Touch the firehose of ds106, the most recent flow of content from all of the blogs syndicated into ds106. As of right now, there have been 92780 posts brought in here going back to December 2010. If you want to be part of the flow, first learn more about ds106. Then, if you are truly ready and up to the task of creating web art, sign up and start doing it.

  1. ekeating

    STEAM Friday!

    by
    | Syndicated
    September 11, 2016
    Our second STEAM Friday was a success (thanks to Teachers are Terrific)!! The kids worked in groups to build bridges using only toothpicks, marshmallows and one piece of paper.  This was their second attempt building suspension bridges (last week ...
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    Back to School!

    by
    | Syndicated
    August 7, 2016
    I can't believe summer has already come to an end!  It went so fast, but I have to remind myself that not everyone gets two months off so I need to be thankful for the time I did have!  :)I am excited to start this year because we are trying ...
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    Greek Mythology Par II- Favorite People

    by
    | Syndicated
    April 8, 2016
    This week we read the story of Perseus and Medusa.  While it seemed a little gory for some of the girls, the boys all loved it!  I asked the students to write about their favorite person so far and as you can see, Perseus is the favorite!

    My favorite person is Perseus because he was brave and nice.  He went to get Medusa’s head and he did not turn into stone.

    - Hector



    My favorite person is Athena because she’s a goddess of beauty and what’s cool about her is she helps Perseus complete his quest.

    - Damious

    My favorite person is Perseus because he is brave and nice.  Something that he did that was brave was that he went to go get Medusa’s head to save his mom from Polydecetes.

    - Alex

    My favorite person us Perseus because he solved most the problems in the story.

    - Robert

    My favorite person is Perseus because his adventurous and brave.  He’s adventurous because he went to cut off the head of Medusa and he cut it off.

    - Julian

    My favorite person is Perseus because he saved his mom.  He saved his mom by getting Medusa’s head.

    - Josh


    Pandora's Box is up next week!
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    Introducing Greek Mythology!

    by
    | Syndicated
    March 12, 2016
    As we near the end of another school year, I decided I wanted to branch out from our current curriculum.  I remember learning about Greek Mythology when I was in 5th grade and how I loved every second of it.  I figured if I love something this much, maybe my students will too!  I did some searching on Teachers Pay Teachers and discovered amazing units by Nicole Shelby (find her units here).  Because Greek myths can be a bit racy, she took the main myths and re-wrote them in kid friendly language.



    We are a week into the unit, and my kids are in love!  They walk in every morning and ask when we are going to do more Greek mythology.  Music to my ears!! As we finished our first week, I had the students write their favorite thing they’ve learned so far or one new thing they have learned.  I hope these make you smile as much as they made me! J 



    My favorite thing I learned so far is King Midas is a greedy man and powerful man.  I learned that Zeus is the boss of all the Gods and is married to Hera and his brother Hades is the God of the underworld.

    - Juan



    Something new I learned in from the Golden Touch is never like gold more than your family because you can get sad when something happens.

    - Lupita



    My favorite thing I’ve learned so far is King Midas because he had the golden touch and because he learned his lesson that family is more important than money.

    - Emily



    My favorite God is Zeus because he is the king of every God and the king of lightening. 

    - Luis



    My favorite thing that I've learned so far was sometimes there is bad luck and good luck.
    - Josh T.

    My favorite thing I've learned so far is King Midas got the golden touch.  One new thing I've learned is never wish a foolish wish.
    - Priscilla

    More to come every Friday!


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    Compare and Contrast Part III

    by
    | Syndicated
    March 11, 2016
    Chimpanzees and Gorillas


                    Do you know a difference between a Chimpanzee and Gorilla? First, Chimpanzees and Gorillas both don’t have hair on their faces.  Second, Chimpanzees have brown fur, but Gorillas have black fur. Third, Chimpanzees have flexible arms, but Gorillas arms are longer than their legs.


    Have you ever wondered what Chimpanzees and Gorillas eat? First, they both eat bananas, fruit, and flowers. Next, Chimpanzees eat small mammals, apples, sprouts, and seeds. Third, Gorillas eat bamboo, berries, young twigs, tree bark, and plums.


    Do you know where Chimpanzees and Gorillas live? First, they both live in Africa, Rwanda, and Uganda. Then, chimpanzees live in Rain forest, middle of Africa, Burundi, and Jungles. Last, Gorillas live in Mountains, Dense Jungles, in small groups, and Western Lowland.


