Self Evaluation: Digital Story

Below is the rubric I used to evaluate my digital story for this course.

I chose to evaluate my digital story since it is a project that I would likely use in my own classroom. However, I think I would need to modify this rubric a bit to get an accurate score for my digital story created with a cell phone for this class. In the first section of this rubric, Mechanics, I gave myself a 3 for Timeliness and a 1 for documentation. While I did give credit to my Flickr Creative Commons photos at the end of my story, the citations were not in APA format. The Group Dynamic section of this rubric did not really apply to me, since it was an individual project. Therefore, with this rubric, I had to give myself a 1 for Work Delineation and 1 for Collaboration and Contribution, since the wording of the rubric specifies that for a 1, only one person in the group did the work. However, I gave myself a 3 for Respect, since I did respect myself and my ideas while completing the project.

The Planning section of this rubric would be more pertinent to my students if using this project in my class. For the purpose of creating my digital story, I gave myself a 3 for Creativity, and 2 for Storyboarding, and a 3 for Content and Theme. I took a point off for the Storyboard since I did not create a formal storyboard, but instead wrote out a script and organized my photos separately on my phone.

For the Use of Technology section of this rubric, I gave myself a 2 for Videography, since I didn't play around with camera angles and lighting too much, and a 3 for editing, since I did carefully plan smooth transitions and timing of each photo with my narration.

Overall, my score was 22/30, which averages out to be a 73%. I don't feel that this is a very accurate representation of my work, so I would need to change this rubric to more accurately represent an individual effort rather than a group effort. I would also eliminate the Videography category, since that was not a main focus of the project. If I use this rubric in my classroom, I would probably have students work in groups, so that section might remain the same, but I would likely add more focus to the Planning section of the rubric, since I would want them to put a lot of effort into the story itself before they apply the technology.

My Digital Portfolio

Here is a link to my digital portfolio!

https://sites.google.com/a/cypanthers.org/shannalentz/home

As I was creating this portfolio, the toughest part for me to figure out was how to organize all of my web-based creations and tools. Though I may only have a few web-based representations of me out there so far, I wanted to make sure they were organized in a way that made sense to anyone who might view my portfolio. I knew I was comfortable using Google Sites, since I had used it to create my class web sites in the past, and I knew that it would have the templates I would need to make organize my site effectively and make it aesthetically pleasing. I ultimately decided on five major categories to organize my portfolio. My thought process for each category is detailed below.

Me as a Professional
Since I was not really using this portfolio as a resume, I kept my professional and educational experience portion of this section fairly brief. However, I decided since this is an e-portfolio, my digital story of why I became an educator fit into this section perfectly. I also included professional articles written for my graduate courses as attachments at the bottom of the page, to showcase my reflection and writing about educational topics.


My Voice on the Web
This section is a representation of things I've published on the web so far, mainly from this course. I included the main projects for this course, as well as my EDIM514 blog and links to some of my posts in the EDIM514 Moodle page.

My Teacher Pages
For this page, I wanted to simply showcase my teacher websites that I created for each of the courses I taught this past year. These sites show how I use the web for organization and management when using the web in my classroom.

My Social Bookmarks
I wanted to include a page that shows how I not only keep track of the web resources that I like, but also how I collaborate with my colleagues by sharing those resources in my library. I included the only two social bookmarking sites I use: Diigo and Delicious.

My Educational Tools
I wanted this page to include any other educational tools that I had personally created on the web. I chose to only include one sample per tool, mainly because I felt that anyone browsing through might get overwhelmed with too many examples shared for each. Also, I chose to share outside web resources on this page. These are resources that others created, but that I commonly use.

Interview: Cell Phone Project

I recently interviewed a student teacher, Jessica, who student taught under Mrs. Jacobs at Central York High School (my school) this past spring. Jessica is preparing to be a French teacher and finished her student teaching experience back in March. Though she is no longer at Central, I was able to get in contact with her over the phone to ask her about a cell phone project she had told me about while she was student teaching.

Jessica had used cell phones as part of a project in which students would showcase their learning of conversational French language, including vocabulary and grammar. Though the project was relatively simple, it did incorporate cell phone technology in a way that was familiar to the students. Instead of speaking a scripted conversation in French in front of the classroom, Jessica had the students first write out a script of a voicemail they might leave for a relative, family member, friend, etc. (the students had to pick their contact). Then, once scripted, students were required to use their cell phones to leave a voicemail on Jessica's phone using their script. I asked Jessica if she would offer any other options to students who might not have a cell phone. She replied,  "If a student did not have a cell phone, he/she had the option of using a simple land line phone to record the voicemail."

 I also asked her what some of the pros and cons of the project were. She told me that by having students write out a script first, she was able to see that they had done the prep. work before recording their voicemail. She said, "I was very specific with the requirements to eliminate any confusion or excuses for not doing it." Because of this, she didn't really have any technological issues, and neither did the students, given that they were simply leaving a voicemail.

