I mentioned in previous posts about using Twitter as a means to text students via fast follow – a great feature worth reading in you have time – now I want to talk to them directly.  I was hesitant to give them my phone number directly, so after a discussion with several friends, I took up Google Voice. At the time I had to be invited, so after I was accepted, I dove at the opportunity. It was an easy process, I already had a Google account, I got to choose my own phone number (and there were a lot of options) and I was done.

The first lesson I did was to have my kids call in and leave a voice mail response to a question about one minute in length. I gave the kids the question in advance, I then recorded the question again in my voice mail box. So I wouldn’t be bothered, I set up the phone so it would not ring my cell phone but go directly to voice mail. I gave my students two days to complete the task. When it was done, I had 32 out of 32 students who had recorded around a one minute answer. The voice mails are saved online as an audio file so I can download as an Mp3. All of my students now have the chance to hear themselves talk – which made some very nervous after the fact. And, I had transcripts of each phone call underneath the audio file.

Along with hearing from each student, I also had the chance to work on my student’s soft skills. Each one of them now could hear wht they sound like on the phone, and some knew they had to work on their speaking skills. I had a few who thought they couldn’t do it, but in the end, everyone has a phone (there was one in my room which two students used, there are no excuses on this one); and the voice recognition software keeps getting better so the transcriptions are pretty good as well.

Along with Twitter, this gives my kids another way to contact me. At the start of each school year, I have each student text me and I store their number. When I do get a text, I instruct my students to include their name, so a text may read, “Mr. Soeth, this is Abby, I had a question on the HW.” It’s a great time to teach my students how a text may change if you are contacting an employee or boss vs. a teacher or best friend and how what you type makes a big difference.

I use Google Voice with Group projects. I have questions I put up, as I am walking the room, if kids have questions or if they need help I have a designated texter who can reach me. Questions are answered in the order they are received (customer service humor). Also, about ever 10 minutes or so I can see if a question has been answered and I know if my kids are on task. I can’t be at every group, but this is a great way to see where they are at on the assignment and keep tabs. Additionally, if I have a designated texter in each group, then I should only see one phone out.

My kids can create podcast like assignments using my Google Voice number. I can have them call and record for as long as necessary working off their script. We can then include that dialogue on a project, assignment, or in any other area necessary for the task at hand.

Lastly, for anyone who does not text (which is many of my teacher friends), you can now text from the comfort of your keyboard. You can send and receive texts right on your computer opting out of anything landing on your phone. Plus, texts are saved, so if you are worried about how media is interpreted or if your district is strict about who is sending messages to who, you have an ongoing dialogue saved online that documents any and all conversations.

For more info on cell phones, Google and other services, check out my podcast Leadership Isn’t Funny. You can also check out my other posts on Evernote 2 and my Top 10 with Evernote which is another great cell phone resource for taking notes and staying organized. I also have a couple of more posts on Google Voice that are worth check out such as my Top 10 and my first post on Google Voice.

Fast follow is simple, send a text to 40404 with the phrase “Follow (username)”. For example, I had the kids text 40404 with the words “Follow Soethengclass”. This was a great way to do informal surveys, send out information, connect with kids and make myself available for questions or help.

The first thing I did to get student involvement was start some give-a-way projects. For example, I would tweet out that the first five people who replied to a tweet would get a prize. The next day, I gave out at least one king sized candy bar in each class. My goal, to create interaction in social media. I wanted the students to know they could reach out to me and to pay attention to the tweets going out.

In class, I started backing off the amount of writing the kids had to do, especially during discussions. We spent a lot of time going over class discussions and the expectations for class discussions, and I would have a student keep track on the board of the main points that we would go over. Then, at the end of class, I would take a picture with my iPhone and tweet it out to my students. Their job, make a copy for their notes. My goal, one tweet a day as I knew if I could get my text or tweet to show up on a student’s phone I could make them think about me or class. Anytime a student thinks about my class outside of school is a good thing.