    FUN FACTS ABOUT CHIMPANZEES! IF Chimpanzees stand up they are 4 feet. Baby Chimpanzees stay with their mom about 8 or 9 mouths. When a mom dies another mother adopts it. Chimpanzees use tools to help them. Chimpanzees can be 6 or 7 times stronger than a human. Chimpanzees can get the same diseases as humans.


    FUN FACTS ABOUT GORILLAS! There are two different kinds of Gorillas a Eastern and Western. Gorillas are the world’s largest primates. Gorillas are almost related to humans, but they are 98% different. Adult Gorillas can eat up to (30kg) of food each day. Female Gorillas only give birth three or four times.

    I hope you had fun learning about Chimpanzees and Gorillas!


    By: Breanna and Nylah


    Gorilla





    Chimpanzee
    ________________________________________________________________
    Follow Deer and Chinese Water Deer


                    Can you tell a different between a Chinese water deer and Follow deer? First, both have small tails and have small legs and small horns. Second, A Follow deer have white spots or dots and have red and brown fur A Chinese water deer only have brown fur. Third, A Follow deer can be brown or black, A Chinese water deer can be white or black.


    Do you know what a Chinese water deer and a Follow deer eat? First, they both eat grass. Second, A Chinese water deer eat wheat, But a Follow deer eat fruit berry. Third, A Follow deer eat leaves, and chest nuts.


                    Do you know where a Chinese water deer and A Follow deer live? First, A Chinese water deer and a Follow deer both live in grassy places. Second, a Chinese water deer live by small trees, but a Follow deer live in woodland and in deer park. Third, a Chinese water deer live around river and streams, But a Follow deer live in the Isles, Europe and in North Africa.  Those are some facts about a Follow deer and a Chinese water deer.        


    By Eimy


    Chinese Water Deer

    Follow Deer


    Read more...
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    Compare and Contrast Part II

    by
    | Syndicated
    March 11, 2016
    Basking Shark and Great White SharkYou will learn about what Basking shark and great white shark looks like. First, basking shark has no teeth but great white shark have sharp teeth. Next, basking shark and great white shark are both 14 feet big. Then,...
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    Compare and Contrast

    by
    | Syndicated
    March 11, 2016
    The last few weeks, the students have been researching two animals and writing compare and contrast essays about those animals.  We've also been discussing blogging and how when we blog, the whole world can see our work, not just their teacher and...
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    Projects of Room 17

    by
    | Syndicated
    February 29, 2016
    It's been way too long since my last blog post, which can only mean one thing...we've been busy! The past few weeks the students in my ALD class (academic language development) have been working on research projects.  They first picked their group...
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    First Post of the New School Year!

    by
    | Syndicated
    September 29, 2015
    It has been a crazy start to the school year with a lot of changes...good changes!  This year, third grade is departmentalizing which means two teachers are teaching math, science and social studies, and two teachers are teaching reading and writi...
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    Digital Storytelling and My Journey- The End!

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 28, 2015
    Wow I can't believe this journey is over!  It was definitely a course filled with ups and downs, with a lot of frustration but a lot of satisfaction as well.  This final reflection and portfolio showcases my work through the last seven weeks in CU Denver's Learning with Digital Stories course taught by Professor Remi Holden. By completing this portfolio, I was surprised how much I accomplished in a short period of time.  Here is the link to my final portfolio, and below is my final course reflection. I hope you enjoy learning about my journey as much as I enjoyed it!

    Myself as a Learner in this Course

    The following addresses how I learned in this course, how I understand social learning practices, how my experiences in this course inform how I will learn in the future, and the ways I understand myself a connected learner.

    When I read the syllabus a few weeks before the course, I was a bit nervous of what was to come.  I didn’t even really understand what a digital story was.  Then as the first week began I watched the two screencasts and part of me felt better and part of me felt unsure.  Remi stated that it was ok to feel frustrated, confused, discouraged (I can’t remember all the adjectives but there were a few) so I knew I wouldn’t be alone in my feelings.  I am pretty sure the first week’s assignments took me about 3 days to complete as I was exploring DS106 and the different aspects.


    As the weeks went along, I became more and more comfortable with the course and assignments and even began looking forward to the DS106 assignment bank.  My progression of comfort in the course is very evident in my blog posts and tweets as the weeks went on.  This comfort level increased based on how I learned in this course.  At first, everything was new to me; blogging, tweeting, digital stories, DS106, Daily Creates, literally everything was new.  I learned by doing and trying.  I learned by viewing other classmates’ work and from trial and error on my own.  I learned by asking for help from classmates and Remi.


