SpreadSheet Integration Project

This project was fun, but time consuming. First I created my lesson plan. I then created a template for my graph. I wrote student directions for a 1st grader to follow with some assistance and linked all three documents together. I then created a google site with this information all available. I think that this will be a fun lesson to use in my class. My student create bar graphs on paper, but this will add an interesting twist and hopefully keep them thinking while they work.

SS2

This assignment proved to be a bit more challenging. It took time for me to calculate the average with the different percentages for each category. I also had difficulty inserting the letter grades. After I finally found a formula that worked using the search tool, this got a little easier. The most challanging thing was inserting the chart. I attempted many time to no avail. So I had to add the add the =COUNTIF formula in an additional column. This upset me, but I finally decided to call it a night and leave this column where it was to create the chart using the chart wizard. I then used the ftp to upload and link my document to this posting.

Grades 1

I enjoyed this assignment. When I first began teaching, I used excel for my grade book, so I learned about formulas and how to enter them. I now use another program as it makes it easier to run reports and provide immediate feedback to students.

Intel Sites

I had difficulty completing this assignment. I attempted to contact my partner a week before the due date, but as of the due date, I had not receive contact back, so I completed the assignment by myself. I had previously used Intel in a co teaching classroom, but the other teacher set everything up. This time, I had the opportunity to create everything by myself. I'm not sure if I did the assignment itself correctly, but I did enjoy the "refresher" course on Intel. I would like to use Intel in the future, but I'm not sure about the practicality in a first grade classroom.

Photoshop Express

This assignment was very easy as my husband and I both edit photos already. We are currently using Corel software, but have used photoshop express in the past. I enjoyed converting the image to black and white then color filling the collar and eyes of or dog for a differnt type of look. I didn't play around too much with the online software as I already feel comfortable with the applications, but I was impressed to see we could use this for free instead of always purchasing software. To add the image to my post, I simply saved it my jump drive and then used the add image link.

Online Album

Online Album

This again was an assignment I was nervous about. With all the technology that I have heard about preditors using to find people, it makes me nervous to have picture of people viewable online. Because of these fears, I again just used photos of places my husband and I visited. I found the site MyPhotoAlbum that you can create your own name on and it will also give you link to add to many social sites such as blogs, myspace, facebook, etc. I created an account and activated it, then I uploaded the photos and linked the photos directly to the post above. I hope everyone enjoys the photos.

Picasa

I had never used Picasa before. This was neat. I uploaded pictures using the photos link in my gmail. It seemed rather quick and simple. I guess this maybe something I use in the future to share photos with family that does not live nearby, although I am always a little concerned about putting pictures of people, especially children, online on a site that is not password protected. Hope you all enjoy viewing the places I have visited.

Online Graph 2

Again, this was fairly easy. I am still so happy I am finally able to apply the things I've learned to create me nexy post. This module is still easier than the others. I followed the same directions as I did in Online Graph 1, and posted the same way.

Compared to the student population in our neighboring states, I feel that WV has a large number of students who have IEPs, when configured as a percentage of the total number of students enrolled in the state.

Online Graph 1

I had never created a graph using an online tool. In the past I had my students and I myself had used Microsoft Excel. This was interesting and I liked that it was much easier to set up on KidZone than trying to figure out where each lable went on Excel. After I completed the graph, I used the print screen to copy the graph to paint then I cut and pasted it to a new document to get rid of the other "junk". I then saved the file and posted it here with the add image link. I have really learned a lot so far in this module and I'm enjoying applying the things I have learned to other assignments.

When viewing my graph, I noticed that WV scored rose as well as those in the US average. However WV scores did not rise as quickly. There were two years (2003 and 2005)that WV stayed at the same level while the average rose. I think overall WV is competing national, they just need to show continued growth with no periods staying the same.

