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When telling a story, words can convey so much. However, when you can tell a story using words, pictures, music, and your own voice - the power of the message becomes exponentially greater. Even those unenthusiastic writers may show a glimmer of interest when presented with this program as a medium to create a project.

Photo Story 3 is a free download for Windows XP and greater computers. It is a program that is very easy to learn and show others how to create their own digital movies, narrate them, set them to music tracks, and publish them for others to view. Students can create their own videos for just about any topic you can think of. Turn them loose with a couple of digital cameras and see what they can come up with. Don’t have any digital cameras? Use Flickr to search for photographs relating to the topic and have students use those.

Here are directions on how to download music to Photo Story 3 from a CD as well as general Photo Story directions. (The directions on downloading music were created by Melissa Given.)

There are some ideas and websites listed below for inspiration.

The following activities are just a few samples from TeachersInTouch.
* Learn how to create a farewell, end-of-year video file that will be remembered long after the streamers are cleaned up and the DJ has gone home. Using still images and text, you can create a video file complete with music and narration using Microsoft Photo Story.

* What I should have done in the holidays - Students always write a recount of what they did in their holidays. Here is a way to make their recount dynamic and more meaningful. Using Photo Story 3, students narrate their
recounts making their everyday recount come to life in visual and audio multimedia.

* In this activity, students create a Photo Story video file using still images, text, narration and sound files to advertise and promote sun safety. Throughout this lesson, students will gain an understanding and appreciation of their home climate and its affect on skin.

* Waltzing Matilda – In this activity, students are asked to analyse the meaning behind a well known song or quote. Students create a visual audio story using Microsoft Photo Story and synchronize it with a PowerPoint presentation detailing the song lyrics along with their own interpretation.

Websites with examples:

Digitalcamerasined - a wiki with resources on using digital photography in general in the classroom along with Photo Story 3. Lots of great ideas!

ReadWriteThink - Here is a website that has a lesson plan and activities using Photo Story 3 and/or Movie Maker from the ReadWriteThink site.

Ok - that’s obvious - my favorite things also happen to include the song from Sound of Music.

I also love chocolate, soft cotton t-shirts, cuddling with my kids, holding hands with my husband, and learning new things. Over the last year or so there has been an explosion of web 2.0 tools to learn about. On twitter, there was a question about what were my favorite ones that I just couldn’t live without. So, after humming for a little while about doorbells, and sleighbells and schneitzel with noodles.…here are my favorites:

1. Google Earth has to be one of the best tools out there that I can think of. There are so many ways this application can be utilized for just about any class and learner. There are also many, many resources out there showing you the golden brick road to best useage of Google Earth.

• Google Earth 101 for Educators - Teacher Hacks

• Google Earth Lessons

• Google Lit Trips

2. VoiceThread is probably going to be on a lot of people’s lists - also for its flexibility across many curriculums and forums. I already blogged about this site here.

3. My third pick (this list not in any particular order, just someone had to be third…) would have to be Primary Source Learning. This site is set up in conjunction with the Library of Congress (which by the way is debuting a new resource of its own very soon here.) Anyway, Primary Source Learning is a site that shows teachers how to integrate primary historical documents into their classroom for everyday lessons. It strives to teach students connections between then, now, and the future. Lessons are there along with whatever printables are needed as well as field test reports from real live teachers who have used these lessons in their classrooms. Lessons also have links to how to differentiate the content, processes and products for each experience. What an amazing resource!

So - there you go - my favorite three…..for today. Who knows what’ll come along tomorrow?

LearnOutLoud has an incredible library of podcasts and audio files free for the taking. The podcasts range from Aesop’s Fables to Greek Mythology to Ralph Waldo Emerson essays and Great Speeches in History. The podcasts can either be downloaded and listened in your leisure or streamed and listened to immediately. The only software you need is a program to listen to mp3 files. You can use Quicktime, Windows Music Player, or any other program that plays sound files with the mp3 extension. These are both free downloads and usually come already installed on many systems.

How much more alive would your class be if your students could actually hear Richard Nixon giving his resignation speech? Make history authentic with audio files of stories of slavery. How about bringing to your science class the latest in nanotechnology? The reading of The Road Less Traveled could encourage your students to enjoy further readings of Robert Frost’s works. Looking for something in the foreign languages genre? How about a daily Mandarin Chinese lesson podcast for your learning pleasure?

There are also video and audio files that are fee based. The Great Gatsby is only $4.99! Prices range anywhere from $1 to $25 depending on the download and whether you want CDs ordered with it or not.

This resource is an incredible one - not just for those reluctant readers we all have in our classes - but also for the enjoyment of hearing the spoken word as these wonderful files will prove, over and over again. Have students actually choose to listen these files as part of completing projects, reviewing for tests, or previewing for upcoming units of study. These files can be downloaded, burned to a CD or synced to a portable music player (iPod, Zune, mp3 player, etc) and played again and again.

