4c: Communicating with Families with an Open House Video (NEW VIDEO)

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I have updated my Open House video!

I like using an Open House Video for 3 reasons:
1) Parents can get a better idea about what happens in our classroom if they can see it.
2) I only have 8 minutes with each set of parents and I don't want to forget to tell them anything.
3) Parents that are unable to attend Open House can watch the video on my website from home.

You can read about and watch my old Open House Video here: Open House Video 2012.

This is the new one:

A lot of people have asked how I made it and what software did I use...
Here is what you need to make your own video:

1) lots of pictures of your classroom over the years.  I usually have a simple digital camera in my classroom everyday just in case a photo-op comes up.

2) I loaded the pictures into Keynote on my Mac



(If you have a PC or prefer Microsoft software you can use PowerPoint)

Most teachers already have some sort of a PowerPoint video for Open House...if so, you are    already 1/2 way there. Add some pictures of the kids throughout the year having fun and learning and add your voice to explain the PowerPoint and you're done!

3) The simplest way to make the video is to use free software like Photostory  Click here to check out Photostory.

If you want to get fancier you can use video editing software like iMovie, but I really like Camtasia Studio because I like to use it to make my lesson videos for my students. The software isn't free but it's worth the price because it's easy to use, you can do some amazing editing, and there are a boatload of tutorial videos to help you understand what you are doing and how to use it like a pro.

(Education Pricing is $79 for Mac, $179 for PC) Link to buy Camtasia Studio for Educators

The videos are located here: Camtasia Tutorials for Mac
                                              Camtasia Tutorials for PC

4) a CD or DVD to burn the video so you have it for next year. Notice that I did not put the school year in my video anywhere...so I can use it again. Don't recreate the wheel unless you need to!

Good luck creating your own video...please comment below and send us the link your video if you create one!

Originally posted on ballinwithballing.blogspot.com




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