Day Four

Today we created digital dramatic readings. Marcia and I were the entertainment. We read Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" and added photos, music, and some beautiful singing by Marcia. We did our project in Adobe Premiere because Movie Maker has only one audio line. I really wish Movie Maker would just add another audio line; that would make life so much easier for teachers. Premiere is not an easy program to learn, and it takes too much time from my regular English classroom to spend days teaching kids the ins and outs of Premiere. My broadcasting kids learn it, but it is one of the central parts of that class. We need to get MovieMaker in gear!

I built my own wiki. You can read it and pettitspages.wetpaint.com. I'm planning to use it all year. My Google Jockey and Secretary can take notes on a laptop during class, then immediately post their information on class wiki. Students can go to the wiki at home and check out related links. Absent students can check the wiki for notes and handouts. It's going to make my life much simpler in the end, once we get the kinks worked out.

One suggestion I would like to make for the Charleston meeting is... have at least one caffeinated, non-diet drink available!!! The week has given me a "taste" of several different tools I can use in my classroom. Still, the most important aspect of the week has been the ability to network with several other AP teachers. I will definitely be corresponding with these very talented individuals throughout the year!

Day Three

In less than one hour I will be watching Harry Potter!! Ok...focus. Today wasn't as productive for me as yesterday. We covered concepts and devices that I already use, such as the Audacity program, whiteboards, etc. I did have fun making a Podcast with Marcia. What an accent she has! We started working on our units; I have trouble creating essential questions. My critical friend and I are working on it. 54 minutes until Harry....

Day Two

What a day! The morning was great. We learned to blog, tried out a wiki (check it out at essentialquestions.wetpaint.com), and experimented with our NEW digital video cameras. Several individuals learned how to use Movie Maker, and I helped that whiney Marcia with hers. (Talk about an impossible mission!) I'm looking forward to tomorrow. And I'm hoping to actually get some sleep tonight. Oh, and just a little over 24 hours until Harry!!!

Day One

Yesterday was very informative. Our presenter, Bernajean Porter, is certainly one of the most enthusiastic individuals I have met. She has an energy that is infectious, causing her audience to become motivated and inspired simply by being in the room near her. Most of the morning was devoted to convincing us that the world is drastically changing and we, as educators, must drastically change our teaching styles as well. I found the ShiftHappens video (at Shifthappens.wikispaces.com) incredibly eye-opening. The statistics were shocking. Did you know that by the time a student graduates from high school he or she has read more than 250,000 e-mails? Wow! We also discussed various modes for projects, from docu-dramas to participatory activities. Although I had witnessed and worked with digital storytelling in the past, the emphasis on the story rather than the bells and whistles was a novel idea for me. We were introduced to wikis (something I definitely want to try in my classroom), blogs, graphic search engines, Ms. Dewey, comic hero creating programs, and delicious.com. It was definitely a worthwhile day, and I am looking forward to "doubling" my information base today!