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Why use Digital Storytelling in your classroom?
Digital stories can be whatever you want them to be, there is no set ‘rule’ for what the product needs to look like. It can fit what you need. Having students find pictures (taken with a digital camera or found online) that illustrate what they are saying forces kids to think deeply about the message they want their story to tell. Finding music to accompany the pictures and video also forces kids to think about what feeling the story should give the viewer. Digital Stories add rigor to a project, forcing kids to think deeper.

Get Started!

What story will your students tell?
Digital Storytelling lends itself easily to English and Reading, but can be used in all subject area. Here are some resources and ideas:

Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
Creative Educator – Advanced Thinking in Digital Storytelling
Integrating Digital Storytelling in your Classroom Resources
How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom | Edutopia

Middle School concepts that students can create a digital story with:
English – poetry, persuasive writing, perspective
Reading – book advertisement, perspective of a character in a story
Math – geometry all around us, math in nature
Science- biomes, periodic table, planets
Social Studies – historical figures (tell story from person’s perspective), historical events, cultures, tour a country
Health/PE – PSA style story based on health/wellness, sports history
Performing Arts – music history

Planning
Without good planning on a student’s part, the end result will be lacking. Setting your students up for success with digital storytelling is a must. As with any project, you need to determine what information your students need to gather for your project. If there is a story that must be read, answers to a questionarre you created, or online research (for information) that needs to be acquired, this all must be done prior to beginning to put together the digital story. Here is a sample ‘checklist’ students can follow (with an approximate length of time):

1. Prepare (read story/textbook, fill out questionarre, information searches, etc.) – time varies
2. Complete Storyboard with required information - 1 to 2 days
3. Find pictures/video/music needed for story – 1 day
4. Use software to create your story – 2 to 4 days

I have found that creating a checklist printout for students that the teacher ’signs off’ on at each step ensures that your students are completing all necessary steps with the information and at the level that you are requiring of them.

There are teachers that feel #2 and 3 should be flip flopped. This all depends on the type of story your kids are telling and how you see the steps making most sense for your project. This list above should be rearranged, shortened, expanded, or changed to fit the specific needs of your project and students.

Storyboarding
Having the students complete a storyboard gives them focus and direction when they are actually creating their story. You can use any storyboard you find online or create your own. You do want to include things like “picture used” and “narration script” on the storyboard so that all the student has to do is follow their plan. Here is a sample of the storyboard many teachers on our campus have used.

Finding Pictures, Video, and Music
If the students have an idea about what type of picture/video/or music they want to use, this step will take much less time than if your kids don’t have a plan.

Tips for finding pictures:
students should not copy pictures from the internet and paste them into word. They must download the picture. Also, the larger the saved picture is, the better it will look in their finished project. Many times a thumbnail of the picture is shown; clicking on the picture usually brings up a larger version – this is the picture that should get saved.

Finding videos:
Most videos downloaded from the internet (if you have RealPlayer 11 installed and have the download button activated, a download button will appear above almost all videos) will be of the .flv file type. You can then use a file coversion website like http://media-convert.com to convert it to .wmv or .avi file. If you want to have your students include video the production portion will need to be done with a video editing program like Windows Movie Maker (will be discussed in a future post).

Finding music:
Any music brought from home or found online should be of the .mp3 file type. A great site to get free instrumental music: http://freeplaymusic.com

A note about downloading media:
As with any digital project, please determine your policy for citing pictures, music, and video. Always be sure to give credit where it is due.

Creating the Story
There are many options you have when creating digital stories. You can use a video editing program purchased by your school, or free software such as, Windows Movie Maker (iMovie for mac). If you are not including video, Photostory 3 is a free program by Microsoft that makes creating a slideshow with pictures, narration, and music a snap. If you would like to have your students create a poster style project, Comic Life is an amazing program that is easy to use as well.

