. I stuck with simply labeling the characters. It was very simple. I really liked how I could pick where words begin and how long it appears for. It is completely individualized and can be made to meet any kids needs.

Here is the link to my video:
http://www.overstream.net/view.php?oid=uvm1emtduusv

Threaded Discussions/ Virtual Class

I love threaded discussion in and out of class. I don't always like to talk in class but I feel really comfortable on threaded discussions. Sometimes, I have a lot to say but not always the words to say it. By being given the flexibility to have "think time" I feel like I share more of what I am thinking. I also like how it allows for everyone to read it and for many to respond with what they think without the face to face discussions. On the other hand, sometimes I don't have anything to really say in response but I enjoy reading what others have to say. Not to mention the convenience of discussing things from home is always a major plus. Being able to read, post/respond and then take a break and come back to it later is awesome. Lately we have had a few virtual classes. My life is busy and hectic so it has been nice. I have been able to get my work done, help my son with his and have dinner at home, mostly because of threaded discussion.

Jing/ Webquest

I used a program I already had on my Mac to make something similar to a webquest but for my preschoolers. However, since everyone wouldn't have access to the software I used, I used jing to record my "webquest". Jing was great and easy to use. I was able to use the demonstrate how to use what I created by actually doing it (as jing recorded what I was doing) and talking about what I was doing.
Jing is a great resource for tutorials. I think it would be great for professional development. So often we forget what is taught in those long workshops. If we had a tutorial to watch it would give us a refresher, keep us from having to ask so many questions and from becoming frustrated.

I created the lesson below to go along with our unit on spiders. The lesson started with the kids talking about what they know about spiders. The next day they discussed what they wanted to know about spiders. Following that activity I assured the websites I chose would answer the kids questions, as well as, provide other interesting information. As a class we visited the websites to find the answers to our questions. The following day we learned about the life cycle of the spider and colored a illustration of it. Finally, we listed what we had learned comparing it to our original list of what we knew about spiders.

Here is the link to our activities with spiders.

At Christmastime

This didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped. I recorded my class singing a song that we are practicing for our Christmas Program. First they were too quiet and too far away and then on this one they song a lot louder but I think they were to close to the phone. I couldn't figure out a good distance for them to be, especially since I never knew were they going to sing loud or quiet. I think I like using podcast for recording one person versus a group.
Gabcast! Pinebrook Preschool #2 - At Christmastime

My preschoolers have been practicing for their Christmas Program. This is a recording of one of the songs.

Podcast

Gabcast! Pinebrook Preschool #1 - First Attempt

Hopefully I was lucky and it worked! :)

Digital Books

Digital books are amazing. Depending on what site you use you can make a book to go with your theme, teach about one specific thing or make a class book. So often I find myself hunting the library for what I need and then sometimes not finding it. I didn't realize that I could get online and make a book specific to what I need in a matter of minutes. I love it. I never realized how easy it could be. I have now made a theme book on TarHeel Reader and a book about my students on VoiceThread. It was so simple and only took me about 30 minutes (that's even being a first time user). The kids also love it. Not only because they were in the book but also because they "wrote" the words. I plan on making many more of these books throughout the year.

My class started learning about photography last week. We talked about why we take pictures. Then we talked about how we take pictures. The class practiced taking pictures and then we talked about them. Afterwards we picked a topic to take pictures for. We took the pictures and made them into a book. Below is the link to our VoiceThread book if you would like to view it.

Tarheel Reader- Fall

Voicethread Book