BP8 - Links to Comments

Here is a link to see what I wrote on Steve's blog about his RILS using bubbl.us and GoAnimate.

Also...here is the link to see what I wrote on Gail's wall regarding her RILS with Glogster.

RILS Pitch

So, I chose to do a project involving a great web 2.0 Tool called Glogster.

Here is the plan:

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario

Joseph P. Hudson

Brief Overview: This is a fun project for students and teachers alike. It allows the creators (students) the ability to express themselves in a safe environment, and still learn different aspects and skills in music and online regarding computers and collaboration.

1.     Target Audience – Students will be in Grade 6.

2.     Materials

a.     Music vocabulary flash cards

b.     Laptops for each group (3 – 4)

                                               i.     iMovie

                                             ii.     iPhoto

c.     Camcorder

d.     Flash-drive (for instructor to keep each group’s project)

3.     Objectives – At the end of the scenario the learner will be able to…

a.     Analyze others work within their own group, as well as the end product of other groups

b.     Design an interactive poster to describe different aspects of education

c.     Define musical terms

4.     Procedure–

a.     Teacher/Instructor splits class into groups of 4 (my classes have 16 students)

b.     Each group is given a set of musical vocabulary terms

                                               i.     Dynamics – volume in music

                                             ii.     Tempos – speed in music

c.     Students research what each term means and come up with their own unique definition for a modern audience to understand

d.     After coming up with their definitions, the groups will start to create their posters, incorporating interesting and interactive ways for the viewer to see the definition the group came up with

e.     In addition to the words, each group MUST incorporate a home-made music video to show the different terms being used using the camcorder and iMovie to edit.

                                               i.     The style is completely up to the students (rock, rap, classical). They must be in the video to get credit.

f.      After creating their poster, they will save the link, and post it to a blog set up by the teacher. They will also send the teacher the link in a Word document.

g.     Each group will grade each other’s work within the group, as well as other group’s finished product.

5.     Web 2.0 Tool – Glogster – Glogster is a Web 2.0 tool that allows the user to be able to create interactive and multi-media posters on a variety of different subjects. Build your own poster, and share it with friends, classmates and teachers. You can incorporate words, photos, videos, and music.

6.     Social Participation/Social learning – Each group will choose a group leader, multi-media person, note-taker, and architect. This way, each student has a function, but must still work together to get their task done. All students in the group must do the research together.

a.     Group Leader – Responsible for keeping the product and making sure things get done on schedule

b.     Multi Media Person – responsible to the formatting of the movie with the group’s input

c.     Note Taker – keeps track of what goes on during discussions, the terms/definitions being used, etc.

d.     Architect – responsible for formulating the layout of the poster with the group’s input

7.     Making Connections

a.     Previous Knowledge – Each student has a knowledge that will show and be utilized in this project

                                               i.     Musical knowledge

                                             ii.     Computer savvy

                                            iii.     Words/Vocabulary

b.     Relevant to them – The song/music video is their choosing. They can use whatever style of music (song is school-appropriate)

c.     Local audience – each group will view and critique the other groups. Therefore, it must be appealing to a majority, not just yourself

8.     Create/Produce – An interactive poster that incorporates various aspects.

a.     Music/Video – Create a music video to explain vocabulary

b.     Interactive definitions

                                               i.     Definitions for ancient words that a modern audience can understand

c.     Collaboration/Teamwork

9.     Assessment – SEE RUBRIC AT BOTTOM

10.  Reflection

a.     Each student will have a GoogleDoc form to fill out regarding his/her experience

                                               i.     Things learned

                                             ii.     How well they think others worked with them

                                            iii.     How well they think they worked with others

                                            iv.     What they liked about the assignment

                                             v.     What they did not like

b.     Teacher/instructor can take the answers from the GoogleDoc to establish the feasibility of the assignment. It can also be used to see if anything was repeated by multiple students, that may be something to change.

TASK                                     WORTH         ST. GRADE               TEACHER GRADE

Working with others               25%                 _________                  _________

Creativity                                25%                 _________                  _________

Student was in video               10%                 _________                  _________

Critique finished                     15%                 _________                  _________

All components asked for       25%                 _________                  _________

            *5% taken off for

            all missing tasks

TOTAL                                              100%               _________                  _________

And my video presentation:

You can also view this at my Viddler site

PE5_Glogster

Try number 2 -- here we go!

Chose a background from the Emo section.

 Then added some quotes and words to describe music.

Went searching through their videos to find a good one for relationships to music.

And then, clicked save to make sure i did not lose anything before trying to upload a photo. I chose a photo that means something to me.

The finished product:

And the link: http://jphudson2006.glogster.com/joe-hudson-glog-1/

Hope you enjoy and try out this FANTASTIC Web 2.0 Tool.

PE4_Glogster

So, I chose to use the Web 2.0 Tool Glogster to use for my RILS. In the process of learning about Glogster, I found that it was more fun than expected. I started off with the original sample page:

and I changed the background to something more...me.

