How can it be...my LAST blog?  The last few days have been non-stop, between trying to finalize my website pages, to last tweaks on my poster (which seem to never end), to crafting a pre-recorded video that showcases all of my learning in the next year.  

The one thing I feel like I have become better at is I have become more "fluent" with creating presentations using technology (from infographic, to audio recordings, to screencast to editing website pages).  Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers​ stated, “...Ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything,”  Apparently it was later added to that what he was speaking to what is needed to become a "phenom" at something.  Either way, we all know as adults, the more you do something the more it becomes a fluent and easier practice.  I feel like this masters program has given me the time and reason to truly explore and become more fluent using different technology tools.  For that I am thankful.

I am especially thankful for my learning with video, a lot of which I have explored in this class.  It opened up other tools such as iMovie and WeVideo which I have never utilized.  In the last year I have worked with Camtasia, as it was something I was told to use for work, but now I realize there are a lot of other resources that can support and come together with Camtasia.  That said, each class had a place where I explored presentation-like technology tools.  Powtoons, Go Animate (not my best experience), and Screencast-o-Matic to name a few.  Each class provided an opportunity for a final presentation where I worked to explore something different.  I also am thankful for my cohort, as I believe as a group we pushed each other.  We tried things, shared them, and inspired each other to try them.  Again, for this I am thankful.

As I finish this last blog, I will return to my endless editing that seems to be a bit addicting.  But soon, very soon, I will head out to our Donner Lake beach without my computer and the best "brain candy" book I can find and truly enjoy my last two weeks of summer.
​

It is starting to come together, well sort of, but at any rate it needs to come together!
​The best step of this class has been the structured critical friends that have been put in place.  After our last class I was able to make some significant cuts to my video based on feedback from my cohort.  I was at a bit of crossroads with my video having looked at it a million times, so it was helpful to have some thoughts on how to cut it down and what wasn't needed.  So, thank you to 




Please continue blogging around your journey from rough to final cut and any challenges or successes you can share with the group. ​

Hours and hours I have spend since our last class on Wednesday.  Every free moment I have, back at my computer editing my video!  I am about to head out on a family trip, so trying my best to get it all in, but aside from that I am spending every waking free minute editing.  It is amazing when I sit down to edit, I look up and two or three hours have passed!

I started a video in Camtasia and after our last class decided to move forward with iMovie.  I also explored WeVideo, and what I am learning is that a lot of these operate the same way.  I am "all in" on iMovie now, but I have to say I did use Camtasia to screen shot and edit some of the video I put into the front part of my video.  I am learning that iMovie has very limiting choices for title, editing captions, etc...So that part has been a bit disappointing.  Am I missing something?

I really felt strongly that I wanted some video clip in the beginning, so I found this awesome 11 year old who is a rock climber and screen shot some of her climbing.  This is my intro.  I ended up using Camtasia to record screen, and then had to edit out the timer bar across the bottom and the title across the top.  Not ideal, but as I have now watched it a million times I don't think it is too bad.  There is always a work-around, right?  

The other hurdle I stepped around was the music.  I found a great free track on one of the sites Mr. Pence has recommended and found how to give credit for it, but was unable to get it downloaded.  Not sure if I am missing something?  Since then I have found on in iMovie that is working well, and like I said above I think since I have listened to it about a million times and it doesn't bother me yet-that is a good sign.

I look forward to sharing my rough cut with everyone in the coming days, and I really look forward to reading other blogs and seeing where others in my cohort have netted out on this journey. 

Recently I have been using the phrase "Less is More" in my life, work and studies for this Masters program.  It seems fitting, as I feel inundated with information.  So as I began thinking about how to craft a Capstone video, a 90 second video that will capture the knowledge and research I have amassed over the last year, this seems especially true.

​I began with the 7 elements of Digital Storytelling that Mr. Pence had provided us, and well, it felt awkward.  I ended up crafting a script and trying to shoe horn that into these elements.  I realized after the fact that this was the overarching thinking piece, where I want to go with the video.  That sounds about right to me, but then I took it to the actionable piece.  What is this going to look like?  How am I going to do this? How many visual, video clips, and VO segments will I use?  Can I use instrumental music throughout, or will it be too distracting?

I then took some of these pieces of this script, that I had accidentally taken to the tactical level, and put it into a storyboard.  In my work I have recently done a lot of videos.  Screencasts, tutorials, editing down hours of classroom video and teacher talk.  With this, I am starting to learn a lot more about video editing; what is good and what can be left on the cutting room floor.  That said, I have never used a proper storyboard, well that is not entirely true.  Teaching is my second career, by passion job.  My first job was in advertising, working in account management.  I worked with a lot of story boards, got to work on million dollar commercials, it was a fantastic eye opening experience.  But, I never had to do it all on my own.  So that is where my cohort can come in, I am hoping!  

As it stands right now I wonder if my flow is correct.  In working in EDUC 792 on our collaborative book report I learned a lot.  Becky and I had a book with so much relevant, powerful content, and not a lot of time to convey it.  I think we came to a good place and were able to make the information digestible, and in doing so learned a lot ourselves.  I am hoping to use some of that thinking, how we edited down a lot of information and made sure that is coming across in a clear, concise way in my storyboard.  So is it?

Karly Miller Story Board Template
Karly Miller Script

When deciding what editor to use I did some research.  I have used iMovie only a few times when my children were younger and I was wanting to put some of their videos together.  Maybe it was the sleep deprivation (they were 2 months and 2 years at the time) or me toggling back and forth between MAC (home) and PC (work), but I found it harder than it needed to be.
At this point I have a license for Camtasia, and I think I will work with that.  I am having to use it for my work on a regular basis, so why not use this opportunity to get an even better understanding of it?  I just hope it is not as limiting as I think it is.  It seems I have to "record screen" on even the visuals?  That is on my list today to explore a bit more.

Now, back to less is more, right?

I had a chance to play with some Google Add-Ons in our last class, but this time I feel like I was really able to play with some specific add-ons that will enhance my usage of google forms.  I have spent hours playing with these, thank goodness it is summer!
I ended up playing with 5-7 different add-ons, many of these were focused on finding a good form notification.
In my current work I am supporting the implementation of a new ELA/ELD adoption, Benchmark Advance.  In doing so I have had to identify the best way to communicate with 150 3-5th grade teachers, and organize information to make it more efficient.
First, I used Row Call, see below my screenshot of how I used this.  We had 150 different teachers choosing a date for Training #1 which will be offered the week before school.  I used Row Call to separate out the sites so I could share the sign-up data with Academic Specialist and Principals to ensure their teachers were signing up.

Second, I created a form for our Training #2 in October and set-up Form Mule to share a confirmation.  This worked much easier than I thought and will be a nice thing to use going forward. 

Next, I needed an add-on that limited the number of responses for each day.  Our training in October has 20 subs reserved on Monday, and 30 the remaining days.  I experimented with Form Ranger.  I have set it up, and did a test so we will see how that goes. Below please see how I set it up.

Last, I created a form for my Capstone website to capture what teachers are interested in learning more about. 
​Research for Accessing Complex Text Form
I created branching questions, which I may edit as we move through to the final stages.  I used Form Confirmation email to send a note confirming what they have noted in the form.  What I would really liked to do is based on what they clicked that they needed I would like to SEND them that information or allow them to download it after completing the form.  Is there something that exists for that?  Thoughts would be appreciated, as that would really optimize the experience.
Hours later I now have a few things to show for my experimenting.
Now, onto celebrating Father's Day!