A month into the first quarter, Chinquapin’s faculty and students have already been experimenting and learning with the iLife applications and our new laptops. Kathy reports that the ongoing projects are so numerous that the laptops are heavily used during evening study halls. Brian has used the laptops to collect data on sound for analysis in senior Physics. My English II students have created iMovies in response to Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima (look for sample “Blessing” movies by Pedro and Rachel in the faculty shared network folder). Carl has used them to teach students to use correct accents and other diacritical marks in Spanish.
I want to remind everyone of the resources available at the Apple Education Community. In a quick recent visit, I discovered video tutorials on podcasting, a page on “tips and tricks” (such as “how to screenshot anything”), and an e-newsletter on using Macs in schools. If you recall, we all signed up as members of this community on the last day of our training. I still have some activation codes and license numbers, if you have forgotten user ID and password or if you weren’t able to attend the training.
Hoping to save you some of the trials my class initially experienced, I have attached in the comments my lengthy instructions for teaching iMovie (though I’m sure there’s probably a better version at the web site above) for our “Blessings” project. The students and I definitely experienced joys and frustrations with this project, but that is all part of learning something new, and it felt good to learn these things together. I included the students in the process, evaluating what was working and what was not working as we went along, encouraging the students who finished early to instruct the students who were having trouble, engaging the class in designing a rubric.
My students learned so many things beyond the basics of the software, I stopped trying to catalog their achievements. Here are a few of their more significant developments: gaining a sense of several elements working together to create an overall aesthetic, weighing word choice carefully to make a powerful statement in few words, fine-tuning that statement for public viewing, and problem-solving in collaboration. Some key to things to focus on if you are planning such a project: have a plan for how you will collect and save their work; be sure that students work directly on their local computers until the end of their projects (we had problems with transmitting work wirelessly), slow students down and constantly remind them to read the instructions.
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World-Wide Readers
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The Blessings Project
English II
Follow these steps to make your mini iMovie defining what the word blessing means to you. In a sense you are writing a short film that includes an image, an original definition, voice recording, and background music or sound. Working together, these elements will make your statement about what a blessing is.
DAY ONE:
I. Before You Begin:
1. Create a folder for your movie materials and your move-in-progress on the desktop of your computer. It is important that you save everything locally until you are ready to share the Quicktime version at the end.
2. Make note of the number of the laptop you will be using for the project for future reference.
3. If you are not already aware of this, note that Apple computers do not have a “right click.” To get the same results, press the “Apple” button on the keyboard and the single mouse click.
I. Refining Your Definition:
1. Rewrite and revise your definition. Be sure to personalize it in some way to make it original. Proofread it carefully (it’s going to be on the big screen, after all.) Once you are satisfied, have two people check it over for errors or clarification. (One of the checkers should be Susan.)
2. Save your definition as a Word document in your “Homes” folder.
II. Selecting Your Image
1. Choose an image (two at the most) you want to use to illustrate your definition. Avoid the obvious choices (common images of Jesus, hands clasped in prayer, etc.); rather, go for something that adds to your definition rather than simply echoes it. Hint: If you do not have your own image available in digital format (you can bring one in on a flash drive or send one as an attachment to yourself via email), you might try a photo sharing site like www.flickr.com or Google images. Be sure to copy and save all pertinent information about the source for your images. That means: artist, title, source, date, url. You will need to give a photo credit for any pictures you use that are not your own. (See Credits.)
2. Save your image(s) in your “Movie” folder on your desktop.
Stop here if you complete these activities. If you have mastered these steps, make yourself available to help others.
III. Logging Out and Saving
1. Be sure to “Quit” all open applications.
2. Click on the Apple in the upper left-hand corner and select “Log Out.”
3. Wait for the log-in screen to appear before closing the computer.
Teacher’s note: If there is time at the end of class, use it to discuss what the students are learning and how they might work together to solve problems that have come up.