This tutorial focuses on Photostory 3. This program is easy to use and walks students thorough each step of the process. A 5 minute run through of the program will give your students enough of an introduction that most will not need any more assistance. Here is a short tutorial that may help as well.

The final product is a .wmv file. If you plan on uploading the file to a website, you may need to convert the file. Use a site like http://media-convert.com or file conversion software (if you plan on uploading to my.ccsd.net you will need to convert the file to .mov). **CCSD Employees – Don’t forget that prior to posting student work online the student(s) must have a Media Release Form on file.

FLIP cameras are small handheld video cameras that can record 30 or 60 minutes worth of video. They connect to your computer with a USB plug that “flips” out from the side of the camera. The functions are basic, but the ease of use will make you forget that is lacks some bells and whistles “regular” camcorders have.

Why use FLIP cameras???

Instruction on how to use the cameras may take you 2-3 minutes to explain…it will take them 1 minute to figure it out themselves!!
We have enough that your class could be in groups of 4 (or even 3 if you have a class of 30 or less) and each group would have their own camera.
Pulling the files off of the camera is a cinch…plug it in and use the FLIP software that is installed automatically to save the videos. (The program creates a folder in the kids’ doc folders for them!)
Within minutes, you can convert the .avi files produced by the FLIP camera int a file type that can be uploaded to your my.ccsd.net site or blog.
What are you waiting for??? Let’s use the cameras!

1. Instructions for using the camera
Turn on:
30 minute flip > slider button on the side
60 minute flip> power button on the back

Recording:
Push the red button to start, push the red button to stop
Push up to zoom in, Push the down button to zoom out

Watching your recording:
Push the Play button
Arrow through videos using the right and left buttons

Delete a recording:
Push the delete/trash can button

2. Using it in the classroom…
What you will be doing during today’s training:
Working in groups of 4-5, you will have 10 minutes to get 30-60 seconds of footage recorded. You can have the whole recording done in one shot, or multiple shots. You can choose one of the following topics, or come up with your own.

• Teachers’ Pet Peeve(s).
• Way(s) to be successful at Escobedo.
• Model an important rule at Escobedo.
• Convince the viewer that your subject is the best.
• Anything else you can think of…

What you can do In your classroom:
This is a great resource with 35 ideas for using FLIP cameras in the classroom.

Content area ideas – these ideas are for your students to complete:

• Math: record the steps of a math problem with explanations; find math in nature; find math in everyday items
• ELA: act out a scene from a book; narrate a story; record students reading poetry for a virtual poetry jam; oral communication – turn a persuasive essay into a commercial
• Science: demo/create ‘how-to’s for experiments; record labs/dissections/demonstrations
• Social Studies: conduct an interview of a famous person from history/person from another culture; conduct “man on the street” interviews based on history/cultures; re-create a famous speech; create a commercial – “why you should visit…”
• Performing Arts: demonstrate basics of an instrument/parts/hand positioning; create a warm-up video for others to follow along; record yourself and critique
• PE: demonstrate rules of a game; make a workout video
• Health: create a PSA for saying no to drugs, not smoking, how to avoid peer pressure, etc; lunchtime tour/interview kids about what they eat for lunch at school;
• Electives: computers: parts of a computer/demo ergonomic positioning; student aids: conduct a school tour; other electives: use one of the above ideas to tie your elective focus into other curricular areas.

3. Pulling the files off of the camera
On the side of the flip camera, you will see the slide that ‘flips’ the USB plug out. Plug the FLIP camera into the USB port on the computer. Wait a moment for the “what do you want to do” window to open. You have 2 options:

1. Use the FLIP software
2. Drag and Drop the files

Instructions for each option.

4. Editing your movies
The FLIP comes with software that allows you to do some basic editing of your videos. If you need more advanced editing capabilities, use Windows Movie Maker or your favorite movie editing software to add titles, trim clips, and compile all clips into one video. We will cover this part during 2 April Early In sessions, but if you want to use Windows Movie Maker sooner, email me…let’s do it!

