Incoporating digital video in a classroom

If I were to incorporate a digital video project in my classroom, I would have the project be used in a fifth grade social studies class that is studying the revolutionary war.
Prior to beginning the project, I would need to make sure that there would be video cameras and microphones were available for the students to use. I would also need to make sure that the computer lab had the proper programs such as Microsoft Windows Movie Maker or another type of movie maker. Along with that, I would need to sign out the computer lab for at least two weeks. The first half of the first week would be used for researching one of the battles fought in the Revolutionary war, what types of clothing were worn, and how the battle resulted. I would have to take a day going over how to use the video camera and another showing the students how to edit the movie. Then I would need at least a week for the students to record and put their movies on the computer to edit them.
Some of the challenges that I would face would be signing the computer lab out for such a long period of time when other teachers may also need the room. Another problem that I could face would be working with the children recording and editing the movie; they may not understand or have problems using the programs.
I would create a checklist of the project from beginning to end:
· Sign out video cameras from the school, or acquire them from parents who will let us borrow them.
· Sign out the computer lab for two weeks.
· Make sure that there is a computer or laptop along with a projector in the building and sign it out for two days, three weeks later, in case the schedule is off and we cannot view the projects on the day that we intend.
· Pick out five battles for the children to choose from for the project.
· Find websites that the students should look off of to find out information about the battles.
· Tell the students about the project and divide them into two or three groups; each group pulls a battle out of a hat to decide who is doing what battle.
· Take the children to the computer lab and have them research about their battle: who was involved, where did it take place, when did it occur, what happened, why were they fighting there and why was it important, how did it result?
· The students will then plan out how they will fit their movie into ten minutes; scripts, and where they want to film.
· Teach how to use the computers for editing the movie once it is recorded.
· Record the movies (over three days) have the students who are not re-enacting help set up and then watch as the other group records.
· Take the videos into the lab and take a three or four days to edit the videos.
· I will combine all of the videos into one so that we can view all of them together.
· I will then find a projector and a school computer/laptop or use my own laptop to show the video to the class.

Not So Silly Software Skills

The software skills we learned in class are very useful for not only projects and assignments for education classes, but also for life. I would have never known how to write a formal newsletter using a program other than Microsoft Word. I loved the Microsoft Publisher program because it had templates that helped to organize all of the ideas I wanted to include on my newsletter. I will definitely be using that in my classroom one day! I also enjoyed exploring Microsoft Word deeper. Although I knew much of the information we used in class, I did not know how to create the fill in the blank form and that will definitely be useful when I student teach. I even created one for one of my other classes this semester so that I can easily complete the homework assignments. The inspiration program was also awesome. I am a very visual learner so I cannot wait to use it again for another lesson or unit that I will need to create.

I believe that the lessons on the software skills were extremely beneficial to take the time to learn. I wish that I had this class earlier in college because not only could I have used it in my education classes with lesson plans and units that I created, but also in other areas of study such as general education classes. I feel that every freshman, regardless of his or her major, should take this course, or at least this section of the course.

For myself, I feel that both the Word and Publisher were beneficial. These programs are commonly on computers and, now that I learned many new tricks and functions that I can do on them, they will definitely help when I organize and plan for my future classroom lessons, units, and important handouts that I will give to parents. I hope that the school district that I teach in one day will have the inspiration program as well. This software is very beneficial in my opinion. The fact that I can create visual aids makes me very excited because I am a visual learner and I feel that visuals help the younger-elementary levels, which is where I wish to teach. It will also help me to organize my thoughts on the lessons and units I want to teach.

By having the software programs that we discussed and explored in class, I will be a very organized teacher who will be taken seriously by parents. I can use the programs in any area of study. I can create quizzes, tests, create flyers and newsletters for parents, and provide my students with visual aids to hang around the room for any subject area including reading, writing, spelling words, and science and social studies cycles.