Week 4: Dust Echoes + M & M Candy Chart

Dust Echoes

http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/

The professor introduced us to Dust Echoes which is a website that has beautiful animations of videos done with flash player--- he said that it looks like they probably spent 1000's of hours editing and making the videos what they are.

This program could be important in teaching cultural diversity and the differences between people, places and things in our society. He showed us a video at the beginning of the class called SPEAR which was about envy, law, punishment and reconciliation, factors that can all be used to introduce a community, civics or citizenship block.That was just one video of 12 all of which have different themes. The website explains 12 Aboriginal Stories that are the following:

 These videos can be a pre-cursor or the center for almost any subject and or any block. I'll definitely be using these wonderful videos in my classes.

It is helpful also because all these episodes come with a study guide that can be downloaded at http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/dustEchoesFlash.htm. Within this study guide there are explinations and supplementary material, such as, worksheets to explain all videos and to help tie themes together. These videos can also be utilized in comparison to different aborignial groups i.e. Australia, Canada, U.S.A, etc...

The professor then told us to choose a video out of the 12 and  create a diagram using INSPIRATION 8.0, which we used previously in class. He wanted us to become familiar with these programs so we can use them with our students. So like a student, I chose the Brolga Song out of the 12 Aboriginal Stories, which is a video about relationships and the connections with the natural world. 

This video was very beautiful, it was about a boy who was alone but wasn't because he had the natural land with him, where his fathers were. I really enjoyed this story and once I completed the video I noticed that underneath there were a couple of supplementary options to choose from. The first was to 'take a quiz' where students can test thier knowledge about what they saw and the general theme of the video. Second to chose 'match it up' where they can make and watch thier own one minute video.Here is what I made.

The professor also mentioned that once you students completed their diagram using Inspiration 8.0 the teacher could extend the lesson further by getting the students to create their own character and make up story based the theme they want to portray, such as, anger, war, relationships, etc..The students will continue to feel like their opinions are valued and will be engaged.

M & M Candy Color Chart

At the end of the class the Professor introduced us to Microsoft Excel. He wanted to show us how to make charts for our students. So he gave us a handful of M&M's and we had to use Excel to graph the number of M&M's for each color. This lesson can be used at beginner level, by just using the counter chart he handed out to us and also on the computer for more advanced levels. It can be used for literacy and math lessons and here is the chart I made.

Here is the link to the M&M's website http://www.m-ms.com/us/ where you can find fun games and other interesting activities for math or literacy lessons.

I love their commercials, so for fun here is a link to one on youtube! As they say there is an M&M in everyone...see which one you are...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DV6LuiL7X8&feature=PlayList&p=208FAF56EECA621C&index=0&playnext=1 

Until next time!!!

WEEK 3- Design Belief and Making Quizzes and Activities

Design Brief

This week we learned about how to make a design brief. The facets we studied were as follows, investigation and design, where we brainstorm concepts. Production where we actually created the concepts we thought might work. Finally, analysis and evaluation where we wrote down our observations about what happened and conclude which model was the best and most efficient way to make a frog jump.

We had to work in pairs and four materials, a cardboard strip, tape, little paper frog and a rubber band to work with. It took some time but we came up with the following ideas that are listed below:

INVESTIGATE/DESIGN

1) The rubber was released from folded cardboard to try and make it jump.

2) Fold it into a zigzag shape and tie frog down with the rubber band and then press down to bounce up and down.

3) Folded cardboard in half, tape down to the edge of the table. Rap the rubber around the bottom and then launch the frog from the top of the folded cardboard.

PURPOSE

1) It only jumped once.

2) The cardboard was too heavy and the model just fell so there was no real jumping involved.

3) It leaped the farthest.

ANALYSE / EVALUATE

1) This didn’t work because it took too long to release the rubber band by hand and it didn’t leap very far.

2) It didn’t work because the folds were too tight so the push and jump idea didn’t work very well. The weight created a problem for the force of jumping.

3) This is the model that worked for us because it was steady by the tape and when released it leaped very far.

The professor then went through all our ideas and I thought this was very effective because students should always be encouraged to share and learn from their peers and their teachers. There needs to be a sense of communicative learning where all students feel safe sharing and learning and if the teacher notices that the activity is widely popular then why not extend it further. Foe example, how far you can get kids to think about jumping frogs--maybe interrelate this idea with other subjects, such as science, for example students can increase the size of frog to see if that changes the distance traveled. It is so important to create and catch students’ interest because that is how they learn. 

After going through all our ideas, the professor explained that there were actually 8 different ways to make the frog jump effectively and he outlined a couple in the class. The first method was to use sticky tape and put it on the inside of folded cardboard; place elastic around the fold and release and he said it should jump pretty far based on the dynamic of the model. The second example he gave us was to put a hole in cardboard and twist the elastic inside the hole and release it, allowing frog to jump far.

Through the dynamics of this activity it is clear that participation, teamwork and a sense of community must be established and present at all times in the classroom.

 

QUIA: Games and quizzes

In this part of the workshop the professor introduced us to an interesting database where teachers and students can create educational activities on the web. You can play, create and administer various activities for various topics something that is so crucial in a classroom because the teacher must always try and stay current with their material and this QUIA helps do just that.

We started off by creating a quiz about something that we love and I am crazy about soccer, or should I say football. It is hard getting the terms right because to me it will always be soccer but maybe that is because I am from Canada. Anyway, I created my quiz about soccer and the process in order to do this was very straightforward.

There were about 8 steps to the entire process to make this kind of quiz and they were:

1) Select the amount of questions you want

2) Choose the amount of answers you want i.e. A, B, C, D

3) Format of the quiz i.e. multiple choice, fill in the blanks, etc..

4) Create questions and answers

5) Select the right answer in the column next to the answers

6) Look over the questions and answers to make sure they are correct

7) Press create quiz at the bottom of the screen

8) Write down the URL of your quiz for future reference

After this process is completed the quiz was ready and in my opinion, the best part of the workshop began. All of us walked around the class to each computer and tried each other’s quizzes. This definitely broke the ice and created the energy and the community within the class that we needed. Every one felt at ease and open to try and share and it was a pleasure to see. I can really see myself using this activity for an icebreaker for block or the block itself. 

IF YOU WANT TO TRY MY QUIZ, ClICK THE FOLLOWING LINK:www.quia.com/quiz/2538621.html

The final part of the workshop was extending this process, like the professor said previously if it’s captivating then extend it further. So instead of creating another quiz using the same database we created an activity based on the material we used previously and I did a soccer jumble. Creating this activity was as easy as it was to create the quiz and the steps, mentioned above are almost the same and the activities can be applicable for all subject areas, such as math, english, geography, reading, and the list goes on….

IF YOU WANT TO TRY MY SOCCER JUMBLE, CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK:

www.quia.com/jw/388947

I really enjoyed this week’s workshop and I know that I will be using these items again in my classroom. I can't wait to create our safe classroom community where students are free to be excited, enthusiastic and happy to participate in an activity like this. Thanks for the introduction to this program Greg!
 

Until Next Week :)

Also, if you are intrigued by any of this feel free to get a 30 day free-trail and to test all your friends. Just go to www.quia.com/web  and you will get all the information you need there in becoming a member whether it’s for 30 or more!! Enjoy!