Mrs. Friedman's TechTalk

2011-11-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite projects that my 8th graders create is the "Music Video". Students select a song that they like and print the lyrics for it. Then they find images that reflect the words or create their own images using Adobe Photoshop Elements. Then using Adobe Premiere Elements, they insert all of the pictures on one track and the song on another track. The hard part comes when they have to time the images so they align perfectly with the words of the song. Once that's completed, students add transitions and effects. Watch a sample above and to see more go to my Music Video Page.

2011-10-07T06:30:00.000-07:00

The world has lost a passionate and inspirational man. Steve Jobs will leave a legacy that will be remembered for generations to come. Rest in peace.

Woodshop Meets Computer Class

2011-10-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Last year our woodshop teacher offered the staff at my school the opportunity to work with one of her students to create a special project. I partnered with an 8th grade student, Zoe, who created a wall plaque for outside my classroom. It is an exact replica of a computer keyboard (with a few exceptions) with my name on the "monitor". Of course, it has a heart above the "i" and a pointer just like the one you see on the computer when using the mouse. I am so grateful to Zoe for all her hard work. Everyone who walks by my room and all the students who enter my classroom comment on how beautiful the plaque is. Thank you, Zoe!!! Here is a close-up picture:

Using Surveys for Pre-Assessment

2011-09-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Recently, I began using surveys to pre-assess my 6th grade students. The students come from three different elementary schools and I have noticed that their computer experiences vary depending on the school and the teacher they had. By using SurveyMonkey, I was able to determine which software programs my students were familiar with, what tools they knew within each program, their keyboarding skills, and the type of websites and search engines they utilized in school. Using the results of my survey, I can spend more time teaching new skills rather than re-teaching something my students are already familiar with.

It's very easy to create a survey. Question types include multiple choice, text boxes, rating scales, drop-down menus and more. There are many different backgrounds to choose from, too. When your survey is completed, you can stop collecting responses, analyze the results, and use this in your classroom to enhance your instruction.

The Teacher's Handbook

2011-09-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

September signifies the beginning of the year for me - not January! As a teacher, I enjoy my summer but always look forward to meeting my new 6th grade students and welcoming back my 7th and 8th graders. I also begin each school year with a renewed vigor and determination to be the best teacher I can be.

A colleague of mine, Dr. John Hrevnack, has written an excellent book for first year teachers, but this book can also provide ideas and encouragement for any teacher. The Teacher’s Handbook provides a foundation for those entering the teaching profession. It emphasizes the development of the lesson plan, unit plan, and classroom management through the integration of theory with practice.

Here's to a great school year!

The Last 18 Years in Rap

2011-06-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

This video was produced by Flocabulary using Vimeo
Congratulations to all graduates of 2011.
The Last 18 Years in Rap 1993-2011 from Flocabulary on Vimeo.

Videography in Education

2011-05-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Videography

View more presentations from pfriedman729.

This is the presentation from the Montclair State University Classroom Reset Conference on May 20, 2011.

Bubbl.us

2011-03-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

Bubble.us is an awesome website. According to the site, the goal was to create a "simple to use and easy to learn tool to help people organize ideas in a way that makes sense to them." The cool part is that you can share your stuff with collaborators, save your projects online, change the colors and sizes of the bubbles, add/delete arrows, and move the buttons around on the page. This site was created in 2006 by two guys from Russia, Kirill and Levon. Educationally, teachers can have students use this site to organize their ideas or to visually depict concepts in reading and writing. Graphic organizers are a powerful way to communicate ideas visually. Here is a sample that I created using the site:

Technology and Language Arts: Idioms

2011-03-03T10:35:00.000-08:00

As a computer technology teacher, I am always looking for ways to integrate other areas of the curriculum into my own. One of the units I teach to my 8th grade classes is Graphic Design. Students use Adobe Photoshop Elements to create many projects in my class. There are numerous ways to use a program like this in education. One way I did this was to have my students research idioms. I shared with them an Idiom Website where they could find many different idioms and their meanings. Once they made their selection, the students opened Photoshop and began illustrating their idiom literally. They are learning about a key concept while also practicing their technology skills!!

Weebly - Create a Free Website

2011-02-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

I started using Weebly this year for my students' web design unit. It is such a fantastic site that I am featuring it on my blog this month. Weebly is completely FREE. The interface is extremely user friendly, with a drag and drop type of editing. There are over 70 designs to choose from, or you can completely customize a template or build your own site using HTML & CSS right in the Weebly editor.

