MS+Photostory

BRINGING PHOTOSTORY TO YOUR CLASSROOM! Photostory is a Windows desktop application that makes film clips of your photo slide shows to which you can add commentary, soundtrack and transition effects. **Helpful Hints:** 1. Prepare your students BEFORE going to the lab. Use Photo Story in your lessons before bringing them to the lab. They will be familiar and excited to try it themselves.

2. Use your Media Specialist. They know the equipment and software available at your building. Ask about headphones, microphones, and loading Photo Story on your lab’s computers BEFORE booking the lab.

3. Ask students ahead of time to bring in thumb drives. These can be helpful all year long, AND makes using technology in your classroom on a regular basis a lot less stressful. Students will work at home on technology projects. Help them to organize their work by using thumb drives.

4. Take students to the lab at the beginning to the year to set up their Works in Progress Folders for your class on their network space and their thumb drive. Refresh their knowledge on making folders, organizing their work, and proper saving methods. Do not assume they already know! Always re-teach these skills.

5. For each project give students an assignment sheet (see example given). This will allow students to troubleshoot some of their individual issues in the lab without needing you to clone yourself. This also teaches excellent troubleshooting skills (A 21st Century Learner Skill).

6. Identify some student tech leaders. Allow them to play a leadership role when using technology.

7. Develop Lab procedures and expectations BEFORE going to the lab. Be very clear and detailed, this will reduce the amount of refocusing time you will have during the scheduled day.

8. Consider pairing students based on ability and familiarity with computers and software. (ex: pair a 5 ability level with a 2 ability level). When working in groups have students define team member roles BEFORE going to the lab, that way each student knows their role and expectations.

9. Define the time spent in the lab BEFORE going. Make sure students know the timeline. For example write on the white board a time line and STICK TO IT.

10. Be flexible once you are in the lab. If your students have been prepped then you will all be prepared to handle any unexpected stumbling blocks.

Inspirations/Suggestions:

Assign a student as Media Specialist for a team assignment. Have that student photograph the team working on their assignment and their progress. Then have the Media Specialist put together a photo story of their progress to present to the class. Put together a photo story to introduce a topic for //Science at Work in Our World//. Students will create the photo story as a visual aid to play before, during, or after an oral presentation. The oral presentation can be recorded timed with the photos or presented live. (Example: Energy – bio fuel, solar, wind, coal, clean coal, etc.) Complete a photo story of scientists and their discoveries. Use as an intro for each class. Assign a different student for each day. A HOW TO presentation. Students can be assigned a different topic in science and create a how to for that topic using the Photo Story. In Chemistry class for example students could create photo stories for Proper Lab Procedure. A “This Date in History” introduction. Assign each student a different day and year. Have the student create a photo story depicting “that date” and a short oral presentation either recorded or presented live. A “Who’s Who” of world leaders. Have students in groups or as individuals each research and create a biographical presentation on that leader. Schedule these presentations to coincide with topics in class that tie the world leader to the unit. A cultural exploration project where students are assigned a country, a religion, a region, etc. and complete a project exposing their assigned area to the rest of the class. Teacher should create a “questions to answer in presentation” list to guide students in their research and project completion. Historical Context of a novel. In any given novel there are issues that are not familiar to students. Such as the propaganda project referenced in this workshop. Allow students the opportunity to connect to the novel by researching a historical context issue within the novel and presenting the issues to the class. Theme exploration. Have students identify a universal theme found throughout literature. Students will create a photo story to visually demonstrate this theme across literature, genre, and time Author in Focus. Students will create a biographical photo story of a selected author and his/her works. Famous Mathematicians. Create a biographical photo story of famous mathematicians Math at Work. Students explore jobs or careers where math is used.
 * __Any Class:__**
 * __Science:__**
 * __History:__**
 * __English:__**
 * __Math__**

media type="file" key="WWII Propaganda.wmv" width="300" height="300" align="center"