Public Service Announcement

For my public service announcement, I chose to discuss something near and dear to my heart - blinkers!  I used Garageband to create my recording, and added music and sound effects that were already built into the program.  After creating my soundtrack, I went to Flickr's Creative Commons and found photographs that fit my subject; then, I inserted the photos into to my recording.  Finally, I published my podcast and posted it here. 

I found that once I published the podcast to my blog, the pictures were off by just a bit.  This resulted in a little empty video space at the end which was not originally part of my design.  No matter how I tweaked my original recording and the timing of the pictures, I could quite get it "just so."  My husband (who knows much more about these kinds of things than I do) suspects this is because the file sizes of the pictures are different and the final video is influenced by picture size.  I'm not sure, but that sounds plausible to me.  Anyway, enjoy!

SMARTboard Lesson

SMART Exchange
For my lesson, I used a resource called SMART Exchange.  This free site allows registered users to share lessons for their SMARTboards.  I found a template for a lesson that looked interactive and fun for students: SMARTboard Kooshball.  This template allows teachers to add their own questions to a series of pages.  Students "select" their question by throwing a soft ball (like a kooshball) at buttons on the screen. I thought this template had vast possibilities.  Teachers could use it for review, math equations, vocabulary, literature or science questions... the possibilities seemed endless!

Not quite what I expected...
So I prepared my lesson and went into school to film. And then what sometimes happens with technology happened: the lesson didn't work!  The balls didn't trigger the board to switch screens.  Kooshballs, beanie babies, soft sport balls - nothing worked!  Sure the buttons functioned when you clicked on them with the pen, but not with the balls.  Needless to say, this really takes the fun out of the lesson for the students.

I was caught in a tough spot for my project: after contacting a friend with a SMARTboard, and setting a time to meet him and use his classroom, this was my one opportunity to film!  So I went ahead and filmed the lesson as if the template had actually worked.  But here is my official disclaimer: SMARTboard kooshball didn't really work at all.  In the end, it is a good lesson for us all to remember - actually try out new technology outside of class before you get up in front of your eager students.