Thing #17 Claymations

I created a claymation for the Water Cycle. I picked the water cycle because when I tried to find some claymations for the water cycle on You Tube, they were very unclear and choppy.  It seems that the water cycle is either taught or brushed up upon in almost every other grade level. It would be really effective for students and a great visual to see a quick claymation on the water cycle while they sing the water cycle song. I had fun creating this claymation. Its required to take alot of pictures. You had to position the camera towards your secenary then move the objects on your secenary it a bit then take the picture then move the objects again a bit then take the picture and so on. After all the pictures were taken, I imported my pictures and music (in this case my own voice singing) onto movie maker, set my transition time to 0.3 sec per picture and WHALA I got my claymation. Check it out!

16 Things Evaluation

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

My favorite part of this blogging journey was to be able to express my opinion about what I have learning through the 16 things I did. I also like creating my Voki, and letting my class know about a new type of wordle called Tagxedo. I also enjoyed uploading images on my blog. Flickr is an awesome website for gathering some great images (I uploaded Images of my wedding on Flickr). I also like creating and surfing the different types of Mashup that can be created with images. Finally, Facebook was fun to surf as always. 

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

As tedious and time consuming as all of this was, I have to say I have learned A LOT! I haven't done half the stuff that was assigned for me to do. I think I would of kept it that way if it weren't for my 16 thing project. Since I have learned a lot and created some great accounts, like twitter, wiki, RSS feeds, and Podcast, I plan on going back to those sites and reading up on the more up to date news and info. Being more updated with whats going on at the moment will help me to be more involved in conversations my co-works and friends have. 

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Yes, EVERYTHING was unexpected! In the beginning I was so worried that I wouldn't know how to do any of this, but with the help of my classmates and the will to complete this project I pulled through. :0) Believe it or not I have never blogged! Just this whole experiences of blogging has motivated me to continue my educational blog that I have started and use it to update it with newer things that I learn in my class. This way I have a blog full of experience to refer back to once I have graduated from HBU. 

4. What could I do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

The few things that could of been done differently are looking back at the links that are not working. It was quite frustrating when the tutorials especially, weren't working. Since I have not done any of this before, I really relied on the tutorials to self teach and then implement what I learned. I also wish that these 16 things were spread out throughout the course then having to complete them in two weeks. I feel that blogging is an ongoing process and that if we could blog through this course we could input quality responses to other's ideas on their blogs. And finally, I really think that whichever THING the class has the most difficulty is should be turned into a class discussion and some demonstrations should be given to us so we can go back and complete that THING w/o frustration. Overall this was a great NEW experience that I know I will and have grown from. Thanks Dr. Wilson. 

Thing #16 Facebook

Facebook! EVERYONE I know has Facebook. I was first inspired to enter Facebook because it focused on college students. I thought joining Facebook would help me know some of my college classmates I see in class every week. After knowing them we could get together and study and hang out. When you are new to an area it is hard to make friends and Facebook, back then was a great way to make those friends. Now Facebook is for anybody as long as they are 13 and older. I wish Facebook was a bit more stern on this 13 year old rule, making the age limit to be a older would also be wise. Social networking sites should be for more of a mature crowd which Facebook does channel, meaning no limitations; that is not good for tweens. Facebook would be a great motivational way to engage my kids in learning. I could set up a class group and invite my students in that group and have many great discussions on stuff we are learning. We could upload pictures of things we see that might remind us of Math for example and much more. Since I teach fourth grade, it wouldn't be possible for them to get a Facebook account since they are 9-10 year old. For me Facebook is a source I use to keep in touch with new and old friends. Since ALL my friends and family (except for my parents) are on Facebook it becomes easy to invite them to events or even sent our a save the date reminder for a reunion we might be planning. Its also nice to see pictures of my friends on Facebook and to see what is going on in their life and how happy they are. 

