new for us friday: first vlog! (and flip minoHD giveaway)

I’ve thought about doing this for ages, and now I finally have a reason.

This New For Us Friday marks a very new–and very scary first for me: my first-ever vlog. I’ve got reason to do it, too–I’m sharing some pretty cool ways of using video recordings to enhance your kiddos’ early literacy learning, and I’m giving away a new, snazzy, easy-to-use Flip MinoHD. (And I’m giving you the skinny on how you could possibly pocket $10,000. Read on, friends.)

Not only are these handy Flip MinoHD’s awesome to throw in your bag and take anywhere, they’re easy to use, they’re super-HD quality, they’re great for chronicling special family events, and they even make learning fun.

So here’s this week’s New For Us (me) Friday:

• My First-Ever Vlog: The camera-phobe I am, I initially hesitated when my husband purchased our Flip, but after his priceless shots of Maddy, Owen, Cora (and himself!) sledding down our neighborhood hills, spinning, twisting, and face-planting in the snow, I knew our purchase was well worth the money.

Our trip to Disney, our parties, our good times–and even challenging ones–have been saved thanks to our teeny video camera, and I’m grateful.

But these easy cameras are not only for keeping track of fun family memories. Here are some other ways to use your Flip MinoHD with an educational spin:

my very first vlog in my whole entire life

In case your kids were napping or you just have an aversion to watching random people’s vlogs, my list included just three simple ways of sneaking in some learning while playing with the ole video camera:

1. Record your child saying or singing the alphabet on camera. Pointing to the letters as she goes enforces that all-too-important one-to-one correspondence and will more clearly demonstrate her letter-identification knowledge.
2. Record your child reading all or part of a familiar text. Even if it seems too easy, that’s okay! Then look back together at the recordings and talk about what made some readings stronger than others. Was it attention to punctuation, enunciation, pacing? Try another recording (if she’s up for it!) to work on one area of need.
3. Record yourself (or your partner) reading one or a few of your child’s favorite books. It’s a super way of modeling what fluent reading should sound like, by your child’s very first teacher–YOU!

So are you all psyched and ready to score your own Flip MinoHD and try some of these things out this summer?

Here’s how: The people at Cisco want to know: If your TV could do anything, what would you want it to do? In fact, they want to know so much, if you think you could come up with a pretty decent, creative video where you answer this question, you could win $10,000. Seriously. And three ‘popularity’ videos will each win $500 gift cards to Amazon. That’s certainly not pocket change in my ‘hood, my friends. There’s no harm in trying, so give it a shot. Head to the Cisco TV Video Contest for more information. (And if you win, let us know!)

They also will give one teach mama reader his or her own Flip MinoHD if they take a second to leave a comment here answering this question: If your TV could do anything, what would you want it to do?

So to win the Flip MinoHD for yourself (to enter the contest or to use for some sneaky–and fun–learning!) leave your answer (and email address) here between now and next Thursday, June 10, 2010 at midnight. The winner will be picked by random.org. Good luck!

With the anxiety that this lil vlog caused me, it’s doubtful that I’ll get back in front of the camera, but who knows? I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit, which is the whole point of our New For Us Fridays. We don’t have to love what we’re doing–we just have to try it once, right?

fyi: I was contacted by the people at earned media to see if I would like to receive my own Flip MinoHD in exchange for sharing information about Cisco’s TV Video Contest. Since we have our own Flip already (although not the cool, new MinoHD, I thought my awesome readers would like to use one–for some learning at home, for some memory-documenting, or for an easy entry into the big Cisco contest. This was not a sponsored post; I received no other compensation for writing this.)