In ECI 546, New Literacies and Media, my classmate Amanda Witham and I worked together to create a review of the web tool, Animoto. Animoto is an animated slideshow that can be used for educational purposes inside the classroom. This web tool can be highly motivating to children who are not necessarily used to seeing the curriculum come to life. As we know, when struggling learners are motivated they can accomplish tasks they never dreamed they could. During this project Amanda and I not only learned to navigate a motivating web 2.0 tool, but we also learned how to collaborate on a Wikispace. This is a valuable tool for teachers to know how to use because it enables a group of people to collaborate without having to meet with each other. With people’s lives getting busier and busier, being able to collaborate from the luxury of your own home is very useful.
The following is a link to our Animoto collaboration.
http://hillerspires.wikispaces.com/Animoto+Page
The following is a link to our Animoto collaboration.
http://hillerspires.wikispaces.com/Animoto+Page
In ECI 540, Reading in the Elementary School, I created a
VoiceThread and wrote a paper about Summarizing. Summarizing is a reading comprehension strategy
that many children struggle with because it is so very complex. One of the
reasons why it is so very complex is because while students are reading they
have to constantly be thinking about what they are reading while they are
making connections. Since summarizing does not come naturally to children one of
the main things a teacher can do to help her students is to model her thinking
during her read a louds. She verbalizes
how she summarizes, making sure she uses key vocabulary. In the VoiceThread I created, I gave examples
of different ways to teach summarizing to help improve a student’s
understanding such as using a one sentence summery sheet or a summery
glove. When students use a one sentence
summary sheet they are forced to use only the most important information. It prompts students on what to write to help
them become more comfortable in the process. A summery glove is something a teacher can use
to help students recall information. Written
on the glove is words such as problem, setting and characters. Using a summery glove helps children stay
focused.