There are lesson plans for all my classes, including Business Information Management, Digital and Interactive Media, Digital Arts and Animation, Video Game Design, Computer Programming, Web Design, Journalism and Yearbook.
Student Centered Technology Tutorials
I am so glad to see so many followers from college that have continued to follow me.
New Lessons will be posted through out the summer. Copy what you need and have a Great year!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Friday, March 11, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
My Greatest AHA Moments
My greatest Aha moment was when I realized that as a new teacher I am doing “It” right. I didn’t know what “It” was until I took this class and found out that “It” is being an Informator. I also realize that because of the many requests I have made this semester, not only am I an Informator but administrators for my district are becoming Informators, too.
The second Aha moment came when my Technology Director installed Jing on my student’s computers. We all got together and made her a huge Thank You card for Valentine’s Day and all my students signed it. All year she has been opening up our world, piece by piece. Now I won’t be the only Podcaster in the room. I have students that will be creating How-To Videos for actual class lessons on technology that they are proficient with but that I don’t actually teach to the class.
Because of the new technology I have been using in your class, at school we now have both a class Wiki and a class Blog. We also have mind mapping software installed on several computers. Little did I know that every time I requested something new, the Principal sent her to a workshop on it to make sure it was safe for the students to use and that she could troubleshoot the program. When she received her card she said “NO”, I should be thanking you, “I have more knowledge now of what is out there and we are doing exactly what our students need.” She complimented me for finding Freeware that could easily be installed on the network. She is excited about next year’s in-service training because she has so much to show the other teachers.
My third Aha moment was the realization that my current Educational Technology Philosophy is very much in line with my classroom’s final results. The overall good feeling that comes over you so few times in a lifetime has washed over me many times this semester. I wondered last year if I was using too much technology in my classes. But because not very many of the other teachers are, I think my class gives the high school a nice balance. If all the teachers were using it like I am, than yes, maybe it would get to be too much.
My final Aha moment came as I was updating my e-Portfolio on Google sites. I have all of my students create an e-Portfolio each year using PowerPoint. I didn’t know Google sites was out there. The problem I have is when I have the students do one as freshmen in Business Information Management (BIM); and then they have me next year in Digital Interactive Media (DIM); and then the next year, they have me in Animation or Accounting, I get the “we’ve already done that” scenario. I tell them that this then will be a great opportunity to update it and to expect to do it again next year, so always save it on a Flash Drive. This year, I have my DIM students creating theirs in Dreamweaver and now with Google Sites I can have my Animation and Accounting classes do theirs online. This will give all my students a different technological experience to take with them when they graduate.
As for me, I took away a great resource in Delicious. I had been having trouble keeping my favorites at school and at home in sync. It always seemed like I needed one when I was sitting at the other. Overall, I have become more organized this semester and with that comes a feeling of being a more efficient and effective teacher. Thank You!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Google Finance and We Seed Lesson Plan
This week I explored Google and looked at several applications that I could incorporate into a lesson plan. I am even considering changing my home page so I have better access to the tools I use the most. Once on the site, my eye immediately went to the Google Finance link as I was planning a lesson for the Accounting class on the "We Seed" stock market simulation site. As I explored the Google finance site, I realized the students could do their research, read "Market News", learn the ticker symbols, and create their stock portfolios with Google's Portfolio Creator. This revelation gave me a definite AHA moment, my first thought was that the kids were going to learn so much and have so much fun doing it. I am so excited that I almost want to scrap the business simulation they are doing now to get started. But I won't. I have my year organized and right now what they are learning is essential for them to compete well at UIL. Plus it reinforces everything we have learned about the Accounting Cycle.
To see the finished lesson plan, click this link Google Docs "We Seed" Lesson Plan or visit my e-Portfolio at https://sites.google.com/site/lburleigheportfolio/accomplishments
You're probably thinking "How can she get so fired up about such a boring subject?" and two years ago, I would have agreed. Everything was done with a pencil on a big green Journal register book that took two entire student desks to hold. Maybe that is where the idea for team work really came into play because it took two students just to hold the Accounting Journal. Yes, we do still use the big green book but mostly just as another experience. Most of the financial statements are now either done in Excel or QuickBooks. I prefer Excel because they have to use more formatting and formulas; QuickBooks has gotten to where it does it all now and the Accountants tend to get lazy and make mistakes. I like to keep them on their toes.
With all the new technology and the integration of virtual worlds and simulations, the business world is an exciting place to be. There is so much a teacher can do to get the students "fired up". The main thing a teacher needs to do is take one step at a time and try something new at least once a week. I would recommend trying it at home first and be sure of how things work before you show the students. If it doesn't work right or you can't answer their questions, you will confuse them and lose their interest. That can put the fire out in a hurry!
