Journal #6:

iMovie:

When working on iMovie it was a great learning experience. I never thought that I would be able to edit my own video. I am normally the type of person who can only do the basics on the computer. I did have some trouble with it at first, but once I got the hang of it, it became easy. It was fun being able to put different movie clips in any order that I wanted. The only part that I had a lot of trouble with was putting in the music in at the end. I had a hard time getting the music to slowly die down at the end every time I tried it just would not work.

I would definitely incorporate this in my classroom by showing my students how to do so they could use iMovie as another way of doing a presentation instead of doing Power Point or a poster board presentation. An example of this would be if a student was doing a presentation on a famous actor, the can make a small video montage of different films and interviews of that actor. I can also use iMovie as an extra tutorial for students if they are having a hard time learning a certain lesson. I could use iMovie as a way to have a review at the end of the lesson. I could create a movie highlighting the important concepts at the end of each unit.

I did not use Atomic Learning for this program. I just watched what the professor demonstrated in class. The in class demonstration definitely helped, but there was so much to take in that it was hard to retain all of that information at once. What helped me was once I started playing around with the program it started to become easier to do. With iMovie the only was someone could really get it down is by really play with it. Just as everything else the more you practice at something the better you get.

Inspiration:

1. How you liked the program (ease of your for you, how you think students would like it, etc.)
I really liked this program. I thought that it was easy but not too easy. I think that students will like it because it feels more like you are playing a game. The bright colors and the cartoon feel it has will help keep their attention.
2. How you could incorporate this software in your classroom (what projects could you see your students complete, etc.)
Different ways I can incorporate this into my classroom is by letting them play with kidspiration after they have finished their in class assignment. If I have them work in different stations it could be one of the stations that I have them work on. If I have a student that is struggling I can use kidspiration as a way to help them understand the different concepts.
3. How you liked learning via Atomic Learning (or the concept of video self-tutorial in general).
I was not too impressed with Atomic Learning. I did third grade math “How Long Is A Foot.” For a teacher to use I felt that it was teaching information that the teacher should already use on their own.