Friday Fun - 22/5/09

Wow! What a whirlwind week! This week was jam packed with all sorts of fun learning and not much in the way of sitting in the classroom.

Camp
On Tuesday and Wednesday we had our Year 4 camp which was a lot of fun. I even had a go at the archery and took on the instructor. Students picked who they wanted to back. (I won!) You can watch the video below. On their return to school, students used Debono's Six Thinking Hats to reflect on their experiences.



Time Travel in Australia's History
On Monday we had the first in a series of visits from "Captain Lister" who is taking us back in time to learn about Australia's history from colonisation through to 1900. Students powered the time machine, with static electricity, by rubbing their heads. The multimedia presentation showed us going back in time... before High School Musical...before iPods...before computers...before telephones...etcThis week Captain Lister took us back to 1770, when Captain James Cook explored and mapped much of the eastern coast of Australia. Students got dressed up in costumes as Captain Cook, botanist Joseph Banks and William Hicks. They learnt about this journey and life aboard a ship.
Joseph Banks had a go at drawing a kangaroo and we saw a copy of the original picture he drew. We then hopped back into the time machine and returned to the current day.

Lucky Phewa - Zulu Celebration
Lucky Phewa, a performer from Durban in South Africa engaged students with his "Zulu Celebration". Students really enjoyed the music he shared with them and had the music bug for the rest of the day. They really got a great feel for the rhythm.

A New Song
Mr Tucker taught us all a new song called Down River by the Wilcannia Mob. This Australian hip hop song was created and recorded by five boys aged 8-12 in 2002. The boys share their own story through rap and the backing sounds of the digeridoo. You can find out more about their project at Down River.

Australian History Projects
Students have been continuing with their work on the culture and lifestyle of different Aboriginal clans prior to colonisation. We had some more time to work on the computers for research and publication. Many students are creating PowerPoint presentations...
Some are creating Museum Boxes...And others are recording audio files with the Snowball...We are trying to get as many opportunities to use the computers as possible in order to complete these projects. Students are learning a lot about ICT as they use it for real purposes in connection with their classroom learning.

Tech Tips Tuesday - New Toys

Last week I got two new 'toys' for my classroom: a Blue Snowball Microphone and a Flip Mino. I put both of these items on the wishlist for the P&C this year. They will make it easier for us to record our ideas, discussions, performances and much more. I thought I'd share them here with you today.

The Blue Snowball Microphone

The Blue Snowball Microphone is a USB microphone that plugs straight into the computer ready to use. It produces great sound quality and can be used effectively to record group discussions without the need to pass the microphone from person to person. This makes it ideal for recording things like book chats, readers' theatre, radio shows and podcasts. At $180 (plus postage) this is more expensive than most computer microphones, but I read such great reviews on its quality that I couldn't resist.

Yesterday I used the microphone with small groups to record a discussion on the book Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda. Students gathered around the microphone and leaned forward slightly when they wanted to record their views. The microphone was able to record from all directions, but worked best from the front. I used Audacity to make the recordings, and was mostly happy with the result. I am aware that I will need to tinker a little with the microphone volume in order to achieve the volume I desire. I am now able to listen back over the recordings to hear the perspectives shared by individuals and further ascertain how well they have comprehended the text and the underlying messages.

The Flip Mino

The Flip Mino is a pocket camcorder that records up to 60 minutes on the internal flash-based memory. Recording is started or stopped with a big red button, and viewed through the little LCD screen. It is kid-friendly - allowing for instant playback and can be plugged into the red/white/yellow sockets on your TV (or IWB if you're lucky enough to have it - like me). It has a built-in USB arm making it easy to move videos onto your computer for further editing and sharing. One of the things I really love is that it charges while plugged into the computer.

In summary, for $308 (plus postage) the Flip Mino camcorder is a fun tool that's easy to use, portable and a great introduction to using video in the classroom. Video quality is good without being great, so if you want high quality video this may not be the option for you. (Flip also produces a HD version that may be worth considering).

There are an increasing number of flash based camcorders being created now, but they are not as easy to access in Australia as they are in the USA. The one that we purchased was through ITmadeSimple! based in Victoria, Australia. They are also selling the Kodak Zi6 which seems better in some aspects, but takes AA batteries rather than containing a lithium-ion battery. (Which is what turns me off.)

I'm sure I'll be telling you more about these tools throughout the year, but I was just so excited when they arrived that I wanted to share them here! Have you got any new toys for your classroom lately?