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Back from ISTE!!

It's a bit "Twilight Zonish" to return from the ISTE Conference. My real world is very different! I've been trying to figure out a way to describe the events of the last 8 days, but I just can't figure out how to say it eloquently and succinctly. It is just too big!

I consider myself the luckiest teacher on earth due to my position as an ISTE board member. ISTE, the organization, is so multifaceted, and although I've been active in the affiliates (and especially in my own affiliate from Minnesota - Shout out to MEMO!!), and in the special interest groups (with another huge shout out to my favorite SIGMS peeps!), there are so many parts of ISTE that are foreign to me. Besides that, the board is filled with these amazing people (with big letters like PhD after their names) and I'm just a small town librarian from Minnesota. I am so in awe of them, these experts in the field, and I feel excited and charged to be in their presence (and scared half to death sometimes too!) But I keep telling myself that it is crucial for us to keep teachers and teacher librarians on the board to represent the majority of ISTE members, and to keep the focus on the classroom and the student in everything we do.

So - where to start?

On Friday morning we entered the San Antonio Convention Center for a pre-conference tour. We actually got to see the exhibits, the signage, the displays, the lounges as they were being built! It was amazing! What would become the keynote hall was filled with tables, and volunteers were filling the 14000+ bags with programs, flyers and other conference paraphernalia. Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers that day, prior to that, and over the next five conference days!! They make everything run smoothly - and thank you to ISTE's remarkable staff, who had everything organized down to the second!

One downside of being a board member is missing out on some great sessions. I need to get back into the backchannels of many of the sessions, and onto the resources listed in the program, and take in everything I missed. I want to note my big ideas, some of which I will pull out and discuss further as I have time to chew on them myself. In no particular order, here is what I was struck by at  ISTE 2013:
1. Gamification: I believe it enough now to consider creating a game that my entire school can participate in, with the goal of reaching that epic win at some point in the year! Stay tuned!
2. Contributions required: I've been spending a lot of time encouraging others (and myself) to build PLNs, to follow blogs, tweets, posts, etc. I need to move further into the contribution end of that - for myself and my friends.
3. QR codes: I know how to make and use them, but I haven't done enough with them. I need to use them much more. They are awesome!
4. Voice: I need to strengthen my own voice. I also need to clarify who I am as a teacher and as a learner.
5. Changing the World: The very best "share" I can give you is Adam Bellow's keynote. No one says it any better. If there was something every teacher could watch before the summer ends and we head back to school, it would be this keynote. It made me cry and laugh all at the same time.

You can watch Adam Bellow's keynote here:  (starting at minute 22, if you want only the keynote)

As ISTE Board members we get to be the biggest ISTE cheerleaders ever. (Seriously! I think my main duties - at least during the conference -  are to smile and to say "thank you". It's great fun!!) My PLN has definitely grown. I am invigor-xausted! And yes, Adam, I am ready to change the world!

If you are also just back from ISTE I hope you get the chance to rest and reflect. Let's collaborate in the coming year - and we'll see you at Atlanta in 2014!!

The Puppet Pals App

I'm excited to be sharing the Puppet Pals app with teachers this week at our district professional development. I see it as being incredibly versatile - and useful with any age level for almost any topic. We have purchased the Director's Pass version, although there are some neat projects that can be done with the free version as well. The Director's Pass has 13 actor sets and a wide range of backgrounds, with the promise of more sets to come (at no additional charge!)including Arthropod Armada, Christmas, Entertainers, Fair Weather Friends, Fairytale, Monsters, On the Farm, Pirates, Political Partay, Talk Shows, Thanksgiving, Wild West, and Zombie Attack, but also the ability to add actor(s) and background(s) from your photo collection (either images you have taken or images saved from the internet). These images can be cropped to create your own puppets.

Using Puppet Pals is easy - especially if you are under 12. :) My strongest advice, especially for teachers and older children, is that you need to provide time (or take time) for the planning stages. If you want the stories your children produce to be well-written, quality work they need to play ahead. Here are some tips:

1. Plan & Storyboard: Lay out your story in a storyboard or graphic organizer.
2. Dialogue & Stage Direction: Make sure your dialogue is written and clear as to who speaks when (also what voice you will use for each actor), what actions the actors need to perform (e.g. move off screen, come closer, walk, appear on screen, turn, appear smaller, etc…), and what actions need to take place between scene changes (e.g. rearrange actors, have an actor move off stage or into the background).
3. Group Assignments: If you are working in a group, you will want to assign parts and actors and plan accordingly. Not everyone may have an actor assignment. One person may be responsible for the changing of the backdrop or prop.
4. Dress Rehearsal: Once your story is written, parts are assigned, and dialogue is rehearsed, you are ready to perform. I would suggest doing a dry run before recording.

