22 February - Vidcast Reflection

What - After much discussion, we decided to teach the Fifty Nifty United States song. We are teaching 5th grade during our field experience and thought it would be a fun teaching tool. We used PHOTOSTORY. Marlena was the project manager. We each took 1/3 of the project and found images and then put it together last Friday. It was fun to learn how to use Photo Story. Marlena put me in the "chair" and forced me to edit the images and set it correctly to the music. I appreciate her for allowing me to work on this project and not just watch. I have never worked with Photo Story before, so it was a challenge for me and because of Marlena, I feel like I can do it again and be successful.

So What - It is challenging to set images to a song. You have to be very patient and use a lot of trial and error. However, I have found that making mistakes causes you to gain knowledge because you have to FIX what you did wrong. We had about 80 images in our vidcast. We spent a lot of time choosing the photos that were creative, fun and different than what you'd expect. It would have been boring to use the outline of the individual states only. My personal favorite was our Florida image--so cool. :)

Now What - I see myself using vidcasts in my future classroom. What a fun and unique addition to a classroom website. Children will watch it over and over and the learning can extend beyond the classroom. Also, I think parents will enjoy watching the vidcasts so that they are able to see what their students are learning. I am learning that we need to step out of the box as teachers and help children to discover, imagine and grow in order for them to stay engaged. The vidcast is a great way to do that. I have some great ideas for future projects in my classroom.


Learning the States in America
5th Grade Core
Standard 4

We chose to make a vidcast of the states of America because that is one of the units that 5th grade students cover. When my children were in 5th grade, they had an award they could earn called “Give Me Liberty. They were asked to memorize states, capitals, presidents, preamble, etc. One of the ways that I helped them learn the states was by singing the Fifty Nifty song that I had learned when I was in 5th grade. That was over 30 years ago and I still remember that song. It is a great way to learn for visual and audio learners because the tune is catchy and the images were beautiful and unique.

In the future, I think it would be fun to make a vidcast that would help them match capitals with the states. I don’t know if there is a song out there that does that. I’ll have to look. Another great project would be learning the Presidents of the United States in order using the same concept. Also, learning the Preamble or State Symbols would be another good way to use with a vidcast.

8 February - Podcasts

What a fun project!!!! I had a great time learning what a PODCAST was first of all. I had no idea that I had been listening to podcasts for years. I think the thing that I'm enjoying most is the feeling of empowerment this class gives me. I am learning so much and enjoy the process.

Every week, when I get on your site I read the note that says "bring your spirit of discovery". That is a very comforting phrase for someone like me. I get nervous because computers are not second nature for me, but that quote calms me down and reminds me to have a good time.

Also, I feel grateful for the opportunity. It sounds silly, but I feel so blessed to be attending such a great university learning new things that will make me better.

I went home and played with garage band a little as well. Lacy and I had already made our podcast during class, but I wanted to check out the garage band. It is very cool. I'm sure I will be using it in the future when I add other things to my classroom website.

In my future classroom, I love the idea of being able to record my lecture or class discussion for a student that was absent. Or, maybe sending a quick personal note to a student or parent.

I'm going to transfer the podcast to my resource page. I've been reading your instructions on how to do that so I'll sign off here and get that transferred. Thanks again for your preparation and excitement for instructional media. It's a great class.