She didn't get much parental feedback, but she did get feedback from her supervisor, who was impressed with her use of technology in the classroom. He did share some concerns about giving out her cell phone number to students, and suggested that in the future, she have students leave a voicemail on her school phone instead. Our school promotes the use of technology and our school policy only specifies against the use of cell phones in the classroom. Since students were using their cell phones on their own time to leave the voicemail, they were not violating school policy.

Digital Story With a Cell Phone

View my digital story created with my iPhone4 below! Also, here is the link to view my digital story on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBoGC0Pkjoc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I actually had a lot of fun creating this project entirely on my phone, I think mainly because I have the iPhone4, and there are so many capabilities for creating projects with that phone! I even learned some new things about my phone that I didn't know it could do.

I started out with an idea and a script. I knew I wanted to use photos rather than video in my digital story, mostly because I had some creative ideas of how to integrate photos I had already taken with my phone's camera. I sat down and typed up a script, then started to put together a compilation of photos in my photo library on my camera. Many photos I had already taken myself, but I needed to use my phone's internet capabilities to find others. I logged onto Safari from my phone and did a search for different photos on Flickr's Creative Commons page, looking for photos that required attribution, but that could be used in other works. Once I found the photos online, I had to take a screen shot of the photo to get it into my photo library. To do this, my friend showed me that I could click the top button and the center button on the front of the phone at the same time, and it would take a screen shot. I was very excited to learn this! I had no idea I could do that, but it made integrating photos from the web so much easier. To eliminate any part of the screen shot that was not part of the photo, I used the PhotoShop Express app that I already had on my phone to crop or rotate the photo.

I then needed a way to compile all the photos together, and I knew I could use my Macbook to compile the story in iMovie, but I wanted push myself to see if I could do everything on the phone. I searched for apps that might work, and found that there is actually an iMovie app available for $5. I downloaded the app and was really pleased with the functions available. I was able to choose photos from my library to add, so I pieced together all of the photos that went along with my script first. Once they were dropped into my iMovie project, I chose one of the existing music themes that comes with the app to use as background music. I tried to choose something light and fun, considering the nature of the project, so I chose the theme called "Playful." The last thing to do was to add my script to the project, so I needed to record my voice. Though I could have used another app to do this, I had no need, considering that the iMovie app also has the functionality to record. I was able to record my script through my phone using this function, and the nice thing was that it let me retake the recording if I wasn't happy with the first take (which I  wasn't). I did about 4 recordings until I was happy with it, and then added that to my project. The last step was to adjust the length of time each picture was shown so it matched up with my recording. I was able to easily do this by tapping the photo with my finger and dragging it to make it longer or shorter. Lastly, to make sure the final project was complete, I was able to play the whole thing in the iMovie app.

The tough part, then, was getting the final project uploaded so people could view it publicly. First, I exported the project to iTunes to make sure I had a copy, in case anything went wrong. Then, I used the export function in iMovie to upload the digital story to YouTube. The problem with this part was that I needed a wi-fi connection and could not simply use 3G. Since I'm in South Carolina right now, I had to make sure I was at a friend's house that had wi-fi, and then I was able to connect to their network. The digital story took a few minutes to upload, and then took a few minutes to fully load onto YouTube. Next, I logged onto the YouTube app on my cell phone and viewed my videos. My digital story was saved there, with a link to view it.  I was able to copy the link by tapping it and hitting "select" to copy it. I then logged onto my EDIM514 blog using Safari on my cell phone, and pasted it onto my blog! The only part of the project for which I actually used my computer was this reflection. :)

Live Broadcast

I apologize to everyone in the class-- I remembered to advertise my live broadcast on Facebook, but not on here!! As is, it was rather interesting having all my friends ask me, "What's this live broadcasting stuff?" I told them they should listen to the broadcast and find out.

For all of you, below is a link to my recorded live broadcast for anyone who wants to listen! I chose to record voice only for a number of reasons. First, I'm sick and even recording voice right now was difficult without coughing. Second, I wanted to play around with the different ways to use just voice first, and later attempt to stretch the boundaries with all that video can do. My first live broadcast is meant as a brief tutorial to help my English students through some of the tougher parts of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Currently, it's not perfect, but I think it would be a great start to offering students extra help with difficult texts, especially when students are absent. Eventually, I think I'd like my students to create broadcasts like this on their own to act out certain parts or show their understanding of a text. You'll notice that the broadcast isn't overly long, and this was in consideration of the attention span of my students, and considering the difficulty of the text. I felt it would be better to chunk certain difficult parts for them, rather than broadcasting a long post that may end up being overwhelming for them.

To listen to my live broadcast, see the embedded broadcast below. Click on my username in the emedded image to see a list of my broadcasts. Click on the one called "Understanding Romeo and Juliet: The Balcony Scene." A full reflection on this broadcasting experience can be found in the discussion forum on our EDIM 514 Moodle site.

