Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Persuasive Movies
On Friday, I got a chance to work with one of our Language Arts teachers on a persuasive movie project she is doing with her students. The students are currently learning how to write persuasive essays, however, they are taking it one step further by creating movies similar to a public service announcement (PSA) using imovie. The students have already added pictures to their movies and as I walked around the room, I was truly impressed with their topics and maturity in discussing some really deep ideas. Some of the topics include obesity in America, solar energy, helping victims of the Haiti earthquake, technology advancement, and treatment of pets.
I was unable to attend the classes where the students were creating their storyboards and learning how to use imovie, which is unfortunate because I would have liked to see how this teacher set it up. I know most of last week was dedicated to researching topics, and then the scripting and storyboarding took place. Their movie is to include both negative and positive aspects of their topic, with a call to action at the end of the movie. This idea seemed to stump some students. I told them to look up different organizations and copy and paste the website URL to a text slide and tell viewers what they can do to help.
One particular group was looking to find video footage of how pets are treated. I told them how they could look for videos on youtube at home and convert the video using a converter such as zamzar.com and then bring the video in on a flash drive. It took us a couple of times of converting the video to the right format to get it to import into imovie. The .mov file is the one that worked. I then showed the students how to take out the background sound from this footage and then they entered the text they needed to finish their video.
All the students seem to be very into the process and are working hard. It's always nice to hear a classroom buzzing with energy over a project! I'm very excited to see their final products!
I was unable to attend the classes where the students were creating their storyboards and learning how to use imovie, which is unfortunate because I would have liked to see how this teacher set it up. I know most of last week was dedicated to researching topics, and then the scripting and storyboarding took place. Their movie is to include both negative and positive aspects of their topic, with a call to action at the end of the movie. This idea seemed to stump some students. I told them to look up different organizations and copy and paste the website URL to a text slide and tell viewers what they can do to help.
One particular group was looking to find video footage of how pets are treated. I told them how they could look for videos on youtube at home and convert the video using a converter such as zamzar.com and then bring the video in on a flash drive. It took us a couple of times of converting the video to the right format to get it to import into imovie. The .mov file is the one that worked. I then showed the students how to take out the background sound from this footage and then they entered the text they needed to finish their video.
All the students seem to be very into the process and are working hard. It's always nice to hear a classroom buzzing with energy over a project! I'm very excited to see their final products!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Happy Friday!
Here are some exciting posts you should check out from Free Technology for Teachers! I'll try and read some other blogs this week and get some different ideas from around the web, but these 3 are great ideas!
Free Technology for Teachers
This looks like a great idea to help students get the most out of researching on the web. Students want
quick answers and sometimes get caught up in searches that don't lead them to more specific information
on topic areas.
2. Mac for Beginners
Free Technology for Teachers
3. 20+ Ways to Use Flip Cameras in the Classroom
Free Technology for Teachers
Friday, March 19, 2010
Websites You Should Check Out 03/20/2010
Online lab promotes math understanding
The Feather | Features article |
Fenton leads math trail-blazing
The Feather | News article |
The Feather | Features article | Math resources enhance learning process
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
TGIF!
It's been a long week working on Glogster posters! I'll be writing more about that later, but here are some blog posts to peruse during your weekend. Happy Friday!
1. Creative Exercises for Artists and Art Students
Free Technology for Teachers
2. Putting Tech in Phys. Ed - Google Maps Bike Routes
Free Technology for Teachers
3. Turn Your Spreadsheets into Word Clouds
Free Technology for Teachers
4. Top 10 Reasons Communicating on Computers Impacts Quality of Writing
ISTE Connects
1. Creative Exercises for Artists and Art Students
Free Technology for Teachers
2. Putting Tech in Phys. Ed - Google Maps Bike Routes
Free Technology for Teachers
3. Turn Your Spreadsheets into Word Clouds
Free Technology for Teachers
4. Top 10 Reasons Communicating on Computers Impacts Quality of Writing
ISTE Connects
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Life Premiere Screening
I got the wonderful opportunity last week to be invited to a screening of Discovery Channel's newest movie, Life, premiering March 21st. It was held in downtown DC at the beautiful and ornately designed Mellon Auditorium. According to the program I received, the auditorium connects the two wings of the building that houses of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; what a fitting place to hold this premiere!