Slide to Perform: The Basics

1. Select Characters: Tap “Press to Start”. Select actors by tapping on them (a green check mark will appear in the bottom of the actor when it is selected). Tap “Next”.
2. Select Backdrops: Select backdrops by tapping on them (a green check mark will appear in the bottom of the actor when it is selected). Tap “Next”.
3. Change Backgrounds while filming: For full screen image, change the orientation of your iPad to landscape (held horizontally).
4. Turn Character, Change their Size, or Move them from the Stage: Tap & drag a character to move, pinch out to enlarge, pinch in to reduce, and double-tap to change direction. Tap & drag actor out of area of backdrop to remove them from a scene.
5. Record, Pause, & Stop: Tap Record (red circle). You can Pause (2 vertical parallel lines) in between scenes, Tap Stop (white square) when finished. Click Play (green triangle) to preview. If you are satisfied with the quality of your show, you are ready to Save.
6. Save: Tap Save (looks like old-school 3.5 inch floppy). Type a title in the space provided. Tap Save.
7. Export: When you launch the app, tap “Saved Shows”. You will be presented with an option to “Export”. Your show will be saved in the video section of your camera roll.
8. Upload to YouTube, Schoology or Email: From your camera roll, locate the video. Tap the rectangle with the arrow in the upper right hand corner. You will have the option to email the video (many videos may be too large for this option), send it to YouTube (will have to sign in to an account), or copy the video. If uploading to Schoology, open your Schoology app and create an update. Attach the video in your update and post.

Possible Topics for Puppet Pals

1. Illustrate a vocabulary word, math problem, or scientific concept
2. Recreate a story in a different setting
3. Apply today’s government and economic structure to that of the Wild West
4. Create a news story (interview a character or a witness)
5. Illustrate a poem (include various elements of figurative language: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, idioms, cliches) or practice rhyme scheme & meter
6. Write a story using a certain number of prepositional phrases, adverbs, adjectives, etc…
7. Create a story to illustrate humor or another emotion or depict sarcasm or irony (verbal, dramatic, situational) or even a paradox
8. Create a story to illustrate word play & literary techniques (spoonerisms, wellerisms, rhetoric,puns,
9. Create a story to narrate conflict or climax
10. Create a story that is a biographical retelling of a historical figure from the era (or a historical fiction account) – check out Time Warp Trio for some great extensions and ideas (also has an Old West section) to spice up your show.
11. Create a talk show to have various characters share their story or debate a topic.

For practice: Choose 1 of the following show ideas:

• Option A: Create a Puppet Pal Show using the existing characters and backdrops that highlight at least 3 idioms, 3 prepositions, 1 metaphor, and 1 simile. Export your show (as a video) so others can see it.
• Option B: Create a Puppet Pals Show using at least 2 one-syllable rhyming words, 2 two or three-syllable rhyming words, 2 idioms, and 2 alliterations.

You may use the resources highlighted here to assist you with your show: Idiom Dictionary, Idiom Site,Rhymezone, Ryhmer, The Preposition, Your Dictionary: Alliteration, Your Dictionary: Similes & Metaphors,Buzzle.com: Metaphors.

Many of these ideas shared by Lisa Johnson. Thanks Lisa!! Check out her blog at http://www.techchef4u.com/

Google Custom Search

There are so many times when I want to restrict student searching to a set of several good resources and not allow them to use Google. However, when I've done this in the past I've had to post each site individually on my website, or even in a resource such as LiveBinders, and students need to search each site separately. It works, but not as efficiently as I'd like.

However, if I open up all of the web and just have them search on Google, they are apt to run into so many resources they don't know which one to choose - or they run into inappropriate material, or they simply can't find what they need.

Creating a Google Custom Search is one answer! In order to create a custom search in Google one must have a Google account - and if that account is a school g-apps account, your administrator must allow the use of custom searching.

I attached a video here to show you just how easy it is to create a Google Custom Search. That setup is made even easier if you already know what sites you'd like students to head to for their research. I have created custom searches for researching states for their state projects, animals for the North American animal project, inventors for that project, and biographies for their biography project.

