iMovie Book Trailers

iMovie is a great tool for students to use and create movies in the classroom or at home. One of the best features of iMovie, which can be used on any device, is the trailers feature. Trailers? Yes, trailers! As in movie trailers like the ones you see on television, in the theaters, YouTube, etc.

Even though iMovie has all of the placeholders you need to make a great trailer with your video, you still have to craft the wording to get the right message across. Students choose a theme that complimented their "Good Fit"book they were reading in the classroom, inserted appropriate text into the pre-made storyboard, and customize text and photos.

iMovie App

Here are the CCSS standards addressed with this project:

• NETS.2. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital media.

• NETS.1 Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

• SL.3.2. Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

• SL.3.5. Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.

Look at the work, the creativity, the thought processes which is involved in applying the iMovie Trailers to your next book project instead of the dreaded book report.

Here are a few examples:

Maximize Digital Classroom Resources

Have you ever said "If I only had one more computer or iPad in my classroom?" Well maximizing our digital resources within the classroom is at a premium these days as more teachers are using digital devices.  As more app developers are producing for both android and apple devices its getting easier than ever to maximize resources.  So let's take a look into the google chrome web store and app store to see what we can find:

 Sumopaint is fully featured online (and offline) image editor and graphics app with nearly over 1 million monthly users. They have also developed an app for the iPad and added it to the chrome web store. Sumo Paint provides a great feature set with tools ranging from basic shapes to advanced painting tools. Unlike most other other online graphics editing apps, Sumo Paint also has an online community. It’s far from a new app, but it’s one of the standbys that come up in every list of great web apps.

BeFunky is actually a pretty sweet online photo editor.  With BeFunky even the less tech savvy can transform their pictures into amazing works of art in just a few clicks! Not only does this Web 2.0 tool offer tons of neat effects and features, but users can give their creations more character by adding speech bubbles, frames, graphics, text and more!  Changing your pictures into oil paintings, vintage polaroids, or pop art has never been easier.  BeFunky’s sleek and simple tools also allow users to make corrections such as red eye, poor lighting or dull colors in seconds. The best part is that you can find it in the app store for your iPad or in the Chrome web store.

The Google Drive iPad app or chrome web store has improved over the last couple of months to the point where it’s not as robust as using Google Drive on the web or on an Android device, but it is much more functional than ever before. In fact, it’s now possible to create student portfolios through the Google Drive iPad app.  Greg Kulowiec, Edtech teacher, wrote up a fantastic set of directions on using the Google Drive iPad app to have students create portfolios. You can read Greg’s complete post on the topic here. The how-to video that he made I have embedded below.

Let's hear about what apps you are using in the classroom that are found in both the google chrome web store and the app store on your iPad.

Keeping up with Technology

Keeping up with technology in the business offices, classrooms, and all points in between can improve the schools operations. 

For example, once you wake up, what is the first device you grab? For instance you might reach for your cellphone, iPad, or laptop to find out what has happened while you were sleeping. You might commute to work in a vehicle with global-positioning systems to show you the best route; we wait for green lights that are programmed to help traffic move with the greatest efficiency; and we are careful not to run a red ligt out because the surveillance camera hovering above the intersection will capture our indiscretion. Even before we stumble out of our beds for the day, technology is intertwined in our lives.

So how can we keep up with Technology?

Managing your reading and rss feeds

Zite is an awesome mobile app for educators. It “gives you personalized news, articles, blogs, videos and other content from a variety of both mainstream publications and sites”.  Zite attempts to customize and deliver the type of articles you like to read in a newspaper style reading. It's Wifi-Connection or 4G enabled which means that you can easily access news content with a tap of a button.


Here is a short video tutorial to help you understand how to use Zite on your iPad

Feedly is a cool mobile app. It allows its users to get the latest updates of their favorite blogs and websites right into their iPhone, Droid devices, and iPads. If you are already an existing Google Reader user then this is your ”faster and more visual overlay with lots for sharing options and seamless 2-way integration”. For me i look at Feedly as a learning app and stay up-to-date on blogs, and websites instead of bookmarking them in a browser.

Here is a short video tutorial to help you understand how to use Feedly on your iPad

There are so many rss feeders to assist you on the go for reading your different blogs and websites, you just need to find the right combination for your needs. So here are some more to check into and see if they fit what you might be looking for; Flipboard, NewsSquares, NewsMix, and Newsify

Managing all those Tweets

If you feel overwhelmed with all of your tweets, check out tweetdeck. Tweetdeck can be accessed from Mac App Store or adding it as a Chrome extension. Similar to tweetdeck is Hootsuite. Its up to you to find the option that works for you as an educator. There are so many hashtags to follow: #2020howardwinn, #edcamphwinn, #iaedchat, #iPadchat and many more to explore.  If you would like to explore more about what the @ or # meaning check out our website twitter for teachers.

