Thursday, September 4, 2014

Google + Thing 10

Google +

I will need to work at it and I like that I have joined the English Department one which will allow for easier sharing of articles and things that can be used for class. I have created two google+ communities - one for the sharing of materials in my SL 11th grade Lang and Lit class and one for the HL class. I will see how it goes this year with the two classes and how it can be used. I will need to explore some ways it can be used effectively because I don't want it to be a dumping ground for materials never looked at by students.

I am excited to use this system since everything seems to be linked to google I hope it will be easier than some other programs since I am always dialed into google.

Yeah....

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Vietnam Travel


Thing 9 - Twitter

Thing 9 - Twitter

I will admit that it was a little daunting figuring Twitter out. The profile was easy enough with Alicia's tutorial and through those I understood the concept. When it came to actually tweeting I sought help - I spoke with David Collett and Alexa Mazarakis for a little input as to what I was supposed to be doing. I learned two very different ways to approach twitter so I would suggest asking a friend to sit down with you for five minutes and get the low down.

I will use this professionally and have already read some very interesting articles posted. I will use it to broaden my academic articles and finding great material and keep up on events in the world. I will explore this throughout the summer and find more people to follow.

Thanks.

My handle is debettencourtw

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Thing 5 - Screencasting iMovie

Thing 5 - Screencasting iMovie

I created a screen cast for iMovie - it is the most basic one but I liked it. I found screencast-o-matic easy to use once I got help downloading it to the computer. I think the free version is enough for the way I would use it. It was fun. I think I will use this and hope to become a little less nervous - I did this recording around four times. One of the reasons was I had audio issues on the iMovie not the screencast and decided not to worry about it in the end. My first recording was um..spectacular and so I rerecorded with less ums.

 http://youtu.be/BOiu9ELuXgw

Here is my youtube connection I hope it works.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Thing 6 Organizing and Saving Content Online

Thing 6 Organizing and Saving Content Online

I totally love Evernote. I have not really used it since I got the account, but this forced me to explore it and I realize it is key for organizing my online sources. I have been filing things in emails and really it is pathetic and I can never find the articles or video's or images I saved. It is also great for adding things people send to me. I can have a folder for Language and Literature and different parts of the course and then break them down in to topics. I will definitely be using Evernote now. I didn't like Pocket as much, I found it a bit harder to navigate and save content. It took me a little while to figure it out. I do not think I will use this one as most of what I find and save is long term. Enjoyed this activity and already have  several folders for my start of the year in 11th grade.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Thing 8 Storybooking

Digital Storytelling
I enjoyed this experience very much. I enjoyed the process of how to create a digital story and could see doing it both for personal and professional reasons. This digital story is a little personal but it also for a class. The assignment will be to choose 1-6 photographs linking to 3-4 different aspects of your life that have contributed in making your identity. This links to a unit on social relationships and identity. Students will first consider what are the most important factors that have contributed to who they are - for me it is where I am from, my family and friends, my love of literature and my love of travel. I actually created a second one for Macbeth and introducing the historical aspect of Macbeth, I wrote a rap and then had visuals and words added to focus on certain text, which is important. I have added both.

Personally it would be great to create a video of a holiday with my kids for family and friends to see since we are so far away.

Identity



Macbeth