Movie Maker edited pics

Curriculum Project Reflection

I created my final project about the 1980s. This is a unit I teach in my US History classes, and I thought this would be a good way to look at some of the major events of the decade. I chose to do pictures and narration with background music because I think it would be an interesting way to understand the information for students, and would be fun and interesting for parents to view as well.
The three pictures I edited in Picnik were slide # 1, 2 and 4. In the first picture (the title page) I added heart stickers and also brightened the coloring of the image. The second picture was of the US hockey team, and to that I added several stickers (#1 hand, heart, pom pon and a little green guy). The last picture I edited was the MTV image. I sharpened the image and added heart stickers, music notes, and a sticker that said "new."
I was nervous about uploading my video to YouTube because I had never done it. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it actually was! I just created an account, linked it to my Google account and clicked. :) I really feel like this was a great learning experience for me and I know I will be able to use this is my classroom. I am often intimidated by technology and doing things I have never done, but this assignment (and other assignments throughout the course) have shown me that I can do these things and can use them to really enhance my teaching!

Curriculum Project

Podcasts

I chose two podcasts about the current situation in Japan from Discovery News. I thought it was interesting to hear about the specifics of a nuclear disaster, and how the severity of a nuclear disaster is determined. I liked these podcasts because they weren't too long, but had a lot of information. I think this could be used in the classroom to teach students about current events. Students could access a variety of current topics and hear from many different people and sources. This would be a great way to connect them to the world.

World War I

Animoto Project

I have to admit that I did not know what Animoto was when I first read the directions for the assignment. I was nervous about it, but it ended up being pretty simple and even fun. I loved seeing how my video turned out, and putting the music with it really added the perfect touch. I thought the music and images together set the perfect tone for the topic. I will definitely be using this program again for other topics I teach!

I used Picnik for editing and fixing the lighting on a few photos in the presentation. I also used text on the picture of Buzz Aldrin and stickers on that picture as well as the picture of JFK. I thought the Picnik site was pretty neat. I can see me using it on presentations and even outside of the classroom, like on pictures of my family! I learned quite a bit from this assignment and thought it was very worthwhile. 

Introduction

My name is Rebecca Akins. I began my teaching career in Tucson, Arizona in 2000, after graduating from the University of Arizona with a BA in Secondary Education. I taught at Canyon Del Oro High School for 8 ½ years, until I relocated to Omaha in December 2008 with my family. I have been at Burke High School in the Omaha Public Schools District ever since. I currently teach Honors and Regular US History, but have also taught World History and US Government throughout the years.

My experience with technology is somewhat limited, but is definitely improving through my coursework at Peru State College. I will admit that I’ve done more with technology in the last year than I probably ever have. I have a PC at home and at work and primarily use Windows XP at home and Windows 2003 at work. I am fortunate enough to have a Smart Board in my classroom and I do use it every single day. I also have an Elmo, which I use from time to time. I began teaching when transparencies were still popular, so I have finally converted all of my old transparencies into PowerPoint presentations.

I had wanted to obtain my Master’s Degree for a very long time but the timing just never worked out. Then, last spring, my friend encouraged me to look into the master’s program at PSC because she was enrolled and told me she was really enjoying her experience. I applied shortly after that and everything just fell into place. I have been writing a new concept-based curriculum for Omaha Public Schools for about two years now, and this degree compliments the process so well. I plan to continue my curriculum writing, and perhaps after earning my degree from PSC, even moving into the curriculum department on a permanent basis.