    This leads to how I understand the social learning practices given theory by Lankshear and Knobel.  My whole journey to become a teacher and more recently getting my master’s degree has had a fair amount of social learning, although I wasn’t really aware of the label until recently.  My cohort through CU Denver’s Urban Teaching Program became my go to for help and questions more so than my professors on my road to becoming a teacher.  Some of my master’s classes have had a lot of social learning and some had none.  This most recent course on digital story telling has had the most social learning.  My favorite definition of social learning comes from Lankshear and Knobel’s New Literacies chapter 7, but it is from a quote from Brown and Adler.  They say, “[Social learning] is learning based on the assumption that our understanding of concepts and processes is constructed socially in conversations about the matters in question and 'through grounded interactions, especially with others, around their problem or action” (p. 218).


    My social learning became evident when I asked for help in a blog post regarding DS106 assignments and within one hour of my post, I had two classmates offer suggestions to me.  I immediately took their advice and was on my way.  Even though this is my last graduate class of my program, I plan to continue incorporating social learning into my third grade classroom.  I have learned how powerful it can be, especially for younger students who are like sponges.  There is a lot of research out there that discusses how important social learning and group work is for English language learners and my plan is to incorporate as much as I can this coming year.


    My Co-Design of this Course

    The following addressed how this course was different from others I've taken, how I contributed to the development of this course and our learning community, how I was responsible for directing both my own learning and also the shared experiences of peers/others, and how I would have designed this course differently.

    With the exception of one or two courses in my program, this course was very different.  It challenged me to think on my own and rely on myself and the help from peers to figure things out.  My whole ILT program was online so there is always some degree of self-reliance, but here I was pushed farther than before.


    I feel I contributed to the development of this course by bringing a different perspective (that of an elementary teacher) to the group.  There were a lot of people in the class that had something to do with education, but to my knowledge I was the only elementary school teacher.  This allowed my peers to see this class through a different lens than their own.  Those that read my blog could see how the Lankshear and Knobel readings or DS106 assignments could be tied to elementary classroom.        

    I was responsible for directing my own learning through DS106 assignments and digital story critiques.  It was up to me to pick the DS106 assignments and then learn how to complete them.  This was a lot easier said than done.  There were so many assignments I chose that were a learning curve.  Whether it was figuring out Windows Movie Maker or Audacity or just simply how to embed things into a blog.  As far as the digital critiques went, I could choose a story that interested me or taught me something.  For example, I watched a lot of Ted Talks on education and I found myself paying close attention to the news or Facebook in order to find stories I wanted to critique. 


    One of the most helpful aspects of this course was reading other responses to the text.  Each person had a different take on the same chapter and it was very helpful to read other responses and put it all together.  What I had to say might have helped someone else that was struggling with a concept or something I read on another’s blog helped clear up my confusion.  This shared experience of working through a complex text together, I think benefited everyone.


    There are two things I would change about this course: the story critiques the second half of the class and the lack of grades.  I found that many of the remixes the second half of the course that people critiqued, including myself, were not as in depth or were more surface level than the critiques the first half of the class.  For example, remixed songs or fan fiction.  I realize those remixes are very important to some and maybe I am being naïve in saying they are more surface level or just for fun.  But for me and my journey through this course, I preferred the critique criteria the first half of the course where I could watch Ted Talks or news stories that were not remixes.  But then again, Lankshear and Knobel argue that everything could be considered a remix of something else so perhaps it just comes down to personal opinion.  Finally, it was hard for me to never get a formal grade for my work.  I know everything was read and kept track of, but I am person that needs that grade to keep me at peace that I am on the right track.  Although, I am assume if I was failing, I would have been notified by now!       

    My Understanding of Pedagogy

    The following addresses how I understand Remi's course design and ongoing decision-making, how this course changed my understanding of pedagogy, how my understanding of "instructor" changed, and some feedback to Remi about this course.

    I would be curious to see how this course was designed before this semester as I had heard it used to look very differently.  My understanding of this course design comes from what I have seen on DS106 as our syllabus correlates to the DS106 syllabus.  I very much appreciate Remi’s ongoing decision making throughout the course because I feel like he was really listening to our reflections and acting accordingly.  He wasn’t afraid to veer from the syllabus and update it to meet our needs.  For example, I was one of the people who was frustrated with the Daily Creates because there were very few I related to each week.  I never directly complained about them but would mention my concerns in my reflections and a few weeks later he made them optional.  This goes to show he was really listening and doing his best to meet our needs. 