Some of the many features include: picture galleries/slide shows, YouTube videos, contact forms, custom HTML, Google AdSense and blogs with full comment moderation.

My students learned the essential skills of web design, while creating informative websites at the same time. To see the sites from the Fall 2010 classes, click on my Students' Weebly Sites page.

Good Searching

2010-12-21T05:14:00.001-08:00

Here's a new easy way to raise money for your favorite cause. Just start using Yahoo! powered GoodSearch.com as your search engine and they'll donate about a penny to your favorite cause every time you do a search!
In addition, do all of your shopping through their online shopping mall, GoodShop.com, where you can shop at more than 900 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will go to the charity or school of your choice. You pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to your cause!
Here's the web site — http://www.goodsearch.com/. You can also read about GoodSearch in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, CNN, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal

Teach Parents Tech by Google!

2010-12-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

As a Google Certified Teacher, I couldn't be more excited! Google has just launched a new site, Teach Parents Tech. The purpose of the site is to explain, in layman's terms, how to do many comon tasks, like how to copy & paste, resize a picture, and how to crop pictures. This site is host to over 50 videos, most of which are an average of 40 seconds long. I have watched every single one of these informational videos and have come to the conclusion that they are NOT just for parents. As a matter of fact, I am a parent of three children myself and probably know way more than they do! (Of course, tech is my life...but that's another story). The videos are short and to the point. They cover topics from How To Make A Blog to How To View Live Traffic. When you visit the site, you will be able to send an email to someone, attaching the relevant videos. You can also just watch the videos on YouTube's Teach Parents Tech. There are 51 videos, and each one is narrated by a "young person" explaining in very clear terms how to perform different tasks. Enjoy!

Free Rice

2010-11-21T12:15:00.001-08:00

I have been using Free Rice with my students for a few years now. According to their website, "FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Programme. Our partner is the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University."

So far, nearly 83 billion grains of rice have been donated. If you are wondering how that translates to how much food that is, it's enough rice to feed more than 4.3 million people for one day!!

Here is how we use it at our school: Students go to the website and choose a subject. The choices are: Art, English, Chemistry, Geography, Language, and Math. There are a few sub-categories so for example, if you are interested in Language, you can choose from French, German, Italian, or Spanish. Once they have chosen their category, the students begin answering questions. The answers are always mutliple choice and begin at an easy level. As students answer questions correctly, the questions slowly become more difficult. You can change the subject at any time without affecting the amount of rice you have donated. For each correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated.

I usually have the students spend 10 minutes on the site and the average number of rice donated is 800 grains per student. What a great way to help feed the world and learn at the same time. According to NBC News, it is "a simple way to bring kids to the Internet for a good reason, a way to feed their minds and . . . to feed a whole lot of people . . . helping fight world hunger, one grain of rice at a time."

The World Food Programme has created a site just for Students and Teachers. Teachers can register, create a Group and have their students compete against other classes to try and donate the most rice.

As Thanksgiving approaches, let's all try to remember that there are many people around the world who are hungry and need our help!

Audacity

2010-11-15T16:14:00.000-08:00

I have been using Audacity in my classroom now for several years. Audacity is free, open source software that can be used to record and edit sounds. My students use this program to create podcasts, and to record voiceovers for their video projects. It is also compatible with many different operating systems.

Below is a sample of a student who recorded a commercial for a fashion store:

Below is a sample of a student who used Audacity to record his voice and then added music:

Storytelling Alice

2010-10-04T15:44:00.001-07:00

Storytelling Alice is an animation program developed by Caitlin Kelleher, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University. According to her website, "Storytelling Alice is a programming environment designed to motivate a broad spectrum of middle school students (particularly girls) to learn to program computers through creating short 3D animated movies. To enable and encourage users to create animated stories, Storytelling Alice includes: High-level animations that enable users to program social interactions between characters. A story-based tutorial that introduces users to programming through building a story. A gallery of 3D characters and scenery with custom animations designed to spark story ideas"

I have begun using this software with my middle school students and the results have been extremely positive. Students are beginning to understand the concept of programming, and are creating their own animations. To download the software for your classroom, go to Alice's download page.

