J.+Oeters

[] The above is a long link. If you go to [|www.google.com] you can click the "more" icon and a drop down menu appears. Click on "Sites."
 * Mr. Oeters' Sites and Projects 2010**
 * 2010 GOOGLE SITES**

I will touch on this point later as well, but my intent was to update the website on a daily basis with information from class that day. It became very time consuming and eventully I found that I needed to cut something out of my day. Updating my website is what got cut. I found a student that is willing to update the site for me. I hope that works. Also, I would like to place a counter to see how many people visit my website. I could possibly find that information out in a survey of my classes. This was my first attempt at a Collin's Type 3 Writing assignment. The students were supposed to write 2 paragraphs about themselves. I was looking to find some information out about my students and their writing by giving them a topic that they are very familiar with; their life. This also seemed to flow nicely into a [|www.wikispaces] activity. Knowing wikispaces would allow for further online discussion during the school year.
 * MR. OETERS' WEBSITE**
 * []**
 * 8/23/10 WIKISPACES** www.wikispaces.com

My original thought was to cut and paste from the wiki to my website and once a week I could change and highlight a new group of students for each class. That became too difficult and time consuming, so I stopped doing it. I think I have found a student that is willing to update the website on a regular basis. They still need to be trained on how to manage the website, but if it works out, it will free up some of my time.

My wiki is currently private, but if you would like to become a member please email me. **joeters@mthcs.org**

This is the link to my wiki. It may work. http://joeters.wikispaces.com/


 * 9/7/10 PREZI** (Characterization) **[|www.prezi.com]**

This was my first attempt at Prezi and the students liked it. It just covered some definitions and examples, but it was different and new.

This is my presentation on Characterization. **[]**

The idea for this assignment came from a differentiated activity that I had done in the past where the students could pick from several different assignments to show their understanding of the story __The Open Window__ by Saki. This time, I did not give the students a choice for their assignemt. The students got in groups, that I chose at random, and created an interview with the main characters and/or the author. The questions should be centered around the events of the story. I also considered this a Type 3 writing assignment because it has 3 FCA's and the students read the interview aloud and made corrections on their original draft.
 * 9/14/10 AUDACITY**

I decided that I would take the assignent to the next level using technology. Using Audacity ([|www.audacity.com]), I thought the studernts could record the interview and we could take our reporting to the next level. It would also be an opportunity for the students to observe themselves reading. The students seemed to like the idea. The first issue that I faced was to make sure that the computers all had Audacity downloaded. I also struggled with where to record the interviews. I chose the Library and the McClelland sisters were able to run the recordings while I worked with the rest of the students to make sure they had their script typed and they practiced before they recorded. With the appropriate set up, I could have instructed the students on how to record and save the files, but it was more efficient with help. It would also be interresting to look into what it would take to create a sound proof booth. Moreover, Perhaps taking it a step further and recording video along with the audio could add a little extra to the assigment. It might also make things a little easier.

Another issue that should be addressed for others is that audacity broke the file down into smaller incriments. I thought that I would need to cut and paste all the files together, but Audacity also creates a file that has it all together. Anyway, most recordings sounded ok and with the //amplify// command, I was able make it louder so it couls easily be heard. Overall, it was a good project. I would do it again and possibly let the students do all the recordings and even play with some of the other features. Also, be sure to realize that Audacity files are specific to audacity. If you want to use another program, you must export it as some other type of file...MP3 or WAV.

The goal of today's lesson was to teach simile and metaphor. I was looking to do somethinbg different than the usual PowerPoint. So I looked for pre-made prezi's. I found 2 that would work, even though there were a few slides that I wasn't too keen on. I used them and created a new one that covered the infomation the students would need to complete their activity for the day. The students seemed to enjoy a new way to present information.
 * 9/23/10 PREZI** (Simile and Metaphor) **[|www.prezi.com]**

This is the link to my simile and metaphor presentation. **[]**

The day before the ARRA Team members got together to discuss our 1st semester project. We decided that edu glogster would be the program we would use for our differentiated assignments. I thought I would give the students an into to this website by creating a poster of symbols and discussing the different symbols on the poster. The students seemed to respond to the activity.
 * 10/4/10 EDU GLOGSTER** (Symbolism) [|www.edu.glogster.com]

I assigned the students an account and it was a very time consuming process. I had to type each persons name and change their password. Also, I should have realized that the students were working in groups and that would have cut down the amount of accounts that I had to set up. So all the accounts worked and the students started working. There was some difficulty getting the students to understand that this is a collaborative project and they need to work together.
 * 12/10/10 MORE EDU GLOGSTER**

This is the link to my symbolism poster. []