DAY TWO:
IV. Soundtrack and Voiceover
1. Open GarageBand (the guitar icon).
2. Select “New Music Project.”
3. Get rid of the Grand Piano (simply x it out; also highlight the track and press delete).
4. Go to Control and de-select the metronome (or press “Apple” + delete on your keyboard).
5. Go to Track and add a track. The first one should be a “Real Instrument” and “Vocals,” then “No Effects.”
6. Adjust the volume at the bottom right under “Track Info,” as well as under the “Mixer” on the upper left. Choose the highest (loudest) level.
7. Go to a quiet spot to record yourself reading your definition. Speak loudly and clearly.
8. Add a musical background by selecting “Track” and “Add Track” -- this one should be a “software instrument” -- and by clicking on the “eye” icon at the bottom of the page. Do some browsing for something appropriate to your definition. Drag something you like into the new track. Copy to expand or drag to contract your musical background to correspond with your voiceover, preferably overlapping each end a little. Another option is to place the cursor at the end of your piece of music and drag it when you see the curly arrow sign. Turn the sound down for the background music, so that it doesn’t over-power your voice. (Play it back until you get it right.)
9. Save your audio soundtrack in Garageband (as a back-up), then Share it to iTunes (important!).
10. Quit Garageband and log out.
Stop here if you complete these activities. If you have mastered these steps, make yourself available to help others.
Teacher’s note: If there is time left, you may wish to once again discuss what has been learned and how problems might be solved.
DAY THREE:
V. Putting Your Movie Together
1. Click on the iMovie icon.
2. Click on “Create a New Project”
3. Title your movie with your name like this: Max’s Blessing or Edith’s Blessing, whatever.
4. Drag your images from your desktop “Movie” folder into the squares to arrange them.
5. Drag them into the tracks at the bottom of the screen as you would like them to appear.
6. Under editing, add titles and credits. One title should be the opening title with your name; a second should be your definition as a scrolling block. ADD CREDITS at the end of your movie for any images or music you take from other sources. (Include artist, title, source, date, url.)
7. Under media and “audio” import your soundtrack from iTunes (important!) – select the “song” and click “Place at Playhead,” or drag your song to the track at the bottom of the page. You can now move it around, making sure it corresponds with your scrolling block definition.
8. Play around with transitions and timing until you are satisfied.
9. Check out the sound effects and add any that might be appropriate. (Subtlety often works best!)
Teacher’s note: End the class as usual: have students help one another until they are all caught up; discuss what they’ve learned; brainstorm ways to solve problems.
===============================================================
VI. Sharing Your Movie
1. When you have finished your movie, save it to your desktop “Movie” folder. Now you’ll need to share it with the rest of the class.
2. Click on “Share” and “Quicktime” and “webstreaming” to share another copy in a universal format. (Name: maxblessing or edithblessing.) Click the down arrow by “Save As”; select “Shared,” then “English I.”
3. Send your “Quicktime” version to our class folder – that’s where I will look to grade them and where we will access them for viewing.
4. Make a CD of both the iMovie and Quicktime versions of your movie, if you like, to keep for yourself.
5. Save a Quicktime CD version to your desktop folder (see instructions above, only select CD instead of webstreaming).
6. Insert CD, then drag your Quicktime and iMovie versions to the CD. To eject the CD, drag the CD to the wastebasket.
7. Important: Clean house! Delete all your drafts and materials, your work in Garageband, and your “song” in iTunes from the desktop. Make sure that you have not saved any drafts of your movie in your “Homes” folder. The only copy of your movie on the school network should be in our “Shared” class folder.
8. Stay tuned – we may put some of your work up on the school website!
Extra Credit: Show Susan that you’ve cleaned house (above) for 5 pts. added to your project grade.
Bravo! You’ve made a movie
Teacher’s note: You may need more than one day for screenings, especially if you discuss which effects work well, etc.
Students should have learned the following:
How to use elements of the iLife suite
How to write carefully to be read by an audience
How to read/speak/act for a recording
How to select diverse materials to work together
Juxtaposition
Aesthetics
Giving credit
How to work together and help one another
Creative problem-solving
Reading directions!
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