AIG SHOWCASE

The annual AIG Showcase was held last night, Jan. 16, at Williams Township School.  I've never seen as much student technology and projects in one place.  And the high school AIG students showed off their technological abilities as well thanks to the assistance of four young ladies from East Columbus High School.  Hillary, Kelsey, Valerie and Claudia came through at a time when I was doubting whether any of my students would make an appearance.These are the same four who won an honorable mention in a statewide video contest earlier this school year.  Within a few minutes of their arrival, they took their places at our table and began to start making scanographs - photographs made with a scanner.  They not only scanned their own faces but assisted onlookers to do the same.  Below are a few samples of scanographs taken last night.

Thanks so much to the parents of these young ladies for allowing them to participate!!!  Click on the link below in order to see a flip-able book of scans of the girls.

CLICK HERE

FIRST VIDEO GOING WELL

As you know there is a statewide video competition that Mr. Faulk wants our high schools to participate in.  He has asked me to offer my services to the classes and students who are creating these videos.  There are four groups participating.  One group is in the lead and that's the all girl's team from ECHS.  They are the only ones who have done the actual filming of their video so far.  I am impressed with these girls and all that they have accomplished coming into this competition later than the other three teams.  Way to go girls!!!!

I am working on converting all their footage into MP4s.  Hopefully my friend and I will have this completed by this weekend.  Then I'll be going back to ECHS on Monday morning.  The girls will be able to view the MP4s and begin the editing process by choosing which ones they want to use.  They also filmed with their cell phones last Tuesday.  If they plan on using any of this footage in the video I'll need these clips by Monday.  There are two more important things they need to be working on and these are choosing their song for the background music and the script itself.

I should be back at ECHS on Monday morning around 7:30.  I wanted to go by HAES and re-film some kindergartners but I can do that later in the day.  I also need to re-film a scene in the green house and the yoga class unless the girls decide to use some of their cell phone footage.  Hopefully everyone can meet me in the computer lab where we met before.  This will be a very important session.  Then, if they can meet me once again during their elective class we can work again.  If I need to I can ask Mr. Vaughn for permission for them to miss these classes.  I don't think this will be a problem.

I think we could get most of this video completed this week if we all work together the way we did last week.  Once completed, we have to get approval from Mr. Vaughn and Mr. Faulk before uploading it to YouTube as an official entry.  Remember, the deadline is Oct. 18th.  Can't wait to see it finished!!!

SCHS PARENT CONFERENCES

Today I had AIG parent conferences at SCHS.  I appreciate the turnout and the enthusiasm of all who attended.  During our meeting several topics came up that I said I would elaborate on later.  Well I thought about doing this using a screencast video.  So below I have answers to most of your questions and concerns.  Below the video you'll find hyperlinks to the sites that I mention in the screencast.




Governor's School information:

http://www.ncgovschool.org/

SAT Prep:

http://www.proprofs.com/sat/exams/practice-tests.shtml#

http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice?s_kwcid=TC-3529-14612845517-bb-1827553242

http://www.4tests.com/

http://majortests.com/sat/test-results.php

http://www.testprepreview.com/sat_practice.htm

http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-practice-questions

ECHS PARENT CONFERENCES

Today I had AIG parent conferences at ECHS.  I appreciate the turnout and the enthusiasm of all who attended.  During our meeting several topics came up that I said I would elaborate on later.  Well I thought about doing this using a screencast video.  So below I have the answers to most of your questions and concerns.  Below the video you'll find hyperlinks to the sites that I mention in the screencast.