5. Converting your files to use on the web

1. Download Jodix and use it to convert the files. *Click the link>choose RUN>install the program. Instructions.
2. Visit http://media-convert.com and convert the .avi file to a .mov if you are posting to my.ccsd.net or .wmv for a powerpoint or your blog. You can also convert the file to .mp4 or .flv

The Logistics
With having enough FLIP cameras on campus for at least a 4 to 1 ratio of cameras to kids, you can create group projects, or even use the cameras in rotation throughout the students in your class.
For pulling the videos from the cameras, once the kids have uploaded one time with guidance, they will be able to upload independently.
What are your computer access options?

• If you have a laptop cart checked out, the students can upload and edit their videos on the spot.
• If you only have one or two extra computers in your room, the students may need to log into their accounts, upload their videos, delete videos from the camera, and pass it on to the next group/student. You will need to get a cart or check out a lab so the students can convert or edit their videos.
• If you only have your teacher computer, you will need to upload the videos to an album/folder with the student’s name or have the student do it with your supervision. You will need to move the video folders into the students’ document folders and get a cart or check out a lab so the students can convert or edit their videos.

Final Notes:
All cameras are numbered, assign students numbers. If a camera is damaged, we will need to know who the last student had it.
For maximum available recording time make sure all videos are uploaded and deleted by the end of each period.
Please delete all videos from the cameras prior to returning them.

Resources/Posts about using FLIP cameras:
Using FLIPs in the classroom:
http://tnttips.blogspot.com/2008/10/flip-video-cameras-in-classroom.html

Video Tutorial: Using Windows Movie Maker to edit FLIP videos:
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=258acd5d76f594612c24
 

Comics, Really??

You can find a lot of educators singing the praises of using comic creating software. Pushing students to think about content differently and deeply in a fun way is the main draw to educators. Need proof that using comics in your classroom is worth spending a few days in a lab?

The potency of the picture story is not a matter of modern theory but of anciently established truth. Before man thought in words, he felt in pictures… It’s too bad for us “literary” enthusiasts, but it’s the truth nevertheless, pictures tell any story more effectively than words. (Sones, 1944, p. 239)

Comic Life in the Classroom
Strengths of Comics in Education
Eek! Comics in the Classroom

Using Comic Life

The program is pretty intuitive and user friendly. Play around for a few minutes and you can find pretty much whatever you need. Here is an instruction sheet that you can print out for your kids or yourself.

How do Comics Fit?

Comics can be used in all curricular areas. Some more easily than others, but nothing good comes easy, right?? Comics can be used to assess background knowledge prior to starting a unit, a way to review content, a way to assess understanding, and much more. Here are some sites with examples and lesson plans for using comics in the classroom.

Social Studies: Examining race class, and gender in the media; timelines; famous people in history; countrys and cultures; current events

ELA: “how to” instructions; character or plot analysis; pre-writing; post-reading

Science: exploring biomes; planets and their characteristics; periodic table; ride the rock cycle

Math: step by step explanations; math in the real world; geometry in nature; fractions

PE: game/sport rules; sportsmanship

Health: social issues; nutrition; say no to drugs posters

Performing Arts: music history/appreciation; famous musician, instrument care

So, how do you see Comic Life ehnancing a unit (or part of a unit) in your class? Think of a past unit or future unit that could be enhanced using Comic Life? Post a comment with your thoughts and what area of study you can see yourself using Comic Life for.

For those of you who weren’t in attendance, hopefully this info will get you started if you were looking to add blogging as one of the tech integration tools you use on your campus.

I am currently working on a set of training modules that will walk you and your teachers through the process of setting up classroom blogs, but until then I wanted to give you some instruction sheets that will get you going. **See the box.net widget at the end of this post for handouts**

I also wanted to send you all a few helpful links:

1. I don’t know if any of you get THE Journal, but the issue I got in my mailbox last Friday has an article on blogging (great timing!)..anyway, here is the link to the article.