Life Round Here 2010

2010-05-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

This year I participated in a global project created by Chris Craft entitled "Life Round Here". The purpose of this digital storytelling project is for kids around the world to tell each other what life is like in their town and in their school. According to Chris, this global collaboration was created because it was "a desire of mine to help students understand the differences and similarities between their own cultures and the cultures that are foreign to them." The only requirements are that the students should be between the ages of 8 and 15, the videos must be in English, and must be published to SchoolTube. The submissions this year are astounding and I invite you to watch them at the Life Round Here 2010 Completed Projects Page. The submission from Roosevelt Intermediate School can be seen below:

We Love The Flip

2010-05-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

After my third Handycam broke, I decided that there had to be another camera that my 7th graders could use for my filmmaking class. I needed something easy to use, light weight, inexpensive, and most of all - easy to upload. The Flip meets all my criteria. I was worried that the quality wouldn't be as good as we were used to, but to my surprise, the clips look great and the sound is clear and loud. If you're interested, there is a Flip Video for Educators site with a list of preferred resellers. I ordered the Flip Ultra with a recording time of 2 hours, 8 GB of internal memory, a 320 x 240 LCD screen, and a 1280 x 720 resolution. The video format is mp4, which can be a problem if you use Movie Maker. We use Adobe Premiere Elements and had absolutely no problem uploading the clips directly to this program.

I'm An Author (Sort Of)

2010-04-05T17:20:00.001-07:00

For the past two years, I have been collaborating on a book on Google Tools in the Classroom to be published by ISTE. Authors James Lerman and Ronique Hicks collaborated with eight other Google Certified Teachers (I'm one of them) to produce a book that shows how free Google Applications can be used to transform teaching. Retool Your School will be available in late spring/early summer. There are more than 40 lesson plans spanning elementary school through high school that show teachers how to use FREE Google tools like Sites, Blogger, and Documents to create interactive, collaborative lessons for the classroom. I am so proud to be a part of this book, and to be able to say "I'm published!"

Cyberbullying and the Curriculum

2010-03-16T17:52:00.001-07:00

I am on a committee that is writing our district's State Technology Plan for 2010-2013. Mostly, it's pretty much the same as the last plan (2007-2010), but there are a few changes. One change is that New Jersey is requiring school districts to include CyberBullying in the curriculum. This is a serious problem in many schools, and the lack of information is astounding. Recently, I showed my 6th grade students the video below and had them respond. Their answers made me realize that most children are good hearted and care about each other. Their responses can be viewed on my Student Blog - Education 2.0

Ryan Halligan was in 8th grade when he committed suicide, after several years of bullying at school and online. His father, John Halligan, speaks to students across the country about his son in the hopes of preventing this from happening to anyone else. John has been outspoken about the need for more education and prevention of bullying, cyber bullying and teen suicide throughout the United States and Canada. His son’s story and his accomplishments in response to this tragedy have been told world-wide by print, radio and TV.

Digital Storytelling Presentation

2010-03-03T16:35:00.001-08:00

Recently, I was invited as a guest lecturer to a Montclair State University Graduate School class of soon-to-be elementary school teachers. The topic was "Digital Stories in the Elementary Classroom". You can see the presentation I used below:

Digital Storytelling Presentation

View more presentations from pfriedman729.

10th Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards

2010-02-25T15:57:00.000-08:00

The Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards were just announced in the February issue of eSchool News. These awards are sponsored by K12 Inc., Promethean, the Pearson Foundation, and JDL Horizon's Eduvision. Chosen by the editors of eSchool News, with help from last year's winners, these exemplary leaders transform teaching and learning through the use of technology.

According to eSchool News, some of the criteria for selection include:

1) Models the effective use of technology in the day-to-day execution of the superintendency.

2) Demonstrates exceptional vision in leading the development and implementation of a districtwide technology plan.

3) Provides exceptional leadership in supporting the integration of technology into the curriculum.

Imagine my delight to find out that one of this year's recipients is Dr. Amy Sichel, Superintendent of the Abington School District in Pennsylvania. Dr. Sichel is a childhood friend of mine who I have known since Kindergarten. Besides this award, she was recently named the 2010 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year!

As a teacher and instructional technology specialist, I applaud the winners of the 10th Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards.

Kiva Loans Change Lives

2010-02-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

I have been donating to Kiva for about a year now. It is so gratifying to know that I am helping people better their lives and the lives of those around them!

What is KIVA? Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.

Kiva promotes:
Dignity: Kiva encourages partnership relationships as opposed to benefactor relationships. Partnership relationships are characterized by mutual dignity and respect.

Accountability: Loans encourage more accountability than donations where repayment is not expected.

Transparency: The Kiva website is an open platform where communication can flow freely around the world.

As of November 2009, Kiva has facilitated over $100 million in loans.

