Making rubrics

My school has a website built into our electronic page that makes making rubrics easy. But I have some experience already creating rubrics on my own. In fact, this year one of my students, who has never used rubrics before, told me that she liked them because she never knew what her teachers expected from her in the past. This is the whole idea of using rubrics, to create an evaluating process that subtracts subjectivity which make kids feel that they can’t measure up to the teacher’s expectations.

how to make an excellent presentation

Garr Reynolds in http://www.garrreynolds.com/Presentation/slides.html has brought a series of suggestions to make an attractive presentation that serves as a vehicle for the content. It is not the goal but a mean to communicate. I think the best example was the one of percentages of women employment in Japan; how it is better to use only the percentage number rather than a series of facts. the impact of just a number is far more effective than a list of an unattractive array of facts. I have attended many presentations and was given a copy of the slide shows, which in some instances was only all needed to understand it. The proof of an excellent presentation is to have to make an explanation of it for those who missed it. In this case the presentation fulfills the goal.

movie-making animation

On Friday I made an advance in technology class at last. I was able to create an animated movie and then I posted it into my website. To make the movie was fun and easy but I still needed Lisa's help to create the link. I think I will try it again soon because I am sure it will be fun for my students to see the videos too. The feature I liked the most was the control over the voices and accents of the cartoons. It is limited in terms of characters' choices that we can use but it is a great beginning for teachers.

Using delicious and RSS

Delicious seems a great application for those who are completely tech prone. For my part, I still like using pen and pencil for some of my life aspects. I understand the convenience of using bookmarking sites, but I am not completely see it as part of my daily life yet. RSS on the other hand, seems like a very interesting way of being informed without too many searches. it reminds me of getting the newspaper to your door rather than going to get it to the store. Some will argue that they still enjoy the stroll down the street to the newspaper stand and all that entails; sunshine, wind, and a time to decompress. others will say that it is more convenient to get the paper delivered when it is raining or when you don't have time to go to the store. The same arguments apply to using RSS. I will give RSS a try and will comment on how it works for me later.

Webquests

Today, when we had the opportunity to search some web quests and see how useful they may be in our classroom, I wasn't able to create nor copy any good web quests because my computer started to act out. The concept of web quest is very interesting and it definitely attracts students attention and helps teacher make teaching and learning more interesting and relevant to the computer age we live in. As soon as I am able to reestablish this silly computer of mine, I am planning to work on a basic web quest for my project understanding topic of volcanoes in Guatemala.

Preemptive lawsuit artist Fairey brought against AP

As I read about this lawsuit and how it came to be, I wonder about ethics. Mr. Farley took this picture and knowingly changed it. I understand that it may be OK to do so but I still wonder if it is the right thing to do. AP obviously wanted to make money although they lately masqueraded their intentions as trying to help those in need. I just don't buy it, but the question of doing the right thing still remains. Putting aside ethics, it may be a valid victory for those who may want to use pictures, media, and copyrighted material but are frustrated with the greediness of those who control them. They may never use it again or may not be important to them, but the moment someone else puts his eyes on them, it becomes the most valuable asset to them. I like Mr. Garcia's point of view because although he took the picture he recognizes the art Mr. Farley created. If Garcia is not bothered, why should AP be involved?

Creative Commons and Magnatude

Wow! Both concepts are moving away from traditional business to benefit the "little guy", the occasional user, and educators. All of them have tight resources and these two companies give them opportunity to use and allow others to use music, pictures, and information for as long as they don't make money from them. I think this are particular good news for teachers who want to use authentic media in our classes but have to fight with the system now a day. It also relieves many concerns for writers or artists who would like to make known their decisions on how their art is to be used. I will definitely consider using both in my classroom now that I am learning how to use the Internet as an innovative tool in the classroom.