Once, I got through security (yes, security!) the event was much bigger than I had anticipated, with members of the press (The Washington Post and CBS Evening News) and the International Community (Ambassadors from China, Spain, Columbia, and Argentina to name a few) were in attendance. I sat next to two delegates from the Embassy of Singapore, as well!
The President and CEO of Discovery Communications welcomed those present to celebrate Discovery's 25th anniversary and introduced us to the HUGE production undertaking that took place to create Life. It took 4 years and countless hours of filming, anywhere from 23 days to 3 months per animal and across the globe. The goal of this project was to get never before seen footage of animals in the wild and after watching the premiere the goal was accomplished! I wasn't sure if I was going to be watching this series, but I've since re-considered and already have it set on my tivo!
It took my breath away to watch the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra provide the live soundtrack and then look further up to the screen as such animals as the Brown Tufted Capuchin, similar to a monkey, pound on palm nuts to reach the meat and food inside the nut or as the Basilisk lizard literally runs on water! My attention was constantly moving between the musicians and the screen.
The reception that followed included little Chinese boxes with sushi and noodles and everyone was talking about the animals and how those scenes were captured. They were truly amazing!
Upon leaving, each guest received a DVD of the first night's episode and a t-shirt.
Once, I got through security (yes, security!) the event was much bigger than I had anticipated, with members of the press (The Washington Post and CBS Evening News) and the International Community (Ambassadors from China, Spain, Columbia, and Argentina to name a few) were in attendance. I sat next to two delegates from the Embassy of Singapore, as well!
The President and CEO of Discovery Communications welcomed those present to celebrate Discovery's 25th anniversary and introduced us to the HUGE production undertaking that took place to create Life. It took 4 years and countless hours of filming, anywhere from 23 days to 3 months per animal and across the globe. The goal of this project was to get never before seen footage of animals in the wild and after watching the premiere the goal was accomplished! I wasn't sure if I was going to be watching this series, but I've since re-considered and already have it set on my tivo!
It took my breath away to watch the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra provide the live soundtrack and then look further up to the screen as such animals as the Brown Tufted Capuchin, similar to a monkey, pound on palm nuts to reach the meat and food inside the nut or as the Basilisk lizard literally runs on water! My attention was constantly moving between the musicians and the screen.
The reception that followed included little Chinese boxes with sushi and noodles and everyone was talking about the animals and how those scenes were captured. They were truly amazing!
Upon leaving, each guest received a DVD of the first night's episode and a t-shirt.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Happy Friday!
Here are some great blog postings from excellent teachers and technology integrators. Check out #10 for sure!
1. Game Based Learning with Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics
Trails Optional
2. Flixtime: Another Worthy Animoto Alternative
NCS-Tech
3. The Great Wordle Crisis
The Whiteboard Blog
4. NOVA on Hulu
Free Technology for Teachers
5. Big, Huge, Free Presidents Timeline Poster
Free Technology for Teachers
6. Auto-Captioning Available on All YouTube Videos
Free Technology for Teachers
7. How to Embed a Map into Blogs and Wikis
Free Technology for Teachers
8. How the Web Works - A Slideshow from the BBC
Free Technology for Teachers
9. Top 50 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do With Google Maps
Virtual Hosting.com
10. How To Teach an Old Dog New Tech, Part 2
ISTE Connects Blog
Trails Optional
2. Flixtime: Another Worthy Animoto Alternative
NCS-Tech
3. The Great Wordle Crisis
The Whiteboard Blog
4. NOVA on Hulu
Free Technology for Teachers
5. Big, Huge, Free Presidents Timeline Poster
Free Technology for Teachers
6. Auto-Captioning Available on All YouTube Videos
Free Technology for Teachers
7. How to Embed a Map into Blogs and Wikis
Free Technology for Teachers
8. How the Web Works - A Slideshow from the BBC
Free Technology for Teachers
9. Top 50 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do With Google Maps
Virtual Hosting.com
10. How To Teach an Old Dog New Tech, Part 2
ISTE Connects Blog
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Share Your Smart Board Lessons
Lots of sweepstakes going on right on! Here's two more from Smart and CDW-G.
