Final Video (and I do mean "final")

Well, I'm officially abandoning my Hollywood dream. Clearly, moviemaking is not for the short-tempered. Jeeeeeeez, this was hard. Juggling Garageband and Keynote was crazy but here it is - my latest and potentially final cinematic offering. Enjoy. (?)

BTW, the credits should include a thank you to Perri for the idea. Tnx, Per.

Tech in a Lesson

Let's see. What, of all the tricks I've learned, would I like to incorporate into my curriculum and how would I do it? Hmmmm. I'm thinking that I'd like to incorporate the things we've learned in this video class to help struggling readers. Some sort of video about a character in a book, or an event in a book might be a good way to check for comprehension. I could have a student choose a character and illustrate the character's part in the plot by making a video. I'm hesitant to be too specific because I'd like to give them as few directions as possible other than to "make a video that tells me why this character is important to the plot". The product would allow me to assess the extent of the student's comprehension of characterization and plot.

Educational Video 2 Rough Draft

Okay, this is a really rough draft but I've been working on this for six hours. Tried Garageband for the audio for hours but I just can't get it. What I have settled on is Keynote with a voiceover. It still needs tons of work. I know the timing is off and I haven't added the credits yet. This is a very rough draft but I'd appreciate any comments. I have a splitting headache and I just can't do anymore tonight.

Oh great! Now that I've published it the sound is inaudible. something else to work on.

Educational Video 2 (Outline)

I'm having a tough time with this one. Not feeling inspired. I asked Rushton about one of the videos on Next Vista because I thought it worked well visually. He said it was done by importing a Keynote (PowerPoint for you PC users) presentation into Garageband for the audio. I'm thinking I'll try that method and see how it goes. It's the content that has me stumped. Perri suggested a reading comprehension strategy and I think I'll go with that. Just having a hard time figuring out how to illustrate it. Having said all that here's my sketchy outline. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

• Opening title slide
• Explanation of the strategy "think aloud" 
  
• slides illustrating the process of thinking aloud
• some "give it a try suggestions"
• closing credits

Need some suggestions for possible background music. Any other ideas???

Materials

• digital camera
• Keynote
• Garageband
• Images (Google, Creative Commons, etc.)
• Music (iTunes, Creative Commons, Soundzabound, etc.)

Ideas, please.

Revised Video 1

Changed the blurry photos where possible. Sounds weird in some spots. Something to work on in video 2. Enjoy.

                                       

Video1 Rough Draft

La Drafta Ruffa

Here it is. Thanks Rita, MeiLynn, Faye and god.

Educational Video 1

Here's the link to my rough draft. I already know a few changes I'd like to make and I'm looking forward to comments.

Hope this works.

Summer Video Project 1 - Resources

At the moment I'm planning to use:

• iMovie
• Creative Commons for Flickr images and OWL music
• my voice
• images of WDM
• jazz background music
• images of his books
• internet for biographical research
• Mei-Lynn for technological and moral support
• minimal technological skills and maximal luck

All subject to change depending on whim and collegial input.

Good luck everyone!

Video Outline

Meet Mr. Walter Dean Myers

1. Picture of WDM with jazz in the background
2. Picture of Love That Dog and the story of how I first heard of WDM
3. Brief biographical sketch with relevant pix
4. Partial list of his works (poems, fiction, nonfiction)
5. Recommendation
6. Closing credits over pic of WDM

Hope this make sense. I have a very clear picture in my head of what I want to do, just not sure if I'm communicating it well. I'd love some suggestions or ideas.

FYI WDM is a writer I've done units on in the past. I'd love to have an introductory video to show. He's a very interesting man and has written some great stuff for adolescents.

Next Vista Videos

Citing Sources (Writing)

I checked this one out because I had done a mini presentation on the same subject. It was interesting because this woman used a different program (Citation Machine) than I did. Unfortunately I couldn't really see what she was talking about in the voiceover. Maybe screenshots, which she was using, don't translate well to this medium. Can these Next Vista videos be shown "full screen"? It was useful information explained in good detail but the visuals were weak. A screencast might have worked better than screenshots. I did check out the site she recommended though and it looks pretty user friendly and useful.

