TIE 2

What a semester this has been! I cannot remember a time in my life where I have been this busy, stressed, tired, and happy all at the same time. I have had to push myself in many different areas, and technology was one of them. I went into this new year with a very small amount knowledge, and while my knowledge isn't  very large, I no longer feel like I live in a cave. I was forced to use Voice Thread  this semester, and the majority of the time I found it to be nothing but an enormous pain, it ended up being useful. My students found Voice Thread to be entertaining and enjoyed getting to be on the computer.




What worked well?
Overall, I found that my lesson went well and the technology was as cooperative as possible. I am very pleased that the students were learning the material and I was able to add in Voice Thread in a way that enhanced their learning. I think my favorite part of Voice Thread is the doodle tool. I love that the children are able to practice their handwriting and it is more interactive than just the typing .Typing takes a long time for them, while the writing is a bit quicker for them. It is less frustrating for them and for me.

What would I do different next time?
I would have had more computers up and working that way they wouldn't have had to wait so long to work on it.

There is still much for me to learn, but I am sure some of you could help me out!

What would you need to do to make sure that you could have more than one computer working on the same Voice Thread?

This is a great tool for visual and auditory learners. What might be a way to engage the tactile learners better?

I think that Voice Thread is a good tool to do a lesson with, but would it be an appropriate way to take an assessment?

I went and checked out some other people's blogs. You should go check them out!

Jena Mooney                      Carey Brysch                  Megan Evans

TIE 1

I have started to upload the identities that are going to be used in the Voice Thread for Kindergarten. I have my planning documents started (Blooms and Pedagogical ) and will continue to edit them until my lesson is complete. I am doing my lesson on the planets and their order. The story board that I will be using is a work in progress that I will complete as I finish my lesson plan. I am excited to explore the planets with the children!

Life Skills 101

Let me begin by stating how I have never been technologically savvy and learning Voice thread was a very tedious and frustrating task for me. When I first began my Voice Thread, I was able to easily maneuver through and upload my picture, but after that my who experience was a blur. I was struggling with understanding that we only needed to use one thread, and instead we had 4. What should have taken about 30 minutes took over an hour. But I can now say that I have a better understanding of what to do!

Technology Integration Experience (TIE) Thoughts

I have been introduced to this new technology called Voice Thread and it is pretty interesting. I was going through a few of them and realized how helpful this would be in the classroom. It is program that would allow me to further the thought process. In particular, I enjoyed the one with the math skills. I think that this would be a good way to have my students think about the different ways they can find an answer. I would have to adapt it so it met the skills that Kindergartners need, but it would give them the chance to talk about their process. I also liked the one about bullying. I think that this is a good idea to discuss about how to stop bullying and how to prevent children from becoming bullies. In Kinder it is especially good to introduce children to this idea because they are growing socially and this could be very beneficial for them to hear other peoples feelings. In general, I think that Voice Thread will be a neat thing to learn more about.