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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Rescheduled: Many Things REVISED

Rescheduled

REVISED 3:58 PM September 28, 2011. No, it's not a baseball game. It is Many Things.

Too many people are planning to record their podcast in the lab tonight. And we need a Mac connected to an overhead projector to do the iMovie presentation. We will postpone the iMovie presentation until sometime in October. Sorry about that.

This change requires several other changes:

1. Short Movie (Project #11) originally due Sunday October 9 will now be due Sunday October 16.
2. SMART Board Instruction Part 1 (Project #13) originally due Sunday October 16 will now be due Sunday October 23.

New Schedule for Wednesday Workshops (and a Saturday)

Introduction to SMARTboard basics Wednesday October 5 6-8pm Anthony Capps (no change)

Introduction to SMARTboard basics Saturday October 8 10am -12 noon (no change)

Introduction to iMovie and Movie Making Wednesday October 12 4-5:15 pm and 6-7:15 pm and Thursday October 13 11am - 12:15pm Allie Howell Since this week (Week beginning October 9) is MANDATORY ATTENDANCE WEEK, we will incorporate the iMovie workshop into the mandatory class. You must attend ALL sessions of your class that week, not just the ones where we will cover iMovie.

Green Screens and Chroma Keys in Movie Making October 19 6-8 pm Elizabeth Brooks (moved from 9/12)

Friday, September 23, 2011

In Defense of the Luddite Professor Who Lectures

Luddites cartoon

Hear the other side:

In Defense of the Luddite Professor (Doug Marshall)
Teaching Seminar
Library 312
2:30-3:30
Monday September 26, 2011

Dr. Marshall will make the case that traditional in-class lecture is an indispensable part of college education, and must remain an integral part of the curriculum. Click to register, call 461-1888 or just show up. I intend to attend!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Wednesday Workshops (and a Saturday) Corrected Schedule

Rescheduled

We have started a series of special opportunities to learn even more!

This schedule is the Corrected Schedule. Also see Rescheduled: Many Things


Introduction to SMARTboard basics Wednesday October 5 6-8pm Anthony Capps
Introduction to SMARTboard basics Saturday October 8 10am -12 noon
Introduction to iMovie and Movie Making Wednesday October 12 6-8pm Allie Howell
Green Screens and Chroma Keys in Movie Making October 19 6-8pm Elizabeth Brooks

Monday, September 19, 2011

25% Complete


We have completed Week 4 which puts us 25% of the way through the Fall Semester. Is your work up to date?

I Keep Hoping!

But I am disappointed once again. Twenty-nine students (22%) did not post Blog Post #4 on time. That's about the usual percentage, but it is certainly not what I would like to see! What would you think if you were the principal of a school and 22% of your teachers did not show up for work?

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Uploading Movies to YouTube

i Movie and You Tube Logos

This week you are to create "Your Sentence" on a Mac in the lab. Here are some important things you should know.

1. Several students have asked "May I do this on my PC at home?" The answer is No for three reasons: a. We want you to come to the lab at least once; b. We want you to become familiar with making movies on the Mac. It is much easier than on a PC and will enable you to think about what computer you want to use for later movies. c. Allie creates a compilation of all movies and if they are already on the Macs it saves a lot of time.

2. Several students have found that YouTube will not accept their movie.

YouTube now requires that you create a channel before allowing you to upload videos. So...
Make your movie on the Mac. Using the Share menu item in iMovie, Export Movie. Select the This Is My Sentence folder on the Mac, Press Save. Open a browser, sign in to YouTube. Click Upload movie. YouTube will the ask you to create a channel which appears to be the same as signing in all over again. Click Upload again. Select your movie in the This Is My sentence folder. BE SURE YOU UNCHECK THE Make this movie personal BOX. Click the button to complete this and your movie will appear on YouTube soon. The next time you do this you can upload directly to YouTube from the Share menu in iMovie.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

A 9/11/Veterans Day Tribute by the Third Graders of Tussing Elementary

Tussing

A 9/11 Tribute by the Third Graders of Tussing Elementary, Colonial Heights, Virginia

Be sure you learn how to do something like this in your class.