Image Formats

This assignment was enlightening to me. I had never payed attention to how files saved before. The most typical graphic file format I found was JPEG. Everything I saved, saved to this format automatically. Some other formats include Bitmap, JIF, TIFF, and PNG. To inspect the file properties, I opened the folder I had created on my desk top and change the view to list and then selected details. This showed me everything I needed to know to complete my spreadsheet. The properties that I viewed were file name, file type/format, file size, and date modified. I noticed the file I had saved as a Bitmap had two differnt icons. When I was viewing this information, I found that the JPEG files were smaller and therefore must have been compressed. When I opened the GSD Pups file and saved it using paint as a Bitmap, its size increased by 7x. I didn't really see a difference between the qualities of the images. I think the JPEG images seemed as clear as Bitmaps. I also found that when you saved an image as a 256-color Bitmap it lost quality. I think I will continue to use the format the computer saves to (JPEG) because for file size, quality was definately the best for the least amount of space. My mininum files size was 3 KB and my maximum was 5 KB if you did not include the Bitmap. The average of these was 4KB. If you include the Bitmap, the smallest file remained 3 KB, but the largest grew to 35 KB. The average when computed this way was 9.16.

Graphic 2, Screen Grab

Wow!! I never know what the print screen button did. For some reason, I always thought it would print the pages you were viewing on the printer. This was very interesting to me. I will definately use this in my classroom to copy pitures from the internet and get rid of the "junk" around them that my first grades could care less about. To complete the assignment, I searched online for a picture of leaves since we have been studying fall. I used print screen to copy it and pasted it in paint. Then I cut out the picture to get rid of the rest of the "junk" and used the text book to add my words. After this I saved the file as a .jmp file and uploaded it to my post using the add image link at the top. My picture is 640 x 512 pixels and its size is 90,202 bytes.

Reading/Quiz

This was an interesting asignmetn. I also think that this module is going to be interesting. I'm a little unsure about most of the assignments from looking over them and I am guessing that I will have a lot of questions and need must help to complete some of these. I really didn't know what was meant by quiz, so I copied, then answered the questions that were listed at the beginning. If anyone knows anything more about the assignment, please let me know so I can revise.

Photo Story

This photo story was a little difficult for me to create, not because I was uncomfortable with the software, but because of the content I teach in first grade. Since part of the requirement was for it to meet one of our 21st century CSO's I had some trouble. Most of my first grade day at a Reading First School is spent on reading and literacy with the exception of 60 minutes for math. I have already created presentations for reading instruction, so I wanted to change things. In math we are currently studying counting, so that didn't lend itself to a Photo Story Presentation. I looked at the Science CSOs and determined that this would work. I also realize that I am late posting this, but I got confused by the dates of this and Jeopardy and the order they were in on Vista and completed Jeopardy first then this Photo Story.

Jeopardy

This template is amazing. I wish I would have found it last year when I taught middle school. We played Jeopardy with a pocket chart and index cards. I had a hard time coming up with content for the game with my reading first first grade class. We spend the majority of our day with the exception of our math block (60 mintues) on reading. Questions and content were a bit difficult and I'm not 100% pleased with them, but I think that I will be able to use this as a station during reading, or as a intervention group lesson review. Overall I enjoyed it. Its a bit time consuming, but I think that the students will really enjoy.

Movie Maker

I have tried and tried to complete this. I completed my movie maker assignment on September 30 and have tried every night to upload it to youtube. My husband is an exsisting user and has had successful uploads so I have been trying to use his account. I attemp to upload as soon as I get home from school. I leave to complete my many other responsibilities during the evening and when I return it was still trying to upload. One night I even left it over night and was unsuccessful. So, here is the link to it on my ftp site. I hope everyone enjoys and isn't to offended by the lateness. I have had a busy week and no time to communicate on discussion boards or via email about the class.

Google Presentation embedded in a web page

I'm not so sure about this assignment. I had thought it would be easy, however, now I'm a bit confused. I tried to create a page, but Google was no longer accepting new pages. This reminded me that this part of Module one had been canceled however I did have a google page created first. I linked my presentation to my goole page and added this title as a link to that page. I hope everyone enjoys.

Google Docs Presentation

Wow this seems really easy. I'm not sure if I'm actually starting to get it or what, but I had no problem uploading, publishing, and then copying to my blog.

