Reflections

Celebrate Kansas Voices

Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

Alpha Delta Pi- Alpha Eta Chapter at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS

Google Map- Look at Alpha Delta Pi on the map!

Look at this video and others on Celebrating Kansas Voices

This project was so fun! I really enjoyed using Voicethread. It was so easy to use, but looks so professional when you are finished. Google Map was also a good resource to learn how to use. I use it all the time to look up places I am going, but have never made my own map! I also liked learning more about different places in Kansas. I take for granted the home I live in and it was so interesting to think of all the women who have lived in this house before me.

Leave a comment

Animoto

Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

WWII

 

Making this video with Animoto was really fun! I know this is a tool I will use in my classroom someday. It will provide variety to instruction and give a fun way to introduce a topic or have students do a report on.

Leave a comment

Reflection Paper.li

Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

These online newspapers are really great resources for teachers. I like that they are specific to a certain topic.  It is so helpful to pick a newspaper that is looking for things that attain to you. Technology Keys Daily is a great paper for everything technology. It keeps teachers up to date on the new things going on in education technology. English in 140 Characters is a great paper for English teachers. I want to be a middle school English teacher so this paper would be a great resource for me to pass on information to my students and get ideas for teaching them. I would benefit so much from subscribing to either one of these newspapers.

Leave a comment

Favorite Education Blogs from DED 318 class members

Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aon0hzlfRmUhdHlHY3dVTnYxRE1JMlhDNW5BXzNzX3c&hl=en_US#gid=0

This spreadsheet is an easy way to look at the information that our class collected. I loved looking through some of the education blogs. Like the websites, there is no way I would have found all these blogs by myself. I like being able to share what I find with my classmates, as well as looking at what my classmates have found.

 

 

 

Leave a comment

Favorite Resources from DED 318 class members.

Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gmGsEyFIwQeT4bJ2_pJ6ZQl9ERKppMBEvUpZRfKq4Cc/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1

This Google doc is a great resource for us future teachers! There are more websites out there than I could ever find so it is fun to look at my classmates favorite teaching websites. There is such good information on those websites. I had never used a Google doc until adding my websites. It is so cool that we can all work on one document at once. I can think of so many times in school when this would have been really helpful in group projects, etc. I will definitely use it in my classroom someday with my students and my colleagues.

 

 

Leave a comment

Google Reflection

Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

It is amazing what technology can do to a school.  After reading the first chapter of Retool Your School by James Lerman and Ronique Hicks, I was amazed by how technology could transform a school that was failing to a school that is excelling in just four years.  I think Google tools are a great way for teachers to collaborate. Teachers should act as a team and that is so much easier when they have a constant way to communicate and help each other.  I also think it will help the students as well.  They can work on group projects more efficiently.  Also, it is so handy to have all the things you are working on right there on the internet. You wouldn’t have to worry about students losing their papers all the time.  I think this is definitely a useful resource that all teachers should use for professional development and in their classrooms.

Leave a comment

Just a few Instructions to get you started

Listen to this Post. Powered by iSpeech.org

After you have read and done these tasks you may delete this post if you want.  But you are encouraged to keep it, since you may need to refer back to it at some point for instructions.

  1. Choose a theme from the ones provided, Dashboard->Appearance->Themes and UPLOAD your own choice from the Install Themes tab.
  2. To Install themes, make sure your tweak the search a bit.  Under Feature Filter, check Custom Menus before you tell it to Find Themes.
  3. After you have found a theme you want to use, click Dashboard->Appearance->Menus, then on the left near the top, look for Theme Locations and select Primary menu or Main menu depending on which choice you are given.
  4. Give your site a TITLE,  Dashboard > Setting > General, for example, mine is called Technology Bits, Bytes & Nibbles.  If you don’t have an idea right off the bat, just use your name. You can change it later when you have a better idea in mind.
  5. To change your Password from the default password, Dashboard > Users > YOur Profile.
  6. If your theme has a default photo across the top that you wish to change, Dashboard > Appearance > Header.
  7. Add a picture of yourself and a little bit about yourself to the About Me page.
  8. Each reflection and thing we do in class is a New Post.
  9. Each entry will need to have a category assigned from the preloaded list of categories as well as the corresponding tags.  This is how your posts end up on the right page of your site.
  10. Categories are: DED 318 Projects, Lesson Plans, Reflections, Resources, Block, Contnet, Methods, Classes. But you may add more categories and tags and most posts will have multiple Categories and tags.

What are Categories and Tags Exactly

  1. Tags & Categories are case sensitive.  Use the appropriate categories and tags based on the template pages as well as any other tags or categories that you find to be appropriate.
  2. Categories are things you create ahead of time and only have a limited selection, they are broader. Imagine them like sections of your site. For example. the signs on aisles of grocery stores.
  3. We have preloads the categories for this class. DED 318 Projects, Lesson Plans, Reflections, Resources, Block, Contnet, Methods, Classes.
  4. Tags are keywords attached to a post. You may add a tag to a post that you might never use ever again.  Usually, you will have multiple tags.  Take a look at my blog and how I do this. I normally have a couple Categories and many tags.  Tags are more specific.  I have pre-made a cloud of tags, but you will need to add to this.
  5. Categories are meant to be permanent, tags are ephemeral.
  6. Need more explanation: Tags Are Not Categories – Got It?http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/03/01/tags-are-not-categories-got-it/
  7. Make sure each entry has multiple specific tags and categories that are appropriate.  But make sure additions for this class use from the following list so your posts end up on the correct page of your WordPress site.
  8. You will add more categories and tags as we proceed through the semester, but it will not add more “pages” to your site.  Adding them will just gives you AND your site visitors way to search for things on the website/Blog. Look at my blog Technology Bits, Bytes & Nibbles to give you a better idea of the Category/Tag thing.Each post/entry has them both.  I only have an iPads and an About Me pages, I use the category iPads and I also add a tag iPads.  That way every new post with those 2 labels go to the iPad page.
Adding some LINKS (BLogRoll) to your site:  Add the following Links, Dashboard>Links.  I have already added a couple to get your started.
  • Add a link to Technology BIts, Bytes & Nibbles
  • Add a link to CDK’s Education Technology Place
  • Add a like to the KSU College of Education
  • Add a link to your HIgh School or Home Town
  • DED 318 Technology Resources LiveBinder Link
  • Content Area LiveBinder Link
  • Kansas Educators Diigo Group Link
Adding PLugins to your site so everything shows and works properly.
1.  We will need a few plugins for sure.  Animoto, Vociethread, Prezi and maybe a few more, but get these added now.
2. Dashboard > Plugins > Add New
3. In the Search, type Animoto
4. You will find one called Animoto Embeds, Install and Activate
5. Now repeat this process for Voicethread (VoiceThread Auto Embed)
6. And also Prezi (Prezi Shortcode)
7. You may find you will need to add more plugins to your site as we move along. But now you know how.

Leave a comment