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Monday, February 22, 2010

Photostory Project and Readings

I think that the photostory project is very interesting. It's an easy tool to implement in the classroom to enhance a lesson, or provide a refresher on different concepts. You can control the level amount of information you give, and it provides visual connections for the students to make. It was a lot easier to do than I thought it would be. This technology is definitely something I would incorporate into my classroom. I also believe that this would be a great program for older students to use as a tool in preparing for presentations and projects. I think students would really enjoy making their own little movie lessons. It adds a new level of excitement and creativity to whatever concept your teaching.

The reading for elementary this week discussed the use of drawing programs. I had never realized how beneficial those programs like Paint and KidPix were. I remember loving the time we got to play with KidPix when I was elementary school. These programs can help with motor skills and coordination--students have to learn to have control over the mouse and know where they want color and lines. There were a lot of really great suggested activies. You can incorporate vocabulary and have students draw the object and label parts. You can also compare periods of history and have them draw what life looks like today compared to 100 years ago. I really liked the idea of gallery showings, where you have all the students leave their drawings up on the computer and then walk around and look at all the different versions. The kids can see all the different variations of color. Drawing programs are definitely a good idea to include in elementary schools.

1 comment:

Brittany said...

I agree that the Imovie/photostory project would be a great tool for older students doing presentations or projects. One of my French classes in high school had the option of doing either a live performance or a movie of some sort using Imovie for a final and it turned out really well, especially since you had all the work finished and ready to go, so things went a lot smoother. However, one issue here might be the accessibility to the necessary tools needed to produce these movies or photo stories, depending on whether students complete these projects at school or, if they can, at home.