Today I donated to a Village Food Bank in Cambodia. Previously, I helped Suzzy Osayuki open a grocery store in Nigeria. A little bit goes a long way!!

Artsonia

2010-02-12T08:47:00.001-08:00

My school is a member of Artsonia, the largest online student art museum. Artsonia showcases artwork from thousands of schools around the world. Artsonia’s goals are to help develop students’ pride and self-esteem, increase their multicultural understanding through art and involve parents and relatives in student education and accomplishments.

Besides showcasing our students’ artwork on the Internet for the world to see, Artsonia also offers parents high quality gift items imprinted with their child’s own artwork. Each school receives 15% of the total order revenue. Therefore, not only are these products excellent gifts for friends and family, but every order directly supports the educational program here at my school. Some of the gifts include t-shirts, jewelry boxes, key chains, and greeting cards.

Artsonia is a safe, secure site where teachers can create an account and upload images to an art gallery. I categorize my galleries by grade level and class period. Last year, my school received a check for $50 from all the gifts that parents ordered!!

Google SketchUp

2010-02-02T05:02:00.001-08:00

I've been using Google SketchUp for the past two years in my 8th grade classroom. SketchUp is a free 3D software program that allows you to build models of most anything. It is very easy to use and the Tutorials are excellent. In fact, most of my students use the video and self-paced tutorials to teach themselves how to create the models. There is a Google 3D Warehouse where you can place your own models or upload someone else's. There are numerous ways to use SketchUp in the classroom to integrate different areas of the curriculum. Mathematically, students can use geometry as well as basic measurements when they are building structures. For history, students might create an ancient city. The Industrial Arts teacher at my school has her students create model cars using SketchUp before beginning the actual building process. One of my students built a model of a computer, and another student built an entire neighborhood! This is also a great way to involve visual learners. CLICK on the images to enlarge them!

Go!Animate

2010-01-09T06:45:00.000-08:00

GoAnimate is a really cool site that I introduced to my students this week. You can create individual animations using your own stories and characters. There is a Character Creator tool where you can even design a character that looks like you or someone you know. The Animation Studio allows you to create your own story from scratch. You can upload your own pictures and combine them with the GoAnimate cast of characters. Each character comes with their own set of actions, movements, and facial expressions. There are also sounds, music, and word balloons for dialogue. Your imagination is all you need! The site often sponsors contests and here is my favorite winner from the Christmas Contest:

GoAnimate.com: Peace On Earth by Mojochi

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Podcasts And Screencasts in Education

2010-01-05T18:14:00.001-08:00

Here is our Presentation from Montclair State University's Classroom Reset 2010 Conference.

Podcasts And Screencasts

View more presentations from pfriedman729.

Audacity

2010-01-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

Audacity is a free, open-source software program that I use in my classroom for sound recording. It can be used to record from a microphone, dub over existing tracks, monitor volume levels, edit and mix a number of tracks, and remove many types of background noises. There are many other features as well. This program was developed by a group of volunteers and distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

Jill Baedke, a fellow Google Certified Teacher, has created an Audacity Video Tutorial that is incredibly helpful.

If you are considering or already using podcasting or digital storytelling in your classroom, I highly recommend using Audacity for sound recording.

Holiday Wordle

2009-12-21T08:50:00.001-08:00

I have been using Wordle for awhile now, personally as well as in the classroom. My students create an "All About Me" wordle that becomes part of a Language Arts project. I decided to share my Holiday Wordle today. If you haven't yet checked out this great site, you will soon become addicted. It's really fun and super easy!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Pivot Stickfigure Animation

2009-12-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

I recently began using pivot with my 6th grade students. Pivot Stickfigure Animation is a fantastic way to introduce young students to simple stick figure animations. Students create a "story", design frames (similar to a flip book), and add each frame to the project as they proceed. You can add colorful or realistic backgrounds, change object colors, design your own objects, and add text. There are also some pre-designed objects like horses, ladders, and elephants. Once completed, the animations can be saved as .GIF files that can be viewed as animations. Some of my students took this one step further by importing the completed .gif file into Windows Movie Maker and adding sound.

One True Media

2009-11-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for a safe environment to post student videos? Does your district block YouTube? One True Media is the answer! This is a free site that offers two features that I use. First, you can upload videos that are already completed and post them on a private Share Page that only your students have access to. Second, you can create your own videos using their step-by-step easy instructions. Some of the options include: uploading your own images and video clips, editing and sequencing, applying a montage style and adding music. Once you have completed or uploaded your creation, you can burn a professional quality DVD for a very reasonable price and you can design your own DVD case cover as well as a design that is burned directly onto your DVD. Although there is a public gallery of videos, you have the option of keeping your work private. Another advantage of One True Media is that you can share your videos in many ways, including Blogger, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Here is a video that I uploaded to One True Media and selected this blog to share it on by using the Embed Code:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So....what are you waiting for?

