Now that we have dabled in some new technology the past two days, it is time to figure out how to put it to use. Here are some ideas I have come up with that I might be able to use this year in the classroom. (Yes, this is an assignment for class too!)
2 (or more) Teacher created technology projects that could be integrated:
1. 6 weeks Review Movie- I would like to create a movie that would be shown to students at the end of each six weeks and would serve as a review of the concepts covered during that grading period. As we go through the six weeks I will film students participating in labs, asking them questions about concepts, showing examples of good student work, etc. Then, take all the footage and create a video scrapbook of sorts, but focus in on the concepts that were taught. I think this would generate a great deal of interest and participation wach six weeks as the students anticipate being a part of the movie and then seeing the movie at the end of the six weeks.
2. TAKS Minimovie-it would be nice to create a mini concept movie about each of the TAKS tested at 8th grade. Students who are struggling with a concept could take home a copy or come in after school to watch the video and get additional instruction. This would also be helpful to review students who have transferred from another school. There is a group of educators that have started making shoebox lab activities that each review a particular TAKS. I could see adding video instructions to these activities to make them more appealing to students.
2 possible student projects
1. Students receive various video clips and media on a topic from the teacher and are then asked to "edit" the content into a movie for the class. Requires students to review the material, put into a logical sequence, and then present the materials to a student group.
2. Students could be instructed to create their own movie on concepts they may know, but need review on. Students could work in groups in class to create the clips needed and find additional media to complete their concept video. Afterwards, students would use rubric to peer review each others work.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tuesday
Well, it was the second day of Teaching with Technology. I have to say that if I had to sum this day up with one word, it would be frustration. I hate to say that, and it does not reflect on the instructors at all. Rob and Doug have been great. It was just that kinda day...
It really started last night when I was making a movie at home and trying to download a song for the movie. I just could not get it into a format that would be recognized in Windows Movie Maker. It reminded me of one of the reasons that the older generation does not like the technology age. There was a day when you could walk into a store, buy a tape and go home and play it. It did not matter what store you bought it from, if it was a tape and you had a tape player, you could boogie to your new music. Now, times are different. If I want some cool music, I can shop from home. This is cool! Here is the thing, if I go to shop for the new Coldplay CD, I have to be sure that I purchase it from Rhapsody or similar store that supports my Sandisk (aka non-iPod) mp3 player. If I buy this song through Rhapsody, I won't be able to download it to my iPod because it is an mp3 and not an mp4. Then, I download a song and want to add it to a movie, well it is in a format that will play on my mp3, but not in a movie on my computer because it does not support the format. All this time, it is the same song!!! Do I now have to buy this same song in three different formats in order to use it the way I need to? Ugh!!!
Sorry, I just had to vent about that since it was a frustrating day. I got here early this morning and scoured the lots for a parking space but to no avail. I finally found one next to the parking garage that I thought was legit. I checked the signs before I parked as well. Apparently, I don't understand the signs on the campus anymore because I got a ticket!
We learned how to start a blog today. Well, I have had a blog for over a year now, so this was not new learning for me. I knew that some of the things offered in the workshop would not be new anyway, so I just jumped in creating my blog and try to help those around me when I could.
We spent the rest of the day working on a video in which we were asked to interview new Tech students about why they have chosen to come to Texas Tech. Since new student orientation have been going on this week, there should be plenty of students to interview, right? My partner and I storyboarded our video, made all the plans and then set out to find our interview subjects. We only found 1 new student! Orientation had ended around noon and all of the new students and their parents were headed home to start packing for their big move in the fall. We even had a hard time finding current students available to talk with us! We decided to interview the statues on campus to see what their thoughts were...funny, they did not have much to say!
We managed to find a few people to interview and came back to edit our clips. Paul downloaded the videos and spent almost 45 minutes carefully editing our footage. I searched for audio clips and pictures to add to our movie. We thought we were ready to merge our work. Paul saved it onto his jump drive to bring to my computer. I opened the file...nothing but red x's where video should be. We opened it again on his computer and the same thing...nothing but x x x x x x x. Somehow, it was lost in the process of saving. We had to start all over again. Yes, frustrating. I am now like that one restless student. "Why do I need to do this...I already know how to do it!" I spent half the night last night working on a baseball movie for church on Sunday. Since the purpose of the exercise today was to give us the opportunity to record and create our own movie, I really had done it already. So...it was hard to have motivation to keep working on this project after we had so much trouble already.
We plugged on...I am completing the editing it tonight since we had to start over in class today. We did see some examples of storyboarding that will be useful in the classroom. We also got to try our the flip video camera. Nice to have a trial run on this little gadget. Not sure if it is what I want for my classroom, but I am thinking about it.
I am sure that tomorrow will be a new fresh day!
It really started last night when I was making a movie at home and trying to download a song for the movie. I just could not get it into a format that would be recognized in Windows Movie Maker. It reminded me of one of the reasons that the older generation does not like the technology age. There was a day when you could walk into a store, buy a tape and go home and play it. It did not matter what store you bought it from, if it was a tape and you had a tape player, you could boogie to your new music. Now, times are different. If I want some cool music, I can shop from home. This is cool! Here is the thing, if I go to shop for the new Coldplay CD, I have to be sure that I purchase it from Rhapsody or similar store that supports my Sandisk (aka non-iPod) mp3 player. If I buy this song through Rhapsody, I won't be able to download it to my iPod because it is an mp3 and not an mp4. Then, I download a song and want to add it to a movie, well it is in a format that will play on my mp3, but not in a movie on my computer because it does not support the format. All this time, it is the same song!!! Do I now have to buy this same song in three different formats in order to use it the way I need to? Ugh!!!