Considering Communism (History and Culture)

This was a great video. A perfect introduction to the concept and controversy of communism. It had a great combination of stills and video. The video was a great illustration of the idea and would be understandable and memorable to a group of students. The stills were relevant and well coordinated with the narration. Can't think of anything negative to say about this presentation. I'd love to do one this good.

Pythagorean Theorem (Math)

What possessed me? For a moment I was back in Math 11 and as confused as ever. I might not be a good judge because math can get me a little crazy. It was an interesting explanation, just got a little complicated for me with lots of shifting shapes that I didn't follow too well. However (and this is big) it did lead me to a very cool site called Qlipboard which I intend to investigate further. Looks like a great free place to make screencasts and other kinds of videos that would work well for our purposes. 

I do think that this video would be good for math teachers to check out. If I were a student I'd have to watch it a few times to really get it but that's just the mathphobe speaking. The pace and tone of the narration was really good. The gentleman spoke clearly and it was perfectly synced with the video portion. Qlipboard, here I come.  

Call Me Maureen Spielburg

Here's my first attempt. Mac problems (since healed at the Genius Bar) slowed me down but I had fun in the limited time I did have. Looking forward to using actual video.

Oprah and Daniel Pink

Found this conversation while playing around on hulu.com. Does Oprah have her finger on the pulse or what!?!?!

Oprah and Pink

I Got a Book

I continue to make peace (of a sort) with Dreamweaver. I got a book on Amazon and it has become my DW bible. Screencasts are great but my "old school" is showing. The printed word is still my BFF. I've reluctantly accepted the fact that the dreams I will weave with this beast will be elementary. No second career as a web page designer for me! Ah well, there's always Plan B - astronaut. Sadly it's much more realistic. 

I think I approached the Dreamweaver thing with the unrealistic notion that I would "knock 'em dead" with some grand artistic vision. I've accepted that my products will fall far short of that "dream". But I'm finally okay with that. I'm content to dip my toe and move on. Maybe come back at some later date and step in a little further, we'll see. For now Dreamweaver, you and I will be passing acquaintances. Don't call me. I'll call you. 

Hard to believe our first year of TEAM is winding down. It's been quite an experience. So different from what I expected. It's been a much richer experience than what I had anticipated. I see now that the technical aspect of our learning plays a secondary role to the vision of leadership which we are expected to articulate. Much more challenging and yet somehow more gratifying. While we definitely grow technically (all those mini-p's and all that hands on work) I had not expected to examine my life as an educator so intensely. It has been amazing and it is ongoing. While we scratch the surface of all these new technologies we have also begun to scratch the surface of a whole new way of looking at education. I look forward to digging deeper. Feel a bit like a pioneer or maybe a prospector.        

Mozart, Velcro and Me

One of Pink's suggestions for honing one's sense of symphony is to listen to some of the great masters' work. During the vacation I downloaded a bunch of symphonies from iTunes and listened to them. Amazing!

I never really studied music other than the bits and pieces you get in school. Never learned an instrument which I believe hinders my appreciation of "classical" music. I have no real understanding of the art/science of musical composition. But this time I really tried to listen... put on the headphones and closed my eyes. It was quite an experience. As Pink points out these pieces are a great example of many different elements coming together to make a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts.

Another suggestion of Pink's is listening for metaphor. Metaphor is a linguistic way of seeing familiar things in a new light. The inventor of velcro noticed burrs sticking to his dog's coat and came up with the idea for the now ubiquitous fastener. If we notice metaphor and practice thinking metaphorically we can open a door to our creativity.

I'm enjoying symphony...the music and the thought process.

Symphony

I chose symphony as my Pink sense. Sort of a case of throwing a dart and going with the sense it landed on. Symphony seemed the least interesting to me on the face of it so I thought I'd challemnge myself. Well, symphony and I are now bff's. What an interesting sensibility and how perfectly it fits into Pink's thesis about the 21st century.

