Multi media video

I did not get the video link put up before. 
https://youtu.be/ZxB9EJQEoHA

Article Review

For some reason my article review from week 1 never got posted.  So I am reposting it again.  Hopefully that still works..

New Ways of Using Multimedia in Classroom

                Multimedia can stimulate more than one sense at a time, and in doing so, may be more attention-getting and attention-holding.  With this being said multimedia means using more than one medium of expression or communication.  We are combining different medias in a presentation to convey a message or information to an audience.  We have so many students who learn in different ways so multimedia can help solve that problem.  If they are visual you can have visual examples, while other students like to see the words and hear them at the same time.  This can be done with multimedia as well.  A lot of students like to watch videos to learn more about a subject.  This way they are engaged and are enjoying and getting more involved in the subject.

                As educators we are needing to adapt to the latest technology as our school districts are adapting to them as well.  With this being said we need to make sure we are up with the times.  We need to make sure we get the training we need to stay up to date.  Many school districts offer trainings, if not they will send you to trainings to make sure you comfortable with what you are doing.  Here are some great examples of using multimedia in the classroom.  Youtube videos for the visual learners, podcasts for the auditory learners, and interactive games for the tactile learners.  By combining all these things in your classroom you are not only hitting on the aspects the students enjoy but you are also helping them learn different ways of learning that they may also end up enjoying.  Overall the use of multimedia in the classroom is becoming more evident and with the increase of technology it will just become a part of the norm.  I am looking forward to these advances to see where teaching goes over the years. 

Bahaskar, Santosh. "New Ways of Using Multimedia in Classroom." EdTechReview. ETR. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Curriculum Video

For special education curriculum for high school it gets a little tricky.  We don't have a curriculum or standards per say but the school district I work in has a "Orange Binder" that we use that tells us what we need to teach and cover within the school year.  How you teach it and what you use is up to you.  Part of what we have to teach in the next step after high school.  This project came just in time for the end of the school year so I decided to do mine on telling the students about the Young Adult Program that we have for them after they leave high school, to continue to get services until they are 21.  This is a great opportunity for the students and we encourage them to all go and check it out.  So glad I work in a school district that has a great opportunity like this for the students to continue their work skills and work towards finding employment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ-zsl0zJkc&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

VoiceThread

Really cool tool and was nice to look back and reflect on the class since it went by so fast!  I really learned a lot and cannot wait to for more information to come. 

Screencast

I absolutely loved how easy using Screencast was.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like it but I really did.  I am glad there is an option to not have to use the video camera as I am not feeling well and have been wiping and blowing my nose all day.  With this being said I can see myself using this in the future for sure.  It is a great way to video tape a lesson if someone misses it or I could have the kids work on independent lessons.  I would not have to explain the lesson to the class they could just pull it up on their lap tops and get right to work.  They could ask me if they have questions but then it is really independent and we are working on creating that with my students.  I also like how you can have multiple windows open at a time.

I am learning so many new great things in this class and I cannot wait to bring them into my classroom in new different ways!  :)

http://youtu.be/oqNjjJede_0?hd=1

Free Technology For Teachers

I found this website by Richard Byrne very helpful with technology in the classroom.  So many school districts are 1-to-1 or are going to be 1-to-1 so this is a great resource to use to stay up to date with all the new technology and freebies out there for us educators.  The one that I found that I am going to start using in my classroom is on animated science lessons.  Science is a subject that I have a hard time finding materials for my students to understand.  We still have to teach curriculum even though most of the information I am teaching to my students is not helping them with their life skills which they need, I am teaching them subject area content.  Science is one that is hard to put into easier words for kids to understand but these animations are fun and easy to follow for students.  I cannot wait to implement it into my classroom and I know my students will enjoy this new way of learning science. 