Do you have a great SMART Notebook lesson activity? Now you can share it on the SMART Exchange online community for a chance to win a variety of SMART Products, including a SMART Interactive Classroom PE. You have to submit your lesson activities by May 31st to participate. This would be great for those teachers participarting in SCPS' online Notebook 10 course!
Here are the contest guidelines. The lesson activity must:
Then go over to CDW-G and Discovery Education's sweepstakes for a chance to win a 21st century classroom, with an interactive whiteboard, notebook computers, wireless cart, projectors and document camera.
Good luck!
Do you have a great SMART Notebook lesson activity? Now you can share it on the SMART Exchange online community for a chance to win a variety of SMART Products, including a SMART Interactive Classroom PE. You have to submit your lesson activities by May 31st to participate. This would be great for those teachers participarting in SCPS' online Notebook 10 course!
Here are the contest guidelines. The lesson activity must:
- be at least 5 pages in length
- be original
- be creative
- be visually appealing
- be easy for teachers to use and adapt
- be interactive
Then go over to CDW-G and Discovery Education's sweepstakes for a chance to win a 21st century classroom, with an interactive whiteboard, notebook computers, wireless cart, projectors and document camera.
Good luck!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
What Skills Do Students Need to Know?
Recently, I was helping a teacher who was having her students type up essays they have recently finished revising. Both their teacher and myself were surprised when the students didn't know how to format their essays; both of us were receiving questions on alignment, how to change font (and then explain why Blackadder in size 18 wasn't the font to use to write an essay for school), and how to save. We turned to each other after class asking, shouldn't 7th graders know how to do this?
During the rest of the days classes, we showed the students how their paper should be set up, with a heading, title, and where the alignment icons were located and which ones they needed to use for their heading and title. Then we would show them how to set up the body of their essay and where the font and size tools were located and to use Times New Roman in size 12. Then where and how to save their essays. It wasn't a problem to do this, but it made me think about why I hadn't had to do this before and as the instructional technology guru in the building, how did I miss this?
Some other questions floating through my head included, "what kind of computer skills should students be receiving and at what age?" "What kind of computer skills should teachers and myself be talking about when creating a lesson?" "What more can I do to prepare students before they reach high school?" In talking with other teachers that used to teach elementary school, I found out that students really don't receive any of these skills before reaching middle school. They have computer lab time, but that doesn't mean they're learning how to use MS Office and the skills we assumed the students were already taught.
We also talked about this topic at that week's technology committee meeting. Other teachers agreed with me that some kind of plan needs to be put into place to teach these skills, without taking away from instruction time, which is obviously the difficult part. How do we teach these skills without taking away from instruction time and giving everyone one MORE item to accomplish.
For now, it involves asking the question, "What do I want my students to learn and what technology skills are associated with that?" Then go step by step and teach it to them. Eventually, my goal will be to work with various departments at certain points throughout the year, in helping students work with MS Office and building up their skills with various assignments.
I would love to hear if you've run into a similar problem at your school or how you go about teaching these skills. Please share below!
During the rest of the days classes, we showed the students how their paper should be set up, with a heading, title, and where the alignment icons were located and which ones they needed to use for their heading and title. Then we would show them how to set up the body of their essay and where the font and size tools were located and to use Times New Roman in size 12. Then where and how to save their essays. It wasn't a problem to do this, but it made me think about why I hadn't had to do this before and as the instructional technology guru in the building, how did I miss this?
