Horizon Report (Blog 2)

In the Horizon Report article the changes and uses of technology over time were discussed.  I definitely think that the 21st century classroom is impacted by technology.  Just think back to a college classroom 40 or 50 years ago.  There were no computer, no smart boards, and no internet.  Now look at the classrooms of today.  We have internet in all the classroom.  Teachers have roll down projectors and movie screes.  There are smart boards in several classrooms.  It is completely different and it has evolved.  Future classrooms will have to do the same.  With the large amount of technology that is available today though, it is important that these things are being used properly and in the most effective way for the class and learning environment.

Creative Post (Blog 5)

As I have stated before in previous blogs, I am not creative at all.  I have friends coming into town this weekend though, and I want a few more decorations for my room.  I saw something a post on Pintrest with an idea I really liked and it did not seem to difficult.  It was a picture collage.  First I went to Hobby Lobby and found a rather large decorative frame that I liked.  Then I picked out scrapbook paper that matched my room.  Then I went  and printed out several different pictures.  Once back at home I was ready to begin my "Creativity Project."  First I opened up the frame and covered the inside of the back on the frame with the paper.  Next I trimmed up the pictures in all different sizes and shapers.  Then I laid the pictures out to see exactly how to arrange them.  Finally I glued all the pictures down.  After letting the frame dry, I put the back on it and hung it on the wall.  Below is a picture of the finished product.  I really like it and I think it adds a nice touch to my room.

Dimensions of Creativity (Blog 4)

1)  The four dimensions that J.P. Guilford used to describe creativity are originality, flexibility, fluency, and elaboration.

2)  I would definitely  say that I would struggle with originality the most.  I tend to always like to have a pattern or see an example of something before I will try it on my own.  It is difficult for me to come up with something different or "original".

3)  I think Pinterest would be an awesome tool to help with creativity.  Many of the decorations in my house and room this year were found on this site.  It allows one to find all types of crafts, and helps someone like me (who is not creative at all) explore their more creative side.  I am planning on being a teacher and I already have a board for ideas for my future classroom.  It is just a really cool website that allows people to pool their ideas together to help others become more creative.

4)  I think Storybird would be a great tool to use in my classroom.  I want to teach first grade, and what better way to implement creativity into my classroom then by allowing them to create their own story.  This is not only using creativity, but practicing reading skills, grammar for proper sentence structure, and reading comprehension skills.  I have never used Storybird before but from reading about it I think it would be a great tool!

Creativity Contract

Madison Brett and Sara Schuster

1.  Lesson Activity (20 points)

We used a lesson plan model from different education class that taught us how to incorporate music/technology into the classroom.  We came up with a thorough lesson plan that teaches the dynamics of music.  Therefore, the technology in this lesson plan would be the music (video below).  This promotes creativity because it allows the student to come up with/create examples of different songs that display the dynamics of music

2.  Mobile Devices (10 points)

- We chose 5 different mobile apps, that incorporate creativity and ranked them based on our likings.  The results are below:

1. Facebook - We have used this app the longest and we are most familiar with facebook, which is why we ranked it first!  It is an app that we both use very often.  It promotes creativity because you are able to upload and edit your own pictures, make your own status by writing whatever you feel like to share with your friends/public, and it also allows you to write whatever you like on different friend’s walls.  Facebook really allows you to post whatever you feel like which lets people get creative in their posts/pictures. 

2. Instagram - This application is fairly new compared to facebook.  It allows you to edit photos, and it posts them on your instagram account.  It is really cool because you can take a picture that you took on your phone with the regular camera, and then enhance it in so many ways.  You can change the colors of the photos, tag your friends, and add captions.  It also allows you to follow certain people, and for certain people to follow you – so that your creativity (picture editing) is made known to all of your friends and followers.

3. Twitter - Twitter is another application that really promotes creativity, as it allows you to create your own tweets, incorporate pictures in your tweets, and follow different people and groups.  Twitter is another one of our favorite apps because it allows us to stay connected not only with close friends, but also with news around the world.  One of my teachers even got so creative as to make a twitter account for our class so that we could follow it and access her announcements through another form of communcation instead of email or eLc.  Twitter really allows you to write and post whatever you like, which is a big factor in creativity.

4. Pinterest - Pinterest is an app that looks like a bulletin board that is divided up into different categories such as food, exercise, education, etc.  Each category has different pins (recipes, workouts, clothes, etc.) relating to that category.  It also allows you to get creative and make your own pins to publish to the website.  Again, pinterest allows you to follow your friends, and for them to follow you.  Once you repin something that you like, it stays in your account until you delete it!  We really like pinterest because it has so many awesome crafts that you can do at home, such as painting and making different things.  It also has a ton of great recipes!  Pinterest really does show off people's creativity, and it allows you to be creative yourself.

5. PicStitch - PicStitch is another awesome app for mobile devices because it allows you to take as many different pictures as you want, and "stitch" them together to make one picture.  For example, a lot of people will stitch together a "before" picture and an "after" picture so that you can see the differences in one picture instead of flipping between the two.  PicStitch allows you to get creative and stitch together anything you want. Even though this is ranked last on our list, it is still an awesome app that we use frequently!

-All of the apps we mentioned above are FREE!  However, there are tons of more apps available that promote creativity.

Digital Storytelling Project

My group decided to use digital storytelling to tell about a girl named Madison (me) who could not hit a softball.  We decided to teach a lesson in our story.  Since we had a UGA softball player in our group, the lesson of "How to hit a softball the correct way" was taught in our video.  We had a great time filming our video at the UGA softball complex. 

Creative at Home

Instead of having class today, our class was told to take a nap or sleep in then wake up and do something creative.  Today is also my roommates birthday so I knew exactly what I would do to be creative.  I decided to make cupcakes.  I got really creative with the and used fun-fetti cake mix, purple sparkle icing, and multi-colorded sprinkles.  She not only loved the decorations on them but she thought they were delicious as well!

Communication and Collaboration

Twitter is an exciting tool that one can use to communicate and keep up with friends, family, celebrities, and organizations.  This video will give one a small insight into how to use twitter and the tools that twitter offers.  To view the video click on the link below.

Twitter tutorial video:  http://screencast.com/t/J40JPJvo