The Art of Digital Storytelling

We all know that storying is an ancient art form passed on from the generations before us. In fact, it goes back centuries, just ask the Grimm brothers and where they got most of their fairy tales! (Well, you can't ask them because they aren't alive, but if you did ask them they would tell you they got their stories from listening to people verbally share them.)

With the 21st century learner being a type of learner that succeeds extremely well when utilizing technology, the best way to have your students tell a story is through a podcast (also known as a digital story). 

There are many applications your students can use to create a podcast (Garageband for Mac users and Trakax for PC users). Once students write out their scripts, they can then record themselves reading their script. Once that's complete they can upload their images to go along with the script. For some added pizzazz students can add music to go along with their story. Once the student has completed any final editing it's time to publish it and share it! 

It's a great alternative to a written assignment and allows for creativity and critical thinking. Give it a try and you'll be amazed at what your students produce, and even yourself! With some practice you, too, can become a professional digital storyteller!

Going On A Scavenger Hunt (without leaving your computer's side)

Most people think of scavenger hunts as running around with a map to multiple locations in order to find whatever it is you're searching for. Take that concept and apply it to using the world wide web and voila, you have a wonderful activity for your classroom!

It's quite simple. Either you can make up your own where students go hunting through the web to find answers on multiple websites or find one that's already been created that fits your lesson. Kids seem to love it and it's a great way to not only reinforce the lesson being taught but to also reinforce the importance and valuable use of utilizing technology in the classroom to enhance a lesson!

So get out there and look up a few on the web that have already been created. And then brave the web and create your own (if you are adventurous enough)!

1 Computer for All of Us? Really?

So, here's the dilemma- you're teaching in a classroom and you want to utilize the single computer you have, but you have 25 students. How do you make it work?

Here are a few options:

1. Use it as a presentation tool.
2. Use interactive group software (taking turns followed by group discussion).
3. Use it as a learning station (for resource or for reward).
4. Use it for teacher productivity.

Ok, so now you can begin to see that 1 computer in a classroom of 25 students and 1 teacher is a possibility. So long as everyone is engaged and using the computer to enhance the lesson rather than control the lesson than everyone should get something out of using the computer in the classroom.

If you have a school library or your students all have access to a home computer and the internet then you can do webquests and scavenger hunts. Both use the internet to do an activity that draws information from the web. A webquest is more involved and is based off of a culminating activity, uses higher order thinking and is very structured. A scavenger hunt is knowledge based, doesn't require higher order thinking and is not structured.

By clicking on sites like http://faculty.usiouxfalls.edu/arpeterson/scavenger_hunts.htm for scavenger hunts, and http://www.bestwebquests.com/ for webquests you can get an idea as to what they look like and how they function as classroom/homework activities.

Trust me, they are fun and students like to do them, so give them a whirl and see what happens. Just make sure they compliment your lesson(s) and you teach students how to do them before assigning them.

Enjoy surfing and hunting on the web!

Creating Your Own Web Page: Easier Done Than Said

Usually the phrase goes as such: "Easier said than done." But not when it comes to creating your own web page. With Google Sites it's nearly self explanatory! Once you either create an account or log in you can click on what sort of theme you want your page to have and if you want everyone or only those you choose to view it, and voila, your very own web page is born!

Once on the site you can edit and fine tune what it is you want your page to say and display. It may take a bit of time exploring but I promise you within a short period of time your web page will be up and running just the way you want it.

Creating your own web page is extremely useful when it comes to the classroom. For one you are able to keep parents involved just by sending them the link (and making sure you update your page). Also, your students are able to go onto your page and see what assignments are do, what to expect in class the following day, classroom/school news (along with any other big news stories you want to share), resources to assist them in studying and homework and ways to get in touch with you (along with anything else you want them to have access to). You can show this to your administration as a way of expressing how connected and in touch you are with your students and the students' parents. It's a great way to stay organized!

Just make sure to keep these 5 web page design rules in mind and you shouldn't have too much trouble (besides having to decide things like what color you want your page to be): appropriateness (know your audience), placement (know the expectations of your page), consistency (keep pages looking the same), usability (make it easy to navigate) and currency (always update).

Now off you go! And be proud because once you finish your page you can the owner of a web page!

Websites - What Makes Them "Good"

So in this day and age people not only have their own phone numbers (a cell phone number) but now many people are creating their own websites for an assortment of purposes. Knowing how to create one, and a good one at that, is extremely important because of how relevant it is today.