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/03/a-nice-set-of-animated-science-lessons.html#.VvK_rSGjOFw

I think if I had more time I could for sure make a blog about resources to use in the classroom and have my students look at them and learn more about them.  Their attention span in limited though so a lot of the times doing group activities is easier can you can get their attention, where if they are on their own to search on the Ipad they easily get distracted and end up on websites they are not suppose to be on during learning time.  I work a part time job and also coach so that takes up a lot of time for me but I like to search around and find new resources to implement in my classroom.  I find other teachers blogs helpful but I don't think that I would come up with one on my own to share with others.  I think having a personal blog is fun and blogging about new resources I find would be fun but I don't think I would be able to be consistent with it.  There could be days I could blog a few times and then I could go like a month without blogging.  I do enjoy blogging so I want to continue to use these ideas and learn more but I need to get more into a routine I think.  I am very excited to start using Richard Byrne's blog for my classroom and to see what other new things I can learn about technology!

Powtoon

I decided to use PowToon as my resource for the blog post this week.  I really enjoyed this website and found it very user friendly.  They have some great templates put together that you can then just tweak to make it your own.  I liked this because a lot of the time with our crazy schedules we do not have time to start something from scratch but you don't have to with this great resource. 

This could easily be used in the classroom in many ways, the kids could make their own projects from this resource, they could learn more tips for making videos, and they could just enjoy watching pre-made videos as well.  You need to set up an account but it is free which is great.  One of my co-workers is teaching a technology class and I cannot wait to let her know about this resource.  I have been sharing with her a lot of the things I am learning from this class and she is loving it.  She is a little older so the technology piece is something she is still learning so I have been helping her implement some new things into her classes.  I think this could be used at all grades and subjects, you would just need to work with it and make it work for your classroom. 

https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/bHb1nmBuLUA/welcome/

Animoto Video

I have used Animoto in my classroom before with my students.  They really enjoy making their own videos and all the cool things you can add to them.  I learned about Animoto from one of my co-workers as she had used it with the kids before in class.  We ended up making a video for the end of the year and the kids really enjoyed putting the photos in the video and putting in their own music.  It was a lot of work and took them a while to complete the project but they enjoyed having something to call their own.  I will continue to use this great resource in my classroom! 

Here is my video that I used for my cooking class as a good introduction to cooking. 

https://animoto.com/play/TaE48dsXI6TrdYToHaNvug

About Me

My name is Anna Runge, I am 23 years old, and I currently live in Omaha.  I am a high school alternate curriculum program teacher at Millard South.  My classroom has 9 kids who are cognitively at kindergarten to third grade academic levels.  Some of them are non-verbal and use communication devices while others can carry on a conversation.  This is my second year in the position and I really enjoy the kids and the school I am at.  I recently got a job offer from Lincoln Public Schools so I am moving to Lincoln this summer which I am very excited about.  My family is in Lincoln and it will be nice to back where I grew up.  I went to college at Wayne State College and graduated in 2014. 

As far as technology goes I feel pretty comfortable using it in the classroom as I use it daily in my own personal life.  In college I had a few classes where we had to use technology or participate in blogs or twitter chats so I have some experience.  I am excited to learn more from this class though as I feel you can always learn more about technology.  In Millard we have HPs and I am use to Macs so that was a change for me.  I am now getting use to HPs and I will be switching back to Macs in Lincoln but it will be nice to be back in the Mac world.  I have an Iphone and Ipad so Macs are more convenient I think.  In my classroom I have many kids who have Ipads for communication devices and we also have a classroom Ipad we got this year to use for instruction.  This is great as I have 5 devices to 9 kids so we can do small group activities.  Millard is going to be 1-1 at the high school level in January of 2017 so that will be exciting for them.  Lincoln is a little faster on the technology and most of their schools are 1-1 on technology and they have a lot more technology I am realizing, with being a bigger school district.  Millard gives us technology that we need in the classroom though such as a Smartboard which I use daily with my students and they love being interactive in the class and participating.  We use 14.1 version of Office at school. 

After being out of school for a year I decided that I wanted to go back and get my Master's degree and continue learning.  I am someone who enjoys school and I was excited about the opportunity of doing a new program.  With my undergraduate degree being in special education I did not get much work with curriculum and instruction so I thought that would be a good path to pursue.  With this degree I hope to learn more and use this new information in my classroom.  I am not sure what else I can do with this degree but I plan later on in life getting into administration.  With this I feel I would be comfortable being a curriculum advisor in the future or being the curriculum and instruction administrator.  Overall this masters degree is for me to stay up to date with the new technology and ideas out there.   I want to continue to learn and grow and share the information with my students to help them be the best they can be in their future endeavors.