Digital Story: Take Two

Draft of digital story update: a bit late. Had to uninstall, reinstall, and work with Apple Tech Support on the phone for 1.5 hours to rectify issues with iMovie software. I know some of you had similar tech problems, so thought I would give that backstory.

I created this during our 3-foot dump of snow during the blizzard we had recently, and was dreaming of being back in Hawaii.

Like many of you, I hate my voice. The narration is clipped, so it has to be redone. I had some problems timing the narration to fit along with the photo timeline, so had to digress from my storyboard script and ad lip or pause in some wrong spots. Will also being considering another soundtrack. Skyped with middle school teacher from Honolulu last night, and she recommended several popular Hawaiian singers' songs to use. Need to look into that. In the meantime, used George Winston's "Living in the Country," from his album Summer that I downloaded from iTunes.

Still a work in progress, but also thinking might just move on to another digital story about another Hawaiian islands. 

How would I use this in my teaching? If I were still teaching junior high or high school English, I might implement these student projects: 

• Create a story about one or more of your favorite places. Describe the place and tell why you like it. 
• Take a digital story you created about your favorite place, and retell it adding dialogue. Get together with a partner and rotate speaking the lines, staying in the voice of specific characters.
• Create a digital story about the city or town where you live. Be sure the story tells the viewer about the sites.  Post the story on your blog to share with students in another school who can then respond back.  
• Create a digital story about the settings in works of literature we have read as class.

As for the second to last idea, sharing with another school, check this QuadBlogging project done by students in six varied countries:  Our World, Our Stories: School Day or The Local Environment.  Some of the students created videos to show others how and where they live.

RSS is Really Simple: Keep It Up

By now, you are a avid user of Real Simple Syndication (RSS) with Google Reader.


cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by HeatherWeaver

In addition to peers' blogs that you follow through RSS, what other sources of information do you encourage educators to subscribe to via Google Reader?

Here's my list of some of my favorites in my RSS:

1) Free Technology for Teachers (regular updates about technology to use in schools and suggestions about how to use the selected technology; also can be subscribed to via Facebook)
2) iPad Apps for Schools (newer blog with updates regularly about iPad apps that are applicable in the school setting and recommended ways to use these apps; also check for the parallel blog on Android apps)
3) Edudemic (excellent all-around blog)
4) Cool Teacher Blog (Vicki Davis posts often and shares ideas for global collaboration and similar projects)
5) Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (updated often and also can be subscribed to via Facebook)
6) Van Meter Library Voice (school librarian who posts often about literacy, reading, cross-class projects, and much more)
7) Venspired (elementary teacher who runs programs for the gifted but post information relevant to all educators)
8) Class Tech Tips
9) Langwitches Blog (overall great resource for information on educational technology and literacy)
10) KB Connected
11 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day (an ESL teacher from CA who posts all kinds of information relevant to teaching and learning--he posts nearly daily)
12) Blogging through the Fourth Dimension (Pernille Ripp is a great source of information for tips on blogging with students and the integration of technology to support learning)
13) Matt Gomez, Kindergarten Teacher (posts lots of good ideas for those who teach the lower grade levels)
14) Ozge Karaoglu Blog (brings a creative twist to sharing resources)

What sources of information do you recommend? What would you add to this list? Do you see the value in using Google Reader on a regular basis? Goal--use the folder feature in Reader to organize and sort your subscriptions by topics or areas of interest.



cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo shared by tetradtx

Calling All Bloggers?

cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo shared by liewcf

Now that you have been blogging for several weeks, the question is, how will you use blogging in your professional setting. Some questions:

• Would you encourage students to blog?
• Would you create your own blog for professional reasons (e.g., to share with parents, students, a professional audience of colleagues)?
• Will you continue to read others' blogs?
• Will you continue to use Google Reader to access blogs written by your favorite bloggers or to add subscriptions to new sources of information?
• If you will use blogging with students, would you do this through a centralized class blog, or would you have students set up their own blogs?
• If your students were blogging, would you consider cross-blogging with other classrooms?
• If you have already set up your own blog or have had your students create one, do you mind sharing access to such?
• What do you see as the future of blogging? How do you think the concept of blogging will change in the future?
• Who are some of your favoriate bloggers? Are these teacher bloggers, or people in other roles?
• What advice have other bloggers offered you that you find most useful for maintaining a blog and attracting readers?