    With that being said, this course didn’t necessarily change my understanding of pedagogy, but it did help confirm my beliefs.  I knew the importance of social learning, but like I said before, I didn’t have a name for it other than group work or collaboration.  Through Lankshear and Knobel’s final two chapters and the real time exposure I got to social learning, it has confirmed that I need to ramp up my efforts in my own classroom.            


    To me an instructor is someone who guides you along your journey and helps you reach your goals.  Their job is not to ‘push’ all this knowledge at you, but be there for support as you try to find your way.  I think all of us became ‘instructors’ in this course as we all helped each other through the journey.  Selfishly, it was comforting knowing others were going through my same struggles and I learned about their same struggles through their posts, whether it was technology issues, work or travel obligations, to confusion about assignments, etc.  Our ‘instructor’ was there each Monday to check in and help guide our work for the following week.  It was always nice to be showcased in a screencast as it validated and acknowledged the work we were doing.   



    All I have to say is if you had asked me 8 weeks ago if I was going to make it through this course, I would have said probably not.  I remember saying to someone, I don’t know how anyone with a job will have time to complete all of these assignments!  Not only did each week get easier and easier, but I began to look forward to things like the critiques and DS106 assignments.  I learned about a world I never knew existed (fan fiction and anime) and learned about new programs and web 2.0 tools that will be very useful for me in the future with my students.  I think it is very important that you emphasize to ‘newbies’ that it seems like a lot but it is worth the journey, if I could do it, anyone can!




    References:
    Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011). New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning. New York: Open University Press.

    Here is the embedded version on my portfolio.  To view the complete site, click here

    Read more...
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    Week 7 Reflection

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 26, 2015
    How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignments?
    This week, I completed all the assignments and they were on time!  My feelings towards the final chapter were mixed but in the end, I do see how they tied it all together and I really liked reading about the Q2L school.  I think if I read that book again I might get even more out of it...

    What gave you trouble? What did you enjoy most? What did you learn?
    Nothing gave me trouble this week, luckily.  I completed my Lankshear and Knobel response from Spain in my mom's apartment with great wifi and did my visual assignment when I got home.  I really enjoyed the visual assignment because I am starting to get excited about applying some of these things to my classroom.  I learned a little about html this week and how to embed a Google slideshow into my blog so that was exciting!  I also liked all the comments I received on my L&K post, it was interesting to read everyone's thoughts and responses to what I wrote.  

    What would you do differently? What questions to you have?
    I think some of my comments in my Lankshear and Knobel reflection came out in a different way than I intended.  I think some people reading my blog took my words to say that I don't like this class or that I am annoyed with all the "pull".  That was not my intention at all, it was simply my very first thought that changed very quickly once I dove in.  I have very much enjoyed this course and all the freedom and choice in the assignments.  I feel like this class has been better than most!  

    What are some of the larger issues surrounding your work?
    No issues!

    Score: 10/10

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    Backyard Photo Safari

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 24, 2015
    For this week's DS106 assignment, I decided to stick with the visual assignments because they are my favorite.  I chose one that might be boring for some, but the application to the classroom could be very powerful.  It is a backyard photo sa...
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    Moving Towards “Pull”- Last L&K Response:

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 22, 2015
    While reading this chapter I had a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions running through my head.  While the concept of social learning through a masters and teaching cohorts is intriguing and forward thinking, I would be upset if I was paying for a class and I had to learn everything myself...why pay for it then?  Now I don’t know all the specifics around tuition but my first thought was that would not be ok with me.  Perhaps this is because I am so used to learning via the ‘push’ model where I am told what to do, how to do it and when it needs to be finished; it is all I have known really until this class.  And I’m not going to lie, I felt a bit annoyed at first about this class and its freedom and flexibility.  I was thinking if I had known about DS106 previously, I could have accomplished the same result for free.  But then I lose the credits, the guidance of a professor, and a known, close knit group of classmates to collaborate with and seek advice.  Now reaching the end of the this class I realized how much I’ve learned on my own and how much I’ve explored on the web that I never knew existed.  So I guess I am a fan of the ‘pull’ concept and social learning.

