The Minutes Leading Up To A Presentation

Presenting in front of four year old students or forty year old adults isn't always easy (however, it is fun!).  I've presented in front of many people, and I am a firm believer that music makes things better! Last night, prior to the presentation Experts At Your Fingertips, music was playing.

 In 2008, I started "Fun Music Friday".  Music was played while students walked into the classroom in the morning.  It was amazing to see the positive attitudes that transcended because students heard uplifting music.  Dancing even started!  What a great way to start the day!

Below are nine songs that say,

• Welcome
• Hello
• Get Ready, 'Cause This Is Going To Be Awesome
• Just Try Not To Be In a Positive Mood

I do not have the videos playing for people to see.  The presentation that will about to happen is in one tab and the music is in a hidden tab.  YouTube continues to be a great tool to get free music and playlists are an easy organizational tool.

If you are presenting or getting in front of people to speak, consider the playlist and get your presentation off to a rocking start!

Flex Mod Blended Learning Recording Tools and Options

Some teachers have requested technology tools that will aide in providing video resources pertaining specifically to content material.  These video recordings are ideally less than five minutes and will be viewed during student Personal Learning Time (PLT).  This is referred to as a Flipped Classroom.  Personally, I don't believe a complete flipped classroom is an idea that will work for the majority of content areas in a flex mod schedule. However, a blended classroom environment can be a perfect fit.  About two years ago, I taught a two day workshop on the Flipped Classroom Learning Experience.  Many of the resource from that will be helpful during this preparation phase.



Reasons for creating video resources for students:

• Science - Demonstrate lab instructions for viewing prior to class
• Math - Graphing calculator instructions for settings
• English Language Arts - How to start a research paper
• Social Studies - Project requirements
• Foreign Language - Grammar rules
• Physical Education - Game Rules and options for personal fitness time
• FACS - Instructions for cooking/baking/prepping
• Business - Spreadsheet formula set up
• Agri-Science - Instructions for labs
• All Subjects - answers and reflections

Tools For Recording Screens and Educators

Screencast-o-matic

SMART Notebook Video Recorder

Storing The Video

Google Drive

Everything YouTube

Organize YouTube Per Content

Large Group Instruction in Biology with Explain Everything

A little over one week ago, I coached our Biology teachers on the power of the Explain Everything App.

Today, was our large group instructional time.

• The App
• The Project
• The Rubric

As students entered the room, I had OK Go's Here It Goes Again video playing.  As students were settling down in their seats, I turned down the volume, but left the video playing.  I emphasized with students the background of the group and their creative videos.  So much collaboration, critical thinking and creativity is present in the video.  It was a perfect example for this project.

I liked this idea of music videos so much, I started a YouTube Playlist for videos that are filled with creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.  There are not too many videos in this list as of yet!  More to join the list in the future!

You can see how students experienced this as they entered the room.

On Monday and Tuesday, students will be creating!

I truly believe this was an awesome experience for our classroom teachers who were able learn the details about the app an additional time.  Students also were able to get a field trip to our Large Group Instruction Area.  I was able to teach students which was the first reason I became a teacher.

Step 1 - Teaching Teachers

Step 2 - Teaching Students

Step 3 - Exporting the Project 

Step 4 - Lesson Reflection

Step 5 - Student Reflection

SMARTnotebook 11 Video Playlist

SMART notebook is a program that allows for multiple features to be implemented with a SMART board. These tutorials will provide some insight on how to get started and become more in depth at using the SMART notebook 11 software to engage students.

The videos equaling approximately 35 minutes are in an order that should make sense.

View Playlist