Now, the evidence that supports using Twitter. About two years back I had a conversation with another teacher by the name of Corey Bess. Corey did what I did not, research. You can read Corey’s blog to get more specific info, but I will boil it down. Corey created two identitcal sets of students: grades, race, socioeconomic, and class size. At the end of one year, he found that his students who used twitter socred- overall – 8 percent better on their final grade than those who did not. This number grew significantly over the course of year as students who used Twitter scored almost 10 percent better on standardized tests than those who did not use Twitter. That gap grew over the course of the year. Corey did the same thing I did, one tweet a day. And the tweets can be specific like “HW tonight on page 29, make sure you read the paragraph first,” to the casual, “Happy Friday, remember to wear your Orange and Blue.”

I started using my Twitter for various purposes. I would do spirit updates, pictures, assignments for that day in class, or motivational items like “do your best today.” Over time, I found my students were very happy to contact me via Twitter and ask questions on assignments. In the past year, I have seen my students who use Twitter increase by fifty percent. While I used to have to explain Twitter, I am finding that less and less as kids are jumping on board and following each other or their favorite celebrities. Additionally, with only 140 characters, Twitter forces students to be concise with their communications. At the same time, the Twitter community frowns on abbreviations and misspelling, so a lot of the text speak that kids use is fairly non existent in the Twitter-verse.

One other passionate educator I know who uses fast follow is Ron Ippolito. Ron and I have had some great discussions on fast follow. On of those discussions involved using fast follow as part of a school Twitter account. Now, you have a free way to communicate with parents via text or Twitter. Granted, there are a lot of text services out there, but I don’t know too many that are free. Twitter is a great way to have a conversation with your students, parents or staff. It’s a great way to stay connected and gives your community one more option in getting their information or contacting you. That’s a great lesson in customer service for your students to take to their professional lives.

Keep in mind, that we are not only fighting the kids but the kids’ parents: the ones who bought the phones, pay for the phones, expect their kids to answer anytime they call the phones, and any other number of reasons parents want their kids to have a phone. Think about how many times you have students who go to the parking lot to meet a parent during lunch or between classes? Or, a student comes up during class and says, “My mom is here can I go to the office?” even if you have not gotten a call or note from the office stating that someone is here for the student. If you were to ask them, “how do you know your parent is here,” the answer usually revolves around a text. I was getting tired of this behavior, so I knew it was time for a little professional development with cell phones and my students.

My first lesson was when students could have their phones on and off. So, I would ask kids to take out their phones, and done one of two things depending on the lesson:

1. Everyone please take out your cell phone, make sure it is turned off right now as we won’t be using them for a bit. Once your phone is off please put it on the left hand side of your desk so I know you are ready.

2. Everyone please take out your cell phone, make sure it is turned on, and when you are ready please place your phone on the left hand side of your desk.

The left hand side is key as most students are right handed. The motion of reaching across a desk for a phone will be awkward and noticeable, plus it was a visual cue for me to know when kids had their phones and were ready. If students felt more comfortable putting their phones in their bags while they were off, that was fine. However, if the phones were out or not where I expected them to be, the phones were mine.

In the early days I did not do much: some texting, a few surveys, definitely Twitter (fast follow is one of the best inventions ever) which I will touch on later.

One of the most common questions I get is access. When I started this, over half my students had phones, about half could text during school. So, for certain projects students partner up or work in groups. Over time, I have more students with smart phones or the ability to text so that number has gone down over the past two years. As early as 2008 Nielsen reported that over 70% of students had a phone while over 80% had access to a phone. That number has risen significantly.

Smart phones are a game changer. Where I had one or two kids with smart phones I now have over half my class with smart phones. Now, I can have the students do research, look up films, find articles or do basic research as necessary. Some studies I have read estimate that as of December of 2011, over half of all phones that students use are smart phones.

As tech savvy as we think students are, they are not as good at technology as we give most of them credit for. Students are only as good as their needs, and most of their needs occur on Facebook. Basic skills such as searching, analyzing, filtering content, or even recognizing marketing trends are deficient. Much like the old musical number from Bye Bye Birdie – it’s not the phone lines that are tied up but how many text messages one person can send in a minute.

As for AUP’s, I will include one I got from Ron Ippolito – a fellow teacher with an amazing blog – who is doing some great work with phones and other items: AUP Policy. After researching all over, the basics are this: you can have it, you may use it with teacher permission, it’s a privilege to use your phone at school, we are not responsible if your phone is lost or stolen. Keep in mind, phones are a part of the curriculum, they are not the only way to complete the curriculum, therefore phones enhance the learning process but are note required for the learning process.

