#DigilitSunday Crafting Digital Media


Crafting Digital Media is such an important topic because I think our students are really looking for opportunities to create! I am still in the early stages of learning how to do this myself, so I think I've held the reigns on crafting digital media, sometimes not allowing my students to do the creating part. For example, we used a green screen through the app Doink for our persuasive speeches last year (third grade). I took the video of the students talking and I did the work of creating the new background through the app. I learned a lot! But did the students? This year, I would like to "let it go" (Thanks, Elsa) and teach my students how to do more of the digital creating.

 Part of teaching them how to craft digital media is also modeling and showing them possibilities. As I prepare for a new school year, one task is to send home a letter introducing myself, asking for supplies, and communicating about the year ahead. I decided to make a Google slide presentation about myself and then narrate it using Screencast-o-matic, which I just learned this summer. I downloaded it into SeeSaw, where I plan to have digital journals for my students this year. A QR code will be generated and put into my back to school letter, so students can scan the code and then listen to my presentation. I will also put the link in case some families do not have access to a QR code scanner. 

 Here is the video I created: 


This summer, I've been creating weekly Smore newsletters around reading for my school community. Each newsletter has a Padlet where people can share what they are reading. Last week, I shared videos from Olivia Van Ledtje, a student who has been creating videos about her reading life. (You can find her on Twitter @thelivbits. She is awesome! Her mom supervises the account so it is a great kid-safe site to share with students). Two of my former students, who are sisters, were inspired! They created their own book review videos,which will be features in tomorrow's newsletter, but I'll give you the sneak preview today. It was very telling to me that after seeing a video of what one student could do, these students thought, "Why not us too?" and used digital media to share their ideas as well. 

https://www.smore.com/nka0n

I've been enjoying reading all the posts today on #DigiLitSunday and I was reminded that "creating" is the highest skill on Bloom's Taxonomy. I will keep this in mind as the new school year begins, looking for ways to help my students show their learning by crafting digital media. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#SOL16 Lesson From Piper

Image
Have you seen the Disney Pixar Short film Piper ?  If not, go watch...I'll wait. :) I watched this movie today with a few of my students who stay after school for "Club Success" (formerly called "tutoring" but this feels way more positive for the kids who are asked to stay). After we watched Piper , we wrote about the movie and then shared our writing. Each of the three students who wrote touched upon the idea that Piper had to learn how to get the food for herself. Some students mentioned the pride she felt after she learned how to survive the big waves and find food.  We talked about the mistakes she made and how they helped her to learn.  I think this video is a MUST WATCH for a few reasons.  1- It really makes you think about the process of learning and how uncomfortable it can feel when you move to trying something new for the first time.  2-Piper learned by her failed attempts and eventually by finding a mentor and trying his strategy. 3-When ...
Read more

A Working Mom's "I am" Poem #sol15 Day 16

Image
Disclaimer: I have nothing but respect for moms who "stay at home." It is the hardest job.  In my brief stints being a stay at home mom while on maternity leave and on summer vacations, I know that the days are exhausting and challenging.  This poem attempts to capture how I feel about life at the moment, being a third grade teacher and a mom to 2 kids under the age of 5. I am a Working Mom I am exhausted and never done.  I wonder how to find the elusive "work-life" balance  I hear my alarm go off at 3am and trudge downstairs to do the work I couldn't do when the kids were awake I see my work bag,bulging, begging me to finally pay it attention. I want 5 minutes to myself. I am exhausted and never done. I pretend I can do it all I feel the need to eat lots of chocolate I touch my children's soft little cheeks and hug them. I worry I am missing important moments with them. I cry when I feel like I am drowning from it all. I am exhausted and n...
Read more

#SOL19 You Can Go Your Own Way

Image
If you were looking at an Identity Web for me right now (Sara K. Ahmed's Being the Change has been on my mind with our recent #twtblog series and a book study/ workshop I facilitated with the Long Island Writing Project), you would see the added role of "Daisy Co-Leader" as another hat (or Girl Scout tunic?) I am wearing. My daughter, Megan, is a kindergarten student and I have signed on to be her Girl Scout troop co-leader. My fabulous friend and colleague (and down the street neighbor!) is the leader of the troop and she is everything you've ever dreamed of in a Daisy troop leader- enthusiastic, creative, organized, kind, thoughtful, and ambitious. Our troop has done A LOT in our short six months together.  Last night was another Daisy event. We met up with other Girl Scouts from our town and the town right next to us for a "Paint Night." Each girl got a canvas and paints and was instructed, step by step, on how to make a snowman in a winter sc...
Read more