Wordle and the Beginnings of our Flipchart

This week, we concluded our Scavenger Hunt and our slideshow practices. Using Picasa Web Albums was, as a whole, much easier than the Google Presentation. However, I think that is the case because Google Presentation is designed to be for power point style presentations rather than picture slideshows; whereas Picasa is designed specifically for photo sharing.

The second day of our class week was devoted to learning how to use the Prometheus board and designing our own Flipchart. I had no idea that the Promethean Board would be such a huge asset in the classroom! You can do anything with it and it seems like something the students would love to be able to use (create interest, even if it's for something other than the lesson itself).

So I am looking forward to working on this project. I even have a topic selected!!

This week, I was able to complete my second artifact of presented Web 2.0 Tools. Wordle is a tool that creates "word clouds". These word clouds can be of anything, whether it be vocabulary words or Dr. King's "I Have A Dream Speech" (the example from the presentation). It is very easy to use and is fun designing the cloud itself.

My Wordle Artifact - Triangle Congruence Theorems

In my artifact, I chose triangle congruence theorems as the words for my cloud. I just typed in the definitions that the McGraw-Hill Geometry book had for each theorem then added duplicates of important words (triangle, angle, side, et al.) to make those words bigger than others.

And as I said earlier, I am somewhat looking forward to our next assignment.

Scavenger Hunt

This past Tuesday was probably my favorite class of the semester thus far.  First we learned about Pixlr and how we could use it in the classroom.  I thoroughly enjoyed making my own artifact through Pixlr, and I think it could be very useful in my classroom.

my artifact using Pixlr

However, what pushed this week over the top was our Scavenger Hunt.  I would have enjoyed the assignment had Aaron and I just walked around campus.  I would have njoyed taking pictures of shapes on Pedestrian Walkway.  But we weren't satisfied with just that.

Aaron and I decided we'd take this assignment over the top and take pictures inside Neyland! (No we didn't jump fences or break laws, the gates were open.)  Just being in the  massive structure was impressive, but the shapes we needed to photograph were everywhere! Triangles here, right angles there.  We were blown away with how something so huge and complex was comprised of the most simple shapes.  It was really a wonderful experience.

Here is our slideshow using Picasa Web Albums

Here is my Math Instruments Slideshow using Google Presentation

Digital Imaging and Copyright Laws

This week was shortened by Fall Break (and a much needed break at that).  So on the day we were in class, we learned about digital imaging and copyright laws.  I will begin with the former.

Our Digital Imaging lesson was somewhat basic, as I have worked with photoshop and numerous other photo editing programs; however, the information was highly useful.  I did learn that 72 pixels equates to an inch, so the day certainly wasn't a wash.

We saw how resizing images changes the image itself and the size of the file.  If you try and make an image bigger than it already is, the new image will be fuzzy.  You certainly don't want that.  

The other half of our class session was given to copyright laws.  We watched a video comprised of Disney movie clips to educate us on the laws.  The video certainly fulfilled its purpose and I now know how the laws affect me.  And I can still hear Buzz Lightyear yelling "COPY!!", as it happened every ten seconds in the video. :)

Web 2.0 Tools - Google Forms

This week, we have started learning about and critiquing web 2.0 Tools.  Aaron and I were assigned Google Forms to look at and determine its uses in the classroom, its strengths and weaknesses, and how to use it.

The Google Forms Homepage

In Google Forms,  an educator can do many things to benefit his or her classroom.  Quizzes and "Ticket out the Door" possibilities are endless.  And since the forms are so easy to create and complete, these types of assessments can be used very frequently.  Educators can also organize parties, volunteer opportunities, and take polls with ease.  And as Dr. O'Bannon has showed all semester, Google Forms would also be a great way to provide feedback (as a student or teacher).

What I really like about Google Forms (other than how easy to use this tool is) is the fact that the results are very clear.  One can view the results in spreadsheet form, charts, graphs, and in multiple other mediums.

The responses displayed in spreadsheet form

The multiple forms of data

As you can see, there is a pie chart along with the names of the students who have taken the form.  Also, there is a chart that details the answers.  All of these forms, as I had stated, are easily understood and very effective in giving feedback.

All in all, I can see myself using Google Forms for multiple aspects of my classroom.  The tool's versatility allows for many various uses.  But no matter how I use it, I am sure it will be effective.