Edmodo Survey

The number one reason the fifth grade students liked using Edmodo to publish their writing was that they liked that people could see what they wrote.  Of the activities that we did, the fifth grade students liked the collaborative story writing the best.  I think the Edmodo project is great.  It gave the kids a chance to communicate with others from a different school and hopefully they learned something from us here at Fairmont State.  I don't really know what I could possibly do with a site like Edmodo in the future, but after using it and seeing how it works I think that I will definitely use it.  I think its a great way to share ideas.

Picture Comparison

I think that in this picture, President Obama looks both concerned and in control.  His facial expression is one of the reasons that I have formed this opinion.  The way his eyebrows are furrowed says that he feels concern.  On the other hand, there is also something about his expression that says he's in control.  It looks like he possibly has a handle on the situation and is looking for ways to address the problem.  His body language and the background of the photograph also give off this impression.  There are a number of books in the background, which makes it seem like some sort of plan to solve the problem may be in place.  There is also a clear distinction between this picture and the one below.  The one below does not tell me he is concerned or in control because he's smiling and almost looks like he's just another one of the guys.  He doesn't really feel like a leader in it.

This picture makes me confidant in the President's ability to respond to disasters.  In this picture it looks he's right there on the scene of the incident and attempting to help in some way.  This photo gives the impression that the President will respond immediately and be there on the scene.  He seems confidant and at east, too, which provides reassurance that the problem can be handled.

Literay Skills

Media literacy skills require a wide variety of different techniques than traditional literacy skills.  The most notable difference in these two is that when it comes to media literacy skills the student has to validate information and make sure that the information they are getting is truthful.  With traditional literacy, that doesn't happen.  For both of these literacy types, research skills are valuable, which is something they both share in common.  The ability to find the information is different, media literacy requiring the use of search engines on the internet.  These two means to finding and evaluating information, however, are very useful to students.

My Teacher of the Year Magazine Cover

My Digital Story

Digital Stories

I think that digital stories have the ability to promote the same kind of learning as writing an essay or research paper do.  When doing a digital story, the student has to look up the same information as they do when writing a research paper.  Not only that, but they get to show their knowledge in a creative way that might be just a little more interesting to them.  I think what I like most about a digital story is that the student can display his or her knowledge without worrying about word counts or page limits.  The information is giving to the best of the students ability, and in the end I believe its probably the same amount of information.  The benefit would also be that there's no filler, as is typically the case with essays and research papers because a student is trying to reach the word limit given to him or her.