Thing 37: Green Screen Fun

Green screens are super fun and something a lot of students are interested in with the rise of paid Youtubers. At East we have professional green screens for news casting and such but at my charter school with limited technology I made my own with PVC pipe and green screen cloth although now they have green screen paint at Lowes. My favorite video editor to use with students and green screens is WeVideo because it is easy to use and has a ton of free materials. I had students this winter create PSAs on environmental issues using their phones, chromebooks, and a green screen for the PSA. They had a blast and did a really nice job. I also like the idea of book talks using the green screens or maybe even a report pretending to be a historical figure. I know teachers on Youtube like to make corny music videos with green screens. I think there should be a Green Screen in every department although I wish that the Chromebooks had better video editing software. I know there are also phone apps that the students use for green screens too!

For anyone thinking of tackling a Green Screen project this is a site I've used with students for free background footage!
https://www.filmmakerspot.com/free-green-screen-footage/ 

Thing 26: Note-Taking Tools

There are many advantages and disadvantages to using technology to take notes. My cousin while she was in school often used a LiveScribe pen and said it was the only way she could keep up and review notes. The great thing about adaptive technology such as that is the fact that it benefits everyone, not just students with special needs. In fact it can help students better use different modes of learning i.e. auditory and visual to review notes. Evernote has really nice digital notebooks but has become more costly in recent years. In addition tools such as Evernote, Adobe Reader, and Diigo, are great annotation tools for online reading and annotating. Myself and some teachers I worked with would find an article online and mark it up for students using Diigo to show them not only how to annotate but to help them with independent reading. One of the biggest advantages is that it creates a permanent copy that can be accessed anywhere for teachers, parents, and students. I’ll admit when I am really comfortable on the couch and don’t want to get up, it’s easier to access my digital notes to review. Not only that but digital notes can help students develop better typing and editing skills that they can take with them to college and into the workforce. The only disadvantages would be if students could not access technology at home, if the technology didn’t work that day, and if students are not good at monitoring themselves on technology or using it. Another cool piece of digital notetaking are reusable smart notebooks that digitally transfer hand written notebooks like Everlast (Click here for an Amazon link). I imagine in the very near future of school we will be seeing these and I look forwar to it!