Design

Friday, December 2, 2011

Final Reflection

TPTE has been an incredible academic experience for me.  I consider myself to be somewhat technically aware, but this class introduced me to an wide variety of wonderful (and free) set of tools available for users.  I have already implemented several different tools into my life including Google Docs and Forms, Podbean, and Wordle.

This class has taught me about so many different technological tools, and I cannot wait to use them in my classroom.  I plan to integrate technology into my future classroom every chance I get.  Although music teachers often seem to neglect this are of education, I think it is important to use technology to enhance the educational experience.

I have truly enjoyed the content of this class, and am very much looking forward to putting these new skills into action when I begin student teaching in January!

Classroom Website

For our final project in TPTE, we were required to create a website for our future classroom.  We used Google Sitew which is a brilliant and free program for creating websites.  For those of you who are looking for a way to have your own site, check them out here!

Our website had to include a variety of artifacts that we created in class.  Click here to view my classroom website! It is based on the High School Choir Department at "Future High School."  I hope you enjoy the hard work I put into my website!

Digital Story

One of our final projects in TPTE is to create a digital story using a moving making program.  Because my laptop is a Mac, I decided to use the program iMovie.  I chose to make the movie "About Me" as an introduction to students.  I used images and music from my personal computer as well as a couple of photos from the internet.  The video below is the final project of my personal digital story. Enjoy!

Web 2.0 Lesson 7

Storybird:

Storybird is one of my favorite tools we have been introduced to.  This tool allows the user to create online story books.  The user can find images on the website itself and use them to enhance their story.  After adding the text of the story on the corresponding pages of the images, a "book" is constructed that can be shared.  Although, there may not be exactly what you are looking for as far as images go, there is a wide variety to choose from that should be able to complete your story.  This would be a great writing tool for young students to help tell a story or explain about a subject matter.

Watch this video of an example Storybird to see what one is like.


Fashions! on Storybird

Web 2.0 Lesson 6

Animoto:

Animoto is a tool for creating "slideshows."  However, it makes programs such as PowerPoint seem archaic.  In this program, the user uploads images, chooses a theme, and creates a slide show that resembles something like a movie trailer.  Click here to see an example.  I really like this tool.  It takes a simple slideshow and turns it into something special.  It is very visually appealing and keeps the viewer engaged.  The only thing that I don't like about this program is that it is slightly limiting for the user.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Web 2.0 Lesson 4

Podbean:

Podbean is an online tool used for creating podcasts. It is similar to that of a blog, but with the added bonus of a podcast. You cannot create a podcast directly in the system, but you can record on something else and then create the podcast. Click on the link below to see (hear) the podcast I created.

http://jennydarden.podbean.com/

Web 2.0 Lesson 5

In TPTE tonight, we learned about Google forms, which is an extension of Google docs.  It is a very simple tool, with a wide variety of tools and question types that can be used.  I have created a form that would be used for choir auditions for high school students.  Feel free to fill out the form! (Use your imagination if you need to).  After creating the form, you can simply embed the code into a blog or other site and it can be filled out on the spot!