How Do You Make A Stop Motion Digital Animation Movie in PowerPoint? Part 2 of 3

Greetings,

We hope you are having a great summer.  This is part 2 of the tutorial.  This is a pretty detailed hand out.  The hand out will review how to set up your PowerPoint background step by step.  It also will review how to set up your Special Effect Titles.  To get the free hand out simply click Here or on the picture above and you can download it as a PDF.

Next week we will finish the final tutorial.  We will review how to add the music to your movie and how to add rolling credits.  We will see you next week.  We hope everyone has a great week before heading back to school in a few weeks.  Take care.

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How Do You Make A Stop Motion Digital Animation Movie in PowerPoint? Introduction

Greetings,

We hope you are doing well.  We have been baking today in the Dallas /Fort Worth Metroplex.  I believe we had a high of 106 degrees.  Wow!  That's Hot!

Here is the question of the week, in which we have been receiving numerous requests on.  Can you really create a Stop Motion Digital Animation Movie in PowerPoint?  The answer is Yes!

First of all let me share with you that we will go into greater detail on how to start producing your movie next week.  The first thing we need to discuss is the materials you will need for your movie project.  Here they are.

1. A Digital Camera

2. Computer

3. PowerPoint 2010, 2007 or 2003 Software

4. Soft clay

5. Materials and props

That's it, just 5 materials for your movie project.  If you have not seen my movie the Bumpy Ride with Music on YouTube, you can view it down below and it will give you more ideas for more materials to use in your own movie.  Remember you can get as creative as you want.  It's your movie.



Next week, we will go into how to use PowerPoint to create your own Stop Motion Digital Animation Movie.  If you want to get a head start you can view my three week tutorial I wrote on Sept. 12. 2010, Teaching with Claymation: Part 1 of 3

We will be following some of these principles talked about in the Teaching with Claymation tutorials.  So your homework is to collect all the materials listed above and we will start showing you in greater detail how to Make a Stop Motion Digital Animation Movie using PowerPoint next week.  Take care.

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Have You Heard of Open Office?

Greetings,

I hope you had a Great Fourth of July Week.  This week I will be sharing with you a free open-source office software suite for Word Processing, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Graphics and Databases and More.  There are a lot of people who are not aware about this free software.

If you click on the picture above, it will take you to the site where you can download this free open sources office software package.  That's right for free!  This is a program that has similar functions as the Microsoft Office 2003 software applications such as (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access). 

There are free tutorials on the web site and on YouTube where you can learn how to use all of the free open-source office software programs.  The best thing about this free software is you can use it for any purpose you wish and that includes commercial and educational. 

You can also install it to as many computers as you like.  You can make as many copies and give them away to family, friends, students and employees.  If you are not using the MS Office 2010, 2007 or 2003 software applications, I encourage you to download Open Office. 

You will want to learn, practice, create projects and then teach others how to use it.  I hope you enjoy this free resource.  Don't forget, if you are currently learning how to use PowerPoint 2010, you can check out my free tutorials on YouTube.  Just search for the Complabteacher channel.  I will see you next week.  Take care.

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The A to Z of PowerPoint'ing'

Greetings,

I hope you had a great Father's Day.  Today I am blogging about special effect animations you can create using PowerPoint.  If you click on the picture above you can download the free presentation.  Remember all the animations you will see were made in PowerPoint. 

If you look below you can download an activity that will let you build control text boxes.  You are probably asking what are control text boxes?  Have you ever wondered if you could type while a PowerPoint show was playing?  Well control text boxes allows you to do this.

Click on the picture above to download the Control Text Box Activity.  This is an activity in which you can type in the text boxes while the show is running.  For more details on this activity you can view my YouTube Video tutorial by clicking here.  Stay tuned for more exciting blog topics to come.  Take care.

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Deal or No Deal PowerPoint Game!

Greetings,

I hope you had a great weekend.  I have been getting a lot of great feedback on all the games that have been posted on my blog.  Today I am sharing with you one of the students favorite games.  This is a game you want to save toward the last few weeks of school. 

Click on the picture above to download the folder for the Deal or No Deal Game.  Once you download it, you will need to keep the audio files in the same folder the game is in.  Here are the instructions on how the fifth graders played this game last week for our technology review. 

