It is not like me to miss any sort of deadline, but this week due to a difficult family situation I missed the Sunday due date for talking about video. I am grateful for our grace period because sometimes life smacks you really hard and you need a minute to get yourself together.
I have played with video tools before. The one I use most is my iPhone and iMovie, but I have also used Animoto a bit. My son has enjoyed using Animoto in the past and I have seen it used in high school classes for short presentations. Animoto is a little frustrating because your abilities are so limited with the free version. You can't do much with only 30 seconds. You can, however, make a short, effective set of photos, and Animoto's themes and evocative music do make an emotional connection, or as Garr Reynolds says in Presentation Zen Design, "Make them feel something" (p. 129).
Last Thursday night was a beautiful night. We took a couple of hours to go to the beach. I treasure these photos because the light was so pretty and I enjoyed the family time, and this Animoto video definitely makes me feel sentimental. Happiness, true happiness, can be so fleeting.
Perfect Night at the Beach
As for other video tools, I played around with Powtoon. I found it difficult and kind of uninspiring. The seven-click introduction seemed like it would be intuitive, but when I opened up a theme to start a new project, nothing looked familiar. The theme, Blackboard, did not have the stick people that the introduction used, and I couldn't figure out what to do. Not being in the mood to learn something new, I moved on. However, I think this could be a good classroom tool for someone who has patience with it. I know students always enjoy making animated videos.
Finally, I played with Sock Puppets, an iPhone app. This is the silliest thing ever, but like many such tools it is something that young students would enjoy. It is similar to Blabberize except that instead of a photo on which you draw a mouth, in this case you are animating a sock puppet. You can add backgrounds, props, and voiceovers, and choose among several puppets. However, the free version only allows you to record 30 seconds of video, so it is hard to make a long sock puppet play. Fortunately, the paid version of the app is only $3.99. So please don't laugh, but here is my Sock Puppets video. This is an unlisted Youtube video, which makes it a blog exclusive! Just embarrassing. https://youtu.be/ZPElDkRr6DI
Reference:
Reynolds, G. (2014). Presentation zen design. New Riders.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Library websites
This week we were tasked with finding two school library websites of interest. I knew which one I'd pick first! I have a personal connection to this site. Not only did I have a child at this school, the library staff here have been incredible mentors for me. But besides that, they have a great library website. It's simple in appearance, but it contains links to resources for ongoing research projects or class assignments, the library newsletter, the catalog, and library hours/events. It is updated often.
The site: Kemps Landing/Old Donation School Library.
For the second exemplary site, after clicking around on a bunch of ho-hum or overcrowded sites, I settled on Moharimet Elementary School in Madbury, New Hampshire. Like the website I mentioned above, it has a clean and clear interface with top-level, right to left navigation bar and drop-down menus with clear links either to internal sites or external resources. The interface is pleasing to a child and very easy to navigate. The parent resources on the left hand bar are a nice touch.
For my own website assignment, I will most likely use Weebly as I have used it successfully before. In fact, Alysia Deem (In the Library with the Wrench) and I created a Weebly site this past semester, and I think it came out very well. This was for a class on teaching social studies. Here is our Gallery Walk. Last fall, I also created a digital technology portfolio on Weebly for my instructional technology class. These sites are very different. Weebly is a flexible tool.
The site: Kemps Landing/Old Donation School Library.
For the second exemplary site, after clicking around on a bunch of ho-hum or overcrowded sites, I settled on Moharimet Elementary School in Madbury, New Hampshire. Like the website I mentioned above, it has a clean and clear interface with top-level, right to left navigation bar and drop-down menus with clear links either to internal sites or external resources. The interface is pleasing to a child and very easy to navigate. The parent resources on the left hand bar are a nice touch.
For my own website assignment, I will most likely use Weebly as I have used it successfully before. In fact, Alysia Deem (In the Library with the Wrench) and I created a Weebly site this past semester, and I think it came out very well. This was for a class on teaching social studies. Here is our Gallery Walk. Last fall, I also created a digital technology portfolio on Weebly for my instructional technology class. These sites are very different. Weebly is a flexible tool.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Pinterest Boards
Here are my library-related Pinterest Boards:
Follow Wendy's board YA PLN Toolkit (LIBS 678) on Pinterest.