Yes, those are numerous questions, but please consider those most pertinent to your needs, and share your ideas.

Audioboo: At the Zoo

My professional colleague, Wes Fryer, sent along this Audioboo by Rachel, "Flamingos at the Zoo." Rachel's voice reminds me of those talented kids you hear on television commercials. More to the point, Audioboo is a wonderful tool to use with students of all ages.

Here is Rachel's Audioboo. Let me know what you think. How can you see this tool, Audioboo, being used with learners of any age? How might it be used in different disciplines in the school at any grade level? What about teachers creating Audioboos? Have you used this tool?

listen to ‘Flamingos at the zoo’ on Audioboo

Note several other Audioboos on other animals at the zoo are also available, for instance:

listen to ‘Galapagos Tortoises at the zoo’ on Audioboo

Although this strikes me as excellent project for young children to demonstrate what they are learning about animals, the use of Audioboo also gives them practice with recording their voice and developing their oral communication skills.

Since writing this post in draft from, I have also learned that Rachel has her own websites where she has archived her other creations: 22 videos, several e-books, and  28 Audioboos. Here is the link to her website: Rachel Fryer. Click on the individual tabs at the top to get to her ebooks, audios, vidoes, and writing samples. Did I mention that Rachel is 10 years old? 

Using the iPad with Free Applications in the Classroom

A colleague, fifth-grade teacher Monica Burns, just tweeted a link to an excellent and comprehensive slide show archived in SlideShare that addresses the many ways in which the iPad can be used in the classroom. All of the ideas presented use free applications. In addition, I also want to point out the beauty of a site like SlideShare, which is an excellent site for storing slide presentations, finding slide presentations, and networking with others to share presentations.

Although this presentation is long, if you do use iPads in your teaching or are at a stage right now of exploring the options, it is worth going through the entire presentation. Numerous applications covered also can be used on a regular computer, so there is a lot to gain from viewing the presentation.

After viewing the presentation, please come back and comment on what you found useful and what you plan to explore further or are already using.

Using an iPad with Free Applications in the Classroom from Monica Burns

Wordle, Tagxedo, and now WordFoto

WordFoto is an app that I just learned about that functions like Wordle and Tagxedo.  If you have tried these tools and like what they do, you might even like WordFoto more. It configures both words and photos. Here is an example a colleague, Denise Krebs shared. After she created the WordFoto, she uploaded it to Flickr, where I was able to grab the embed code for the image and attribution.




cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs

Here are two others Denise created.



cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs



cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs

This last one was based on the poem, "And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—"

Here is another one that she created, and offers this description of it:

"Children's Literature is Central to Children's Literacy

Read to a child. It will build literacy.

This photo, "Child Reading, by Dihl et Guerhard Manufactory (Boston, MA)," was taken by takomabibelot on Flickr, shared with CC BY 2.0 license. I edited it with WordFoto on my husband's iPod." [http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdkrebs/5913123665/in/set-72157628988824805/]

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs

To learn about WordFoto visit the site and the gallery of examples available at the site.

Here is a direct link to the app at the Apple Store, where it is priced at $1.99

To learn more about Denise Krebs, a junior high school teacher, I am including a video her students created about the concept of the Genius Hour, an exciting approach to student learning that a host of teachers have begun to implement in their classrooms.

Doodlecast App for Promoting Literacy

Today, I came across a tweet from a kindergarten teacher, Matt Gomez, whom I follow on Twitter that caught my attention, particularly the words "reading," "writing," and "documenting." Knowing, Mr. Gomez maintains a resourceful blog (My Hullabaloo), I clicked on the link in the tweet, which brought me to his post.

