Another one down!

I just finished my fourth Lamar class last week, 5366 and I learned quite a bit. I finally dusted off the application folder with Photoshop CS3 on it on my laptop and used it for the first time. I used it to create a personal logo in 5366. I also discovered that Photoshop is a pretty complex program but after a few hours of use I was more comfortable with it. I also made a collaborative website for teachers using google sites and I will be doing this with my own Spanish department at my high school. What is great about collaboration is that everyone can contribute their talents to a project and you also learn effective teamwork, communication and following deadlines. Check out our teachers resource below... https://sites.google.com/site/edld5366collaborativewebsite/

"Goanimate" in the Spanish classroom!

I had played around with xtranormal.com in my previous Lamar class EDLD 5363 and now I decided to try out goanimate.com The video turned out pretty good and is way less complicated and faster to work with than xtranormal. You are also more limited with the free version of goanimate.com but you can still have fun with it in class. Here is my sample video below... Comida China V2 by travis.patocka on GoAnimate

Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate.

My Stykz Animation Video, EDLD 5366

I also learned how to work with a few different animation programs. For class I created a short Stykz animation video that I ran through iMovie so that I could incorporate sound and some credits. Good stuff!

Teachers Resources Collaborative Web Page. EDLD 5366

Check out this website we have been working on in EDLD 5366. We have created a website dedicated to technolgy, web 2.0 tools and resources for parents and teachers both in and outside of the classroom. Enjoy! https://sites.google.com/site/edld5366collaborativewebsite/

Still alive and kicking!

Just wanted to post a little update about what I have been up to. The PlascoTrac research continues and still, we consistently have more students in class daily than we did at this time last year! I will be recording the attendance data for the month of January here in about a week so we will see what will happen. I'm curious that since the flu has been so severe this year if it might modify the attendance results that I otherwise would have reported but the main idea of my project is just where we end up, come May of 2013. I am currently taking EDLD 5366 and am building a collaborative website with other classmates, two of which I worked with on an animated video in my previous class. It is going pretty good and if you want to check out our work so far, go here...

Action Research, Round 2!

It has been a while since I've shared anything on my blog, well it has only been about two weeks but I thought now might be a nice time to share some of the initial findings from my action research project. What I have been doing is plugging in quantitative data from the attendance at our school and looking for any patterns in the attendance numbers. The good news is that our attendance has been consistently up at the building I teach in since we began using our PlascoTrac program! Feel free to download my reports in this blog and check out my findings so far... https://sites.google.com/site/travispatockaspanish/action-research-project-for-lamar/preliminary-action-research-results All of my research has documentation to prove its' validity so please, share any data from my report so far! I am also looking at the literature and case studies out there on PlascoTrac. There are a slew of case studies on schools that have begun using this program in their schools.

Web Conference #4 down, EDLD 5363 and time to finish things up!

It has been an incredible journey so far!  Again, my Lamar classes amaze me as I learn more and more about just what is out there in terms of multimedia tools and information.  I am no longer afraid to work with iMovie, do a pod cast, experiment with computer animation and graphics in my classes.  A bit part of it is simply diving right in and making the time to practice working with all of these programs and online web 2.0 tools.  Below I have posted the final edition/version of our multimedia collaboration video.  Even though some of us were 1,000 miles apart we still were able to make it work.  Using facebook to chat and google docs/drive and gmail to collaborate we worked hard to create the video below.  I hope you enjoy it.



I can't tell you how many hours I put into this video and I would have saved time had I been working with my colleagues directly, under the same building but learning how to work over long distances makes everything so much simpler.  Little things like learning how to embed video, work with html and just play around with what is out there makes this class worthwhile.  Just as a personal note I feel blessed and grateful to have such a patient wife and it helps that she too is a graduate student working hard.   All I need to do now is get going on me week 5 homework.  Actually, I spent a ton of time on it yesterday so we will see how it all comes together when it comes time to get everything turned in.  All done in time for winter break!