Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wk 4 Scratch Tutorial
After hearing Ron Smith share what students like to create with at his school I decided to give Scratch a try. Any form of programing usually makes my stomach turn, but this program was created for younger users. As I was viewing the Scratch tutorial I discovered Sprites and backgrounds that could be uploaded. Then I added some scripts, or commands, to the images. Further practice is needed because I can only get the butterfly to move when I press the right arrow, left arrow and space bar. The click and drag option for creating in Scratch seems user friendly. I think my students would pick up on this much faster and have a blast.
WK 4 Art of Possibility Chap. 10-12 & Coda
Chapter 10 Being the Board
Always seeing different situations in life as a game board with rules and expectations would seem to turn any situation into a realm of possibilities. Zander’s questions: “How did this get on the board that I am? and how is it that I became a context for that to occur?” seem to help turn any situation into a learning and growing experience.
As a teacher, I am always looking for an open way to correct a mistake without shutting down progress. Zander’s phrase “How fascinating!” seems so simplistically used when an error occurs. It leads right into a springboard for learning without hindering creativity.
Ben taking the blame for the mishap during the symphony performance so as to not cause disharmony in his group was a story I could relate to all too well. Situations like this have risen both within my family life and professional life. People would probably work better together when there seems to be cooperation and a sense of equality.
Chapter 11 Creating Frameworks for Possibility
Preparing oneself for defense against a downward spiral would take a lot of practice. Zander’s plan for creating a framework seems fairly reasonable especially when
possibility overcomes the downward spiral. I like how he plans the framework for possibility around these three words to create a focus: purpose, commitment, and vision.
Chapter 12 Telling the WE Story
What happens when togetherness, relationship, and communication are not appearing to be an option? What if some people to not want to be a part of the we factor? Zander does give some examples of some negative attitudes that can be changed by the WE approach, but what if one or more of the people involved do not want to be reclaimed?
Coda symbol retrieved from Wikipedia on June 28, 2009 at http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coda
Coda
Coda is an Italian word for tail, and in music it brings a movement to a conclusion. No wonder the Zanders chose this for the ending chapter of their book. They do an excellent job of briefly restating the key elements to practicing how to open up the realm of endless possibilities in our lives.
Photo of tailless lizard by Inesplicable’s Photostream. Retrieved on June 28, 2009 from
http://search.creativecommons.org/#
WK 4 Art of Possibility Chap. 7-9
Babe Movie Trailer retrieved on June 28, 2009 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyb4FUUMwI&feature=related
Chapter 7 The Way Things Are
Babe, the Gallant Pig is one of my favorite children’s books and movies so I could definitely relate to Zander’s comparison of the duck and cow to the way things are. I believe it is natural for most people to let their calculating self take over, but Babe demonstrated how a central self could take a somewhat hopeless situation and basically change the way people felt about him on the farm. Most of the other characters spoke to him in a downward spiral of pessimism, however, Babe continued try out possibilities towards the dreams and visions he had for his life as a sheep herder.
As an educator I highly support taking mistakes and turning them in to learning experiences. Many of the students I have taught in the past are so afraid to make mistakes that it hinders them from participating in discussions and being creative in their work. When I make mistakes in class I try to model how to first acknowledge my error and figure out how to make it better without putting anyone or anything else down. Most of the time it is common for them to try to blame someone else for their mistakes. I look forward to practicing the art of welcoming mistakes with my future students.
Chapter 8 Giving Way to Passion
Entering this Educational Media Design and Technology program was one time I can clearly see myself practice Zander’s two steps to giving way to passion. Before this program I was holding back when it came to technology. Using it with students was uncomfortable and I kept getting in my own way because I wanted to be in control. Then I realized technology is not a fad that will come and go, and my students always get excited no matter what we do when I incorporate any form of technology or media in a lesson. At that point I became passionate about wanting to use technology to the max, and I entered this program. Little did I know that his second step, participating wholly, would just naturally immerse me into a wealth of information on a daily basis that this program provides. Now on a regular basis I go way beyond my comfort zone, try new things, and never give up as I experience different aspects of media design and technology (all on one buttock!).
Chapter 9 Lighting a Spark
Hearing Zander’s approach in this chapter that some things are done better in person was a welcomed relief. Communication seems to be moving so quickly towards solely online that it was good to hear he still promotes face to face interaction at times. People still need to experience emotions and reactions that can only come from personal contact.
Recently while trying to start a business my husband’s mother had a similar philosophy to Zander’s lighting a spark dealing with how to take a no and not see it as a downward spiral. She stated, “A no just means they haven’t gotten enough information yet.”
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Week 4 Creative Wiki Ideas
Create and use cards, games and cartoons.
I am seeking creative ideas to add to my summertime classroom wiki page. Tom suggested using this site to add fun movies for the students to view and review. Then they could create their cartoon mini movies. I checked it out and agree with him. The students would have fun with this site. The cartoon they create is fun and brief enough to generate and hold their interest.
Check out the one I created for my page:
Monday, June 22, 2009
Week 3 Tutorials Creating a Favicon
Adding a Favicon
For the past two days I have been trying to follow Steve Bailey’s tutorial on adding a Favicon to my website. I have an image that I drew of a butterfly. I created a favicon file and downloaded it to my computer using the Dynamic Drive website. I opened the edit html tab and this is where I am experiencing a lack of knowledge. I have tried several different ways to add my Favicon. Then I decided to see if YouTube had any more specific tutorials focusing directly on adding a Favicon to blogger, and yes it did! These directions have the user go to a different site to create the favicon, and this site is currently unavailable.
Perseverance!
Video created by June Holester of seomarketing7blogspot.com. Retrieved on June 22, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3adMR5FBKgE
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