1. You can randomly draw the students and they can pick a number on the money game board. 

2. The teacher clicks on the number and reveals the cash amount and question.   

3. The student needs to get the correct answer to win the amount shown on the slide.

4. To get back to the money game board, click on the house on the bottom right of the slide.

5. The number the student just chose will be replaced with an X on it.  Also, you will need to click on the rectangle that had the dollar amount and it will go away.

6. Have some scratch paper ready where you can write the amount the student wins.  Give it to the student to hold.

7. The teacher continues to draw more names and students pick different numbers.

8. The winner of the game is the student who answers the correct question with the highest dollar amount written on their scratch paper.

Another option you can use are small rectangle post it notes with the dollar amount written on it.  If the student misses the question you can add an effect by tearing up the check.  Make sure you tell your students you are playing with play money.

You and your students will enjoy this game, especially with the deal or no deal music playing in the background. You will need to click in the boxes on the slides to type your own questions before you and your students play the game. 

You do not need to type the answers to the questions on the slides.  You want to make sure you have the correct answers to all questions at your fingertips.  I hope you enjoy this game.  I will see you next week with another exciting topic.



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Free Multiplication Tables and Games!

Greetings,

Updated: April 8, 2012: Just added Multiplying 1 to 10 on the Multiplication Chart Video.  Simply click on the video below.



Today I am blogging about sharing some valuable tools I have created to assist your students with multiplication and division.  A lot of students who have performed at a high level in math have memorized their multiplication tables all the way up to their twelves. 

You can start teaching these tables as early as second grade.  These tools will give your son or daughter a great advantage when it come to multiplication and division.  Ok, here are the resources.

Just click on the picture below to save this free Power Point. It also has a blank multiplication table so your students can practice filling out the tables.

The next PowerPoint allows you to print a pocket version of the multiplication table.  When you download this PowerPoint, you can make copies, cut them out and pass them out to your students.  Simply click on the picture below to download this one.

Now you can dowload and print a free Multiplication 12 X 12 Blank Table to practice filling in your multiplication facts with your child.  Simply click on the picture below to dowload the free PDF

The last activity was created in Excel.  When you download this activity, you will get a message to enable macros.  You will want to enable macros. It is a code that will clear all the green cells and turn them all orange, so you can play again.  Follow the steps below.

Step 1

Step 2

You will notice that all the cells are colored orange.  When you fill in the cell with the correct number, the cell will turn green. When you fill in the cell with the incorrect answer, the cell will turn red. Simply click on the picture below to download and save.  When you exit the program, do not save it again.

I hope you enjoy these free tools you can use with your students to learn their multiplication tables.  Next week I will be posting additional PowerPoints on addition tables for your K - 2 students.  See you next week!

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What Are The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs?

Greetings,

Last week, I discussed the importance of teaching children presentation skills.  This week I am blogging about resources you can use in your own presentations.  These secrets are from one of the greatest innovators of our time Steve Jobs.  In this new book: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs you will learn the following ideas:

1. Create an inspiring story.

2. Answer the one question that matters with your audience.

3. Paint a specific, memorable, and consistent vision of where you are going.

4. Deliver unforgettable moments.

5. Build visually engaging presentations.

6. Master stage presence.

7. Make it look effortless.

8. How to rehearse effectively.

9. Have a great time when presenting.

This is a great book: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo.  For a free preview of this book, you can download a free PowerPoint presentation on a few of these secrets.  Just click on the link or the picture above and it will take you to this valuable resource. 

Wow, another free resource. Here is his newest book.  The Innovative Secrets of Steve Jobs: "7 Insanely Different" Principles for Breakthrough Success by Carmine Gallo.  Just click on the link or the picture above to download this free PowerPoint resource. Hope you enjoy these free resources I have shared.  Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday.  See you next time.

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Free Quick References for You

Greetings

Today I will be sharing with you a web site where you can get access to quick references on various software programs for free. Once you download the quick reference guides, you can print the two pages out as a colorful pdf document. You can also glue them back to back and laminate them. You now have a quick reference guide for all the Microsoft Office and Adobe software titles listed above.

All you have to do is go to http://www.customguide.com/ and click on the Product Tour tab. Look on the right hand side of the screen and fill out the following information below to access the free quick reference guides.

These quick reference guides can assist you in your training needs. Hope you enjoy these free guides. We will see you next week with another exciting topic. Take care.

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30 in 48 Days!

Greetings,

Hopefully you are having a great Labor Day today. This week I will be sharing with you the exciting trainings I have been involved in over the summer. Yes, it is true that I had the opportunity to take over $11,000 of advanced technology training classes and received 25 software books with lessons, exercises and online files.

