Life happens and skipping posts or posting late is fine. I am a lil behind on my Edublogs challenge posts, but that’s ok. Take for example some machinima I made of my Minecraft Club: (keep in mind I was VERY new to Minecraft and that I hadn’t worked out how to capture my students talking to me so you only hear me talking to them…I did say it was basic 🙂 ) When it comes to making the most basic of machinima, I have used Screencast-o-matic to capture myself gaming. It is a very affordable and fun way for kids to make videos. (The linked video is not my own, but I did have one once upon the time, though it doesn’t seem to be up on my YouTube channel.) Once again, it was the Discovery Educator Network that exposed me to this idea. More recently in my classroom I had taken to creating paper slide videos with my students using a smartphone or a tablet. Sadly, over time equipment stopped working and was not replaced, so film making went by the wayside. Those early years of film making were great for the kids, they really learned a lot about making and editing videos, at least on a very basic level. We had a few small video cameras and district computers that came standard with Windows Movie Maker. It was after that institute that I hosted an after-school film club and taught 5th graders what I had learned about making films. I remember years ago when I taught 5th grade, I had attended an American Film Institute (AFI) training via the Discovery Educator Network on making movies. When I have taught students how to make videos, I am limited by district devices and allowed programs.

So for any who look at my YouTube channel, you have been warned, it’s a mixed bag. If I was serious about focused video creation, I would make a new channel just for that specific purpose. My YouTube channel is mainly just a catch all for the videos I make, personal and professional. I make some “vlogs” with my son on my YouTube channel, but it’s pretty much a hobby and something he and I do for fun. I love teaching students how to make videos.

If you find incorporating videos difficult, discuss why you find them challenging.

Create a list of video clips that either provide educator professional development or help create lessons in the classroom.

Share a story about a lesson that involves videos and how the students responded in ways you didn’t expect.

How have videos helped you be a better educator?.

Discuss how videos have helped you engage students?.

Write a post about any topic, but embed a video.

Here are some possible topics to help get you started: Prompt: Write a post about videos and/or that includes a video.

Screencast o matic minecraft