Video Check of Weekly MAP Packet

I used this as a check for our weekly MAP practice packets.  Students graded their own
packet and scored it accordingly.

Budding Author

Using a microphone and being in a movie motivates my students to write stories.  I encourage them to write about subjects that are of interest to them.  This kindergartner illustrated and wrote about his favorite football team.  Sometimes it's difficult to hear all the words in a kindergarten room but the microphone solved that problem.  His classmate in the front row wrote a story shortly thereafter and is ready for his big day.

Reading Group 11G for self analyzing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EariDZt1970&feature=youtu.be


This is one of my reading groups. They will watch this video and do a self analysis on fluency and use of strategies for difficult words.

Videos in my classroom

These "yourteacher" youtube videos are a great way to start the class off and gain the attention of the class.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T-rsltsWnM

I have also had the class video tap themselves solving a problem. This is a great way for them to focus on the process of solving that problem and remember it!

Lyons Video

Reflect on the following questions:
Tell us about your video project. What was successful? Challenging?

For studying the 2 decades in between the World Wars, I assigned each kid with a specific country and they had to research its history more in depth.  The kids had to present their information to class using ANYTHING but power point.  I gave my kids the options of animoto, prezzi, movie maker, photo story, skit, or record a video.  

The kids had the opportunity to get creative and had several days to research and create it.  However, most kids chose the easiest options which was prezzi, but I did have a few groups use photo story. The challenging aspect was determining how to assess the project.  While all of the kids had the required amount of content, some put more effort into the presentation of the information.

Roegner's video assignment

I am going to post the assignment I gave my students, but I haven't received the results yet (those will start trickling in on Monday).  Instead of assigning the traditional journals for the independent 19th-century British novels my English II Honors students read, I gave them several options.  Two are video assignments.

 Independent Novel Assignments

For each third of your independent novel, you will have a choice of assignments to complete.  Choose ONE assignment for each of the three sections.  You must do a different assignment for each section.  Each assignment is worth 50 points.

Choice 1: Complete a journal in triple quotes format.  One column will be the quote, one column will be literary element identification and context, and one column will be analysis of the significance of the quote (just like your Jekyll and Hyde journals).  You will need a total of 15 quotes for the section.  There needs to be at least one quote per chapter unless your book has more than 15 chapters in the section.

Choice 2: Film yourself performing a scene from your book.  You may recruit other people to help you perform.  You may even do a puppet show or animation if you’re into that.  Your film must be at least 5 minutes long.  You are responsible for obtaining all film-making equipment and programs.  You will need to be able to submit your film to Moodle or Youtube.

Choice 3:  Use a program like Photo Story, Movie Maker, or iMovie to create a presentation over the characters in your book.  Pretend you are casting a film adaptation of the novel.  You must choose actors to portray at least 10 characters in the assigned reading.  Find a picture for each actor.  On the picture, write text that identifies the character and actor.  Also provide a description of the character. You will also need to include a song you feel would be good theme music for your book.  If your book already has a recent film adaptation, you must choose different actors.  You will need to be able to submit your presentation to Moodle or Youtube. 

Choice 4: Write a short story or script in which you rewrite a part of the book and place it in an alternate setting (for example, a modern-day or futuristic setting).  Or, you could write a short story or script that shows what would happen if a major event in the book occurred differently.  Your short story/script must be at least 1,500 words long.

Choice 5: Write diary entries about what is happening in your book from a prospective other than the protagonist’s.  Your entries must sound like they are written by someone from the 19^th century, and they must reflect the characterization of the character you choose.  Your diary entries need to be at least 1,500 words total.

Reading assignments:

	Due March 5th	Due March 15th	Due March 27th
Pride and Prejudice	Volume 1 (ch.1-23)	Volume 2 (ch. 24-42)	Volume 3 (ch. 43-60)
Frankenstein	Volume 1 (ch. 1-7)	Volume 2 (ch. 8-16)	Volume 3 (ch. 17-23)
A Tale of Two Cities	Book 1 (ch. 1-6)	Book 2 (ch. 7-31)	Book 3 (ch. 32-46)
The Picture of Dorian Gray	Preface-ch. 6	Ch. 7-13	Ch. 14-20
Wuthering Heights	Ch. 1-11 (Vo1. 1)	Ch. 12-22 (Vol. 2.8)	Ch. 23-34
Jane Eyre	Vo1ume 1 (ch. 1-15)	Volume 2 (ch. 16-26)	Volume 3 (ch. 27-38)

Romeo and Juliet Video (English I)

My English I students wanted to create a video of their unit on Romeo and Juliet.  We took pictures, borrowed costumes and swords, and pretended that we were Hollywood producers finding "raw" talent at LHS.  That was the fun part!.....putting it together was another story!  After spending hours downloading pictures to Movie Maker (my favorite video source), my computer crashed!  Since I sponsor two clubs and tutor after school, I had to stay at school really late to "reinvent the wheel" for my Elite 2 training session on video projects.  Using Photo Story 3, I attempted to pull the pictures of my students back up and try to remember what each slide had said. Although this "finished" project leaves much to be desired....you should have seen the original!  :(

Media Projects

I recently had my students create presentations using Photo Story, Animoto, Glogster, or Prezi.  Many of the students chose photo story and the projects look great!!  I am a little shocked at how little the students know about some of these programs as well as how much "hand-holding" was needed to help produce a good presentation.

