"Mum!" I call. "I have finished filming the video." I'm rather tired. This is my fifth try. It just won't go right.
Mum walks into the family room where I have been filming. She takes a look at my latest try.
"It's OK," she says, "but I think you could do better."
I sigh. I'm tired. I don't want to try again. I want to go bike riding with Gemma-Rose.
"Why don't you wait till tomorrow and then I will help you?" Mum suggests. I agree, relieved I can leave it for the moment.
The next day I sit down at the table with a whiteboard. Mum sits down beside me. We're going to do a bit of planning so I know just what I'm going to say.
"First you need an introduction," Mum says. I write down 'Intro' on the whiteboard.
Mum and I go through everything I want to say. My enthusiasm for the video is coming back. I can't wait to get filming again. I'm sure I can do a better job this time.
Mum sets up the camera. I put the whiteboard beside it, where I can glance at it, if I get stuck. Finally I sit down on the sofa.
Mum turns the camera on and then rushes out the room. I find it hard to concentrate with people listening to me.
I start talking. Occasionally I have to look over at the whiteboard. I think I am going rather well. As I come to the end of what I want to say, I mentally pat myself on the back. I am sure I have got it right this time.
Mum comes back into the family room and we looks at what we have filmed. "We will have to do it again. It is too noticeable when you look at the whiteboard." she says. "It looks like you're distracted."
My face falls. I agree. I will have to do it again.
"Don't worry," Mum says. "We will put the whiteboard behind the camera, that way you can look at it without anyone noticing."
I sit back down. I decide I have to get it right this time. I am rather tired of saying the same thing over and over again.
As Mum rushes out of the room once more, I start talking. This time I don't look at the whiteboard quite so much.
When I finish, I call Mum back into the room and we watch the video together.
"Good work!" Mum smiles. I smile back. I am relieved I have finally got it right.
Would you like to see my video? It's called I'm Sophie! I'm an Unschooler!...Blogging...
Mum and I were walking down the bush tracks with Nora our dog. While we walked, we chatted about video making. We are both interested in making videos at the moment. Did you see my latest video, I'm Sophie! I'm Unschooler!...Introduction?
I was really pleased with my last video and wanted to make another one. But what could I make my next video about?
"You should make some videos about blogging," Mum suggested. "Maybe you could show people how to make your latest blog header."
"That's a great idea!" I cried. Mum always has brilliant ideas.
"I could teach you how to do a screencast tutorial if you like," Mum offered. Recently she has been making a series of screen cast tutorials telling people about Evernote.
I was bubbling with ideas. I couldn't wait to get started.
The next day I sat down at my computer. I hit the record button and got started. It took me only a few seconds to get my tongue in a twist. I sighed. It is harder talking to a computer than you would think.
A few tries later, I finally got my introduction right. After that everything seemed to go fine. I was very pleased when I had finished recording, and could edit it, putting all the video clips together.
When my video was ready, I went to show it to Mum. She thought it looked great.
Grinning, I uploaded my video to YouTube. Would you like to see my latest video? It’s called How to Make a Blog Header in Picmonkey…
"That's a great idea!" I cried. Mum always has brilliant ideas.
"I could teach you how to do a screencast tutorial if you like," Mum offered. Recently she has been making a series of screen cast tutorials telling people about Evernote.
I was bubbling with ideas. I couldn't wait to get started.
The next day I sat down at my computer. I hit the record button and got started. It took me only a few seconds to get my tongue in a twist. I sighed. It is harder talking to a computer than you would think.
A few tries later, I finally got my introduction right. After that everything seemed to go fine. I was very pleased when I had finished recording, and could edit it, putting all the video clips together.
When my video was ready, I went to show it to Mum. She thought it looked great.
Grinning, I uploaded my video to YouTube. Would you like to see my latest video? It’s called How to Make a Blog Header in Picmonkey…
The other day I decided I wanted to become a vlogger like Mum! Mum agreed and said I could even have my own YouTube channel. I was so excited!
Yesterday I set about making my first video. It was going to be an introduction video.
At first I planned to film it on my computer webcam, but it wasn't very good quality. Luckily for me, Mum offered to let me use her DSLR camera. It has wonderful quality.
It took a few tries to get what I wanted to say right. I kept getting my tongue in a twist and had to start again. I sighed with relief when I finally got a good enough version.
I took my video over to Windows Movie Maker to edit it. It didn't take much work. I just had cut a bit off and put a title page onto it.
After that, it was the simple matter of uploading it to my YouTube channel. I was very pleased with myself.
Would you like to watch my video? It’s called…
I’m Sophie! I’m an Unschooler! … Introduction…
A few weeks ago we finally got a dog! Her name's Nora. She's a bitser and really friendly. She's only six months old.
The other day, I came up with a plan. I would do another show and tell. This time I would show everyone our pets. I was certain everyone would love Nora.
I got to work. Everyone, except the animals, was eager to help. Imogen was going to be animal handler and Gemma-Rose wanted to film it.
Everything went quite well with the cats, though they tried to get away a few times. The real trouble didn't come until Nora.
Nora wouldn't sit still. She wriggled and squirmed. In the end Imogen had to give her some dog treats to stop her moving so much.
Would you like to see our show and tell?