Fun with Animoto

I've been playing around quite a bit with Animoto the past several weeks. I have not broken down and purchased a full year subscription ($30) or even paid for one full video ($3). I have been sticking to the free 30-second shorts.

I decided that if I can stick to 30 seconds, my students could as well . . . making Animoto possible to use in the classroom (free). Students could sign-up for a free account and then go to town creating 30-second shorts for any class project.

It is beyond easy to use and there is a great music selection available. My only source of frustration is that I am limited to 8 to 9 slides within that 30 seconds, and I never know if they will all make it into my short video until after they have processed and created my 30-second short.

One thing that I really do like about the 30 second time limit is that it forces this to be a quick, one or two period project. So, it is a great technology that teachers can implement without a needing to commit a large amount of class time.

I was bothered by the lack of text that can be placed on the text slides. However, I finally found a way around that. Now, I create my text in Paint and save it as a JPEG which I then import to Animoto as a picture.


Examples:
I heard about an awesome idea by an Arizona math teacher from Lesley Edwards on her blog The Webfooted Booklady. He is asking the world to send his second grade class math question videos. So, I decided to create my own math problem for Room 46 using Animoto.


Here's a little 30-second short that I did as a opening for an in-service presentation I recently conducted on using Interwrite pads.


Classroom Ideas:
videos revolving around a certain vocabulary or spelling word
current event videos - around the world in 30 seconds
teacher created problems or prompts for response by students
create commercials for an advertising unit
book trailers
character studies

artwork portfolios

Do you have any other ideas for using this in the classroom? I would love to hear about them.

Miss M, I Forget How To . . .

It seems no matter how well I think I explained something and no matter how clear the hand-outs are, I always hear these words a week later. Since I have discovered Jing, I no longer have to reteach the process to individual students. Instead of reexplaining how to do something computer related, I have recorded tutorials to which I now refer my students for a quick review.


With Jing I can create a narrated recording of what I am doing on the computer. I can also take screenshots and then use them to create a worksheet. I can then save the video/screenshot on my computer, embed the video/screenshot, or get a URL to link out to the videos/screenshot. Also, Jing provides free hosting of all videos and screenshots at screencast.

Using Jing is so simple; it is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
1. Select Capture (video or screenshot)
2. Select the portion of the screen you would like to be capture
3. Either begin to record video or begin to mark up screenshot with necessary arrows, text, boxes, etc.

Screentoaster is another site that allows you to record video of what you are doing on the computer. However, you cannot narrate your recordings with audio. I believe, however, that this feature will be coming in the future.

Classroom Ideas:
1. create video tutorials
2. create handouts using screenshots
3. have students create a recordings to demonstrate knowledge of a computer process, application, or software
4. facilitate differentiated instruction and independent work by creating the tutorial videos

Examples:
1. video tutorial
2. sceenshot

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/darling_clementine/2056654756/sizes/o/

You Don't Need to Break the Bank

Podcasting has been my big push this year. So, I was upset when I found out that SoundSnap, my favorite website for downloading free copyright-friendly music and sound effects, was changing their policy. As of the last week, SoundSnap now requires users to create an account. Also, each account receives only 5 free downloads a month. Not very clssroom friendly.

To be honest, I was slightly devastated. I did not know of any website that could replace it. However, I was determined to find a replacement site. So, I began scouring the web and I found a great alternative. Royalty Free Music offers a free library of their professional quality music and sound effects to schools.

Here is a flyer that provides all the information necessary to sign-up to receive free access to this music library. After e-mailing the company with my information and then posting a link to their website on my site, I was given a username and password to provide to my students - no creating accounts and no cost - just free music/sound effect downloads!

Move over SoundSnap . . . here comes Royalty Free Music!

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielygo/2051820948/

Poetry in Pictures

What is poetry, but pictures made of words. So, when I found a website that married the two, I was thrilled. I have already shown one of my fifth grade teachers PicLits and she will be using it during her poetry unit. It is very easy to use, which makes quick (even spur-of-the-moment) implementation possible.

One of the qualities I love about PicLits, is that (while preferable) you do not need to create an account to use it. When I see web applications like that, I cheer, because I know using it with students will be so much easier.

Also, PicLits includes a Learn It section that provides lesson ideas for using PicLits in the classroom. They are best suited for high school students, but could be modified for use by younger students.

There are two methods: the drag-and-drop and the freestyle. Drag-and-drop is exactly like magnetic poetry. However, the words provided you are tailored to the picture that you have chosen. I think this is fun, however, I see more potential in the classroom for the freestyle method. By choosing freestyle, students can type in whatever they want to say.

Examples:

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

Classroom Ideas:
1. matching a student-created poem with a powerful picture
2. using pictures for inspiration to creative writing or writing poems
3. writing sentences that include vocabulary words or grammar concepts and choosing pictures that best express the meaning of the word and/or sentences
4. teaching students about nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs (a possible alternative to mad-libs)

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/surrealmuse/4757004/

Web 2.0 Goodie Bag

I just stumbled upon an amazing web2.0 resource. The Go2Web20 site is supported by TechCrunch who in their own words is all about, "obsessively profiling and reviewing new internet products and companies."

Go2Web20 is a web 2.0 directory that is very user friendly. You can sort by date to see what new sites have been added. You can also choose from a tag cloud - which is wonderful! If a teacher wants to do podcasts, I'll check out the podcast tag to see what it shows me. In my short time playing with this site so far, I know that it will become a go-to resource for me.

I'm really looking forward to exploring this site. I'm sure I'll find some absolutely perfect applications to use in the classroom! I'm sure I'll have plenty to post about as I explore this directory.

One for the Language Arts Teachers

This week I happened to be introduced to two new sites that are so perfect for language arts and english teachers as they deal directly with spelling and vocabulary. Now, if I remember my middle school and high school days correctly, I would have been glad for anything innovative (and dare I say) fun that could have been done for these two tedious topics. So, I would like to introduce wordia and spellingcity to you.

Wordia - This was a popular one in the blogs this week, so I thought I needed to check it out for myself. My conclusion is wordia + vocabulary = good times!

Example: Here is an example from the site. I have not created one for myself . . . yet.

Classroom Ideas:

1. This could be used by teachers to create an interactive vocab list. Put up a list of links to the URLs of vocab words. Students can use these to help them study and internalize the meanings.

2. Assign each student a word from the list and have them create their own videos to upload and share to the class.


SpellingCity - In three steps you can create a fun and interactive way for your students to study their spelling words. Step 1 - As a teacher, you can register for a free account. Step 2 - Begin by create spelling lists (which will be saved until you delete them). Step 3 - Place a link on your website so students can easily access your list(s). It truly is as easy as that!

Example: Here is an example I created for Thanksgiving spelling words.

Classroom Ideas: This one is pretty straight forward - just begin creating lists for students to use! With each list, students can be taught the words, play games to practice, and take tests to check their knowledge.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcgutierrez/352732175/