A little bit of this and that!

Hello! I just wanted to share a couple of the cool things that I've been doing lately. First I was very excited to be accepted to go for one day workshop that was going put by Edtechteachers and Google. It was held at the Google headquarters and was absolutely amazing!!!! I got to spend the day with 200 other edtech nerds and it was pure Nirvana. I went to an amazing workshop on Google Classroom and got to ask questions of the actual developers. I also went to a fabulous workshop on apps and extensions.

 

We aren't allowed to take many pictures but I was able to get some great ones that I then uploaded to my students' Google Classroom accounts and they were able to check in while I was there. The entire day was amazing and I really feel that teacher morale would go up if we got a barista located in the front office much like Google:)

Secondly, I just wrapped up the 2nd Annual Wilke Awards with my seventh graders. Click here to see how this project started last year. They used Zimmertwins to create movies where they created a claim about ancient Egypt and then they supported them with textual evidence. We viewed the movies with all the pomp and circumstance if the Oscars including a red carpet, statuettes, green screen photos and 20 bags of microwaved popcorn in a garbage bag;)

 

 

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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?

First Week is in the Books

The first week back is in the books and it was great! It was wonderful meeting my new seventh graders but I forgot how amazing it feels to loop with kids. My eighth graders came in and it just felt like home. They are such an amazing group of kids and I am so fortunate to get another year with them. Today they were getting sad because they don't want to go to high school next year. Woah Nelly!!!! You just got to eighth grade... Don't fast forward time just yet!!!

I went in my class last week and quickly set up my bulletin boards.

I really love my , "What's Been Going on in the World?" Bulletin board. I have presented five national and international stories from the summer with no words. For a bonus activity for my early finishers, they can take a guess at explaining what is going on in the pictures. If you're interested in the template, click here. I'll be changing them out every month, or as my smarty pants eighth graders say, every news cycle.

The first day I launched with my getting to know you video...

 

And then had them tell me about their likes and interests with Play Doh.

 

 

On day two did the Survivor Island activity that Dave Burgess talks about in his book and my teacher buddy, Ben Brazeau (@braz74) made (I modified it a bit for middle school students). Of course I had to add a bit of my own flare too it so I made this super fun launch video.

I also got to us Kahoot! Which I totally adore!

If you haven't used it yet, it allows you to do online quizzes and surveys where kids can use a myriad of devices to answer the question. It's much like Socrative or PollEverywhere but it has more of a game show feel to it. The kids loved it and I was able to use it to collect that beginning of year data, like do you have a computer or tablet, do you have wifi, etc? The kids adored it and I love that I can download all my data to a spreadsheet.

Lastly, I'm super excited because next week we're signing the kids up for Google Classroom and the whole cluster is going to use it. The possibilities are endless!!!!

 

Did you try anything new the first week of school? Let me know!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rainy Day Fun Part 2

It was pouring here in New England today. I've been having trouble getting motivated for back to school ( t minus 11 days and counting) and then I remembered what I did last year to get jazzed. In a very similar rainy day I made a first day video to show my students. I loop with my kiddos so my eighth graders deserve a fresh new video. I worked on it a bit in the morning but I didn't want the kids to be stuck in the house all day. The big guy was at karate camp for the week so my hubby and I took the midget to Red Robin and the mall to buy a new school back-to-school outfit. Two adults, one 3 year old, and we ended up with no back-to-school outfit and a pink My Little Pony. I'm not quite sure how that happened.....

We hunkered down in PJs early and I got to work on the video. It was much quicker than last year cause I've definitely learned that ins and outs and iMovie Trailers. For those of you that are wondering, I used iMovie, I usedthe trailer option and I used Keynote to make the slides with handwriting.

What do you like to do on your first day of school?

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Engaging Tech Tips: Green Screen by Do Ink

So when I went to fabulous EdCamp Boston a couple of weeks ago and I accumulated massive amounts of new information on everything from new apps to new ways of thinking. One of the apps I decided to purchase was Green Screen by Do Ink. It was $2.99 and totally worth every penny for the giggle factor alone.
The intro video that comes with the app does a good job at explaining how to use it so I was literally up and running in less than ten minutes. The best thing about this app, beyond its simplicity, is you don't need a GREEN screen. You can use any color you have hanging around. I went and pillaged our art room paper and thought this bright yellow was the best bet.

I was launching an activity where kids were making plays on the various groups of settlers that went out west and totally wanted to give this as an alternative to kids who don't like to perform in front of a live audience. In true Wilkins' fashion, I made a launch videos using the green screen.

The kids loooooved it and it got them totally jazzed to use the app. We're going to be shooting the videos this week but my student government already had fun playing with it.

They went to a Justin Bieber concert.

And hung out with the Care Bears!

This was a no brainer purchase! Do Ink is also a major presence on Twitter so they are easy to contact. I give this my total recommendation. Download it now and have some fun!!!

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