2. A few elementary ECSs were concerned about how blogging could be used in the elementary setting…I have seen some amazing stuff done on elementary blogs. Here are a few examples:

http://teacher102.edublogs.org/
http://strettonhandley.edublogs.org/
http://2mgems.blogspot.com/

3. There is a woman named Sue Waters who is known as http://theedublogger.edublogs.org. She posts helpful tidbits on using edublogs in the classroom. She currently is compiling a list of educational blogs broken down into categories. Check out the post with her list of blogs here, there are over 100 blogs listed. This may help you see how blogging can ‘fit’ for your school. If you have teachers that already have blogs, have them leave a comment with their blog information here so that The Edublogger can add them to the list.

good luck and please email me if you have any questions!

edublogs tutorial sources:
http://www.willard.k12.mo.us/co/tech/blog.htm 

your name:
school:

How can you see blogging as a tool to enhance the curriculum on your campus?

What can you see as a problem when it comes to implementing blogging on your campus?

Getting your teachers to ‘buy into blogging’:

1 No papers to grade. The teacher reads the comment and assigns the grade.
2 Discussions that could never be completed during class can be done with a blog.
3 A blog gives the students a voice. It is escpecially powerful for the students who are too shy to share during class. You will see these kids come out of their shells online.

Getting your admin to ‘buy into blogging:

1 No money needs to be spent, the only investment needed is time for professional development.
2 The communication lines between home and school widen.
3 Blogging extends the school day…the discussion doesn’t have to end when the bell rings.

Next Steps:

*Once your admin is on board, get a core group of teachers that are willing to jump in and get blogging with their classes.
*The teachers need to determine how blogging will enhance their curriculum when deciding how to use it. It has to be authentic.
*After you get your core group of teachers blogging, start touching base with someone in their department. Show them what their colleagues are doing.
*You now have a small group of teachers who can now help train others.

Your job: once you have teachers blogging, you will need to check their blogs periodically to see how they are utilizing them. If a teacher is not posting regularly, help them find a way to integrate their current concepts/standards into a new post.

Videos/Presentations promoting online collaboration:
A vision of K-12 students today
A Brave New World Wide Web

Escobedo Classroom Blogs:
Joanna Martino – Algebra
Meredith Allard – US History
Sonja Wooten – Life Science
Susan Dain – English

Other Classroom Blogs:
http://integratingtechnology.edublogs.org/
http://lgeslibrary.edublogs.org/
http://mr-fisher.edublogs.org/
http://africacolony.wordpress.com/ 

Helpful Blogs/Blog Posts:
Blogging with a Purpose
David Truss
Weblogg-ed

Books to read:
Blogs. Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms

Online Edublogs Resource:
Edublogs.org
Getting Started Guide
The Edublogger
Video Tutorials

For the Tuesday training:

We will log in and explore the site from a teacher’s perspective. I will show you how to create a class, add your students, and start assigning practice to the kids.

Here are some handouts that should help you when you are on your own.

Click here for the link to the handouts.

After the training:

I will need an excel file that has all of the students you think will use the program so that I can create the accounts. Once your accounts are made, you will want to create your classes, add the students, and create assignments.

The first step to creating a classroom blog is making sure it is an authentic educational experience for the kids. It has got to be more than a novelty, or the kids won’t use it.

Once you have an idea about how you want to use a blog in your classroom, you are ready to make your blog ‘live’. Follow this module to get your blog student ready:

Step One: Cleaning up your blog

Choosing your design – Design>Theme; click on the theme to choose it. Some have customizeable features, others don’t. Find one that works for you.

The sidebar widgets – Design>Widgets; if you don’t add any widgets to the sidebar(s), the default widgets will be shown. Click the add link by the widget you want, Save, click the Edit link on the widget to make changes, Save. If you want text on your sidebar, add the text widget (just make sure you Save before you click Edit); if you find code online for a widget, you would paste it here.

