Powerpoint Presentation

Here is a link to my powerpoint presentation entitled Feliz Navidad en Mexico!

Final Presentation

I am planning on doing my fianl presentation on Christmas in the Spanish Speaking world. Here are some links I would use.


Christmas: http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/feature/xmasindex.html
Christmas in Mexico: http://www.nacnet.org/assunta/nacimnto.htm
Celebrating Christmas in Mexico: http://www.mexonline.com/xmas.htm
Christmas in Mexico: http://www.inside-mexico.com/featurenavidad.htm
Holiday Traditions: http://www.californiamall.com/holidaytraditions/traditions-mexico.htm
Christmas in Mexico Newsletter: http://www.inside-mexico.com/RevistaNewsl.htm
A Puerto Rican Christmas: http://www.elboricua.com/pr_christmas.html
Puerto Rican Traditions: http://www.elboricua.com/traditions.html
Christmas in Puerto Rico: http://www.prboriken.com/christ.htm
Welcome to Puerto Rico: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/culture/folklore.shtml

Scratch

I changed the white background to a sea green color. I also changed the entrance from 100 to 50 to make it faster. Here is the link to my Haiku project: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/sahlbert/756350

5th Grade Blogging

I enjoyed blogging with the 5th grade students. I was suprised at how well they expressed themselves and how comfortable with blogging they were. I know when I was that age I didn't know enough about technology/computers to be competent blogging. I thought they way their blogs were set up with the teacher approving all content was a safe way for teachers to blog and I really see no problem with it. One of the only concerns I can think of is making sure students understand internet safety which can easily be taught in a couple lessons. I can better understand how blogging can work in a classroom now. I may consider blogging in my classroom because of this activity.

Scratch

I like the Haiku project. It would be a really fun, easy way for students to learn how to write haikus. It would be really easy to make this project center around a central unit such as seasons or holidays.

New Literary Media

Convergence is a culture rather than a technical process. In a convergence culture people can add information and share information with each other freely. In a convergence culture everything will play itself out across all possible media platforms. It is not the digital revolution. The major implication of convergence culture for education is dealing with the participation gap, which is the gap between students who have 24/7 access to web-based media and students who only have access at school or a library. Students are "acquiring skills now through play, including game play, which they'll later apply towards more serious skills." Jenkins believes that media literacy shouldn't be added as another class but she be implemented through all subjects. Schools are limiting kids' access to digital tools by not using digital medias, not giving students' ethical training on literary medias, and by blocking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, and other blogging sites. I think instead of ignoring digital tools or blocking students' access to them, school systems should be training teachers to be able to train students to responsibly use what is available.

Think Aloud