The following search box is for North American animals. Give it a try by typing in an animal for which you'd like to find information.

Rather than write out how easy a custom search can be, I'll leave you with a custom search link here, as well as a video that I created to show you how to create your own Google Custom Search.

This is a quick and easy alternative to searching the whole web. Try it out today!

Moving Pictures and Video off your iPad

I highly recommend that teachers use their iPads for taking pictures and video. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing more slick than that! They take excellent still pictures and movies, and you can make anything a teachable moment. Take pictures of student work, good behavior, fun projects, silly moments, field trips, little stuff you want to make bigger (!), classroom guests, and so on. Take videos of students performing, children reading, field trips, great classroom behavior, and on and on and on.

But from there it can get a little sticky. My two options had been to email each individual picture (or video) to myself, upload the video to YouTube and then download it to my computer, or connect my iPad to my computer and transfer through iTunes. Transferring through iTunes doesn't work with our school iPads that are configured through Configurator, so that left only the email or upload to YouTube options. Both were a pain!

We are in the midst of a big project in our 2nd grade. Each student brought in a project. These, along with their explanation, are being recorded, photographed or videotaped and compiled into an electronic ABC Book using iBooks Author. This is a fantastic project and I am SO THRILLED to be going through this process. However, on Wednesday three teachers handed me iPads with over 100 pictures on each, and I realized I would have to email over 300 pictures individually to myself. This task was overwhelming, and I realized there had to be a better way!

After searching online for photo transfer tools, I ran across an app called PhotoSync. It is not free, but only costs $1.99, and I can install it on multiple iPads quickly, and remove it when I'm done if I need to. It is connected directly to my account, so any transfers I make I must make by logging in.

I installed the app on my own iPad first to test it out. There is also a free computer application (both Mac and PC) that needs to be installed. I added that to my computer, started both applications, and selected the photos I wanted to transfer. All 117 pictures on the first iPad transferred in about one minute. They went into a folder labeled with the iPad name, which made sorting them a breeze! This was one of those apps that worked perfectly, easily, seamlessly and predictably. I didn't have to read any directions ahead of time! I can't say enough how excited I am to find this app. It is one that I will be using and recommending over and over!

If you like watching videos and seeing how easy it is to use, here is one (of several) I snagged off of YouTube. Take a look  - and try PhotoSync out for yourself today!

Quietube

We do a daily news show at PME, and post it on our YouTube channel. One of the frustrations of many of the elementary teachers was the direct YouTube link. We're all familiar with them. You watch your video in the center, and you see all kinds of videos on the side, and then "recommended videos" at the end. I'm not sure how these are selected, but I do know this: they aren't always appropriate for children!

Quietube is something of a solution for this problem. Here's how it works.

Go to the Quietube website. (You can always just google Quiet Tube, or type in www.quietube.com (note that there is only one t). On the website there is a Quietube button, which you simply drag to your browser bar, in any web browser.

Now you can go to YouTube and select any video. When you have the video (in the browser window - normal size, not enlarged), click on the quietube button on your browser bar. The video will re-open in a new window (or tab) without the additional videos around the edges. Voila!







So your video can go from this:

to this:

You will still see the "boxes" with "suggested videos" at the end of your video. I haven't found a solution for removing those, but if I do, you can be sure I'll let you know. One thing I have found is that if I leave several seconds of black at the end of the video, people will close the window prior to having those boxes appear.

This solution works great when sharing a video with anyone, or when posting it on a web page. In my experience, however, if you can post a video directly from YouTube to a classroom management program, such as Schoology, this will take care of the problem for you and you won't need to worry about advertisements. This is an even better solution, when possible!

Google Hangouts

Move over, Skype, Google Hangout has arrived!

Google Hangout is a free way for up to 9 people to meet using their computer and microphone. It is a wonderful way to host an online meeting, interview somewhere far away, or meet up with a friend.  There is a chat that can be used alongside your video window, the entire meeting can be recorded and saved to be watched at a later date, and you can share documents and videos with ease.

The link to Google Hangout is here: http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/

Since it is made by Google it seamlessly works with other Google products. It is easy to view your agenda or work on the same document, just as you would with other Google apps. The person who is instigating the meeting has the ability to set up the Hangout and then email the address to the other members. This is a closed conversation, and outsiders are not allowed to join in unless they have an invitation.

I have found it to be fun, easy to use, versatile, and robust. I highly recommend it as a way for any groups to get together!