Can't keep up!!!

Day 3: Computer lab (Friday) -

Kirk and I explain to the students what we want to get done by the end of the period, a title page using movie maker.

We take the kids down to the computer lab and Kirk runs through the program movie maker using the LCD projector. The kids gather around and start watching Kirk open the program. Now the students should know how to open the program. He talks about creating the title page... title, your name, font colour, style, size, the fading in or out, how to change and add movement... we think we have covered everything and we believe the students will be busy creating their title page with the knowledge they have gained. We set them loose on the computer.....

They have no problem finding the movie maker program. The only question we missed was "how do you change the background colour?" I had no idea but before I knew it one of the students figured it out then taught the rest of the class. I am always apprehensive when the kids have their hands up in front of the computer... scared I can't help them with the right answer... I feel way out of my element.

There was one question I could not answer with the title page. There was a student who wanted two separate slides for her title page but the program superimposed them onto one. I had no idea how to make them two separate slides... Kirk came over and figured it out.... I understand the process now :) Thanks Kirk!

It took the kids less than five minutes to create a their title page... I looked at the clock... oh great thirty minutes left.... now what???? These kids are quick with this stuff!! The next thing I know one of the students is adding their voice clip from their folder, then I notice students learning from the other students like ripple effect.... wow!!!

Another thing that I learned was one of the students realized that they couldn't have their voice feed start at the beginning (during their title page) of the storyboard. They wanted to have their voice start after the title page so they needed to move their movie clip to come in later on their storyboard.... I didn't even think of that point... these kids were smart!!

Great questions were starting to be asked, "can I add music with my voice?" "can I use sound effects?" "where do I find these things and do I have to cite them?" I felt way out of my element!!! Thank goodness Kirk, Karen and April were there to help answer these questions.

By the end of class, all the students had their title page created and most had their voice imported onto the program. Some were creating their storyboard by adding (importing) their pictures they have found on the Internet... this day was cool!!