BP6_2010012_Link_to_Comment

Click here to view my comment on Sarah Hodge's blog. If you are not following her blog, make sure you do. She is great. Thanks!

BP5_2010012_Web2.0Tool2_Shwup

The web 2.0 tool that I explored for this blog is called Shwup. This site makes it very easy to create a movie photo album. The movie photo album can include pictures as well as media clips. There is a number of different templates and music assets, that the site provides, to add to your movie photo album. It is user friendly and has a very clean interface. This Web 2.0 tool can be used for any subject.

How can I use Shwup ???

Video Resume

I would use Shwup as a way for students to create a video resume to supplement their written resumes. In dance it is important to keep an updated resume including what pieces you have performed, what pieces you have created, and who you have trained with. My students would be responsible for using the class camera to document their information. They would need take pictures of the dances they created and have their classmates take pictures of them performing. If there was a guest artist that taught the class, I would take pictures of each student dance throughout the class. The students would compile their pictures and create a photo album resume.

Dance Terminology

Ballet terminology is very hard to master for K-12 students. For one thing, all of the terminology is French. That can be a little overwhelming. Creating a photo album movie will help the students master ballet terminology. Each student would create a photo album movie for a ballet term such as arabesque. Each photo album movie would consist of a picture of the word, the student performing the movement, and a picture of the definition. I would compile all of these into their class ballet dictionary.

Just for Fun

My students could also have the opportunity to create photo album movies for their favorite style of dance, what they learned in dance on a particular day, or what they want to learn in the future.

My Dance Experience in College

I encourage you to join Shwup @ http://www.shwup.com/ !

Photo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tylerhowarth/ / CC BY 2.0

BP4_2010011_RSS Feeds

Here are my RSS Feed Selections:

1,926 Dance History Lesson Plans reviewed by Teachers:

This RSS Feed has numerous lesson plans that I can use and adapt to my needs. Not only does it have dance history lessons, but also it has anatomy and creative movement lessons.

Arts – Dance – New York Times:

This RSS Feed will keep me up to date with what is going on in the world of dance.

Suite 101: Contemporary Dance Articles:

This RSS Feed will provide me with articles on contemporary dance. My students can use these articles when researching contemporary dance and I can use them to inform my students about recent news in contemporary dance world.

The Ballet Bag:

This RSS Feed is home to various ballet storylines, ballet pictures, and ballet history. I can use this during my ballet lessons.

Technology in the Arts:

This RSS Feed will keep me up to date with how the arts (music, dance, art, and drama) are using technology in the classroom.

I love Google Reader.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pandemia/ / CC BY 2.0

BP3_2010011_Web2.0Tool1_YouTube

The Go2Web2.0 site has an abundant amount of Web 2.0 tools. I spent a large amount of time searching though the website for a Web 2.0 tool that would catch my eye and spark a creative idea. I found myself taking a break and looking at videos on YouTube. That’s when it struck me that YouTube is the perfect Web 2.0 tool to discuss in this blog. I am a subscriber to at least three YouTube channels. A YouTube channel is a channel in which one person creates multiple videos that are stored on this one channel. I am a subscriber to fashion and makeup channels. Why not create a channel for my dance students to create their own videos about dance?

These two pictures are Screen Shots I took of two YouTube Channels.

There is a very popular show that appeals to 2 to 8 graders called iCarly. In this show a teen creates her own shows that she posts to a YouTube Channel called iCarly. Kids are drawn to this show because iCarly has her own show, which she creates herself. Kids love to have something they can call their own. It makes them feel more involved in their learning and it makes them feel very accomplished.

Retrieved January 11, 2010, from: http://www.icarly.com/

Assignments?????

I would create a YouTube channel for my students to upload videos on. We would create these videos in the classroom. I could divide students into groups and have them focus on one topic in each unit. For example, in a modern dance history unit each group of students could create a video on a modern dance pioneer. I would be able to cover a lot more choreographers in a short amount of time. In a typical modern history unit a teacher can usually only cover up to 5 choreographers, but with this assignment I could cover up to 10 or even more. I would edit the videos and upload them to our YouTube channel. We could then watch these videos in class, the students can watch them at home if they have computer access, and they will get to show their parents what they have been learning. There are so many choreographers and different aspects of dance that we would never have to create a video twice. We would be creating a dance archive of videos. Other dance teachers could subscribe and use our channel as well.

This could be done in a math, science, reading, or social studies class. The possibilities are endless. YouTube is a very familiar site. I think a lot of people view YouTube as a site to view funny videos, but it is far more than that.

BP2_2010011_EduUses4Blogs

What is a blog? I think of a blog as an electric journal. Instead of using a diary to store your thoughts, you use the World Wide Web to store your thoughts. In fact, you are on one right now. “A blog is a simply a website that an owner or ‘blogger’ can update on a regular basis” (Davies & Merchant, 2009). Blogs are well known in the Web 2.0 world and can be used for various educational purposes. The following is a list of some of these purposes:

Peer Discussion

Movement Portfolios

Coursework

Peer Discussion

Through blogging students are able to not only connect with their classmates, but students from other schools as well. Students are able to voice their opinions or certain topics and receive feedback from other students, parents, and other teachers. The world is virtually at their fingertips as they are able to network with the world.

Movement Portfolios

I am a dance teacher. Movement portfolios are really important to me. I allow each student to create choreography, an audio, and a drawing of how they feel about dance at the beginning of the semester and at the end. I usually compile these on individual discs and give it to the students to take home. They receive feedback from only me on their work. I believe that if my students created their Movement Portfolios through a blog, they could receive more rich feedback from other dance teachers in the district as well as their dance peers.

Coursework

Blogs would be a great way to store my dance course requirement, dance assignments, and events. The students and parents could simply read the course requirement on my page and then respond as their signature. Dance assignments such as making timelines can be easily done through a blog also. I could write out instructions as well as give the students examples through pictures. Parents and students could also have a say in the theme of our dance showcases, costuming, and fundraisers through blogging.

Blogs have endless possibilities. Anything you can do in the classroom, you can do it through a blog. “The blogosphere can transform pedagogy by opening classroom learning to a wider, dispersed audience” (Davies & Merchant, 2009). However, with tools such as blogs some teachers are wary to allow students such freedom on the World Wide Web. “Such experiences with the broader blogosphere, will allow learners, under the guidance of teachers, to explore the internet in safe ways and learn to read and critically interact with the vast amount of text available online” (Davies & Merchant). In order for our students to receive a rich educational experience through blogs netiquette must be discussed previous to incorporating blogs into a curriculum. Our students deserve the chance to make their mark on the world. Since they are now able to make their mark on the world through blogs, who am I not to introduce them to this wonderful Web 2.0 tool.

Davies, J., Merchant, G. (2009). Web 2.0 for schools: learning and social participation. New York, New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

BP1_2010011_iGoogleScreenShots

ETC

AR/CBL

FSO

Home/WGO

I really love iGoogle. It is so convenient. Everything that I need is at my finger tips. I feel like I get a lot more work done because I don't have to go to each of my favorite sites individually. I can check my iGoogle homepage and not get distracted by other things on my favorite sites, such as the chatting and playing games.