In the end, my students enjoy have greater access to me via their phones either through texting or through Twitter. I’ve noticed that the level of understanding, respect and responsibility with technology has gone up immensely while the lessons I am able to figure out from basic social skills to applicable career skills is astounding.

Red Poppies are everywhere here at the memorial

If there is a unique place to visit, the War Memorial/Museum in Canberra is a somber and unique experience. The technology used to bring forth a rewarding, informational and sensory experience is the modern idea. The aviation wing features several mini features from a bombing run in WWII and a dog fight in WWI (the latter directed by Peter Jackson). Then, in the hall of heroes from the various battle fronts, the museum has bit.ly links to get further information on the individuals in question. How cool would that be at a museum to have either a QR image or a bit.ly link to see video footage or gain additional biographical information on what you are viewing? This museum has that which is a great feature to add to the museums interactive qualities.

If you ever have a chance to visit a memorial – and I do hope you visit the war memorials at Washington DC, incredible – the memorial in Canberra is impressive. The use of red poppies as a symbol of remembrance for those who have fallen is a beautiful symbol.

This person is comfortable

After the memorial/museum, we headed out to Gold Creek Station, a sheep ranch with about 2000 head of sheep.  Craig and Sandy run a gorgeous ranch here that is not only a working ranch, but sees about 30 tour groups a year to show them what a real ranch is like.  We had lunch, got to handle a few sheep, round them up with a Kelpy sheep dog (spelling?)  The kids had a blast, and even though the weather was cold and wet, the family was incredibly gracious and hospitable.  You can check them out on Facebook, look for Gold Creek Station, I will post some pictures there as well.
Now, we are on our way back to Sydney to fly to Darwin. We should arrive about midnight in northern territory time, to the hotel about one thirty.  A long day to say the least.  In the mean time, we watching some Crocodile Dundee to get an idea of our trip to the outback.  Oh, and one more stop by McDonalds, I may have to go for a latte this time, caffeine sounds good.

Gloria Jeane is the chain of choice in Australia – an expensive cup of coffee, but it carried me over to the flight where I can enjoy a delicious dinner of who knows what.  I’ll let you know if it’s good, I will say the flight over had a pretty good meal, though the domestic flight is a different monster all together.  One side note on flying Qantas – in the international flight you have the option of a small bottle of Aussie wine to drink.  Being with P2P I declined as that is the policy.  However, in hindsight, I could have asked for the bottle, and then put in my carry-on and had it when I got home. There is no wine option for the domestic flight.

I have cash (we are hitting another flea market up north, the best place to buy souvenirs as the shops and stores at the venues we visit are ridiculously expensive).  So far, I’ve gotten some nice things for the family, post cards, etc.  I knew I would spend a bit at some places, less at others.  There is not much I need or want, a few things I set out to buy like items from The HardRock, the Opal Store, my Aussie Jacket ($10), and postcards.  I’m not looking to buy anything else crazy, so all is well.
Off to Darwin, we are scheduled to land around 12:30 Darwin time.  That means we will be at our hotel about 2:00 AM give or take.  We get to sleep in though, breakfast is at 8:30, much better that 6:15.

My last bit of confusion, head phones.  I cannot express how excited I am to be in another country, experiencing their culture, and taking in all of the sights and sounds it has to offer.  However, I am in awe of the several students who continue to walk around with their headphones in their ears and turned on.  We have asked them to take them out – a couple of the kids we have asked several times – with one commenting, “There wasn’t much going on so I was sitting in a corner listening to music.” Not much going on? We were outside throwing boomerangs and wrangling sheep, a few people came in because it was cold and were standing by the fire drinking hot chocolate, we were on a working sheep ranch – the founders wife was in making coffee and tea for people to drink telling stories of the ancient coffee pot that was used to feed the shearers 50 years ago.  What I  have learned of today’s youth, it is easier to withdrawal into a world of music and media while shutting down socially.  I’m not sure why, maybe they feel that it’s too much work to start a conversation or make a friend – but this lack of socialability is concerning.  Even more, is the students who chose to engage, but keep an headphone in one ear listening to music.  To think, as a spectator, that I can have a conversation with someone who is also listening to music is appalling.  Either talk to me or not, but don’t half listen.  Kids need to be taught that this is inappropriate.  I am consistently worried about kids who feel it is okay to be out with a friend or on a date and to be ignored while their friend texts or calls another person.  If we are not careful, Fahrenheit 451 will become a reality instead of a classic piece of literature.

