Jing Video

At first, I was stumped about what to do my Jing video on. But I scrolled down through the list of assignments for the class to remind me of some of the applications and programs we've put into practice so far. I decided to show a quick example of how to play around and change a picture using Photoshop Express.

I had some early problems including mistakenly pressing the red X at the end of the video capture which cancelled it without saving. (Unfortunately I made this mistake more than once. ) I also had some changes I wanted to make and I had to redo it a few times. Once I had a successful .swf video,

I had to download an Adobe Flash update. I still couldn't find a program on my computer that would play the file, including VLC player which I love.
So I searched on the Internet to find a program that would convert the .swf file to an .avi file which would be more compatible.I found the program Moyea which converted my Jing video with the weird .swf format to a user friendly .avi. Moyea was pretty easy and free. It did play the video and "recapture" it.

I thought the Jing video program would be great for Technology Resource Teachers that we have here in Virginia. It would also be great for anyone who was providing a training or staff development. Teachers of older students could use this to show students how to access and use programs, how and where to save files, and numrous other possibilites. It could also be used to provide information to parents about how to access the school website or use classroom recommended sites or programs. Jing is so easy and so useful. I believe it will be a normal part of my computing from now on. At least until another cool program takes it to the next level. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Feel free to check out my little PhotoShop Express example below.

Jing Picture

This post will probably reflect my sentiments in past entries. I had not heard of Jing prior to this assignment. But I was curious after reading Dr. Pierce's rave review of it. So after I downloaded and watched the "How To Capture" stuff tutorial, I jumped right in.

Since I am a snowboard enthusiast and a teacher (let's face it- we all love snow days!), I decided to take an image from www.burton.com I chose a picture from the homepage of a snowboarder. I added the caption " Let it Snow. Let it Snow. Let it Snow". It's just a fun image that reflects my wishful thinking.

Using this program was easy and effortless. The little sun on the border of the screen is out of the way and yet instantly accessible. This would also be easy for students to use to capture images, and of course it will be a great tool for any teacher to add to their PowerPoints, websites, and Interactive whiteboard lessons.

Now I must find a video to capture and post.

Intel Ranking Tool

I was in Group 3 for the team ranking project about the causes of the Civil War. Our ranking was close to Group 4 and Group 6, both of which had a strong positive correlation of 0.70. Group 6 had slavery at the third position while we left it as number one. Group 4 had economic differences as their fourth position, while ours was at the second spot.

I had never used this tool before. While it was interesting to use as a student, I can see how it would be beneficial as a teacher tool. I could survey my class or ask them to rank content items and defend their reasoning. This does allow for higher level thinking skills and for some interesting group work! Now I guess that's my next assignment, so I better start thinking of ideas!

Rubistar

I found the Rubistar website very easy to use. I liked that there were pre-made categories and descriptions of student performance. It was also helpful to be able to search through the rubrics already created by others. As someone who used to be a poor test taker, I like the fact that rubrics show exactly what the instructor is expecting. The rules are clearly defined, and if reviewed carefully there are no surprises when it comes time for grades. As a teacher, I also like the way that rubrics give students a roadmap of what they're going to do and how they need to perform to succeed. The rubric I created is on reading skills at the elementary level which I focus on a lot with my students.

Windows Movie Maker

I have used Windows Movie Maker before to compile images from Rugby games and things, but my experience with it is limited. I didn't know I could import a PowerPoint presentation and turn it into a video like this. I liked the credits feature at the end. This may the new way that I put together slideshows of vacations or events. Here is another example of something useful that I will indeed use!

Jeopardy

I actually have made a few Jeopardy games in the past for review lessons for teaching. I am including two Jeopardy PowerPoints I've made this year for my 3rd graders to review continents and government. I volunteered to build the PowerPoint for my team. I used a template that I found a few years earlier that uses a PowerPoint template complete with a picture of Alex Trebec! I added them to the ftp site because of problems accessing the action buttons on google documents. You can check them out here (Jeopardy government and Jeopardy continents) , and if you want to use this template for your own review game visit this page.

Photostory

We have Photostory on our computers at school. I was surprised to learn I could download it for free and use it on my home computer. At the end of the last school year, I was in charge of a grade level week-long camp that created Photostories on different places. I had no experience with it before that time. It's easy to use, and the older students I was working with then really got into it and created some wonderful videos.

I chose to do my Photostory here on Hawaii. In the spring we study Hawaii, and I have a lesson that deals with making tikis. The Photostory provides the atmosphere for the lesson. It has Hawaiin music and pictures of places and things related to Hawaii. Photostory is pretty easy to use. It requires little prep. time or explanation. I will use it for various projects throughout the year. I will also use it to create personal Photostories. It's so great to have technology that uses your pictures and music to create somethign that can be enjoyed for years to come.