Learning With Spreadsheets

I did not know much about spreadsheets until now and I believe it is because of two reasons: I have not really played with them much and no one has actually taught me how to use it. I recently had an assignment in class that had to do with using spreadsheets and it taught me a lot that I did not know. Spreadsheets are a great way to organize information and once you get the hang of how to use them, it becomes much easier then it looks.

Now that I have had better practice with spreadsheets I feel confident in knowing I can use them in the classroom for many different reasons. First of all it is a great way to keep up with your students grades. The students can also use them to organize data and graphs. Spreadsheets can be incorporated into any subject, unit, or project. I think it is important to know how much spreadsheets can help teachers and students in the classroom. This is an example of a spreadsheet and graph assignment that I recently completed for class.

In the classroom it is important to teach students method of organizing and bringing data together. To keep students interested we should use the inquiry based method as much as possible. Inquiry-based learning is based on student’s involvement with the teacher and other students in the classroom. This involvement leads to understanding of the content and builds the skills of students. These are three guiding questions for students when asking them to create a spreadsheet like this one:

1. Is your data organized in the least about of groups possible?

2. Do you know how to put an equation into the spreadsheet so that it can calculate for you?

3. Can you see the result of your spreadsheet?

Learning with Movies

I have recently discovered some amazing tools to help me teach and organize my unit plan. One of the tools I have discovered to help in the classroom is how to make a movie. I have never actually made a movie before this time in my life. It was a very interesting process and I learned a lot about technology. I am very happy that I have experienced how to make a movie because next time I will know what to expect and what to look for. I never knew how easy it actually is to edit your videos and put them together as you need. Once I finally got my movie made I uploaded it to teacher tube so I could share it with the world.
There were of course some problems that I encountered when trying to upload my video to teacher tube. I have a Mac so I found that it is important to make sure your file matches one of the files that teacher tube accepts. You will know if your file is appropriate when you browse for your file and see if any of them match the valid teacher tube files. But, all in all my experience with making a movie and uploading it into teacher tube taught me a lot about technology and how I can do this much more in the future.
My video is about a elementary science experiment on volcanic eruption. I believe this experiment appropriate for third graders. My science teacher in college taught me this experiment and how to teach it to the students in my classroom. After students learn why we have volcanoes and how they erupt they can do this experiment and have a little fun with it. Then when they have completed the experiment the students can write in their science journal what they have done and what they have learned.

My Teacher Tube Video:

Digging Deeper into Digital Storytelling

My unit plan for this project is about volcanos. My unit question is "How do Volcanoes change and affect our Earth?" In my plan for this digital storytelling project I have integrated the 7 Elements of Digital Storytelling. If you have these elements in your digital story then it will help you organize your thoughts and help you find a direct path for your story to follow. This is how my UNIT PLAN and STORYBOARD address the 7 Elements of Digital Storytelling:

1. POINT OF VIEW- volcanoes are amazing phenomenons that help to change our Earths landforms.
2. A DRAMATIC QUESTION- What are volcanoes capable of?
3. EMOTIONAL CONTENT- many have lost their lives, homes, and families due to the destruction of volcanoes
4. YOUR VOICE- I will be using my voice to tell this story
5. SOUNDTRACK- I will be playing suspensful music in the background
6. ECONOMY- there are many more things to learn about volcanoes this is just the beginning
7. PACING- 2 minutes 2 clips