Friday, April 13, 2018
Podcasts
So, let me start with I love doing podcasts. I've done several for classes, and if I though anyone would listen to me, I do more. Not sure if an almost 50 year old teacher with two teenagers would have a following though...
I looked at PodOmatic, Soundcloud, and Podbean. Podbean is what I've used before and was familiar with. I've always used Audacity to record, but this time I used the voice recorder on my lap top to see if it was better. I'm comfortable with Audacity, as it is what I've used to cut my daughter's music for dance competitions. The voice recorder was super simple to use as it has like 3 buttons. I prefer audacity for editing and adding music.
All three seemed very similar and were very easy to use. The only negative was that PodOmatic took forever to upload my mp4 file, where it was almost instant with the other two.
As a teacher, I see several uses. I use Words Their Way in my classroom, which means I have several spelling groups. I could record the spelling tests and the students could just listen. They could also stop and listen again to a word missed. That would free up a huge amount of time on Fridays. It would also make things easier when a student is absent. I could hand them the ipad and earphones and they could take the test they missed. For my lower readers I could record books to support their reading. I could give instructions for games in centers and link the podcast to a QR code posted in the center. I could record information for parents! I really see a lot of uses now. Don't know why I couldn't thing of a thing when I was recording!
In the library, I see this as a great way for students to do book reviews. I can also see this being used to share what is new in the library without having a meeting. A librarian could do a brief monthly update about the library, send the link to the teachers and they could listen while they grade or work in their rooms. A win for everyone! The same could go for parents!
Use these links for a list of some great podcasts for teachers.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/best-education-podcasts-2017
https://www.weareteachers.com/teacher-podcasts/
https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/12-of-my-favorite-podcasts-for-teachers/
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/best-education-podcasts-betty-ray
Make sure to check out this one from The Bedley Brothers with author Jennifer Holm!
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/bedleybros/episodes/2017-09-02T09_39_13-07_00
Ooooooh!!!! These are good too!
http://www.readbrightly.com/press-play-8-best-kids-lit-podcasts-grown-ups/
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Cartoons and Comics!!!!!!
I may be old but I still love cartoons. I can't wait to have grandkids and watch cartoons with them. Well maybe I can wait.... I don't need my teenagers to be parents yet! But I digress. This topic made me so happy! I had a blast with this.
First up, Toondoo! Toondoo was very easy to use to create the cartoon and publish it. I had to find a tutorial to figure out how to embed the cartoon and I hope I did it right. I did have a couple of concerns about some of the graphic available. There were some female characters in bikinis in sexy poses. I'm not sure I'd want that available if I were using this with middle school age boys. I can just see that going bad fast.
Pixton is much better in terms of choices. The people looks less little kid cartoony. It also had great features where you could change skin color, facial and body expressions, and backgrounds in each frame. I like this much better. And for those you who may not get my cartoon, my son, who has Asperger's, is obsessed with ketchup. He puts it on everything and freaks out if we run out, so that is the inspiration.
https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=64455915C2439377
Make Believe Comix was also easy to use but was very limited in what I could do. I also didn't like that it wouldn't store the comic for me. In a pinch this would work but it really doesn't compare to Pixton! Pixton with its tutorial built in would be the easiest for older students to use. Toondoo would be better for younger students, as long as you limit which characters they use. No chicks in bikinis explaining the water cycle!
I think these cartoons would be great to use in a weekly/monthly newsletter to teachers to share what is new in the library or step by step how to do something new. I'd also like to present this to teachers so that they may use it with their students.
I tried to do the Tellagami but the app isn't compatible with IOS 11 which was a bummer. I've used Tellagami in my class when I taught 5th grade. My students loved it, especially that they could make the voice sound different. We did book reviews, main idea and detail, and summary videos. Occasionally, there was a crazy one from someone who had an iPad at a station and was off task. Those always made me laugh.
First up, Toondoo! Toondoo was very easy to use to create the cartoon and publish it. I had to find a tutorial to figure out how to embed the cartoon and I hope I did it right. I did have a couple of concerns about some of the graphic available. There were some female characters in bikinis in sexy poses. I'm not sure I'd want that available if I were using this with middle school age boys. I can just see that going bad fast.
Pixton is much better in terms of choices. The people looks less little kid cartoony. It also had great features where you could change skin color, facial and body expressions, and backgrounds in each frame. I like this much better. And for those you who may not get my cartoon, my son, who has Asperger's, is obsessed with ketchup. He puts it on everything and freaks out if we run out, so that is the inspiration.
https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=64455915C2439377
Make Believe Comix was also easy to use but was very limited in what I could do. I also didn't like that it wouldn't store the comic for me. In a pinch this would work but it really doesn't compare to Pixton! Pixton with its tutorial built in would be the easiest for older students to use. Toondoo would be better for younger students, as long as you limit which characters they use. No chicks in bikinis explaining the water cycle!
I think these cartoons would be great to use in a weekly/monthly newsletter to teachers to share what is new in the library or step by step how to do something new. I'd also like to present this to teachers so that they may use it with their students.
I tried to do the Tellagami but the app isn't compatible with IOS 11 which was a bummer. I've used Tellagami in my class when I taught 5th grade. My students loved it, especially that they could make the voice sound different. We did book reviews, main idea and detail, and summary videos. Occasionally, there was a crazy one from someone who had an iPad at a station and was off task. Those always made me laugh.
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