This latest set of projects was perhaps the most complicated or difficult of the semester, mostly due to my nervousness and unfamiliarity with the programs. I was quite unsure at first on how to approach the assignment, especially the movie in particular. Overall however the assignments came together and were quite easier than I anticipated. The first assignment was completing a listserve. I never knew how to complete a listserve, but upon following the simple directions outlined on the class website I believe I will be using it in the future. Listserve’s are very beneficial for whole group communications between the teacher and the parents of his or her students. Listserve’s can be beneficial in the aspect that teacher’s can notify all the parents in a class of changes to the schedule and the class as a whole, rather than individually. Also another beneficial aspect of a listserve which I plan to employ in my class next year is when it comes time for me to send out my weekly newsletter. Originally this year I used to hand out a news letter every Monday, however now I can simply email every parent. That way it is much more likely that each parent receives the newsletter, without relying on the student to deliver it. The only negative to this idea is that I must have every email of every parent in order that I am able to send out the needed information. Overall a listserve is a great way to communicate between parents and the teacher.
The second project was by far the more difficult of the two. I have never used Windows movie maker, or any other movie maker software before. So needless to say I had no idea when I first started how to create the movie. I decided to create a short movie which I will use in my 6th grade class which deals with the cultural diversity of South America. My movie consisted of about 20 slides, and last only about 1 minute and 30 second. The purpose of the movie is to give each student a preview about what they will be learning in terms of South American culture. I had initial difficulty recording the voice over for the movie. However, once I began simply playing around on the program the assignment came together. I hope to one day in the future create longer movies, that include actual footage to share with my students.
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Listserve
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I agree his week’s assignment was very rewarding. The movie was a challenge and required some thought. Your movie does not open. I am certain when it opens I will really enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteUse of these skills will be extremely valuable while teaching. I agree, a teacher needs to know which students do not have access to the internet at home. Another issue is, when I worked many hours, I rarely booted up my home computer since I was always at work. As teachers, we need to consider how many parents will have the same work hours. While working many hours, the home computer becomes a toy, unless you have actual work to do, so it is rarely used. In that case, I would prefer teachers send home note. One must consider the time to boot up the computer and log into to the email, clear out the unnecessary emails, and look for notes form teachers. I suppose in the upper classes, the students could look for a teachers email for the parent, but reading emails from the school is a parental responsibility. My employer did not allow employees to read personal email at work, however, in extreme situations it was allowed. So unless a parent has email on their cell phone, sometimes this technology is not effective communication.
If the teacher is certain all of the parents can be contacted it is great method. If it was my child, I would request all teachers send notes home, since, when working, I do not always open my personal email daily.
Great job!
I agree that both the Listserv and movie maker are great technologies to become acquainted with.
ReplyDeleteThe listserv was pretty simple to set up, but its utility is quite large. It would be really simple to set up individual groups for parents, students and other teachers.
I was nervous about the movie maker too. After fiddling around a bit I became more comfortable and got the thing done. It was actually pretty fun and I'm glad I learned a little about the program.
Also, I was unable to download and view your movie through Google Docs.
I really enjoyed reading your reflection and sharing your opinion in integrating these techniques. Both your reflection and your peers' comments provide valuable and thoughtful ideas. Great job. You can upload your movie directly to this site by clicking the movie icon. You may want to have a try.
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