Our technology department was so kind and gracious to purchase Summer PassPort Passes from New Horizons Computer Learning Center for a few of our Computer Lab Teachers. New Horizons is a technology learning center where you can take classes for a nominal fee. I participated in almost 30 advance technology classes. Some of the classes included Adobe CS4 software like Photoshop (web and print), Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver and Acrobat. Other classes included, Web Design with XHTML, HTML, CSS and SharePoint Designer 2007.

I can not forget the MS Office 2007 classes I took, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher and Visual Basics Application (VBA) Programming. VBA is a class where you learn how to create macros or type code in MS Office programs. Out of all these classes I participated in, I had the chance to take Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced classes. Most of the classes were anywhere from 7 hours to 14 hour classes and daily classes would be from 8AM - 4PM, Mon. - Fri.

I knew a lot of the MS Office software programs, but this gave me a chance to brush up and review key concepts, tasks and ideas. I did not realize the value of these classes. If you were to take these classes on average it would cost you around $300 and if you were to take the Adobe classes it could run you nearly $700. What an investment! If I had to add the total instructional hours it would total over 200 hours!

I am sharing this information with you not to impress you, but to impress upon you to really achieve, and reach your goals and to continue to learn in whatever field you are in. I now have build up my technology library and created a reference library. These are invaluable resources and references that will assist me to create additional tasks and exercises for all my teachers and students.

I also met some great instructors and students at New Horizons. I hope to continue my education and attend New Horizons next year to take MS Office 2010 classes and Adobe CS5 classes. For additional resources for your training needs, please visit http://www.newhorizons.com/ or you can get a subscription for online learning video classes at www.atomiclearning.com Hope to see you next week. Have a great week!

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How to Access Free Movies, Music, Books and Audiobooks!

Greetings,

Hope you are doing well. This week I will be discussing a place where you can access free resources within your community. You can get popular DVDs, Cd's, books, and audiobooks at your own local library. It's amazing of the statistics of how many people actually have a library card, it is about 2 - 5% of the population. That's maybe one one out of twenty individuals who have in possession a free library card.

All you have to do is visit your local public library, and search for the resource you are looking for. Once you find your resource then you will need to sign up for a free library card. You can even do a search online in some cases. If they do not have the resource you are looking for, then you can place a request for them to get it through interlibrary loan. They search hundreds of libraries for you throughout the country.

I have received resources from as far as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to name a few. You may have to wait a few days or weeks. Some of the movies I borrowed recently include the following: Avatar, Julia and Julia, Wall-E, The Power of One from the 1990's, The Karate Kid part 2 and 3 back from the 1980's. A few books and audiobooks I have checked out include books by John Maxwell, John Wooden, Stephen Covey and Eric Jensen to name a few.

Hope this helps you out as you look for the resources you want or need in the future. As summer comes to a close, millions of children will be returning to a new school year within the next month. Over the next two weeks I will be blogging about how to be an effective classroom manager. I will also be sharing with you a few slides of my First Day of School PowerPoint. This is the same PowerPoint that was recently featured in a Presentation by Dr. Harry K. Wong. Hope to see you soon.

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What is Scribd and SlideShare?

Greetings,

Today I am excited to share with you Scribd.com and SlideShare.com in greater details. These are both web sites where you can download or share valuable resources. Ok, let's get started with Scribd.com. If you click on the picture below, it will take you to the website.



Check out Scribd 101
or you can watch the video below.



Remember, if you are interested in creating your own blog, and publishing your own blog, it is as easy as clicking on this link below to get the instructions. http://mikejmoran.typepad.com/visual_media/2009/11/creating-a-blog-using-blogger.html or you can click on this link below to see the document http://www.scribd.com/doc/22339943/Creating-a-Blog-in-Blogger If you want to download the power point or PDF then you can become a member of http://www.scribd.com/ for free and download all types of free informational documents. You can post any online document to share with the community. You can also charge for people to download your document and you keep 80% of profit.

Now we are ready to talk about SlideShare. Slideshare is a web site where you can also download free resources.
If you click on the picture below, it will take you to SlideShare.



Check out SlideShare 101
or you can watch the video below.



Stay tuned for next week. I will be sharing with you how to download YouTube videos for your next presentation. Videos are always useful and helpful in getting your point across to your audience. See you next week.

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