3 March - Digital Stories 2

I thought it was really interesting to learn about the copyright laws and issues that we face as teachers. I really would not have thought that teachers would be bound by these laws, but I am glad to know about them and to be aware of what I can and cannot use in my classroom.

It is so important for us to be informed of the different copyright rules that will affect us as teachers. With all of the technology that is out there, it would be easy to ignore these laws. It is very important for us to be aware of and use good digital citizenship and make sure that everything we use off of the internet and other digital technology is appropriate and legal. I was surprised to learn about Disney and Pixar and how tough they are about copyright issues. That is very useful information for me to have in my teaching career, as well as my personal life.

I want to make sure that my students are aware of and use good digital citizenship. They need to learn what is allowed and what is not so that they will never get themselves in a situation where they have used something that they were not suppose to use. I think we need to teach our students that just because it is on the internet, it doesn't mean that it is fair game. Someone produced these things and we do not have the right to use them without their permission. We teach them not to steal from the store and it is the same thing regaring digital technology.

24 February - Digital Stories 1

I really enjoyed learning about digital stories. The examples that were shown in class were very moving and amazing to watch. I am surprised at how powerful a digital story can be and the importance of getting everything just right, like the music, pictures, timing, etc.


I have not heard back from my cooperating teacher. I emailed him on Monday and am waiting for his response. We are doing our field in a 4th grade classroom, so we know that we will be doing Utah history for social studies. We are hoping that he will get back to us soon so that we can begin working on our digital story and other lesson plans. I like the way that you are guiding us step by step through this process. It seems really overwhelming when you look at the examples that you have shown us, but I think if we do it step by step it will help make it a simpler process.


I am excited to work on this digital story. It looks like such a fun tool to use in my future classroom. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a semester ahead of me in this program and she has already made a few more digital stories just because she loves to do it and wants to get ready for her field. I love using technology in the classroom and I know the students really enjoy it too. I hope to be able to get pretty good at making digital stories so that I can implement them into my curriculum and use them over and over again. What an awesome tool for a teacher to have. I am so glad that I am learning how to do this.

17 February - Vidcast Reflection

The vidcast that Alyse Starley and I prepared together is called "Order of Operations." Our vidcast goes along with the math curriculum for the 4th, 5th and 6th grades. We chose this subject for our vidcast because we think it is important for our students to understand the order of operations in a math problem. It is something they will be using during their many years of math study. We also really liked teaching the acronym of PEMDAS ("Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally") and thought it would be helpful and useful for them throughout their lives.

The potential drawbacks for using this vidcast would probably be that we could only use it once per year. Once they have seen it, they probably would not be interested in seeing it again. It would work well for a quick review of the concept and maybe refresh their memories as they move on from year to year.

I would love to use our vidcast in my future classroom. I would like to teach 5th grade which will be the second year of them learning and practicing this concept. Our vidcast could be used to help them to refresh their memories so that it will be easier for them the second time around. I remember learning the acronym for the order of operations and it has stuck with me for a very long time. Anything that we can do to trigger their memories or help them memorize something will definitely benefit the student. There are a lot of students who really struggle with math and I think that if we can make it fun and give them fun ways to remember, the students will be able to learn the information better and it will be more likely that they will actually retain it.

Alyse and I really enjoyed making the vidcast. It was a fun and easy project. We recorded it with my blackberry phone and uploaded it directly to youtube. It was a very slick and easy process. I am planning on doing as many vidcasts and I possibly can to help teach my students.

10 February - Vidcasts

I am really excited to be learning how to do vidcasts. I thought photostory was a fun and easy to use tool. It will be of great use to me in the future. I was also happy to learn that I can upload videos straight from my blackberry to youtube. That is very cool.



I am excited to finish my vidcast. It is fun to do things that you do not normally do. I hope that we will be able to use our vidcast during field and that it will be useful to our students. I'm not sure how I will continue to use vidcasts while I am in the program, but I intend to use them alot in my class. I can totally see why we are learning to use this valuable tool. Anything we can do to be more of a help to our students is important. I really love technology and appreciate learning all of this fun stuff.



I love doing vidcasts and will be using them in my classroom alot. I think it will be fun to teach my students how to do vidcasts and I was thinking we could do one as a class for a younger group of students. They could teach them how to do something that is difficult for them. I also will be uploading vidcasts to my website to show parents and students how to do different tasks. I think the parents will greatly appreciate this tool because it will be a great tutorial to help them to help their students.

3 February - Podcasts

Podcasts are very cool and can be very useful. I had a lot of fun making my podcast. I had no idea that I could make a podcast on my cell phone and that it would be so easy. It was a really fun and interesting class.

In my life today, I can see that podcasts can be very entertaining and fun. I'm not sure how I would use it with the other students in my cohort, but I know that I will be teaching my own children how to make them and they will absolutely love it. My 11 year old son loves computers and all kinds of technology. He will think that this is the coolest thing ever. I can't wait to help him make his own podcast.


Using podcasts could be very useful to me as a teacher. I love the idea of giving students instructions through a podcast, or if I am going to be absent from school, I could give my sub information through a podcast. I think I could use it to help my students understand something a little better. It would be great to give them step by step instructions for a project. Technology is so amazing and I intend to use it in every possible way in my classroom. I can't understand why a teacher would not learn everything they could about different types of technology because it can absolutely help them teach their students. I would love to teach my students how to make a podcast. I know that they will enjoy it and it can be useful to them as well. I plan on using it on my website to help give instructions for homework and other projects and it will be a great tool for the parents to know and understand what I expect from the students.