Real American Heroes Salutes Mr. and Mrs. AYP Getter!

Yes, we did it! Congrats to all for the great work last year and congrats on hitting AYP!

Google Teacher Academy

Well, I finally did it. I have wanted to go to the Google Teacher Academy since it started...but they have always been too far away. In September they have one in Chicago and I think that is about as close as they will get to Cinci. People have raved about the one day event and I really want to be a part of it....not just for the knowledge but for the professional network Google Certified Teachers....I want to be a part of that.

Part of the entry involved a video....I was over the time limit, but I hope that isn't a HUGE strike against me.

Improv Everywhere

Improv is a group of people who put on spontaneuous events. Well, the events are well planned but to the unsuspecting participant it certainly seems spontaneous. If you ever watched the old TV show Fame, or Grease, or even HS Musical then you've seen the spontaneous musical moments when people just start singing and dancing. Improv Everywhere does a great one at the mall food court.



A food court worker spills lemonade and needs a few napkins to clean up the mess and bursts into song. Other performers "called Agents" start singing as well.

Fun stuff!

Love the end of the Year Lists...

I love the end of year lists that everyone seems to put out at the end of the year. I enjoy my music and quite a bit less I enjoy my music videos (who has time to watch them?). But when I see a favorite song of mine actually won an award for best video I had to share. This is from Bats for Lashes.




I know the video is a bit weird...I'm not sure what it symbolizes but I do like it.

Fun Video to Watch...

Who comes up with these video ideas anyways? Make sure you watch the whole thing.

Post Halloween Scare!

This might be a bit late…but better late than never. A few years ago Erin, Heather, Pam, and I showed this commercial to our students telling them the background story about how a ghost was captured on tape during the shooting of a commercial and that no one show the ghost until reviewing the footage of the commercial. I’ve given two links in case it is blocked….I’m not saying to show your kids but you might get a kick out of it yourself. My own 3rd grader is way into the scary stuff…but he is really just a big talker. When I showed him this the other day he screamed so loud he almost fell off the couch. My tough as nails daughter thought it was funny.
http://www.isitcool.com/ghostcar/index.htmlhttp://www.dvo.com/newsletter/monthly/2004/august/jest2.html

Fantastic Finishes!

Never give up....if you haven't seen the end of this Division 3 college football game then you owe it to yourself to check out this example of never giving up.

Blabberize....

I can't stop with the video...now that I've started. Not trying to pick on JW, I just happened to have his photo on hand for other (not nearly as devious) purposes. What about making one of these to get your students' attention. Upload a picture and position the jaw for talking and that is pretty much it. This was made at a site called Blabberize.

Fuzzwich...another fun video tool...

Video will certainly get your students attention...especially when it is silly video. Why not make a little video using Fuzzwich and link to it in Blackboard....it might just get someone's attention.


My embedded video might show up, but just in case here is the linked version.

New way to get their attention....

Plain text is so boring....well, at least it is to our students. Remember....they are the digital natives and prefer video/audio over plain old text. What about using a video message to get their attention every now and then.

BombayTV network has marketing campaign right now that allows you to add subtitles of your own to their short video snippets.

Take a look at my sample video....what happens when someone has problems with the indicators.

My Movie (no teachers were hurt in the production of this movie)