On the other hand, if you are like me and very open minded, you can tell the students what you would like them to learn, the software and websites you want them to use to learn it, and the process you want them to take to show what they have learned. You will have students that want to be spoon fed through the project so one solution could be to create teams or small groups and let them brainstorm and find the solutions on their own. Whenever I use this tactic, I always spend a lot of time over their shoulders learning as they go.
For example, I have the FREE online Audacity audio program on several of the class computers. I do not know how to use it that well and the kids know it. I have a few specialists, one is a senior this year and another is a freshman. Whenever the students have a multimedia project to complete, they have the option of creating narration or a music mix for the background in Audacity. I provide the computer, the Audacity program, the class time/tutorial time and the names of students that know some cool tips and tricks. I thought about making it a part of the class lessons and decided that I liked it better if the students just dug in and learned how to use it on their own. I just keep track of those students who really know and understand the program and make sure to spark the interest in a freshman every year.
The Freshman I have this year just did the background mix for one of the senior’s Accounting Career Movie. By next year, I will estimate that over 75% of my students will be capable of creating a music mix of at least three songs, and 50% will know how to create a voice overlay. I am sorry to say, will not be among those percentages. I just don’t have time to learn it all and I believe firmly in the saying that “whoever is doing the work, is doing the learning” So my motto is: “Let the kids work!”
To see the finished lesson plan, click this link Google Docs "We Seed" Lesson Plan or visit my e-Portfolio at https://sites.google.com/site/lburleigheportfolio/accomplishments
You're probably thinking "How can she get so fired up about such a boring subject?" and two years ago, I would have agreed. Everything was done with a pencil on a big green Journal register book that took two entire student desks to hold. Maybe that is where the idea for team work really came into play because it took two students just to hold the Accounting Journal. Yes, we do still use the big green book but mostly just as another experience. Most of the financial statements are now either done in Excel or QuickBooks. I prefer Excel because they have to use more formatting and formulas; QuickBooks has gotten to where it does it all now and the Accountants tend to get lazy and make mistakes. I like to keep them on their toes.
With all the new technology and the integration of virtual worlds and simulations, the business world is an exciting place to be. There is so much a teacher can do to get the students "fired up". The main thing a teacher needs to do is take one step at a time and try something new at least once a week. I would recommend trying it at home first and be sure of how things work before you show the students. If it doesn't work right or you can't answer their questions, you will confuse them and lose their interest. That can put the fire out in a hurry!
On the other hand, if you are like me and very open minded, you can tell the students what you would like them to learn, the software and websites you want them to use to learn it, and the process you want them to take to show what they have learned. You will have students that want to be spoon fed through the project so one solution could be to create teams or small groups and let them brainstorm and find the solutions on their own. Whenever I use this tactic, I always spend a lot of time over their shoulders learning as they go.
For example, I have the FREE online Audacity audio program on several of the class computers. I do not know how to use it that well and the kids know it. I have a few specialists, one is a senior this year and another is a freshman. Whenever the students have a multimedia project to complete, they have the option of creating narration or a music mix for the background in Audacity. I provide the computer, the Audacity program, the class time/tutorial time and the names of students that know some cool tips and tricks. I thought about making it a part of the class lessons and decided that I liked it better if the students just dug in and learned how to use it on their own. I just keep track of those students who really know and understand the program and make sure to spark the interest in a freshman every year.
The Freshman I have this year just did the background mix for one of the senior’s Accounting Career Movie. By next year, I will estimate that over 75% of my students will be capable of creating a music mix of at least three songs, and 50% will know how to create a voice overlay. I am sorry to say, will not be among those percentages. I just don’t have time to learn it all and I believe firmly in the saying that “whoever is doing the work, is doing the learning” So my motto is: “Let the kids work!”
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Podcasts and Online Learning Communities
I have created this lesson series using Jing and have stored them on http://www.screencast.com/users/LBurleigh/folders/MBC%20Flash%20CS3%20Lessons. I also submitted them to the Education Podcast Network at http://epnweb.org/.
This is an introductory lesson series and students can watch it over and over again at their computer stations. With Windows 7, students can dock the video on one side of the screen and dock their flash file they are working on, on the other side of the screen. Students can pause the lesson, back it up, and rewatch it until they learn the techniques.
This is a link to a completed student sample on the pbworks class wiki I created:
Hannah's Header for her Dreamweaver Site
Podcasts are great to use when you have a substitute teacher. Students can each work at their own pace without requiring any assistance from the sub. They can also work at their own pace without feeling behind anyone else.
The best learning for students comes when the students create thier own how-to Podcasts and publish them to My Big Campus, http://www.mybigcampus.com/, (MBC). My Big Campus is a secure online learning community that is a division of Lightspeed security systems. We use Lightspeed to protect our students while they explore the Internet.
This online learning community is used by students to watch educational videos, email each other, create Blog posts, start discussions, and post their own multimedia projects to their public libraries. As an administrator, I can run a report every evening and make sure the students are staying on task and not submitting anything inappropriate. I take about two hours each week and visit their Blogs and comment on some of them. I can create assignments for them and even upload my podcasts to the MBC Public Library so the students can watch them from home.