Your Settings – Click the settings link in the upper right corner of the window. Go through the settings and adjust any information needed. One place to make sure you go is Discussion. Determine how you want to be noitified of new comments, and what information you want from the kids. Here is a sample of what most teachers are choosing…don’t forget to scroll down and save after you do this.

Deleting the default post “hello world” – Manage>Posts; click the checkbox and then the Delete button.

Your About page – Manage>Pages. Click on the page title (about). Edit the body of the page to include any information you would like to share. Click the Save button (on the right side of the window)

Add a “Blogging Rules” page – Write>Page. Create an appropriate title, include your rules in the body area. Click Save if you are not ready for the rules to show on your blog; click Publish when the page is ready to post. Here is my page with some sample blogging rules.

Step Two: Creating your first post

From the main dashboard, click on the CREATE A POST link or on the menu bar, choose WRITE>POST.

Enter your title, this will show up larger and bold.

Enter the body of your post. You will see some formatting buttons. To see more, click the last button (show/hide kitchen sink).  Format your text as you wish.

Post Options:

Tags: Tags are keywords within your post. For example, for this post I may tag: blog, widget, format, post, manage. What happens is that if I tag each post with keywords, I could add the Tag widget and all tags would appear in the sidebar (aka: tag cloud). Then you could click on the word format and all posts with a tag of format would show up.

Categories: You can categorize your entire post using this tool. It is just another filtering tool like the tags.

**If you had to choose between Tags and Categories to start…choose categories. Tags can be a little overwhelming, and categories seem to be a good first step.

Advanced Features

For beginners, the most important of the advanced features are the Comments & Pings and the password protection. If you want comments turned off or want to password protect a post, use this area.

Finishing

Click Publish when your post is ready. If you are not ready for the post to be available, you have two options, you can just click Save. Then you would go to Manage>Posts, choose the post and then click Publish. Or you can determine when the post will publish. Above the Save/Publish buttons you will see an Edit link at the end of a statement about when the post will be published. You can set the date and time the post will publish here.

Done with all of this already?

Find a widget online to add to your sidebar or a post. Examples would be a clustrmap, poll/survey, voki, etc…do a google search for widget and see what you get. When adding the code to a post, you must click on the HTML tab (in the upper right side of the body area, you will see Visual and HTML) and paste the code here. If you are adding the widget to your sidebar, see the sidebar widget instructions at the beginning of this post.

Add a picture to a post. Download the picture to your documents. Create a post, and click the add an image button to the left of add media. Upload your picture. Once the picture is uploaded, a windwo will pop up with info about your picture, if you scroll to the bottom, you will see a button to add the picture to your post. Move the picture to the desired area. If you upload a few pictures, you can see them by going to add picutre, then the gallery; click the Show link.

Add a video to your post. You can follow the same instructions as adding a picture. Or if you have the html address of the video (from teachertube.com, edublogs.tv, etc), you can enter it in the window that comes up when you  click add video (to the right of Add media).

The goal for today’s training is to allow teachers the time to explore edublogs.org and other blogging tools, determine how they see blogs fitting into theri curriculum, and get started blogging!

Teachers = your tasks today are to:

1. Visit the blogs of teachers on campus and through edublogs.org. Determing how you see blogging fitting into your curriculum. 

Samples:

http://integratingtechnology.edublogs.org/

http://lgeslibrary.edublogs.org/

http://mr-fisher.edublogs.org/

http://africacolony.wordpress.com/

2. Log into your edublogs.org account. Set up your theme (Desigh tab). And create a post  (Write>Post).

get help if you need it: http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/getting-started-with-edublogs/

3.  Enter my forum and post an answer to the question I have provided.

Advanced users:

Visit the following sites and add one of the tools to your blog. Make it meaningful!

Add a picutre or video to your blog.

Add surveys and polls : http://polldaddy.com

Creaet a form : http://wufoo.com/

Create a quiz: http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/create-a-quiz.php