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Resources
I’ve been working with a couple of teens over the past two months, as they’ve mulled over interview questions, taken photos, and submitted to the videotaping of their lives up close and personal. It’s been an amazing experience to see where they’ve come from and where they are headed. Precious, precious girls. They’re busy with summer school and family responsibilities, so there wasn’t the opportunity to teach them how to use a video editing program to tell their stories; instead, I gathered the photos and tapes and put the video together myself using Apple’s iLife.
The thing that’s so great about iLife is the seamless integration of iMovie, iTunes, and iPhoto. It’s all there together. No hunting around for things, as I would have had to do on a PC. We as Ed Tech Specialists always promote Macs for any creative projects. PCs are great, and I love mine, but I’ll take a Mac any day for movie-making or podcasting. (I don’t care for iMovie 08, but the earlier version is available free for download if you own iLife.)
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Resources
I love the idea behind StoryCorps, which can be heard weekly on NPR and subscribed to via iTunes. It’s a simple idea, really: just short stories, sometimes interviews or conversations, sometimes monologues - ranging from hilarious to heart-wrenching. Here’s what the site says about itself - -
Our mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. Since 2003, over 35,000 everyday people have shared life stories with family and friends in our StoryBooths. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to our broadcasts on public radio and the web. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind.
Everybody’s story matters. Every life counts. Help us reach out to record our history, hopes, and common humanity—and illuminate the true character of this nation.
Here’s a sample of a StoryCorps interview made here in Memphis by a mother and her son: Inquisitive Son
I’m thinking the StoryCorps concept would translate very well into classroom podcasting.
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Resources
The ROY site is chock-full of Reading games starring Roy the Zebra and his pals Lucy and Wellington. The games are simple, but effective for practicing various skills. Here are a few of the categories:
- Alphabetical Order
- Capital Letters
- Punctuation
- High Frequency Words
- Rhyming Words
- Singular or Plural
Posted by cindy under
Resources
If you’re looking for an interesting way for your students to practice making words , the Woodlands Junior site is worth a look. It works especially well with the SMART Board because you literally move letters around to form new words. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, there are instructions on how to make your own Magnetic Word Board - which could be used in so many ways: ABC order, sentence construction, vocabulary, punctuation, parts of speech, spelling words, word families, and more. Very cool.
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Resources
In our Podcasting class today, we talked about ways to use podcasting with students to increase reading fluency. One option involves Readers Theater scripts. These free scripts abound on the Internet; all you have to do is perform a Google search. Your kids will be motivated to practice until perfect, knowing that their voices will be recorded and heard by an audience. You might also try creating scripts of your own with stories in your basal reader - choose ones that have lots of dialogue and assign one student to be the narrator to tie the dialogue together.
Image Credit: http://www.teachingheart.net/readerstheater.htm
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Photography,
Resources
If you’ve ever dreamed of personalizing M&Ms with your own unique photos (and who hasn’t?), the My M & M’s site is for you! Choose your background color, upload a photo, and place an order. A little pricey for snacking on in front of the TV, but the site is full of sweet ideas for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, celebrations, and business. Fun!
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Resources
How could you use JigZone in the classroom? Here’s an interesting post that will give you some ideas.
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Resources
Debra Link, a teacher at Keystone Elementary, has shared a wonderful site. It’s actually a Yahoo Group, so you’ll have to sign up to be a member, but there’s lots of great information here. Teachers share files, photos, center ideas, Reading Street info, links, and more. If you need answers to a classroom issue, email your question to the group, and lots of colleagues will be happy to help. This is a great idea for both veteran and novice teachers. Thanks, Debbie!
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Announcements
Even though I was at Tech Camp all day every day, I realized too late that I’m only in one photo. That’s what happens when you’re behind the camera instead of in front. Oh, well - just take my word for it that I’m somewhere around! 
Posted by cindy under
Resources
If you have a SMART Board in your classroom or school, be sure to take a look at this Teachers Love SMART Boards site by James Hollis. He has a lot of great ideas for integrating SMART Board technology into the classroom. I’ve been looking through a number of his postings and have already found several creative ideas I plan to use. Take a look!
