Monday, July 14, 2008

Thing #21

I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF even though I am pathetic! But I am determined! I have been working on this thing for hours every day—honest. BUT…I DID IT!!!!! So here is the skinny: Basic use of photo Story is easy. My major problems were two: 1) I was over zealous in trying to do a digital book talk. I did one but it has too many pictures; the music doesn’t start until the second pic; and it is sooooo boring. I couldn’t even get my husband to watch it all the way through. But I will continue to work on it; and I plan to post it later. 2) Had I known about the creativecommons, I could have saved hours with the photo problems I had. I won’t go into the details of some of the things I did, as you already know from my previous posts, that I am challenged.

I want to give thanks to the following encouragers:

Naomi Bates from Northwest High School—She is a phenomenal librarian, and a generous colleague. After seeing her unbelievable digital book talks, I e-mailed her for help. She responded immediately sharing with me the tools she uses and telling me about the creative commons. Here is a link to her school website:

http://www.nisdtx.org/nhs/site/default.asp

Go to library and look at her digital book talks. You have to see the one she did for Streams of Babel. The author even e-mailed her requesting she send it to a Hollywood producer for a possible movie deal! She is the kind of librarian who motivates us all. BUT…DON’T DO WHAT I DID—I had her book talks in mind when I started. Forget it; start where you are. Me, I am a slow beginner.

Lauraann of Fooling With Words—I needed your empathy and encouragement. If anyone responds to this neophyte attempt, you will—and I appreciate it.

VWB—I know if I need help, you are out there. Wouldn’t even have been able to complete my avatar without your assistance.

And, of course, MY DEAR HUSBAND. Without his help I couldn't even have found the file; I have so much on this computer now.

I can use this to play as students come in. They love to see themselves "on film."

By the way, Naomi said it took her 6 hours to make her Streams of Babel. This Library Doings took me probably 50 hours after fooling with Animoto (a tool I really want to learn), searching for pictures, screwing up photo story, and many, many, many other stupid moves. So, if you are feeling challenged, I did it and you can too. In the end after a 50 hour learning curve, this video ended up taking me only about 10 min.

5 comments:

VWB said...

I think you put a nice piece together. I am sorry you had so many issues. Thing #5 did have you experience the Creative Commons portion of Flickr.

but as with anything that was hard, just think how valuable you will be to anyone else attempting to use these tools....you will be ever so much better prepared to understand their confusion and frustration...believe me, I know firsthand!

looking foreard to more good things from you as you work with your kids!

DDtech said...

I feel your pain! I so admire you for sticking with it and finishing your project. I know you will be all the better for having experienced this program. Hang in there, you're almost done.

Infomaniac said...

Thank you for the encouragement. Yes, I am definitely better for this experience--ready for my students for this school year. Can't wait!

LauraAnn said...

Ohhhh, Infomaniac, I feel your pain. I spent a couple of hours yesterday morning, a couple this morning, and here I am again, still trying to create something worth showing.

I have made photostories before, and I do love the program. I thought I would try something new and make a podcast - what a mess. I just end up sounding like an old woman who needs her first drink of the day!

I am so impressed with your tenacity and your product. You encourage me to go back and try it again...maybe!

Blue Eyes blogging said...

Infomaniac,
You did it! The audio and pictures are wonderful. This is something you can really build on. Thanks for all your encouragement.