3/25 posting

I decided to get a jump on my second side trip (Captivate) because it seemed to be so simple. I downloaded the trial version of captivate and dove right in. In the mean time the digital video journey opens up and is due very soon and my trial on Captivate is running out. I feel a little stressed. I do not like the captivate program. I am frustrated with everything trying to make this slide show. But I will push through! The practice activity for digital video looks fun. I grabbed my camera and tried to make a video with it. Suprisingly, it was so easy, except, I could not get the camera to zoom in and out. I guess my camera does not allow for that...I will be using my daughter's camera for this job instead.

Kelli

3/18 posting

I finished up the side trip for Inspiration. My final project was a web for the book Gregor the Overlander. The file was huge!

Now I am working on the sidetrip 2 with Captivate. The practice activity seemed pretty easy, but I am having a hard time deciding what to do for the final project for the side trip.

I did not do much this past week. I was caught up on both my classes. The only difficult thing that occured relating to technology was getting my new DVD/VCR combo to work in my classroom. It seems that there would be an easier way to set this up without having to rewire things to turn on the DVD player, then the document camera etc...After I tried numerous times to figure it out, I called our math coach over. He was able to figure out how it worked and I was able to watch a baking video with my class. But we can't get it to play in color. I have not tried to figure that out yet, but I am sure it is just a case of pushing the right button. I am off to write linear function rules....
Kelli

weekly posting 3-3

I completed the practice activity for the Inspiration side trip. I was thinking about incorporating the use of the program into my math class next year if I can get the school to subscribe.:) I thought making a biography web may be a more interesting way to introduce the kids to eachother and myself. Using this activity will introduce the kids to the program and then I can use the webs for other math related activities through out the year.

Kelli

weekly post 2-26

What a week! I thought everything had went smoothly enough with the digital imaging activities, but I was wrong. The activities themselves were not difficult at all, but uploading the zipped files into the assignment drop box was quite a project. I thought I had found the problem and fixed it, but somehow all my files were empty. At least I turned them in early so I had a chance to resubmit. Somehow, there was an error in my comprssion application (no clue about the details). Once I realized this, I used winzip and everything turned out okay.
Off topic though, I love to read. I have been in a slump lately though, with nothing really interesting me. I started a few titles, but never finished them. Then last Thursday, one of my students let me borow a book they thought I may like, Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins. I loved it. There are 5 books altogether that create the Underland Chronicles. I am already in the middle of book 4. I am really enjoying the characters and stories. So, I thought I would share in case any of you read the young adult fantasy/adventure books.
Kelli

Weekly Posting 2/18

I have been working on the digital imaging activities. The hardest part of the beginning activities was getting my family to sit still or smile instead of being silly. Whenever we have family photos taken, we have to have a "silly" one taken before everyone, including my husband, will be still and smile.

Technology wise, I had a difficult time uploading my zip files of the activity photos. It took me awhile before I figured out that the file somehow had an extra .zip at the end of the file name. Once I deleted the extra .zip, the file uploaded nearly instantly.


Kelli

Weekly Posting 2/11

I started the digital images activity this week, using the trial version of Microsoft's Digital Image 2006. I had no problems downloading the trial version or using the program.
I have done scrapbooking for years with my photos. Some pictures were great, others were not, but I included as many as I could to save memories...I was amazed at what could be done with pictures with this program. After playing around with the features I realized that I could have saved many of those pictures that were not so great to begin with. Thank goodness I am about 3 years behind:) I can take advantage of enhancing my photos now before creating the scrapbook pages.
Kelli

Weekly Post

Well, I was an over achiever last week, by accident, of course. I finished all the Emerging Technology activities a week early because I did not pay attention to the due date. I used the extra time to my advantage and got ahead in my other class.
I was not as excited about the virtual world as some of my other classmates. It was different to walk around the site for awhile and warp to Yellowstone, Mars and Atlantis, but I was not all that impressed by the experience. I can see how it may be new and exciting to my students. They would most likely enjoy meeting in the world for class discussions. But I teach math, I am not sure I would have any effective discussions with text only and no visuals.... I need to jump into the world again and play around with the options. Maybe, I can find something, or create a scavenger hunt, that will benefit my class.
Kelli