If I had a magic wand I would make the World Wide Web a safer place for our children so that they could take virtual field trips from the classroom to exotic places like Jamaica or Australia. I would introduce them to a classroom in Alaska or Hawaii and collaborate with the teacher so our classes could do a cross-cultural group project. I would help my fellow teachers incorporate technology in all their classes so that students in social studies could create maps using Google Earth or students in English could collaborate with others around the world to write and publish an adventure e-book. I would even have my Accounting students research web stock traders such as Ameritrade or Sharebuilder and encourage them to create an online stock portfolio.
Why would I do these things?
Because I believe that the workplace today uses employees from all over the world who can effectively collaborate and communicate using any media that is available to them. It is so important for students to learn basic social skills and how to work with others from different cultures. If students were really able to expand their learning as much as they are capable of, without us holding them back, I believe we would see that students today are more capable of critical thinking than we ever were. I suspect the reasons for this are that they are bombarded constantly with stimuli coming from many different directions. They see in 3-D and they communicate using shortcuts and hotkeys. Their social communication skills are more efficient because of the different media they are exposed to. With the right training, I believe that the students of the United States could be the leader once again in Global Awareness.
This is an introductory lesson series and students can watch it over and over again at their computer stations. With Windows 7, students can dock the video on one side of the screen and dock their flash file they are working on, on the other side of the screen. Students can pause the lesson, back it up, and rewatch it until they learn the techniques.
This is a link to a completed student sample on the pbworks class wiki I created:
Hannah's Header for her Dreamweaver Site
Podcasts are great to use when you have a substitute teacher. Students can each work at their own pace without requiring any assistance from the sub. They can also work at their own pace without feeling behind anyone else.
The best learning for students comes when the students create thier own how-to Podcasts and publish them to My Big Campus, http://www.mybigcampus.com/, (MBC). My Big Campus is a secure online learning community that is a division of Lightspeed security systems. We use Lightspeed to protect our students while they explore the Internet.
This online learning community is used by students to watch educational videos, email each other, create Blog posts, start discussions, and post their own multimedia projects to their public libraries. As an administrator, I can run a report every evening and make sure the students are staying on task and not submitting anything inappropriate. I take about two hours each week and visit their Blogs and comment on some of them. I can create assignments for them and even upload my podcasts to the MBC Public Library so the students can watch them from home.
If I had a magic wand I would make the World Wide Web a safer place for our children so that they could take virtual field trips from the classroom to exotic places like Jamaica or Australia. I would introduce them to a classroom in Alaska or Hawaii and collaborate with the teacher so our classes could do a cross-cultural group project. I would help my fellow teachers incorporate technology in all their classes so that students in social studies could create maps using Google Earth or students in English could collaborate with others around the world to write and publish an adventure e-book. I would even have my Accounting students research web stock traders such as Ameritrade or Sharebuilder and encourage them to create an online stock portfolio.
Why would I do these things?
Because I believe that the workplace today uses employees from all over the world who can effectively collaborate and communicate using any media that is available to them. It is so important for students to learn basic social skills and how to work with others from different cultures. If students were really able to expand their learning as much as they are capable of, without us holding them back, I believe we would see that students today are more capable of critical thinking than we ever were. I suspect the reasons for this are that they are bombarded constantly with stimuli coming from many different directions. They see in 3-D and they communicate using shortcuts and hotkeys. Their social communication skills are more efficient because of the different media they are exposed to. With the right training, I believe that the students of the United States could be the leader once again in Global Awareness.
Flash CS3 Lesson 9
Students: This is the last Podcast in this series.
Your Assignment:
Finish your Header.
Publish and Post it on www.mybigcampus.com under your public library items.
Please comment on this Blog and let me know your ideas. What didn't work for you? What was your greatest "aha" moment during these lessons? Would you like more lessons like this or do you prefer the written step-by-step worksheets? Give me your thoughts and ideas. Did you learn a trick or tip you want to share?
Your Assignment:
Finish your Header.
Publish and Post it on www.mybigcampus.com under your public library items.
Please comment on this Blog and let me know your ideas. What didn't work for you? What was your greatest "aha" moment during these lessons? Would you like more lessons like this or do you prefer the written step-by-step worksheets? Give me your thoughts and ideas. Did you learn a trick or tip you want to share?
Flash CS3 Lesson 8
Students: This is the Eighth Podcast in a series of nine.
Your Assignment
Practice expanding your name or change the font style or color.
Import a sound effect from www.grsites.com to your documents.
(right click, save target as)
Import sound to the library, create new layer, and drag to stage.
Your Assignment
Practice expanding your name or change the font style or color.
Import a sound effect from www.grsites.com to your documents.
(right click, save target as)
Import sound to the library, create new layer, and drag to stage.
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