Monday, September 2, 2013

CUE Rock Star Day 2: Better Late than Never

Back on Board

Patty had attended a class on flipping the day before, and was eager to learn more from the same presenters (Sam Patterson and Cheryl Morris).  I have been intrigued by flipping the classroom, but more as supplemental and review instruction rather than replacing classroom instruction.  I also find it easier to implement any new ideas when you have a friend trudging through the trenches with you. My interest was also piqued because I knew Sam had brought his puppets to share.  (Observation: it's easier for some people to use puppets if they are camera shy.  6th graders tend to go either extreme-camera hogger or camera hider.)

I love presenters who talk, demonstrate, and then let participants create.  I chose something basic, The Preposition Song, so that I wouldn't have to worry about content creation.  With puppets literally in hand, Patty and I giggled our way through our impromptu skit in front of a green screen.  Content created, now what?!

Camtastic Camtasia.

After uploading the content from my iPad to my MacBookPro, I began to play with Camtasia.  Some parts of the program were familiar to me, the reminded me a bit of iMovie.  Other parts reminded me of interpreting my 2 year old son's garbles.  Thankfully, I had my very own Genius Bar consisting of Cheryl and Sam-this preventing me from becoming frustrated when I hit a few walls.

And then my a-ha moment (called "Holy Buckets" at our house)...if the purpose of the video was to help students remember the Preposition Song, then I needed to include the prepositions in the video while the song was being sung.  I tried to do something similar to the "follow the bouncing ball" visual, but I couldn't figure out the how.  Thankfully, Sam found a Camtasia tutorial about adding captions to the video.  I will admit, this part was time-consuming.  I think I spent over an hour adding captions to one minute of video in order for the captions (prepositions) to appear at the same time the word (preposition) was being sung by the puppet.  Phew! 

Ultimately, we decided just one session wasn't long enough, so Patty & I stayed for one more.

Although the video isn't perfect, I think for a first try it was pretty good.  The lighting on board made it difficult to use the green screen effect tips that we use in my classroom (three point lighting, wrinkle-free background, proximity to the green background, etc).  Via Twitter, I conversed with Sam and Cheryl how much time good lighting can save in the long run.

Our production:


iMovie, Camtasia, and After Effects

During the final few minutes of the session, I asked Patty to film me one more time with Tina singing the Helping Verb Song.  Again, the skit ended in giggles as Tina continued to shed during the final moments of filming.  Tina's footage sat on my iPad for a bit as my summer got busier.  I'm glad that I waited because then I had time to think about what I could do with Tina's footage.  I threw out the idea of comparing iMovie, Camtasia, and After Effects to see how the quality of the green screen would compare.  (After Effects is out of my league, but Cheryl is an expert.  I asked her if she was willing to try.  From what I gather, she had to go frame by frame and move the framing dots alongside Tina as she moved.  Even this was a minute of footage-it took several hours for Cheryl to complete.  The quality of the green screen effect was the best of all three, but at the cost of time).  

But the results will have to wait for another time.  

Thursday, August 15, 2013

CUE Rock Star on the USS Hornet

PD on an Aircraft Carrier



The highly anticipated CUE Rockstar on the USS Hornet in Alameda has come and gone, but the eduawesomeness of the experience hasn't faded away. This two day "camp" for teachers had a lot going for it already.  Combine some of my favorite teacher presenters that I stalk follow on Twitter, along with fascinating STEM topics, and I can't fail to mention that we were on an aircraft carrier!

Day One

Brrrrrrrr, it's cold outside.

Upon our arrival in the morning, Patty (@mrsgrayiron) and I glimpsed a shivering Keeler family near the gangplank.  I've been following Alice (@alicekeeler) on Twitter for awhile now, and I enjoy her insights, ideas, and her sense of humor.  And her energy!  She has 5 kiddos, and she has enough energy to share.  We offered our services to her and assisted in nametag assembly along with Shane & Laura.  I'm so glad we did, because we hung out with the two of them a lot afterwards.  

Corridor Confusion

I hope I never have to depend on my directional abilities.  I'm bad enough with driving directions, but now I'm in a metal, windowless air craft carrier (no Google maps to guide me) trying to find my way to places called The Ready Room and the Ward Room.  I even had trouble finding the "Rest Room." If I could have pulled off a Hansel and Gretel, I would have been leaving a trail of bird seed behind me the entire two days.  On the second day, Patty and I discovered that sometimes it was easier to go up to the flight deck, gather your bearings, and then venture downstairs via another entrance.  (This aha moment also led us to a Coke machine-woohoo!)

Learning Objectives

Most of my learning on Day One was about managing my own frustration with technical difficulties. I also reexamined my ability to work well in a group that had a variety of personalities and different learning styles.  Essentially, it was a good reminder how working with groups can be challenging and/or illuminating.  I hope to remember this as I select groups for students in my upcoming class.  I was determined to finish this trailer:



Just couldn't do it!

Rest Up

We had already decided that we would not be spending the night on board the USS Hornet. I love camping, but I also appreciate a warm, comfortable bed and a whole lot of quiet (with two toddlers at home, this is a rare occurrence). 

Patty and I continued our learning in our hotel room and experimented with Augmented Reality.  I'm hoping to create an something for my classroom door using AR.  More info on that later.


Highlights of the day:

For me, it's all about the relationship and connections that I was able to make and strengthen.  Patty and I spent the morning commute enjoying each other's company.  Our friendship has grown considerably during our EdTech journey (which started with last year's #edcampsfbay). 
I enjoyed reconnecting with Alice and meeting some new friends.  Early in the morning Jon Corippo spoke about Cue Rockstar connects the lone nut teachers; Sam Patterson, took it a step further with "an e-harmony for lone nuts).