Today was a unique day in that it was the first time my daughter actually climbed around the jungle gym at our local part. The jungle gym at this park is blue with red slides and yellow poles and contraptions leading up to the top which is about ten feet off the ground. Virginia was more interested in climbing the stairs, pointing out the one other baby, or playing peekaboo with a nine year old named Cadence.  We went back and forth, sometimes crawling, sometimes walking, up and down the stairs, across the bridge, gazing out at the slides towards the swings (which I think was the real goal, but they were full).

At one point, the nine year old Cadence was acting as a guide trying to get Virginia to go down a slide that we made our way to the end of the line on the other side of the suspension bridge. At this point, there were two ways down, a spider web of yellow poles, or a giant string of climbing bars; neither one ideal for a fourteen month old. At this point, another little girl came up and stood in front of Virginia – not menacingly – somewhat protective saying “this is for big kids only.”  At this point, Virgina reared back on her heals to a squatting position, and quite excitedly stood up and started clapping saying, “Big Girl!” With a giant grin on her face, looking to me for validation – I was clapping and cheering too – the little girl shrugged, grabbed her friend and started to walk the other way.

Virginia and I stood there clapping for a few more seconds before she turned around and started to walk the other way before dropping down to her standard bear crawl. What I find interesting is Virginia’s view of her world. Big Girl is a game my wife started while I was in Australia, it was a way to work with my daughter to get her to stand and walk. I’m impressed because my daughter stood up amidst these other older children and celebrated her accomplishment just like we do at home every day.  Since Virginia does not know any different, she knows that she is a big girl because the two most important people in her life have told her that consistently over the past month. If I can convince a fourteen month old to stand up and celebrate her big girl status, I’m sure there is so much more I can do for her self confidence over the next few years and longer. This small experiment is a great memory in my day, and I am so excited I had a chance to be there and share this experience with my daughter, she is a happy baby.

One of the original statues from the Summer Games in Sydney.

The bus ride was fairly uneventful, blustery weather, cold and some rain highlighted our trip. We stopped off at McDonals, I’m finding it to be a good stop as the McDonalds here made a big switch to a healthier menu, they have a full coffee shop, and free wifi.  I may go in for a coffee, but I will stay for the free wifi. The McCafe here was impressive, I got a cinnamon custard desert, delicious! They operated much like a Starbucks with the full espresso machines and coffee made to order.

Next up was a brief stop to spot some Kangaroos, they were a bit big.  We did not get too close as they are pretty good at kicking and no one felt like flying.

We spent a good part of the day at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) seeing where the olympic athletes train.  We got to see one of the most technologically advanced pools in the world with 26 cameras to video tape swimmers from multiple angles.  We had lunch here, one of our best meals as everything is engineered to help athletes perform their best. After playing a few sports ourselves, we were off to parliament house.

Poor image quality, but still the Magna Carta

Parliament was a buzz as they were discussing the new Carbon tax, and each part – liberals and labor – had their own opinion.  We got a brief glimpse of the new prime minister, and got a tour of the house.  The views were gorgeous, and though a cold day, we got some spectacular photographs.  We did get to see one of the 4 original copies of the Magna Carta from 1214 AD.
We drove by the US embassy, learning that the Virginia brick style complex is really built on US soil that was shipped over from the states – yea tax dollars.  It was all decorated for the 4th, they looked ready to have a celebration.

I tried to support Parliament, then, like a bee, it stung me.

After a nightof the kids fighting over the laundry machines, it was off to bed.  To say Canberra was cold is an understatement – it was downright freezing dropping down into the 30′s.  Also, we had kangaroo surrounding the hotel.

If there is a moral to this story, beware of high costs for wifi and internet when you travel. And, being the southern hemisphere’s winter, anything south of Sydney is unbelievably cold. We missed the snow, but it was cold, there were some serious layers going on in this group.  The boys still wore shorts, and froze, but would admit it (it’s a guy thing). So the girls stole their sweatshirts and admired how freezing manly they all looked.