Thing 15.5 Twitter

When I looked up what Twitter is this is the definition I go: Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, "What are you doing?"by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets", to your friends, or "followers." This perfectly explains the purpose to twitter. I am not much of a person that needs to express themselves to the world, I barely put up what's on my mind on Facebook, so tweeting is not going to be my thing. Although, I did find some twitters that I am following. It was nice to click on some links that led me to articles and news in the education world along with what other interactive learning can be going on in a classroom. At the moment I am following: 

teachers20 Teachers 2.0

web20classroom Steven W. Anderson

woot woot.com

Discovery Discovery Channel US

weirdscience_se Weird Science

TheScienceGuy Bill Nye

educationweek Education Week

doctordkwilson Dawn Wilson

I don't see twitter working for my students even though I would love to set up a group twitter where its just me and my students tweeting back and forth. I wonder is that is an option, to privatize a group of twitters? 

Twitter would be good in a sense that it would a good way to remind others of upcoming events or due dates of things. For example I had no idea that there was a barney concert happending in July and my niece LOVES Barney. When I saw someone tweet that I pass that message on to my sister-in-law. A great way to find out info and relay messages. 

Thing #15 Things like Skype

I really like Skype. It is amazing to see people so clearly on the the computer or phone screen. When Skype was discovered at my house everyone was so excited. We have a lot of family in Pakistan and we haven't seen them in years. We always bought those international phone cards and called them and got to hear their voice, but to see their faces and talk to them live was very exciting for my family. I tried to use some of the other similar
forms of Skype but was disappointed to know that I could no use the video conferencing tool because I didn't have an apple product to download it on. I heard from Cindy, one of my classmates, that Tango is another form of Skype. I tried to download the app on my iPhone but unfortunately my phone was not compatible to have Tango on it. 


However, I am excited that my husband and I can Skype through our iPhone. He is gone to New York for business for a whole week. Its not going to be so lonely without him if I get to see his face and talk to him then just hear his voice. YEAH SKYPE! 

Orchard13311

Thing # 14 Podcast

I never knew what a Podcast was until I did some searching around and exploring of various Podcast on Pocdcastdirectory.com. I learned that Podcast are an audio form of broadcasting information. Podcast can be useful in many ways because to create a podcast you record something, then upload it as a podcast. I can see Podcast becoming popular in higher grade levels or academic areas. Many middle, high, or collage teachers can use Podcast as a tool to record their lectures and put it on their website for those students who have been absent for class. Since elementary schools are very hands on and all about visual demonstrations, I don't see Podcast working for teacher in elementary. Although, depending on the project and topic being taught, you put a group of kids together and tell them that for a project they have to pretend that they are hosting a radio show, or broadcasting some sort of news to relay their message, or taught material. The kids will love to record themselves then then the teacher can upload the Podcast on the class website for others to hear the talent present in their class. 


Here is a Podcast that I enjoyed listening to called, The TechTeacher Podcast Podcasts. There are many educational technology podcast on this website. In the Podcast the host talks about various technologies that can be used effectively in the classroom. The host goes over what each technology is about and how it is to be used and even list how much it cost. I figured that this Podcast will come in handy for me when I need to know how to use a certain type of tehcnology in my classroom. Its almost like hearing a tutorial lesson. 

Thing # 12 & 13

Thing #12- Discovering You Tube


I like you tube! I go there all the time to find videos for my students and for personal use. There are some comedians that are on you tube that I go and view to make me laugh, dance videos that I learned from for my friend wedding, educational songs and videos and much much more. I have used Teacher Tube more than You Tube in my classroom because that is the only thing that our district will allow. We have viewed fraction rap song, water cycle videos, adaptations, and etc... There are all kinds of videos! The only thing that I wish that You Tube site would have are categories. At times you type in words or phrase and something out of the ordinary come up, so for that reason I wish I can choose a category to choose then pick a video that best goes with my topic. 
As I was surfing You Tube, I came across this video that made me realize how far away our kids in USA are compared to the other kids in other countries in academics. This video motivated me to teach my upcoming students to the best of my ability with hight order thinking in mind. 




