Digital Story

I choose to do my digital story about our family vacation 2013.  This vacation holds such fond memories and I cannot share enough about it.  Enjoy!

the writing process and digital storytelling

Digital storytelling is a technological way to involve the writing process.  I believe that the brainstorming web you do for writing is just done in a different way on the computer.  Then you take that web and create a script or a rough draft.  Once the rough draft, or rough script, is complete, you then edit with either a peer or a teacher. After the edits are finished, you need to think about a final product, or a published piece.  
I believe that students will enjoy digital storytelling because it takes different route besides paper and pencil writing.  Most students are so uncomfortable with their writing skills that just sitting down with a paper and pencil to write something seems so overwhelming to them.  Yet, if you tell your students that we are going to create a digital storytelling unit--- WOW!!! They don't seem to uncomfortable anymore!!!  Computers---- yeah they can do that!!!

I have enjoyed learning about the digital storytelling piece.  I am just like those kids that do not like to sit down and write a story with a pencil and paper.  But tell me to create something on the computer with pictures, songs and more!! How exciting is that?!?!?!?   

What do you think of the digital storytelling unit??

Classroom website

3.  Many teachers have a classroom website with varying levels of success.  How have you made your classroom website more useful to students, families, and other educators?  What gaps still remain?


I currently have a Early childhood Center website that I maintain for the whole center. We just started using the website this past school year.  I would say that at the current level, we have had beginning success with the website.  We have current news for parents to see at any time.  This is good in case parent have forgotten important dates or information that they need to know.

  Another factor that is huge for parents and families is the weekly newsletter.  I upload the current newsletter every Friday for the following week.  This has been very helpful for families who are split or parents who are divorced.  Sometimes it is hard to get school information to those family members who do not transport to school or even live out of town.  This has been something very huge for us.  In the past, we have had to mail school information to parents and now we can just direct them to our website.  
The website is still not being used by students.  But there are links for parents to get on for students to practice skills.  

I would like there to be more communication between parents and families between each other.  I have currently downloaded a chat piece to the website for that reason.  I just did that this summer so hopefully I will see some growth with that this next school year.
  
What kinds of things do you use your website for in an Early childhood center?

Tiger Cubs Early Childhood Center website

Incorporating literacy

Incorporating literacy into the early childhood classroom, is just like making sure that your PB & J has peanut butter.  Literacy is all around the early childhood classroom.  We live and breath literacy every minute of every day!  From as many read-a-louds that we can fit into a day, to a reading center, to teaching those beginning reading skills, that is what our day consists of!  Math, science, and social studies, all get taught in our building through literacy!  

I feel like most teachers have to find a fun and exciting way to introduce something new.  Yet, literacy is the only way that has already been created for you by an author to do that exact thing.

During circle time, we incorporate literacy by reading books.  We encourage students to bring in their favorite books when they are star of the week.  We want to instill the love of reading in their little hearts.  Just as it was done to the teachers in our building, many years ago.  Math is focused off of books that incorporate numbers and number sense.  All three teachers in our building plan our themes around literacy!  Then we build from there!!  Literacy is our peanut butter to our sandwich!  It's the foundation to our program!  

What do you consider the foundation to your program?

Wiki review

When I began my search for a wiki, I started out with early childhood wiki pages.  I didn't come across any, so I changed my search to the next best thing- kindergarten wiki pages.  I found this one- http://riverdalekindergarten.wikispaces.com/.  I began exploring the pages and soon discovered that this isn't what I was looking for, but thought it would give a good review.  I found that this is more of a bookmarking site that are organized into themes that different teachers in the district could use.  This didn't really serve a instructional purpose, besides linking to activities on each theme.  I believe that they could use Diigo or some other bookmarking site that would help these educators use a wiki more for instruction rather than bookmarking sites.

So I continued my search.... and come across nothing for kindergarten that was instructional focused.  So I changed my search to a 1st grade wiki page.  I was really searching for something instruction for the students and not just a communication tool for parents or other teachers.  So I found this wiki http://commoncoretasks.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/First+Grade+Tasks .  This is a math wiki, but the students have to write their answers to further explain their understanding.  This is a way that students can not only strengthen their math skills, but also their writing skills.  I really thought this documentation was great to see what tasks the children have completed throughout the year.  I think this wiki is great!  And I saw that they also have kindergarten and second grade as well.   

Have you found any wiki pages for early childhood?

Week 2- Tech in the EC classroom

Technology in the Early childhood classroom has a different feel and look than typical classroom settings.   We have a SMARTboard and iPads to use in our center.  Since the children are much younger (ages 3-5),  we have yet to expand on much more than this technology.  

I would like to become more technologically savvy with parents.  I would like to start a blog for parents to use and communicate with.  This would allow for extra events communication that would be something more than just a newsletter.  Parents would be seeing what we do in our center with pictures as well.  This might help strengthen that home-school connection. 

 I would also like to do a blog for other teachers to use.  I follow several blogs that give great advice and ideas that I incorporate into my classroom.  There is no reason to re-invent the wheel.  I have been getting and now it needs to be my turn at giving back too.  

We send out a survey to parents after 1st quarter and at the end of the school year for feedback.  This would be another way that we could get these results but in a different way.  We could post the survey online and also have weekly feedback from parents about our center.  

Early childhood centers are not only based on children, but also families.  Technology needs to not only be focused on the students but also on the families.  

Are you an early educator?  What kinds of ways do you use technology with students and families?