Back From Break

Welcome back.  I hope you all had a chance to rest and relax.  I was lucky enough to get away to warmer weather last week.  It was nice to put on flip flops and shorts and not get goose bumps!!  Everywhere I went I was reminded of how much technology has changed things.  One day I actually powered my phone off for a few hours and didn't use any technology.  You can see the results in the picture below (okay I guess technology was used to take this pic!)

Kingfish off Miami
(I caught some wahoo, dolphin, bonito, and these kingfish-lots of fun!!)

That day now seems weeks away, and I was reminded how much temperature can differ in a few hundred miles; from 90 to 45 to be exact!!  We are back in school and need to focus on the task at hand- PODCASTING!

This week you will be recording your podcasts.  If you have not yet finished your scripts, please do so.  I have not yet finished going through them; but will do so this week.  Once you have finished recording, please start your editing.  Be sure to use the resources you have found to help with this.  There are some suggested in my prior blog posts and you have pinned some on your Pinterest boards.  Have fun with this project.  If you have time, please publish another blog post.  I will be expecting at least 10 by Friday.

Bursting With Pride

I would like to congratulate the students in our BIS Broadcasting Club.  I am so proud of the new BIS Tour video they created.  It was amazing!!  You can check it out on our school webpage.  It received rave reviews from all who have seen it!!  So I would like to say to Maeve, Greta, Liam, Olivia, Seamus, and Maxen- You ROCK!!

Now on to this week; the word of the week is “Podcasting.”  What is it you ask????  You will most definitely have an answer by the end of the week.  You will watch a great video, “Podcasting in Plain English,” and then experience podcasts on two different devices.  I want you thinking about the different purposes for creating this type of media and who might be watching/listening to podcasts; the audience.  You will be creating your own podcasts in the upcoming weeks; so it is very important you understand the basics.  We will be using resources from a well-respected site: PBS NewsHour Extra.  I hope you are excited to learn about a new type of media and find some helpful resources for school and life.  

After exploring podcasts on both iPods and our workstations, we will begin preparing for our next project.  I have created a Google doc with some podcasting resources.  I would like you to bookmark at least three of these resources in your diigo accounts.  Don't worry, I will review how to do this.  I know it has been a while.  I would like you to start thinking about what type of "How to" podcast you would like to create. We will work on a planning sheet next week.  Until then.......happy podcast exploring!!

Frustrating and Exciting!

There are so many things I should be doing at this moment, but needed to share this with all of you!! We have been working on uploading our podcasts to our blogs. Such a simple sounding task I know; but as always with technology there have been glitches. I am continually telling my students I am learning right along with them; hence the name of my blog, but today was able to model that for them. Students discovered our media player was displaying their first and last names; something we discourage for our 7th graders. I didn’t have the solution, so asked my entire class to stop what they were doing at that moment and search the “Tindeck” site for answers. I also shot off a quick email to Tindeck asking for advice. Jenn timidly raised her hand and shared her discovery. We could edit our tracks and change the name of the artist, thus solving our problem. Much to my surprise, I received an almost immediate response from Tindeck, who unknowing to me is based in Australia. They didn’t have the resolve, but were willing to see if they could go in to accounts and make corrections to user names. I replied with the student resolve. Thinking that would be the end of my communication with Tindeck, I didn’t pay much attention to my email. Well, I was wrong. That was not the end of my communication. Tindeck was interested in how we were using their site (this is actually when I found out they were located in Australia). So what started off as a very frustrating lesson, turned in to one of the better and more exciting couple of classes I’ve had in a long time.
It is interesting how quickly the world becomes so small and connected. Just one of life’s great “teachable moments”!!!

Adding Your Podcast to Your Blog

Adding your podcast from you Tindeck account is very simple. All you need to do if paste the HTML coding in to your post.
 **Make sure you have the "Edit HTML" tab selected instead of the "Compose" tab.  Both of these tabs are located in the top right hand corner of your post box.  Check with me if you aren't sure about what I mean. 
Go to Tindeck and log in. Click on my profile to find the selected track for your podcast, and open it by clicking on the podcast track. Once it is open, in the bottom right hand corner you will see a green check mark and the words "Get Embed/Link Code." You will need to left click on this tab. It will bring you to a page with a variety of options. Scroll down a bit until you see, "Embedded Player." Under this you will see a box with the embed code (HTML language) for your podcast. Simply select or highlight all of the code, I find grabbing it from the bottom to work best, and copy. You will then paste this code on your blog post exactly where you would like it to appear. Publish the post, and you will see your audio player there ready to go! Have fun!!


Upload MP3s using free MP3 hosting from Tindeck.

