Ed Philosophy

There is nothing like something that makes one feel like a complete idiot, then all of a sudden a break through, and you are on top of the world!! I am not sure how easy it will be to do this again, but it sure was a journey to get my video posted on You Tube.
It seemed easy enough, but after figuring out Movie Maker, buying a microphone, buying a more expensive microphone, downloading Audacity, returning the expensive microphone, merging both audio and music tracks, saving the movie, and converting the file to a WMV (thanks Jason), I was finally able to finish the assignment. Only a month late tooJ My “digital grammar” definitely needs some editing on this project, but I wanted to get it finished as soon as possible.

Although this was frustrating I did learn a lot and can see the value of using something similar in the classroom. My students are a lot more tech savvy then I am and can help each other understand how things work. If not, we still have another movie to post and hopefully I will have this figured out by then. Perhaps I am five years behind in the technology department but I am catching up quickly!

Here is the linkto my video. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsnN9-Spwd0

(It is really only 1:20 long, so if you like to dance have fun! really, I forgot to cut the music)

Picture Story

Lindsey and Bridget

We did it! This is the highest altitude I have ever been, not including airplanes of course. I remember this day. We had a super long day of hiking the day before and were totally exhausted that night when we went to bed. Bridget and I were the second to last group to get into camp that night. There were two other guys were lagging behind and as we were approaching camp one of the porters was running back with oxygen in case anyone needed it. Nick, one of the guys, was in bad shape and benefited from the extra oxygen. I was so proud of Bridget and I as we were the only two who did not rent porters, we carried all of our own gear the entire trek. There were three other women and nine men in our group. Jon, Tirnin, and Patrick from Ireland, Jessica and Jessie from England, a Elsa and Erik a couple from Switzerland, a guy Urk from Sweden, and Steve and Nick and another couple Betsy and Jake from the U.S.

As we hiked that day we knew that this would be the highest altitude of the trip. Some in our group got altitude sick and threw up. The only thing to cure altitude sickness is to get to a lower altitude as quickly as possible or a hyperbolic chamber but that was not an option for us. I chewed coco leaves the previous day and ate coco candies to help with the altitude. I don’t know why it worked but ancient Incan Indians chewed coco leaves while they were in the mountains in order to help with altitude. There is something in the coco plant that helps the body adjust.

As I approached the summit of the trail I remember thinking “I just want to stop. I can’t breath. I just want to stop.” I was taking teeny tiny steps because I would get out of breath if I tried to climb to fast. The trail over the Salkantay Pass is the steepest, rockiest trail that I have ever hiked. Can you imagine that some of the Peruvian porters and guides hike in sandals or no shoes at all?!

When I got to the top where our group was resting, I dropped my pack and went back down for Bridget. She was doing okay, but needed to rest and everyone can use some words of encouragement. We made it up to the top and Bridget gave me a late birthday present, a Double Decker candy bar from England! That was our favorite European discovery on the first trip we ever took together. Even though that candy bar had gone through a lot and was in bad shape, it was the best thing I had ever tasted at the top of the Salkantay Pass.

VIDEO REFLECTIONS

A. SCHOOL TRAIN (A)

• Loved students’ pictures of weird/ funny faces
• Fast paced
• Vivid images
• Meter and repetition of soundtrack and audio added to the “train” experience
• Awesome comparisons made to the “school as a train” metaphor
  Homework- tickets
  Desks- seats
  Classrooms- cars
  Teacher/ principal- conductor
• Implied metaphoric comparisons
  Education is a journey
  School is the vehicle that takes us there (a train)

FOX BECOMES A BETTER PERSON (A+)

This story was great. It was storyboarded well and had a beginning, rising action, climax, and conclusion/ resolution. I appreciated the moral it taught, however at the end Hannah says Fox learned to speak more carefully, but the story was about how he became a better person. I know those two elements are connected, however I did not feel that was emphasized in the story that much, it was more about his actions, not words.

• Loved the original drawings in the background
• Loved Hannah’s movement as she acted the story out, it gave depth to the story
• Loved the modern day ties, (ie. Duck sitting on the couch watching TV)

B. epic2015

• This was a little frightening for me. I don’t like the fact that I potentially could be cross referenced, type casted, and demographically categorized so that computers know what I want before I do!
• It also brings to light that any signal we send out can be tracked and nothing is anonymous.
• To use it in the classroom it is good to know that there is a ton of information out there that can be used. We also must be careful because with essentially everyone with the ability to post, pod cast, and publish online not all information is accurate.
• There is also the opportunity for students to get information informally that is broken down to a more understandable level or is communicated in a way students understand. Reading from a text book can be a little dull, however participating in pod casts or digital stories is a great way to get current relevant info.
  

C. Sabrina Journey

I really enjoyed this digital story. I think it is a great example of what I can do with my students. I teach Spanish and government. I think it would be fun for my gov’t students to make a commercial as if they were running for president using childhood pictures to give a brief background, then more current pictures to win voters over.

(My name is Lindsey and I approve this message!)

Hi Everyone

Hi everyone here is my first posting, not very exciting, but I wanted to give this a try. Have a great day!