Thing #13 Using You Tube

Being in the multimedia project class I have learned a lot on my own as to how to embed, link, create video. I created a video and posted it on You Tube. In 4th grade we have a camp called Camp Write-A-Alot. The kids LOVE that whole week of camp. We change our classrooms into a camping ground. We invite "visitor" to help the students remember TAKS strategies, give our tickets for participation and good camp manners, and have drawings for small treasure box gifts. We also sing camp songs. One of our camp song is Kate Perry's song called Firework. I created this motivational video to help our 4th graders give it their best during the Writing TAKS test. Enjoy!

Thing #11 Web 2-0 Tools

I explored a lot of the web 2.0 tools in my class and even am planning to use some of the tools I have explored in my classroom for some project next academic year. Out of the Web 2.0 Awards tools I like the Picnik tool because you can import pictures from anywhere and manipulate it multiple ways. Its almost like having kodak gallery, but with alot of other features to spunk up your pictures. You can also share your picture directly from Picnik to facebook, picasa, twitter, flickr, and myspace. Below is an image that I uploaded and changed to make it look "cute."

Image taken from Google image


I like playing with all the new Web 2.0 tool that I am coming across but the one that I enjoyed creating with was Prezi. Our principal had asked us to do a book study on book called Guided Math. After we had read the whole book each grade level was assigned a chapter to present at a staff development. I was assigned chapter 6, Supporting Guided Math with Math Workshops.  I wanted to make my part of the presentation more entertaining and attractive so I decided to do it on Prezi. A lot of my faculty members liked my presentation and Prezi. Many of them asked me to send them the link to Prezi and show them how it is used. I learned that day, that power point was not the only thing left to use for presentations, there are other free Web 2.0 tools like Prezi that are available to create presentations that are more attractive, and motivational.  Below is my presentation from Prezi that I created for our staff development presentation.

Guided Math-Chapter 6 on Prezi

Thing #10 Online Productivity Tools

I never knew about a collaborative web base tool that allowed multiple people to input their views, text, links, and ect...all while others are on the same document being worked on. When I started my technology grad courses, I was introduced to Google Docs. Google Docs is pretty user friendly and I love that it has all the Microsoft features in it. The best part about Google Docs. is that it has an option to make forms. As an educator we are making anticipation guides at towards the beginning of our lessons to get the students thinking about the topic. Its more like getting the students opinion on things. It promotes great conversations and the teacher just listen and manages the conversation. The form option on Google Docs. is a great way to create anticipation guides. 


I explored Zoho Writer and thought that is was a lot like Google Docs. I like that it had many more options to make your document(s) look presentable. I didn't find a form option on Zoho. I created a animal adaptation question quiz for the kids to take, but had a hard time attaching it to my blog. Was anyone successful in putting their document on their blog? 

Thing # 6 RSS & Newsreaders

RSS...O M G! This was the most complicated thing that I have done so far. Many of the tutorial links and videos are not working on Dr. Wilson's page about RSS feeds. Therefore all I did was play with the website to see what I can get out of it. After all the surfing I have decided that the Blogline website is not user-friendly at all. Regardless of all the issues I had with RSS feeds, I have seen a lot of RSS feeds on a lot of websites. I am still wondering how to add those RSS feeds on my Blogline. Suggestions are welcome.
I did add some RSS on my Blogline account. Here are a few feeds that I have add to my Bloglines.

Thing # 9 Play w/ Wiki

I added my suggested activity on Technology Poppers Wiki which Dr. Wilson posted up. I really like that idea to have a Wiki to collaborate ideas off other teachers. It was nice to see the wonderful ways technology could be Incorporated to do the activities listed by other teachers and educators.


I shared the following:
Kiran: This year I had planned for my students create a glogster poster ad for a made up healthy snack. They had to first collaborate with their group members and decide on a health snack to sell to parents of all children. They had to incorporate the food label for their snake, highlight anything special about their snack, and give some quick reasons as to why their snake is worth buys for kids. This taught the kids to understand the importance of food labels for our Health topic in Science.


