Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Final Blog

              I think incorporating technology in the classroom is very important. The possible lessons and activities are endless when you can use technology. Using technology in the classroom can benefit me because it can make things so much easier, and it gives me an opportunity to be more creative with lessons. Students benefit as well, there are so many activities that students can participate in using technology.  Technology can make lessons more engaging for students, often times students are eager to use technology in the classroom. This creates a positive learning environment. Some of the challenges with using technology is that it doesn't always work properly. It is important to always have a back up plan, in case something does not work. Technology can also be very frustrating to use at times. You have to be able to know how to use the technology properly in order for it to work.

              Video editing is a very important tool I will take with me from this class. There are many ways you can incorporate video taping into lessons, and now that I know how to use the software it will be a pleasure to teach with this tool. I am also glad that we were given many pointers in excel and Microsoft word. There were many things I was unfamiliar with, and now I feel that I can do so much more in these programs. Also, our e-portfolios will be very important to us in the future. I am very glad we got to learn about the different programs involved, and then to actually make our own portfolios.


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Video Project Reflections & Video Lesson

  1)   I really enjoyed doing the group video project. I think working in groups of two ( in my case 3) worked really well, because it would be a challenge to film this project by yourself. I also think using an Iphone worked well. It was very easy to record the clips and to carry around. We could have improved on saving the files. We had a lot of trouble with this. We first brought all of the clips into Movie Maker and then edited them, but had no sound, we discovered that it was due to how we added them to Movie Maker. So we had to go back and re add and edit the clips again.  We also had issues with sound when we tried opening it on a different computer, but eventually we got it to work. Next time, we will know how to open the clips and where to save them too. I will take away many skills from this project. I now know how to add videos into Movie Maker live and then edit them. I thought it was really cool that you could cut certain parts of clips out and than add animation and text to the clips.





2)    Weather Project- Science   5th grade
 
   Students will be put into groups of four and making a video about different weather patterns. Students will have to act as a meteorologist and talk about a particular weather pattern. Prior to this project I will select different regions of the United States to give to each group. I will give each group a different region and time of year to research that particular regions weather pattern. Students will then construct a five day forecast for that particular area being sure to include:
 -Temperature  (high and low)
-Wind (in MPH)
-Humidity level
-Chance of rain (percentage)

 Students will then use the computer to create a visual of the weather forecast. When this is complete the students will then use a video camera to record the meteorologist presenting the weather. Students could take turns being the meteorologist by spiting the number of days in half, and students could also take turns using the video camera.  Students will then have to add their videos to the computer and edit them using a software. Students will be required to add animation, and text.
Once the students are done editing we will then add all of the videos to my computer. I will share each video with the class and they will be required to take notes on the characteristics of each region.

Some of the challenges that this project may present are that for some students it could be rather challenging to find this information. I could have a prepared list of websites to use with the students that shows where they could get their information,=.

Project time line and checklist
Monday- Split into groups, assign regions, explain project
Complete?______
 
Tuesday- Research weather patterns                                  Complete?_______
Wednesday- Create visual, practice for filming                   Complete?________
Thursday- practice, then record film                                   Complete?________
Friday- edit film                                                                 Complete?_______
Monday- Present, take notes                                             Complete?________