Pimp my Presentation- follow up

I looked at all kinds of Prezi's. Decided I can't get to the awesome level unless I jump in and try. So here's my first attempt...  



...not awesome, but fun. Possibly entertaining. At least I know how to make one now. I would love to incorporate videos of the kids. I know they are fascinated by watching themselves. I'm thinking video of them on a field trip or trying something new and they could re-watch (in a Prezi) and then write about it. Or math: act out story problems.

Activity 2- Pimp my Presentation

So I've been struggling today, with how to use Prezi in kindergarten. Because a majority of the kids can't read, I just keep stumbling over how to use it- thinking I needed graphics over text and trying to think of lessons where I could use it. I know you can record sound, but wanted to start with something easy for my first try. I was looking around online and found this:

 http://prezi.com/ouowgrzurvc4/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

A kindergarten teacher, Jessica Kingsbury, made this Prezi to help introduce vowel sounds.
It is amazing.
You can see how and where she reads the text to the class, where she has them interact, and she even has 2 youtube videos in the Prezi. 
It's awesome.
Food for thought... so I wanted to share it with teachers on the K Design team working through the summer camp.

Activity 1- Blog Bling

I chose a few gadgets that might help to hook parents and students into using the blog as a resource during the school year. The "search this blog" option would be good if anyone wanted to go back and find a song or a video previously posted. Are all posts organized chronologically/by month? If so, then the search would be helpful. Search: counting songs, jolly phonics homework, etc.  Another question I came up with...   can I pick photos from my desktop for the slideshow? I didn't spend time investigating this, but thought I would when I had time. I would love to have a little slideshow of "100th day of school" or "first day of school" photos scrolling. Some kindergarten students aren't very verbal about what happens during their day at school and many parents are starving for feedback or a little peek at what it's like in the classroom. The slideshow would give them a little peek and also help kids to remember/elaborate.


The following is a video of a rap about teen numbers. Singing (rapping) helps kindergarten kids commit concepts to memory. I use many counting songs as part of our calendar and opening daily. I would love if kids could go home and see them at home (I think!  ...maybe some of the fun of singing at school would wear off if they are watching and singing the songs at home all the time?) I guess I will find out! Additionally, I think this would be great for parents who know or find out their child need additional help with a particular kind of counting or a concept like teen numbers.

 

Kick-off!

I'm anxious to learn some new web-tools this summer. I would like my class web page to be more relevant and be a resource for my students, not just parents. During the year I wondered things like: could I post a link to this song on my webpage? (So students could practice counting by twos at home...) and: How could I better use photos to help students share more about what they are doing in class?  So when I heard the class description, it seemed like a place to start.
My comfort level with technology is medium. I can pick up on things quickly and I've tried lots of things. What I'm lacking is the time (especially during the year) to use things regularly. I found it hard to even keep my simple web page updated this past year. I use SmartNotebook and I'm a pro at links and sounds in that- which is something I use a lot during transitions in class.