Glogster

This is my project for the computer integration course-- I created an introduction hub for a unit on The Great Gatsby that includes videos about the era; a created animoto that highlights some of Fitzgerald's works; questions about the man characters; and a webquest. I could see this being useful in a classroom that has technology access as an interesting alternate to beginning a text (as opposed to the typical "book talk").

Webquesting-- Technology in the Classroom

Today in my Field Placement, I was excited to find that the teachers incorporated a webquest into their unit on the Holocaust. Apparently, when the class began reading Elie Wiesel's Night, it became clear that the majority of the class was very unfamiliar with Jewish Culture, and it was inhibiting their understanding of the book. So, the teachers created a Jewish-German culture webquest in which the students visited six different sites to collect information ranging from what is kosher, to translating simple Yiddish, to understanding the 613 laws that Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox (Elie Wiesel's sect) Judaism sects follow. They also learned about Elie Wiesel's achievements after the Holocaust.The activity went very well, the class loved it and learned a lot of information in a short period of time. Below is an interview with Elie Wiesel that could be used for enrichment of this topic:

Resume/All About Me

Welcome to my educational blog! Let me tell you a bit about myself:
I am in my first year (out of one and one-half years) of a Master of Arts in Teaching Program at Chatham University where I am earning a master's and certification in Secondary English Education. My undergraduate course study was completed in English Literature (BA), Jazz-Music (BA) and in Medeival and Renaissance Studies (certificate). I consider myself to be averagely computer literate, but I'm improving my skills. The most technology that I've seen in the classroom thus far has actually been at my own high school-- when I was a sophomore we received a Digital School District Grant. Each student and teacher was equipped with a laptop; each room was equipped with projectors/smart boards, charging carts, and wireless access. We used Imovie, Power Point, and internet research as a staple during classroom activities. Since then, much more has become available on the internet for educational use-- I hope to explore some of these in this blog.

Computer Integration Class

Hi Everyone! I figured that it was about time that I post some technology finds on this blog. The truth of the matter is that this blog is somewhat of an experiment, and also an assignment. I've been learning tons of useful information in my education classes and placements; in this particular class, I'm learning about Web 2.0 sites that my be useful in my upcoming teaching career. The first tool that I've fallen for is Audacity-- a free, cross-platform sound editor. It can be used to edit and sample music, record voice or narration to videos or mp3 form, or to podcast! Animoto is also a lot of fun-- it's a video-creation site. Check out one video I made to assist in a Revision/Editing project: