Weebly!

Our assignment was to create a professional online portfolio. I've added more information on my site so check it out! Also, it was really easy to use "weebly" to make our portfolios!

The benefits for an online portfolio is that it looks "professional" and can be accessed anywhere where internet is available. Employers can look up our background by entering our names. We can post up samples of our work and it'll be there forever!

I really liked how weebly was easy to use and access. It didn't require you to input "codes" and I appreciated how it was user friendly!

Guarantee I will use this site again. I'm also planning to add more stuff on my site as I continue to pursue my education degree!

SlideShare Reflection

Last week, we had an assignment to create a powerpoint presentation teachback on topics that we chose. Then we had to upload it to slideshare.com

1. How was the experience of using slideshare.net?

I liked it. It was easy to download the powerpoint and doing the teachback was fun. It was interactive.

2. What were the challenges?

The one thing I couldn't understand was how did the fonts for my presentation changed when I uploaded it. It was hard to understand.

3. What was fun? Not so-fun?

It was fun doing the activities. I liked the activities that our classmate chose for us to do.

4. If you had the chance to do it again, would you?

Yes! I like how we can save our projects online and also view it anytime!

SlideShare Presentation

C:\Computer Simulation and Gaming in the Classroom

View more presentations from Katherine Mersai.

Elluminate Live!

Today we worked on Elluminate Live and chatted with Ms. Bree Reynolds. I stationed myself at Java Joe's for this activity.

1. Describe the experience with Elluminate Live.
I really enjoyed the chatting experience online. It was something new to me but I think that it would work well if we were taking an online class.

2. What did you like? Dislike?
I liked everything about it. I liked the way we can chat and at the same time post pictures. The only thing that bothered me was that my head set didn't work.

3. How would a distance-learning application like Elluminate, benefit students?
Students can collaborate assigned projects together and show the whole class their progress or ideas.

4. What are some ideas that you learned from Bree?
I learned that there are many other sites that we can use to collaborate our projects. She gave us a list of sites and I will check it out later.

5. What will you take with you to explore in more depth? Why?
I will research and look into all the sites to see which one I can use to teach to my future students. I think that this could be a great experience for them to look into and they can learn something from it.

March 16, 2010: Timeline Project/Rubistar/Quizstar

1) Describe your assignment.
For this assignment, we had to come up with a lesson plan and integrating the three sites in it. We chose to do Black History achievements because it is Black History Month. We decided to make a timeline with facts about Black Americans that made their mark in U.S. History. Using these facts, we created a lesson where students had to research and present their findings about one of the famous Black Americans. They also had a rubric to follow which was made using rubistar.com. Also, they had to take a quiz that was made on quizstar.com site. All these sites were free.

2) What did you like about the timeline websites? rubistar? quizstar?
I liked the fact that it was easy and convinient to use. Besides the slow internet, it was a very informational and easy site that would help make my life easier as a future teacher.

3) How would you use these sites for a classroom assignment?
I would have my students create their own timeline of events that happened in their life and have them present it to the class. Another idea, is to have them log in what they've learned in the previous month (which I can use for assessments).

4) How would you rate each software on a scale of 1-10?
I would rate the softwares all a 10 because its easy and simple to use. Plus they are free! I like the fact that it is convinient and easy for my students to pick up if they were to go on it and do a project.

www.rockyou.com Project

For this assignment, we were to choose a software site that can edit pictures and create slide shows. Our site was www.rockyou.com. We took pictures of ourselves and created a story slide show about "What to do when you loose your keys to your car". It was interesting and fun to work in a group cooperatively.

Was the software user-friendly?
* For me, it was kind of hard to use. We had downloaded all our pictures on the site that said "download pictures". Then we found out later that it was at a wrong location where we had downloaded. We also could only download ONE picture at a time.

Did the software have extra useful features to enhance your presentation (or just minimal)?
Yes it had features to enhance our story slide. We used different types such as glitter, text, motion, skins, and etc. The only problem was that we could only use ONE type for all slides.

Is the software specifically useful for teachers?
I would say not really because there are other sites better than this one (my opinion).

Would you recommend the software for other educators?
I would recomend they try it out and then figure if they like it or not. It's a good site--but it was just confusing at first.

If you had a choice to use this software again for a presentation, would you use it?
No. I would use the other sites to do my presentation. I like the software that we could add music to it.

What overall consensus rating would you give for this software 1- 10 (10 being the highest).
I would rate this site a 6 just because we had a bad first "download" experience. It's a good site.

Zunal WebQuest Project

Enter this link to check it out! www.zunal.com/webquest.php?w=52754

1. Describe your assignment.
This assignment was pretty exciting and new. We had to create a lesson plan on the web for our students to do. The topic that we chose was "Place Values". We looked for worksheet appropriate for our grade level and a link to a video that explained how to find and figure place values.

2. What did you like/dislike about the webquest project? Why?
I like the webquest project because it was something new that we can use in our classroom. I think that the students will enjoy it very much. It was pretty easy to use--the only think that was time consuming was researching and finding the materials to post.

3. What were some of the challenges you faced?
It was hard to find "really good" resources to put on the web. I guess if I had more time, I would make my own worksheets and post it up.

4. If you had to do it over, what would you do differently?
I think I would choose a different topic to cover. I bet that there are probably more interesting facts about a topic in social studies than in mathematics.

5. How do you think your students will like using a webquest? Why?
I think that they will enjoy it a lot. It makes learning more fun when it becomes interactive! They will have a blast playing games and learning about the content being discussed!

Foto Flexer--Photo Editing Site

Today's assignment was to find new sites to edit photos. We found a site called "fotoflexer.com". It doesn't require you to sign in or to have an account--all you have to do is upload a picture from your flash drive, computer, or another photo site. Its really easy to use and has all the features you need to upgrade your photo. I like it a lot because the layout is easy to understand and you don't need a manual to learn how to work it.
The positive thing about this software is that it is easy to use. The only negative thing is that some editing may take time to load; otherwise, everything is fine.
I would rate this software a 10 because it deserves a 10! (Its really good for people who are not "computer genius"... like me!)

Flickr Badge

Today I made my very first flickr badge. We had to upload our pictures onto the Flickr site and then open up a new window "www.flickr.com/badge.gne" to make the badge. After, I copied the code that was given to me, I pasted it on my blogger site where I added a "gadget". This was fun!

How would you use a site like flickr.com for your class? Explain.
I would most likely use this in the Language Arts and Social Studies subjects. I can have my students gather photos of themselves, Authors of Books, or Presidents and have them create a badge. I would also have them upload their art works, paintings, and projects unto the site--then they can create a collage of all their work. It will be like their "Online Portfolio".

Zoho Docs

Today we worked with a new site that can be used for teachers. As groups, we chose our specific task to work on--we chose "Zoho Docs". It was really interesting to work with and we had a lot of fun exploring it out!

1) Explain the assignment.

For this assignment, we had to creat a project and explain the application that we worked on. Our project had to have some relevency to school related activities. The Zoho Docs can be mainly used to organize and create file folders for documents. You can also edit, export, and do all kinds of stuff with your documents. It is a good thing for teachers to be able to keep their documents organized so that they will not have to "crazy" looking for things when it is needed.

2) How easy or difficult was the project you worked on?

The project was confusing at first. As we experimented, we found ways to maneuver the program. We were able to do the project but it was difficult for us to find a way to collaborate. However, we were able to chat with one another--and that was so cool!

3) How do you think your students would benefit from your project?

The student's learning would be maximized because the teacher would be organized and well prepared for class. The student's can see and learn better when the teacher has all her files and documents in order. The teacher can also have group assignments saved into her Zoho Docs account and can make her students view it whenever they're online.

4) Rate the software zoho on a scale of 1-10 and why?

I would rate the software a 10 because its nice, cool, and new. I had some difficulty but with practice, I think I would be able to use this.

Flow Chart

Creating a Blog

At the beginning of the class, we did a ice breaker "Find somebody" game. Then we created a blog in less than 10 minutes! How cool is that!