Governor's School information:

http://www.ncgovschool.org/

Scholarship information:

http://www.cfnc.org/index.jsp

SAT Prep:

http://www.proprofs.com/sat/exams/practice-tests.shtml#

http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice?s_kwcid=TC-3529-14612845517-bb-1827553242

http://www.4tests.com/

http://majortests.com/sat/test-results.php

http://www.testprepreview.com/sat_practice.htm

http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-practice-questions

Video Winners from Last Year:

snap.vu/n6hh

Student Assignment for Wednesday:

Look at the videos on the website above.  Listen to the narration closely.  This may help you in writing our script.  The theme is "What's Super about Public Schools."  If we can get the script completed on Wednesday so that an English teacher can read it for possible corrections we would begin to work out a story board and start to film next week.  Think about what kind of music you want in the background.  And who has a nice voice that would be willing to narrate it for us?  Remember the video has to be from 30 - 45 seconds which is not long at all.  This can be done but I can't do it by myself since it is to be a student video.  Hope to see you on Wednesday morning in the computer lab adjacent to the library between 7:30 and 8:00.  We have ten new AIG laptops that we can use also.  Please come with a script or partial script written down on paper.  See you Wednesday.

Mr. Hewett

FRESHMEN AIG CAMP

Welcome to all the Freshmen AIG students from CCCA, ECHS, SCHS and WCHS.

OPTICAL PUZZLE CONTEST

OBJECTIVE(S):
Critical thinking skills and problem solving

PERSONAL INTRODUCTION

At this time I would like you all to introduce yourselves to one another - but not verbally.  I want you to introduce yourselves digitally using photographs, text and two online sites that I really enjoy using.  Here are the steps to follow:

PHOTOGRAPHS:
You will need one or two photographs of yourself.  Make friends with someone and have him/her photograph you.

PHOTOVISI:  
Import your photo(s) into a site called Photovisi.  It can be found at http://www.photovisi.com/  .  Choose the desired templates, colors, fonts, etc. to create your original collage.

SMORE.COM:
Finally, go to https://www.smore.com/ in order to create your original flyer introducing yourself.  Choose the template that you like and add text, photos, links, etc.  Below is portion of my flyer.  Click on the link beneath it in order to see the entire flyer.

CLICK HERE for the entire flyer.

OBJECTIVE(S):

Critical thinking skills, creativity, technical skills

COLLABORATIVE PROJECT

If you haven't been working collaboratively in middle school, you will be in high school.  This is going to be your first high school collaborative project.  I have two iPads with the app called iMovie installed on both.  Divide yourselves into two groups.  Your assignment is to create an original video with sound.  Don't know how to use the iMovie app?  Don't fret, here is a wonderful tutorial.



ASSIGNMENT:
Your team will create an original video with sound.  Decide upon a theme, write the scrip, assign the following tasks: actors, the director and camera man.  Don't have a clue as to a theme?  You can consider one of these: commercial, talk show, interviews of guests, tour, music video, comedy, etc.

OBJECTIVE(S):
Collaboration, communication, critical thinking skills, creativity, problem solving, technical skills

DRAMATIC SAMPLE:
Below is a sample of a portion of a dramatic video created by some of my AIG students from WCHS.



COMEDY SAMPLE:
Here are more WCHS students and their comedy video.



ALTERNATE ASSIGNMENT:
If for some reason we don't have time to do an entire movie, you may want to do a movie trailer instead.  Below is a tutorial on how to do it.



STUDENT MOVIE TRAILER:
Below is an example of an iMovie trailer created by WCHS students.



CREATIVE WRITING:

This assignment deals with creative writing on a very small scale.

OBJECTIVE(S):
Creativity, critical thinking skills, problem solving

SIX WORD STORIES:
Ernest Hemingway was one a famous American writers.  In the 1920s some of his friends bet him that he could not write an entire story in just six words.  They had to pay up and Hemingway considered the end piece to be his best work.  What were the six words?  Here they are:  "For sale, baby shoes, never used."
I've assigned this project to lots of my classes in the past with amazing and very creative results.  So I want you to write your own six word story.  Take your time.  There is no rush.  After jotting your story down on paper, open up PowerPoint and render it as a slide with photos or clipart.  When finished save it as a .jpeg and email it to me at lhewett@columbus.k12.nc.us.  Make sure you put your name on it.


