Digital movies in the classroom...

This week's activity with "iMovie" was fun. I can see that video in the classroom could be very useful. It might be a place where students can voice their opinions/views on a topic in a very personal way (even keep a video diary/journal) to be viewed by the class or the teacher. Students can use this media to compile book reports by reenactment, to conduct interviews, to use for journalistic venues like an online school newspaper, for research reports (an alternative to a PowerPoint presentation), to document science experiments, and to create video/slide shows instead of yearbooks. Instructional videos can be created by students or classes also. It may be a fun way to "pen-pal" with another district or school somewhere in the world. Such a fun media, and something kids can relate to. What kid doesn't want to see themselves as a star on film?

View my sample film, my dogs are the best!

Photo shopping is Fun!

Today's lesson was fun, but I photo shop as a hobby at home. This can be handy if your school produces its own yearbook or memoirs. Students would not manipulate photos for magazines of research, but they may want to for presentations or as a compliment to other assignments. Visuals help focus students into key points, especially in this age of fast paced, colorful media focused world. Younger students can increase their hand-eye coordination using this medium also.
MORE PHOTO SHOPPING!

web 2.0 discussion

The first thing that comes to mind while I am desperately trying to learn the "lingo" and understand all of these resources is that my students are going to know more than I do. I am o busy that I feel it may be impossible to catch up with all the youngsters who do this stuff daily.

There were so many amazing resources introduced to the class, and many of them could be useful. I am sure that many have no application to academics also. I am sometimes concerned that in an effort to perk student's interest we are allowing them to do things that don't necessarily support their academics.

All of what was introduces today was useful. The web source for photo manipulation and sharing surprisingly had an astronomy/earth science resource that lists the sum and moon cycles and times for any earth location. Other applications included making motivational posters that could also be used for posting classroom rules the students draw up themselves. Another way to use this resource is to compile a class's writing projects into magazine project(s), covering each project or group projects with personalized magazine covers.

Another resource we explored was go2web20.net. There are so many places to visit that it will take me months to figure out what is available. I really loved the forum for creating and sharing books. This is a great way to finalize a writing assignment, an alternative way to present research, and another way to share with classmates, friends, and family.

All of these can be adjusted to the content area and grade level of the class you are teaching. all of these resources should be browsed and studied before presenting them to the students for use.

I am discovering that there are some great tools available for the teacher and the student!