Why Prezi?

Last week I introduced Prezi to a group of 8th graders working on a presentation centered on scientists and their contributions. As I began to prepare I kept asking myself, “Why Prezi? Why not Powerpoint, or Google Presentation?” Don’t get me wrong Prezi is “pretty neat”. However, is “pretty neat” the criteria we use when deciding what is used in the classroom?

After some investigation I have come up with several positives that lend to the use of Prezi.
1. Prezi is web based. You can sign on to it from any computer and have access to your presentations.
2. It lends itself to creativity. Students can zoom in on graphics, organize their ideas into shapes and interesting patterns which add to the communication of the message.
3. Prezi is not just linear in its format but can be organized in a way that reflects the way people think.
4. The easy to use zooming feature helps the presenter to bring focus to important information in a creative way.
5. Prezi is simple but offers a wealth of possibilities. The menu is fairly basic but as you learn how to work with content you discover endless possibilities.
 
 Some things to consider before starting a Prezi project are….
1. Each student will need an account. Students must be 13 years or older and have an educational e-mail to have an educational account.
2. Educational accounts are free with a valid education e-mail account.
3. Free accounts rely on an internet connection.

While there are some nice positives to the use of Prezi, I do believe it is important to also teach Powerpoint, Keynote, Google Presentation, and other presentation platforms. After all it is the message we are trying to communicate that should determine the tool as we do not want the tool to limit our message. Therefore, we need to equip our students to be able to use a variety of different tools to provide them with clear platform which best communicates their ideas.

Tutorial Video
http://www.youtube.com/user/PreziVideoChannel?ob=5&v=_XtjBxGzFkc&lr=1

Skyping with Governor Branstad

Today was an exciting day in Mrs. Bell's 2nd grade classroom!  The students were able to ask questions of Governor Branstad, Iowa's governor.  

Superintendent Schneider sent an email link to an article on Radio Iowa's blog inviting students to Skype with the Governor to all staff members. 

http://www.radioiowa.com/2012/08/13/governor-and-lt-governor-asks-students-to-skype-them/

Mrs. Bell's class is the first to make the connections.  The Skype call lasted about 1/2 and hour and students were able to hear about his life as governor and learn a little about his favorite part of the state fair as well as many other details.

Stay tuned for other Skyping classrooms across the district!

Seen Around the District - High School Style

This is an amazing example of what a staff can do!
This took precise planning, organization, technical skills  and a bit of rhythm!
And it was all a secret!!!
Congratulations on an awesome idea and a fantastic kick off to learning at Mid-Prairie High School!

Whose bucket have you filled today?

Fill my bucket....

Washington 
Township 
styl

Keota Day

Today we 'swarmed' Keota.

Frank, Miranda, Phyllis and myself all spent the day doing our various jobs at Keota. So - you may wonder what our various jobs actually are.  Here is a bit of an overview of how we spent our day.

• Professional development planning meeting  @ 7:30 - Beth.  
• Installing Type to Learn on all the computers in the elementary lab  - Phyllis
• Setting up Prezi accounts for all 8th graders - Frank
• Teaching 8th grade prezi - Frank
• Writing lesson plans - Miranda
• Meeting with Mark - Beth
• Placing orders for new equipment - Beth
• Processing Books - Miranda
• Phone calls and emails to Great Prairie to set up Professional development speakers - Beth

And then it's back to Mid-Prairie.

Seen Around the Building - Kalona Elementary

As Frank and I travel around the buildings at Mid-Prairie we want to share things we see.  So today is the first installment.  These were all wall decorations at Kalona Elementary.  Stay tuned for pics from other buildings.

This is a Twitter door. The teacher posed a twitter challenge question and the students responded in 140 characters or less. Each of the cards are laminated to all them to be wiped clean for the next challenge. This is the first step in preparing students to tweet on the classroom account.

  

This door is filled with words that describe life in the classroom.  They also happen to be words taken from the Keynote given by the Learning Design Coaches on the first day back with additions from the students. 

There are lots of great displays around the building demonstrating how students fit into a class here are two.

Finally the staff is in the process of creating a board in their lounge to share their expertise.