Task two – Make sure you have an avatar!! Done and dusted.
Thank you Kerrie for the link to Sue Water’s blog. What a fantastic site for learning how to create an avatar. I highly recommend this site for anyone wanting clear, step by step instructions for creating and uploading an avatar.
http://theedublogger.com/2009/11/29/creating-and-uploading-your-comment-avatar/
My students and I played around on a few of the sites Sue mentions last year and the kids loved it. In particular they enjoyed http://www.buildyourwildself.com/
The students each created their own avatar, learned how to save the image and import it into a Word document. They then wrote about the animal parts they had chosen and why. It was interesting to read the different reasoning behind their choices which ranged from – “It looked cool!” to “I wanted polar bear ears because my ears are always super cold in winter”.
It was also interesting to hear the students discuss each others avatars and the stereotypes they associated with different choices made by their peers. I hope this year to create avatars and profile pages in the first term and extend the lessons to discuss how web content and symbols used may portray messages to others the author wasn’t intending to send.
Kerrie Smith’ s Blog Fest 2010 http://educationaublogfest.blogspot.com/
After reading an email on the OzTeachers network from Kerrie Smith regarding blogging as a learning journey in 2010 I thought this would be a great way to kick start my blog entries for 2010. So here I am, better late than never, responding to task one.
So, what do I hope to get out of this? I guess I hope that by following through on these tasks it will get me into the habit of logging on and writing regular posts. I hope that I may find other 5/6 teachers who write fabulous blogs that enhance my teaching skills and to find relevant content to blog about.
Short and sweet.
After watching the movie ’Julie & Julia’ I have decided to attempt writing a blog this year, following my progress throughout the school year. This seemed like a good idea at the time but we’ll wait and see how it goes. This is my first blog (I know!) and I am feeling very much behind the eight ball so please feel free to let me know if I have have forgotten anything of major importance.
Anyway, a bit about me- I am a primary school teacher, relatively new to the trade. I taught in a public school for a year after completing my degree and then took off to travel in the UK and teach as a CRT. Upon my return I commenced CRT work and madly applied for teaching positions. I was lucky enough to be employed by a wonderful boss and work with a team of very experienced teachers who enrich my professional knowledge daily. We are a small school with two grades in most year levels and therefore we rely heavily on the support of all the teachers, not just those in our year level.
This year I am moving to the senior grades (a composite 5/6) and will be team teaching in an open portable with a wonderful, experienced teacher with both 5/6 classes operating out of the portable. As a prior 3/4 teacher I am aware that I will face many challenges this year and hope that by recording them in this forum I will not repeat mistakes in the future.
So wish me luck and all the best in the world of blogs.
