Service Project session 1

My student is a 13 year old girl named Shana. We started talking about what she was interested in she said she like horses and she takes riding lessons. Her favorite horse was the Appaloosa horse and we decided our question would be about where these horses came from. Also who bread these horses. To start I pretty much let her know what we were going to be doing. I let her read the checklist of what we were required to do. At first she was very overwhelmed but we broke it down into days. Since she is a little bit older she is fully capable of doing the research with a little guidance. We figured out our questions then started researching.

Here is her blog we started-Shana.

Spreadsheet

For my unit of Making a Difference I would have my students first draw pictures of how they make a difference either at home or in the community. Then have them write a few sentences to explain the pictures and explain how they help. Then to incorporate the spreadsheet I would present them with some questions and they would answer them. The questions I have prepared have simple answers. 1) What type of transportation do you use to school. 2) How many hours a week do you travel in a car/truck? 3) Does your family drive a hybrid car? Why or why not?

Spreadsheet

Past, Present, and Future of Communication Video

We worked really had on this video we used Window Movie Maker and Audacity to put our movie together and add sound. You should be able to understand our movie without sound. The pictures should tell the story. I think the video is true its been really hard to learn all of these different tools in a week. Its been tedious work and frustrating at time. We had to transition sometime to be able to change file types to make sure things would upload and download. We had to first decide if we wanted a partner or not then combine our unit plans. Mine was How to make a difference. and Kara's was how communication devices has changed. I focused on how things have changed since great grandparents time so our units blended well. We learned different angles of video taping there is trucking, dollying, tilting; those are just a few that we learned. We had to incorporate these angles into our movie and the scene had to change about every 5 seconds.

These tools can be used on any subject or topic. So using it in the classroom would be pretty easy. The hardest part is learning the tools on the computer but once you have played around will all the program it was pretty easy to learn. Also it took a whole week so having enough time to finish the project is key. You can use videos in the classroom as an example as a start to a new subject or you can have the kids make their own video. You can pretty much do anything with them. In the case of my unit plan for the question I was answering the students could interview their family members like Kara and I interviewed each other. They could interview thier family members to learn how communication changed. With all the videos they could make a big presentation and learn that way. They can learn about the past and also reflect on the present in their own way. I think using the videos would be a great thing for an individual project or partner projects like mine. Its also reletively easy for younger children to use also with some help of course. Another idea for my unit plan of making a difference is the students could go out in the community and video tape how we are ruining the earth and the students can show us how they can help better the earth. This would show us how they can make a difference.

Digital Storytelling videos

I am making my video about the ways life has changed over time and I'm grouping up with someone else who is doing her project on communication devices changing over time. I think our project will blend together well. We are using pictures and our voices to describe the way things have changed. For example the telephone or computers. I think this will be effective in a history lesson about the past and present or a lesson on communication devices. I think gift of voice is an effective step to this video also point of view. This video is showing things that has changed in our lifetime and things that have changed well before even our parents were born.

This is my unit plan.

SlideShare

Digital Storytelling is used to express and communicate people feeling and opinions through technology. Some examples of the technology you can use is SlideShare, SlideCast, or VoiceThread. You can tell stories with pictures and use voices to tell stories with these tools. Children and Teachers can use these tools in the classroom or lab and at home.


With my unit of making a difference I could use SlideShare, SlideCast, or VoiceThread in the part about protecting the past, securing the present, and impacting the future. We could as a class use VoiceThread to put up pictures and then explain why we used those pictures to answer the question about the past, present, and future. We could also use SlideShare or VoiceThread to do a powerpoint. The student could interview their grandparents or greatgrandparents even parents to describe over the microphone about how life has changed since they were little.
This is my SlideShare I made as an example I would expect from one of my students when answering the question Where I'm From and Where I'm Going.

Where Im From Pres. Good

View more OpenOffice presentations from Ashley Ivey.

Internet Resources

How can I envision using a variety of Internet resources in your unit plan?
My unit was Making a difference. I believe that I could use a chat/Im or email to talk with other kids or classrooms about how they live and that would show the children how other cultures live. We could also use a blog to keep up with what we are learning and be able to show the things we have learned this way we can share with our families and friends.
Here are some internet resources.


How can I see using each of these tools in my future curricular integration plans?
I can always use kid friendly search engines to reseach any topic which can be done at school or at home. Blogs can be used for the kids to update as an individual or as a class to show what we have learned and to reflect at the end of the year. Chat/Im can be used to talk to other students in other places for a learning experience. Email can be used for pen pals where they can also learn from other students. Surveys can help the kids ask questions to other people outside of their community about a certain topic or something they want to know. VoIP can also be used like the chat, Im, and email where they can talk to other people outside their community to learn and see how things are different from where they live. Images, sounds, and videos can be used to help them understand and imagine it maybe more communicable than words in some ways.

Blogs in my classroom...

I could see myself using blogs in my classroom for myself and for my students. We could post individualy or as a groups. This way the students could reflect on what they learned through the year. I could also use it to look back on to change something for a new year. Parents would also be welcome to see how the students are doing and see what we have been doing in class. Blogs could also help to get to know each other. If I had a blog for myself the teachers would get to know me in a different way. The students would be able to express themselves in different ways with text or pictures it would make it easier for students to show their parents instead or crinkled pieces of paper or paper that is all glued together.

The world is now driven by technology so I don't see why we wouldn't be able to incorporate technology in the classroom. Using the blogs would also help in the way of getting the students ready for using computers. They will use them often now that many things are found on the internet so its almost mandatory that students know how to use computers and different types of technology.

Divid Warlick has a blog where he talks about many different issues some about technology and some about education.

Inquiry and Project based Learning

Inquiry based learning is getting involved in learning that leads to understanding. Inquiry implies a "need or want to know," premise. This leads students to self-knowledge, it turns students into problem solvers. Inquiry begins with gathering information and data through applying human senses. The students take responsibility for their learning and they actively engage in the learning process.
Project based learning is where students learn about real world problems in which they are engaged in learning. Students work in small groups with a broad topic where they work and learn about the topic by researching. The students are more likely to gain and retain knowledge. The students work with collaboration with peers. The students learn organizational and presentation skills.

I made a unit plan for "Making a Difference."
My essential and unit questions were:
Essential: How do I make a difference?
Unit: Where did I come from and where am I going?
Unit: In what ways has life changed since my grandparents time or before?
Unit: How do we protect the past, capture the present, and impact the future?

Inquiry and Project based learning are used in this plan. They are needed to bring in the aspects of group work on the last unit question of how we proctect the past, capture the present, and impact the future. The students gain self-knowledge while learning about their culture and heritage. The students also learn about world problems and maybe how to solve them in making their difference.