Working on my script for my 90 second video reminded me of how many, many, MANY details go into even the smallest piece of film. Through, twists and turns that are difficult to explain in a blog, my class and I were filmed for a year for a documentary that is coming out soon. The amount of equipment required for this simple shoot was astounding.
For even a simple 90 second spot, you've got to include a ton of different elements to make sure that you get your message across. Looking at all the examples, reminded me how very quickly 90 seconds can go past. I tried t keep some really important elements in mind.
1. Audience
I wanted to stay focused on my audience. My capstone project, like most, is aimed toward teachers. Teachers have to attend a lot of training and watch a lot of presentations. They are usually pressed for time. I wanted to draw my audience in by making my script dynamic and less a presentation with dull facts. In short, I aim to provide them with a picture of what my entire capstone.
2. Purpose
It is essential to stay on target and keep your purpose in your sight line. If the purpose of my video is to cause those who experience to look more closely at my capstone project, then my aim must be to cause curiosity. As I worked on my various drafts of script, it was this that I tried to keep in mind. I kept asking myself, "What words, images and explanations would cause a teacher to want to learn more about gamification?"
3. Creativity
This was really important to me as I worked on my drafts. Everyone has had to sit through presentation after presentation, and I am hoping to make my video a bit more creative. I want it to be interesting and informative. I am hoping that my finished product will be unique but still including all the essential elements of the assignment. I am hoping that if it is creative enough, it will be a focal point that draws people to the website, and even more importantly, pushes them to consider utilizing gamification in their classrooms. I will be using WeVideo because I am familiar with it. I have already made three videos for my students this year with it. Whenever I launch a new quest for my students, I create a video launch. I love the way you can edit multiple layers of both sound and film in WeVideo, and how easy it is to incorporate green screen elements whenever necessary. I also consider Adobe Spark, as I love all the elements you can use with it, but wanted to focus on making my video, not on how to make a video. I plan on exploring Adobe Spark more in the future.
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After spending 18 years teaching in the private school system, I found myself without a job. I was a teacher without a classroom. I spent the next year and a half substitute teaching in the Napa Valley Unified School District. I subbed at every high school, middle school and nearly every elementary school in our district. I worked nearly every single day, and learned a lot about the schools in Napa. All of which is a really long way to say that I discovered that Phillips Elementary isn't like any other school in the district. I was so happy to be added to their staff four years ago, and three years ago my principal tasked me with creating and building a powerful tech program for our students. As a result, we've spent a bit of time talking about technology and the ways we want to empower our students. Most recently, we discussed the impact of tech on our youngest of students, who are coming to the Technology Design Lab for the first time this school year. Our emphasis for this young students is to build both literacy and computer literacy. We learned just last Wednesday (Sept 27th) that we have been given a grant and now are a magnet school. Our emphasis will be on leadership and technology . We had so many discussions last year as we went through the grant process about the role of technology in connection with the idea of leadership. The conclusion that we came to was that students today must have strong digital skills if they are to be effective leaders in their community. They must not only know how to use technology, but must understand the social, emotional and academic impact of technology. As students lead in their community, they can utilize their digital skills to communicate, rally and share their projects, ideas, and plans. We have relied on the ISTE standards for students, and they have been our standards. As a result of this grant, we are working on creating a clear, and succinct statement of what a successful graduate of Phillips Magnet School will look like. We are writing our mission statement as we begin this new journey. However, this mission statement has already been lived out for the past few years, as we already have embraced the idea that we must include a powerful digital toolbox in order to educate leaders. As a Title 1 school, we have spent many years trying to provide equity for our students. Creating a strong technology program was one way that we felt we could level the playing field for our students. Over time, I recognized that having strong digital skills could take my students from catching up to their peers, to providing them with an edge. Beginning to introduce them to the world of script languages: Java Script, html/CSS, SQL and Swift, provides students with a more advanced understanding of computer science, but also begins to introduce them to a new field. Students become exposed to all the many job opportunities associated with those skills. This is significant in a community such as ours.
One of my 4th grade students was able to spend the afternoon at Pixar studios, as result of our work in computer science. I had to wait outside the gates while she attended this amazing day, but on the ride home, she shared what she had learned with me, and her words demonstrate the powerful impact that technology can have on my students. "They have basketball courts, and a pool, and an exercise room for their workers. I think that is really cool." Here is where I expected her to talk about the fun of having those available to you, but my students seem to always surprise me. Instead she said, "It's like they care about you. They think it is important to be healthy, and so they have places for people to exercise. I want to work for a company like that. A company that knows I'll work better if I feel better. It's like you matter." She was 10 at the time. I try to keep this conversation close to me as we develop and craft our final, official tech mission statement. As with all other things in education, humans are at the heart of all our words, objectives and plans. Technology is just one more way to allow our students to express themselves, so that they can build a powerful, new world for themselves and their families. This is our mission statement: HOPE.
The objective of transliteracy is clarity of communication. Studying it is really asking yourself the important questions:
I have been teaching for over twenty years, and in that time the world around me has definitely changed! When I first started teaching, digital lessons weren't even a thought and now I can surf the internet to find all kinds of wonderful ideas to aid my teaching of any subject. For example, I recently added Kindergartners and first graders to my technology design lab. This would have been really overwhelming in my first years. However, I immediately went to my computer and began researching other teachers who instruct younger students about tech. It is amazing how much information and support I've gained from connecting with other tech educators.
When considering my own capstone, I have been thinking about the way that I learn and improve as an educator. I go to the web first. I do it before anything else. I love reading articles, but especially enjoy looking at screen casts, or brief videos that share information quickly. I am usually watching them with a second tab open so that I can try what is being taught while watching the video. I think this instant, personal instruction is a very effective way to support learners.
The last four years I have added so many new ways for my students to learn, communicate and express understanding. These are just a few that I have used in my classroom:
Nearpod Night Zoo Keeper Google Classroom Google Drive Google Forms Google Sheets Quizziz Weebly Khan Academy Teach Your Monster to Read Typing Web Bloxels Clicking on the Weebly link, you can really see my transformation. It is a website that I've been building for the last three years and it is always changing. Last week, in order to make some of the links more accessible to my struggling readers, and younger students, I converted all my "buttons" to images. Instead of struggling to read the text on the buttons, students can look for an icon or image and quickly find what they are searching for. This has really increased classroom learning time already. Students can quickly start building, creating, playing and learning. It was a simple change that leveled the playing field for my students. Now all my students have the same amount of work time. Struggling readers can access websites as quickly as those that are highly proficient, and all students can start creating nearly instantly. Transliteracy really pushes educators to consider what is their purpose. I know it is pushed me to consider what is the most essential. Do I keep doing things the way they have always been done? Is that what is most important? Or is it more important to find new and dynamic ways to impact my students? The answer is pretty obvious. |
AuthorJen has been teaching school for awhile now. She's learned some stuff, but she's got tons more to learn. Archives
October 2017
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