OTHER POSSIBILITIES:

I'm not sure how many projects we will have time to do so I have several possibilities for them to choose from.

HACK A WEBSITE WITH X-RAY GOGGLES:
I thought that some of the students might enjoy hacking a favorite website of theirs or a website about one of their favorite celebrities.  This can easily be done using X-Ray Goggles.  Photographs can also be changed.  The students might use photos from the following website:  http://www.everystockphoto.com/
Hopefully ZScaler won't interfere with this online tool.

OBJECTIVE(S):
Critical thinking skills, creativity, problem solving, technical skills




Here is a sample I made.
http://p.webremixes.org/awaibyif


WHAT ABOUT THIS COMING YEAR?

MINECRAFT:
This coming school year we are going to try something different for our high school AIG students.  We are going to incorporate gaming into the educational process.  The AIG students will have access to laptops uploaded with the wonderful game called Minecraft.  I hope that you will use these and create fantastic worlds in which you will integrate English language arts, mathematics, science, technology and engineering.  This one game can cover all four elements of STEM - science, technology, engineering and math.  Don't know anything about Minecraft?  Check out this video.  It was created by two of my students at CCCA.



SUGGESTIONS:
Being in AIG in high school is different than in elementary or middle school.  You will not be pulled out of class once a week for an AIG class.  Different class schedules of students in high school will not allow this.  So I will work with you whenever possible.  This may be at 8:00 a.m. before school starts or during one of your non-EOC courses in which your teacher agrees to it and in which you will make up any classwork missed.  I'll also be pushing in some classes where I'll be working with not only AIG students but the entire class.  Since I am also Instructional Technology Facilitator, these push-ins will most likely pertain to integrating technology into that class.  So I need some suggestions about what you would like me to do for you this coming year and about  AIG activities that you might be interested in.  If you have suggestions that you'd like to share with me in private, email them to me at lhewett@columbus.k12.nc.us  .

FRESHMEN AIG CAMP THE LAST WEEK IN JUNE

A Freshmen AIG Camp has been scheduled for upcoming ninth graders in all four Columbus County high schools.  The dates are as follows:  South Columbus High School - 6/24, West Columbus High School - 6/25 and East Columbus High School - 6/26.  CCCA students will attend the Camp at the high school nearest to them.  All Camps will begin at 9:00 am and end at 12:00 pm.

During the Camp we will meet and chat with one another.  Since there will be students representing all the feeder schools of each high school you most likely will not know all of them.  So please come and begin relationships with your new classmates that will last for the next four years and hopefully even longer.

We will also view examples of and work on some technological projects, discuss ideas for the upcoming year and I want to introduce you all to Minecraft - a program that AIG students will have access to for integrating into your classes as well as for pleasure.  Let's create a video or two together or an online arcade game, a SciFi spoof, a talking avatar, a Spore creature, or try your hand at Minecraft.  Take part in an online video conversation, an original screencast or investigate iPad apps that I'm sure you'll find fascinating.  There may even be a contest or two with prizes.  Please come and take part in our AIG Camp.

You may be wondering who I am.  Well let me introduce myself.  My name is Larry Hewett and I am the high school AIG specialist for Columbus County Schools.  Instead of being bored to death reading my bio, why not do it interactively?  Click on the link below.

Learn more about me HERE.

But what about you guys?  I know nothing about you other than your names.  Please click on the link below and tell me something about yourself such as name, age, school, hobbies, favorite subjects, dreams and future plans for instance.  Parents, you're welcome to take part also.

Tell me something about yourself HERE.

A personal welcome and invitation from Larry Hewett

FINAL NOTE

Please let me know if you're planning on attending the Freshman AIG Camp.  Send me an email to lhewett@columbus.k12.nc.us.  I hope to see you there and ask your parents to come by also.

Larry Hewett

High School AIG Specialist

Instructional Technology Facilitator

AIG SHOWCASE NIGHT