Video created a Classroom Star!

I love video! I use video for everything in my class. I create videos to launch activities and give directions.  I let my kids make videos all the time.  Since this is becoming a constant in my class, I thought it would be a good time to make a list of my favorite go to video accessories and apps.

1)  I use my iPad for most of my videos.  My best investment was purchasing a decent tripod.  I love this one I got from Amazon.

2) I was blessed and was able to get an iPad mount from my tech department.  I love it and it makes it so I can trust the kids to videotape on their own.

3)  I set up a little recording studio in my class where the kiddos can take green screen videos.  We absolutely love the app Green Screen by DoInk.

Because the kiddos often have to record while class is going on, I just invested in lapel microphones and a long cable.  

Now I place the mic in the middle of their shot and the volume is much better!

4)  On the iPad I am a huge proponent of iMovie.  I think it has an ease of use that can't be beat.  My kiddos absolutely love making videos on their phones and they find iMovie to be the best.  Once the make it they share with my on Google Drive.  I absolutely adore the ease of them getting me their videos!  Gone are the days when I ran out of space on the school server or could never buy enough flash drives.  Now it's just shoot and share!

5)  If you need to edit movies on a pc, I really like WeVideo.

WeVideo is really easy to use and can hook right up to a Google Drive account.  My students have used this software as well and they learned to use it in about ten minutes.

6) Sometimes I just like to have fun.  A great purchase was the IntroDesigner app.  I've made a class intro that the students love to see and we can easily add credits to the end.

7)  Lastly, who knew it, but my selfie stick comes in really handy in the classroom!  Kids made Common Craft inspired In Plain English movies and used my selfie stick to hold their phone as they video taped.

So, these are the things I'm doing in my class to make video a go to form of learning and creating.  What are you doing?

What's In My iPhone?

So my students have turned me on to these YouTube celebrities that talk about hair and makeup and the maddening idea of what is in their purses or what their room looks like.  I really do find it absolutely amazing that 4 million people would care what is in the purse of a YouTube celebrity... but I get it.  I have to admit that I absolutely loooove Nerdy Nummies with Rosanna Pansino and listen to her talk about nothing.
All of this gave me an idea, though.  Every day I leave school with about 20% juice left in my battery because I use my phone constantly... seriously, I abuse my phone.  The kids and I both know that my phone enables us to have the class they enjoy.  So, what's in my phone?

Photos - Photos are obvious.  I take pictures all the time for my blog and our schools website.  But how do I use it to truly engage learners?  I use it like a document camera.  In my school district they are fabulous and give each teacher a MacBook Pro.  Because of this, when I take a picture on my phone, it shows up in my photo album about 1 minute later.  I can quickly take a picture of amazing work and project it quickly.  The kids loooove seeing their work projected!!!

YouTube - I worship at that altar of Youtube in class and have figured out how to get around my distict's filter.  I recently received an Apple TV for my class (AMEN!!!!) and now I can quickly project any video I'm watching.

Twitter - So, no, I don't use Twitter in the classroom but Twitter has truly helped me to become a better teacher.  Over the last three years I have taken part in #edchat, #sschat, #tlap, and #sstlap.  I have sat through a lot of PD in my 16 years.  I have learned how to write across the curriculum, manage my classroom, and collaborate with other disciplines.  I have never heard, "Hey!  We're getting this amazing social studies person in to talk to you guys."  Twitter allows me to have relevant PD every week and learn from amazing teachers.  And, to be honest..... PD is so much better in pajamas with a glass of wine:)

 Google Drive - As most of you know, I'm a google fanatic.  Not only can I access Drive easily, I've turned it into a mobile gradebook.  I've set up a spreadsheet with all my classes and it allows me to walk around the classroom easily gathering grades from kids.  I don't have to be anchored to a desk and I don't need to double enter from a paper and clipboard.

Quizlet - I've blogged about Quizlet before.  The kids love it and my phone becomes a study station.  It makes me smile!

Class Dojo - I absolutely loooove that I can walk around my class and award points.  I project up the full screen so the kids can see who is earning what.  I don't use Class dojo everyday, but whenever I feel like I need the kids back on track, I can pull my phone out of my pocket and start the rewards.

Plickers - Plickers is my new favorite toy.  I use it about 3 times a week in class and the toy hasn't lost its lustre.  The kids love it and I adore the data I receive.  The other teachers in my cluster were so excited when they saw it!

Remind101 - In my district, I can not rely on internet access at home but many of my families have cell phones.  Remind101 allows me the ability to reach out whenever.  The kids love the text from Mrs. Wilkins and I love the communication.

Podcasts - I looooove listening to educational podcasts.  I'm a total ed geek but I love listening to a good discussion or debate about trends in ed.  my favorite station is Bam! Radio Network.  It offers a little something for everyone and I adore listening to it in my car on my commute.

So, now that I've shown you my iPhone, is there something amazing in your iPhone that you would like to share?

