Thing 25: Green Screen Fun

So much fun with green screen!  I made this video with my group of 7 first graders that I have a few times per week for enrichment.  We read Magic Tree House; Dolphins at Daybreak and then did research on coral reef animals.  I had a group research sea stars and a group research sea horses.  As a final project each student colored their animal, chose a favorite fact to read and then we practiced, practiced, and did more practicing!  I have a new appreciation for our music teachers and any classroom teacher that has their class perform :)

I first learned about green screen at a tech camp this summer.  My friend and I made a short video of Mr. Bill, his dog Spot, and Mr. Hand - people of a certain age will recognize these SNL characters.  This explains Mr. Hand in the video above :)

  The PD presenters were very generous - we all left with a sheet pizza box painted lime green.  Well, it sat in my library all fall until I saw this topic in cool tools and thought it would be a great final project for this group.  I just wish I would have read all the resources on Cool Tools before I started and not after!  But reading them this evening has proven to be beneficial because I can reflect on what went well, and what I will change for the next project.

Challenges

I had students color cutouts of their animals and forgot to tell them not to use green, or even yellow that is close to green.  One student chose to redo his, and the other student loved that the inside was invisible and used it anyway

Not all parents gave permission to have their children's faces on a public video, so I modified the project to only include their voices.

I didn't anticipate how many practices it would take for students to successfully read their fact, move their animal, and wait quietly while others performed.  Also, it took me many attempts to find a location for the green screen, the iPad, and the students that worked well for me to film it without having the carpeting or the library sneaking into the picture because I moved the iPad.

I needed assistants to hold the cue cards for students to read.  Next time I will have them memorize their lines.

Green pipe cleaners worked perfectly for the students to hold the animals - the goal was to have it look like the animals were swimming.

Laminating the animals and putting them on card stock made it much easier for the students to manage them, and helped them remain intact during all the practices.

I think I will try book reviews with my older students for my next project.  I loved the idea of putting the student's pictures on book covers!  

Hi,  I'm Susan Reuter and I'm a librarian at School 52, a K-6 school in the Rochester City School District.  Glad to be back on my blog after successfully transferring it to a new email address -  which took numerous attempts :)  I updated the theme and read through some of my old posts.   I took the class three years ago and learned about many new technologies that I have used with my students over the years.  I'm looking forward to learning about new technologies and tools for my students.  We are now a Google Suite school and I have access to a few iPads that I can borrow from a classroom. 

Thing 10, 20, 30: Final Reflections & What’s Next?

Wow, I can't believe I have been in this PD for three years already!  I have loved it and learned so much.  Personally,  I have learned how to use an iPad and blog.  Two things I didn't know how to do or was comfortable doing at the beginning.  With my students I have used blogging, Google Lit Trips, Popplet, picture formatting apps, and this year, really tied the learning to my everyday job with Chrome and Google apps.  Lib Guides have been very useful for me personally using the IFC and for my 6th grade students.
 Some of the biggest challenges were so many apps available on the iPad or tablets that I couldn't really use with my students, because I don't have tablets available to me in the library.  Hopefully in the future I can use them.  Also, the cost or student privacy/security would prevent me from using them sometimes, especially with the younger ones.

I liked the Easy Bib Add-on for Google Docs and the Research tool.  I plan to put that in my program next year.  Next year I am part of a collegial circle writing a research unit and this tool will be an integral part. 
Also, next year, my plans are to start a reading blog with students that will be across grade levels that everyone can share book reviews.  Another project on my bucket list is more of a web presence for my library on our school page.

I love learning this way.  I have taken other online classes in the past, so I was familiar with the independent style.  Over the three years, a few of us who have taken the class have gotten together to work on things and it was the best of both worlds.  RCSD has began offering their own online learning classes and I can take advantage of them next year.

Thing 29: Student Response Tools

I looked at a number of things under this topic.  I have been using Google Classroom this year in the library and the students have responded very well to it.  When they turn in their work they love to give a comment or ask me a question.    I have also set up a Google Classroom and forgot to turn on the student to student comments - that has turned out to be just a little bit of a distraction :)

Being able to comment back to them on their Google Doc or assignment has been very useful too.  I am currently working with 5th grades and doing book reviews.

