Post #1: Lesson Accelerators

Since we have had some issues with our own subscriptions to Lesson Accelerators, I thought that I would copy and paste them while at SMU this past weekend and focus on what I could get out of them.

I looked at two lessons: Photo Story 3 and Audacity. These are both programs that we have in our district and that our students have used at least once. They are no way pros at them and neither am I. I think that Atomic Learning is a great site to help teachers with all different types of technology. I found the same to be true with Lesson Accelerators.

The first lesson that I looked at was for Photo Story 3. What I loved the most about this project is that it can be adapted to fit any subject in any type of classroom. My favorite part about this project is that it is simple to follow and would be easy to adapt to the classroom or to a staff development meeting. I like the tasks line item that is given because it allows for an easy checklist.

Task List
The tasks to be completed for this project include:
Import and arrange images in the application timeline.
Edit images, as needed.
Add motion and transitions.
Add titles and other text.
Add voice narration and music.
Export the finished project to the appropriate format.

In my classroom, I am working on World War II to set up my class for the novels that we will be reading. While I was going to use a Glogster to allow my students to present, this would be just as easy and would allow for different projects to emerge based on the student.

The second lesson that I looked at was for Audacity. What I loved about Audacity is that it too can be adapted to any subject. For me and my classroom, I would use Audacity to help make podcasts to help prepare for semester exams. I would have students work in groups and then create a podcast that would help the class study for the semester exam. I think that what I would like to do is then let each class have different topics and then by random assignment, let them decide as a group which one to pick. For me, audacity allows for a lot of extensions and that is a good part to the lesson accelerator.

I am not sure that I have fully grasped lesson accelerators due to lack of time to be able to really negotiate around the site due to our limitations at this time, but I am looking forward to playing around more later.