Sorry, I just had to vent about that since it was a frustrating day. I got here early this morning and scoured the lots for a parking space but to no avail. I finally found one next to the parking garage that I thought was legit. I checked the signs before I parked as well. Apparently, I don't understand the signs on the campus anymore because I got a ticket!
We learned how to start a blog today. Well, I have had a blog for over a year now, so this was not new learning for me. I knew that some of the things offered in the workshop would not be new anyway, so I just jumped in creating my blog and try to help those around me when I could.
We spent the rest of the day working on a video in which we were asked to interview new Tech students about why they have chosen to come to Texas Tech. Since new student orientation have been going on this week, there should be plenty of students to interview, right? My partner and I storyboarded our video, made all the plans and then set out to find our interview subjects. We only found 1 new student! Orientation had ended around noon and all of the new students and their parents were headed home to start packing for their big move in the fall. We even had a hard time finding current students available to talk with us! We decided to interview the statues on campus to see what their thoughts were...funny, they did not have much to say!
We managed to find a few people to interview and came back to edit our clips. Paul downloaded the videos and spent almost 45 minutes carefully editing our footage. I searched for audio clips and pictures to add to our movie. We thought we were ready to merge our work. Paul saved it onto his jump drive to bring to my computer. I opened the file...nothing but red x's where video should be. We opened it again on his computer and the same thing...nothing but x x x x x x x. Somehow, it was lost in the process of saving. We had to start all over again. Yes, frustrating. I am now like that one restless student. "Why do I need to do this...I already know how to do it!" I spent half the night last night working on a baseball movie for church on Sunday. Since the purpose of the exercise today was to give us the opportunity to record and create our own movie, I really had done it already. So...it was hard to have motivation to keep working on this project after we had so much trouble already.
We plugged on...I am completing the editing it tonight since we had to start over in class today. We did see some examples of storyboarding that will be useful in the classroom. We also got to try our the flip video camera. Nice to have a trial run on this little gadget. Not sure if it is what I want for my classroom, but I am thinking about it.
I am sure that tomorrow will be a new fresh day!
Starting class blogs
Here is a great resource for helping to start a classroom blog and moderating blogs with students. Click on Educational Blogging to find this interesting read!
Monday
Here is the first entry in the Technology Workshop blog. It is the summer of 2008 and I swore to myself and everyone that I was going to be lazy this summer and not take any workshops. However....here I am! If it was not worth my time, I would not be here.
The workshop is about teaching with technology. Yesterday, we learned how to make movies and then download them on to an iPod. Yes, I will now have an iPod! I made a mini movie about Turtle-roo for the class assignment. I am including it here on my blog!
What did you think? Feel free to post some comments.
We also learned about the world of podcasting and made a podcast in class. Our podcast was about the difficulties of teaching with technology. Ohhhh...there is so much I could say about the subject. I really like using technology. This past year I used only my projector and computer to show notes, videos, etc. I did not use my overhead projector at all! Hard to believe in some respects. I feel like I am above the average bear in ability to use technology on a day to day basis, but when you compare me to my students, I have a ways to go.
Teaching with technology, while exciting, can be very frustrating. The hardest part for me is finding the time to prepare the technology for the classroom and to learn the technology. My husband already thinks I sit at the computer too much as it is, but to keep up with my students, I have to do a lot of work learning the new games, how to download music, etc. Technology updates that are administered at school seem to be only two hours one morning before the school year starts and that may be the only one we do all year long. How can teachers keep up and keep students interested when we don't have the time to prepare? Of course the big elephant in the room is the money issue. Getting the actual technology in the classroom where it can be used. It is such a challenge to get the technology in the first place, then once we do get it, we hope and pray that we can get more than one so that the students can actually use it. Too often, I have received technology and I have to be limited on allowing my students to use it for fear it will be broken before we get to really make use of it.
I do know that we have to do something to get caught up and speaking the same language as our students these days. They are being raised in a completely different world than I was raised. Check out this video on Youtube about how the world has changed called Shift Happens. It will open your eyes about what the world is like today!
The workshop is about teaching with technology. Yesterday, we learned how to make movies and then download them on to an iPod. Yes, I will now have an iPod! I made a mini movie about Turtle-roo for the class assignment. I am including it here on my blog!
What did you think? Feel free to post some comments.
We also learned about the world of podcasting and made a podcast in class. Our podcast was about the difficulties of teaching with technology. Ohhhh...there is so much I could say about the subject. I really like using technology. This past year I used only my projector and computer to show notes, videos, etc. I did not use my overhead projector at all! Hard to believe in some respects. I feel like I am above the average bear in ability to use technology on a day to day basis, but when you compare me to my students, I have a ways to go.
Teaching with technology, while exciting, can be very frustrating. The hardest part for me is finding the time to prepare the technology for the classroom and to learn the technology. My husband already thinks I sit at the computer too much as it is, but to keep up with my students, I have to do a lot of work learning the new games, how to download music, etc. Technology updates that are administered at school seem to be only two hours one morning before the school year starts and that may be the only one we do all year long. How can teachers keep up and keep students interested when we don't have the time to prepare? Of course the big elephant in the room is the money issue. Getting the actual technology in the classroom where it can be used. It is such a challenge to get the technology in the first place, then once we do get it, we hope and pray that we can get more than one so that the students can actually use it. Too often, I have received technology and I have to be limited on allowing my students to use it for fear it will be broken before we get to really make use of it.
I do know that we have to do something to get caught up and speaking the same language as our students these days. They are being raised in a completely different world than I was raised. Check out this video on Youtube about how the world has changed called Shift Happens. It will open your eyes about what the world is like today!
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