First Prezi

I just put on the finishing touches on my first Prezi this morning.  I might have made one before in another college class but I know I didn't get this involved with it.  I like Prezi and I think my hesitation of using it again would be purely because of a lack of confidence using it.  The organization of the program was great and had some cool looking templates.  I wanted to use one of them but didn't feel they were appropriate for my presentation.  I look forward to using the timeline template in the future.  I typically start out a new chapter/unit with a timeline to give students a frame of reference.  One thing that I didn't like was that some of the YouTube files I had downloaded and would have embedded in a PowerPoint I was unable to do so because of the size of the file.  I had a lot of video clips on my Prezi because I find that it is an effective way to reinforce the text.  As a result my Prezi had 5 different YouTube clips, not sure if this is a good or bad thing.  Either way I have found Prezi very useful and definitely will be used to mix things up from the typical PowerPoint.  Here is the link if you want to check it out:  Chapter 13/14 Prezi

Chapter 13 & 14 on Prezi

Growing using what I am Learning

Recently I have increased my use of Social Bookmarking, Diigo, with some of my PLC.  We all have different material and our meetings typically consist of data sharing and pacing.  This Friday we will be showing others how to better use Diigo and become more connected.  I hope this will further my knowledge of the content area I teach.  I have mostly read different blogs to get answers to some of the questions I have about technology.  Also I have been introduced to various technology applications that I had not heard of before.  I hope to be knowledgeable enough with some of the applications to help my colleagues in integrating some of the technology that I have learned about through blogs of what others are doing.  I have also joined a couple Ning groups which have also opened my eyes to what other expert teachers are doing in their classrooms. As a first year teacher it is almost like having various mentors.  I have been in contact with two individuals that I have been able bounce ideas off of.  I really feel as though I have grown as teacher in the past month because of making relationships with other teachers.

Getting Started

Currently I am participating on the  iPadeducators ning to learn more about switching textbooks for iPads/laptops.  I hope to learn the pros and cons of a making "The Switch", creative ways people have done it, and a blueprint on how this process may look.  I feel that this is a topic that schools will discuss in the near future and I would like to educate myself about "The Switch".  This also is information I am researching for my Multimedia class.  If anyone else has insight it is welcomed.  My profile is ipadeducators profile  or my Diigo