Thank You, Some Novel Ideas

2009-11-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Friedman's TechTalk has been awarded a Kreativ Blogger Award by Some Novel Ideas!! Thank you so much to Stacy Nockowitz for recognizing me with this wonderful award. I'm still amazed that people are actually reading my blog!

Some Novel Ideas is an awesome blog written by Stacy Nockowitz, a middle school teacher in Ohio. Her blog focuses on book reviews, discussions, and curriculum plans for the Middle school classroom. I highly recommend visiting Stacy's site at: http://somenovelideas.typepad.com/some-novel-ideas/

The next step (it's part of winning this award) is to write seven things about myself that you wouldn't necessarily know. Here goes:

1) Given the choice of ANY single activity, I will always choose to read a great book. If I can read at the beach, it becomes a perfect day!

2) I'm addicted to coffee.

3) I can't sing at all. I try, but it's mostly painful for those around me to listen.

4) I hate cleaning.

5) I love teaching but have a secret wish to be an actress.

6) Someday, I want to drive across the USA and visit as many states as possible.

7) My family is my life.

The next step is to choose other bloggers to pass this award to. I'm going to work on that for my next blog post.

Thanks again, Stacy.

Educational Podcasting

2009-10-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about the possibilities of using podcasting techniques in the classroom. I recently introduced my students to Audacity, a free software program used to record and edit a podcast. My 8th grade students created a radio station, WRIS 106.2, to produce segments for our middle school. My 6th grade students create businesses for our Real World Technology class, and I had them use podcasting to create advertising commercials. It's so much fun, and a great way to excite students! Here are the outstanding results:

WRIS 106.2 Radio

Business Commercials

Screencasting

2009-10-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

What is screencasting? Well….it’s basically a way to capture the screen activity on a computer to create a movie that can be shown to an audience later. You can use screencasting to demonstrate the use of a software program, Internet research, Google tools, or anything else that you use on a computer. This is a very powerful way to communicate knowledge and ideas.

I began using screencasting this summer in order to provide professional development opportunities online for the staff in my district. Teachers in my district are required to create and maintain staff web pages using SchoolCenter. We offer classes on how to set up a home page, contact page, document manager, blogs, etc. I noticed that after each class, teachers still had questions or forgot some of the basic features. Now, the staff can watch a short video online and usually their questions are answered! Sure saves me a lot of time.

There are many different screencasting software out there, but my preference is Jing. It is free and very easy to use. I then upload my videos to Screencast. This site provides free hosting of screencasts, and then you can link to each screencast from your own site.

Check out my Screencast Google Site

Painting Doors

2009-06-19T15:17:00.001-07:00

My school was recently painted. We used to have beautiful art all over the walls of the school, along with the teachers' doors. Now every hall and door is the same color: basic beige. Our art teacher has a program where students can paint the doors of individual classrooms. I took advantage of this and begged him to have my door painted. Luckily, I was one of only a few teachers who got artistic doors this year. (The rest will be painted next year). I chose my favorite artist Peter Max. The image is Heart Series III and I think my students did an amazing job. Thank you to Ellie, Izzy, Lilly, Jessica and Chanel for a job well done.

Photoshop is not just for Photos

2009-06-11T06:28:00.001-07:00

My eighth grade students have been using Adobe Photoshop for the past few years. Photoshop is an incredible software program allowing users to manipulate images in many ways. You can simply fix a red eye in a photograph or create dynamic artistic projects using all the many tools available.
After playing with this program for several years, I realized that we could create computer animations as well. My students used different images in one scene, and then imported them into the animation creator. The results were outstanding and a few samples can be seen below.

Chris's Car Race

Matt's Mario

Emily's Fishtank

To see the rest of the projects, click on my Student Animations page.

I Love Roxer!

2009-06-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have been using Roxer in my classroom for the past two years in my web site design class. It is a great way to introduce students to WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editing. The site offers many different options, including YouTube uploads, creative backgrounds, text and image design, and even a Google Calendar.