    Moving towards the school in New York, I was encouraged by the findings.  I love the idea of what the Q2L School is doing and how they are going about their teaching.  Their goal to use “game like learning to connect student learning to the demands of the twenty-first century and support young people in their learning across digital networks, peer communities, content, careers, and media” (p. 246) is exactly why I chose instructional technology as my masters.  I want my students to be prepared for the 21st century and in order to be prepared; they need critical thinking, technology and problem solving skills that are so hard to teach from a text book in the standard classroom.


    Now, playing devil’s advocate...how does this concept work with kids from all different backgrounds?  I know typically New York is fairly diverse and these students were chosen from a lottery system, but as I was reading, I kept thing what background did the kids have?  Were they already proficient readers and writers?  Were they at grade level in math?  Do they have internet access at home and parent support?  

    These are the things I have to think about when trying to apply this concept to my situation, even though I know this case study was 6th and 7th graders.  It was also interesting to read that “school’s resourcing and operating costs fall within the parameters of the school’s district-approved budget” (p. 246), I would be curious to see what that looks like and how they got all the partnerships they did.  What the Q2L school is doing sounds expensive and something my district would never consider so seeing the financials of this all would be interesting!

    References:
    Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011). New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning. New York: Open University Press.
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    Reflecting from Spain

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 19, 2015
    • How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignment
    This week was a little rough for me traveling and being out of the country.  I managed to get all the assignments completed but one was a little late and I wasn't able to engage with my peers as much as I normally do.  I was finally able to respond to comments on my posts and I got to read peer work this morning.


    • What gave you trouble? What did you enjoy most? What did you learn?
    Obviously the wifi situation gave me a lot of trouble this week.  One hotel only had it in the lobby and it was a very weak signal and the current hotel's wifi cuts in an out all the time (obviously I can't be too annoyed because I am in a beautiful part of Spain enjoying the sun and the beach) but it was still stressful.  Another thing was the Blogger app on my phone doesn't let you use links but I was able to take screen shots of the fan fiction I read and hopefully people could read too if there chose.  

    I enjoyed learning about fan fiction, I had never seen it before and I liked reading different 'what ifs' and the crossovers between some of my favorite shows.  I have also learned to have a great deal of patience this week with all the frustrations surrounding trying to get wifi!

    • What would you do differently? What questions to you have?
    I guess there isn't much I would have done differently other than trying harder to get EVERYTHING finished before I left.  I don't get home until Thursday but my goal is to start tomorrow and see what I can get finished.

    • What are some of the larger issues surrounding your work
    I am feeling better about creating assignments related to my focal theme or at least finding ways to tie assignments into my theme.

    Here's to next week!

    Score: 9/10
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    Something new for a far away land

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 18, 2015
    Let me preface this post by telling you how nearly impossible it's been to blog from Spain...so much for being global...I couldn't get wifi to work in the hotel with a computer or an iPad.   I apologize about the lack of links but that's asking a ...
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    Chapter 7 Response- L&K

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 17, 2015
    As I was reading chapter 7 this week I kept thinking how glad I was I became a teacher when I did. Chapter 7 seemed like a play by play of many classes I took through CU Denver's Urban Teacher Program.  It also tied in nicely from last week's conversationI had with a few peers on collaboration and why it is the new norm in the classroom.  


    I think this definition from Brown and Adler on social learning sums it up perfectly, "learning based on the assumption that our understanding of concepts and processes is constructed socially in conversations about the matters in question and 'through grounded interactions, especially with others, around their problem or action'” (p. 218).  This is why schools are all about collaboration, especially with English language learners.  Students can learn just as much from their peers as they can their teacher.  Lanskshear and Knobel go on to say, “the emphasis shifts from ‘the content of a subject to the learning activities and human interactions around which that content is situated’” (p. 218).  So I am still teaching content but instead of me standing up in front of the class lecturing to 8 year olds about why 2 x 2 = 4, they are exploring together with manipulatives and coming up with the answer on their own, then we come back together and reflect on the learning.  We call it ‘the explore model’ at my school.  The same concept can work with any subject and this model allows the students to become the teachers and take charge of their own learning. 


