Movie Maker Project

So I'm in the middle of my Movie Maker Project this week. It should be done by Thursday, I'm just not gonna make it on Tuesday. After looking at what I have and what I want to say with my project I don't really think I'm gonna have much actual video. It's only gotta be a minute long and mine's not going to last much more than that. So far I've got about 30 seconds of video shot and I think I'll have 30 seconds more done tonight. Not a lot, but I'm going with a commerical so it's not going to be super long. I finally got my first video to play picture and sound, now I just hope I can get it all saved in the file on my "stick" so that it will play correctly in class. Cross you fingers!


This project has been a lot of fun. I think it's going better than PowerPoint, even though I've had some hiccups. I don't really have many people in this area that want to be in a video, but I'm making it work. I think I like the Movie Maker program but having worked with Final Cut Pro it's a little dissapointing. But I think it's better to get use to working with FREE programs now because when you have a program that comes with your computer for free why would a school spend money on buying a different one? I just wish the audio had two lines to make the narration and music easier. I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has put together. It should be a fun time in class on Tuesday for the first round of videos.



I am really enjoying the focus-on projects in class. I haven't seen a lot of this stuff and I'm learning a lot. I'm trying to go home and try out what I can. The Voki was awesome. I couldn't get the toondoo to work on my computer. I think it was too much for my internet connection at home. I'm gonna try it at school where I can get a better connection. Although by far the best thing I've seen is the "clickers!" I think that would be awesome in any school! I've never seen them, I'm not sure if they have anything like that in the Davenport District. You'd think that the AEA would have them. I really want to see them used with one class I worked with in particular, all day every day. The iPod Touch was nice, but I just can't afford something like that on my own. How is a school gonna buy those with a limited budget? I can't wait to see what everyone has for this week.


Get a Voki now!

"Focus-on" project LibraryThing.com

Well, I'm working on getting my Librarything account set up the way I want it. Emy is so excited. She's been on me to join this forever! She's updating her info at the same time she's trying to help me get more of my collection on there. Seeing as how nearly all of my books are in Blue Grass and I am in Waterloo she's been a very big help. I'm pretty good at remembering the recent books I've read and the series that I am currently in, but I've got picture storybooks that I haven't looked at since I was in college and it's hard to remember what books I read from the Trinity library and what books I bought while working at Trinity. I've got a lot of young adult and intermediate fiction. Mind, some of those books are from when I was an intermediate reader, for example "The Kid in the Red Jacket" by Barbra Park. That book is a side splitter for sure. I'll have to go through all my book boxes when I get home. I haven't even started in on my Babysitter's Club books yet, but I did donate some of those to Trinity so I can't remember if I still have the first 10 in order any more.

It's funny to see the different ways that Emy and I arrange our books. So far she's the only "friend" I have on the website. I joined the group Librarians on Librarything, and I'm thinking about joining another group. I'll probably make more "friends" once I get on the threads and start participating in discussions. I just wanted to set up my books the best I could before I got into all the extras. I've been looking at the discussions and other tabs today. I'm probably gonna be on this site all day!



I'm not sure how I would use this in a school library yet, but I'm sure by the end of the day I'll have a better idea. I've been trying to keep that thought in mind as I've poked around the site today. Some of the functions are really great, and others seem kind of useless. I'll get more into it during my presentation or in my reflection for class.



The first time Emy tried to get me to join this site was right after she took cataloging, years ago now. She loved it, but I didn't see what the big deal was. Sure you can have all your books cataloged online...then what? What are you going to do with that information now? But seeing some of the other features has really changed my perspective. There is a "local" tab that I'm in love with. I've favorited some books stores, even the second hand bookshop in downtown Davenport was there. If there were any local "to-do's" going on it would be listed there as well. I think the DPL, Davenport Public Library, should advertise some of their summer programs on Librarything. Maybe it would pull in some new people! I guess that's one way the school library could benefit from using Librarything. I could advertise book fairs and other events that were taking place at the library that may be open to "the public." So those are my thoughts so far, I'll try to be done for now and save the rest for my presentation and reflection!

"Clickers"

This "focus on" project will be the death of me! I'm gonna end up with mile long list of software and gadgets that I want for "my library!"
The "clickers" that were shown in class today were the best ever. The last class I long term subbed for would have really loved them. I'll have to start a file folder with my list of gadgets and software with all the info I'll need once I want to buy! Tee hee!

Reflection for Class

So we are starting the second week of class and I think this is a good time to work on a reflection. The PowerPoint Presentation went well. I really liked working on certain sections of the PP but the narration was rough. I think if I had taken more time to "play" with different features I would have figured out a better way to add the narration. I don't think that I could ever make something as smooth as the professionals, but I could probably have a lot of fun trying. I have always liked using PP, but it was difficult for me to do the narration in the slide show. I didn't want to write everything out and sound like I was reading so I just jotted down some notes and went from there. No two takes were the same.

It's already time to move on! Our next project is a MovieMaker production. It only has to be a minute long, which is great. BUT, I'm not in a library right now and I don't know what kind of library I'll end up in so I'm having a really hard time coming up with ideas for these projects! I think what I am going to do for this class is take everything as if I were still at Trinity. I know some of the things I had wanted to do and some of the projects that the grades used every year. I kind of want to make an introduction to the library for the school website in the hopes of making a page just for the library, but if I do that I'll need to work with Janet and I'm not sure there is enough time. I'm trying to think of a good Plan B in case we can't make it work. A one minute movie that needs to include titles and credits can't take too long to shoot, but I haven't talked to anyone yet. I'm a little worried about needing narration in this video again, but hopefully all will go well. I'm hoping to have a storyboard to bring to class tomorrow so that if by some miracle Jan wants to do this with me and has the time I'll be able to start shooting right away. Of course I also want to have Plan B storyboard ready to go as well. I just need to call Jan...

We've got a couple of PP presentations to watch tomorrow and then we are gonna try and talk about the article we read for the week. I hope we have some time in class to go over some more information about the MovieMaker project as well. Next week I have my "focus on" project to present as well. I don't think I was the first to sign up so I think those must be starting tomorrow as well. This class is moving at the speed of light!

Flip Camera

With my next project being in MovieMaker I am thinking about buying a flip camera. It's small and it doesn't hold more than 30 minutes of film, but when would I EVER need 30 minutes of film space?! I'm looking into it because I know this won't be the last project I have to do with a camcorder before I'm done with this. So maybe buying one now will save me some trouble and time. I'm still thinking about it, it's just an idea, but I think it's a good one.

Power Point #2

So it's now more than 12 hours later than my last post. I managed to finish the narration by noon, but then ran into trouble with the music...of course! I know what music I want to use, now I need to find a way to use it the way that I like. I'm not sure that will be possible and it is required that I use music. I'm gonna be so mad if I can't get it to work the way I want and STILL have to put it in the darn slide show. Cross your fingers, 'cause I'm headed back to work.

Power Point Presentation

Can I just say I hate recording my own voice! I've recorded and re-recorded this thing more times than I care to count. What is really getting me is the time. I can't talk for five minutes straight! The idea is to be around 2 minutes. I'll be happy if I can cut it down to three! My problem is I can't help but talk about my subject. I LOVE the books too much to just skim the surface! I guess I should be glad I finally found a computer that worked with the microphone. But I haven't even started looking for music to put in the background yet! Oh well, back to work.

School Library Media Studies

So, this is my first blog! This summer I am going back to school at UNI. I am going to get my MA in School Library Media Studies. This is homework for my Automation class this summer. I think I may just continue on after it's done, but only time will tell. Hopefully it will get easier to write!