It occurred to me the other day while watching President Obama speak at a news conference that his position particularly calls for a symphonic thinker. Confronted on all sides by a myriad of problems (financial, educational, healthcare, security) it would be easy to say all else is on hold until the economy is fixed. It takes a "big picture" thinker to see that all these things are interrelated and should all be part of the solution. In spite of his critics, the President has chosen to confront all of these problems with bold initiatives - "big thinking" to use Pink's words to describe symphony. 

Symphonic thinking is also suited to so many aspects of education. Seeing the whole child and how curriculum can be designed to bridge a diversity of learning styles requires the synthetic thought which characterizes the symphonic mind.

I'm looking forward to to investigating this sense further and trying some of the suggestions in the symphony portfolio.    

How can I keep from blogging?

David Pogue Rocks ASSET

It's been quite a week. Lots to think about. Met on Marratech this weekend with Dr. Weston and attended Asset on Tuesday.

The conversation with Dr. Weston gave us all a lot to think about. For me, successfully connecting on Marratech was enough to make my weekend. My last attempt was less than stellar. However, St. Sean intervened and this week success was mine.

Dr. Weston's peek at the future of educational technology was fascinating. It addressed so many of the concerns that school districts have about accessibility and student/teacher responsibility. I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation with him in class. It is a conversation I would also like to have in my district's tech committee.

The second half of the meeting with Dr. Weston was devoted to the concept of "voice". We discussed what it meant to us as individuals and what part it played in our vision of our future selves. It really had me thinking. I think it goes back to my original motive for joining TEAM. I wanted the confidence that I observed in past graduates both as educators and "techies". It is that confidence that lends authority to our voices. If we seek change we must be that change and that includes having an authoritative voice.

And then there was ASSET. David Pogue's comments about anytime, anywhere accessibility tied in nicely with Dr. Weston's ideas about accessibility. Our students are "connected". How do we, as educators, exploit that connectedness to inspire and motivate them. Our field should be in the forefront of technology use (our students are!) yet we lag behind terribly. Still digesting everything I heard. Hope we get a chance to "debrief" in class.

Also went to some really great workshops. One was about "Rock Our World" an organization run by a teacher in CA that sets up videoconferencing projects with schools around the world. I would love to do something like this and have even begun to talk it up for next year with a couple of colleagues. The world is getting so small. How exciting would it be to bring it into your classroom.

I'm off to dream.

Lovin' the Mini-P's

Last weeks Mini-Presentations were great. i really think they are becoming one of my favorite parts of TEAM. They are practical and I find myself using them in my class. Joe's iMovie presentation reintroduced me to an old nemesis and I've been playing with it all week. Fun!

And speaking of nemeses, I am absolutely terrified of DreamWeaver. Yikes! What to do? I keep putting off playing with it which doesn't help. Guess I should just jump in. Drowning not an option.

I feel a little at a loss this semester, not as focused as last. Don't know why. I'm anxious to get on with the EEVC project. I feel like it's taking an awful lot of time. Developing the webpage will help. The groundwork is done. I'm ready to move on. I am looking forward to working in PhotoShop as images are what particularly interest me.

Well, onward. I'm off to Play in Dreamweaver.

Yikes! I'm late for Marratech. see everyone tomorrow.

My Dreamweaver Nightmare

Busy week. That snow day was a gift from nowhere, eh? And on a Monday even!

I've been experimenting with some things technological. Unfortunately none of them were Dreamweaver. I am really intimidated by that beast. It is reminding me of high school math class. I know I have the requisite brain power but the whole thing is Greek to me. I have to just buckle down and face the challenge but I keep putting it off. One reason is that I'm not exactly sure what I would do with it once I have it. Don't fancy myself a web page designer.

Learning and Leading is an interesting read. I particularly liked the article on professional development. I think the approach they took was a good way to go. We have this discussion in my district all the time. The professional development that is usually offered is aimed at people who are already on board. Teachers who are intimidated by the use of technology are intimidated by the offerings of tech departments. The district in the article, after assessing ability levels, offered peer to peer, practical professional development. Teachers who were successfully using technology met with less "savvy" teachers in their departments and demonstrated content and curriculum specific ideas and methods. The peer to peer aspect was particularly effective because teachers tended to be reluctant to deal with the "pros" in the tech department. I think this kind of thinking fits in well with our TEAM training. We should be the ones our district will depend on to spread the word. I love sharing stuff I've learned in TEAM with colleagues and it's easy to do informally. Professional development based on peer to peer support seems the most practical way to go.