And then  I played around with the graphics and text. It was really amazing that not only could yo change the font settings, but you could also rotate the text box itself to be sideways, or on a diagonal in addition to straight forward.

I then went through each of the items and tried them out.

It was amazing how many different types of backgrounds/items were offered.

As you can see, there are 14 different styles to choose from. or you can just keep it as a single color.

One of the features you have with Glogster is the ability to upload photos and add a "frame" to it on the poster. So, I inserted the frame first...

Then i made the mistake of trying to insert a picture directly from the computer and not use the upload button...lost all of my changes.

Time to start over!

BP7_Movie Link

Visit here to view my video to my administrators on the benefits of iSpeech.

It is a wonderful tool that allows you to type into a screen and it speaks for you. or for the hearing-impaired, you speak into the computer...and it types what you said.

A fantastic Web 2.0 Tool.

BP6_Another's Link

Follow this link to see my comments on Gail Mebane's blog. A fantastic blog on Glogster.

Here is a screen shot of her poster:

BP5_Another's Link

Follow this link to my comments on Steve Weigandt's blog.

Here is a screen shot of the post:

PE3_iMovie 3

The final project is finished...

As i said before, iMovie is a great tool to use, and now I have even more things to try in the program...from color transitions to movie trailers to audio adjustments....I cannot wait to see what I can do next.

Thank you Lynda.com!!!

BP4_Web 2.0 Tool II

So, in searching for a Web 2.0 tool to use in my classroom, I remembered that 33% of my students are ESL (English as a Second Language). So, I wanted a way to connect with them as well as my other students.

Then I came across the iSpeech program. It allows a teacher or web-designer to type in what he/she wants to say, and it will speak to your students either online, or you can create an mp3 for them to listen to. You can even set it up to translate as well.

So to try it out, I first signed up, as usual, for the service. Then came time to play around in the program. I started by going through all of their demos clips and tutorials in order to figure out “HOW IN THE WORLD DO I DO THIS?!?”

After spending hours reading and watching, reading and watching, I finally felt comfortable trying it for real. So I typed into the program the words:

            “Hello and welcome to Mr. Hudson’s music class.”

I pressed play. A British woman started talking. Well…that won’t work. So I switched the voice that would be speaking to United States Male. I thought…”wow that sounds better than my voice.”

Hopefully this will be a tool I can use to connect to the ESL students and the hearing impaired students. It also seems like it may be useful to set up a website with sub plans where the substitute just presses play and the lesson goes on.

PE2_iMovie

Finally done with the training!

So,  got started on a movie trailer type video for my barbershop chorus to use as a recruitment tool.

We used my laptop, a steady cam, and samples from our contest as our video clips.

The steady cam was not set up right, so it did not have sound...no problem since we are using the movie trailer feature in iMovie.

So we chose our story-board type...

Now...off to the races importing video clips:

I used some of the effects I learned about to use still photos AND videos in the movie trailer.

Come back to see the finished product.

PE1_iMovie

Never having used lynda.com before, I was thoroughly impressed. Lots of different training courses.

Lots of different versions of iMovie to choose from as well.

So, I started at the beginning of iMovie '11 Training. A very interesting way to do training...with the interactive lessons and they give you the files you need to try it out with the speaker.

This is going to be cool.

BP3_iGoogleScreenShots

Here are my screen shots.

Enjoy!

BP2_Skype

I was extremely lucky this week. The assignment was to utilize a Web 2.0 tool. I also had a conference call I had to be a part of. So, in order to kill two birds with one stone, I suggested using Skype for the meeting. All parties agreed, so I went to work. I researched it online, I watched videos on how to do conference calls, when was the best time to do a call for everyone was.

I set up the time with the meeting coordinator and each of us e-mailed everyone to make sure they all knew the information. Friday night at 9:30pm. This would give each person a reasonable time to call in (I would be the 9:30pm time, all the others would be earlier) The only person we were worried about was the gentlemen calling in from New Zealand.

Then came the moment of truth…WOULD THIS WORK. I called the meeting coordinator, who answered quickly, and each of us called another person. They answered as well. By the time the calls were done, were had 18 guys from 16 different states and 3 countries (USA, Canada, New Zealand).

We talked and video conferenced for about two and a half hours, and no one lost their signal. Each person was heard loud and clear, and as long as each of us remembered when our turn to speak would be, the call went extremely smoothly.

I would recommend Skype for anyone who is either out of town for a meeting, or has a principal or manager who will allow them to Skype in their lesson or meeting. 

BP1_Welcome to my blog

Hello all -

Always heard about blogging...but I never tried it. So this is going to be something new and exciting to me. Cannot wait to see others blogs as well. I am hoping this is something that will help me to connect more with my students.

Here is a picture of my school in CT:

Well, here's to another GREAT month at Full Sail!