Blog Post #7

The first video, Using iMovie and AVL in Kindergarten, was an interview between Dr. Strange and two librarians from Gulf Shores Elementary School. Mrs. Bennett informed me on how the Kindergarten teachers incorporated iMovie in the classrooms. Each week, the students will take a book and make an iMovie. The students write and script, take pictures, and upload everything to iMovie so they can make a book trailer. This helps the students have full understanding of the book they picked, and it also helps them with editing and research. The students at Gulf Shores absolutely love doing this project! The Alabama Virtual Library is a great way to teach students simple research. The students can research anything and pictures, articles, and videos will come up for the students to look at. Teaching students at a young age basic researching skills is very beneficial for them in the future for when they go onto to further grades.

In the second video, We all become learners, Mrs. Bennett says that "using a device changes the dynamic of learning". Meaning, students are teaching other students how to use a device or, students teaching teachers how to use a device. Either way, everyone becomes a learner. She also talked about Padlet and how great of a resource it is for project based learning. Students are able to post questions, answers, and even pictures for everyone in their class to see! 

Mrs. Bennett has tons of videos to watch on her Google Plus site. I enjoyed looking at her posts. the kids in the videos made me laugh! The videos I watched were of students in Kindergarden and 2nd grade. 

• The first video I watched was Mystery Garden. This was an iMovie that interviewed the students in Mrs. Munoz's class, asking them what they thought was growing in their "mystery garden". Each student said different things. I think this was a great way to get the students active in their community. They were all involved in planting a seed, and now they have to wait and see what is going to grow. I think the students really enjoyed this activity. 
• The second video I watched was Boosterthon. This was an iMovie and had students in Mrs. Altmyer's class talk about how much money they had raised for their school. One at a time, each student stood in front of the camera and said a different goal that their class has reached. All the students seemed so excited and were smiling while they talked. iMovie seems like it is such a fun and effective way to incorporate technology and learning in the classroom.
• The third video I watched was Career Day. This was my favorite out of the four videos I watched. Each student in Mrs. Taylor's class dressed up in an outfit of some profession. There were pictures of each student and a voice recording of the student telling you what they want to be when they grow up. They all had different career paths and it was super cute to see them all dressed up and ready for their future!
• The final video I watched was Sawyer's Story. This was a movie trailer about a 2nd grade student named Sawyer. He made it for his parents to show them how ready he is for 3rd grade. It had pictures and video clips showing Sawyer participating in different learning activities, like reading and doing math problems. He made the video all on his own! Its amazing how much the students at Gulf Shores have learned in the technology area. 

Watching all of these videos have really given me ideas for possible activities to do in my future classroom. I really like the Padlet source because it is a great way for students to interact, via internet, with their peers. My favorite lesson I learned about was the students making a book trailer on the "book of the week". This is such a neat way to really make sure that your students are fully grasping the story that is being read to them. I made a book trailer and I had so much fun doing it. So, I know children who are 7 or 8, would have even more fun than I did. Some strengths I would have with teaching instruction like this is that I am pretty knowledgable with iMovie. I can work very well with it and I am able to produce good videos. Also, I would be very good at making sure that my students were well rehearsed if they were to say something in front of a camera. I don't want them to be nervous or scared to do it! They need to enjoy this activity! Some weaknesses I would have is trying actually make these projects a learning experience. Not just learning how to make a movie, but really learning how to do a certain requirement like math. Maybe I can have my students make videos of themselves doing simple math problems and then show my future classes those videos. In the next year and a half, I am going to have to really work on some of these project based learning websites. They still kind of confuse me, but I am working on them! I enjoyed watching all of these videos and I can't wait to do things like this with my own students!