Well, off to Dreamweaver. Any peers out there want give me a hand??

On Slacking

I cannot believe that my last entry was on 2/9. Where on earth does the time go?

Vacation was quick and technologically unproductive. I explored and used some of the tools we've played with but I have avoided Adobe due to plain old fashioned fear. Our last class in which Faye "introduced" Dreamweaver may as well have been in Greek for all I took away. I know eventually I'll return and give it a shot (probably tonight) but right now it's a big cloud following me around. If Dreamweaver were all I had to deal with it would not be so intimidating. It's just that I feel like I'm jamming one more thing onto an already overflowing plate.

To add to my unproductivity there was a catastrophe on Monday of vacation week. I was happily on my way to Boston, enjoying the sea air on the Cross Sound Ferry when my beautiful, beloved MacBook literally hit the deck. It was in my bag at the time and the noise was chilling. I couldn't even bring my self to look at it (head-in-sand school of thought). When I reached Boston I finally took a peak and it wasn't good. My stomach lurched. The lower right corner (if you're looking at the keyboard) is badly crunched and the disk drive is unusable. My stomach still turns if I really think about it. When I got the courage to turn it on everything seemed in order (miraculously) but I was still worried. Finally went to the Apple Store in Boston and consulted one of the "geniuses". Seems I was lucky. Everything seems okay so far but I do need to get an external disk drive. And that crunched corner still depresses me. Could this be an excuse to update???

Don't even ask about my Marratech/Dr. Weston disaster! That's for another day.

Sweet Dreams and Then Some

Had a great day today in spite of the fact that I woke up at 7:14 and am supposed to be in school at 7:30. The first 45 seconds or so were surreal. First convinced myself that it was Friday (don't know what that was about) then went into full blown panic. Finally calmed down, called school and got my so called act together. I sleep REALLY soundly and this happened once before years ago and resulted in the school secretary banging on my door with my neighbor who she got because she didn't want to be alone when she discovered the body. Oh well, guess it beats insomnia.

Technologically speaking I've been a bit more alert. Been working on our EEVC project which still has me a little flummoxed. Just not absolutely sure what the final product should look like. It's an interesting way to work. It keeps morphing in my mind. Can't wait to see what we finally come up with.

My students are hard at work on their tech projects. I was having a hard time explaining to them what they were supposed to be doing and then two things happened. First I realized the idea was to let them figure something out on their own which it turns out they were more than happy to do. Second in researching digital storytelling I read somewhere that with kids it's best to let them work with the images first and then work on the narrative. Bingo. I was concentrating too much on the writing (being a literacy teacher) and that is of course the least interesting part for them. However once they have chosen and played with some images the words flow. The pace has definitely picked up.

I've delicioused, skyped, stumbled, marrateched, smartboarded and now blogged. It's been a fairly productive week and it's only Monday. I loved the mini-p's last week. Colette's Picaboo ideas are inspiring. I'm going to give them a shot with some of my "reluctant" writers. Ditto Rita's youTube. How great are middle schoolers? They're so inventive.

Looking forward to our work with Dr. Weston. I love thinking about things like that. Does make me wish that I was at the beginning of my career though. I believe education is in for a sea change and I can't wait!!

Here's a cool thing I did. Try it. Go to Wordle and enter your delicious user name. The result is very informative.

Still Learning After All These Years

Boy! these weeks go by quickly. Meeting in Marratech last week was interesting but I do feel a week behind now for some reason. I think I need to work harder on relying on cyber meeting. I'm just not comfortable yet with emailing and quicktopics and google docs etc to communicate. I'm so used to face to face collaboration that it has been difficult to get used to other methods. I had a really hard time with my mini saga and wanted someone next to me showing me how to do it. Emailing tech mentors is helpful but I feel lie I need something more immediate. Maybe I'm just not "working the system" correctly. Any suggestions?

