Clouds: A Green Screen Movie

So, let me just tell you- this isn't the most flattering video!  Ha ha!  It was fun to make though and I am pretty proud about how it turned out.

I used i-movie to edit and splice the videos together.  The directions from the Green Screen room were easy to follow and i-movie is very user friendly.  I can't wait to use it again with my students!


The inspiration for this video comes from Virginia SOL 4.6:

The student will investigate and understand how weather conditions and phenomena
occur and can be predicted. Key concepts include
a) weather phenomena;
b) weather measurements and meteorological tools; and
c) use of weather measurements and weather phenomena to make weather
predictions.

This includes the study of the four major types of clouds, at least in Prince William County.  I thought this video would come in handy if you were teaching in an area or during a season that didn't have much change in weather or cloud cover.  You could watch the clouds moving on the screen instead of real-life if Mother Nature didn't want to cooperate.

Using Google Forms in the Classroom

I have known about Google Forms for quite awhile but this is the first time I have created one on my own.  I think it will be a helpful tool in the classroom as well as in other parts of my life.

I created a PTO Volunteer Survey because the PTO I am apart of actually needed one to send out to parents.  This is more of a prototype but the other board members loved the idea.  The survey was easy to customize and we can use the school's colors in the design.  It is also easily emailed out to the entire community.

Here is a peek at the first part of the survey:

I love that the results are easy to access.  Google automatically formats the results depending on what type of question you ask.  You can also customize these features to meet the needs of your form:

One more feature that makes the program even better is that you can view and manipulate your data in a spreadsheet format.

I can see myself using this program in so many different ways!  I think it will be handy to look at data about my students and using it for my students to gather data on their own.  I also think I could use this as a way to get information from parents and other teachers.