Socialization Video Assignment

Students were given an assignment to create a video demonstrating their understanding of the agents of socialization and how those agents have personally impact them. The assignment was a huge success for most students. It took a lot of time, but they enjoyed it and it worked. I will bring a couple of the DVD's to the meeting with me.

Brian Tobias' video for Brown v. Board

Audio Project - Used as a bonus project during class

greater than, less than first grade math

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPqT6JBxKCo&feature=endscreen&NR=1


This is a link to a wonderful youtube video I used to introduce greater than and less than.

Audio Project

I wanted to record each of my students reading the same paragraph so that they could hear themselves and perhaps form a judgment as to their pronunciation and speech habits.  I used Audacity to record them, but haven't figured out how to put it on this blog.  If someone reads this and can help, I would appreciate the advice.

Before making the students' recordings, I read the paragraph aloud to them, showing them where to pause, where to emphasize a word, what rhythm to use.  The students were eager to record themselves and did a good job of it, but they don't seem to have the ability to recognize where they need improvement.  Perhaps that will come from more practice.  I would need to know how to set up separate accounts for them so that they could make different recordings over time and compare them.

As a final note (3-16-2012) to this post, I asked the students whom I had recorded on video whether I had their permission to post the video.  They did not want me to post it because (and if you know and understand ELL students as well as I do, you will understand, too), they did not want anyone to comment on their accent, remark on where they came from, or laugh at them.  They often do not ask questions in their content classes because they do not want the other students to know they are from other countries because they fear backlash.  So, I'm sorry I can't post the video, but please know that it was a valuable exercise for them and we will repeat it.

Pryor Audio Project

I used audacity to make a "vocal key" for my students to check each other's weekly MAP packet
that we do on Friday.  I will use this tomorrow (2/9/12) in class.  I think it will go well.  I had some problems getting it to save and reopen on my desktop

Audio Project

For my geometry project I enouraged the students to add and audio component to it. They turn the project in next week.

Roegner's audio lesson (or lack thereof)

I was planning on using Audacity to record students reading parts of Oedipus to listen to as we read it in class.  However, because of interruptions in our schedule, I'm just starting Oedipus tomorrow, and I also don't have time to teach the kids how to use something new right now.  Bryan talked to me about my plans, and I think what I might do now is use Google Voice to record the kids reading in class.  That way, we could play it back later if we needed to, or I could give it to kids who were absent.

Adventures in Audio

Initially I had planned to do something with Audacity for this assignment, but then one of my team members told me what she was doing with Google voice and I was intrigued.   So I switched mid-stream, set up a Google voice account, and am going to use it to provide my students with occasional extra credit opportunities and also to tie in current events to each of my units (which I never seem to find time to do in class).  I plan to give the kids their first "assignment" tomorrow, so . . . . we'll see how it goes.

Audio Blog

I though that using audacity was pretty simple.  The biggest issue I had was that there were times that my internal mic wouldn't pick up voices.  I spoke with another teacher who uses it and she said that it sometimes happens.  Once I got that out of the way, it was not difficult at all.  I also thought that my students did a very good job recording their voices and completing the assignment has it was intended.  I had asked the students to create a 30 second-1 minute radio ad for Andrew Jackson's presidency, much like you would hear on the radio today.  They were asked to state what they planned on doing for the country and what characteristics made them a good candidate.  Overall, I thought it was a success.

My reading group practicing fluency

I decided to let my 9F reading group record themselves reading a story and then listen to the recording. We discussed fluency before listening and afterward. Then I gave them a chance to do the recording again. I was surprised at how much their fluency improved.


first attempt

Podcast Powered By Podbean

second attempt

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Brian's Audio Lesson

After finishing a lesson on international relations in the 1930s I assigned the students the following;question for homework to be answered using Google Voice: Who seems to be a greater threat to global peace and security in the 1930s: Germany or Japan? Explain your reasoning using specific events from the 1930s.

Because it was brief, all the students completed it (some with more supporting information and analysis than others). I accomplished my goal of having them think about and apply the course material, but thought it might have been more efficient just to have the discussion in class w/o the voice messages, rather than the next day after we listened to them as a class.