Busy Bee! Week 4

             This week was filled with really great ideas for the classroom. We were introduced to Animoto, and were asked to create a quick video with some of our favourite photos. I have created shows in the past where I needed to bring photos together. Sometimes, I used Powerpoint (chills) and it was a ton of work. Animoto puts your pictures together with a background you choose. You can pick a song and it adds it to the project with ease.  Might I just add that music is everything and always creates a better emotional connection to the story. Personally, I blame the sappy music for those tears I shed on the latest Budweiser commercial (Sounds crazy I know, but you have to watch it) Don't say I didn't warn you! I really was impressed overall with Animoto because everything was designed in a step by step process. Kids can create great projects without having to ask a lot of questions. I can see students making a video for Science, or in English for an all about me unit on what is important to them, or how their summer holidays were.
            We had a visitor this week, John Finch. He came and talked to us about literacy in ICT and the continuum that teachers should follow in order for students to meet the criteria. I find it very appealing that learning is an ongoing process even in the world of technology. Even as teachers, we can improve and learn something new. I think this helps students understand that we are exploring something together. Looking back, technology was only a small piece in my education. I remember having our typing classes and in high school, computers were the only way we could access the internet. Now, the possibilities of finding new information is endless. John had an unbelievable fact for us in that more than 80 percent of students in Brandon School Division had a mobile device after Grade 10, and around 40 percent of students in Grade 4 had a smartphone or mobile. I find this just absurd because I didn't get a phone until I was seventeen and only because I had my own car and was travelling.
            This week was the last week to finish up our mock classroom webpages. I thought that it was good to have time to gain experience with Weebly and see all the possibilities of creating a page for your parents and students to follow. I love the idea of having a place for parents and students to contact me and see what is expected in the classroom. I will add the link to my webpage that I created. I'm sure next week we will be shown what other fantastic possibilities there are!