Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bombardment_of_Fort_Sumter,_1861.png	Look at the picture of Fort Sumter and learn one thing about it. Be ready to share with the class.	near Charleston, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War.
2. Emancipation Proclamation http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Emancipation_proclamation.jpg	In a Dictionary look up the word "emancipation" and tell 3 people what it means and have them sign their signature saying that you told them.	Whitehouse July 22, 1862
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvA0J_2ZpIQ	Watch the video and write down one thing that you don't understand, and one thing that you do understand that you liked	Gettysburg September 22, 1862
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVxaYz0SRMY	Watch Video and answer these questions: 1. Why do you think Martin Luther King decided to give his speech in Washington DC, near the White House at the place where a statue of Abraham Lincoln is? 2. Abraham Lincoln talked about freeing slaves in 1862. Martin Luther King talked about his children being treated fairly in 1963. That is over 100 years later. Why do you think after 100 years Black Americans were not being treated fairly still? 3. How do you think Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King are similar? 4. Even though he lived a hundred years before, do you think Abraham Lincoln helped Martin Luther King in his dream?	Washington DC August 28, 1963

Difficulties

I think there could be a number of difficulties with having students do an assignment like this. Technology didn't work properly, and with a lot of little kids with technology that doesn't work could be a nightmare. It could be a struggle trying to teach the children how to use the program. Do the difficulties outweigh the benefits? NO WAY! At least in my opinion. The sooner kids can learn how to do these things and increase their tech knowledge and find more avenues for creativity the better.



I commented on

Ashlee Allred's Blog
Brielle Romney's Blog
and Laila's Blog

TPACK in the house

TPACK is when a teacher uses technology effectively to combine pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge in a way that helps their students learn. So in other words, the use of technology itself helps children to understand content better, and helps teachers have more effective pedagogy.

Pictures of our Storyboard...get excited

This video is a multimodal representation. It will help our kids learn the alphabet in a fun manner. The video can be played over and over so the students can learn from the repetition. We also make associations with the letters and words that contain those letters. The combination of the pictures, the letters, and the word will help the children make assoiations between the three.

Lauren and I did a google video chat.

Valuable Lessons

I think the most valuable lesson that I have learned is the potential for great teaching opportunities with using a website. I spent a lot of time on my content page because I was developing ideas of what I could do in an actual classroom. Being able to add videos and songs and pictures and links to the places that you want the students to go is so cool. My nephews and nieces love it when the teacher shows them a youtube video about the rain cycle, and they love coming home and showing me and their parents the same videos. I am and advocate for making learning fun whenever you can. If I can learn to create a fun, interactive website that they enjoy getting on they will have the opportunity to learn without really realizing that they are learning.

I also think the calendar idea is great to let parents know what assignments are due and when. I think giving the parents a clear idea of the course materials at the beginning of the year will help a lot of parents be involved in their child's education.

Here is my website (also posted in the sidebar): Perkins Education

I have quite a bit of technology experience, however with a lot of the basic technologies I haven't learned to use the program to the full capacity (Microsoft Word/Excel/Powerpoint). I have used video editing programs and photo altering programs (Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premier) and am fairly savvy with them. I have also used audio editing software.

I can figure out quite a bit by myself if I just look at it for awhile and familiarize myself with the programs.