Thanks to a link from Cool Cat Teacher - I’ve been exploring a wiki dedicated to Dr. Marzano’s Classroom Instruction that Works.

My school system is one that a few years ago adopted this resource and every teacher was provided a copy of his Handbook for Classroom Instruction that Works. We all participated in several days of in-service as well as on-going staff development sessions through-out the year.
Dr. Marzano has now put together a wiki designed as a portal for Web 2.0 resources which specifically target one or more of his instructional strategies. These strategies, as outlined in his books and the wiki are:

1) Identifying Similarities & Differences

2) Summarizing and note taking

3) Reinforcing effort and providing recognition

4) Homework and practice

5) Representaing knowledge

6) Learning groups

7) Setting objectives and providing feedback

Generating and testing hypotheses

9) Cues, questions, and advance organizers

On the wiki page labeled, web 2.0 tools, there is a marvelous chart where all the tools and resources that have been added to the site are arranged and then check-marked as to which strategy they address. Many of these tools are ones that several of us already use, but sometimes it’s nice to have verification that what we may already be doing is on the right track according to The Power That Be. Be that as it may, there are quite a few new items that I will be seriously checking out.

This site is obviously new and a work in progress. You don’t have to join it to utilize the resources, but if you wish to add something you use then you need to sign up to join the wiki. Check back with it often to see what new!

Oh to be a kid again - sometimes….

But here’s one way to play at least a little bit with one of the great “old” toys. Remember Mr. Potato Head? I even had Mrs. Potato Head and had a blast playing with them. As I got older I thought that their “storage compartment” was hysterical and even now kind of wish that my “storage compartment” would be so easy to unload! LOL!

ANYWAY presenting....Mr. Picassohead - Fun site that would be great to play with on a Smartboard/Whiteboard - have a couple of students create a “head” and then have a writing activity based around the emotions expressed by the face, or a poem about how the head came to look that way, or a story about this alien who just happened to show up in our class…………

You could also just flip through the gallery for some inspiration for that writing assignment. Here is the one that I created in about 3 minutes.

And guess what? You also sneaked in some learning about a particular artists’ style. shhh…don’t tell the kids you did that…kind of like extra vitamins in the milk shake…:)

This is a site in progress but here are its first efforts to have some great applications for almost any classroom in today’s world. The link on the left side under Find what works for English Language Learners takes you to some techniques and information that you can use not only for ELL/ESL students, but students with reading difficulties or low achievement/motivation students. These activities and suggestions can be used across the grade levels and curriculum with just a little bit of thought and planning.

This site also has a subscription link so you can be notified when they make updates to this site. I am looking forward to added content for cognition & learning as well as for math & science.

It is incumbent upon us to keep current with best practices so that not only will we reach the goals set for us by the Federal Government, but so that we can also do what’s right by our students.

Ok - don’t let the “podcast” part of that scare you off. The website 60-Second Science is just chocked full of science tidbits and the podcast is only one part of it. You can also find archives of past podcasts here. The postings are written for down to earth people to read and comprehend the extremely intelligent part of science. This is great for teachers who rarely have the time to distill the “science-ese” out of publications and interpret for their classrooms. Of all the curriculums, science is the most dynamic and often times the most difficult to stay current with.

The podcast part of the site is found in the middle of the screen, right at the top. You can subscribe to it using iTunes to keep updated when new podcasts are posted - or you can just click on “play” and just listen through your browser. This would be a wonderful way to start a class - to hook the kids right in with something that is current and relevent to them - and not just in science classes either.

[slideshare id=286905&doc=technology-driven-differentiated-instruction-1204295745836703-2&w=425]

Differentiated instruction is the best way to ensure students of all levels are reached. Differentiation of process, content, and product allows for great flexibility on the part of the teacher to exercise their creativity. Students are given choices with their learning and how they demonstrate mastery of the material. One of the greatest gifts we can give our students is the ability to choose and learn how to make good decisions on the part of their education.

The above slide show (be sure to come over to the blog site if your reader stripped the slide show) was created by CoolCatTeacher for one of her presentations at a convention. This slide show shows how technology can seamlessly differentiate for us according to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. She has done a fantastic job with this presentation.

Whether you are feeling creative or just want to play around - TerraClues can scratch both itches. An excellent site which will allow you to either play the searches already created or create your own. Students will enjoy having a way to show off their creativity and geography skills in a method that will impress each other and you.

Have the kids create their own searches and then pop them up on a SmartBoard to have class wide reviews and competitions.

Hi! I’m playing with Voki - if you are reading this post via a reader or feed, then you can check it out by clicking here.

This is a cool way to grab readers attention and maybe even direct your students’ attention to something important. How about a student who has difficulties speaking up in class - let Voki be their voice!

It was very easy to get an account and set up my choices. Go and play with one!