In order to have a good website, you must:

• make it as simple as possible
• create it to look attractive and professional
• make it well organized with a top-down design
• choose appropriate colors (ones that don't clash and that are contrastive)
• be consistent in format (when opening new pages off of your website and color choices)
• have valuable content
• scale your content so it fills your browser window (for people to view with all monitor sizes)
• create it for multiple browsers (since PCs and Macs use different home browsers)
• proofread before running the site for errors
• post "last updated" date and a means of contact (e-mail or home/work address)

If you follow this list of "must do" for your website you are bound to create something wonderful! And it's all about experimenting, so never feel like you're stuck with one format or look. Websites are constantly being redone so there is no shame in diving back in once it's already been up and running.

Good luck and enjoy the many website possibilities!

Technology: Man's New Best Friend

If what I'm about to describe isn't you, then pretend like it is:

     Imagine you are paralyzed from the neck down. You are in middle school and need to type an essay for history class. You wheel over to your wheelchair accessible desk, you speak to your computer to open up Microsoft Word, and you say your essay out loud like a performance for your computer and it is all translated into text in a document. 

Is this magic? No! It's a reality for many people. Adaptive technologies are making lives so much easier for people with all sorts of disabilities. The one I described uses a software, like Dragon Naturally Speaking Software, that allows a person to use voice command to access the internet, e-mail, Microsoft software, and so much more.
It's beyond amazing, "it's the best thing since sliced bread." So many people now can accomplish things they thought their disability would never allow them to do.
Can we all just take one moment to truly praise how far technology has come? Go ahead, close your eyes and take a second because things like Adaptive Technology really show technology as man's new best friend.

Web 2.0 for the 2.011 Year and Beyond

It's important for students to have motivation in school. What better motivation than telling them they can publish their assignments to a website on-line for not only their teacher but peers (and possibly others, depending on the privacy setting) to see? They can get feedback from their teacher and peers, edit and resubmit their work, and have their own site to take charge of (they can use web applications like blogs to journal their thoughts, exactly like what I'm doing right this moment). These tools empower to our youth today.

So besides empowering our youth, which is an extremely important task, we must empower ourselves! I was introduced to a site called www.delicious.com (please check it out, it's a very easy website to navigate). Del.icio.us is a web application that allows you to collect all of your favorite sites, tag them in a way so you can remember (as well as staying organized; for example, if you tag several sites as "Contemporary poetry" you can click on that tag and see all of your sites that fall under that specific tag. Genius, right?), and share them with others. What a fantastic tool!

So go ahead, make a Del.icio.us account, collect your favorite sites, tag them, and go back and see how easy to use and wonderfully organized it truly is!

How can a spreadsheet make my life easier as a teacher?

I remember my teachers maintaining grades in a grading book, and as I got older I was required to maintain my own grade by keeping a "Record of Progress." But we live in the 21st century, and today's teachers use technology to maintain grades rather than an old-fashion booklet and pen.


Microsoft Excel spreadsheets help not only to save time but to keep every student's grade perfectly organized (so long as you enter the correct formulas). A teacher can create a spreadsheet for individual tests while also maintaining overall grades. A teacher can find the average grade on an exam or current standing in the class, can see which questions on an exam most students answered incorrectly, and can create charts of these grades for visual aides (be it for the students, parents, or the teacher). Isn't technology wonderful?


By using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in the classroom a teacher isn't only making life easier but keeping the classroom organized by clearly understanding through visuals how each student is performing and what areas the student(s) are struggling in. With this information the next day's lesson plan can be tweaked in order to make sure all the students are understanding the material. The teacher can use the information of which students are struggling and which ones are successful in order to provide material that targets students with specific needs (be it a deeper exploration of the material or re-circling the material in a different way). Spreadsheets help make this a much easier task.


If you are a teacher and welcome the use of technology then trust me when I say Microsoft Excel spreadsheets will become one of your new best friends... that is, of course, if it's not already!

Student:Technology::Teacher:?

Of course I know kids today are "with it" when it comes to technology. But I never stopped to think about how it effects the way teachers teach and students learn. It's important for teachers to teach in a language the students will understand - the language of technology- and to allow students to learn and create using technology. Students need be taught in a way that is current and relevant to them because their everyday lives involve things such as computers and laptops, the internet, blogs, cell phones, text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail, video games, television, DVDs and CDs, Ipods, Nooks and Kindles - technology. Not every lesson requires technology, but it would be harmful for a teacher not to use it; the 21st century is submerged in technology and the students are wired to not only understand it but thrive when using it. It would only be a disservice to the 21st century students for teachers not to incorporate technology in the classroom.