The three sisters in the Blue Mountains of Australia

We took a two hour drive up into the Blue Mountains of Australia.  Weather, perfect. Slightly cloudy, but warm, and fog in the valley’s which created some wonderful views of the mountain range and the scenery below.

We did a quick stop to see the three sisters.  The story goes that two tribes were fighting. To bring peace, the father of one tribe wanted his sons to marry the daughters of the other tribe.  This accord did not come to fruition and so the groups went to war.  To protect the daughters, a medicine man turned the daughters to stone.  Unfortunately, the medicine man was killed, and being the only one who could turn the sisters back, the sisters have remained in their current form for eternity.

At this point, I cannot say enough good things about Fullon, a highly interactive and well put together program.  We were fortunate enough to have Paul, founder of Fullon, lead our group of intrepid high school students.  We were also endowed with a couple of young leaders with a few years of experience with Fullon, Susan and Sandy, all from New Zealand.  Fullon runs programs in several countries: New Zealand, Australia, Italy, England, Scotland and many other parts of Europe.  Needless to say, if you are traveling abroad with a group, they are worth the call.

We started with some team building, some re-training of the brain, talking about the 70,000 decisions we make on an average day.  We talked about the types of decisions we make, and how we can control the types of decisions we make.  This led up to a board breaking exercise to get the kids to accomplish a task that many of them felt they would not be able to do. We worked on getting the group to support the student who is breaking the board rather than getting wrapped up on our own causes.  Finally, the kids got to write on their board how it felt to be successful and share their personal thoughts.  A great souvenir for the kids to take as a symbol of their success.

I'm ready, now where did I put that rope?

Next, ab-sailing (or repelling) down a 200 foot cliff.  Any time you dangle your weight over a cliff with a harness and a piece of rope as your only line to safety, that is scary.  So, 45 nervous students and adult leaders reared their dairyaires over the precipice and descended into emptiness.  I say emptiness as only the first 10 feet were available for us to use our feet, the last 190 were free falling, much like sliding down a fireman’s pole.  Now, keep in mind we did a practice run and there was a lot of training prior to our descent, it’s not like we were thrown over the cliff.  However, in spite of the training, anxiety was high, and getting kids to take that first step over the cliff took a bit of time.  The instructors were eager to explain the safety precautions, get to know the climbers, and build up rapport before letting the kids take the risky plunge.

Next up, as our groups were split in half, was the mystery maze.  Many of us leadership folks have done this before, an exercise in communication, where we are give a maze to travel through, the facilitator knows the way, the group must figure it out.  What I thought was interesting, in the debrief, was the focus on our hesitation, the ability to wait for input rather than to take action.  There were many reasons for hesitation – and hopefully the point got across – that as a leader we need to take action.  Even though everyone will have an opinion on what we should or should not do, in the end, we are the ones who have to make the choice.  The question is, can we make the right choice with everyone around us ready to judge and make comments?

After a wrap up – I’ll share more later – we had a good dinner, had a chance to buy souvenirs (including a picture of us dangling into nothingness) and we hopped on the bus for a two hour ride back to Sydney.  As I sit here in this dark bus typing up my thoughts I can’t help but notice the buzz between the students in the back of the bus.  It’s obvious they had fun, built some good relationships, and enjoyed the day.  As a person who does leadership training on a regular basis, they did a fantastic job – and judging by their desire at feedback – they are looking to improve. As stated by Paul, “Success is created by your desire to improve, explore and continue to seek ways to make yourself better.” As the kids learned, you can stand and stare at the cliff in front of you, or you can choose to conquer your fear and leap off to the adventure that awaits.

When I first heard of this app, I became excited, an all inclusive app that finds video from a specific year for me. When I started to use the app, I became more excited as the resources here are invaluable as an educator. For example, I am currently watching an animation on the sinking of the Lusitania made in 1918. Certainly a propaganda film, but still a great example of film and animation in the early days of theater. This could easily be used in History, English, Film Studies, Film Production, Cultural Studies, Art & Animation … wherever you may want it to go. I could see using some of this as background research for The Great Gatsby as understanding WWI is the precursor to understanding the Roaring 20′s. Even better, could kids make the connection that the sinking of the Lusitania is like that of the attack on 9/11?  Again, things that make the kids think are always good.