Can I think of ways I could use a wiki either personally or professionally?
I would definitively use a Wiki professionally the same was as Dr. Wilson did with my colleagues, but make it more grade level specific. Personally I don't really know what I would make a Wiki for?? I defiantly would not use a Wiki as a reliable source for research and would not encourage my kids to either. 

Thing # 8 Wiki

Wikis are a  good idea depending on what it is being used for. I never knew any Wiki expect for Wikipedia. At first I thought Wikipedia is a great online encyclopedia then I found out that you can go and edit and change the information on it. Now, I'm not sure how reliable the information is because so many people can edit the info. I do see the point to Wikis but don't like the idea of someone going in and changing what I have written. How can one know any better than what I have put up on my Wiki. Obviously, I will not write false information about something of my interest or feel passionate about. I don't mind if someone comes and updates information underneath my inputs. This way one can see a trend of changes that have occurred over time.

Here is a nice example of Wikis being used effectively, The Book Lover's Wiki. Here people of Princeton can write about certain books they are reading. They can come to this Wiki and give a synopsis of the book they are reading, they can comment on the books being read by others, give their options about the author, images, etc... Its like being part of a book club, but on a Wiki. A librarian at a middle school or high school can use this same idea and set up a Wiki for students to talk about the books they are reading, especially for books that are a mandatory read. 

As a teacher, I can see districts setting up a Wiki for teachers. The Wiki can be used to upload effective lessons and activities. These lesson and activities can be useful to other teacher in the district to implement in their classroom. Teachers can comment on how well a certain lesson went compared to what  needed to be tweaked to make the lesson better for a particular type of class. It would be a great way to collaborate with teachers on other campuses. 

Thing # 7 Image Generators

Voki was so much FUN! I defiantly want to do this with my students. There are so many activities that are coming in mind in which my students can use Voki for. Some examples are, my students can use Voki to explain the steps of multiplying and dividing big numbers, tell the the difference between customary and metric measurements and some real world examples that can be measured using those measurements, they can create an verbal acrostic poem for a vocabulary word for the Science unit being taught, and much much more!! The best part about Voki is that it is easy and user friendly. The kids will be self motivated to want to express their learning through their avatar. 

Tagxedo is another cool motivational image creator. Students get on Tagxedo and create a "cloud image" of words. These can be vocabulary words, words that students are having difficult recognizing, spelling word practice, or just putting together words that help students retain taught knowledge. During this previous year, my students attend a seminar which was conducted by a police officer. The officer informed the 4th graders that when they turn 10 they are responsible for their own actions and can receive legal consequences for their negative actions. As an activity form that seminar,  I had my students come up with as many words as they could think of from the seminar they had attend and put together a cloud of words to help them remember the good choices they would have to make as they got older Then we printed the cloud images and  hung them on my behavior bulletin to keep a visual reminder for my students and the choices they will be making for the rest of the year. They loved going to Tagxedo and creating their images with words. I plan on using Tagxedo for other assignments as well, more vocabulary base assignments for Science unit. 

Things #3, 4, & 5

Thing #3- Images

This is me and my lovely husband. We have been friends since 1998 and meat at a church camp. According to him it was love at first sight. The picture with me and my husband by a helicopter was taken in Hawaii, Honolulu. We went to Honolulu for our one year anniversary last year. It was a blast and such a great experience. My husband and I love to travel and are looking forward to traveling throughout our lives. Its interesting to see how alike and different places are compared to where you live. BUT no matter what "THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME." 

Thing #4 - Flickr

While searching in Flickr, I came across some great pictures taken in nature settings. This picture in particular caught my eye. My brother and I, while growing up watched many nature channels. We are so amazed to see all that nature has to offer to man kind. Today we watch planet Earth which is ten time better. Its so awesome seeing areas in the world which man does not live in but yet it exists and bring about its own space and purpose for being on our planet. 