One of the best features is that students do not need an email address in order to create an account. I basically used the students' website topics for the web address. So, for example, one student created a site for a book report on Animal Farm: http://animalfarmhild.roxer.com

Here are some of my favorite student sites:
http://annie-cookies.roxer.com/ (History of Cookies)
http://cassandra-candy.roxer.com/ (History of Candy)
http://catherine-jk8.roxer.com/ (Jon and Kate + 8)
http://alli-broadway.roxer.com/ (Broadway)
http://moviemaking.roxer.com/ (Filmmaking)

Digital Storytelling

2009-05-31T15:03:00.001-07:00

My 8th grade Project Technology class just completed a unit on Digital Storytelling. This is an excellent way to engage your students in the ancient art of "storytelling". Each student chose a topic in which they were interested and created a digital story. This type of activity can be used in many different classrooms, in all areas of the curriculum. At the end of the project, we watched everyone's "story" and many of them brought tears to my eyes! Samples of this project can be seen at my Google Site: Digital Stories Project

Google Historical Voyages and Events

2009-05-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Roosevelt Intermediate School, Westfield, New Jersey is part of "Google Historical Voyages and Events" - a website dedicated to the "explorers, voyages, events, and historical backgrounds of countries throughout the World." The "Google Historical Voyages and Events" website has contributions from schools all over the World, as they tell about the histories of their areas or study famous historical events and people. Our school has joined this project as part of a global learning experience. This project is open to schools all over the World. According to the project site: "We invite a 'global community' of schools to share this site with us. We can learn about each other's countries as we contribute to this site. Every community, every town, every country has a past." Thank you to Carol LaRow for creating this collaborative project!

Students in my 8th grade Project Technology class used digital stories to showcase the biographies and many accomplishments of their personal heroes. Digital Storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences and insights. (Leslie Rule, Digital Storytelling Association) The images used in these digital stories were found utilizing Google Images. In some cases, YouTube videos were incorporated into the stories.

The Digital Stories Google Site: http://sites.google.com/site/digitalstoriesproject/
Who Is Your Hero? Google Site: http://sites.google.com/site/herowebsiteproject/

Google Teacher Academy '09

2009-03-01T15:58:00.001-08:00

Thank You Kevin Jarrett for this great video! You captured the magic of our day.

Video Production in Education

2009-02-25T05:46:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the use of video production in education. For the past two years, I have been teaching a Video Production class to the 7th graders at my school. Students create movies on topics ranging from Public Service Announcements and Documentaries, to Drug Awareness and Bullying. Though most of the movies will never win any awards, my students have learned a very important new technology. As a matter of fact, many of my former students now create videos for other classes. Students in 8th grade are creating a movie based on the concepts they learned while reading The Secret Life of Bees. Another group produced a cooking show for their French class, with the entire show filmed in French.

I created a website for a presentation I am giving at the NJECC Conference at Montclair University in March. For anyone interested in using videography in education, there are some good samples as well as resources and documents that can be downloaded for use.

Please visit: http://sites.google.com/site/videographyineducation/

Celebrating Black History

2009-02-22T19:18:00.000-08:00

I have the privilege of running my school’s Black History month assembly every year. It is a labor of love because I think it is so important for students today to understand the contributions of the many African American leaders who have formed the backbone of our nation. For the second year, we were honored to have the Newark Boys Chorus perform for us. They sang Circle of Life from Lion King and several other selections. Our keynote speaker was truly inspiring: Mr. Joe Rogers from the Dream Alive organization. He gave a compassionate and enthralling performance our students, staff and community will never forget.

In order to truly become one nation where all people are treated equally, we must never stop teaching our students about the past. We as teachers have a responsibility to help our students to move forward as the next generation, but also to ensure that they never forget the struggles of so many civil rights leaders who worked so hard to create a better world for us all.

I created a Black History video montage that we showed at the end of the assembly. Please click on the link below to watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndf1S_tYiGs

Montclair University Web 2.0 Conference

2009-01-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

Thank you for attending our workshop. Please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions. We are interested in knowing:

1) An idea that stretched your thinking
2) An activity you plan to use in your district

Pam and Laura

Our Power Point presentation can be viewed online:
http://tinyurl.com/friedman-paiva-presentation

Digital Storytelling

2008-12-16T05:06:00.001-08:00

I've just completed a unit on Digital Storytelling with my 8th grade students. Their projects were awesome, and I'd like to share a few of them here:

Winston Churchill

Anne Frank

September 11th

Communicate Through Your Website

2008-12-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

This PowerPoint is from a presentation that was given at the New Jersey School Board Association conference in October 2007.