The post explains how he uses the Doodlecast Pro app with his kindergarteners to document their skills as readers and writers.  Mr. Gomez granted permission to use videos of his students using the app, but I encourage you to go directly to his blog post, Documenting Reading and Writing with Doodlecast App for detailed information. While you're at his site, look around. You'll find a host of ideas related to digital literacies, information literacies, and reading and writing. The first video below documents a student reading, and the second, a student writing.

Reading

Writing and Journaling

Here is a screenshot from the Doodlecast page at the Apple Store to help you visualize some of the organizational options. One option allows for uploading to YouTube, a feature that facilitates the sharing of students' accomplishments. 

Image: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodlecast-pro/id469486202?mt=8

 Note that although Mr. Gomez uses the pro version, there is a free version with more limited options, but a good choice if you want to try the app for yourself.

What are some apps or websites you use to promote students' literacies skills?  What are your thoughts on how Mr. Gomez uses Doodlecast with his students?

Powerful Video on the Effects of Bullying

Not only is this an ingenius digital story, but it also carries a powerful message.

A colleague, Susan Spellman Cann, who is a school counselor and registered psychologist, recommends that all teachers and school counselors should view this video and share it.

The creator, poet Shane Koyczan, garners 4,400 YouTube subscribers, and his video has 350,000 hits. (Maybe, you've seen it already.)



Do you think teachers should view and discuss this story? What's your reaction?

Did You Know You Can Record a Video Right to YouTube?

The YouTube Upload feature has several options. An earlier blog post reviewed How to Upload Videos to You Tube, but you can also use the Upload feature to record a video, assuming you have a webcam or built-in camera on your computer. Many newer laptops come with a built-in camera for recording. Here is a screen capture to let you know where to find the Record option in YouTube, so you can record right in front of your own screen with YouTube capturing the video for you.

So get into your favorite outfit, grab the props for background scenery, and know what you want to say before you begin. You can also try the feature on a mobile to allow for moving about as you record.

If any of try out the process, let us know what you think.

Why We Need Common Core: Is Digital Storytelling the New Persuasive Essay

This Xtranormal digital story has been circulating at professional educational conferences and the blogsphere. I thought I would share it.  Interested in your reactions. Do you think the message of this digital story would have been as effective if written in the form of a persuasive essay?

Digital Story Telling is the New Persuasive Essay

Watch these third graders from Bismark, North Dakota advocate for a new school playground. Do you think they would have been as persuasive if they wrote an essay? Why do some claim digital storytelling is the new persuasive essay?

The third graders created the video on their own using iMovie. What do you think of their skills as digital storytellers?

PixNtell: App for iPad for Digital Stories

Recently, I learned about the PixNtell app for the ipad. I am often on the hunt for new tools for creating digital stories using photos, especially missing PhotoStory, which runs on just PCs. PixNtell looks to be a simple. You insert photos and then narrate the photo sequence. I have yet to try the app, but if you have an iPad, you might. It also runs on the iPhone and iPod.

Screen capture: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixntell/id532075424?mt=8

I read two reviews of the app, one on Free Technology for Teachers, written by guest author Mr. Kelly Rexine, who has also been tweeting me (@mrrexine) about the success of implementing the app with 3rd graders. His post on Free Technology for Teachers also includes an embedded video 3rd graders produced with the app; while you at the post, look at the video. The good news is that you can embed and share the videos that students create on Blogger and other sites. Here is a link to Mr. Rexine's post, PixNtell in the Third Grade: Guest Post.

I also learned about the app's integration in the classroom in this blog post from Columbia, Missouri schools. Check out the post here: iPads in CPS: Review of Pixntell. Based on this review you can only upload a handful of photos, but the pro version is just 99 cents, so if you like the app, you might want to explore the variety of features in the upgrade.