Blog Entry 9

Part of the new teacher evaluation system in Georgia, CLASS Keys, involves professionalism. One of the professionalism standards states, "P 2.1 The teacher strives to establish respectful and productive relationships
and cooperative partnerships with families and the community in order to
support student learning and well-being." Since my school system is small (one high school, one middle school, and three elementary schools), one of our goals to meet this professionalism standard is to meet with other grade-level teachers to align what is being taught from K-12 in our subject area. Since we are all at different schools with different planning times and all professional development days have been cut, we are trying to come up with creative ways to "meet." My current project involves creating a blog for ELA teachers in Heard County. This blog will serve as a place for the teachers to get together at the most convenient time for each individual teacher to share ideas and strategies for teaching ELA. This technology will provide a much better alternative than trying to get all of those teachers physically together while still giving us an opportunity to collaborate and share our thoughts.

Movie Maker Project Links

Our Movie Maker project documents are available on our Wiki via the following links:
Article - http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/alignment.html
Article - http://moviemaker7464.wikispaces.com/file/view/Article.pdf
Flyer - http://moviemaker7464.wikispaces.com/file/view/Flyer.doc
How To Guide - http://moviemaker7464.wikispaces.com/file/view/Movie_Maker_How_to_Guide.doc
Power Point - http://moviemaker7464.wikispaces.com/file/view/Movie_Maker_Presentation_Show.ppsx
Work Shop Plan - http://moviemaker7464.wikispaces.com/file/view/Movie_Maker_Workshop_Plan.doc

MovieMaker Article

Langran, E., Langran, R., & Bull, G. (2005). Copyright Law and Technology. Learning and Leading with Technology, 32(7), 24-26. http://search.ebscohost.com.ts.isil.westga.edu

This article discusses the now wide-spread access of authoring programs like iMovie and Movie Maker which allow for student to move from the role “of passive observer to active creator of digital media” (Langran, E., Langran, R., & Bull, G., 2005, p.24). Students can use Google, or any other search engine, to find images, songs, and video clips, and in a few minutes, they can create their own digital story. This presents a whole new set of problems for schools because much of that material is copyrighted (even if it does not include a copyright symbol), but copyright legislation is constantly evolving and subject to interpretation. Teachers and students need to be aware of the Fair Use Act which says, “the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction…for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching…, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.” Then, to qualify for fair use, four factors must be weighed: purpose of use; nature of work, amount used, and effect on the market. Some sites like Creative Commons charges consumers for downloaded music, but encourages educators to use their music free of charge. One should also consider works that are in the public domain and are available for use. In 1998, the Digital Millennium Act extended the copyright term for these items to the life of the author plus 70 years. While we live in an age where it is easy to access any information you desire on the internet, teachers must be aware and must make their students aware of copyright laws.

Digital Storytelling Article

Joseph, L. (2006). Digital Storytelling. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 13(4), 13-16. http://search.ebscohost.com.ts.isil.westga.edu

This article discusses using digital storytelling in the classroom, and it provides very helpful information for teachers who are just getting started with using this technology. The article is basically a list of resources to help teachers. It begins with the American Folklife Center and The Center for Digital Storytelling, both valuable resources. Digitales, another resource presented, offers seven steps to creating digital movies. The article also provides links to sites that discuss ways to use digital stories in the classroom as well as sites with example lesson plans and digital stories. Since making digital stories often involves using other programs like Audacity, this article also involves a link to using that program. There are several programs available for moving making including Microsoft’s Movie Maker and Apple’s iMovie. This article provides links to information about both of those programs. At the end of the article, national standards from ISTE are provided that relate to digital storytelling in the classroom. While this is not a traditional article, it is probably one of the most helpful lists of links I have ever found about one topic. I will definitely use this list in the future to improve my use of digital storytelling in the classroom.

Movie Maker

My movie is located at
http://stu.westga.edu/~rrogers1/7464_movie_rrl.wmv
My movie maker file is designed to use at the beginning of my American literature unit on the Puritans. It serves as both an introduction to the Salem Witch Trials and as an example for my students. As a part of the unit, I require my students to create a video in Movie Maker about one of the people involved in the trials. We watch my video first, so they can get general information. They use some of the techniques that I used in my video to get started with their project.
I have used Movie Maker several times before, and as with most programs, it gets easier over time. I do still find some things about it quite tricky. It is difficult for me to get the timing right when I add in transitions between my images. When sound clips, song clips, and narration are also included, it almost confuses me beyond belief. I am getting better with it, and this project was must easier to complete than the last video I tried to make. I'm sure with time that I will get better and faster at creating videos to use in my classroom.

Blog Entry 8--Production

When thinking about production, I automatically think about the commercial project I assign my world literature students. As defined by Egbert (2009), "Production is a form of learning whereby students create a product, or a concrete artifact that is the focus of learning" (p. 182). The first unit in my world literature class focuses on persuasion both in their own writing and the writing/multimedia presentations of others including commercials on television. As the culminating project, the students write, direct, act in, film, and edit their own commercial which must contain the types of persuasion. Then, we watch the commercials in class, and the other students decide how persuasive they think each commercial is. By completing this project, the students have a much better grasp of how to write an effectively persuasive essay, and since the graduation test essay is persuasive, that is a skill that they all need in order to graduate from high school.

Blog Entry 7--Smart Boards

This year I am very lucky to be in a brand new school building with all new "stuff." Everyone finally has a Smart Board, and there is more than one computer lab (a huge upgrade from our old school). I was so excited to learn that I would be going to a Smart Board training during preplanning, but when I got there, I learned that it would only be a little over an hour long. I had used a Smart Board years ago, but I had never used one in a classroom setting; I certainly didn't know how to best utilize it and benefit my students. I went to the meeting, and as I suspected, I left feeling overwhelmed and a little lost. Since I am the English department head and I'm working on an instructional technology degree, my colleagues always come to me for technology help. Unfortunately, this time I was not able to be very helpful. I was able to muddle through what I understood from the meeting, but basically, we all had to take time to play with the Smart Board. That is time we really didn't have during preplanning. Fortunately, I found out that our RESA is having a Smart Board training at the end of October, so I guess it's better late than never. I have already been told that when I get back I will rely what I learned to the rest of the faculty which is fine with me, but I probably won't do as good a job as the person who teaches me. This situation stems from the fact none of our technology staff was hired to be an instructional technology specialist. They all perform installation and maintenance duties. In the past, I might could have persuaded our administration that we needed an instructional technology specialist, but now with budget cuts, I don't think that will happen. In the current economy, we all need to be prepared to teach others what we know about utilizing technology in the classroom whether we are technically getting paid for it or not.

Blog Entry 6

Since I teach high school English (10th and 11th grades), the Georgia High School Writing Graduation Test, is one of the most important days of the year for me and my students. Beginning in the 9th grade, we spend a lot of time preparing students for this test, and the 11th graders, spend several weeks prior to the test, making sure they can write persuasively. When I saw the section in chapter 4 about The Argument Clinic at the University of Northern Colorado, I almost fell out of my chair. I couldn't believe this resource was out there, and I didn't know anything about it. If I had know this information just a month ago, I could have used it with my 11th graders. They just took the writing test last week, and we could have really utilized that resource. I know what a great persuasive paper looks like, but it is always nice to have a second opinion. My student might also appreciate a fresh pair of eyes looking at their paper. This is going to be an invaluable resource for me in the future.