Integrating Social Networking

To expand upon my teaching practices, I chose to integrate social networking into my unit on A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. This lesson, part of my English II curriculum for 10th grade, is more of a culminating activity--a project for students to showcase their learning of the novel and how the themes relate to today's global society. The original version of this culminating activity is posted below, with changes integrating social networking posted in purple. The first major change I made was to have students post their answers to their web quest questions in a Moodle forum, rather than on paper. This provides more opportunity for collaboration and online discussion. I also changed my assessment by having students post their research onto a Facebook group devoted to social awareness. This group page then serves as the basis for further research, and ultimately, a persuasive essay about materialism or social injustice.

Lesson Title:  Materialism vs. Social Justice (A Raisin in the Sun)

1.             Introduction – Gaining Attention

Students will read the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. They will discuss Hughes’ reference to dreams deferred and decide what makes up the “American Dream.” Students will decide what it means to be successful by today’s standards vs. standards of the 1950’s, as shown through the character of Walter in A Raisin in the Sun.

2.     Learner Outcomes (displayed on a handout with directions for the lesson)

         Lesson Essential Questions:

How does materialism affect social justice? (Connect to the text and to society.)

How are social injustices apparent globally and how can we help alleviate these injustices?

Objectives:

a.     Students will be able to identify and analyze themes within a variety of media

b.    Apply themes to the historical context of literary works

c.     Synthesize ideas within those themes with globalization of today’s society

d.    Speaking and listening: participate in meaningful class discussion

e. Use technology professionally and safely for the purpose of communication and collaboration. 

3.     Stimulate Prior Recall

After reading A Raisin in the Sun, students will use prior knowledge to assess the character “Walter,” who showcases the theme of materialism vs. social justice. Through a web quest (“Textual Context” link), students will analyze this theme as portrayed in an excerpt from the text. Students will first discuss their responses about Walter’s materialism in collaborative groups.

https://sites.google.com/a/cypanthers.org/webquest-araisininthesun/walter

4.             Present New Information

Students will then expand on prior knowledge of how African Americans strived to overcome social injustices in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s through part two of the web quest. Through part two, students will read a web site article about the Civil Rights Movement and some of its major leaders and events. Students will also analyze images showing leaders and events from this movement on the web (“Historical Context” link”). Through inquiry-based learning, students will connect what they read in A Raisin in the Sun to the article and photos in response to prompts given by the teacher. These prompts will be answered in a collaborative forum on Moodle. Students will respond to two prompts for this section and respond to at least two classmates. Responses to classmates should include a respectful dialogue about one thing learned from a student's post, and one question for that student based on their response. They will draw conclusions about social justice during the 1950’s.

           

5. Provide Guided Learning Experience

The class will pause to review answers to part two of the web quest and “debrief” to alleviate any confusion about the article or photos. Students will share findings and conclusions about materialism and social justice before moving on to part three of the web quest.

6. Independent / Group Learning Experience

            Part three of the web quest requires students to apply knowledge of materialism to today’s global society. Working individually, students will follow part three of Walter’s character on the web quest, labeled as “Today’s Global Context.” First, students will examine a condensed version of “Ill Fares the Land” by Tony Judt, and using this, students will use inquiry-based learning to conclude how materialism can impact inequality. Students will again use Moodle to answer these questions and comment on two classmates' responses by offering further insight or opinion in a professional manner. This will complete the webquest.

7. Assess Performance 

Assessment Preparation:

Students will then connect inequalities mentioned in the article to today’s global society by researching current events. After thorough research of a variety of news sources, students will focus on one instance of materialism or social injustice occurring in a country throughout the world. Students will document any instances they find are occurring in the country, and decide how the United States relates to any injustices found. On a Facebook group called "Social Awareness" created for this project, students will post their findings about materialism or social injustice, and reply to two of their classmates' posts by sharing any prior knowledge of the instance and sharing their opinions of whether or not the United States should get involved in the issue, or offer suggestions about how the issue could be solved. (This group will be created with a blank account, using the name Miss Lentz.)

Students will then concentrate on one of the injustices posted in the Facebook group. Each student will conduct further research about this injustice and will use this research to write a persuasive essay about this social issue. Student will take a position on the issue, proposing a potential solution to alleviate the injustice.

Email to XTimeline

After review of XTimeline, I emailed the site creators at info@xtimeline.com to make them aware of some features that might be beneficial to educators. Although I am waiting to hear back from the site, below is the text of my email to them. 


To whom it may concern,


I am a current registered user of XTimeline and a high school educator. Because the main purpose for using XTimeline is to have my students create informational timelines related to classroom content, I have a few suggestions to help make your site more educationally friendly. The main suggestion I have is to provide users with a tutorial of some sort to help students more easily create a timeline. A video tutorial would be even better, so students could visually see where to go on the site and what links to click on. I also think it would be beneficial to make your timeline categories and lists more visible on your site, as currently, your ads are more visible than these items. Lastly, I really like that students can insert photos into their timelines, but it would also be beneficial for students if they could easily embed videos related to events directly to the timelines as well.  Would it be possible to make these features available? I appreciate all that your site has to offer to students, but wanted to offer these suggestions to further improve XTimeline's functionality for students and educators. 


Thank you for your time and consideration!


Sincerely, 
Shanna Lentz
English Teacher