Follow Wendy's board Libraries and Books on Pinterest.
Follow Wendy's board Learning Commons and Makerspaces on Pinterest.
And my favorite, most popular board:
Follow Wendy's board Broadway is a Very Special Place on Pinterest.
Follow Wendy's board YA PLN Toolkit (LIBS 678) on Pinterest.
Follow Wendy's board Libraries and Books on Pinterest.
Follow Wendy's board Learning Commons and Makerspaces on Pinterest.
And my favorite, most popular board:
Follow Wendy's board Broadway is a Very Special Place on Pinterest.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Podcasts
This quick post about podcasts is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this medium. Anyone who listens to NPR regularly has heard Fresh Air, The Moth, This American Life, and other podcast-type radio shows. I love all of these, but one that is especially useful in the classroom is This I Believe.
First of all, it is a shorter program, and it's always personal and inspiring. Hearing people (both the famous and un) talk about their fundamental beliefs and approaches to life is eye-opening and makes a great jumping-off point for students to clarify and codify their own beliefs. It triggers some wonderful essays!
The website for This I Believe contains many resources for educators to use with students, which are located here: http://thisibelieve.org/educators/ I highly recommend you check this out!
First of all, it is a shorter program, and it's always personal and inspiring. Hearing people (both the famous and un) talk about their fundamental beliefs and approaches to life is eye-opening and makes a great jumping-off point for students to clarify and codify their own beliefs. It triggers some wonderful essays!
The website for This I Believe contains many resources for educators to use with students, which are located here: http://thisibelieve.org/educators/ I highly recommend you check this out!
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Sounds like Audio
This week's topic is close to my heart as a singer. I actually record things all the time. I don't have a voice teacher so I am always recording songs to listen to myself so I can improve. For my birthday this year, my husband gave me a good microphone and a Soundrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface, so I can record on something better than my iPhone.
I love to use the software Audacity. I first began to use it when I was taking speech pathology classes. We used it for my speech science class to analyze sound waves, but I began using it to cut down audio tracks for auditions and to record myself. It's not exactly intuitive but it works really well once you get the hang of it. Last fall for Instructional Technology, I made a Screencast showing how to use Audacity for a poetry podcast. It's a five-minute video that is worth watching if you are at all curious about Audacity: http://screencast.com/t/hLtCYYmrE (I also made a lesson plan for this assignment.)
This week, I chose to use the site Clyp to upload my audio track. I have used SoundCloud to upload my recordings before, but they have aggressive copyright scans that reject most files that are not completely original. Since I usually sing to karaoke tracks, it's impossible to get SoundCloud to work for my needs. I sometimes turn audio into video files and post them to Youtube, but that's a pain. Clyp looks like a good alternative to quickly upload files and get a shareable link. Anyway, this week I was learning a country song for an upcoming audition, so here it is. It's a totally corny song, I do not actually have a Southern accent, and I can hear all the flaws. But there you go. Long story short, I really like Clyp! Easy-peasy to use.
Blabberize is a fun tool as well. Once, when I was subbing, I saw a librarian use this with students who were researching Greek gods. They had to find a picture of a Greek god and use Blabberize to have the god talk about him or herself. The kids enjoyed it and it did not take long at all. I had never seen anything like Blabberize and I brought it home to show my tweens. They were SO VERY unimpressed. I was surprised. I still think it's cute, but maybe for smaller kids. Today, I played with Blabberizing a picture of my dog and got to the end and had to make an account, and then I didn't bother.
Vocaroo is no-frills and easy to use and does not require an account. You simply press record and talk, and then they give you a link to share. (Here is mine.) You can also download your recorded message. This has many applications--anything you can think of for which you might need a sound file. There is no recording time limit. However, there is no Vocaroo app for mobile devices, and tech support is non-existent.
Voki is a tool I have seen used by other students, with varying degrees of success. You create a video with a talking avatar that "reads" your presentation. It can be a bit dull to watch a Voki video, in my opinion, but students enjoy making their avatars and watching the videos. It is more interesting than listening to a plain audio file.