My biggest appreciation of the Video Time Machine app is that it gives me, the teacher, options. I can let my kids loose to see what they find and then have them share – narrowing down my videos to four or five out of 160 in a particular year. I can choose a specific video to watch, guiding my students to the topic and asking them to write about, make a connection, or find a similar film on their own. Even better, I get it all for just .99 cents. No companion pieces to the literature, so major additional research on my own time, just an app on my learning device. Additionally, I can share the videos via Twitter and Facebook. So, with all of my students on Twitter following my class feed (SoethEngClass) I can share the videos that way and see how many watch the videos prior to class; or, how many watch them again once we leave class. Learning is about interacting, and what better way for kids to take the video with them to interact with on their iPhone, iPod, other smartphone or home computer. Now I just extended the learning beyond my classroom at no extra cost to the student.

As a newer program, they are still growing, so the 10,000 videos will definitely increase. Right now, 1860 has one video, the first sound recording. However, if I look up the year I was born, 1978, there are 165 videos, big difference.  All I can say in hang in, I’m sure more will be added, and in any context, this is till a great resource.

On a side note, Video Time Machine wants to know how you are using the app, if you create a video you can submit it to them to post on their site. This app is also good for grandparents, check out this video with “Mimi,” a user submitted video where one person looks at the year she was born, 1931.

A big thanks to Bill Engelhardt who brought this app to my attention. It is well worth the .99 cent price tag.

The Ever Popular Burger King Starbucks Franchise at LAX

Day one of Australia took off on a jet … like a jet … as fast as a jet could go minus the six hour lay over in LAX (anyone else pick up on the shortened term for Los Angeles International – it’s like a laxative running through you sapping all of your resources and energy). The main terminal was not bad, Burger King/Starbucks, Chili’s to Go (still haven’t figured out that name) and a few book stores.  The international side, whew, absolutely nothing there with the construction going on.  Not much to choose from, a decent amount of space, and lot’s of waiting. Oh, and be prepared, not too many places to plug in appliances, probably part of their huge remodeling project.

Still, the kids were in a good mood, we were all excited to be on our way.  The girls hit on the cute dumb boys and made fools of themselves, the rest of the group formed their cliques (mostly by groups of boys and girls).  I’m still amazed to watch the boys and girls interact – the girls who are flirting will pull all of the same old tricks, the guys pretty much sit there and flex – like peacocks – not really saying anything.  It’s fairly awkward, but I guess that’s how it is in these early years.

We had one cryer that I could see.  It wasn’t so much her first time being away from home – or in another country – it was her parents making a big deal about her being away from home for the first time.  She was fine until her dad ran up and gave her a “key” (literally) saying it brought good luck and safe travels.  That’s when the tears started, but the tears were soon forgotten once we were unleashed on SFO.

Shopping in the airport is interesting, duty free speaks for itself though I haven’t figured it out.  What I can’t get is Swatch – when did they go airport exclusive? And, $50 for a colorful piece of plastic? Or, $75 if the band is fabric? Granted, if I were back in 4th grade I would totally go for a neon orange Swatch or maybe a Royal Blue one (I might even do that now, go Kimball), but only if they came with a face guard and someone else was buying them.  Otherwise, cut the price in half and I might think about it … THINK about (meaning I probably still wouldn’t buy the watch).

On the LAX International side, life was very different. I believe they call it LAX because it drains you of all life and energy giving nothing in return, much like the abbreviation for LAXative. There were not enough places to charge your electronic devices, the wall outlets were dead, and the few charging stations that existed were all full. One guy took up a whole station with his computer, iPod, and iPhone. A student went up and asked if he could use the USB charger on his computer so the student could charge their iPod, the guy just stared and said it would take too long. This tells me the guy is rich enough to buy the toys, but either too ignorant or too selfish to know how they work. There is another word for this guy too, but there are kids around, so I refrained. On another note, if you are traveling international any time soon, stay on the domestic side as long as you can, especially if you need a book or need to eat. There is a lot of construction on the international side, not much to see or do there.

