Innovate. Create. Imagine.

Do's and Dont's

  1. DO, experiment FIRST yourself. DON'T pass out iPads and say "have fun and experiment."
  2. DO create first, DON'T use games as the first activity. 
  3. DO have rules and procedures in place BEFORE you give your students the iPads.
  4. DO have accountability and procedures that the students SEE. Have a sign-up and sign-out sheet. Assign iPads. 
  5. DO number iPads and have the wallpaper reflect the number.
  6. DO have restrictions ON, if you don't set a password the students will. (then lock you out).
  7. DO have your students "scout" for pictures or video first. DON'T send them out to "find stuff."

Simple Rules to Live By...

  1. Live in two world at first, one traditional and one digital.
  2. Only have ONE class or subject doing tech, slowly integrate into the other subjects. That way if tech issues arise, you only have ONE lesson that crashes, not the entire day.
  3. Say "Yes, and..." when a student wants to extend the lesson with technology. You never know what you are going to get!
  4. Have a tech day BEFORE presentation day. Make sure all the projects are working and ready to present.

It begins with LITERACY.

Literacy is the backbone of innovative and creative multimedia projects. A systematic approach of visual and auditory arts through the use of digital storytelling will enhance the common core goals within your classroom and district using the arts as the glue.
Picture
It's all about.....ME!  

What did you do the first time you SAW Google Earth?
Yep - you went to your OWN house, then your parent's, then houses and locations that were important to YOU!


Make connections that the students can FEEL and SEE. 

PERSONAL, then content

When starting with a new application or toy. Make it personal to YOU.
The first project will take a lot of time and frustration, so do a project on something you LOVE or are passionate about, what to learn about, or connects to you.

Created videos on an iPad

  1. I have created videos specifically on an iPad to see what you can do. 
  2. Make SHORT videos to tell stories and enhance literacy skills. 
  3. Start with STILL PICTURES, not video. Editing a video will take you 10x longer with limited results. My students did not create videos until they had mastered still shots. 

Five-sentence Videos

Click here for more details about the five-sentence videos
1. Story building with sound effects. One sentence with a sound effect.
2. Students add sound effects and a picture with simple sentences. 
3. As a class create a five-sentence story.
4. Groups of students responsible for ONE sentence, picture, and song.
5. Students tell stories without talking, using pictures and music.
6. Develop the stories into longer videos with short themes. 

Student-created videos

The idea of making things backwards really energized the sixth graders. I filmed everything forward. then looked at it backwards. Many takes were given to get the right result. 
Switch was added to the lunchroom because of all the sugar drinks, The students realized is actually had MORE sugar! Here's the LAST switch. 
This was created over a winter vacation. It was the first attempt to fly!
This was created in after effects and ALL of the music is original. Notice how the music matches the art. 
The was created in Flash, exported as a .mov then scored in GarageBand. GB was shared to iTunes (without the .move) Original file in iMovie, drop the iTunes music
 A simple movie trailer for an upcoming tech conference.
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