That's all for audio this week...my daughter's dance recital is this weekend and we have two grandmas coming to visit. Should be action-packed! (Pray for me.)
I love to use the software Audacity. I first began to use it when I was taking speech pathology classes. We used it for my speech science class to analyze sound waves, but I began using it to cut down audio tracks for auditions and to record myself. It's not exactly intuitive but it works really well once you get the hang of it. Last fall for Instructional Technology, I made a Screencast showing how to use Audacity for a poetry podcast. It's a five-minute video that is worth watching if you are at all curious about Audacity: http://screencast.com/t/hLtCYYmrE (I also made a lesson plan for this assignment.)
This week, I chose to use the site Clyp to upload my audio track. I have used SoundCloud to upload my recordings before, but they have aggressive copyright scans that reject most files that are not completely original. Since I usually sing to karaoke tracks, it's impossible to get SoundCloud to work for my needs. I sometimes turn audio into video files and post them to Youtube, but that's a pain. Clyp looks like a good alternative to quickly upload files and get a shareable link. Anyway, this week I was learning a country song for an upcoming audition, so here it is. It's a totally corny song, I do not actually have a Southern accent, and I can hear all the flaws. But there you go. Long story short, I really like Clyp! Easy-peasy to use.
Blabberize is a fun tool as well. Once, when I was subbing, I saw a librarian use this with students who were researching Greek gods. They had to find a picture of a Greek god and use Blabberize to have the god talk about him or herself. The kids enjoyed it and it did not take long at all. I had never seen anything like Blabberize and I brought it home to show my tweens. They were SO VERY unimpressed. I was surprised. I still think it's cute, but maybe for smaller kids. Today, I played with Blabberizing a picture of my dog and got to the end and had to make an account, and then I didn't bother.
Vocaroo is no-frills and easy to use and does not require an account. You simply press record and talk, and then they give you a link to share. (Here is mine.) You can also download your recorded message. This has many applications--anything you can think of for which you might need a sound file. There is no recording time limit. However, there is no Vocaroo app for mobile devices, and tech support is non-existent.
Voki is a tool I have seen used by other students, with varying degrees of success. You create a video with a talking avatar that "reads" your presentation. It can be a bit dull to watch a Voki video, in my opinion, but students enjoy making their avatars and watching the videos. It is more interesting than listening to a plain audio file.
That's all for audio this week...my daughter's dance recital is this weekend and we have two grandmas coming to visit. Should be action-packed! (Pray for me.)
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Infographic-tastic
This week's assignment was fun for me! I used Piktochart to create an awesome infographic about adult literacy, which is one of my own topics of interest. I have some graphic design background but I have never tried to create an infographic before. I'm familiar with the graphic design and layout tools in Indesign, Photoshop, and other programs, and I found Piktochart to be quite intuitive. However, I became intensely frustrated at first, having chosen a free, pre-made theme to work with. I found it impossible to figure out how to edit it to be what I wanted, so I scrapped it and used a blank template. I am very pleased with how it came out.
Because I am a bit of a perfectionist, I am sure I spent longer on this than I really had to, but I found the site had a great ability to tweak things to exactly how I wanted them. I was able to use some of the site's automatic chart creation tools for my stacked Venn diagrams, and though it was tricky to figure out, the many different choices and customization tools made it worth it to muddle through. I would definitely encourage older students to use Piktochart to display data. I think that in order to make the process not take forever, though, figuring out how to manipulate the pre-fab templates is a must.
Without further ado: (Click here for larger version, opens in new window)
Because I am a bit of a perfectionist, I am sure I spent longer on this than I really had to, but I found the site had a great ability to tweak things to exactly how I wanted them. I was able to use some of the site's automatic chart creation tools for my stacked Venn diagrams, and though it was tricky to figure out, the many different choices and customization tools made it worth it to muddle through. I would definitely encourage older students to use Piktochart to display data. I think that in order to make the process not take forever, though, figuring out how to manipulate the pre-fab templates is a must.
Without further ado: (Click here for larger version, opens in new window)
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