Blog #8

The idea of using video production professionally is a very interesting one. First of all, I believe that this is an area that would actually excite students and make them want to learn the process of creating their own movies. By using a software program like Microsoft Movie Maker it could allow a student who is very creative an outlet to their creativity. I believe that there are very creative students in our schools who may not be doing well in core classes because they are so creative and unable to use their imaginations in those courses. This in turn bores them and they may not put forth the effort because it is not something that they "like" to do. Whenever we can tap into something that our students actually want to learn and do is definately worth the effort of teaching it to them. I could also see students producing their own movies, documentaries, or maybe even creating a recruiting tape for the business program. I know that my own home school district is looking for more areas in which to open up the media and instructional courses and this could be a course that could be taught very easily. Is it possible that someday you may have to submit a video interview in place of a resume for employment purposes rather than going to a face-to-face interview? The possibilites are endless and only squelched with the possibility of no creativity.

www.livingproof077.blogspot.com

Blog #7

The video that I am making currently with Movie Maker is about my son's basketball team Orange Crush. Throughout his season I have used my digital camera and taken many action shots of Nate and his teammates. I am using them in conjunction with some video I shot of them during a basketball game to create a year end movie of their season. My plan is to show them their movie at the end of their awards program and to present them with their own copies. This is becoming a very time consuming project since I have to search through approximately 300 pictures to chose which ones I feel are appropriate for viewing. Also to come yet is the editing process of the actual video footage which I took of their recent game. Each team member was interviewed on the video tape so that each one of them becomes a part of the overall project. Music is pretty easily brought into the project, as we (my family and I) own quite a bit of Jock Jams CD's which contain alot of upbeat music.

http://audio.search.yahoo.com/search/audio?_&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&x=wrt&sngid=52396982262806f42fc773363c481baa&p=get+ready+to+rumble&n=100


Click on the above link and you will be able to download "Let's Get Ready to Rumble", which is one of the songs I'll be using on Nate's movie.

I'm really looking forward to finishing this project. Only because I'm excited to see the boys' and their parents reactions to viewing it. Here's hoping that they love it!

www.richardkayser.blogspot.com

Blog #6

Working on Movie Maker so far has been a really interesting activity. I chose to work by myself because of the project that I wanted to do. I originally had the idea to create a Powerpoint presentation for my son's basketball team, but after hearing about the abilities of Movie Maker I decided that this software would be perfect to create a movie instead. I only chose to work alone because of the topic of my video and I assumed that other's wouldn't really be interested in my son's team. Anyway, it is nice to have a personal connection to this movie, which makes me want to work on it.

http://jennyhinz.blogspot.com/

Blog #5--Literacy

I think that contempary design can help to improve literacy. If we can make a newsletter, newspaper, or magazine article more appealing to the eye then maybe they will want to take the time to stop and actually read it. I think this can really be used with the teen age group. It seems that in this day of technology not many teens actually take the time to read. Emails, instant messenging, and cell phone technology has made communication a very short and quick process. Unfortunately, I think that this technology has caused people to push literacy issues aside. As a future educator, I want my students to be literate. They need to not only be able to read the material, but comprehend it. If I can design something by using contempary means that makes a student want to pick it up and read it, then I'm all for using it.

www.bculver7.blogspot.com

Blog #4

Working with Publisher is another new adventure for me. It really seems to be interesting with all of the layouts and opportunities to create newsletters. Professionally, I can see myself using this software to produce a newsletter to send home to parents about what is going on in the classroom. It could also be used as a recruiting tool to help boost numbers in my classroom. The students could use it to make a classroom or school newsletter similiar to school newspapers of the past. It really is an exciting tool to be able to use.

http://wonderfulworldofchefmike.blogspot.com

Professional?

You mean we're supposed to be learning this for professional reasons? I'm just having fun with Photoshop for my own kicks and giggles. Seriously though, I am very excited to be learning Photoshop in the hopes that one day I'll be teaching it in my own classroom. I feel that students would have a blast being able to make their own creations using this software. I'm sure that we've only scratched the surface as far as what this software is capable of doing. Many students would probably be able to teach me quite alot about it also. As I've mentioned before, I really enjoy taking sports photographs and if I were to dream big there may come a day that I could take photographs for other people and use Photoshop to enhance them. There have been many sporting events that I have been to where photographers are shooting away and them making money off of the reprints later. This may be an area that I would look into for the future.

www.scotterstop.blogspot.com

Photoshop

I can honestly say that I am having a blast using Photoshop. I love playing around with it and seeing exactly what I can do and creating new images. Of course, like others in the class, I have been frustrated to the point where I'm ready to throw my computer out the window. The only downside that I've discovered is that I can spend literally hours sitting on my butt staring at the computer screen. This hasn't gone over too well with my family members at times. My children are getting older and I really want to create some wonderful projects that will capture events that are going on in their lives. I created each of them a sports montage which I printed 8X10's, and will be hanging them in our new family room when it is complete. I would really love to find this software at a reasonable price that I could purchase it. Guess, I'll have to hurry up and create a bunch in the next 16 days. If anyone finds a great deal please let me know.