Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thing #23
Thing #22
Thing #21
I Love My Boys!
Podcasts and Videocasts: I really enjoyed using Photostory to create my first videocast of my two sons. The first thing I learned about this "Thing" is that it is a Windows application, so I couldn't use my MacBook Pro laptop to create my videocast. Luckily for me, I also have a Dell PC at home! Garage Band and iMovie are available on my laptop, and I would like to play with these Apple applications so that I can create more videocasts. I tried to download a song from my iTunes music library to add background music, but I had some difficulty opening up the song I wanted to use. Instead, I created a song using the prerecorded music available on Photostory.
Even though I really like this application, I am having some issues processing my videocast onto my blog. After waiting for almost five hours and reading "processing video" on the computer screen, I have given up and published this post so that I can finish my 23 Things! I really wanted to show off my two sons to my blog followers! ARG!
Nevertheless, I want to use Photostory to create book trailers for the novels I teach to my students and add my voice for narration. My school librarian used MovieMaker to create a videocast of the library to use during her library orientation. This videocast introduces the students to the library staff and shows the locations of the different book genres. It also explains the library procedures and guidelines to the students as well. When I become a librarian, I would like to use this idea as well so that I can show the students and staff that the library is a welcoming place for everyone.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thing #20
Gotta Keep Reading!
YouTube and TeacherTube are two popular website resources that people view for entertainment and educational reasons. My sons love watching their favorite comedians, singers, and TV shows on YouTube, and I enjoy searching for different videos on TeacherTube. I have also enjoyed watching the videos posted on Library2Play to help me better understand the new Web 2.0 applications. Unfortunately, YouTube is blocked by my school district's server, but I have heard there are ways to convert these videos so that you can show them at school, thanks to Zamzar. I have seen this inspirational video created by the Ocoee Middle School student body and staff in Ocoee, Florida, and I thought it would be the perfect video to share with my classmates and students. If you are a Black Eyed Peas fan, you will love it! Don't grab the popcorn--Grab a book and read!