    This concept applies to all levels of education.  To me, this course is what Brown and Adler describe as a ‘pull approach’ class where we are taking charge of our learning.  Brown and Adler say, “A ‘pull’ approach assumes ‘passion-based learning’ that is ‘motivated by the student either wanting to learn about, make, or perform something’” (p. 228).  We have a platform to start on and it is up to us to go in the direction we choose.  If we want to create a certain DS106 assignment but we don’t know how, it is up to us to figure it out, we don’t have someone walking us through step by step.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I was extremely nervous about this in the beginning, I wanted someone just to tell me what to do.  Now, imagine how this must feel to 8 year olds when I am nervous about the freedom myself??  


    Chapter 7 also confirmed in my mind that a classroom blog is so important for my students.  They need to know that someone out there besides me is reading/viewing their work.  Students need to know that what they are doing matters and it’s worth the effort.  The interactions they have in the classroom or online, even with just each other, are a great learning experience for them and it’s important for students to know that they can be the teachers too!



     References:


    Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011). New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning. New York: Open University Press.


    Read more...
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    Magical Light

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 14, 2015
    I was worried when I first saw today's Daily Create that I was going to have to Photoshop a picture in order to get 'magical light' but then it said you can just take a picture, much better for me.  I took this photo last week when I was in Michig...
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    Story Map – A Trip through France

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 13, 2015
    NiceFor this week's DS106 Assignment we got to choose a topic based on our interest.  I enjoyed the visual assignment I completed a few weeks ago, so I decided to try a new one.  There was one assignment that caught my eye last time but I did...
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    Week 5 Reflection

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 12, 2015
    How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignments?

    This week I completed all the assignments but I was a little late posting my Lankshear and Knobel chapter response.  I still received good comments from others so it all worked out!  I was better at my goal of tweeting people when I responded to their blog posts and I also remembered to check the ‘notify me’ box so I got an email when people replied to my posts or my comments.


    What gave you trouble? What did you enjoy most? What did you learn?

    I am struggling with Daily Creates and finding ones that interest me.  Maybe I am not creative enough or adventurous enough but nothing this week, except the first day’s pen a tweet, has interested me.  I also struggled with my mash up assignment, I had no idea how time consuming it would be!  First I completed the assignment using pictures and then realized it was supposed to be clips so I had to start over.  I wasn’t thrilled with my final result as I mentioned in my blog, but it was the best I could do!  The last thing that gave me trouble was my darn computer.  My personal computer has yet to work properly since the mysterious downloads a few weeks ago so I have been using my school computer.  It has been fine except when I go to watch people’s story critiques or look for ones of my own (here is the mashup I critiqued this week), and I can’t watch it because my computer is stuck in ‘safety mode’.  It has been very frustrating!


    I enjoyed watching and reading people’s critiques this week (I watched them on my phone or iPad), they made me laugh and opened my eyes to some things I never knew existed, like Trailer Cuts.  I am not sure I will spend a lot of time looking at them in the future, but it was cool to see.  I have never been one to just sit on the computer and watch videos nor do I ever think I will be, but I have found myself watching more and more that I see ‘trending’ on Facebook or the Today Show.


    What would you do differently? What questions to you have?

    If I were to do my mashup assignment over, I would like to research other movie making programs so I can learn how to make the transitions between clips smoother.  Like I said before, I don’t have much to work with but it is worth looking in to.


    I don’t really have any questions just general wonderings.  First, is there a way to check how I am doing in the course?  I know you don’t post grades but a quick note about my progress in the course would be nice or if there is something I need to be doing differently.  Second, I am struggling finding meaningful digital stories to critique, especially with these new remix literacy practices.  There are things I am finding that interest me, but I can’t figure out how to critique them given Lankshear and Knobel’s guidelines.  I know you said in your screen cast that you were changing the requirement to one critique so they could be more meaningful and deeper but how do I go deeper using these guidelines?  Anyone else having this trouble?


    What are some of the larger issues surrounding your work?

    Other than what I mentioned above, I don’t have many other issues.  I have figured out ways, thanks to some good advice, on how to relate the DS106 assignments to my focal theme and that is going better!


    Score: 9/10



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  20. ekeating

    A New Side to Ben Franklin

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 12, 2015
    I was holding out for my last Daily Create and I think they saved the best for last this week. Apparently Benjamin Franklin created The Drinker's Dictionary which has 228 synonyms for being drunk while he was sitting in a tavern around 1737. &nbsp...
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  21. ekeating

    To Blog or to Wiki…

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 11, 2015
    ...that is the question!