Qantas was amazing.  I have never been on a 747 this big.  Granted, I would like some more room in my seat – it was more optimal for someone under six feet – but the entertainment was decent, food was better than expected, and I actually slept about six hours. The frustrating part was when I stood up to let the people next to me use the restroom, the guy sat on my armrest where he simultaneously turned on my light, called the steward and broke my headphones.  Now my headphones had the distinction of being broken by someone else’s ass, nice.  To add insult to injury, the steward came up asking me if I needed help – half asleep with my ears clogged from the altitude I had no idea what he said.  I thought he wanted me to turn off my light as the cabin was dark.  It was not until he pushed the button on my armrest that I put it together.

I’m surrounded by teens, meaning I have a few boys next to me who sweat too much, serious odor problems.  On my right is a group of girly girls, I had to ask them to not spray their body mist any more, it could be perceived as insulting by other people in a confined space.  They laughed, scowled, then acquiesced. It smells like BO with a hint of floral, the ideal locker room for Mary Kay.

We are about an hour out, paperwork is filled out for customs (hopefully they don’t take away my protein bars).  I had no idea soil on my boots could be a problem, I might be buying shoes here, we will see.  I wore a pair of black shoes here that I’m okay with if they don’t make it.  I need new work shoes anyway.  Black slip on shoes, no laces, perfect for security checks in airports and completely comfortable for long walks in big cities.  The boots are for the outback, time for rock climbing and swimming in waterfalls.

I’m looking forward to Sydney and the beach – I love the beach anywhere.  Sydney is just a great city, much to see and do, very metropolitan.  That, and maybe, just maybe, I will find Carmen San Diego.  I tracked her all the way from SF – my clues were an opera house, city next to water, large bridge and colorful dollars.  I just might have her now …

I did not use Final Cut again for almost ten years.  In the meantime I got pretty good at iMovie.  It was an easy and intuitive movie producing tool, plus, it was a package deal with all of the tools I needed to create a video.  I did not need to know how to layer, write my own transitions, or create animations – iMovie did it for me.  I was able to create a few slide shows, a wedding video and my own wedding video for the rehearsal dinner starring my wife and I. It was easy, fun, and the finished product looked great. I even dabbled with Movie Maker on my PC for a while – another simple and solid app, though with fewer features than iMovie.  It did work great in my classroom.

The first few videos I did for my podcast were iMovie, it’s what I had and what I knew how to use.  However, for long term purposes, I wanted to move towards Final Cut to avoid the “cookie cutter” packaging that my videos had.  I like iMovie, a lot, but for prfessional reasons, Final Cut was the direction I needed to go.

I did not know alot about Final Cut, everything about it had become foreign to me.  I asked for help here and there, check out videos on YouTube (Final Cut King is a good one) to learn the ins and outs of editing.  This part took a long time and a lot of playing for me to figure out, but once I did, the level of effects and manipulations I could add to the film expanded exponentially.  I could manipulate the sound, the picture quality, the frame size, and add my own animations and graphics.  The freedom I gained from escaping iMovie amazed me and opened up a whole new world of possibilities.  Now, I could prodcue a five minute film clip with animations and custom edits in Final Cut just as fast – if not faster – than iMovie.

My initial Mic set-up

With my videos, I had the same issues that I had with my audio recordings, sound quality.  I started with a Shotgun mic, as that is what I could afford.  This mic would sit on top of my camera and collect sound for whatever it was pointed at.  Not bad, but not great  as it would also pick reverberations from the wall as well. So, I switched over over to a wireless microphone.  I picked Sennheiser (the price you see on the site is not what I paid) as I had already played with one, they had a good reputation with a lot of quality reviews.

My wireless set-up

I still had a few issues with audio, such as placing the microphone (you can see me holding ithere or you can hear how I pick up Mike Smith’s watch jingling each time he drops his hands here).  However, again with time and practice, I figured out the best mic level input, sound editing, and how to record in large room formats. This system gave me a lot of freedom as far as location, crowd size, and mobility.

The last piece I am playing with is setting.  I am very conscious of where I am filming and light.  I try not to backlight my subjects as they are hard to see, so no filming near windows as I don’t travel with a light package.  I also try to get a lot of intersting scenery around my people to fill the shot.  I try to avoid empty space – I want the picture to appear enriched with content.  This involves a lot of onsite searching for great scenes as well as the moving of certain props or pictures to better fill out the scene.