Duh.

Sometimes, I meet educators that I've been following on Twitter, and I become a bit starstruck.  I know I need to "get over it."  Contemplating that, I think it has a lot to do with my inner monologue-what on earth have I done that will be good enough to share with these "rockstars?"  And-"I don't want to bug anyone."  Unfortunately, my insecurity led me to miss meeting one or two people, and for that I am regretful.




Saturday, July 20, 2013

GAFE Summit & Disney

Disney Freak & Geek

I'm a full-blown Disney fan. I get excited whenever I can make connections with what I'm learning in education and anything Disney. Last summer, I had the opportunity to visit Walt Disney Studios, Imagineering, and Jim Henson's studio and my mind was blown.

Fast forward to July 14: Imagine my surprise while attending the California GAFE (Google Apps For Education) Summit and Disney's Blue Sky  was mentioned during the Teaching Moonshot Makers keynote by Richard DeVaul on the Google X Rapid Evaluation Team.

Similar to teaching students to "shoot for the moon,"  Disney's Imagineers are encouraged to think the sky is the limit-if they can think it, they can do it.  One person's Google glass is another person's Radiator Springs Racers.

Richard DeVaul spoke about Project Loon.  Here is my tweet about it:

I do believe pictures (and videos) speak a thousand words.  Richard shared this video with us which explains the awesomeness of his project.


Absolutely amazing, right? I gleaned quite a few nuggets from his presentation.


  1. Moonshot Thinking-Something audacious that we don't know how to do yet , but we are going to do anyway.
  2. Constructive Failure means: Failing quickly, efficiently, repeatedly.  Failing for the right reasons. Not giving up.
  3. How do we encourage our students to take intellectual risks, try things that may not work, and reward constructive failure?

Deeper Thinking

I mentioned previously my difficulty in thinking "under the surface."  I realize I need some more time to think about how to incorporate Google's "Moonshot Thinking" and Disney's "Blue Sky" concepts into my 6th grade classroom.  So for now-I'm going to ruminate and come back to this at another time.  Maybe I'll be inspired at Disneyland.






Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Shiny & Pretty

Two things that always grab my attention. I swear, I'd be a terrible fish-I'd see a blinged out lure in the water, and then swipe it not knowing the ramifications behind it. Good thing I'm not a fish (but if I had to be one, I'd be Dory from Finding Nemo).

Back to shiny and pretty. I have an app crush on Haiku Deck. It started when I entered a contest for the aforementioned Techlandia cast (I did win a Haiku Deck upgrade-yeah for me). I started playing around with the app a little more.

Haiku Deck

For the sake of time I will limit my praises for Haiku Deck (which is FREE). I love the limited amount of text because it keeps me focused on the content. I've created two for fun decks and one deck for my 6th grade class on ancient Rome. While creating the decks I realized that I had to concentrate on the theme or main idea that I wanted to convey. Some may say that the reduced text is limiting but I say it's liberating. I hate presentations that are all text or even worse, read to you...boring!

As the saying goes," a picture is 1,000 words." This is especially true with Haiku Deck. Since the text is limited, the images chosen need to add to the message and tell the rest of the story. Fortunately, there are a multitude of images to choose from for your deck.

My students began experimenting with the app towards the end of the school year. These are my observations: students were more directed using this app rather than the other presenting apps with bells and whistles. Due to the limited text, plagiarizing diminished. Students thought more critically about the images they selected for their decks. Students were less likely to read slides and more likely to present information.

To be honest, it has been a month or two since I signed up, so I have forgotten the class management side of the app. These are the things that I need to doublecheck on:
  1. Do students need to sign in on their own? I know you can sign in with Facebook, Twitter, or email. (My students are too young to have FB or Twitter-even though some of them do have accounts.)
  2. Do I have to create a dummy account for students to use? 
I'm including the first Haiku Deck I created for my students to use.  It primarily follows the outline of History Alive Ancient World Grade 6.  The purpose was to allow students to review key information, but still fill-in-the-blanks using the images.  The title page refers to something that was mentioned in class-there is more to Rome than the food, right?





Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad


Monday, July 15, 2013

Testing the Waters

Agua / Water Starting a blog is a scary thing. Will I be able to post often enough to make a difference?  Am I going to neglect my family just to write my reflections of learning?  And more importantly, what if I miss my favorite summer TV show, Big Brother? Kidding aside, it is my hope that I will deepen my learning as I begin this blogging journey.

Truthfully, I prefer to share the spotlight, unless I'm in a classroom.  It's a rare occasion for me to present alone in front of my peers.  Occasionally, I'll push myself OR I won't have a choice-but I do prefer to work with others on most things.  

Wondering about my blog title? It's a reference to my field of study in college.  I began working with children when I was 13-babysitting, day camps, parent's nights out, overnight camps.  My parents wanted me to be a teacher.  I didn't want to be one because "they" wanted me to be one.  So I chose to be the next best thing (in my mind) a Recreation Administration major (California State University, Chico).  

I worked for the YMCA for a few years, and then while working at one of their after-school programs, I came to the realization that I could reach more children in the classroom.  In fact, the teacher who inspired me then, is now my principal!

If you would like to know a bit more about me, I created an About Me Haiku Deck for a contest by one of my favorite podcasts, Techlandia. Enjoy!

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad