How would i use this in my class?  Benefits and Cons

Benefits: I really do like the idea of using clickers to help in assessment.  Assessment in general is usually very difficult in Kindergarten.  The majority of the time I have to do any assessments I will do them one on one.  I feel like it's the only way to get a really accurate picture of the students understanding.  Using paper and pencil is tricky because the students don't understand the concept of cheating.  They also can't read the instructions, so pacing is difficult.  I think that if I could train my students on Clickers there would be a lot of chances to do assessments as a whole class.  I would be able to seat them far enough apart that they couldn't see each others clickers, and I wouldn't worry about keeping them engaged as some took longer with writing their responses than others.  I also think that they would be wholly entertained by the whole thing.  For that reason they would stay engaged. 

Cons: the biggest thing I can think of is that the normal clicker is way to complicated for a Kindergartner.  They do have some that are simplified down to four buttons that have different colors and shapes, but it would be difficult to get access to these.  It would also take a good amount of time to train my students to use the clickers effectively enough to get accurate results/data.  There is also the ever present probability that the technology just won't word for some reason. 

I think that the benefits outweigh the cons, so long as we would be able to use the simplified clickers.  I hope it works out!

There are just a few thoughts that I had as I used this tool.  First of all I liked the easy way that it laid out the students and showed clearly the ones that needed more help.  In the past i have used the AimsWeb sight, and though it has some of the same tools, it's not quite as easy to lay it all out like it was on Data Dashboard.  This particular assignment didn't do much for me just because being a Kindergarten teacher means that I don't have any data for my new class yet.  So I had to use data from last year.  I guess it was beneficial to play around with the settings and tools for future reference though.  I think it will be a nice tool when I am doing my quadrant sorts to put the students into skill based groups.  Makes things a little easier for me! 

Day 1/Monday
       Today we are beginning by learning about what storytelling is, how it has evolved,  and how we can be creative in telling our own stories.  Digital storytelling helps build 21st century skills. 
Six elements of a good story:  1) Live Inside Your Story    2) Unfolding Lessons Learned     3) Developing Creative Tension    4)Economizing the Story Told   5)  Showing not Telling
6) Developing Craftsmanship
    Storyboarding....Walt Disney is one of the best examples for using storyboarding.  I LOVE Disney!  I can definitely relate to storyboarding and planning out the story on paper before doing the actual work. 


Day2/Tuesday
   We have spent the morning learning about using IMovie on the laptops.  I was surprised at how different it was than using it on my IPad.  I learned a lot about creating different projects.  I had a few problems with trying to get my pictures to fit the frame that I wanted, but I was able to figure it out eventually.  I loved creating the trailers!  I think that they are a lot of fun and it makes it really easy to make a professional looking trailer. 
    As far as implementation in my classroom, I don't see myself ever using this in Kindergarten.  At least to the extent of having the students create anything themselves.  I can see myself creating movies and having them do little acting scenes or giving me ideas for what we could do, but I wouldn't be having them do any of the actual editing.  I think it would be a blast to have the kids reenact a story that we have read and record it, but I am worried about having time for anything that like with the new curriculum that we have been given.  Reading Street is so time intensive, especially in a half day Kindergarten, that I don't see any spare minutes anywhere.  I even have to give up my library and computer rotation times!  But I will keep it all in my mind and hope to find some time that opens up as I get used to the routines etc. 

Day 3/ Wednesday
    Garageband today was a lot of fun.  I love music, so this is a tool that I personally was excited to learn about.  As far as using it in my classroom, I would be pretty limited.  I think the kids would really enjoy playing around with the different sounds and recording their voices, but it would be difficult to teach them anything technical about music at their young age.  We could play with beat and rhythm in small groups!  That would be a lot of fun! 
    The rest of the day we worked on our final projects.  I finally came up with an idea for mine!!  I decided to use my spring break trip in 2010, because it's what I have the most pictures for. 

Day 4 and 5
   We worked on our projects.  I enjoyed playing with IMovie and practicing those skills.  I don't think that my kids would ever be able to make their own IMovies, but we could do some in small groups...hence my action plan!! 
   I enjoyed watching everyone's movies.  People are so much more creative than I am. 


Overall I really enjoyed the class.  I have fun with using the creative storytelling technologies that are available.  I hope that I can use them, however simplistic it may be, in my classroom this year!