Collaborative Project- take 2!

Today Chelsea and I were finally able to complete our collaborative project with Lee Kolbert. We spent the afternoon walking around the University of Regina interviewing students. As I said before, for our collaborative project we planned to pick a couple questions regarding fourth grade science and interview people. We wanted to make a video that was a mix between Jay Leno and Are you smarter than a fifth grader. The two questions we choose, with the help of Lee, were:

1. Can you name the planets in order starting from the Sun?

2. Can you explain why we have seasons?

We had a really great time interviewing students around the university. It was funny to hear some of the answers we received or the reactions from the questions. We decided to make two short videos, one for each question. In the first video we introduced ourselves a little and then showed the interviews, and for the second video we only showed the interviews. It took a while to edit to videos, and currently we are waiting for the videos to upload on YouTube. It’s now almost 1:00 am ….

When the videos are finished loading, they will be on the site www.youtube.com/chelseaandjanna. Until then I’ll leave this post, and add another post with the two videos later.

Have a great day!

Add a comment April 9, 2010

Interview a Learner

I was able to set up a little email interview with Lisa Parisi, who is a fifth grade teacher and has been teaching for over 20 years. Here is the link to her blog if you would like to check it out…

http://lisaslingo.blogspot.com/

How do you use technology in your classroom, and do you find it useful?
I use technology as a tool for success.  The students use various tools to demonstrate their knowledge (blogs, podcasts, videos, animoto, voicethread, etc.).  They also use technology to assist with learning (demo videos, online dictionaries, voice recognition software, etc.).  In addition, I use technology to help me manage the classroom (online rubrics, spreadsheets for grading, etc.)

Do you think teachers can be reluctant to use technology in the classroom? If yes, why do you think so?
Many teachers are reluctant.  The two major reasons I see are fear that they will break the computer and a time issue.  They do not see technology as a tool, but rather as an addon.

What types of activities do you use with technology? And do you have any favourite programs or ways of using technology in the classroom?
We use technology for almost everything.  Google docs for collaborative work is probably used the most. My favorite programs are VoiceThread and Class Blogmeister for demonstrations.  I also like Discovery Streaming and BrainPop for videos .  You can look at our website to see what we use.

http://www.herricks.org/webpages/spcollaborative/index.cfm

Do you have any tips for future teachers wanting to use technology in the classroom?
Technology is not an addon.  It is part of what you do every day.  Allow the children to have access to the computers at any time.  They should feel free to get a computer during a lesson when needed.

Thank you very much Lisa! I find your answers very informative and useful, and I hope other’s enjoy your wise words as well.

Add a comment April 9, 2010