Other than that things are going swimmingly. I downloaded Skype and emailed a friend in London to do likewise. I'm going to try it out as soon as he let's me now he's on. Can't wait. I've also been exploring a lot of digital storytelling sites. i'd really like to do this with my students but I'm having a hard time getting it off the ground. Looking for a site that starts with the simplest steps. the search continues.

I took a weekend crash course on SmartBoard. It was great but it's one more thing to explore. All these technologies are so complex (maybe not the right word) that I could spend all my time on any one. Sometimes I feel like I'm just skimming the surface on them and it's not enough. Not satisfying. I need to learn to be content with skimming and returning when i need them. I guess that's the time to go into depth. It's hard though. It's not my usual learning style.

Oh well. I did one of those "25 Things" lists that's been making the rounds on Facebook. One of mine was "I've learned that change is a good thing". Maybe using the past tense was not quite accurate.

Am I Dreaming or Is That The Ground Coming Up to Meet Me?

Well, it's not Thursday but I made it. A blog a week - my pledge. 

I started out Thursday with the best of intentions. Had a meeting early in the evening and intended to blog when I got home. Then it happened. I fell. It was all rather balletic and seemed to take eons but when all was said and done I was face down on the lawn. God, its traumatic! Since no one was around to laugh, I did it myself. I think it was shock or maybe PTSD but there I was planted on the lawn with the giggles. Collected myself, nothing broken, and made my way to the car. By the time I got to the meeting my knees and right arm were screaming. By the next morning the rest of my body was in agreement. Lovely purply yellow bruises began cropping up in strange places. It's a tale as old as time. Falling sucks!

The worst part is that my right arm is my blogging arm so.... Oh well, it's worth a try. Actually, Thursday was out due to trauma and the rest of the week slipped by in a haze of mini-saga/iMovie craziness. I still can't figure out how to share it. 

Time management remains a challenge but I'm getting there. As long as I do something techish every day I'm happy for now. I just wish something would go smoothly. That would be nice. Learning is hard. Fun but hard. Guess that's a good lesson for a teacher.  

Thursday

One down and three more to go. State ELA tests that is. Can't wait 'til they are behind us and we can get back to some meaningful work. I've been doing test prep since we got back from the holidays and it's pure drudgery. I worry about my students because they are struggling readers and writers and I want the test to be familiar and non threatening for them so we've been going over old tests. The kids are not happy but I hope it works. I hope when the test is set in front of them it is second nature. We'll see.

After next week we'll get back to digital storytelling and I can't wait. I've been thinking a lot about constructivism and how I can apply it to my teaching. I think I have a tendency to lead too much and I am determined to do a little more following. That's my new year's teaching resolution. Talk less, listen more. We'll see. 

Resolved

I'm curious. Are good time managers born or can they be nurtured? If it's genetic I can blame my DNA for my lifelong proclivity for procrastination. On the other hand, if time management can be learned, sign me up. 

I'm not big on new year's resolutions...too much pressure, but I think this year I'll take a shot at self improvement. I've resolved to try and organize my time so as to maximize productivity and minimize last minute anxiety attacks. I think baby steps are probably the best idea here so I'm starting with TEAM. The laundry and vacuuming can wait for 2010. Meanwhile the time I spend on the computer will be organized so that I spend more time on things that are actually productive and less time on things that cause me to bleary-eyed. So here goes...

• Blog every Thursday
• at least 1 hour every night learning or perfecting a new technology
• no more than 1/2 hour a day on the time devouring FaceBook (this includes Scramble)
• no more than 1/2 hour a night on StumbleUpon (must be completed before 9pm)
• reduce daily email checks from 5,000 to 2
• Check in to Quick Topic discussion boards at least 3 times weekly

I'm sure there's contingencies I haven't considered so I'll stay slightly flexible but at a minimum the first four will be non negotiable (and believe me I'm a pro at negotiating with myself). Looking forward to being wildly productive. Too optimistic? Hmmmm.

BTW, they say if you write things down you're more likely to see them through. Plus now I've blabbed it all over the place so I guess I'm (what's that word?) committed. Or will be.