Maximizing your time for locating Apps

Time is always of the essence so when it comes to looking for an app its always great to find it in the palm of your hand. Check out these apps and hopefully they will save you valuable time for lesson plan ideas.

TechChef4u app offers multiple resources to support teachers and parents in their search for FREE quality apps for students. While the TechChef4U app is an educational app store that provides searchable and categorized lists of FREE apps for Pre-K-12, the app doesn't stop there. Check it out!

The TeacherCast app includes great App Reviews, Podcasts, Blogs, and Screencasts as well as links to their Twitter, FaceBook, and Daily Newspaper. This is the easiest and reliable one stop shop for all educational needs.

Last but not forgotten is the AppShopper. With out the AppShopper it would be hard to figure out what app happened to become FREE for a limited time frame. 

What app or applications do you use to stay organized or up-to-date with the latest technology?

Dropbox in the Classroom

When I mention Dropbox to friends and colleagues, I usually get one of two responses – a knowing smile and nod, or a puzzled and quizzical look. Whether you know what the program is, you have likely heard the name. But really, what is Dropbox?

Dropbox is many things — a tool that’s so powerful, you’ll continue to discover new ways to use it. You can use it to store and sync documents and files across computers, tablets, and smart phones. I can write a lesson plan on my computer at home, put it in my Dropbox folder, and whoosh – it’s synced with my school computer. During a free period at school, I can open that file, make a few changes, and the changes are automatically synced with my home computer. It’s seamless, fast and free. 

How Dropbox works

So, how can you use Dropbox as an educator? There are many ways that you can do this. One is to just manage your own material and make it more accessible. Additionally, many applications that you likely use (Evernote, iPad camera roll,iPhoto to name a few) have a Dropbox sync option. Check your favorite applications to see if they have a “save to Dropbox” feature. Since Dropbox works across platforms and devices, you can use a Mac at home, a Blackberry phone and an iPad, and you will have access to your documents on *all* of them. Thanks to Dropbox’s syncing magic, your documents will be up to date at all times on all devices.

Using Dropbox with students

In addition to making your life a lot easier, Dropbox can be a great teaching/learning tool – and this is why its introduced to staff and students. The first thing to do is to create a sharing folder for each class you teach so you can make information available to your students (PowerPoints, hand-outs, reading assignments, whatever).

You can call this folder anything. For mine Tech Time, consider adding the word “share” and create folders with names like “Tech Time Share Folder.” When you go to your Dropbox page on the web, this screenshot gives you some idea of what you will see.

Next Step: Put your mouse over the folder and right-click on the folder - a drop down menu will appear. Select "Invite to Folder."

Next, you will get the window shown below. Input the email address of your students/staff (this will also invite them to join Dropbox, giving you and them the free 250 MB). You can also input a message like: "Accept this invitation to have access to our material for class."

Once you have invited students this becomes a "Shared Folder." Whoever has access to this folder (everyone who has been invited an accepted the invitation) can add files, download content, and (whether you like it or not) delete content. However, only *you* (as the owner of the folder) can delete or edit out content permanently. Click on the folder in Dropbox and then on "Show Deleted Files."

How do I employ Dropbox in my classroom?

Dropbox can be used in a number of ways. Here are several:

• To store additional copies of hand-outs. Students know to re-download and print on their own here if they missed a hand-out due to an absence or simply lost it.

• To distribute PowerPoint presentations – if they are too large for email or edmodo.

• As a way for students to turn in homework assignments. It’s an easy electronic homework drop  and will time stamp submissions.

Dropbox can also be a useful tool in managing student projects and presentations. With Dropbox, you can visually determine that students have completed a particular portion of a project or presentation assignment. Best of all, since all presentations are “turned in” to same virtual place, every student can access his or her presentation by one log-in.

Students catch on quickly

They can store homework assignments there for easy access, pictures, and videos.  Students can use Dropbox on their phones to review handouts (rather than a print-out, ultimately saving paper). And many of them can sync their files across multiple computers outside of school. 

This isn’t a program you will have to teach your students to use. Don’t be surprised if in a few weeks, they’re showing you some tricks you haven’t even considered. That’s something I would encourage.