Power Point Presentation

This power point presentation may seem short, but it is intended to be part of a larger lesson or a reteach portion for one of my small groups during our walk to intervention time or station time. This is actually one of the introductory lessons to short e in first grade. On slide 7, I used some of the ashlock method that we are implementing school wide to help the presentation fit our school model. I try to use powerpoint for instruction at least once a week in order to help the students enjoy the lesson with the other technology we have access too. I hope everyone enjoys.

Power Point Web Page

This was easy enough to do. I just don't understand the purpose of saving one Power Point in all these different formats.

Power Point Show

I think I have it! Creating the power point presentation was easy enough. I then saved it as a show after I had set my timings and recorded voice. This was so easy. I liked that I was able to set the timing and everything else exactly as I needed it to follow my talking.

Update

I think that I have everything figured out. I was curious about the title of the course. I was thinking that the technology we were learning would be practical for using in the classroom, however, I don't see this as appropriate things to do with my elementary school class. I wish there was a class we could take to learn to deal with podcasts, interactive white boards, and building online assessments instead of this stuff that I'm not sure how will fit into my teaching.

Evaluation

I realize that some of my posts (Personality Activity, Google Pages, FTP) are late. I however was having difficulty attaching them to my blog. I wish I could get my PhotoStory to upload to the FTP site, but this is posing some difficulty right now. I hope everyone else is having an easier time completing this module than I am.

Personality Activity

I enjoyed the personality quiz. I thought it as accurate and somewhat easy to take. I would recommend it to those working with older students as an independent activity.

Web Page

This was simple since I had little to do. I don't know if I did it right or not, but I thought that it seemed pretty easy. I don't understand for sure how to add elements or if I need to, but I found it easy to create.

FTP

I found this very difficult. Since I was attempting to complete this portion of the assignment when I attached my photostory to the blog, I am just attempting to complete it on the due date. This was however not possilbe from my computer. It would not prompt me log into the ftp website. It continually told me that the page I was requesting was unavailable.

Photo Story Introduction

I enjoyed using photostory. I think that it was fun to record my voice and choose music as background. I was a little disappointed that I had to download the software and that it didn't come on our computer. The most difficult part was trying to figure out how to post it to a website and aquire a URL. Overall I enjoyed the software. It seemed a bit easier to navigate than powerpoint for younger students.

Job Resources

It didn't take me much time to decide which links to place for my job resources, it just took more time to get the placed correctly. I am interested in Washington County and have been trying to get a teaching position there for the past two years, so it was a no brainer to include. With my current and past teaching experience in WV, I frequently check that page for info. I helped me find and interview for multiple jobs which I was offered, but have turned down. The third site I included was Teachers-Teachers. I enjoy using many of its features and have also found jobs that seemed perfect for me. I have actually made contact with districts and interviewed for positions, so although some think its a hoax, I have had success. Its definately the place to go when considered relocating and checking the job market for the prospective area.

Cover Letter

It was a little hard for me to complete. I have completed many cover letters but I have had job descriptions in front of me to write about. This cover letter is very general and will need some adaptations and revisions before I could use it to complete an application for a job using it.

Resume

I had already completed a resume and keep it updated. The hardest part of this assignment was creating the link. I had a little trouble and concern with importing my resume from my computer to google documents. I have been told by a police officer friend how this can allow people more competent using google sites to have access to everyone on you computer and all sorts of information about you. But I think I have been successful at completing the assignment.

Confused

I had a relaxing weekend, however, I'm so confused about posting to this blog. I attempted to add links to job search sites, and I can see them through the layout page, but they do not show up in my blog. I hope this seems to fall into place and become easier.

EDUC 6305Calendar

I have never used an online calendar service before. I was impressed with the ease of adding elements, but I don't think I will use this service for anything else because I don't like the fact that it is public. I also feel more comfortable with calendars like that on Blackboard that have popups to let us know that events for the day or upcoming week without viewing the entire month.

Busy

The first two days of school have been busy. I just transfered jobs Monday night, so it was hard to be ready for students Tuesday. Classes have also been time comsuming. I'm waiting to see a balance for the semester and fall into a routine.