    I chose to respond to Lankshear and Knobel’s chapter 5 this week on blogs and wikis.  I was familiar with blogs from years past but never had my own until recently.  However, I was not familiar with wikis, other than Wikipedia obviously, so that was interesting to read about.  One idea/buzz word kept coming up in the chapter and in my head, collaboration.  For those of you that aren’t teachers, collaboration is the new (sometimes seems like the only) buzzword in education.  Everything is about collaboration.


    While I was reading, I kept thinking of new ways I could use blogs or wikis in my classroom to better collaborate.  I already have it in my head that I want to create classroom blog next school year where students can share their ideas or reading responses.  But a blog might not be as collaborative as a wiki.  When I finished the chapter, it became apparent that a wiki space would be better for collaboration within my classroom than a blog, but harder to set up.  Lankshear and Knobel state, “Wikis have great potential within education for promoting online and offline collaboration among educators and students within and across classrooms and institutions” (p. 158).  My only concern with a wiki is will it be too complicated to navigate for 8 year olds??


    Honestly, because I am not as familiar with wikis and because Lanskhear and Knobel say ‘setting up and contributing to a wiki is not as straightforward as setting up or posting to a blog’ (p. 158) I feel a classroom blog is the safer option for this coming school year.  However, Lankshear and Knobel do say that wikis ‘have considerable potential as a professional development medium for educators, as tools, resource hosts, and shared interest spaces’ (p. 158).  So maybe the answer here is stick with a simpler blog for 3rd graders in the classroom and create a wiki space for teachers to use and collaborate together. 


    My goal for this fall is to help classroom teachers better incorporate technology into their classrooms, we are even setting up a new committee to make this happen.  I created an edWeb space last semester to help make my goal a reality, but the problem with edWeb is you have to create an account and login every time.  A wiki space might be more useful so more than one teacher can contribute to the content or edit an existing entry to make it better.  It might also be easier to navigate or get to for the resistant to change teachers, we all have a few of those at our schools!


    Side note: I did a basic search on wiki.com for "technology AND elementary education" and a really cool wiki showed up.  This is a great starting point for me to use to help teachers next year realize the importance of technology in the classroom! 

    The only concern I have with incorporating a blog or wiki into my classroom is the lack of technology available to some of my students outside the classroom.  I would love more than anything to assign homework where students have to blog or contribute, edit or read a wiki, but the reality is most of my students don’t have a computer or internet access at home.  I will just have to be diligent about allowing students the time in the classroom to participate if they aren’t able to at home. 


    image taken from a Google image search


    References:
    Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011). New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning. New York: Open University Press.
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  22. ekeating

    Kindergarten Minds

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 10, 2015
    For this week's digital story critique I decided to keep it upbeat.  I have critiqued some fairly serious stories in previous weeks but Lisa's Taylor Swift parody inspired me!  I was also looking at Emily's critique to get some ideas and read...
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  23. ekeating

    Best of Ross and Rachel!

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 9, 2015
    Wow this assignment took me a lot longer than I thought it would and in the end I am only 80% satisfied with the finished product!  Today's DS106 assignment came in the form of a mashup.  I spent way too long clicking through the choices but ...
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  24. ekeating

    Happy #PenATweet Day

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 6, 2015
    I woke up this morning (Happy Monday everyone) and decided to get right to work.  I started with checking The Daily Create and I was so excited by what I found!  Last week I struggled with the idea of remixes and the digital age taking over a...
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  25. ekeating

    Week 4 Reflection

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 5, 2015
    Week 4 Reflection

    How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignments?
    This week I feel like I completed most of the assignments well.  It took me a long time to find a digital story I wanted to critique but in the end I was happy with what I found and critiqued.  I was not happy with my daily creates, I am not a good artist and was frustrated there wasn’t a wider variety this week.  The one I did today could have been really cool if I knew how to Photoshop better. 

    What gave you trouble? What did you enjoy most? What did you learn?

    I didn’t have much that gave me trouble other than I couldn’t decide which story to critique.  I spent at least 2-3 hours searching through knowyourmeme.com and political remixes and lost track of time.  I eventually found a cool beginners Photoshop contest on worth1000.com that caught my eye, and I blogged about here.  (I have to admit, I was a little saddened by the fact that no one liked my Vacation reference!)  I enjoyed mixing up the critique guidelines, it was refreshing to use other criteria.  However, I did have a hard time figuring out how to fit some of the digital stories I found with the new literacy dimensions. 


