so many video options

This week I explored the various video tools in the sandbox.  There were so many to choose from and some tools I spent more time with than others.  I thought all of the tools in the sandbox could be very useful to use in the classroom, or library.  The sites below are the ones that I played with the most, and could see myself using in school. 

Powtoon: This was a fun site.  I signed up for this so I could play around a little bit.  I found this to be rather easy and fun to use. It did take some getting used to having my "characters" enter and exit the slide.  I could see students being very engaged with this program.  I watched several of the sample videos on the site, and my video certainly was not nearly as awesome as those.  I would see myself using this with students to share books for literature circles, or book clubs.  I think students would like to use for a presentation, or for a book review.  I think this could be a fun way to make commercials while teaching persuasive writing, or when the students are learning about new innovations/inventions in U.S. History.  I think I need to mess around with this one a bit more to really get the hang of it.  

Animoto: I really liked this tool A LOT!!  Using this site I  created a short video for my best friend who is getting married this weekend.  I gathered pictures of her and her fiancé and pieced them together.  I really liked that I was able to upload my own music from my computer, as I wasn't a fan of the choices the website offered (though, there were many selections!).  This was simply dragging and dropping photos, with a mixture of text, or videos. This program made a pretty nice video, in my opinion.  Though, I chose to use this for more personal reasons this week, I would certainly use this with students.  I could see myself using this to create an end of the year video to share with the class, or at their 6th grade promotion ceremony.  I would have my students create a video to share either about themselves, or an event in history.  I have had students use Movie Maker before, but I think this is a lot better. 

Sharealike:  This site seemed very cool.  Often I wonder how students can share pictures for assignments and this site seems to be the answer!  Students working in group projects would be able to use this tool to collaborate.  Using this site students could each take their own photos and videos and with their team, create a slideshow.  
I really hope to use these tools both personally and professionally!