Thanks to Tommy Carpenter for sending this video.

Monday, September 12, 2011

How Are We Doing?

It's Monday Morning Quarterbacking Time. How did EDM310 do? About the same as last week. Here are the figures:
Blog Post #3 On Time - 98 (73%) up from 71% last week
No or Partial Blog Post # 3 - 36 (27%) down from 29% last week

Do we have the correct information?

If you did not get a comment from me or a member of the lab staff this past week, send me an email. Include the URL for your blog. Maybe we have the wrong URL. This is especially likely if you are not getting comments from anyone!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Thank You EDM310

Thank You

This comment was just left on the previous post. It is so special that I wanted to be sure everyone saw it!

1/4 Prep, 3/4 Theater has left a new comment on your post "C4K Assignments Now in Your Google Docs":

Just want you to know that you are all making a lot of fifth graders' days with all of your comments on our class blogs! I hear excited voices calling out, "I got a comment all the way from Alabama" in my classroom! Keep them coming! My students are loving it!
Marla Huebner
Sioux Rapids, IA
http://kidblog.org/2011-12Class/

That's what makes C4K so wonderful! Thanks EDM310 Students!

Add More Names To Those You Follow

Twitter Profile Page

Now that you are becoming more familiar with Twitter, it is time to add some more names to those you follow. A good list is found on the C4T site. Now add 15, 20, 25 or more of those names. Here is my suggestion of how to make it fairly easy:

1. Go to Twitter and sign in. (Yes, the web site. This is easier to do there.)
2. Click on Who To Follow (Really should be Whom to follow but we won't go there).
3. Search for a person's name or Twitter name (found on C4T)
4. You will find a brief description of who that person is. If you want more information before deciding whether or not to follow them, chick on their name that starts the paragraph about them. This will take you to their Profile Page. More information will be available including recent Tweets, # of followers, # following, etc.. You can even see whom they follow to get more ideas for names.
5. If you want to Follow this person, click Follow.
6. That's it!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Group List Now in Your Google Docs

Small group

I did not get an email indicating group membership for 24 students (18%). If you were among those, I created groups and assigned you to a group. Think about this: You are going to be a teacher. My students (your classmates) have trouble doing things on time and following directions. You students will have the same problems. It takes time to get everyone on board, but you have to keep trying. Here is an overview so far
Week 1: 17% did not do, or did only part of the assignment on time
Week 2: 31% did not do, or did only part of the assignment on time
Forming A Group: 18% did not join a group or did not have a person who followed directions about emailing me the members of the group (or were absent from a required class without an acceptable excuse).

Come on class! Let's all try harder!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Off On The Wrong Foot

off on wrong foot

When kids first start to put on their own shoes they often try to put the wrong shoe on the wrong foot. I guess we can call that "off on the wrong foot." Or when we fail to "put our best foot forward" it would be getting "off on the wrong foot." That is what happened to 31% of EDM310 students for Blog Post #2. Thirty-six students (or 26% of the class) did not have a post on their blog by 2 pm today (14 hours after they were due). Seven other students (5% of the class) did not submit all portions of the 5 part assignment. That is certainly "getting off on the wrong foot." So what should you do?

1. Resolve NOT to be late again.
2. Do all parts of the assignment.
3. If you get behind, do not be late on future assignments trying to catch up. Catch up when you will not make another post late.
4. You will not get a comment. That is unfortunate because we try and help you get better through comments.
5. You get a red block
red block

on your record. That will change to a pink block when you catch up. That helps - a little.

One thing is clear from previous classes: You cannot afford to get behind in EDM310.

Be on time with your work.

