That's a wrap!

I'm a little late to the blog for this past entry and I think much of my delay is my thought process as I consider our topic of digital video editing. As an English teacher, I see so much potential for using this technology in my classroom. My fear is, however, that I won't find the correct affordance and the process will end up being a recipe for disaster.

In the past, I've taken the time to teach my students film analysis techniques. Unfortunately with the year of snow we're having, I just don't have time to fit it into the curriculum. In the future, though, if I'm able to spend some time teaching my students the benefits of film and how a story can be masterfully told through images and digital video editing, I can easily see how I can implement this technology in my room. 

In the past, my lesson entailed reading the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and then watching the Showtime movie with the same title. One of the difficulties in transferring this novel to film is that throughout the entire novel, we are provided a first person perspective of primarily internal narration. As we watch the movie, students are tasked with watching the film for diagetic and non-diagetic sounds, camera angles, use of zoom, use of shadow, and numerous other techniques to analyze the impact of the images on the screen as they are retold as a story.  

What I understand as a designer is that my students are more than capable of completing this task, but also doing so as advanced learners. If I am able to channel these same skills and create my students as directors, I can see turning any literary piece we read into a scene or short with the help of digital video editing. What I need now...tiny little directors chairs and the funding to begin my own film school! 

Movie Monday

This year, my schedule worked out that I am only teaching 1 academic level 9th grade English course. In the past, I've had at least two sections of the course.  Somehow, it worked out that I was left with only the one this year. I was little bummed, as prepping for one section of one course can be frustrating, but I decided that I would go ahead and make the most of it.

The class happens to also be a team taught class and after talking with my team teacher, we decided that we should develop a routine for the students. While I always start with some sort of warm-up or journal with all of my classes, I wanted to do something different. I wanted there to be a specific expectation for each day of the week. In a school that uses A/B Block scheduling, I can't do this on days that I have sections of the same prep on different days. With only one section, however, I felt at an advantage. After thinking for some time, I decided that every day of the week would be a different type of warm-up.  Mondays would be movie days, Tuesdays would revolve around a topic, Wednesdays would be a warm-up to review material we are studying, Thursdays we would discuss three curriculum details, and Fridays students would get a chance to free write in their journals. The schedule has worked out really well and has allowed for a very specific and comfortable routine.  At the same time, however, students still are given a variety in their day. The days they most look forward to aren't necessarily Fridays anymore, instead, they may be Mondays.

Movie Monday has turned out to be a success. I don't show a full movie, but instead take what we've learned in the ITS program about integrating TV/VIDEO into the classroom and apply it to my lessons.  My team teacher and I find clips that are either relative to the content we are studying or provide inspiration and we then share the videos with our class. The clips are generally no longer than 10 minutes and our class then spends time responding to prompts that we create in conjunction with the material the video contains. After watching the video, students spend time independently reflecting upon the prompts in their journals and we often debrief as a class. Students have been very open to the concept and are fully engaged as we watch the "movie." I think that really, the students appreciate a chance for the use of a different medium in the class. 

What I've begun to wonder, however, is what is the best way to share out after movies? Since I already use edmodo in my classroom, I'm beginning to think that it would be neat to have the students respond the prompts in an open forum instead of in an isolated and personal space. While reflecting in their journals is effective, one of the purposes of the videos is to hear others' thoughts. Students are often hesitant to share out, therefore, I wonder if a social networking site may be more their speed. As we well know, our students are more than comfortable writing in an open forum in that manner. What if I prompted students about the video in this manner?

At lunch today, we were discussing the 1 to 1 device concept in LCPS. According to our TRT, the hope for next year is instead a BYOD that we've been reading out in our ITS program. The WIFI network is often jammed with traffic and next  year the plan seems to be to increase the bandwidth and encourage students to bring in the devices they already own. If that happens next year, and I maintain the schedule/routine that has worked so well for me this year, I can see transferring the movie reflections to a social networking site. In the meantime, my students will continue to sit back and enjoy the show. 

To network or not to network...that is the question!

In our current state, social networking so often gets a negative rep. As a high school teacher, I know why. I am appalled at some of the drama I've seen and heard about on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I personally have been jaded by the sites of Twitter and SnapChat, but refuse to bow down to the evils of the sites. Last year, I had a student tweet completely inappropriately about me and it turned into an ordeal. It was upsetting, unnerving, and needless to say, completely unnecessary. I've never loved the idea of Twitter, especially after seeing some of the perils as my high schoolers bring me the drama it contains. This incident only added to my dislike of the site. This year, a similar incident occurred with SnapChat and my only saving grace in both scenarios was individual students who reported the inappropriate postings. As upsetting as the experiences were for me, I cannot discount the benefits of social networking and their capabilities in our schools. The sites have their demons, but I can fully recognize the positive impact social networking is capable of within the realm of education. 

With technology literally at our students' fingertips, we cannot ignore the powers of social networking. What me must realize as educators, however, is that we must model the proper and appropriate ways to utilize the tool. With Edmodo, that is possible. I was introduced to the social networking site a few years ago and integrated it into my classroom this year. I very slowly began to use the site to remind students of upcoming quizzes, post worksheets so that students could access them at home, and send messages to students who were missing assignments. This year my knowledge of the tool has grown and I've begun to use it much more frequently.  In my Creative Writing class, I am able to briefly introduce a lesson and then send my students on their own as they navigate through assignments and notifications I've posted on Edmodo. The site has allowed my students to use their prior knowledge of social networking in order to guide them educationally. There was, of course, a learning curve that took place. 

When I first introduce Edmodo to my students, I know that I must take time to let them play around. With this in mind, I spend more time than needed in the computer lab to introduce the tool. Being well versed on the site's capabilities, though, I know that I don't have to worry about some of the issues that often come with social networking such as cyber-bullying. Edmodo allows the teacher absolute control of her students as they work on their class page and only have access to direct messages to the teacher or the whole class. As the moderator, I'm able to delete and manage all student postings and even passwords. After the first week or so, it isn't necessary to monitor my students because they learn how to properly use the tool and begin to do so without much assistance at all. 

Edmodo isn't the only tool I've integrated into my Creative Writing class. Pinterest is also a great tool for my students to use as motivation for their creative flow. Unfortunately, the site has been blocked for students, as have many social networking sites. I understand the concern for the site being blocked because of the vast amount of images the site contains, however, if I am encouraging to use the site for specific reasons, shouldn't I be the judge of it is acceptable to be used in my classroom? 

Going forward, I want to consider ways that I can acceptably use social networking in my classroom. Edmodo works great and when Pinterest is working, it works well, also. But are these the only sites that I can utilize? With the plethora of sites available, I can't imagine those are my only possibilities. What I need to figure out, though, is if the learning curve is worth my time in what I'll be able to get out of the tool, as well as what are the affordances I must meet with the tools, and really if students will benefit from using social networking in the classroom.