Why being the tekkie teacher AND a homeroom teacher doesn't suck....

I have a great class. A fabulous class.

We have worked hard this year on many academic pursuits. Now we are doing projects...tekkie projects. One is (I'm so glad you asked) are Animoto slide show/animations based on quotes from Twelfth Night, a Shakespearean comedy.
The assignment was: 1. pick a quote from the play; 2. select photos (we've collected many of our own digital photos on the public drive so there are no copyright issues); 3. manipulate photos (we've used GIMP); 4. upload photos to Animoto; 5. Post them on our Grade 5/6 blogsite

Check them out. Be entertained. Get cultured. We did.

Podcast Central

...hello....this is patriciaellencone aka "Ms. Cone" reporting live from the computer lab at Hafford Central School.

I've given some creative writing / performing assignments to go with our study of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Many of my students are creating podcasts using Audacity. I have no idea (much) how all of this will turn out, but right now the kids are having a blast (so am I if the truth be told).

I've created a notebook with some podcasting links from where we can download sound effects and music loops.

...We'd like to have any tips that anyone out there can pass on about the use of Audacity. We'll pass any one that we learn.

Keep posted...

ArtsEd meets ELA and Voicethread with Interesting Results

My grade 5 and 6 class had truly wonderful plasticine art projects of their favourite places to be. I thought the project results were too good not to take further, so I asked Jennifer Shumanski, grade one teacher extraordinaire, if she wanted to partner up and help us with an online story project about the grade 5/6 favourite places to be.

First, I took pictures of all the art projects. Next, I had some students in 5/6 scale the images in GIMP and then upload them to Voicethread. Yesterday, armed with a story framework and their art projects, grade 5 and 6 students went to the grade one classroom, buddied up, wrote stories, practiced reading, and enjoyed Timbits. My students will word process the stories with large fonts, and have their buddies read their stories as Voicethreads. I've taken "mugshots" of the grade ones, and will upload them soon

Track our progress: Our Favourite Places to Be

ELA, Social Issues, Technology, and Grade 6 SocSt. Curriculum.....

My first degree is a BA(adv) in Sociology, and I realized that a) it took me 4 years to acquire all the jargon and concepts to be able to have some understanding of social science; and that b) after acquiring all that knowledge I didn't have a clue how to speak about it in everyday English to a non-sociology grad. I don't know if that experience really colours my experience teaching middle years social studies, but somehow I STILL look at the curricula and think, "My gosh, how many years of university did it take me to make sense of some of this stuff!!!)

I still struggle with "teaching the skills" as Prof. Dhand would say, and covering the curriculum.

One attempt for me is tying the study of literature 2ith the study of social issues. A few years ago, my (then) co-grade 5/6 teacher and I decided we didn't like any of the Canadianized American ELA reading programs, and so we decided to order various novels from Oxford University Press (which yes, are unabashedly British). While a lot of work, I've found that having these novel sets have given me instructional flexibility. I have some novels that are written at a 2-3 year reading level, and a middle level interest level. I have some that are at year 5 and 6 reading and interest level, and I have some that can provide enrichment.

I have created a page of Youtube video links to add to the study of the social issues aspect of the novel studies.

On Thursday when no students were here, Donna helped me via Skype to create a new page of video links for my Grade 5 and 6 page. (The few students who were in the lab thought I was off my nut speaking into my computer screen!) I found some cool stuff, and a lot of school project type stuff (well, Youtube IS democratic!!!) I even found out that Grace the Pirate isn't just a level 3 reading story, she is in fact an historically documented Irish female leader of the Elizabethan age.

We haven't been able to start the novel studies yet...Monday's the day. I hope all this work is worthwhile.

The RED PANDA! (Or how Canada's greatest superhero taught my class how to make podcasts!)

I've always wanted to get my students to make enteratining podcasts, but I didn't know where to get inspiration and modeling for them. Recently, on iTunes, I've listened to "Old Tyme Radio Network" podcasts, and by chance I stumbled onto Podiobooks.com . The Red Panda season one is Decoder Ring Theatre (from Canada)'s tribute to old radio programs. I've played both the old radio and Red Panda for my class. They definately prefer the Red Panda because it has better sound quality, and moves at a quicker, more modern pace. (As well, can you imagine the Red Panda's sidekick, his driver, Kit Baxter, as the Flying Squirrel?)

Today, some students started experimenting with recording podcasts. One group used my laptop MacBook, and the other group and I experimented with Audacity. GarageBand is AWESOME as we all know, but we were all surprised at how well Audacity worked. We still need to do a lot more work, but today was one of those great days in education.

PS....any tips on using Audacity and/or GarageBand gratefully received!