The Big Reveal

Welcome back from vacation! I know some of your brains are a bit foggy, but please shake out the cobwebs and get right back in to podcasting. During our first classes this week you will be finishing up any final editing you need to do on your podcasts. You will also be creating an account in “Tindeck” so you will have a place to “hang” your audio files. We need to get an embed code to be able to upload your podcast to your blog. Please remember this “Tindeck” account is a school/professional account and should be used for this purpose only. If you want a place to put your personal/social files, please use your personal email accounts and create another “Tindeck” account at home. You will be adding your log in information for “Tindeck” to your school sites tables. Remember there is one on your pdrive and one in your Google docs.
After you have finished your editing, and created your new account, you will upload your finished podcast (in an MP3 format) to your Tindeck account. You will then need to complete the student evaluation component of your Podcast Project Rubric. This will be a ticket to leave for class #1. During second class this week you will be creating a new page on your blog for technology related posts, writing a new post about podcasting, and uploading your podcast. Sorry if you thought we would be taking it easy this week!!

What do I do when I'm done editing my podcast?

When you have finished editing your podcast be sure save it to your p-drive. I would recommend you rename it, "Finished Podcast." After you and your partner have saved your podcast you will return to your own workstation. You will have this time to work on the following:

1. You may create a new blog post
(Make sure you edit your post!!!)
2. You may work on the design of your blog.
3. You may read other classmates' blogs
(You can find them using this link,
Mrs. White's Students' Blogs.-http://preview.tinyurl.com/7h2wbnx)
4. You may read any blogs in your Google Reader
5. You may work on a Google Doodle-http://tinyurl.com/4pkhqqz.

The Home Stretch

Week of February 13th - February 17^th

This week you will be finishing up your podcasting project.  You will need to be sure you have recorded your podcast and get it edited before we leave for vacation.  You may edit your podcast in Audacity or you will need to "export" it as a wav file to your pdrive so you can then "import" it in to Adobe Soundbooth.  You may check out the tutorials on Atomic Learning or simply use the "help" tab in either of the editing programs.

Please be sure you have taken the on line quiz at the end of the Google Presentation before the end of the week.  **Remember this quiz is worth 15 points.  You may want to review the presentation before taking the quiz.

Once you have completed editing your podcast, you will need to complete the self evaluation on your Podcast Project Rubric.  Listen to your podcast as you evaluate it.

If you have finished all of these things, you will have time to work on your blog.  You may create another post, work with your design, or add and change around gadgets.  Use the earlier posts on my blog if you need any help. 

Ready, Set, RECORD!

The big moment has finally arrived. This week you will be recording your podcasts!! We will be turning our lab in to a recording studio, which will require a great deal of cooperation from all of you, and a little luck! It will be a different kind of week. Only a couple of groups will be recording each class. Those of you who aren’t recording will need to work SILENTLY and INDEPENDENTLY on a great Google Presentation Ms. Sweeney has created for you. The topic of the presentation is Plagiarism, Copyright, and Fair Use.

Google Presentation

You will need your Brain Pop log in information for one slide of the presentation. 
UN: BIS123 and PW: redraider

**You will need the information in this presentation to complete an on line quiz so be sure to review all of the information, watch all of the videos, and participate in any interactive parts of 

this presentation so you are prepared for the quiz!!**

You will have the option of using one of the three recording & editing software products below. Please use the tutorials in Atomic Learning to help you. I will not be able to answer all of your questions, so you will need a resource when I cannot get to you quickly enough or don’t have an answer for you. You will hopefully teach me more than I will teach you on this project!

Your log in information for Atomic Learning is:

Username: BarnstableIS

Password: redraider

• Audacity: This one is a free download at home and very basic to use.

• Adobe Soundbooth: This is a little more complex to use, but has some great features. This is not available to download and must be purchased.

• Garageband: This is a Mac product. If you are using this software, you will be using the iPod touches to record.

Final Script Writing, Rehearsing, and More

This week you will finish writing your scripts which should include 10 questions and answers, an introduction, and a closing for your interview. Many of you are close to being finished. You should do a “dry run” of your interview and time it. If your questions and answers are shorter than 1 minute long; you will need to “beef up” your answers. You may want to check out some of the resources on my blog to help you find more information for your answers. After you have finished your scripts and are satisfied with the length and information provided, please print our 2 copies-one for you and one for your partner. I will have highlighters available and I would suggest you highlight your “lines.” You will then need to find a space with your partner to rehearse your interview for your podcast. Remember-you don’t want it so sound like you are reading from a piece of paper when you are doing your recordings.

During class 2, you will have the chance to make a “practice” recording using Audacity or Adobe Soundbooth and then mess around with editing. You will view the following tutorials in Atomic Learning to help you with this exploration.

Audacity

Soundbooth