Mystery Thread

I was contacted by Craig Badura, a K-5 media/technology integrationist, also known from the That Guy in the Library Blog. He was interested in collaborating with different classes on a mystery skype/Voice Thread project. We set up a three way project amongst classes of second graders.

Each student was asked to draw a landmark that could identify where we were from. Craig, Martha, Mrs. Bain and I communicated back and forth through a google doc where we got everything all situated. (Amazingly convenient!)

Today Mrs. Bain’s group added their comments, it was auh-dorable to see how excited the students were to share their “landmark”. It turns out that Ms. Lackey’s class is only 40 minutes away. I wonder how long it will take for our students to figure that out!

I am SO proud of Mrs. Bain’s class and their projects!

Not sure what a VoiceThread is? A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate pages and leave comments in 5 ways – using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). You can share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too. Instead of a parent program or assembly just for your class, you can create a VT and share with the audience of your choice!

Here’s several great “idea” banks to help you get started!

Some tips to get ya going?

Use your computer’s built-in microphone or a USB headset to record audio for your VoiceThread.
You can input your cell phone number onto VoiceThread, and the site will call you to record your audio.
PowerPoints can be easily uploaded onto VoiceThread. Save your PowerPoint slides as jpg files and upload them to your VoiceThread

Upload a variety of files to your VoiceThread including pdf, docs, etc.
You can record up to 15 minutes of audio per slide on the VoiceThread site.
The VoiceThread site will automatically scale photos so they fit the allotted space.
Allow anyone to view and anyone to comment on your VoiceThreads, but be sure to moderate all comments.
If you are concerned about sharing student work, you can opt to not allow your VoiceThread to be shown on the browse list.
You can create sharing groups to choose who can view and comment on specific VoiceThreads.
You can export your VoiceThread as a .mov file and burn copies for your class.
You can subscribe to VoiceThreads that you like.

I love this example of Math Strategies because it goes back to what we just talked about in staff development. Let students figure out their OWN way of solving a problem! (math + technology = happy Teamann!)

If you’d like to create a VT for your Lions…holler! Ask pain…quick and painless!

VT-ly,

Amber

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