Rainy Day Fun

Happy summer all! I haven't been writing because I haven't really had anything to write about. I'm at this weird limbo of being between schools. On top of American History I will also be teaching Ancient World History. I haven't taught it in over six years but I'm excited to tackle it as the teacher I am today. Unfortunately, my new school doesn't open to teachers until next week and of course we are going on a final summer hurrah next week to Santa's Village. My new assistant principal did ask me to help with some interviews for a math teacher on Tuesday, so we did decide to postpone a day so I can take this opportunity to begin to become part of my new community. That means that next Tuesday will be the first day I actually get to see the school and my classroom. My AP did describe my classroom to me. On the positive side he said it was really big, great for projects and has tons of storage. On the interesting side.... It has stadium seating. Ha! I can't wait to see it so I can wrap my head around it.

Because of this limbo, I've been really taking my cues from the book Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess. I just finished it a couple of weeks ago and it was really enjoyable and got me even more jazzed for my new job. Dave makes a big case for creating an atmosphere in the first days that invite children into your classroom and give them an insight into you. Today we had a major rainy day here in the northeast and I decided to try my hand at something I saw on Pinterest (and of course now I can't find it:) ). I decided to create a movie trailer for my teaching. I used the movie trailer function in iMovie and I used Keynote to create all the wording. I also used a cool intro and credit app that was totally gratuitous but fun.

Here's the link if youre viewing on a tablet: http://youtu.be/MENWhWhjVoc I loooove how it came out! It is too quick, but since I used the trailer mode in iMovie, I can't change that. What I will do, is watch it a second time and pause to discuss some of the elements of the video. I will admit, this took a couple of hours. Mostly, it was because I hadn't used the trailer mode, I kept googling to see if I could change things (like the length of clips) and I'm kind of a perfectionist. I basically did it once and then did it over because I learned how to do it better.

So, what do you like to do in the first days of school so the kiddos are revved up?

I'm linking this post on up to one of my favorite blogs, Technology Tailgate. Hop on over and see the technology goodness. Click on the picture!

Posted with Blogsy

Get the Kids Moving: White House Rallies, IPad Movies, Classwide Twitter and Philosophical Chairs.... In One Unit!!!!

It's Friday night and oh my..... I deserve a weekend! This week was one of those where the kids were AMAZING but the job was stressful. I have certainly earned some blogging time, some Netflix and a glass (or two) of wine!
As I've mentioned in past posts, I just finished a huge unit on foreign policy. Although we don't actually have the History Alive! Series at my school, through the wonders of technology, I have stumbled upon all the resources online. I used this unit last year and this year I really owned it, reworked it and put my spin on it. The unit presents students with a foreign policy dilemma for the first five presidents. Students are given four different scenarios to choose from as they consider how they would have acted if they were president. Students work in groups and once they decide how they would have reacted they are to complete a processing activity. The book has them protesting in front of the White House for every dilemma and although I loved the idea, last year the kids got bored of the protest quickly. So here is what I did:
1. Dilemma 1: What should John Adams do about the French and the XYZ Affair?
Using my cheap whiteboards, the kids had to come up with a slogan that they would chant at a protest rally. I told them that at the rally they would be interviewed by the press and would have to tell the reporter what they think John Adams should do and why he should do it. I gave it a CCSS flare by telling them for their reason they had to cite textual evidence. I projected the White House onto the Smartboard, split the class in half and interviewed them. They looooved it! One kid told me it was his favorite lesson all year. My favorite slogan was, "Don't hate....negotiate!" I videotaped all the segments so I could make a full foreign policy movie at the end of the unit.

2. Dilemma #2: What should Thomas Jefferson do about the Barbary Pirates?
The kids had the same directions and options but instead they had to make 30 second commercials urging the president to listen to their foreign policy advice. I used iMovie to put all these movies together, with the protest and showed the whole thing at the end. I would show you these but I'm really a stickler of showing my kids' faces. Take my word for it..... They are hysterical!
3. Dilemma 3: What should James Madison do about the British impressing our soldiers?
This time, the kiddos took part in an analog Twitter conversation. As a group, the kids came up with a Twitter handle and hashtag that would explain their stance on involvement with the British. They then wrote a Tweet about their opinions. After this, each student was given three sticky notes. They had to comment on the group before them, the group after them and a group of their choice. They had to agree or disagree using textual evidence.

This really turned out to be a great way to process. They were able to work together and then process individually. After we did this I felt like is till needed to spend some time on the War of 1812 so I showed the kiddos this.....

OMG..... The kids giggled all thought this. To show them how perspective plays a major role in the story of us, I showed them this....

They loooooved this!
4. Dilemma 4: What should James Madison do about the new Latin American countries?
For this, I tried my hand at Philosophical Chairs and I was so proud of my kiddos. I had four corners of the classroom, one for each option they could choose from. They each went to the corner and started to defend their cases with textual evidence. Whenever they stopped believing with their side, they were able to move to a new corner. For the first time, I though this went so well. I can't wait to use it in other debates as well. I love the simplicity of it and the lack of set up. The kids loved that I let them sit on the desk. It's the simple things:)
All in all, it was one of those units that you poured your blood and soul into and in the end it returned the feeling threefold. And of course, there was this......

Click here for the foreign policy activities.
Click here for the reading.

Posted with Blogsy