Some other questions floating through my head included, "what kind of computer skills should students be receiving and at what age?" "What kind of computer skills should teachers and myself be talking about when creating a lesson?" "What more can I do to prepare students before they reach high school?" In talking with other teachers that used to teach elementary school, I found out that students really don't receive any of these skills before reaching middle school. They have computer lab time, but that doesn't mean they're learning how to use MS Office and the skills we assumed the students were already taught.
We also talked about this topic at that week's technology committee meeting. Other teachers agreed with me that some kind of plan needs to be put into place to teach these skills, without taking away from instruction time, which is obviously the difficult part. How do we teach these skills without taking away from instruction time and giving everyone one MORE item to accomplish.
For now, it involves asking the question, "What do I want my students to learn and what technology skills are associated with that?" Then go step by step and teach it to them. Eventually, my goal will be to work with various departments at certain points throughout the year, in helping students work with MS Office and building up their skills with various assignments.
I would love to hear if you've run into a similar problem at your school or how you go about teaching these skills. Please share below!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Web 20.10
Discovery Education has just announced the creation of their newest support website for teachers! Web 20.10 is provides free online support and is designed to tune-up your teaching techniques! Get the latest on Internet Safety, Media Literacy, Web 2.0 Tools, and Tech Tips through how to videos. This website is specifically designed to help us teachers, keep up with our 21st century students.
While you're there, you can also sign up for their sweepstakes, where the grand prize winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to attend the educational tech conference of your choice, the latest in tech gadgets for your classroom, a new laptop and scholarship funds for an online degree!
While you're there, you can also sign up for their sweepstakes, where the grand prize winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to attend the educational tech conference of your choice, the latest in tech gadgets for your classroom, a new laptop and scholarship funds for an online degree!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Upcoming DEN Webinars
Hi there!
Here's the latest in Discovery Education Network (DEN) webinars:
TONIGHT!
Monday, March 8 @ 7PM EST - Using Technology to Create New Knowledge with Hall Davidson
We will look at how understanding the creation of new knowledge is integral in preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 9 @ 1PM EST - How Math Can Solve Everyday Problems with Garth Sundem
Bestselling author Garth Sundem will show students how to use math to solve everyday problems in life, and they’ll learn a thing or two about the design and solving of algebraic equations at the same time. Your students will see that math can be fun—and funny, too! This fun webinar uses basic algebra and a healthy helping of humor to provide fail-safe solutions to just about anything. Students are encouraged to participate!
Wednesday, March 10 @ 7PM EST - Virtual Field Trips with Google Earth
Tuesday, March 16 @ 7PM EST - Failure to Communicate
Come ready to look at images, audio, video and PowerPoint in a whole new way!
Wednesday, March 17 @ 7PM EST - EdTechConnect with Scott Kinney
Tuesday, March 23 @ 7PM EST - Little Hands, Giant Reach with Steve Dembo
See how innovative classroom teachers are are using free technologies to improve communication, impact student learning, and above all... make learning exciting!
Here's the latest in Discovery Education Network (DEN) webinars:
TONIGHT!
Monday, March 8 @ 7PM EST - Using Technology to Create New Knowledge with Hall Davidson
We will look at how understanding the creation of new knowledge is integral in preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 9 @ 1PM EST - How Math Can Solve Everyday Problems with Garth Sundem
Bestselling author Garth Sundem will show students how to use math to solve everyday problems in life, and they’ll learn a thing or two about the design and solving of algebraic equations at the same time. Your students will see that math can be fun—and funny, too! This fun webinar uses basic algebra and a healthy helping of humor to provide fail-safe solutions to just about anything. Students are encouraged to participate!
Wednesday, March 10 @ 7PM EST - Virtual Field Trips with Google Earth
Tuesday, March 16 @ 7PM EST - Failure to Communicate
Come ready to look at images, audio, video and PowerPoint in a whole new way!
Wednesday, March 17 @ 7PM EST - EdTechConnect with Scott Kinney
Tuesday, March 23 @ 7PM EST - Little Hands, Giant Reach with Steve Dembo
See how innovative classroom teachers are are using free technologies to improve communication, impact student learning, and above all... make learning exciting!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
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