I left a comment on Padlet.  I liked the format.
I am integrating Google Apps more and more into my program and I would like to explore further next year using Google Forms. 
I loved the Answercloud.  I have been using word clouds with my younger grades.  The students really respond well to them.  It is a perfect activity for a wrap up to reading a book.  This answercloud will be a great enhancement to that because they can all see each other's responses. 

Looked at the Quizlet program on the suggestion of another Cool Tool blog post from a co-worker.  I like what I see so far in it.  Made a few flash cards for vocab words in a unit about plagiarism.   I will try and use it with my intermediate students.

There are quite a few options under this topic to use for just about any class situation.  This will be great to choose from in the future.

Thing 28: Emerging Tech: Scanning the Horizon

My comments and connections to the readings:
"10 technologies that will change the world in the next 10 years" I never thought about how many devices are now connected all the time in my house- phones, computer, Ipad, laptops, DVD player, PS3..  Most I use daily.

School library article - loved the ideas - wish I had a more flexible schedule, but I am a break for teachers so my days are fixed with not much flex time.

Subtext looks very useful.  Thinking about my 6th graders about to read Dragonwings by Yep.  It  will be a challenge for many of them.  If they had access to read it on an Ipad with teacher comments and could put in notes/observations electronically instead of using many posty notes, that might be more engaging for some of the readers who struggle.  I see that it has text to speech - great for struggling readers - see and hear the text at the same time.  I know this feature is very useful when I use it in online databases like World Book Online.

A reoccurring theme seems to be maker spaces in libraries.  I have a lot of questions about this - mostly funding and time - which seems to also be a theme that is reoccurring in schools.  Kids love hands on learning.  I think for it to work in a an elementary setting there would have to be collaboration with the classroom teacher and focused on a topic.  I find when I offer less structured activities such as reading to a stuffed animal to practice fluency for the younger grades, it quickly turns to play time.  Play time is important, but with so many of my students struggling with reading and writing, I would like to see maker spaces focused.  Maybe a project with a writing piece at the end. 

Wish I could have read the infograhic and the SLJ article without giving them my FaceBook info.

I read the article "On teens, their phones & shifting communications landscapes (new from Pew)".  It broke down social media use by race/ethnic group and by income level, but didn't seem to offer any insight as to why there were differences. The issue isn't access to wifi or cell service, so what are the differences attributed to?

Things 17 & 27: DIY – You Pick!

My  third graders were doing a unit on animal research - worms.  We started with Diary of a Worm by Cronin. Discussed fiction vs nonfiction and then moved to nonfiction books about worms and taking notes. I wanted to integrate technology for them.  PowerPoint would be a little challenging for this crowd, so I used Kathy Shrock's site to try and find another kind of  online tool for my students to use.  I found Popplet - a graphic organizer/mind map tool.  It has a free trial version and works on a PC. We used the note sheets they had done the week before and input them into Popplet.  What worked so well for my students was the fact that they could also freehand draw in the program. The program was easy to use and follow with minimal directions and the students did great!  It is very user friendly.  Many times the students get more into changing the fonts and colors rather than their content, and this app had some choices, but not too many to get overwhelmed.  Here is one student's work.  I love the product and it has a school license option.

Thing 26: Taking the Lead: Connecting with your Stakeholders

I watched the webinar and wow!  Heidi does a lot for advocacy and connecting with students, parents, and staff. 
One item I connected with immediately was how she used Smore on her Destiny home page.  I am still using the status quo with standard links on my home page.  Smore looks a lot more interesting and easier for students, especially the younger ones. 
Also, she seemed to really love Powtoon video.  I think these might be the items I check out for Thing 27. 
There also were many great articles and idea in the AASL PDF file of the issue on school librarians.
My connection with parents is an introductory news letter in September and two other brief letters advertising the book fair in the fall and June.  I also will periodically put short blurbs in classroom weekly newsletters to parents.  My connection could definitely use a facelift.  I like the idea of using Publisher and email.  I know that there is a PTO parent email list and Facebook I may be able to use for more frequent updates.
Another avenue may be the district Parent Connect technology.  Parents can log in and check grades and communicate with the classroom teacher.  I may investigate our parent usage to decide whether this would reach a wide audience.