A Time To Learn

old fashioned bicycle

When you start to learn how to ride a bicycle, you will fall off. When you start to ride a horse you may also fall off but it is hoped that you will be old enough to follow instructions and not fall off.

Experience teaches us that the first two weeks of EDM310 is like learning to ride a bicycle. Students fall off. Some even skin themselves up pretty badly.

For other students they stay on the horse, but have much to learn.

For a few (4 - 3%), we could enter them as jockeys in a quality race have have a good chance of winning (if the horse is good enough).

Two weeks are over. Did you fall off the bicycle? Did you stay on the horse but have more to learn? Can we enter you in the fifth race at the Fairgrounds?

Here are the major problems encountered in the first round of Blog Post Assignments:

Fell off bicycle with major scratches and bruises:

1. A student with a blog for which the URL does not work. Even worse a student who does not have a blog.
(2 - 1%) The problem is we can't tell the difference. We think we have located all of these students and we have notified them by email. If we notified you by email that we can't find your blog, respond immediately with your Blog URL. We may have messed up the link or you may have messed up the naming or there may be another explanation. The cause of the problem is irrelevant (except to try and avoid making the same mistake again). The objective is to get a working blog with a working URL as soon as possible.

2. A student with a working URL (we get to a blog) but there is no post for Blog Assignment #1. (14 - 10%) This is a VERY BAD WAY to start the semester unless there is a good explanation. This includes students who have been in EDM310 before. ALL POSTS must be done THIS SEMESTER. Do NOT use your work from before. Leave it on your blog, but do all posts from scratch for this semester!

3. A student who did only part of the Blog Post #1 Assignment. (8 - 6%) Typically the part about Time Management was skipped by these students.

4. A student who did both parts of the assignment for Blog Post #1 but who separated the assignment into separate posts. (14 - 10%) Here were the instructions to be followed (from page 6 of The Blog Post Assignments Instruction Manual. I also discussed this in class.):
3. Each Blog Assignments must be in a single post unless you are instructed otherwise. You must make ONE post which covers ALL of the assignments for every week. Where it makes sense, combine into one set of paragraphs. When the topics differ, separate them with headings in bold within the post. See the instructional movie if you have questions. Or contact any member of the teaching staff.
5. A student who did not meet Mrs. Yollis' 3rd grade writing standards. (7 - 5%)

There were also a lot of students who fell off the bicycle but had no scratches and bruises.

1. These students did not answer the question "Do you know anything else about Dr. Pausch?" (70 - 51%) which was part of the assignment. Now I realize that I should have said "Answer this question (and if you don't know anything about Dr. Pausch, do a Google search". But I still expected an answer. Why? Because it helps our understanding a lot when listening, reading or watching if we know something about the person involved. I would hope that your curiosity would spur you to investigate on your own. After 47 years of teaching I now know that curiosity (about school work) has largely been killed by the 5th or 6th grade. I keep hoping, but I am usually disappointed. I sure hope I discover sometime how to get curiosity started again. It is obvious that my question did not work and I failed again.

So for those of us (including me) who fell off, what do we do?

We get up, dust ourselves off, get some iodine (shows my age) and bandages, and get back on to ride again. In other words, we examine our mistakes, correct those that can be corrected, and make every effort not to make the same mistakes again. If we do that, we will be OK. If we continue to fall off, we need more help.

For the successful riders: Carry On!

C4K Assignments Now in Your Google Docs

C 4 K Week 1

Be sure to review Instructions (p. 17 of Projects Manual) BEFORE leaving comments! Look carefully at the Class Blog. What can you find out about the teacher, the school, the class you are visiting? PROOFREAD your comments!

C4C Updated
In addition, assignments for C4C due 9/11/11 have been updated.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Lab Closed at 2:00

Due to Tropical Storm Lee the EDM310 and all COE Labs closed at 2:00 pm Saturday 9/3. We intend for the labs to be open Sunday 9/4 but this this subject to shange. Check the EDM310 Class Blog for the latest nformation.