Semester Favorites

The two things we used this semester that would easily be my favorite are Animoto and Google Maps. I loved Animoto because it was fun and so easy to use. The fact that we could take pictures, add them to the site, and pick a song and then have a 30 second video made for us that is both professional and fun is one of the coolest things to me. I used to spend hours trying to make presentations where the pictures come in with the beat of the music and sync with certain parts of songs and now that I have found Animoto I can do it in minutes. My group and I utilized Animoto for our presentation and the students in our classroom responded very well to it. It was a visual stimulation that they would not have otherwise been able to see without the program. I plan on using Animoto in my classroom as a professional for sure.


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

The other technology I fell in love with was Google Maps. I liked Google Maps so much because of the practicality of it all. To be able to go and plot out a trip and then leave pictures and information at each point you plan on stopping at is just fun and incredibly informational at the same time. I used Google Maps to teach a lesson on Eco- Tourism in Kansas and took my students through a brief trip of the many State Parks Kansas has to offer. It was amazing to see how much I could teach them all on the map by showing them pictures, videos, and leaving mini-lesson sized blurbs of information that were easy to remember and stuff they would want to learn. I liked this project because it is so applicable in all subjects in the school. This, like Animoto is  another piece of technology I plan on utilizing whenever possible.

View A Tour of Kansas State Parks in a larger map