Thing 5: Digital Storytelling & Presentation Tools

Wow!  I cannot believe it is almost the end of February.  The school year is just brezzing by.
For thing 5, I used Storybird.  My personal experience with digital storytelling and presentation tools goes back to a graduate education course I took on teaching technology to ESOL students.  Our class used VoiceThread as an online communications tool to "discuss" our topics.  I really enjoyed using it because it was like being in a classroom.  All of the students could "see" each other and leave video, audio or written comments for others to view, listen or read.    I am thinking of using VoiceThread for a small group that will be reading Flat Stanley.

Now back to Storybird.   I really enjoyed this digital storytelling tool.  And one of the best deals was that the story could be easily created on the iPad.  (Some of the other tools from thing 5 were not so great on the Apple device).  However, this tool could work great with students who love to use the iPad.   There is such a cozy feel to creating stories on Storybird, that I can easily see students sitting on a rug or pillow creating awesome stories.  I will definitely try this one with some of my techie second graders. 

Here is my digital story.  Enjoy!
Becky's Library Adventure

Look closely at Becky during her adventures.   The secret is the reason she giggles at the end of the story.  :)

Thing 4: Photo Sharing, Editing and Fun

Photo sharing is a favorite hobby of ours at home.  My kids and I love to make musical slideshows of the family's "growing cousins".  It's one thing to share home photos, but school photos are another thing.  Due to the privacy issues with students, we must be careful when using photo sharing apps.  However, witihin the school setting, there are many ways to benefit from photo sharing apps and websites.  We can create slideshows for presentations, assemblies, moving up ceremonies, etc.  I am currently working on a "Senior" slideshow for my daughter's class. 

On my Ipad I tried working with Aviary but didn't have the results that I wanted.  (I wanted to be able to do slideshows such as the ones you can do on Windows).  I am still playing with it as an App, but I like Muzy much better.

For my library students I am currently assembling photos for our "Get caught Reading" photo showcase.  Here are some of our photos I "pinned" on a corkboard using Muzy. 

Muzy  is great for making collages, posters, photo designs, etc.  It is fairly easy to use and can be shared on most social networks. 
Happy photo sharing!  :)
 

Thing #3: RSS

I've always had a difficult time catching up with tech tools that involve lots of comments or info.  It seems I want to read everything, but don't have the time.  That's how I came about signing up for google reader.  It kept all of my different sites organized so that I wouldn't miss any topics of interest.  

I knew there were similar "readers" like google's but had never tried them.  

For this course I tried Netvibes and I like it.  I am seriously considering it as my new homepage since iGoogle will soon be gone.  (Netvibes has much more flair anyway).   

One of the things that I like about RSS feeds is that for me they are a one-stop shop.  I can add different feeds from all of my favorite news sites, web pages, library updates, and most importantly they are all in one spot.   Just sign in and everything is there for you to read, view and/or listen.

As a public librarian I used Google Reader to connect with relevant blogs, book review sites (children's, teens and Spanish), and stay on top of current library events.  As a school librarian, a RSS reader can connect me with lesson plan ideas, blogs from fellow educators and one of my favorites, PBS Teachers.  :)

I'm glad to have yet another cool tool to "play" with.  It helps me get ideas for use with my seventh graders.  My own kids like it too because they get to use the tools as well.