A Simple Book Talk

I really enjoyed creating the storyboards for my digital storytelling example. It gave me hands on experience with what my students are going to aim to create. I am excited to turn my storyboards into an actual Book Talk that can be shown in the library.

I did have a couple concerns as I put it together. I am trying to keep it pretty simple, so students with different levels of technology experience can still participate. The students with more technology skills can use those skills to add different effects to their project. I, also, want the students to promote the book they choose without giving the whole story away. Part of accomplishing that, will be my lesson on giving your audience a small piece of the story that captures their imagination and makes them want to read the book. My concern is I am making it to simple in an effort to not give the story away.

My other concern is the student video portion of the Book Talk. I have designed it so the video and student created visuals will alternate to some degree but I wonder if it will just come across as choppy instead of a smooth presentation.

I would love anyone's comments about these issues.

Creating a Curriculum Page

I have used Wikispaces before, so I wasn't worried about the technical piece of this week's assignment to create a curriculum page. But having never created this type of page before, I wasn't sure where to start. I looked at the links that were provided and came up with an outline of what I wanted to include about the Digital Storytelling Book Talk project. This included the basic instructions of the project, some links to websites that would help my students if they got stuck and what I planned to do with the finished projects. Even though I felt I was just starting with the basics, it still took me a good amount of time to create the home page and the three information pages that link back to the home page. As I worked on my wiki, I started making a list of what kinds of things I would add to this curriculum page. I realized that this would be a great tool to use for my Student Book Club. I would use it to have a Main Page that listed the books we are reading and have sub pages dedicated to each book. On these sub-pages, we could provide information about the author, a short summary of the book, and additional information the club would want potential readers to know. From there, I could create a link to our Book Club wiki from the Media Center's website for everyone to access. I am looking forward to continuing to improve my wiki and find other ways to use it in the Media Center.

If you would like to see how I am doing so far, please check out my wiki on creating Book Talks.

Thanks.
PageT

Digital Storytelling Project

I would love to use digital storytelling with my 4^th and 5^th grade students to promote books in the Media Center. I would work on this project in conjunction with their Reading and Language Arts teachers, who would give them a grade for the project.

The project would have the students using digital storytelling to promote a book they have read. After deciding on a book they would want to share with their classmates, they would have to create a script that included a little about the main characters, the basic plot of the book (without giving the whole story away), the genre the book falls under and the reasons they would recommend the book to their friends. To encourage the use of additional media, the students would use iMovie to turn their script into a video presentation. They would also be required to use drawings or clip art in the project to create a scene from the book that would help to promote their book. After the projects are finished and graded, they would be played in the Media Center on an ongoing basis to promote the books the students chose.

Before beginning the project, I would have my students look at some examples of Book Talks online – both print & mixed media types. We would also review sites on good writing practices and the proper way to credit your resources. Finally, we would view tutorials on creating iMovies.

I would also create a book talk video of my own to encourage the students in expressing their opinions and showing them how to provide support for their choice.

Digital Storytelling in the Media Center

This week we had to create a presentation about how we might use Digital Storytelling to benefit our students. I have had an idea for a while to have my students create Book Talks that I can show on the television that is mounted in the Media Center.  I think this is a good project because it not only encourages my students to read; it requires them to practice their writing and public speaking skills.

I decided to try out Prezi since I am a long time PowerPoint user. I found it very user friendly. I watched the three short videos provided on the Prezi site and they gave me all the basic tools I needed to create my first presentation. I added the text to represent my ideas, inserted some graphics and even framed some of my text and pictures. I decided to include a video that would represent the type of project my students might turn in and it was as easy as cutting and pasting. Finally, I chose the path the presentation would take and what information my viewer would see and in what order. 

I look forward to teaching my fellow faculty members and my students this user-friendly presentation software.

Digital Storytelling in the Media Center

Using Digital Storytelling in the Media Center on Prezi

Online Profiles - A New View

Before I became a Media Specialist, my online profile was minimal. I didn’t want to “tweet” and I did not want to be anyone’s “friend” on Facebook. Anytime a friend would tell me about a new website where I could check to see what information was out on the web about me, I was happy when only the most basic information appeared.

I still don’t want my personal information available to just anyone but I am seeing the benefits of creating an online presence.  After joining Twitter, I found I didn’t have to read every comment made and that I could “follow” the postings of other Librarians and technology savvy people.  In completing the “About Me” assignment, I also found that I can choose what I want to post and it can be a great tool to encourage my students to read by including comments on the books I have read, upcoming library events, and reading strategies for parents.

Now that I have added to my online profile for this class, I have come up with many ideas for my Media Center website including links to my favorite award winning books, a quote of the day from the students’ favorite authors and comprehension questions for the Battle of the Books competition we have within our district.

Even though this assignment has given me a different view about having an online profile, I want that profile to reflect my professional outlook and views, not my personal information. As I work on building my online profile, I am going to continue to stay away from Facebook.

Excel-ling at Spreadsheets

I am a lucky student this week. Working with an Excel spreadsheet is second nature to me. I have been using Excel for over ten years and by now it comes naturally to me. It is a great tool to use for many reasons. Besides the obvious tracking of data, I really like the fact that you can take the data you are using and create different charts and graphs that make it easier for others to interpret the data you are tracking.  Although “it is important to pick the chart type that provides the best visualization for your data.” (Gunter, 149) Having the added benefit of using a 3D style chart can add a professional look to your presentations.

This week’s assignment in Excel, showed a perfect way to track a student’s grade, permission slips and average grades. Using a program that can do the work of averaging student grades for you makes a teacher’s job a little easier. It is a useful program for creating classroom forms such as reading logs or classroom jobs.  The things that can be created in Excel is only limited by what we can dream up.

Stacy Anderson

References

Shelly, G.B., Gunter, G.A., Gunter, R. (2010). Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. Boston, MA. Course Technology, Cengage Learning.
Shelly, G.B., Gunter, G.A., Gunter, R. (2010). Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. Boston, MA. Course Technology, Cengage Learning. G.B., Gunter, G.A., Gunter, R. (2010). Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. Boston, MA. Course Technology, Cengage Learning.

Shelly, G.B., Gunter, G.A., Gunter, R. (2010). Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. Boston, MA. Course Technology, Cengage Learning.