Pictures in Guided Reading Video!
I edited 3 of the pictures in my video using Picnik! The first picture I edited is found at the beginning of the movie. The Daily 5 sign was done using Picnik. I wanted something really bright to enhance and really bring out what Daily 5 is all about! The next picture that I edited was the 2 girls sitting together and reading the book in the rocking chair. I used a frame and also included text on the picture. The last picture that I edited was the picture of one of the Para-Professionals that was doing flashcards with the kids sitting on the ground. I wanted a soft look and got exactly that. The kids love the Paras that come in our rooms to help so I made sure that i got them in the video as well!

Guided Reading Video

Podcasts!

I subscribed to 2 different podcasts.

The first one is Sesame Street. This is a great podcast because it is about a word of the day. Throughout the podcast, they explain the word in many ways that are kid friendly and easy to understand. I think the kids would love this and learn a lot from it each day. Every morning, I have a word of the day using words from the theme of our Daily 5 story of the week. Doing this and adding the podcast would be a great addition and a change of pace for the kids and I.

The second podcast that I subscribed to is Understanding Spanish. I teach in an elementary school that has an ELL program because we serve so many Spanish speaking kids. I think it would be really cool to add a couple minutes of Spanish a day to not only show the students how important it is for them to keep speaking Spanish but for all the kids that don't know could learn some basic words and phrases.

Writing Video!

Writing Video!

3 Educational Links

http://www.brainpopjr.com/

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/?CFID=11518766&CFTOKEN=24800894

http://www.storylineonline.net/

Week 2!

I love, love, love Picnik. I have never used this program and have always wondered how people were able to make their pictures look so neat! I am so glad that I will be able to use this in my classroom. I am a teacher who loves to take pictures to include them on newsletters, at parent teacher conferences and to personalize their work spaces. I will jazz up the next round of pictures by using Picnik! I used the cropping tool, touch ups, frames, cool effects, stickers and I added stickers and words on some of the pictures. I think this gives each picture a more personal effect and makes it more you!
I also thought that Animoto was a really neat tool to add all your thoughts in a creative and easy to make video. To tell you the truth, I thought it would have been a lot harder to figure out but was surprised how easy it was to follow the step by step process to make it. I will use something like this to show the parents at Meet Your Teacher Night and at the end of the year to wrap up what we did as a class throughout the year.

My name is Leslie Hunke and I am a first grade teacher at Linden Elementary in Fremont, NE! I graduated from University of Nebraska @ Omaha in 2007 with a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education. Ever since I was little I knew that I wanted to be a teacher so picking a degree was the easiest part of college. I was blessed with a daughter in April of 2009 and she makes me a better person and definitely a better teacher. I just bought a house in February and get my keys this week so I am very busy to say the least.

My technology experience is pretty good for the most part but I definitely have a lot to learn. I use the computer for basic things: internet, word documents, publisher and I am a PC user using 2010 version of Office. In my classroom I have a projector that I am able to shine on my whiteboard. This makes it nice for the kids and I to be able to shine things on the board and write on the board for labeling, filling in or any other use I see. I also have computers in my classroom for kids to take reading tests and listen to authors read their books on-line.

I decided to complete my Master’s program for ongoing education, an increase in pay and also to be able to check off one of the things on my accomplishments list. I decided to go with Curriculum and Instruction because I want to stay in the classroom and not in administration. I want my daughter to understand the importance of education and give her the best opportunities that I can and completing my Masters is going in the right direction. Walking across the stage and receiving my diploma for my Bachelors degree felt great and I know it will feel even better when walking for my Master’s. Once I am finished with this degree I plan on continuing classes and pursue more!