    I learned a lot this week from Lanskhear and Knobel as well as googling different remixes Lankshear and Knobel mention.  I had never thought about remixing in the terms they discuss.  Whenever I heard the term remix previously, I would think of a song that was redone or changed at a school dance.  It opened a whole new world to me!  I struggled with the part on remixes replacing the written word, as I discussed here, but discussions with classmates made me realize everything still starts with the written word: movies come from books or a screen play, music comes from written lyrics, etc.      

    What would you do differently? What questions to you have?

    One thing I keep forgetting to do that other classmates do, is tweet to the person whose blog I comment on.  A few people have done that for me and it helps me remember who has commented and on which thing.  However, I have a hard time expressing what I want to say in the 140 characters, still working on that!

    What are some of the larger issues surrounding your work?

    This week my issues revolved around the lack of knowledge around photoshopping and image manipulation as I mentioned before.  I know how to do basic things like cropping, changing filters

    (only because the app does it for me) and collages but I would like to learn more skills.  I was also limited this week because I only have my school computer with me on vacation and the software is limited (no photo manipulation software, no Windows movie maker, etc.  It was also frustrating because my computer is in safety mode and it wouldn’t let me watch 60% of the You Tube videos on knowyourmeme.com.


    Score: 10/10

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  27. ekeating

    You’re Welcome…

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 2, 2015
    for my beautiful Daily Create drawing.  Yesterday's option was to draw 'your favorite day with your best friend' and here it is!If you couldn't tell from my wonderful artwork, one of my favorite things to do is hike with my friends and dog, Tag. &...
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  28. ekeating

    Look Kids Big Ben

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 1, 2015
    In the last few weeks, people used photographs for their digital story critiques.  I thought they did a nice job, and I mentioned I wanted to critique a picture myself.  It definitely seemed harder than a video based on Jason Ohler's criteria...
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  29. ekeating

    The Future = Mind Blowing…Chapter 4 Response

    by
    | Syndicated
    July 1, 2015






    Chapter 4 Response

    I remember years ago hearing the word remix and thinking it was strange…why would someone “remix” a song?  I didn’t realize how much the concept has taken off.  It is an interesting argument that Lanskshear and Knobel make, when they say on page 97, that remix is a necessary condition for culture.  They go on to  say, “Cultures have been made – created – and they are made by mixing ‘new’ elements with ‘pre-existing’ elements in the manner of ‘conversations’ (p. 97).  I guess it makes sense when you think about our culture and how it has changed overtime.  Documentary and independent films have become very popular, as well as Photoshop and memes (just learned that’s what they are called) and apparently there is a whole other world out there with anime. 


    There was one sections that worried me a little.  Being a third grade teacher, where we spend a lot of time learning to write, grammar, spelling, etc., I didn’t love the section The status of digital remixing as a new form of writing (p. 99).  I realize they aren’t suggesting we replace writing with digital remixing, but I don’t want to lose the importance of the written word and have it replaced with remixes…maybe that is just my belief!



    This chapter has expanded my ideas of digital storytelling.  Before and throughout this course, my thoughts of digital storytelling have changed about 4 times.  Originally, I thought of digital storytelling as mostly serious and about real things.  Now, after reading this chapter, I’ve realized there are plenty of ways to tell a story in a lighthearted funny way.  In fact I have spent the last 2 hours searching different remixing websites and laughing at what people have created. 


    There was one remix I had not heard of before, the mashup.  The one that stood out, not sure how useful it is, but it’s cool, is the Wikipedia one that tracks the changes being made via Google Maps, Wikipediavision.  I am not sure why people need to know that, but it is definitely interesting to watch the map…kind of creepy!  Some of the mashups I looked at on programmable seem unnecessary or complicated, but it just goes to show how anyone can become a creator or inventor.     




    One question I have after reading this chapter is where does it all end?  Is this sort or remixing (music, fan fiction, mashups, etc.) sustainable for years to come?  Lankshear and Knobel make the case, along with others, that we have been remixing since the beginning of time and everything today is a remix of something pre-existing.  So what will the future hold?  How much more remixing can we handle?  I have written in my teacher manifesto that I am preparing my students for jobs that don’t yet exist, what will their jobs look like??

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  30. ekeating

    Professor Tag

    by
    | Syndicated
    June 30, 2015
    I had a lot of fun with the "Dog It Out" DS106 Design assignment this week.  It was frustrating at first to find a good photo editor program...I tried fotor but I couldn't  figure out how to add clip art and then I tried pixlr but that s...
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