Thing #5- Mashups

I went and shared my wedding pictures on Flickr. I figured that if I put my pictures on Flickr I will have my pictures back up and others around the world can use them to referrer to if needing. It was interesting to see all the mashups that can be done using pictures. I was looking for some ideas to put together for my brother's upcoming wedding and thought how cute would it be if I can make a cube of pictures for the bride and groom to put on there guest's dinner tables. I made this sample with my pictures so I can show my brother and sell him this mashup idea! 

Thing 2- Blogging

WOW! Honestly I have NEVER had a blog page or even blogged. This whole experience is new for me but a lot of fun to create! I had a hard time trying to find the background until a classmate of mine taught me how to copy past the background URL to the HTML JavaScript in the design part of my blog. 


I have looked at sevearal blogs now and have gotten a clear understanding of what blogs are for and what bloggers do. To me its seems that blogs are a form of public opinion which people express on different topics of interest. Usually we watch the news and just take in what we are shown w/o having a way to express how we might feel about that news, but in the "blogging world", one can comment about what is on the news and on other matter which they feel strongly about. I was looking at other blogs when when I saw Cindy's I like a lot of the blogs she has been viewing. The one I am following and a fan of are:  People Magazine, BBC News, Education Weekly.

Thing 1- Life Long Learning

I like the idea of lifelong learning. Learning is when one acquires a new skill or knowledge. We are always gaining knowledge and experience through everything around us; our home, shopping, TV, computer/internet, friends, work, cooking, and much more. 


Usually people tend to think that learning only happens when one is getting educated in some formal way. In the tutorial, 7 & 1/2 Habits, I learned that when one chooses willingly to create learning habits they can use the lifelong learning to their benefit and apply that learning the their daily lives. 


Out of the 7 & 1/2 habits have have some habits that I have adapted to and some that are difficult for me to adapt to.


Adapted Habits:


- Begin with the end in mind. Many times I do this. I will have a goal in mind and  then I will plan accordingly. I will keep asking myself what is it that can make me reach that goal? When I keep the end in mind, the process to reach that end seems easy.  
- Have confident in yourself as a competent, effective learner. I have confident in myself because I will usually commit to something when I know I am able to accomplish it and learn if fully. Either that or I will push myself to get the task done! 
- Create your own tool box. O do I love tools! Anything I can use to enhance my knowledge or make things easier, I am all ears and anxious to learn it. I also love to take what I have discovered and share it with others. 
- Use Technology to our Advantage. If technology can my make task or tasks easy, I use it! Technology is a very innovative and interactive tool that helps one gain multiple new skills and experiences unknowingly. For some to adapt to technology can be difficult, but for me, its like trying to figure out how to play a game. You learn new things along the way while keeping what you already learned in mind. In other words, you have to figure the "technology" out before giving up on it. 
- Teach and Mentor Others. Since my profession is an educator, its in my nature to want to work with others and teach others the new and past "stuff" I know. Its an amazing feeling when you teach someone something new and they have an AH ha moment or a WOW why didn't I think of that moment! :0) 
- Play! Play is important for learning and brain development for younger age groups and as mentioned in the tutorials, adults need that same play. Even through play I have learned a lot, weather it be sports play, technology play, or just simply reading for fun. 


Difficult to adapt:


- Accepting responsibility for your own learning. I am a very reserved go with the follow type of person, therefore I am usually not so vocal about my ideas, and when I am they seem not to be heard as much so I listen to other ideas and adapt them to meet the needs of my students. Although, when people see what I am doing with my students they do come and ask about those ideas and want to adapt them for their students
- View problems as challenges. Its hard to see problems as challenges. When something goes wrong, its instantly a problem. Usually I will overcome that problem or find a way to overcome it, which makes it more of a challenge I overcame, but this is not what I perceive it as. Maybe thats what I need to view it as and see how I feel about it. 



My LEARNING CONTRACT by: Kiran Ali